Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 02-13-07 regular minutes — reading text

to make a motion. Mr. Minich raised a Point of Order that once a motion is made they could not receive public input. Mr. Tucker moved to suspend Robert' s Rules of Order. Dr. Pullen seconded motion and it carriedby a vote of 6 to 1 with Holmes, Patterson, Campbell, Tucker, Pullen, and Minich in favor and Hartwell opposed. Mr. Tucker moved that the City Manager and City Attorney take necessary steps to place the City Library at 185 Highway 98 up for sale. Dr. Pullen seconded motion. Charlene Greenwald, 206 Jet Drive, read into the record a letter dated February 12, 2007 addressed to the Mayor and City Council. As shop keepers in the library lobby, members of the Friends of the Fort Walton Beach library hear patrons concerns and experience the issues that swirl around our public library. Major concerns are: Accessibility Patrons cite the location as difficult to get to, out of the way. For example, westbound drivers intending to use either First or Eglin need to be braking through the Eglin/ Florida Place intersection rather than accelerating as the light is followed within feet by a stop sign. Not close to neighborhoods except immediate downtown condo community. Parking Insufficient spaces available except at night when patronage of the library is low probably due to safety & accessibility concerns. Any special occurrence at the library, a small meeting, a large meeting, city training, children' s reading hour, etc., causes a parking overflow. That's even when Snowbirds are not in residence; when they are a full parking lot starts just about from 9 am opening. While additional parking is available off Ferry, patrons view off site accessibility as a major inconvenience and are quite vocal about the ' parking situation.' Access to the library using the Ferry lot is either round- about using sidewalks or hiking the shorter path over uneven, rocky & dirt property, then around the retention feature landscaped by tall ornamental grass and inhabited by feral cats. During construction to insure parking met code requirements, spaces were designed to meet bare minimum standards resulting in short, narrow design and minimal maneuvering open area. Parking and navigation of the compact lot in general, are a challenge for everyone, especially those with big vehicles, as the tire marked, sharply banked, U shaped round- about curb will attest to. Reports of vehicle dings, scratches and incidents are common. Design The long walk from the parking lot to the front door is a frequent source of complaints, particularly seniors. The strain is sometimes visible in body language. Loss of some patronage might be attributed to this favor. Inside, the long, narrow design limits staff' s ability to monitor activities & the check out counter does not face the door with the same limitations. Electricity costs are high. At the end of January, electricity was at 44% of budget for the year!  2- 13- 07 Regular Council 189 CITY LIBRARY cont. Safety Concerns that children cannot safely access the library using bikes or even walking has been expressed. low There are general concern about personal safety especially so at night probably explaining evening patronage. Utilization It is said patrons have quit using the library because of difficult accessibility, lack of adequate parking and problems associated with the shelter seeker' s constant presence. This in turn may be causing the library to be underutilized, thus, sharing in less of the cooperative money pie distributed according to patronage. Ascetics The absence of available ground to provide an ascetically pleasing environment is a loss for the and community. Other than City Hall, the library is the single most important municipal building should add to the identification of the city. The design should be handsome, the setting beautiful. Instead, the s is hidden behind a wall that attempts to disguise a carwash. In fact, the city' library is a carefully library entrance is exactly in front of the carwash machines. ' Attempts to disguise' the sounds of machinery at work, car radios worded description because there is no way to ignore blasting and water mist disbursed by the wind. Those distractions are inescapable consequences of location. Friends membership has experienced concerns with all of the foregoing. Behavior problems such as to rules and acceptable aggressiveness, overt staring/ inappropriate comments; non- conformance social standards create a strained atmosphere between library patrons and shelter seekers. For a library to be the focus of on going controversy detracts from its mission to provide citizens with top notch service and, so, during the regular monthly Friends meeting February 12, members voted to Councilman Tucker' s proposal to explore the relocation of the library to a unanimously support more user friendly location. Respectfully submitted on behalf of Friends, Charlene Greenwald, President" he was approached about his Virgil Miller, 26 Chelsea Drive, candidate for City Council, commented it and move it to a better location, position on the issue and said if the City can get their money out of he was for it. He said now the property is more valuable they need to get it on the tax rolls. it is located. J. D. Taylor, 210 Gilmore Court SE, expressed his satisfaction with the library where the funding, the James Thoreen, 33 Anastasia, expressed interest in hearing Council discussion on trade off between the price of the sale and purchase of the new equipment when debating the motion. and the City The City Manager reminded Council money was borrowed to fund the library construction will need to be done to received a State grant. She mentioned that, should the motion pass, research in determine if there are any limitations about whether or not the public financing would any way prohibit the City from selling the property. Discussion was held with an exchange of views on relocating the library. Comments included whether the City can declare the library property uncertainty on the replacement value; uncertainty on excess and move forward without having a viable plan to replace it; to let the public know there is consider relocating the library property for sale to see if there is interest; the suggestion that the City to property already owned on the west side of the auditorium; that the City should move forward if the time comes the library outlives its usefulness but it is too premature to consider relocating the library; that it would not hurt to find out what would be offered for the property and explore doing something better; uncertainty that the motion as presented to put the property out there for sale is the right be done, determine whether it direction to take; that it should be explored to determine whether it can the suggestion is a viable option, and whether the City will make money to reduce or retire the debt; of the library; that the City move ahead, start that staff be tasked to explore the possibility relocating now to put it out to the public and start moving in that direction; and concern whether it is something the can do. The City Attorney was asked if the motion was clear and if the City could do it. City  Regular Council 2- 13- 07 190 CITY LIBRARY cont. The City Attorney stated that Council can make the motion and pass the motion, and Council will receive the same opinion she has previously given regarding other properties. She saw the motion as putting the issue in the City Manager and the staff' s hands to determine the relocation issue first before they can move forward with the declaration of excess and the sale. During further discussion on the concern that the motion states to place the library on the market for sale, and that the motion should direct staff to look at the possibility of relocating the library. It was suggested the motion be amended to add " or relocation" so that staff can look at either sell or relocate the library. The City Attorney stated that staff understands the point but was unsure when and how long it would take. f Dr. Pullen moved to amend the motion to add " or relocation". Mr. Patterson seconded motion and it carried by a vote of 6 to 1 with Holmes, Patterson, Campbell, Tucker, Pullen, and Hartwell in favor and Minich opposed. The question was posed on how long it would take to provide Council the information. The City Manager stated it is not a quick proposition and could take months. Mr. Tucker requested that if a developer who would like a core area in downtown Fort Walton Beach comes to the City with a wonderful deal, then Council should move forward. The Mayor called for the vote on the motion, as amended, that the City Manager and City Attorney take necessary steps to place the City Library at 185 Highway 98 up for sale or relocation and it carried by a vote of 6 to 1 with Holmes, Patterson, Campbell, Tucker, Pullen, and Hartwell in favor and Minich opposed. RES. 07- 02 - FLC LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES The Mayor read the resolution by title. A RESOLUTION URGING MEMBERS OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING ISSUES DURING THE 2007 LEGISLATIVE