Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 11-18-2004 Workshop — reading text

41 MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 16, 2004 INTRODUCTION A Council Workshop Meeting of the City Council of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, was held on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 at 7: 00 p. m. with the Community Redevelopment Agency Board members and the Municipal Planning Board members at the Creative Senior Center located at 31 Memorial Parkway, SW, with the following members present: Mayor Glenda Glover Councilmen: Mike Holmes, Bob Campbell, Jim Tucker, Dr. Wayne Pullen, Dean Covey, and Mike Anderson. Absent: Bill Patterson CRA members: Millie Thrush, Chairman; Bill Garvie; Chris Gibson; and Wilbur HugH. MPB members: Dick Gercak, Chairman; Adam Cohn; Judith Fiasco; Lee McDonald; John Wayne; and Janet Wilson. Also Present: Joyce Shanahan, City Manager; Helen Spencer, City Clerk; Mike Burton, Finance Director; Toni Craig Teal, City Attorney; Department Directors, and David Cardwell, Attorney at Law. CALL TO ORDER The Mayor called the meeting to order. CRA COMPOSITION Power point presentation on the composition of the Community Redevelopment Agency. The City Manager recalled Council requested staff hold a workshop on the composition of the CRA and discussion on removing a portion of the western boundary of the CRA starting at St. Simon' s Church then west to the end of the CRA area. She noted David Cardwell, Attorney at Law and an expert in the field, is also present to answer any specific questions about a CRA. Some Council members expressed their understanding there would also be an expanded discussion on the role of the Municipal Planning Board ( MPB) in relationship to the CRA and how those roles mayor may not overlap and get a clarification on how they do or do not interface, rather than just the composition and the boundaries of the CRA. The City Manager expressed that discussion would be better at another meeting, that these two items on the agenda would take up a considerable amount of time, and her information from the minutes of the August meeting were more detailed around the composition and the western boundary of the CRA, but they could certainly reconvene this group at another time, but that was her understanding on the direction of Council. She said if Council wants to have that discussion in lieu of the presentations, that could be done but staff is not prepared to discuss that tonight. She noted they are talking about the composition and thought questions about the composition of the CRA Board would lead into discussion about the interfacing between the Municipal Planning Board and the CRA Board. She mentioned that staff fully expected to have some discussion about that but not to be solely centered on the relationship between those two boards. In response to the comment that when it was decided to hold Council workshops they would not be tied to any particular agenda and could discuss anything they want, the City Manager noted an agenda is needed to run a meeting and the Mayor and Council have the discretion to take anything off or add anything to an agenda. 42 11- 16- 04 CRA COMPOSITION cont. The CDS Director gave a power point presentation on the composition of the Community Redevelopment Agency ( CRA) which included the CRA composition options; the powers of the CRA and City Council per Chapter 163. 358 Florida Statutes; the history of the Fort Walton Beach CRA Board; surveys on the composition CRA' s in Florida showing the percentage of appointed vs. elected Boards and the percentage of appointed vs. elected Boards by population; City Council as the CRA Board; the two basic types of a City Council appointed CRA Board; the City Council' s powers and the CRA Board of Commissioner' s powers per the City' s Code of Ordinances. -. In response to the understanding expressed that basically the CRA is a municipal planning board for their area, plus they have a budget to work with, the CDS Director explained the CRA is specifically a group that promotes an area identified as needing redevelopment, they determine .~ what projects are needed for the area, they review site plans for redevelopment within the area, and make recommendations on the budget to City Council. She further explained the Municipal Planning Board has a much broader issue in dealing with the whole City instead of a small piece of the City; the MPB is more comprehensive, they act as the local planning agency for the Comprehensive Plan and look at the whole broad issue in the framework for the planning of the Comprehensive Plan and what is best for the whole city, which includes the CRA area but also includes a much larger area, and they deal with zoning and land use for the entire city. The Municipal Planning Board looks at a much larger picture than the detail than the CRA does. The City Manager noted that part of the purpose of the CRA is to inspire redevelopment and to make it easier, and typically throughout the State CRA' s do not report to a Municipal Planning Board or there is not an additional layer of review by the Municipal Planning Agency so that it streamlines the development process to make it quicker and faster to do the redevelopment; it takes away some of the red tape by allowing the CRA Board to review those issues without having to go through another hoop and delaying the process further by going to the Municipal Planning Board. She further explained that the Municipal Planning Board is the overall umbrella dealing with the whole City, they look at a very broad spectrum of issues that the CRA is not concerned with; the CRA is concerned with the redevelopment district and they are not concerned with the overall City and how it functions; the Municipal Planning Board looks at the CRA area when looking at the land use and zoning for the whole City. The comment was made that the Municipal Planning Board is given authority and responsibility for many areas of the City and anything the CRA does cannot disagree with what the MPB says they can do, yet the Planning Board does not look at what the CRA approves. The City Manager explained the CRA is governed by what the MPB establishes as rules and ordinances for the City, the MPB makes recommendation to Council on ordinances for rules and regulations on land use and zoning for the Comprehensive Plan, and the CRA Board is compelled to follow what the MPB has established. The CRA is not making new law, they are not making new grounds, they are merely governed by what the MPB and the City Council does. In response to the question on what assurance there is that what the CRA Board does meets all criteria as established by the MPB when it goes to Council, the City Manager expressed that staff provides the research and expertise for both Boards and staff is well versed in the land use and planning requirements, there is an internal development review committee and plenty of procedures in place to insure that the CRA is not making new rules and are not developing new codes or new standards; the CRA is merely an advisory Board to Council, they have no budgetary authority and no independent authority to make any decisions without it going to City Council. She noted when Council said it wanted to refocus the efforts of the CRA away from the commercial area and start to handle the slum and blighted areas in the residential community by addressing housing rehabs, sidewalks, water and sewer, storm drainage infrastructure, staff carried that message to the CRA Board and they drafted a budget that reflected Council' s desires; they need to understand Council' s priorities and staff provides that information so they can be governed by Council' s priorities set for the entire City.  11- 16- 04 43 CRA COMPOSITION cont. it and It was commented that when the CRA looks at a project for a new complex, they evaluate there is separate set of review it with the same guidelines as the Municipal Planning Board, no are both the same set of rules; it is just that the CRA Board concentrates rules and they guided by on one area and the MPB concentrates on the larger picture. as far In response to the question posed on who would best represent the wishes of the entire City as the CRA area is concerned, the CRA Board, the MPB Board or City Council, the City Manager remarked the people appointed to the CRA Board are interested in the City as a whole because they are interested in providing a to live for the residents, they are interested in great place improving the tax base and improving the community and ensuring that redevelopment happens and happens in a specific way. She noted the reason to have a CRA Board is to be an advocate and for redevelopment, with Council to tell them what they need to do to be the best possible City, will increase the tax base. improving redevelopment, the core of the community, the In response to the belief expressed that the landowners in the CRA have the most to gain from dollars spent in the CRA area, the City Manager noted that no improvements are made on private and the entire City benefits from the CRA in that property, they are all infrastructure improvements 400, the City would not receive the $ 000 from the County to spend on roads, community policing, etc. in the CRA area. Mr. Tucker expressed he did not like another level of bureaucracy and would ultimately make a motion that the Council take over the operation of the CRA Board, to keep the CRA as an advisory is board but not have the power they have now. The City Manager wished to know if Mr. Tucker site Mr. Tucker expressed he wants the proposing