Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 03-09-1976 Regular — reading text

Mr. Palmer said that his concern for all our citizens is priorities. I know we are all aware of situations that are more necessary than this parking lot. I know I counted 49 parking spaces downtown today. I realize that in the summertime you do have a problem. I have had numerous phone calls and I have had 7 to 1 opposed to spending tax dollars for building this parking lot for individual people. I wonder why we can' t take some of this money and apply it to drainage. I think we should take first things first. I do all my business downtown, and I will continue to do so. I am opposed to spend- ing tax dollars until such time as we can furnish everybody the same thing. We need sidewalks, we talked about improv- ing Mooney Road for the safety of the children. The life of one child is more important than 100 parking spaces. I am going to continue to trade downtown, but I think we should set first priorities first. A resident stated that he is not against downtown parking, but I think before we buy such big chuncks of property, we should take a survey until we know we really need it. Mr. Rigdon stated that he has heard pros s~ Pl~ ~~ kc~~ nh~~: ~~~ linm~ i.. l.. e ~ e~~~ a~~~ . of buying property for downtown.I am " o. not in favor of $ 185, 000. We are talking o.... about two appraisals and there is too _ J far a span. I think this is going to be one of the biggest summers we have had. Mr. Palmer had some good points, but the only thing I feel like is that th~ property is not going to get any cheaper. I think we should make a counter offer l  3/ 9/ 7'- 153 to the and see if we can negotiate man to buy the property. We have about 130, 000 federal money earmarked for parking downtown. I think we should set a prive around this table and if it gets too high, we should back off. I Mr. Palmer asked, what would keep the merchants from paying the difference between what the federal government pays and what the City will have to pay. of us pay for our own parking lot. Most Mr. Benaquis said to Mr. Palmer, I don' t believe you were against parking down- town as long as we bought Echols property. You told me that was the one we should have bought. Mr. Palmer replied that he didn' t say that. Mr. Benaquis said, yes, you told me you were for buying Echols' property. Now that we aren' t going to buy what you wanted, you are against it, you' re a liar. Mr. Hunt said that he has been called by citizens concerned about parking down- town. The majority of people I talked to are completely opposed to buying, with tax dollars, the property period. Some of the citizens are sympathetic with the merchants and understand the problem of the merchants. I understand the pro- blem. I am a businessman myself. I resent government being involved in every facet of my business, but at the same time I don' t think that every time I have a problem I should go to government to solve my problem. I would like to offer an amendment to the motion that we make a firm offer to purchase downtown parking in the amount of $ 132, 000 for the Cox property and $ 24, 800 for the Patterson property. Motion was seconded by Mr. Rig- don. I Mr. nesses Benaquis said that on Main the parking spaces away front of my businesses. why. Street. We gave them this property. he has They three busi- have taken from me right in I want to know They keep taking away our parking. Mr. Bishop said that this has been boiling since 1963. I think it would be better to have a permanent parking place rather  o,.... ..~ ~. . T.O..~_.__...__... g/ Q/ 7(P 154 than leasing. I would rather see if we can negotiate with Cox and Patterson on a price rather than just saying we offer this much. Motion was called for. Amendment carried ~ unanimously. Original motion carried unanimously. KIDD BAYOU DREDGING Mr. Rigdon stated that he and Mr. Brock met with Cinco representatives to discuss the Kidd Bayou dredging. He moved that Fort Walton Beach City Engineer, Cinco Bayou Engineer, DOT representatives, and Environmental people work together and recommend some guidelines and make a report back to Council. Motion was secon- ded by Mr. Baughman and carried unani- mously. BID FOR CHAIRS & TABLES AT Mr. Elliott returned to Council with the HEDRICK RECREATION CENTER bids for chairs and tables for Hedrick Recreation Center. Mr. Bishop moved that the bid be awarded to Northwest Florida Office Supply, with the option to with- draw if the price quoted on the chairs was an error. If they want to withdraw their bid, then bid shall be awarded to Boswell Office Supply, next lowest bidder, for a price of $ 4, 631. 42. Motion was seconded by Mr. Baughman and carried unanimously. 5, 000 TO BE RELEASED TO Mr. Palmer stated that Council voted to R. L. MORRISON withhold $ 5, 000 from R. L. Morrison because of floor problems in the Recreation Center. I can' t see withholding $ 5, 000 from this contractor. The floor is guaranteed for one year. I move to pay Mr. Morrison. Motion was seconded by Mr. Hunt. Mr. Baughman asked what assurance we have. Mr. Palmer replied that we have a guar- antee for one year. Mr. Rigdon stated that Mr. Morrison has said he has a letter of intent. This involves other people' s money being held up and I don' t know of a more honorable man than R. L. Morrison. I am in favor of paying the man the $ 5, 000. Motion carried unanimously. City Clerk explained that the architect had recommended that we hold $ 1, 000 due to air conditioning problems. The archi- tech has not released the $ 1, 000. As of  3/ 9/ 76 - .... 155. today Mr. Nichols still would not release the $ 1, 000. Unless the architect instructs us, we will let $ 4, 000 check go tomorrow morning and hold the $ 1, 000. Council agreed to leave it to City Clerk' s dis- cretion. I LETTER FROM STATE ATTORNEY' S OFFICE RE BILL PEEBLES Mayor presented action. a letter from State Attor- ney' s Office reference real estate trans- The letter stated that the State Attorney' s office has concluded its inves-