Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 09-23-1980 Regular — reading text

r) 7,., L ...'" MINUTES OF REGULAR 1 MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL OF September 23, FORT WALTON 1980 BEACH, FLORIDA INTRODUCTION A regular meeting of the City Council of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, was held on Tuesday, September 23, 1980, at the City Hall at 7: 00 p. m. with the following members present: COUNCILMEN: C. H. Rigdon, Jr. James K. Baughman Charlie H. Hi II E. A. Grant Harold Sundy Dr. Daniel Houghton, Jr. John H. Bishop Mayor Robert W. Gates ALSO PRESENT: City Attorney, City Manager, City Clerk- Finance Director Invocation was given by Councilman Grant and Paul Hebinck led in the Pledge of Allegiance. PUBLIC HEARING- Mayor opened a Hearing at 7: 00 p. m. for the Public REDEVELOPMENT PLAN purpose of considering a redevelopment plan for the DOWNTOWN FWB AREA Downtown Fort Walton Beach area. Mayor read a Tringas, Chairman of letter from James the Fort Walton Beach Redevelopment Agency, stating that the Plan was developed in accordance wi th Florida Statutes, and that it has been well publicized and presented to the publiqi asking Council to take necessary action for adoption of the Plan. 1 Mayor thanked and commended all the people who worked comments Dr. on the from Redevelopment Plan. the public. He asked for There were none. Houghton moved to adopt the Fort Walton Beach General Redevelopment Plan as presented. Motion was seconded by Mr. Baughman and carried unanimous ly. 80- 44 RESOLUTION City Attorney read the following resolution: APPROVING REDEVELOP- MENT PLAN 80- 44 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA APPROVING THE DOWNTOWN FORT WALTON BEACH 274 9/ 23/ 80 GENERAL REDEVELOPMENT PLAN, ESTABLISHING A RE- LOCATION POLICY, PROVIDING THE EFFECTIVE DATE HEREOF. Dr. Houghton moved that the resolution be approved. Motion was seconded by Mr. Baughman and carried unanimous ly. . MEETING REF: Mayor stated that there are persons present from BASS LAKE both sides on the Bass Lake issue. Since most people are familiar with the problem, he appointed Mr. Rigdon as Chairman to meet with three repre- sentatives of the property owners around Bass Lake, and three representatives from other areas sur- rounding the Lake, in order to come up with a solution and come back to Council with a recommendation. Mayor suggested that they may have to wai t unti I the water level is raised before anything can be done. Mr. Gary Spradling, 553 Mooney Road, asked about the feasibili ty of bui lding a pier after the water level is up. He said he felt that the lake front property owners would feel the only solution would be no pier at all, and did not feel they could come to an agreement. Mr. Rigdon stated that he would be glad to meet with representati ves, and set a meeting for Wednesday, September 24, at 7: 00 p. m. at the Golf Course meeting room. Mr. Rigdon explained the reason for the work at Bass Lake was because the pipe was de- teriorating and we had to make a move to save the road. We were not there trying to promote anybody' s property. Mr. Spradling stated that he would like to make an official presentation to Council of a petition with 200 signatures, requesting Council to authorize the construction of a dock, pier, or platform for the recreational use of young children of the Kenwood area as well as youngsters from other parts of the Ci ty . Mr. W. D. Hayes, 655 Fairway Avenue, stated that the issue goes beyond Bass Lake. The children in the Kenwood area do not have access to recreational faci Ii ties in other se cti ons of the ci ty . He ' asked for consideration for night- time recreatiOnal.",. facilities Mr. the Dave matter in Kaplan, was the I area.! Sherwood, taken. care of stated at the that he felt last meeting. J. Both sides were brought up and there was a Council vote on the subject. How many times do we have to come back and work up another agreement? Mr. Baughman stated, I made a point at the last meeting that I didn' t think the feelings of the other citizens had been heard. I felt we should hear from j  7C: t-I ,_, 9/ 23/ 80 a wider spectrum of citizens in the area. I was the only one who said that. I think we have seen now, as a result, how a large number of people feel about it, and they want to be heard. I don' t see that we have any choi ce but to hear what they have to say. Mr. said he had had four phone calls advising Grant 1 him that is another petition being circulated there in the area supporting the fact that this is public property, and asking us to take no further action until we have conducted a study to fill the lake and turn it into a park. Mr. Don Pattison, 26 Linwood, asked for an explanation of how the city acquired the bottomland of the Lake. Mr. Grant explained, the requirement and need to do something was generated by the fact that we were about to lose Mooney Road. There were two approaches that could be taken. The homeowners association could take over the bottom land and do the necessary work. The other option was that the city acquire the property. This was discussed in the meeting with the homeowners. Mr. Jim Thomas, 18 Linwood Road, stated that no decision was made. At no time was it considered