Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 07-27-1976 Regular — reading text

273 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA July 27, 1976 regular meeting of the City Council of I INTRODUCTION A Fort Walton Beach, F1ortd.a was held at City Hall on Tuesday, ~ 27, 1976 at 7130 p; m, with the following members present 1 COUNCILMEN George A, Palmer C. H, Rigdon, Jr. Charles H, Hill John H. Bishop Hurdis A. Brock James K. Baughman Mayor Pro Tem Hunt ALSO PRESENT 1 City Manager, City Attorney ABSENT: Mayor Smith Councilman Palmer gave the invocation and Mayor Pro Tem led in the Pledge to the Flag, WELCOME OF VISITORS Mayor Pro Tem welcomed all visitors and asked if anyone present had something to bring before Council which was not a part of the regular agenda, FORT WALTON EMERGENCY President of the Fort Walton Emergency RADIO CLUB Radio Club presented a proclamation proclaiming Law Enforcement Appreciation Month. Mr, Rigdon moved that Council accept the proclamation, Motion was seconded by Mr. Baughman and carried unanimously. SENIOR CITIZENS BUILDING Mr, K1ien L, Doty, representative of the I Senior Citizens Club stated that he had come before Council in protest of the proposed $ 200, 000 Senior Citizens Build- ing. He presented a letter to the editor from the local newspaper stating his feelings about the proposed building. He requested that City Council reconsider building the new building and possibly just improve the existing building. We  C'~"""""''''->''__';-''''''''+''''-~''-'''''''___~"''''_'''''''.'"'>'"'~ i-":~_~""''':''- c''''''-''~ ,," ''''''_'_'''''' 274 r/z 7/' 1' cannot afford the increase in membership dues, Mr, Rigdon stated that he voted for the building because he felt that the senior citizens wanted the building, I did not . vote O~ to raise the dues, s O~~~ ~~ I am not f in .. u 1... idi~: ~~~ for~ i ~~ fine, u~ w~ t~~;s , If you people don. t want the build- . J. . ing, I don. t think we should force it on you, I think what we need to do is to have some of your people come down and let us know what you want, Mr, Palmer stated that he agrees with Mr, Rigdon, I don. t think we should force it on them, If they don. t want the building then I don' t think we should raise their fees, I think we could improve their present building, I think we owe it to our senior citizens, Mr, Baughman stated that he voted for the building too, I have seen this town change a lot, We had very few older people in this town when I came here. I think all of you realize that the group of senior citizens in this town will grow by leaps and bounds, I was looking into the future, I think we should build the building, I do think that we need to consider the senior citizens living on tighter budgets who could not pay the higher fees, I think we need to prepare for these senior citizens, I can' t see why we can' t adjust this program to allow for the people who cannot afford the increase, Mr, Doty stated that you are proposing a big kitchen and a big new building. Now we are cooking for ourselves and keeping our building clean, If we move lJ into this new building, we will have to hire spmeone to cook for us and hire a janitor, We cannot afford this, Mr, Baughman stated that he does not see why we cannot sit down and work out a solution to this problem, Mr, Palmer moved that a committee from the citizens meet with a committee senior from Council along with the City Manager  7A0,- -- 275 and sit down and see if we can solve this situation, Motion was seconded by Mr. Baughman and Mayor Pro Tern called for discussion, City Manager explained that this senior citizens building is a necessity. The I building that not adequate, you presently provide is winter visitors, you can provide You are not going to be able to accept the Canadians and other My contention is that this structure with federal funds, There are other ways that our citizens can enjoy the benefits of the building without raising their fees. We can get help by raising fees of the non. residents, Also, the big thing in the downtown area is souvenir shops, It' s possible that we could get someone to teach crafts so that you could sell them to the souvenir shops, This is a ten. year project, We tried to build one before and instead we built the Ferry- Park Recreation Center, Mr, Brock stated that he has eaten lunch with the Senior Citizens and it is a little crowded in their building, I think we need to build the building, I think we can do something about the fee structure, Mr, Rigdon asked if an architect has been hired for this building, City Manager replied yes, However, I have asked him to hold up on this until we get settled, Mr, Rigdon asked Mr, Doty if the Senior Citizens would agree to the building if the fee structure stays the same. They replied yes, Question was called for, and motion carried unanimously, I MINUTES Mayor Pro Tem presented the minutes of the July 13. 1976 regular meeting for Council approval, Mr, Rigdon moved that the minutes be approved, Motion was seconded by Mr, Hill and carried unanimously,  C''''' "....'-"..._~..-,,'.;-,.-.-~-","-'" i 0_-<: 1 T-.~. Y_"-,"--_'--'"''''~ iI 276 1/z1/ t(, SENIOR CITIZENS RESOLUTION Mrs, Faye Wolverton. President of the Senior Citizens Club presented a reso- lution stating their feelings about the new building, TRASH PICK UP IN VICTORIA Mrs, 329 Holmes Bou1evard" asked Foster. GARDENS why they do up anymore, not We have regular trash pick have not had a regular l