Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 05-17-05 workshop minutes — reading text

165 MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 17, 2005 INTRODUCTION A Council Workshop Meeting of the City Council of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, was held on Tuesday, May 17, 2005 at 5: 30 p. m. with the following members present: Mayor Mike Anderson Councilmen: Mike Holmes, Bill Patterson, Bob Campbell, Jim Tucker, and Mike Minich. Absent: Dr. Wayne Pullen, and Jim Hartwell Also Present: Joyce Shanahan, City Manager; Helen Spencer, City Clerk; Toni Craig, City Attorney; and Department Directors. CALL TO ORDER The Mayor called the meeting to order. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Mayor led in the Pledge of Allegiance FWB HEIGHT DATA Presentation by Garieth ( Gary) Pelham, Chief, Eglin Air Force Base Encroachment Office on the status update of Fort Walton Beach Height Data. Mr. Pelham gave an overhead presentation on the status of the height data being collected by the Air Force at the request of Fort Walton Beach. He reviewed the height data collection plan that will select four radar and telemetry sites that cover Fort Walton Beach, take photo and radar images from the four locations and will focus on the southern quadrants with at least four views per site, use images to determine existing impacts, to create lines of reference for each quadrant, the overlap quadrants to determine height limitation recommendations, and provide the information to the Fort Walton Beach Municipal Planning Board. He showed a data collection ( notational data for illustration purposes only) of a radar site line of site at 100 feet above mean sea level, what they expectto see in a view, single what they expect to see in a full quadrant of the four views, and a data He acknowledged overlay. due to changing technology that the radar line of site will be of concern for many years to come. He concluded with the height data time line to complete the initial data collection by the end of May 2005, to compile the data for Fort Walton Beach by the end of July 2005, to compile the data for all Eglin Site with a date to be determined, and to create an automated program for site specific height determinations with a date to be determined. In response to the question of whether limiting the height to 75' would be advantageous to accomplishing Eglin' s mission, Mr. Pelham replied it would not be a negative impact and above 75' would depend on what is around it, and added he could not give a definitive answer at this point. In response to the question of whether Eglin is working with the City of Destin, Mr. Pelham replied there has been no request from Destin, and at this point they are working with Fort Walton Beach because they had a request for the information. In response to whether there are concerns with air traffic control Mr. Pelham replied they have not had any concerns at this point with air traffic control. Mr. Pelham stated they w ill try to have the data for each one of the sites throughout Fort Walton Beach by the end of July. They will bring it to the Planning Board then present to Council at the same time. 166 5- 17- 05 CODE REVISIONS Discussion of reviser ordinances proposed for revising the Fort Walton Beach Municipal Code. The City Attorney explained the first three ordinances make editorial, non- substantive changes to correct gender- based references, to correct fee provisions, and for the organization and adoption of the republication of the Code. She noted these ordinances will be seen at the end of the process. Discussion of repealing, amending ordinances proposed for revising the Fort Walton Beach Municipal Code. The City Attorney explained the next six ordinances are needed because some codes are obsolete. The first ordinance will make consistent the designation of benefits with the actual plans offered by the City. The second ordinance will repeal the Grower' s Certificate because it is obsolete and preempted by the Florida Statutes. The third ordinance will repeal trailer park provisions because it is obsolete since there are no trailer parks in the City. The fourth ordinance will repeal obsolete committees. The fifth ordinance will enact enabling language for the Fire Fighters Retirement Fund Board and the Police Officers' Retirement Fund Board that will make consistent treatment for all retirement Boards. The sixth ordinance will provide enabling language for the City Manager and Finance Director to formulate procedures for processing city property. Discussion of substantive ordinances proposed for revising the Fort Walton Beach Municipal Code. The City Attorney noted each of the next six ordinances have been passed through staff and the City Clerk, but they have not gone through complete staff review. The City Attorney explained the first ordinance amends language to require the City Clerk to declare vacancies onboards, agencies, and committees upon the specified number of absences by a member. She noted this will create more effective control over Board member attendance, vacancy declaration, and member appointment by Council. She explained the issue has come up because often the Chairman does not want to be the bad guy but if the City Clerk is able to declare a vacancy, then the City Clerk can pass it on to Council and Council can start the process of placing someone on the Board quicker. The City Manager added that the ordinance may be taken to the Boards and Committees. Discussion was held on member attendance and the concern expressed over a possible violation of the Sunshine Law if a Board or Committee member were to call the Chair or Vice- Chair if they were going to be absent from a meeting, and whether or not the Chair or Vice- Chair has the authority to determine whether it is an excused or unexcused absence. The City Attorney explained this issue was recently addressed by the Code Enforcement Board and the definition of " excused" was left very broad so that if a member calls before the meeting, then it is excused; and further, under the Statute they are required to call the Chair or Vice- Chair. She noted that Council can make a policy decision about vacancies as long as it is more stringent than what is in the Statutes. She added that Council will probably see a recommendation to delete in the provisions Code. The City Attorney pointed out the second ordinance has a clerical error on line 75 that should read 20, 000 and on line 79 that should read $ 28,000. She explained the ordinance increases the level of purchases required to be advertised and competitively bid from $ 12, 000 to $ 20, 000 and increases the City Manager' s independent ability to spend for equipment and vehicle repairs from $ 20, 000 to 28, 000. She mentioned that Mr. Lee McDonald had requested a copy of the last ordinance on the City Manager' s spending authority and noted it was Ordinance 1454 adopted September 2001.  5- 17- 05 167 CODE REVISIONS cont. The City Attorney explained the third ordinance will repeal Chapter 21 Library, Chapter 24 Museum and Chapter 26 Parks a nd Recreation Services and them all place under a new Chapter entitled Leisure and Recreation Services, which will define and designate all parks, recreational and cultural facilities, and proscribe conduct, music, alcohol, traffic, and animals in all parks, recreational and cultural facilities. The City Attorney noted the changes will create consistent treatment of all leisure services and permit administrative control over administrative issues such as opening/ closing times, fees, use and permit application forms and procedures. It was questioned whether the Sound property across from City Hall could be added as a park at this time so an Administrative Change would not need to be made later. The City Manager