City Council Minutes

Transcription

1 Florida City Council Minutes Chairman: Robert J. Popoff City Council: Ted Forcht, Jerry Gibson, Chuck Kiester, Frank R. Recker, William D. Trotter, Wayne Waldack Work Session Meeting October 19, :00 p.m. Chairman Popoff called the meeting to order and presided. ROLL CALL All Councilors present. Also Present: Steven T. Thompson, City Manager Alan Gabriel, City Attorney Patricia Bliss, Finance Director Rony Joel, Public Works Director Mike Murphy, Fire Chief Thom Carr, Police Chief Steve Olmsted, Community Development Director Bryan Milk, Parks & Recreation Director Lisa Douglass, Information Systems Manager Laura Litzan, City Clerk Chris Byrne, Deputy Fire Chief Kris Van Lengen, City Planner Liz Carr, Code Enforcement Officer Debbie McCabe, Administrative Assistant Other interested citizens and visitors APPROVAL OF AGENDA Council recommended no changes to the agenda. Page 1 of 5

2 BUSINESS (A) DISCUSSION Budget Review / Reductions. (Editorial History: At the September 21, 2009 regular Council meeting, City Council requested staff recommend further budget reductions in the adopted Fiscal Year 2010 budget. In addition, it was Council s consensus to have Councilor Trotter present suggestions for next year s budget process to Council.) Information Systems Manager Lisa Douglass presented a timeline of the FY 2010 budget and a summary of the Financial Planning Committee s recommendations. Councilor Trotter provided and reviewed with Council his suggestions for the FY 2011 budgeting approach and potential cost-saving recommendations. Mr. Larry Magel, 2000 Royal Marco Way, provided Council with a comparison of the FY 2009 versus FY 2010 budgets and pointed out that there were increases in the FY 2010 budget for travel, training, and publications and other operational expense line items (equipment and building repairs, etc.) that could have been reduced. Mr. Magel suggested Council consider an ad hoc Productivity Committee to receive more input from the people regarding the budget and look now for ways to save money. In addition, he commented about a letter he wrote to Council requesting them to develop a budget that spends no more than a 1.60 millage rate level. Mr. Jose Granda, 831 Partridge Court, urged Council to spend this year at a 1.60 millage rate level and reduce more expenses. Mr. Amadeo Petricca, 331 Regatta Street, felt obtaining bonds is not always best and the City should set aside money for reserves. Mr. David Abercrombie, 635 North Barfield Drive, requested Council keep in mind capital money for bridges. Dr. Fay Biles, 1588 Heights Court, believes the City should defer some of the big projects. Mr. John Arceri, 1228 Lamplighter Court, urged Council to direct the City Manager to take more action in reducing operational expenses or implement an ad hoc committee to look at operational expenses and make recommendations to Council. Ms. Linda McCune, 1596 Shores Court, expressed that staff is only reducing what Council tells them to cut from the budget. Page 2 of 5

3 Following public comment, Council reached a consensus to move forward with the FY 2010 budget and provided direction to the City Manager to develop a proposal to reduce the FY 2010 operations budget by an additional $420,000 to bring the level to approximately a 1.60 millage rate, bringing it close to the same percentage reduction for capital expense, and putting the remaining into a holding account, and reporting back to Council at the December 7, 2009 Council meeting. Councilor Trotter explained further that the direction is to retain the capital reductions recommended in the yellow sheet, but take an additional amount from the operating budget of approximately $420,000. Further, the consensus of Council was to move forward with Councilor Trotter s recommended FY 2011 Budgeting Approach and potential cost-saving recommendations. City Manager Steve Thompson advised Council he would meet with directors concerning department training and travel accounts and work with Councilor Trotter to provide Council with a proposal. (B) DISCUSSION Neighborhood Disturbances and the Quality of Life. (Editorial History: At the September 21, 2009 work session meeting, Council consensus was to postpone this item until the next work session meeting (October 19, 2009). Council has requested that staff provide a review of current enforcement efforts and suggest ordinance changes that will improve these efforts and minimize disruption and problems.) Police Chief Thom Carr provided a presentation on Neighborhood Disturbances and the Quality of Life and responded to Council s questions. Community Development Director Steve Olmsted provided a presentation on Code Enforcement Violations and responded to Council s questions. Ms. Jane Kiester, 1534 Buccaneer Court, spoke on behalf of approximately 57 women on Marco who have parking concerns and provided Council with proposed solutions to help Council come up with fair and equitable parking for all responsible homeowners with adult children, friends, and visitors that park their cars overnight. Ms. Pam Marro, 940 Giralda Court, suggested allowing a portion of the vehicle to extend into the street or allow diagonal parking and parking on empty lots. Ms. Claudia Klug-Kowel, 595 Hernando Drive, suggested two wheels be allowed to be on the road edge while parking in the swale and issue reusable permit cards to identify short-term guests. Page 3 of 5

4 Mr. Jose Granda, 831 Partridge Court, thinks the parking issues pertain primarily to parking in driveways and blocking sidewalks, not parking in the swale. Ms. Gina Sisbarro, unknown address, feels the City should deal with the neighborhood parking problem issue as a public nuisance. Mr. Ken Honecker, 632 Dorando Court, believes the message is out to the short-term rental property owners to not park across the sidewalk and in swales. Ms. Lisa Meurgue, 164 Balfour Court, agreed with some of the solutions proposed previously so her teenagers and friends can park safely in the driveway or swale and not receive a ticket. Chairman Popoff mentioned the City received a letter from Mr. Charles McKenna who is a quadriplegic and concerned about the obstruction of vehicles on public walkways. Dr. Fay Biles, 1588 Heights Court, questioned why no parking in the swale from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. was established. Following public comments, the consensus of Council was to have staff come back to Council with recommendations to consider parking in the swales from 2:00 a.m. to 6 a.m. and on vacant lots. (C) DISCUSSION Restaurant Parking. (Editorial History: At the September 21, 2009 Council work session meeting, it was Council s consensus to discuss restaurant parking at their next work session meeting of October 19, 2009). Planning Board Members Dr. Jim Riviere and Mr. Monte Lazarus addressed with Council the restaurant parking issues and responded to Council s questions. Community Development Director Steve Olmsted updated Council on restaurant parking and responded to Council s questions. Owner of the Old Marco Pub, Ms. Susan Ackerman, 1105 Bald Eagle Drive, pointed out that most restaurants are located in areas close to condominiums and parking is not as much of an issue for them, but restaurant seating is a concern. Page 4 of 5

5 Dr. Fay Biles, 1588 Heights Court, expressed concern about parking on private properties and the regulations for parking. Following discussion, the consensus Council reached was to direct staff to move forward with recommendations to change the calculation method for restaurant seating to square footage, reduce the parking requirements thereby, revisit off-site parking and bring back to Council for consideration. ADJOURN There being no further business to come before City Council, the meeting adjourned at 4:41 p.m. Frank R. Recker, Council Vice-Chair ATTEST: Laura Litzan, City Clerk PREPARED BY: Debbie McCabe, Secretary Page 5 of 5