City Commission Meeting Summary - August 19, 2009
The City Commission met in regular session and took the following action:
Recognized the passing of Circuit Court Judge Kevin Davey with a moment of silence
The Commission acknowledged the strong progressive voice and commitment to the community of Commissioner Allan Katz, who had resigned from the City Commission effective August 15, 2009, noting that he would be missed. City Manager Thompson announced that a reception was being planned in recognition of Commissioner Katz following the August 26th City Commission meeting at 5:00 p.m.
Item 1 - Mayor Marks, joined by General Manager of Underground Utilities Mike Tadros, and staff members of the City's Underground Utilities and Water Division, accepted the presentation of an award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), presented by Mr. Van Hoofnagle, Administrator of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Drinking Water Program, recognizing the City's "Outstanding 2008 Water Quality Report" and public education activities; also, recognized the 100th anniversary of the City of Tallahassee providing safe water to area citizens (brought forward by the Office of the Mayor)
Item 2 - Applauded the acceptance of the award of a Safety Certificate from Phoenix Aviation Managers, Inc. to the City of Tallahassee and the Tallahassee Regional Airport, presented to Mayor Marks and Director of Aviation Ken Austin by Risk Manager Gail Shuffler, who noted that this certificate recognized the commitment and demonstrated record of superior performance in airport safety, as evidenced by Phoenix's recent completion of an Aviation Safety Audit of the Airport; and recognized and thanked members of the Airport Safety Team for their involvement in the Airport Safety Program (brought forward by Risk Management)
Item 3 - Recognized participants of the City's recently-completed Summer Youth Sidewalk Program, which provided up to eight (8) weeks of full-time employment for youths from 16 to 24 years old; received a Power Point presentation on the Program; and thanked Commissioner Gillum, Public Works Director Gabriel Menendez and his staff, and all involved participants in this Program (brought forward by Public Works)
The following persons appeared before the Commission relative to this item:
Leon County School's Booker T. Washington participants, including: Fredrick Andrews, Jamichael Clark, Antonio Gaskins, De'Tarious Jackson, Jamal Lord, Aaron Powell, Raheem Sparrow, Christopher Troupe, Taj Williams, Andrew Wiggins, and their mentor, Devin Davis, Engineering Student
Larry Thompson, Special Projects Coordinator
Dr. Marvin Henderson, Associate Superintendent of Schools
Chief Executive Officer Allan Stamm, of the Go Beyond Foundation
Workforce Plus staff, including: Desi Cochran, Korey Fryson, Shantwaun Turner, Michael Welch and Russell Whitlow (Otis Miller was not present)
Youth Career Specialist Debrechea Hopkins, of Workforce Plus
Director of Operations Dorcas Washington, of Workforce Plus
Chief Executive Officer Kimberly A. Moore, of Workforce Plus
Item 4 - Mr. Mike Sittig, Executive Director of the Florida League of Cities (FLC), recognized Mayor Marks on his installation the previous weekend as President of the FLC, and the Commission congratulated Mayor Marks this achievement (brought forward by the City Manager's Office)
Additionally, Director of Environmental Policy and Energy Resources Cynthia Barber announced that the City of Tallahassee had also received the Florida League of Cities' Best Practices Award
Items 5 and 7-15 - Voted 4-0 to approve the staff's recommendations presented in Consent Agenda Items 5 and 7-15, taking the following action:
Item 5 - Approved the appointments of Laverne Wells-Bowie to Seat 1 of the Urban Design Commission (UDC), to a term expiring July 2011, and Melissa Saunders to Seat 4 of the UDC, to a terms expiring July 2012 (recommended by Mayor Marks)
Item 6 - Pulled from Consent an item related to the City's collaboration with One Economy Corporation on the implementation of the 2009-2010 local Comcast Digital Connectors Youth Program through the Apalachee Ridge Technology Learning Center (brought forward by Mayor Marks) - SEE BELOW
Item 7 - Adopted Resolution 09-R-23, amending the 2007-2010 Local Housing Assistance Plan (LHAP) to include the Florida Homebuyer Opportunities Program Strategy, making the City eligible to receive Florida Homebuyer Opportunities Program funds (Option 1 recommended by Economic and Community Development [ECD])
Item 8 - Approved a decrease in the maximum limit for first-time homebuyer down payment assistance loans from $10,000 to $8,000, effective October 1, 2009, for those at or below 80% of the area median income (AMI) (Option 1 recommended by ECD)
Item 9 - Ratified the City Manager's emergency authorization for $250,000 of supplemental funding into the Residential Energy Loan Program (Fund 403); approved supplementing the Residential Energy Loan Program Fund with an additional $1.5 million transfer from the Energy Conservation Fund (Fund 414); and authorized these funds to be allocated in the current fiscal year (Option 1 recommended by Energy Services)
Item 10 - Approved the award and execution of three-year term Professional Medical Services Contracts with John T. MacKay, MD; Patients First; Chris Van Sickle, MD; and The Doctors Center Health Services - for total estimated expenditures of $260,700 over the life of the contracts (Department of Management and Administration [DMA]/Procurement Services)
Item 11 - Authorized acceptance and expenditure of the award of FY2009 grants received from the U. S. Department of Justice, in the amount of $910,725 - the Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) grant to fund five (5) police officer positions for three fiscal years; the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, in the amount of $199,836 - the regular FY2009 Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) to support multiple programs and equipment purchases as detailed in the agenda item; and Florida Department of Transportation, in the amount of $20,000 - a Safe Driving grant to sponsor a competition between area high schools to create the best public service announcement targeting teen traffic safety (Option 1 recommended by Tallahassee Police Department [TPD])
Item 12 - Approved the development of contracts with community transportation carriers for the Community Transportation Program (RFP #0136-09-BM-RC) to Big Bend Transit and Sessaly Rose Transit, low bidders meeting specifications, based on their ability to perform and execution of agreements to provide ambulatory and wheelchair-bound clients countywide transportation (Option 1 recommended by StarMetro)
Item 13 - Adopted Resolution 09-R-15, authorizing borrowing an amount not to exceed $2,800,000 from the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection under the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund Agreement WW581260, and authorizing the issuance of not to exceed $10,000,000 in City of Tallahassee Capital Improvement Refunding Revenue Bonds, Series 2008, delegating certain responsibilities to the Mayor and the City Treasurer-Clerk, providing certain other covenants and agreements in connection therewith, and providing an effective date (Option 1 recommended by the City Treasurer-Clerk and Underground Utilities)
Item 14 - Adopted Resolution 09-R-27, allowing the City to be reimbursed from the proceeds of a planned future bond sale for the Joint dispatch facility, as it is reasonably expected that a portion of the total $27 million project costs will be incurred prior to the bond sale (Option 1 recommended by the City Treasurer-Clerk)
Item 15 - Approved the minutes of the following City Commission meetings (recommended by the City Treasurer-Clerk/Records Management):
- May 27, 2009 Regular Meeting
- June 10, 2009 Regular Meeting
- June 18, 2009 Budget Workshop
- June 24, 2009 Regular Meeting
Item 6 (pulled from Consent) - Voted 4-0 to accept a Memorandum of Understanding as executed by the City of Tallahassee and One Economy Corporation relative to their collaboration on the implementation of the 2009-2010 local Comcast Digital Connectors Youth Program through the Apalachee Ridge Technology Learning Center (recommended by Mayor Marks)
Mr. Terrence Mills, Coordinator of the Apalachee Ridge Technology Learning Center, appeared before the Commission relative to this item.
Items 16-19 - By consensus, introduced Ordinances Nos. 09-O-11, 09-O-24, 09-O-31 and 09-Z-33, and set the ordinances for public hearings as recommended:
Item 16 - Introduced Ordinance No. 09-O-11, which would amend the Land Development Regulations to implement Comprehensive Plan Reform, including changes from Comprehensive Plan Amendment 2006-2-T-09, and set the ordinance for public hearings on August 26 and October 28, 2009 (Option 1 recommended by Planning)
Item 17 - Introduced Ordinance No. 09-O-24, which would amend the Local Charitable Contribution Preference in Purchasing and Contracting, and set the ordinance for public hearing on September 23, 2009 (Option 1 recommended by the City Attorney)
Item 18 - Introduced Ordinance No. 09-O-31, which would amend "glitches" and "minor policy" changes to Chapters 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10 of the Land Development Code, and set the ordinance for public hearings on August 26 and October 28, 2009 (Option 1 recommended by Growth Management)
Item 19 - Introduced Ordinance No. 09-Z-33, which would rezone approximately 16.92 acres, located on the north side of Mahan Drive approximately 600 feet east of the intersection of Capital Circle Northeast and Mahan Drive, from the M-1 (Light Industrial) and PUD (Planned Unit Development) zoning districts to the CP (Commercial Parkway) zoning district, (PRZ 090009) (applicant: Iamonia Investments, Ltd; agent: Developers Realty & Investment Properties, Inc.) and set the ordinance for public hearing on September 23, 2009 (Option 1 recommended by Planning)
Item 20 - Voted 4-0 to approve the award of contracts to Capital Area Community Action Agency (CACAA), Brehon Institute and Family Services, Inc., and Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida, to administer the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP), which was created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 - allowing the City to receive $784,267 in HPRP funds to be administered by these non-profit agencies (Option 1 recommended by ECD)
Commissioner Gillum requested that staff monitor the administrative costs for these contracts to ensure they did not exceed the percentage recommendation of 5% as provided by Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Item 21 - Voted 4-0 to approve a Temporary Economic Emergency Concurrency Relief Agreement with the Florida Commerce Credit Union for a credit union facility at 1545 Raymond Diehl Road, which provides a 50% reduction in transportation concurrency fees -- reducing the fees to be collected from $175,489 to $87,744, as amended to include replacement page 17 of Attachment #1 to the agenda item reflecting the correct green building SEER rating and code (Option 1 recommended by Growth Management)
Item 22 - DELECTED FROM THE AGENDA a discussion of the Construction Management Contract Award for Pre-Construction Services of the Public Safety Complex (no material provided)
Item 23 - Voted 4-0 to approve and authorize the City Manager to execute the 2009-2012 FAMU "Venom Express" Service Agreement for On-Campus and U-PASS Transit Services -- providing the City with a total of $507,030 in funding for the transit system during the first year of the agreement (Option 1 recommended by StarMetro)
Target Issue Update, Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) - Commissioner Gillum and Commissioner Lightsey briefly discussed the following issues that had come before them as the Long Range Planning Target Issue Committee (LRPC), and they commended the visionary and innovative thinking of City staff on these issues:
- draft ordinance that would amend the Land Development Code (LDC) to provide for two (2) alternate members to serve of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals, one appointed by the City and one by the County;
- draft amendment to the LDC to clarify that City staff may require applicants to meet only criteria that are applicable to the site plan;
- verbal update presentation on gateway projects;
- report on the establishment of a team of representatives of appropriate departments to address development projects within the downtown boundaries;
- verbal update on the Historic Preservation Overlay Ordinance; and,
- proposal to commemorate the 1960 civil rights sit-ins at the former McCrory's department store location at 220-224 South Monroe Street with a memorial and historic marker in the public right-of-way, apart from any landscape intended for the Seminole Tribe of Florida (S.T.O.F.) property, indicating that the Committee provided direction to the staff to meet with appropriate citizen groups and City departments to develop a design for a commemorative sidewalk.
Commissioner Gillum also commended Director of Public Works Gabriel Menendez and his staff on taking ownership of the Commission's directive to initiate the Summer Youth Sidewalk Program that program, and City Manager Thompson expressed hope that this program could be replicated and that such creativity could be demonstrated with other programs.
Unagendaed Speakers -
Mr. Erwin Jackson, 1348 Jackson Bluff Road, appeared before the Commission and reported that he had been successful in arranging funding for a campus redevelopment project and looked forward to working with City staff on the project. He commended the Solid Waste Department on the prompt removal of trash during move out/move in times with student housing, and he stated that the ethics complaint he had filed against Commissioner Allan Katz had not been dismissed. Mr. Jackson submitted a copy of the Order Finding Probably Cause, Complaint No. 09-015 before the State Commission on Ethics (placed on file in the Office of the City Treasurer-Clerk).
Mr. Steve Stewart, 2904 Tyron Circle, appeared before the Commission and requested information on the dollar value of the deferred compensation program provided to members of the City Commission.
City Commission Vacancy
Confirmed details of the process that was in place and pertinent dates for filling the unexpired City Commission Seat, which became vacant with the August 15th resignation of Commissioner Katz, including:
August 25, 2009, at 12:00 noon deadline for all applications to be received in the Office of the City Treasurer-Clerk
August 25, 2009, end of day provide names of all applicants to members of the Commission
August 28, 2009, 12:00 noon each member of the Commission is asked to submit his or her top three (3) applicant choices to the Office of the City Treasurer-Clerk, and the staff would provide the overall top five (5) applicant names to the Commissioners
August 31, 2009, 12:00 noon the Commission will convene in special session and begin the nomination process, in seniority order, for selecting an appointee to fill the Commission vacancy created by the resignation of Commissioner Katz
Discussed the question of whether to impose any restrictions on the selection of a candidate to fill the Commission vacancy, including whether the incumbent should be restricted from running in the next election, and agreed with the importance of having the broadest possible list of applicants.
City Attorney English recommended that applicants sending their application by e-mail should call and confirm the receipt of the application in the Office of the City Treasurer-Clerk.
City Treasurer-Clerk Herndon advised that anyone who sent an application and received no confirmation from his office, should call his office and he clarified that all applications must be received and date stamped in his office prior to noon on Tuesday, August 25, 2009.
Killearn Lakes Sewage System Concern
Commissioner Lightsey requested a report on customer complaints that the hybrid individual sewage systems in place in Killearn Lakes was not functioning properly.
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