City Commission Meeting Summary - April 9, 2008
The City Commission met in regular session and took the following action:
Item .5 - Mayor Marks presented a proclamation proclaiming April 2008 as Child Abuse Prevention Month in the City of Tallahassee
The following persons appeared before the Commission relative to this item:
- Mr. Walt Cook, Department of Children and Families Regional Director
- Mr. Angel Trejo, Circuit Administrator
- Ms. Pat Smith, Regional Communications Manager
- Ms. Anisha Little, Operations Program Administrator
- Ms. Darlene Seay, Support Services Director
- Ms. Allison Austin, Supervisor for Brehon
Items 1-7 - Voted 5-0 to approve the staff's recommendations presented in Consent Agenda Items 1-7, taking the following action:
Item 1 - Approved the reappointment of Ms. Mary Miaisha Mitchell to the Tallahassee Housing Authority to a term expiring April 2012 (as recommended by Mayor Marks)
Item 2 - Approved the purchase of batteries for the Purdom Unit 8 steam turbine generator uninterruptible power supply (Bid #0103-08-RM-QP) from Nolan Power Group, LLC, low bidder meeting specifications, in an amount not to exceed $60,662 (Option 1 as recommended by Electric Utility)
Item 3 - Approved contract amendment #1 to Contract #1523 with Emerson Ovation, for additional technical field assistance and potential hardware costs, in an amount not to exceed $56,650 (Option 1 as recommended by Electric Utility)
Item 4 - Approved Phase I of the Welaunee Plantation Land Planning Services Agreement with Wood+Partners Inc. (WPI), for an estimated cost of $85,000, and a supplementary appropriation in the amount of $100,000 to Project #06119 - Welaunee Land Purchase from the RR&I Fund balance (Option 1 as recommended by Electric Utility)
Item 5 - Approved the renewal of the Street Sweeping Agreement with Leon County for an additional period of two years, providing for an annual payment to the City of $52,682.42 to be paid quarterly, and authorized the City Manager or her designee to execute an appropriate amendment to that agreement (Option 1 as recommended by Public Works/Streets & Drainage)
Item 6 - Approved the award of a construction contract for Bond Community Neighborhood Infrastructure Enhancement Project (NIEP) Phases II/III (Bid No. 0059-08-ER-BC) to North Florida Asphalt, Inc., low bidder meeting specifications, in the amount of $2,483,753.50, and a non-scope construction change order contingency, in the amount of $124,187.68, to be awarded by the City Manager if needed for these contractual services; and authorized the City Manager to execute a Continuing Services Engineering Study for Geotechnical Investigation to Environmental and Geotechnical Specialists, Inc., in the amount of $34,927, to also be paid out of Project No. 03066 (Option 1 as recommended by Public Works/Project Management)
Item 7 - Approved the minutes of the March 12, 2008, Regular City Commission Meeting as distributed (as recommended by the City Treasurer-Clerk/Records Management)
Item 8 - Discussed the First Annual Tallahassee Film Festival, and voted 4-0 (Commissioner Katz absent) to conceptually approve providing in-kind support for this event with more specifics to be provided (brought forward by Mayor Marks)
Ms. Gloria Pugh, of Man with a Truck Company, appeared before the Commission relative to this item.
Congratulated Ms. Pugh on her company being the only company in the tri-state area to be nominated for the National Independent Moving Company of the Year, and for being asked to serve on the American Moving and Storage Association Board
Discussed reducing the number of City-sponsored special events and requested that the staff develop a proposed formula so that City support would be phased out in the expectation that such events would become self supporting
Item 9 - Received an update on negotiations on the Fire Services Agreement with Leon County, and discussed the need to eliminate the funding inequity
Voted 4-0 (Commissioner Katz absent) to approve further negotiations on the conceptual framework for a joint Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) service delivery (brought forward by Commissioner Gillum
Items 10-15 - By consensus, introduced Ordinances Nos. 08-Z-14, 08-Z-21, 08-Z-22, 08-O-23, 08-O-26 and 08-O-29, as follows, and set the ordinances for public hearings as recommended:
Item 10 was a staff recommendation to introduce Ordinance No. 08-Z-14, which would modify the Capital Circle Office Complex PUD and rezone a total of 149.93 acres from CPA (Critical Planning Area) to PUD (Planned Unit Development) (PRZ #06022) (applicant: Florida Department of Management Services; agent: Hatch Mott MacDonald), and set the ordinance for public hearing on April 23, 2008 (Option 1 as recommended by Planning).
Item 17 was a staff recommendation to introduce Ordinance No. 08-Z-21, which would rezone a site located on the south side of Ridge Road approximately 2,600 feet west of Crawfordville Highway from R-3 (Single and Two-Family Residential) to MR-1 (Medium Density Residential) (RZ #080004) (agent: Synergy Design and Engineering, Inc.), and set the ordinance for public hearing on April 23, 2008 (Option 1 as recommended by Planning).
Item 12 was a staff recommendation to introduce Ordinance No. 08-Z-22, which would rezone 1.21 acres at the northwest corner of East Park Avenue and Magnolia Drive from OR-3 (Office Residential) to C-2 (General Commercial) (RZ #080005) (applicants/owners: PESCO Inc., Public Employees SC, and Ben F. Betts, Jr.; agent: Canter Group Planning and Design), and set the ordinance for public hearing on April 23, 2008 (Option 1 as recommended by Planning).
Item 13 was a staff recommendation to introduce Ordinance No. 08-O-23, which would require animal owners to remove and properly dispose of animal fecal matter in all places other than the premises of the owner of the animal, and set the ordinance for public hearing on April 23, 2008 (Option 1 as recommended by the City Attorney).
Item 14 was a staff recommendation to introduce Ordinance No. 08-O-26, which would amend the City Code to provide for some clean-up/housekeeping and compliance issues, and provide for Police Officer's Pension Plan enhancements and the establishment of a Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) plan pursuant to bargaining unit contract agreement; and set the ordinance for public hearing on April 23, 2008 (Option 1 as recommended by the City Treasurer-Clerk).
Item 15 was a staff recommendation to introduce Ordinance No. 08-O-29, which would adopt Comprehensive Plan Amendments related to the Capital Center Office Complex (CCOC) Development of Regional Impact (DRI), and set the ordinance for public hearing on April 23, 2008 (Option 1 as recommended by the City Attorney).
Item 16 - Discussed the Public Safety Wireless Network and voted 3-0 (Mayor Marks abstained; Commissioner Katz absent) to approve the rankings of the RFP Evaluation Committee for a renewable one-year contract for implementation of a cellular-based data system for Police and Fire personnel (RFP #0022-08-JAG-C-C-RC), and authorize execution of renewable one-year contracts with AT&T as the cellular provider within the City limits for Police and with Alltel as the cellular provider for service countywide for Fire, requiring recurring annual operating costs of approximately $195,000 starting with Fiscal Year 2010 (Option 1 as recommended by Police)
Item 17 - Discussed and voted 4-0 (Commissioner Katz absent) to authorize the execution of Mutual Aid Agreements for Fire Service between the City of Tallahassee and interested parties throughout the Big Bend Region, including Gadsden, Jefferson, Franklin, Wakulla, Taylor and Madison Counties (Option 1 as recommended by Fire)
Item 18 - Voted 4-0 (Commissioner Katz absent) to adopt amended language to provide clarity to the 2004-2007 State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program Local Housing Assistance Plan (LHAP) Purchase Assistance strategy for affordable housing (Option 1 as recommended by Economic and Community Development)
Item 19 - Discussed the "Arts on Gaines" development proposal to build affordable housing and an "Arts Incubator" on Gaines Street, as presented by the Council on Culture & Arts (COCA) and Artspace, Inc.; emphasized the need to make an effort to lower the City's cost contribution; requested a calculation on the City's return through ad valorem taxes; and expressed a desire for the County government to become involved
Voted 5-0 to approve the proposed "Arts on Gaines" development concept, including exploration of the proposed alternate site located along Railroad Avenue north of the Amtrak Station (brought forward by Economic and Community Development)
Mr. Greg Handberg, Vice President of Artspace, Inc., appeared before the Commission relative to this item.
Item 20 - Voted 4-0 (Commissioner Katz absent) to approve the Evening Rose PUD Phase II Concurrency Development Agreement, as presented, for an inclusionary housing mixed-use community being developed by K2 Urbancorp, LLC, on 36 acres near the intersection of Mahan drive and Capital Circle Northeast (Option 1 as recommended by the City Attorney)
Item 21 - Discussed a proposed partnership agreement with Leon County and Innovation Park for the development of a 10,000 square foot BioTech Incubator, which would include 4,100 square feet to house Cypress Systems Inc, a corporate relocation candidate, and would foster new biotechnology businesses by providing "wet lab" space and other amenities for new business developing in conjunction with research work being done at Florida State University and Florida A & M University
Voted 4-0 (Commissioner Katz absent) to authorize the City Manager to develop the partnership agreement with a City contribution of $500,000 from a capital item in the City's Budget, looking to a partner to reduce the City's investment (brought forward by Department of Economic & Community Development)
Ms. Beth Kirkland and Mr. Kim Williams, of the Tallahassee Chamber's Economic Development Council (EDC), appeared before the Commission relative to this item.
Target Issue Committee Updates
Long Range Planning
Commissioner Gillum reported that the affordable housing portion of the Comprehensive Plan Evaluation & Assessment Report (EAR) would be brought to the Commission on April 16, 2008. He also advised that staff would be bringing forward Capital Improvement Element (CIE) Comprehensive Plan Amendments for projects prioritized in the 10-15 year schedule.
Environmental and Energy Resources
Commissioner Lightsey reported that RFP's had been issued for Construction Manager of the Lake Bradford Road Wastewater Improvements Project, the first phase of Smart Metering Plan would be going in at Piney Z in the near future, and the City's Green Initiative would be brought to the Commission on April 23, 2008.
Mayor Marks noted that a three-county workshop would be held at Wakulla Springs the next day, beginning at 10 a.m., regarding how the contamination of Wakulla Springs should be addressed.
Commissioner Gillum advised that the BECOM's request to change its ground floor space on Kleman Plaza from Retail to Office had been postponed.
CTC/RM/ecg:04-11-08