City Commission Meeting Summary - Janaury 28, 2009
The City Commission met in regular session and took the following action (with Commissioner Gillum participating by telephone):
Mayor Marks recognized and welcomed those members of Boy Scouts Troop 117 who were in attendance as a requirement to receiving their Citizenship and Community Merit Badge.
Item 1 - Received a presentation, presented by Mr. Stephen Hogge, President of the Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA), launching the Tallahassee Neighborhood Energy Challenge (brought forward by Environmental Policy & Energy Resources)
Items 2-13 - Voted 4-0 (Commissioner Gillum absent) to approve the staff's recommendations presented in Consent Agenda Items 2-13, taking the following action:
Item 2 - Approved the appointment of Christie Joyner to serve on the Tallahassee-Leon County Board of Adjustment and Appeals to a term expiring June 2011 (recommended by Mayor Marks)
Item 3 - Approved the appointment of Stephen "Scott" Dick to serve on the Downtown Improvement Authority (DIA) to a term expiring June 2011 (recommended by Mayor Marks)
Item 4 - Authorized staff to negotiate and enter into a five-year extension of the Airport News and Gift Concession Lease Agreement between the City and The Paradies Shops, Inc., to be coterminous with the incumbent food and beverage concession agreement so that both agreements would expire January 2014 (Option 1 recommended by Aviation)
Item 5 - Approved the purchase of an additional runway sweeper from Environmental Products of Florida, Inc. and Ward International Trucks, Inc. for $170,203.49 in accordance with pricing, terms and conditions of City of Tallahassee Contract #1619 and #1285; and an amendment to the Aviation Capital Improvement Budget by moving the acquisition from FY2013 to FY2009 (Option 1 recommended by Aviation)
Item 6 - Authorized the City Manager to accept equipment from the Leon County Sheriff's Office for use by the City of Tallahassee Fire Department to expand the Fire Department's existing building security system, funded from a $15,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security and Office of Domestic Preparedness (Option 1 recommended by Fire Chief Dick)
Item 7 - Authorized ISS to extend its contract with Secure Records solutions in one-year increments for the next three years (Option 1 recommended by ISS)
Item 8 - Approved and authorized staff to execute three-year term contracts to Mowrey Elevator, Schindler Elevator, and Otis Elevator, low bidders meeting specifications (Option 1 recommended by the Department of Management & Administration [DMA]/Procurement)
Item 9 - Approved and authorized staff to execute three-year term contracts to Terminix, and Massey Service Inc., low bidders meeting specifications (Option 1 recommended by DMA/Procurement)
Item 10 - Authorized the Department of Public Works to construct roadway and drainage improvements, totaling $25,081.10, in conjunction with Good News Outreach site development for the Maryland Oaks Crossing Phase V affordable housing project (Option 1 recommended by Public Works/Streets & Drainage)
Item 11 - Approved the purchase of four (4) replacement hook trucks to be used by Solid Waste Services, each with the cab and chassis purchased from Ward International Truck, Inc., under Contract #1285, and the body purchased under from Work Truck LLC, under Contract #1494, for a total price of $376,307 for the four trucks (Option 1 recommended by Fleet Management and Solid Waste)
Item 12 - Authorized the City Manager to directly negotiate and execute, with concurrence from the City Attorney on an emergency basis, one or more contracts to secure the design and construction of pipeline capacity to fully or partially restore capacity lost in the 36-inch force main damaged by Tropical Storm Fay; and appropriate $4 million for the project from the Sewer Fund - Series 2007 CUS Bond Fund Undesignated Balance (Option 1 recommended by Underground Utilities)
Item 13 - Approved the minutes of the following City Commission meetings (recommended by the City Treasurer-Clerk/Records Management Officer):
- January 7, 2009 - Joint City-County Commission public Hearing on Adoption of 2008-1 EAR Based Comprehensive Plan Amendments
- January 14, 2009 - Regular Meeting
Item 14 - Voted 4-0 (Commissioner Gillum absent) to approve the Wakulla Springshed Regional Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and authorize Commissioner Lightsey to sign the Agreement on behalf of the City of Tallahassee, and commit to work cooperatively with Leon County and Wakulla County to protect the shared regional Wakulla Springshed water resources (Option 1 recommended by Underground Utilities)
Mr. Charles Pattison, President of 1000 Friends of Florida, appeared before the Commission relative to this item.
Item 15 - Received a staff briefing from DMA Director Raoul Lavin and voted 4-0 (Commissioner Gillum absent) to accept the FY2008 Budgetary Closeout Report as presented - for a revised FY2008 City Operating Budget of $662,500,305 after transfers, and a FY2008 City Capital Budget of $480,837,710 (brought forward by the Department of Management & Administration [DMA]/Accounting)
Item 16 - Received a Mid-Year Update on the FY2009 Budget, presented by Mr. Lavin, and voted 4-0 (Commissioner Gillum absent) to approve the following (recommended by DMA/Office of Budget & Policy):
- De-obligate revenues and expenditures within the General Fund for FY2009 in the amount of $2.5 million.
- De-obligate expenses of $584,000 in the Building Inspection Fund for FY2009 and approve reassignment of five positions to the Energy Services Department, and use of CDBG funding to support three additional positions for enhanced code enforcement (not addressing the total projected deficit but staff will be working with Growth Management to develop additional recommendations).
- Approve transferring position #0291 from the General Fund to StarMetro to assist in financial management and oversight.
Item 17 - Discussed available options for bylaws of the Community Human Services Partnership (CHSP) Joint Planning Board (JPB); and voted 5-0 (Commissioner Gillum voting telephonically) to approve the City Manager's following recommendation as amended to utilize the Joint Planning Board as advisory for policies set by the Commission pending the completion of the assessment process; and clarified that there would be no appeals for the Joint Planning Board to hear within the next 3-4 months (item was brought forward by Economic & Community Development [ECD]):
Include in the upcoming human services needs assessment an evaluation of the role of the JPB and ask the consultant to make recommendations related to structure and authority of the JPB. These recommendations could include any of the options currently being considered, or any new options the consultant may consider appropriate.
It is anticipated that the assessment will be completed in 6-9 months. We would specifically request the consultant to address the process and structure issues as the first part of their evaluation, assuming a 90-day completion time.
Approve for 90 days (or a time period consistent with the completion of this portion of the report) the existing bylaws as recommended by the JPB. These bylaws would sunset upon completion of the portion of the assessment that makes recommendations on the role and structure of the JPB. These recommendations would be acted upon by each of the funding entities.
Item 17.1 - Voted 5-0 (Commissioner Gillum voting telephonically) to approve an amendment to the Easement Agreement with the McKibbon Hotel Group Inc. to increase the reimbursement amount for the construction of an underground stormwater facility to provide for the development of the entire Floridan Block, increasing the reimbursement amount by $145,662, to a total not to exceed amount of $695,662 to cover additional costs incurred due to design modifications required by the City (Option 1 recommended by ECD)
Item 17.2 - Discussed and voted 5-0 (Commissioner Gillum voting telephonically) to approve the issuance of a joint County/City Request for Proposal (RFP) to acquire architectural and engineering design services for the Public Safety Complex using Leon County's Purchasing Division and procedures (Option 1 recommended by Public Works)
Item 18 - Held the first of two public hearings on Ordinance No. 08-O-68, introduced on December 10, 2008, which would establish a mapped Primary Springs Protection Zone (PSPZ) and development standards in the Land Development Code, initiating implementation of Comprehensive Plan Policy 4.2.5:[C], effective with Comprehensive Plan Amendment PCM 080117; the second and final public hearing on the ordinance was scheduled for 6:00 p.m., February 25, 2009, in the City Hall Commission Chambers (Option 1 recommended by Planning)
There were no speakers on this item.
Item 19 - Held a public hearing and voted 5-0 (Commissioner Gillum voting telephonically) to adopt Ordinance No. 08-O-70, introduced on December 3, 2008, changing the general penalty provision in section 1-7 of the City Code to a civil citation, and designating several ordinance violations as civil infractions (Option 1 recommended by the City Attorney)
There were no speakers on this item.
Item 20 - Held a public hearing and voted 5-0 (Commissioner Gillum voting telephonically) to adopt Ordinance No. 08-O-71, introduced on December 3, 2008, amending the City Code to provide specific criminal penalties and deleting redundant ordinances where there is an identical criminal offense in the Florida Statutes (Option 1 recommended by the City Attorney)
There were no speakers on this item.
Item 21 - Held a public hearing and voted 5-0 (Commissioner Gillum voting telephonically) to adopt Ordinance No. 08-O-72AA, introduced on December 10, 2008, regulating the use of fertilizer within the City, as amended to add an additional training option as proposed by staff and deleting the Occasional Applicator exemption (Option 2 recommended by the City Attorney)
The following persons appeared before the Commission in support of this item:
- Mr. Bill Wert, 138 Staghorn Trail
- Ms. Linda Thomas, 1916 Talpeco Road, representing Rex Thomas Pest Control
- Mr. Rex Thomas, 1916 Talpeco Road, representing Rex Thomas Pest Control
Item 22 - Held a public hearing and voted 5-0 (Commissioner Gillum voting telephonically) to adopt Ordinance no. 09-Z-03, introduced on January 14, 2009, rezoning approximately 0.09 acres located on the east side of North Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., approximately 205 feet south of 6th Avenue, from the Residential Preservation-2 (RP-2) Zoning District to the Residential Preservation-2 (RP-2) Zoning District with Historic Preservation Overlay (HPO), and adding the property to the Local Register of Historic Places (PRZ #080024) (Option 1 recommended by Planning)
There were no speakers on this item.
Item 23 - Held a public hearing and voted 4-1 (Commissioner Gillum voting telephonically and Commissioner Mustian opposed) to adopt Ordinance No. 09-O-05, introduced on January 14, 2009, requiring that users of fire emergency services as a result of vehicular accidents pay for maintenance and operating costs related to the incident, providing for the types of costs to be covered by the ordinance, authorizing the collection of prescribed fees, providing for a designated trust account for fees collected, and authorizing expenditures of funds from the designated account to defray the motor vehicle accident fire rescue costs (Option 1 recommended by the Fire Chief)
Directed staff to bring this ordinance back for review after six months of implementation
The following persons appeared before the Commission in opposition to this item:
- Mr. William Stander, 1786 Vineyard Way, representing himself and Property Casualty Insurers Association of America
- Mr. Dale R. Landry, 1940 Nanticoke Circle, representing the NAACP
Item 24 - Held a public hearing and voted 5-0 (Commissioner Gillum voting telephonically) to adopt Ordinance No. 09-O-07AA, introduced on January 14, 2009, amending the Land Development Code to change the duties and meeting schedule of the Construction Industry Review Committee (CIRC) and to revise the CIRC Bylaws accordingly to shift responsibility for approving journeymen applicants for examinations from the CIRC to the Building Official, and revising the CIRC meetings to an as-needed basis, as amended to provide an exam for mechanical journeyman (Option 1 recommended by the City Attorney)
There were no speakers on this item.
Item 25 - Held the second and final public hearing, the first public hearing was held on December 10, 2008, and voted 5-0 (Commissioner Gillum voting telephonically) to approve the Florida State University (FSU) Development Agreement on the updated FSU Master Plan, modified to reflect a recent decision by BG&E to relocate its biomass plant away from Tallahassee and Leon County by including language that initiated the removal of the "renewable energy center" from the FSU Master Plan and including language requiring stormwater studies for development on the Southwest Campus (Option 1 recommended by Planning)
Mr. Bob Fulford, 231 Westridge Drive, appeared before the Commission and questioned if the withdrawal of the BG&E biomass plant would delay scheduled improvements to Lipona Road.
Unagendaed Speakers
The following persons appeared before the Commission and discussed their opposition to locating a biomass power plant in or near the City of Tallahassee:
- Mr. Bill Tucker, 2802 Primrose Lane
- Prof. Pat Tucker, 2802 Primrose Lane
- Mr. Erwin Jackson, 5002 Glenrose Court (presented a video and a written handout -- placed on file in the Office of the City Treasurer-Clerk)
- Dr. Ed Holifield, 4032 Longleaf Road
- Mr. Jim Walker, 705 Okaloosa Street
- Mr. John Hedrick, P. O. Box 6683 (asked that the City disengage from its power purchase contract with BG&E)
- Mr. Larry Hendricks, 406 Alpha Avenue
Mayor Marks requested that Ms. Cynthia Barber provide Mr. Walker with information on what the City was doing in terms of energy efficiencies/green energy.
CTC:RM:ecg:01-29-09