City Commission Meeting Summary - October 7, 2009
The City Commission met in regular session and took the following action:
Mayor Marks noted that City Manager Thompson was absent and that Assistant City Manager Rick Fernandez would be filling in for her. Commissioner Gillum was also absent.
Item 1 - Mayor Marks presented a proclamation recognizing October 4-10 as Public Natural Gas Week. There to accept the proclamation was Mike Tadros, General Manager of the City of Tallahassee Underground Utilities along with other staff members.
Item 2 - Mayor Marks presented a proclamation to Reese Goad, General Manager of City Utilities Business Customer Service Department, recognizing October 5–9 as Customer Service Week.
Item 3 - Mayor Marks Presented a Proclamation to Kevin Wailes, General Manager of City Electric Utilities Department, recognizing October 4 –10 as Public Power Week.
Item 4 - Mark Sittig of The Florida League of Cities presented a Resolution to Commissioner Lightsey for her 20 years of service.
Item 5 - Mayor Marks presented a proclamation to Peggy Brady declaring October as National Arts and Humanities Month.
Item 6 - Mayor Marks joined by Colonel Phillip Speake, Chairman of the Florida Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Committee, and agency of the Department of Defense, Lt. Mike Tahoon, and Investigator Mike Von Stein, recognized the City of Tallahassee for their "Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve." Recognized the following City employees:
- Joe Alexander, Tallahassee Police - Status: Active (Army National Guard)
- Scott Ault, Tallahassee Police - Status: Active (Army Aviation Regimen)
- Kevin Washington, Tallahassee Fire Department - Status: Active (Air Force)
- Mark DeCarlo, Tallahassee Fire Department - Status: Active (Georgia Army National Guard)
- Matthew Mark Shank, Tallahassee Parks and Recreation - Status: Currently in training Deploying January 2010 (Florida Army National Guard)
- Nicholas Frisco, Public Works/Streets and Drainage - Status: Active (Florida Army National Guard)
- Russell Snider, Tallahassee Police Department - Status: Active (Army)
- Rob Ponder - Utility Business Customer Services - Status: Extended Active Orders (Army)
Item 7 - Mayor Marks recognized the Equity and Workforce Development Department as the recipient of the International Association for Continuing Education and Training's (IACET) 2009 Exemplar Award. - Received by Sharon Ofuani, Director of Equity and Workforce Development, and Angela Hendrieth, Training Coordinator.
Commissioner Ziffer acknowledged the presence of members of the Youth Leadership Tallahassee group. He indicated that these students represented area public and private high schools, and thanked them for attending the meeting.
Items 8 - 9 - Voted 4-0 (Commissioner Gillum absent) to approve the staff's recommendations presented in Consent Agenda Items 8 –9, taking the following action:
Item 8 - Approved the award of a construction contract to Semper Fi Services, LLC, in the amount of $343,973.74, as the lowest, responsive, responsible bidder for the Joe Louis Street and the Ingleside Avenue Sidewalk Projects (RFP 0164-09-ER-RC). Also approved the award of an additional construction contract to Semper Fi Services, LLC, in the amount of $85,235.00, as the lowest, responsive, responsible bidder for the Lucy Street Sidewalk Project (RFP 0165-09-ER-RC). (Gabe Menendez, Public Works)
Item 9 - Approved the Minutes of the August 31, 2009 Special Commission Meeting. (Gary Herndon, Treasurer-Clerk)
Item 10 - Introduced Ordinance No. 09-O-39, Amending the Land Development Code to Provide for Two Alternate Members of the Tallahassee-Leon County Board of Adjustment and Appeals and Attendance Requirements, and set the public hearing for Wednesday, October 28, 2009, at 6:00 PM. (Jim English, City Attorney)
Item 11 - Introduced Ordinance No. 09-Z-41, proposed addition of the property to the Local Register of Historic Places, amend the Official Zoning Map to change the zoning classification from the SCD (Special Character District) zoning district to the SCD (Special Character District) zoning district with HPO (Historic Preservation Overlay), and set the first and only public hearing date for October 28, 2009. (Wayne Tedder, Planning)
Item 12 - Introduced Ordinance No. 09-Z-44, proposed amendment to the Official Zoning Map to change the zoning classification from the PUD (Planned Unit Development) zoning district to the CU-45 (Central Urban-45) and CU-26 (Central Urban-26) zoning districts and set the public hearing date for October 28, 2009. (Wayne Tedder, Planning)
Item 13 - Introduced Ordinance No. 09-O-48, Revisions to Flood Damage Protection Regulations and set the first and only public hearing for the regular City Commission meeting on October 28, 2009. (Bob Herman, Growth Management)
Item 13.1 - Introduced Ordinance No. 09-O-52, Proposed Amendment to the General Employees' Pension Plan, and set the public hearing for the regular City Commission meeting on October 28, 2009. (Gary Herndon, Treasurer-Clerk)
Item 14 - Voted 4-0 (Commissioner Gillum absent) to approve the acceptance of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, DOE Award No. DE-SC0002568 for $1,768,600 for energy efficiency and conservation activities and authorized staff to administer the funding. (brought forward by Assistant City Manager Fernandez)
Item 15 - Discussed the Timberlane Road Area Bicycle and Pedestrian Connection Study, which presented a conceptual plan for establishing a trail connecting residential neighborhoods south of Interstate 10 and north of Timberlane Road and Klapp-Phipps-Overstreet Greenway, including Maclay Gardens State Park. (Wayne Tedder, Planning)
The Commission deferred taking action on this item and directed staff to bring back more information and to prepare a presentation for the commission. Also recommended that the project be referred to the Long Range Planning Target Issue Committee for more feedback.Â
Item 16 - Discussed the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Service Development Joint Participation Agreement for the Fallschase Extension. Voted 4 - 0 (Commissioner Gillum absent) to adopt the Authorizing Resolution (No. 09-R-37) and authorized the City Manager to execute the JPA with FDOT in the amount of $240,000. Local matching funds in the amount of $240,000 will be provided from StarMetro's operating funds and funds ($40,000) from Leon County, contingent upon County Commission Approval on October 13, 2009. (Ron Garrison, Starmetro)