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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/20/2004 (2) INDEX TO MINUTES BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS JOINT MEETING OF APRIL 20, 2004 WITH INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, CITY OF VERO BEACH, CITY OF SEBASTIAN, CITY OF FELLSMERE, TOWN OF ORCHID, AND TOWN OF INDIAN RIVER SHORES MEETING OF APRIL 20, 2004 AT INDIAN RIVER COMMUNITY COLLEGE MUELLER CAMPUS – RICHARDSON CENTER I.PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE...................................................................... 2 II.WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION ........................................................ 2 III.DISCUSSION OF COUNTYWIDE IMPACT FEES ............................... 3 A)PR“B”W,C,T-O RESENTATION BY OBERT OB ALLACE ONSULTANT INDALELIVER &A,I. ....................................................................................................3 SSOCIATES NC B)D .................................................................................................................5 ISCUSSION C)PI .............................................................................................................6 UBLIC NPUT IV.DISCUSSION OF MUNICIPALITIES / COUNTY ISSUES .................. 8 APRIL 20, 2004 1 SPECIAL MEETING April 20, 2004 REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS The Board of County Commissioners of Indian River County, Florida, met in Special Joint Session with the members of the Indian River County School Board, the City Council of Vero Beach, the City Council of Sebastian, the City Council of Fellsmere, the Town Council of Orchid, and the Town Council of Indian River Shores at the Richardson Center of Indian River Community College Mueller Campus, 6155 College Lane, Vero Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 at 1:00 p.m. Present were Caroline D. Ginn, Chairman; Arthur R. Neuberger, Vice Chairman; Commissioners Fran B. Adams; Thomas S. Lowther; and Kenneth R. Macht. Also present were Joseph Baird, County Administrator; William G. Collins, County Attorney; Kimberly Massung, Executive Aide to the Board; and Maria I. Suesz, Deputy Clerk. Present from the School Board were Chairman Kathryn A. Wilson, Vice Chairman Steven Mohler, Members William Hughes and Dr. R. Craig McGarvey. Member Herbert Bailey was absent. Present from the City of Vero Beach were Mayor Tom White, Vice Mayor Lynne Larkin, Councilmen Sabin Abell, Sandra Bowden and Mary Beth McDonald. Present from the City of Sebastian were Mayor Nathan McCollum, Vice Mayor Joe Barczyk, Councilmen Ray Coniglio and Lisanne Monier. Councilman Michael Heptinstall was absent. Present from the City of Fellsmere were John McCants, Deputy Mayor, and Councilman Joel Tyson. Robert C. “Bob” Baker, Mayor, and Councilmen Michael E. Barone, Fernando R. Herrera and Sara Savage were absent. Present from the Town of Indian River Shores were Mayor Thomas W. Cadden, APRIL 20, 2004 1 SPECIAL MEETING Vice-Mayor John A. Klein, Councilmen William H. Ahrens, David J. Becker and E. William Kenyon. Present from the Town of Orchid were Vice Mayor Walter Sackville, and Councilmen Richard Dunlop and Barbara Greenbaum. Mayor C. Warren Crandall, Mayor, and Councilman Charles Pistole were absent. All of the above were seated at a U-shaped table. The meeting was video taped by the School Board’s media group. I. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chairman Ginn led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. II. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION at 1:00 p.m. S Chairman Ginn called the meeting to order he introduced her fellow Commissioners and Indian River County Sheriff Roy Raymond. County Administrator Joseph Baird introduced the County staff members that were present: Planning Director Stan Boling, Budget Manager Jason E. Brown, Recreation Director Clifford Crawford, Public Works Director James Davis, General Services Director Tom Frame, Community Development Director Robert Keating, Emergency Services Director John King and Utilities Director W. Erik Olson. Thomas Maher Superintendent of Schools introduced the staff members present from the School Board: Assistant Superintendent of Finance Linda Robertson, Assistant Superintendent for Operations Craig Smith, and Executive Assistant to the School Board Judy Stang. Tom White Mayor introduced the staff members and elected officials present from the City of Vero Beach: Interim City Manager Tom Nason, City Attorney Charles P. Vitunac, City Clerk Tammy K. Vock, and Chief of Police Jim Gabbard. APRIL 20, 2004 2 SPECIAL MEETING Nathan McCollum Mayor introduced the staff members and elected officials from the City of Sebastian: City Manager Terrence Moore, City Attorney Rich Stringer, Chief of Police James Davis, and City Clerk Sally Maio. Walter Sackville Mayor introduced Orchid’s Town Manager David Jakubiak and Town Clerk Maria Aguilar. Thomas W. Cadden Mayor introduced Indian River Shores’ Town Manager Robert Bradshaw, Town Attorney Chester Clem and Building Inspector Richard Jefferson. John McCants Deputy Mayor introduced Fellsmere’s Attorney Warren Dill. Chairman Ginn stated the purpose of the meeting was to provide information on impact fees and to address areas where the consultant requests a consensus to proceed with the study. III.DISCUSSION OF COUNTYWIDE IMPACT FEES A) PR“B”W,C, RESENTATION BY OBERT OB ALLACE ONSULTANT T-O&A,I. INDALELIVER SSOCIATES NC Community Development Director Robert Keating distributed a report (copy on file with the backup in the office of the Clerk to the Board) that explained the history behind the consideration of impact fees. He gave an overview of the agenda that would be discussed at this meeting, and introduced Consultant Bob Wallace of Tindale-Oliver & Associates. He also added information regarding updating the existing County traffic impact fee system and said that will be th brought to the Board May 11 for approval. Robert “Bob” Wallace, Consultant, Tindale-Oliver & Associates, introduced his staff: Nilgun Kamp who ran the PowerPoint presentation (copy on file with the backup), and Tyson Smith of the Law Firm Freilich, Leitner, & Carlisle who would answer any legal inquiries. Mr. Wallace enumerated eight (8) categories: Correctional Facilities, Solid Waste, Public APRIL 20, 2004 3 SPECIAL MEETING Education, Libraries, Fire/Emergency Services, Law Enforcement, Public Buildings, Parks and Recreation Facilities. The areas under study are capital costs of these facilities, land and equipment. Mr. Wallace reviewed the policy summary, detailing the recommendations needing a decision from the County to move forward. The policy decisions necessary to proceed with the study involved the development of a brochure and enhancing the website, adding the position of Impact Fees Administrator within the County, policies on how to implement impact fees, when to collect impact fees, establishing interlocal agreements with the cities and the school board, providing provisions for developer credits, areas of exemption, areas to benefit, Mr. Wallace establishing a level of service, and updates to the program. pointed out that impact fee revenue must be spent in a reasonable time period (within 6 years) otherwise the applicant has Mr. Wallace the right to file for a refund if the monies are not spent to his benefit. In summary, outlined their intended progress over the next four months. Chairman Ginn stated during Mr. Wallace’s presentation that enough notification has been given to the public regarding this study and that any ordinance would become effective the day after it comes back from the state. Tyson Smith from the Law Firm Freilich, Leitner and Carlisle, spoke on the legal parameters that constrict the adoption, creation of, and implementation of impact fees, and what distinguishes impact fees from other revenue generated sources. One of the key distinguishers is proportionality. Different from taxes, impact fees have to be proportionate in amount based on the need being created by the development paying the fee, and a substantial benefit from the expenditure of the fees has to flow back towards the development paying the fees. APRIL 20, 2004 4 SPECIAL MEETING B) D ISCUSSION Thomas Maher, Superintendent of Schools, questioned how they can enforce school impact fees if there is sufficient revenue to meet 100% of future needs. He learned it is their prerogative to use impact fees and refund the bond that supports their current revenue source. The same applies to the County with the one-cent sales tax. Director Robert Keating responded to questions pertaining to the administration of impact fees by the County, and how the impact fee will be applied to “teardown” and “rebuild” construction. Steven Mohler, Linda Robertson, Vice Chairman of the School Board,and Assistant Superintendent, both expressed concerns regarding a legal issue paying for growth. They wanted more information as to what other counties have done and also to discuss the new class size and the new level of service factored in with the new class size. Tyson Smith did not know of any Florida case that ruled on the fact that impact fees reduce revenue sources. There have been cases where the fees were backed out as revenue from other sources. He said it is a policy issue whether they redirect millage to non-capitol expenditures. Joe Baird County Administrator stated that the one-cent option sales tax could not bereducedbecause the City of Sebastian has pledged its share on a bond issue. The one-cent option sales tax does not cover all their capital needs. The city’s portion was not used when they did a projection for county roads. Chairman Ginn asked if there were any other questions. There were none. APRIL 20, 2004 5 SPECIAL MEETING Wallace Consultant said he would like a response to the policy analysis by the middle of May. He will get back to the School Board and make sure that everyone is comfortable. Director Keating commented that he has not heard any major objections from the municipalities. He thought this was a good opportunity to get some feedback to confirm that everyone is on board. Nathan McCollum, Mayor, City of Sebastian, felt it was impossible for him to speak for his council and said he would like to take a vote at his next meeting so they would have time to debate. Thomas Maher, Superintendent of Schools, had not discussed this with the School Board in a public session. He said they just finalized a 5 year plan that is contingent on 2 mill funds and he did not know how the school district can meet a May deadline. This has tremendous implications for continued funding for a school district. He would have to involve his counsel and a workshop with his Board. He was very concerned about the time frame and did not want anyone to leave today thinking that the School Board had reached a consensus. Chairman Ginn said they would have to take that into consideration. Walter Sackville, Vice Mayor of the Town of Orchid, felt that they were given a lot of information today, and he would like to hear the public’s comments before he formulates an opinion. C) PI UBLIC NPUT Chairman Ginn opened the floor to the public. APRIL 20, 2004 6 SPECIAL MEETING Tim Zorc, 4415 5thPlace SW, is a member of the Treasure Coast Builders Association, the Florida Home Builders Association, and a local home builder in the community. He provided a handout (copy on file with the backup) and after summarizing the comments made by staff and the lack of information from the study that had been provided, he questioned why we need impact fees. Commissioner Adams told him the Board has to look at future needs. th Allen Greene, 8030 98 Avenue, Vero Lakes Estates, a member of the Florida Home Builders Association, questioned whether we are being reasonable. He handed out questions (copy on file with the backup) and stated that our County is bringing in more revenue than other counties without impact fees. He stated that we should look at other Counties that are having similar growth. Duane Weise, 8485 Seacrest Drive, Wabasso, an ex-builder/developer, licensed real estate broker, and licensed professional engineer, handed out his presentation (copy on file with the backup) which contained reasons not to rush in implementing impact fees, reasons not to set fees too high separating the low income from the high income builder, and information on impact fees versus bond funding. John Higgs, 45 Wax Myrtle Way agreed with Chairman Ginn that the impact fees are long overdue and need to be implemented immediately. He wanted to tell the School Board that imposing a 2 mill tax on his tax bill to build schools for people who are not here yet is unfair. He asked them to reconsider utilizing the information that was presented today. Maureen Cummings, 134 Englar Drive, Sebastian, stated that we tend to have blinders on when we look at all this information. It is usually out of date by the time we get it. She APRIL 20, 2004 7 SPECIAL MEETING felt it would be a mistake to throw out the impact fees, but she felt they need to look at the figures and make sure that we will have all that we need for the future. Chairman Ginn stated that we do not have all the money for the County’s needs and she asked Joe Baird to give some information. Baird County Administrator said when the optional sales tax allocations were formulated they had over $150 million in needs and only $6l million in revenue for the first five year period. He said they surveyed surrounding counties looking at what they have done with impact fees and listed a few items that have been postponed due to lack of cash flow. Craig Smith, Operations Managerof the School Board, explained that the 2 mill utilization of monies is not exclusively associated with capitol improvement of new schools. He said they are very aggressive in their timeframe to build new schools and he wanted everyone to understand there are a lot of complexities to the 2 mill calculation.. IV. DISCUSSION OF MUNICIPALITIES / COUNTY ISSUES Chairman Ginn asked if there were any pressing issues that anyone wished to address at this time. There were none. ALL BACKUP DOCUMENTATION IS ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CLERK TO THE BOARD AND IS HEREBY MADE A PART OF THESE MINUTES APRIL 20, 2004 8 SPECIAL MEETING There being no further business, on Motion duly made, seconded and carried, the Board adjourned at 3:50 p.m. ATTEST: _________________________________ ________________________________ Jeffrey K. Barton, Clerk Caroline D. Ginn, Chairman Minutes Approved: _________________ BCC/MIS/JOINT MEETING MINUTES APRIL 20, 2004 9 SPECIAL MEETING