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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/9/1993 (2)SPECIAL MEETING Tuesday, February 9, 1993 The Board of County Commissioners of Indian River County, Florida, met in Special Session at the County Commission Chambers, 1840 25th Street, Vero Beach, Florida on Tuesday, February 9, 1993 at 1:30 P. M. Present were Richard N. Bird, Chairman; John W. Tippin, Vice Chairman; Fran B. Adams; Carolyn K. Eggert; and Kenneth R. Macht. Also present were James E. Chandler, County Administrator; Charles P. Vitunac, County Attorney; and Diane Albin, Deputy Clerk. The Chairman called the meeting to order and introduced U. S. Representative Jim Bacchus, District 15 (Democrat), who was here to discuss the 1993 Legislative Agenda. Congressman Bacchus stated that at times it is difficult for a bipartisan delegation to work together cohesively. He has been friends with U.S. Representative Tom Lewis for 20 years, and they have worked together on matters of importance to this part of Florida despite being in different political parties. He felt that more of that type of relationship is needed in the delegation. Congressman Bacchus conveyed that President Clinton visited Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill about eight times during his first two weeks in office, building goodwill across party lines. In addition, Congress has met with a number of President Clinton's staff members. These meetings can help the nation move beyond gridlock, a necessity in dealing with the seemingly insurmountable problems facing our nation, including the budget deficit and health care crisis. Jobs must be created at a time when the federal budget cannot tolerate more debt. The President plans to speak to Congress and the nation next Wednesday night about his proposed economic stimulus package which will be a combination of spending for transportation and other kinds of infrastructure; training and education; and tax breaks in the form of capital gains cuts, investment tax credits and other types of business initiatives to encourage economic growth in the private FEB 9 1993 BOOK: 88 F8�4 r- FEB 9 1993 BOOK 8O uGF 8 1 sector. The President also has a long-term deficit reduction plan, which will be a combination of tax increases and spending cuts. Congressman Bacchus will try to prevent the space station from being cut because it has created 75,000 jobs and could create hundreds of thousands more. The space station is an international scientific joint venture, in which the United States is partners with Japan, Canada, and Europe. Those nations have invested billions of dollars of their own money towards the construction of the space station. If this program is cut from our federal budget, the other countries will probably build the space station without us and will not join us in future ventures. Several members of the Florida delegation met with Warren Christopher, the new Secretary of State, to discuss the situation in Haiti and to explain that the Florida delegation did not believe the solution to the problem in Haiti is to move the population of Haiti to Florida. Mr. Christopher agreed with that. Congressman Bacchus emphasized that another issue of great concern to him is federal funding for Florida. He thanked the Board for the letters that were sent to the Department of Commerce urging them to be fair in the federal dollars they give back to Florida. Unfortunately, the funding formulas have not been changed. Last week he and U. S. Senator Connie Mack introduced in the House and the Senate a package of eight bills that will change federal funding formulas to reflect current conditions. Passage of those bills would enable Florida to receive hundreds of millions of dollars more in federal funds for programs such as education, transportation, child care, health care, and veterans' care. There is strong support for this bill from the Florida delegation on a bipartisan basis. Florida currently ranks 50th among the 50 states in per capita federal grant aid, receiving $1.00 for every $1.65 we send to Washington. Congressman Bacchus then introduced members of his staff who were present at the workshop: Dale Ketcham, District Director; Denise Orlowski, Community Affairs Director; and Sean Roberts, Constituent Development Director. Commissioner Eggert related that Alan Campbell of the Indian River County Council of 100 was advised by William Day of the Economic Development Administration (EDA) that the County could submit a two-page proposal and receive up to $25,000 in grant money from the Economic Adjustment Program, which is Title IX. After submitting a seven -page proposal, the County was informed by Boyd Ross of EDA that Title IX grant monies were unavailable, but the County could get a Title III grant. The County submitted a nine - page proposal for a Title III grant and was told to submit a- larger 2 application- package, which was submitted in December. Jim Campagna of EDA informed the County on January 21st that there was no money available for a Title III grant, but the County could apply for a 302(A) planning grant. He also told County staff that the grant and proposed work program looked good, but the amount of money requested was insufficient to do the identified work. Mr. Campagna suggested that the County apply for $50,000 in grant funds and use the money to hire a full-time planner dedicated to economic development. Further, the County should hire an additional full- time planner at a later date. Mr. Campagna was very emphatic that, if the County did not agree with these conditions, no grant would be forthcoming. Staff feels that the County is too small and does not have enough work to keep one or two full-time planners busy. Commissioner Eggert felt frustrated because the information was contrary to information previously provided to the County. Ms. Orlowski stated that she spoke with Mr. Day in early January and was told that Indian River County was in line for a $24,000 planning grant to hire someone to assist the County with technical research. She added that she would speak to them again, because her understanding was that the Department of Commerce recommended that the County hire someone to do the technical research and that the person could be an_outside consultant. Congressman Bacchus suggested that the County let his staff know immediately when this sort of thing happens so they can help cut through the red tape. Commissioner Eggert asked about the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficient Act of 1991 (ISTEA) funds, because she has read in several national magazines that ISTEA funds are not distributed to Florida. Congressman Bacchus responded that he voted against the ISTEA bill because it was unfair to Florida. Under the terms of that bill, Florida, over a five-year period, will pay out $1.56 billion more in federal gas tax receipts than will be received from the federal government for transportation. Florida has been a donor state since the mid-1950s and is currently ranked 56th in per capita transportation aid from the federal government. When the interstate highway system was in the early stages of construction, it may have made sense to have some donor states. However, the funding formula is not fair now that the interstate highway system is virtually completed. Senator Bob Graham, former Congressman Bennett, and he attempted to get the formula changed in the past but were defeated. He felt that the greatest need for transportation spending in the country is in the growing states of the Sunbelt, especially Florida, which is expected to rank third in 3 FEB 1993 BOOK 88 P4,F 896 population within the next year. Florida would receive a lot more money if it just received an amount proportionate to its population. Transportation funding will be a component of the economic stimulus package, and although he is not optimistic that Florida will get its fair share in the future, he hopes federal monies will be distributed more fairly than they have been in the past. A number of transportation projects are critical to the future of Florida, including commercial launch facilities, which is a form of transportation. Florida is an -ideal state for experimental mass transit projects because the land is level, and the thousands of tourists who come to Florida would see how the experiment worked. SR -60, SR -192 and SR -520 all need to be widened and are important public safety projects. We should have learned through our experience with Hurricane Andrew that we need good roads to get people from the coast to the inland parts of Florida. Congressman Bacchus advised that he will urge the State to get these projects on the slate if additional funding becomes available through the economic stimulus package. Part of the problem is lack of clout in Congress and the Senate due to lack of seniority. The new members must be educated about the urgency of this issue and prevented from being bought off by a few pieces of pork in their districts. He and Senator Mack will make a presentation on this issue at the Legislative Delegation. Another challenge is getting the State business community to focus on these issues in Washington. The Florida Chamber of Commerce is beginning to realize that it is important to focus on transportation and other funding issues in Washington. Failure to address these concerns is affecting growth management, and federal mandates on Medicaid are squeezing everything else out of the State budget and driving unfunded responsibilities back down to local government. Commissioner Macht hoped that Congressman Bacchus will be vigilant in the area of mandates, because the County constantly struggles with unfunded federal government mandates that cost local taxpayers a lot of money. Congressmen Bacchus commented that one of the principal reasons he decided to run for Congress was his experience at the state and local level and a desire to see the federal government give the local governments a great deal more flexibility. He is against unfunded mandates at both the state and federal levels. Broad discretion should be given to local government in how dollars are spent because local government knows better what is needed at the local level. Federal bureaucrats should not be giving the states 200 pages of regulation as a condition of getting dollars back that belonged to this state in the first place. President 4 Clinton told the National Governors' Association that he agrees with this idea. Commissioner Macht mentioned that he is vitally interested in the Indian River Idea, which is summarized in the following diagram: THE INDIAN RIVER IDEA: LEARNING OCCURS IN MANY SETTINGS CORE GOALS ECONOMIC COMMUNITY FAMILY PERSONAL EVELOPVNT IREVELOPMENJ LOPMENTI IJ2EVELOPMENT] MEDIA NEIGHBORHOOD IRECREATION ` LIBRARY, ETC. STRENGTHENING INITIATIVES: PTA LEARNER WORKPLACE GR HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES . SCHOOLS: Outside -the -school connections . NEIGHBORHOOD: Build 12 Neighborhood Partnerships • PEER GROUP: Build Elementary School Alumni Assoc. . MEDIA: Community Telecomputing and Cable Channel . CHURCH: Sharpen support role in personal, family and community development . PTA: Explore role in family development . RECREATION: Sharpen role in youth development • LIBRARY: Work with Adult Ed in learning support • HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Begin shift to prevention/ development strategy from remedial/therapeutic • FAMILY: Strengthen "family curriculum" and involve in "Home -School Connection". • LEARNER: Strengthen "self-directedness" at all age levels supported by new technologies and new forms of learner support such as Individual Learning Plan and Adult Learning Support Service SERVICE CLUBS: Explore role in neighborhood and youth development aspects 5 FEB 91993 BOCK 8 r", F,�rc. BOOK 88 PVF,899 Congressman Bacchus indicated that he is attempting to attract attention to the Indian River Idea at the state and federal level. He met with representatives from the state and federal Departments of Education and discussed the need for funding the Indian River Idea. He is currently trying to get a planning grant from the National Science Foundation to make this a pilot project for a national program. Last year he succeeded in obtaining a $10 million grant for the State Department of Education to conduct a five-year study on how to make retain students' interest in math and science from preschool through 12th grade. He has urged the State Department of Education to incorporate the Indian River Idea in that project and provide some funding at the local level. Commissioner Macht asked Congressman Bacchus what his position is on the line item veto and the capital gains tax. Congressman Bacchus expected President Clinton's economic initiative package to include a reduction in capital gains tax on long-term investments. He was not as confident that the line item veto will be enacted, although he voted for it. There has been some discussion about the possibility of enhanced rescission, which is similar to the line item veto and might be a compromise. Commissioner Eggert mentioned the issue of utilities service to mobile home parks, and Congressman Bacchus advised he was planning to visit the New Horizons Mobile Home Park tomorrow. Commissioner Eggert expressed that the County has been looking for incentives that would attract new businesses. We are also concerned about the beaches, and have again applied for federal funding. Congressman Bacchus assured the Board that he has followed the beach issue closely and hopes the County and Vero Beach can reach agreement on a specific beach renourishment plan. He expressed doubt that federal funding will be forthcoming because a specific plan has not been formulated and there is opposition to beach renourishment within the community because of environmental issues. Discussion ensued regarding the scrub jay issue and Endangered Species Act, which is coming up for renewal, and the effect of such legislation on growth and the local economy. There was discussion about hurricanes and the fact that many people felt that the federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) did not provide an adequate response to Hurricane Andrew. Congressman Bacchus predicted that the Clinton Administration will replace many of the current employees, who are there because of political patronage, with more qualified personnel. Vincent McCann, Veterans Services Officer, asked for an update on the proposed Veterans Hospital. 6 Congressman Bacchus reported that the previous Secretary of Veterans Affairs recommended that Orlando be the site of the proposed Veterans Hospital for East Central Florida. The Brevard site was proposed as a joint venture with the Air Force. Congressman Bacchus felt it would be preferable to build one hospital instead of two, especially in view of the shortage of federal funds. The General Accounting Office performed a study and concluded that the Brevard County location would be preferable for a number of reasons, including cost, access, and overall quality of care. The Air Force already has $20 million allotted, so it would save a great deal in construction costs to build a shared facility. Further, based on the experience at other facilities, the quality of care would be better and the operating costs lower at a shared facility. Jesse Brown is now Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and the issue will be revisited during the next fiscal year. Edra Young, 1151 Clairmont Street, Sebastian, urged Congressman Bacchus to pursue the idea of having a federal records depository in Indian River County. She felt it could be an excellent stimulant to the local economy, and stressed that genealogy is now the fastest-growing hobby among senior citizens. Congressman Bacchus recalled that he pursued having a federal records depository in this area some time ago, but was not successful. He indicated he would try again, but was not .optimistic. Bill Roolage asked for a copy of the Cable TV legislation. He also discussed the Social Security tax, and the fact that the unified budget uses the Social Security fund to offset other federal budget items. Congressman Bacchus explained that the Social Security fund is a trust fund on paper, but in reality it is nothing more than a claim against future tax receipts of the federal government. He felt that it should be separated from the rest of the federal budget, which is how trust funds are handled at the state level. Discussion ensued regarding the magnitude of the federal budget deficit and concerns about inflation. Beverly O'Neill, Hospital Taxing District Trustee, asked about the status of health care reform. Congressman Bacchus felt that there is a need for market-based reform that would squeeze out inefficiencies and allow competition at the local level. He explained that President Clinton intends to submit a bill by the first of May. 7 FEB 9 199 �aoK �� Fr�F:3� !� I -7 BOOK 88 P�Gf R,31 The Chairman asked if there were any other questions from the public. There being none, the Chairman closed the public discussion. There being no further business, the Board adjourned at 10:30 o'clock a.m. ATTEST: (:: --] ;,?V, I Z) -- � LT Barton, Clerk E3 F Richard N. Bird, Chairman