HomeMy WebLinkAboutJoint Meeting Minutes 02-24-2009BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA
JOINT MEETING WITH FT. PIERCE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
AND THE CITY OF FT. PIERCE
Date: February 24, 2009 Convened: 2:00 p.m.
Adjourned: 5:10 p.m.
Commissioners Present: Chairperson, Paula A. Lewis, Charles Grande, Doug Coward,
Chris Craft, Chris Dzadovsky
Others Present: Faye Outlaw, County Administrator, Lee Ann Lowery, Asst. County
Administrator, Dan McIntyre, County Attorney, Millie Delgado-Feliciano, Deputy Clerk
City of Ft. Pierce: Mayor Bob Benton, Commissioners, Christine Coke, Reggie Sessions,
Edward Beck, Rufus Alexander, City Manager, Recor
Mayor Benton called to order the meeting with the Ft. Pierce Redevelopment Agency.
Mr. John Ward, Director of the Redevelopment Agency made opening remarks.
Mr. Ward addressed the Intermodal Bus Terminal on Avenue D and requested guidance
from the elected officials as to what type of a facility they wish to see in the area. He
advised the Board Mr. Drittenbas, architect developed a budget for the project of $3.2
million.
Mayor Benton asked if any funds had been budgeted.
Mr. Ward stated they have not budgeted but the FPRA Board has committed matching
three grants from the FDOT secured by the County. $750,000 has been committed so
far, the intermodal is about $850,000 from their side.
Mayor Benton stated he had a concern with taking on a 3.2 million dollar project and
does not know where they will obtain the funds for the project. He is not sure if they
need to move forward with this issue today due to budget constraints.
Ms. Beth Ryder, Community Services Director addressed the Board and stated she ha3
met with the former CRA Director and had funds for the match at that time. However, it
went from a small facility to what they see today. They will be looking for some
stimulus funds to see if they can be utilized.
Com. Beck stated he would like to move forward with the commitment. He felt they
needed to find a way to do the project since the Avenue D area is dependent on public
transportation.
Com. Craft questioned who would maintain the terminal.
Ms. Ryder stated the transit system would maintain inside the building and the CRA
would take care of the outside.
Com. Alexander stated he thought they had a commitment from the County and the CRA
for this project.
Mr. Ward stated they wanted to have clear guidance on this project as they move forward
and the RFQ will be coming in and want to make sure when implementing policy they
are going down the right highway. At this point they are looking for the design phase.
Com. Coke recommended phasing in the project due to the economic situation.
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Ms. Ryder advised the Boazd they have three FDOT grants for the project and there aze
road impact fees available that can be used also.
Mr. Ward stated this would be a county project, the County's Central Services will be
building it and it can be small or lazge.
Com. Dzadovsky addressed what he would like to see in the azea. He stated it should be
a "showpiece" as you aze coming into the azea.
Com. Sessions stated they are trying to put a roof over the activity in the area. There are
many people hanging azound and a transfer station is needed to get from one point to the
other. He stated what they are doing in the azea is deplorable.
Com.Craft stated he believes it should be up to the FPRA and the Council on Aging to
decide what they wish to see as a facility.
Com. Lewis stated since the County is assisting with the funding she believes they should
have some input.
Mr. Wazd stated staff needed to know if the actual budget would be $3.2 million. There
aze people looking at the RFQ that aze asking what the true budget for the project would
be.
Com. Cowazd stated he would like to move forward in a collaborative fashion. He would
like for the county to look at providing $1.4 million from new development impact fees
for use in transportation, sidewalks, and fixed route bus systems.
FPRA CRA EXPANSION
Mr. Wazd addressed the FPRA expansion azea and provided maps indicating the
expansion boundary.
Com. Dzadovsky stated he was in favor of the expansion however, if the county's goes
with the current rates of valuations he has a concern as to the financial outcome of the
county he believes there needs to be an agreement as to where the valuation should be.
He believes there is a better number to work with than the current.
Mr. Ward stated should they be successful in enlazging the boundaries, these azeas being
added their ad valorem would be frozen at the time this is adopted, i.e. January 1St of each
year. If this process does not move forwazd it could take unti12012.
Com. Coward stated he supported CRA's . The concern is in recognizing the financial
condition this county is in. He has concerns on the financial realizations and the more
you expand the boundary you are turning operational dollars into capital limitations. He
stated you cannot operate a city or a county if you do not have sufficient funds to pay the
bills.
Com. Dzadovsky stated he supports the expansion however he has concerns with the
identification of the valuations and how they aze going to do so. He also requested they
consider fixing the drainage pond that is in disrepair for the Virginia Ave. azea and stated
should this be approved he would like this infrastructure project done as soon as possible.
Com. Lewis stated she concurs with the comments made by the Boazd.
Com. Grande stated he was not sure if it was a good thing or not that the County did not
have participation on their Board with the County being the 50% contributor there seems
to have been less reporting to the County. He hopes there will be a better relationship
between the County and the CRA staff.
Com. Dzadovksy stated he would volunteer as a representative to sit on the Board.
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Com. Beck stated he would concur with having a representative from the BOCC as an ex-
officio so they can be aware of discussions and participate on various issues as to how
taxpayer dollars are expended.
Mr. Recor stated Mr. Ward has acknowledged the County as a partner and a contributor
of many projects and believes this is an area they can continue to improve in.
Com. Lewis recommended placing the issue of this position on the Board's agenda.
JOINT MEETING WITH THE CITY OF FT. PIERCE
PARKS AND RECREATION
The Parks and Recreation Director addressed the facilities being maintained by the
county that are within the city limits.
Estimated annual costs of personnel and operating excluding equipment were presented
for review.
The City Manager stated with upcoming budget constraints and with revenues decreasing
he would like to have discussions as to whether the county will continue to maintain
these facilities within city limits or is the county transferring responsibility to the city of
these facilities. He would need this information as they enter into budget preparation for
the upcoming year.
The County Administrator advised the Board at the time during the Strategic Planning
directed staff to pursue discussion on the issue of the city taking over the parks.
Com. Coke recalled the former County Administrator made a presentation to the city
regarding the closing of parks, the city taking them over and also selling them. She
believes the city needs to find a way to step up to the plate and assist in the maintenance
rather then closing or selling the parks.
The City Manager stated there is interest in the city to pursue this; however he is not sure
if it is the right time due to budget constraints and the revenues will be decreasing
considerably. He hopes the county will still consider having this discussion again once
the economy rebounds.
Com. Craft stated he believes the county has placed itself in the position of funding too
many municipal services such as the small parks. He believes the small parks should be
funded by the city and would like to discuss this in the future if it is not possible now, but
he would like to discuss splitting the costs at this time until the city can take them over.
Com. Alexander addressed certain areas have been neglected for too long and he
requested the county clean up those areas.
Com. Coward stated it was an issue of fairness and the county needs to concentrate on
regional parks not municipal parks.
Com. Dzadovsky stated he disagrees with the Board and believes there may be some
FPRA dollars that can assist in the maintenance of the parks if the expansion takes place.
The City Manager stated they could not use FPRA funds for operations or maintenance
only capital.
Com. Coke stated the city should be responsible for city parks however the city is not in a
position budget wise or personnel wise to take them over tomorrow. She would like to
see them come to an agreement that they are neighborhood parks and slowly phase in
taking over the city small parks.
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Com. Sessions stated he had no problem with taking responsibility for the city parks. He
would like to step forward and take the responsibility to take over the parks within the
city of Ft. Pierce.
Mayor Benton recommended having staff get together to discuss this issue and come
back with recommendations to turnover the parks within the next year.
Com. Grande stated he would like to see the recommendations from the joint staff
members.
Com. Session stated he believed job security woL~ld play a vital part in the discussions
with staff.
Com. Grande stated he did not believe job security would weigh into the staff
discussions.
The Parks and Recreation Director stated she does not believe job security would come
into these discussions from the county's end.
Com. Coke recommended coming back in 3 months with recommendations and then
phase in the taking over of the parks.
Com. Lewis stated she felt an orderly progression is a good recommendation.
Com. Dzadovsky stated he felt they should consider the economic situation in the nation
and that this is not a good time to do this. He believes the parks should remain under
county operations and will not support such a move.
Com. Beck stated with Board consensus he would like to evaluate which parks to accept
and the county decides which ones to convey. He felt they also needed staff to identify
which parks are appropriate for transition and staff can come back in 30 days in order not
to lose momentum.
The City Manager stated he was comfortable in saying the city could coordinate with
county staff and would need particular order of phasing in from the county.
Mayor Benton stated he believed the city does not have the ability to take over the parks
before the summer is over. They need to find out where the funds would be obtained.
Com. Coke disagreed and stated they have budgeted for FPRA and the city has staff
working and obtaining funding of the vast majority of programs during the summer
Com. Coward stated he was pleased and proud of the county parks staff and the fact they
were working double duties with frozen pay. He commended them highly for their
efforts.
The County Administrator recommended looking at possibly planning the transfer of 1 or
2 parks this fiscal year and a phasing of others in upcoming fiscal years.
Com. Dzadovsky questioned how Parks and Recreation stood as far as funds for the
upcoming summer programs.
The Parks and Recreation Director advised the Board the summer camp program has
almost the same amount of slots as last year. They are ready to move forward the
question is whether or not scholarships will be available to assist in funding it.
PARKS MSTU
The City Manager addressed the city's request the City and the County sit down and re-
negotiate the agreement. If they cannot come to an agreement, the City may consider
pulling out of it.
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Com. Coke alluded to the memo received from the former County Administrator
addressing the costs of Lawnwood Stadium was $4.1 million and Illous Park was $1.6
million out of the funds collected to date, the city of Ft Pierce has paid 40.24% of it.
She believes the city should be contributing to Lawnwood Stadium and Illous Park
looking at the ratio, she believes the city should be paying 34% of Lawnwood and Illous.
She would like to see both entities pay an even proportional share, and would like 50% of
MSTU funding be allocated to the city of Ft. Pierce for the necessary capital
improvements to the parks.
Com. Coward stated he had concerns that any action would jeopardize the bonds.
Com. Coward stated they signed an interlocal agreement to do necessary capital
improvements which they then took out a loan and they did it based on the anticipation to
use Parks MSTU dollars from the city and the county to pay off the bonds.
He asked the city what improvements they wish to have completed and this is where he
would like to go and work together rather than the city considering not being part of the
agreement.
Mayor Benton stated they have an agreement and as far as he is concerned they will abide
by the agreement. They have made a commitment and agreed to this many years ago
and a lot of the schools play at the stadium and some of these issues were placed on the
agenda for discussion and it does not mean the City Commission was unanimous in this
discussion.
The City Manager stated in the spirit of compromise if some of the 37.75% of the debt
service which the city is paying could free up (of course this would mean the county
would be picking up an additional percentage) additional dollars this could take the city
where they wish to go.
Com. Grande stated if he understood correctly when Lawnwood was looked at as a major
project; it would take up most of the funding for some time. He stated the city had a
choice and made the choice to expend their portion of the MSTU funding for this project
at the time those decisions were made. He is totally committed to working with the city.
The City Manager stated as he read the agreement, the allocation of the MSTU proceeds
the parties agreed to was the city initial allocation were to be for the Lawnwood project,
the portion of the initial proceeds seem to him that this was a temporary thing and this
schedule carries the initial proceeds out unti12022 so there is no end to the initial
proceeds.
Com. Coke understood fully there was going to be a bond, but what she did not
understand was that Lawnwood was going to be an X number of dollars and they were
expecting the City of Ft. Pierce to pay that X number of dollars. She has no problem in
paying 50% but felt the city residents should not be paying 100% of the cost. She
believed it was going to be a partnership.
Com. Craft stated 100% of the city's allocation of the MSTU may be going towards the
facility but it does not cover 100% of the debt service.
Com. Coward stated the city of Port St. Lucie is spending their portion for projects within
their city. The County is spending their unincorporated portion for Lakewood Park and
unincorporated areas within the County and City of Ft. Pierce exclusively in the City of
Ft. Pierce.
The City Manager stated he concurred with Com. Beck where the funds should be
identified through a Charette. He reminded the city and the county they would be
receiving $49,000 from the table games facilities approved.
Com. Grande stated he would support giving the city the surplus dollars as they move the
parks over.
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Com. Coward stated he concurred with the comments made that if the city takes over the
parks then he would support giving the city the surplus dollars over time.
ITEM # 5 FS171
It was the consensus of the Board to remove this items from the agenda today and
reschedule discussion on these items in the immediate future.
PARKS AND RECREATION COMMUNITY CENTER
The City has taken over the Ft. Pierce Community Center.
FORMER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUILDING FOR SKATE PARK
EXCHANGE FOR FIRE STATION ON THE BEACH
Com. Dzadovsky stated the Fire District was not interested in any exchange of this
property. They still use the facility.
The Parks and Recreation Director stated they were interested in leasing the facility from
the city so they could retain someone to run the skate park through an RFP. They have
had proposals from various people interested in running the skate park but the county did
not have a building to utilize.
The Board discussed the Chamber building.
The City Manager stated he has an interested party inquiring about the building and
overseeing the skate park . If the county would consider the Chamber building for
dedication of South Beach Park which they have used funds to improve or perhaps also
the area the county is also using to park by the Chamber building.
Com. Coke stated they were now playing "let's make a deal".
Com. Grande stated he would like to discuss each item rather than to attempt to swap any
properties and decide what is the best use for each property.
Mayor Benton stated he believed the idea was to lease the building to the county and the
county find someone to oversee the park.
The Parks and Recreation Director stated they were interested in leasing this property and
then go out for RFP's for someone to operate the skate park.
Com. Coke recommended deeding the Chamber building over to the county this way they
would not have to worry about lease renewals.
Mayor Benton stated he would agree if the city wanted to deed the property over to the
county if the county wanted to accept it.
Mr. Recor stated the property next to Jetty Park should be deeded over to the city as a fair
swap.
Com. Coward commented on working with the city on having common ownership and
usage for various properties.
It was the consensus of the City Commission to offer to deed the Chamber building and
the property to the county.
Com. Beck addressed the need for boat ramps and the development of waterfront
property.
Com. Coke stated although she was for development, she would not agree to anything
that would deminish any of the boat ramps and eliminate public access.
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Com. Dzadovsky recommended swapping the properties as discussed and felt it would be
in the best interest of the county.
Mayor Benton recommended the city and the county sit down in the future and have a
discussion on future boat ramps that will be needed in the future.
STATUS OF YMCA BUILDING
The City would like to take this building over and run it.
Com. Coke stated she spoke to a representative of the YMCA and he stated they do not
have any funds they want the city to pay for whatever they would be doing. She spoke to
the representative from PAL and they would be thrilled to have this location. She
believes it would be a good solution for the PAL organization.
Com. Alexander questioned where these funds would be obtained.
Mayor Benton stated they do not want the building sitting idle for the whole summer.
The YMCA had advised him they would have programs available for the summer,
however he has not seen anything as yet.
Com. Craft directed staff to investigate what the YMCA will be doing if anything and
bring the information back for review. He supports the city either taking over or leasing
it.
Com. Grande stated he would like to give the city the opportunity to lead the way as to
what program should be utilizing the YMCA building.
Com. Coward stated there are areas that need improvement and there are monies from the
penny bed tax identified for tourism projects and this pot has $400,000+ and he felt it was
important to make the investments today.
It was the consensus to bring this item back.
COUNTY OPERATION OF 2nd ST. PARKING GARAGE
The City Manager advised the Board there had been some interest in having the parking
garage on 2"d street turned over to the city.
Com. Beck stated he had received concerns regarding the parking garage not being
available when the Sunrise Theatre has events. He asked the Board to direct staff to
coordinate the use of the garage with the Sunrise Theatre.
Com. Coke stated there is a problem with the signage where it states it closes at 6:OOp.m.
And vehicles will be towed. She recommended signs indicating they can use the garage
when attending the theatre.
The meeting was adjourned.
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