[1:00] Good evening. Welcome to the Tuesday, June 28, city council meeting. Appreciate everyone coming out tonight on this muggy evening.

[1:10] We have a little bit of city business. We have a couple of special presentations made tonight.

[1:16] So just as a reminder, if you have a cell phone, please put on vibrate or on mute.

[1:20] And if you're going to speak tonight, you'll wait to be recognized and come forward to the lectern

[1:24] and give us your name and address for the record.

[1:27] We're honored tonight to have Reverend Rob Bonsack from the First Presbyterian Church

[1:31] to give us some of the invocations tonight, who has just recently been called to active

[1:36] duty, so he will be leaving us in the end of August, September, going to San Angelot,

[1:41] Texas.

[1:41] Good fellow there for us, please.

[1:43] So welcome, Pastor Bonsack, and if you'll lead us in an invocation, please.

[1:52] Hello, this is our heads.

[1:55] God of love, God of hope, we gather this evening as a community.

[1:59] We gather to do the business of the city of Fort Walden Beach.

[2:03] And as we gather this night, we acknowledge we are a community in mourning.

[2:08] We mourn the death of Tech Sergeant Daniel DuVille.

[2:12] We pray for his wife, children, and all of those who grieve his death.

[2:16] Our community has been asked to face the realities of war too many times, dear God.

[2:22] We also pray for the friends and family of Tammy Lynn Shields.

[2:25] Our community unfortunately knows balance this day.

[2:30] We're in comfort and peace to all who mourn this day,

[2:33] and we trust and believe that many will be called upon to be your instruments of comfort and peace

[2:39] for the family and friends of Tech Sergeant DuVille and Tammy Lynn Shields.

[2:45] Holy God, we live in challenging times,

[2:48] and our mayor, council and staff have fully invested themselves

[2:53] in leading us through these unique times. Give them wisdom, patience, innovation, and compassion

[3:00] as they discuss and vote on issues this night.

[3:04] Summers here, Almighty God. Summer is our time to welcome visitors.

[3:10] We pray that this is a great summer. We pray it is safe.

[3:15] We pray it is a summer without hurricanes.

[3:17] We pray it is a summer that residents and visitors alike will say,

[3:22] I am glad I was in Fort Walton Beach this summer.

[3:27] And as our meeting begins, we pause to pray a quiet prayer

[3:31] for our neighbors serving our nation in deployed locations.

[3:36] Keep them safe.

[3:37] Watch over their families and bring them all home soon.

[3:41] And when you pray all of these things in your holy and majestic name,

[3:44] Amen.

[3:47] Please join me in a pledge.

[3:50] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

[3:54] and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God,

[4:00] indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[4:07] Thank you, Pastor Bonsack. Appreciate it.

[4:10] And good luck in the next couple of months.

[4:13] All right. Good night, Mr. Sponsak.

[4:18] Mayor, upon order, I have a presentation that we'd like to make tonight.

[4:23] And we have a group that would like to do that.

[4:25] So if you don't mind, I'd like to bring them forward now.

[4:27] Okay.

[4:31] Mayor from Destin and a group of people that would like to.

[4:34] Okay.

[4:35] Thank you, Mayor.

[4:36] Good evening, Mayor Severs.

[4:38] You wonderful city council here.

[4:40] Thank you so much for this opportunity to speak.

[4:43] My name is Sam Severs.

[4:44] I'm the Mayor of the City of Destin. I'm also a past president of the Northwest Florida

[4:50] League of Cities. Hence why we're here tonight. I'm being known to the Mayor of Fort Walton

[4:56] Beach sitting before us. We are here to honor him briefly.

[5:03] Mayor Anderson has served the

[5:06] Northwest Florida City. How long have you been on there?

[5:10] Oh.

[5:12] Six years.

[5:13] Well, always since he was like, no, it's been a very long period of time that he has served

[5:18] the Northwest League of Cities.

[5:21] And let me tell you, I have never seen any one single human being fight for homo authority

[5:29] as hard as this man has.

[5:31] It has been my honor and pleasure to serve with him on that board.

[5:36] He is no longer going to serve on the board.

[5:39] And we felt for the first time in the history of the Northwest Florida League of Cities that it was very, very appropriate to honor him.

[5:49] So I am pleased to do this on behalf of the board of the Northwest Florida League of Cities.

[5:55] And at this time, I'd like to introduce Mr. Jeff Hendry, the executive director of the Northwest Florida League of Cities.

[6:03] Thanks, Mayor. I don't know if it was able to be kept a secret from you, Mike, or not.

[6:08] Probably not, knowing you. But, you know, this is, I've been the executive director

[6:13] for the Northwest Florida League of Cities for 15 going on 16 years. This is the first

[6:18] time we've ever honored anyone literally going off of our board in front of their

[6:22] city council. And, quite frankly, the reason that we made a decision to do that is Mike's

[6:28] contribution to the league. I would say first and foremost, his sustainability with regard

[6:35] to our lobbying program, which I'll know our lobbying program at Tallahassee is a model

[6:40] program for regional leagues all around the state. Mike has really been, quite frankly,

[6:44] I think the biggest champion, the biggest recruiter of bringing new council members

[6:48] on board to come over and encourage them to get involved in the legislative process.

[6:52] Um, Mike's obviously a past president of our league.

[6:55] He served as our Florida League of Cities state director, um, for a number of years.

[7:01] And, uh, quite frankly, I just want to express to this committee, to this council, to everyone

[7:07] that's in the audience, and, and, and really the community, the whole Northwest Florida

[7:11] community, we cannot be more honored to, to bring this award to him, um, for a change

[7:16] that will be one that's permanent.

[7:17] You don't have to return this when he's a past winner of our Northwest Florida

[7:22] of the Year Award. I know your community has won a number of our awards for the number

[7:27] of the initiatives and projects that y'all have done very creatively with multi-jurisdictional

[7:31] partnerships that you've done, and I'm sure Mike's championed many others' projects.

[7:36] So again, we're just here. We're honored to be able to give this award to him and

[7:41] just really want to express our thanks and gratefulness from Mike's contributions

[7:45] to our regional lead. The award just so you know reads in special recognition and gratefulness

[7:52] for your commitment and dedication to the Northwest Florida League of Cities. It's a two-parter

[7:56] mic so you're going to have to really walk and chew gum at the same time. So it stands

[8:01] like this with Mayor Mike Anderson engraved on the front 2011. So we really want you,

[8:09] if you could walk around and grab it and take it away. Can you do that?

[8:40] All right, all right, one, two, three, all right,

[8:54] thank you, I appreciate it.

[8:55] Guys,

[9:04] for your time this evening and thank you for your service, not only to Fort Walton Beach,

[9:08] but the service that you provide to the county and the region as well. Thank you so much.

[9:16] Helen Hutt Rigdon, on behalf of U.S. Congressman Jeff Miller, I'm here to offer my congratulations from him to you,

[9:25] and thank you for your work with the League of Cities and for what you do for the city of Fort Walton Beach.

[9:36] It really is what I call labor of love for the city of Pro-Walm Beach and its residents.

[9:43] The home rule philosophy is really something that I live by.

[9:47] And Senator Gates and Representative Gates and Senator Evers and Representative Colley and Representative Drake

[9:53] and Representative whoever know that I'm such a strong advocate to leave us alone and let us determine our future.

[10:01] and so home rule is really a thing, so I appreciate the recognition from the late, you know, the

[10:07] organization is superb, you know, it's under just leadership, and Mayor Sears is the past

[10:12] president of the press public too, and she's been on the city's board of directors, so

[10:16] it's a great team to work with, so we really enjoy it, and I appreciate your recognition

[10:20] from the comments below, because thank you very much, I appreciate it, all right?

[10:26] So,

[10:29] next order of business, as I've got here, is I would like to introduce a couple of special guests, all right?

[10:37] That Michael Cannonhope, who was Dr. Gosselin's niece, he's here from Los Angeles, and then Alex King, who was her goddaughter from Huntsville.

[10:48] So there we are, that's the pastor of Monsac is talking about.

[10:51] He's talking about what a great summer they had in Cobalt Beach.

[10:54] I guess they come down here every year.

[10:56] So enjoy your summer down here, all right?

[10:59] And don't let Mr. Boston lead you astray.

[11:03] Yeah.

[11:05] Go with Joyce and keep calm at home, all right?

[11:09] Thank you for visiting.

[11:11] And the next order of business,

[11:12] I think it's time to move on to it

[11:14] because we have a special presentation

[11:17] K. Rasmussen from the Economic Development Council said, Mr. Rasmussen, if you could come forward and bring us up to date on what's going on, and I'll look around for the details.

[11:25] Certainly.

[11:40] So, good evening.

[11:42] Mayor, council members, Mr. Mearns, I am K. Rasmussen with the Economic Development Council, and I appreciate you allowing me a few minutes to provide you with an update of EDC activities.

[11:55] As you know, economic development is a group of activities focused on creating and retaining jobs.

[12:03] And we focused on the sustainable industries within our county.

[12:09] They are the targeted industries and I refer to them as our anchor stores.

[12:13] We work what we call our projects and a project is a company.

[12:19] That can be an existing company that's here that requires assistance for expansion

[12:23] or it is a new company looking to move here.

[12:27] This fiscal year so far, we have been successful in facilitating six projects across the county,

[12:35] which created 374 new jobs, 150 which are in the city of Fort Walton Beach,

[12:43] that also entails retaining 200 jobs.

[12:48] We currently have 25 projects, 25 companies that we're working with,

[12:52] And out of that, there are eight of those that are strong candidates for Fort Walton Beach.

[12:58] So I wanted to share with you what those types of companies are that are looking specifically at Fort Walton.

[13:05] We have an engineering firm, a green company, a security company, a warehouse location, a large retail, and a machine shop.

[13:17] So if we are successful in just bringing those companies in here,

[13:22] then that would create a potential of 415 jobs.

[13:28] So in this venture of creating and retaining jobs, as you know,

[13:32] we created the Oakland County's first incubator,

[13:37] business incubator on Lovejoy Road.

[13:39] And we just had a brand new tenant move in.

[13:42] It's J&P Campkin.

[13:44] They moved in the first week of June.

[13:45] So they are a specialized design high-five technology company beyond my comprehension.

[13:57] And their plan is to stay in the incubator for approximately two years

[14:01] where they secure their base and their clientele

[14:05] at which point they would then be able to graduate out of the incubator

[14:08] into our community on a permanent basis.

[14:12] One thing that I do want to share before I move on to the next item to share with you is on the topic of retaining.

[14:21] I always say we need to retain jobs, and I just want to share a little story with you.

[14:26] In partnership with the Opalusa County Airports Director, the EDC has been successful in bringing a new company into the Crescue Industrial Airpark.

[14:35] That's a great thing.

[14:36] We retracted a new company in, it's locating in Crestview, and of course as you can imagine the city of Crestview is celebrating that new company coming into their municipality.

[14:48] The behind-the-scenes story to that is that that company was located in Tallahassee, been there for years. They were growing and they needed assistance on their expansion.

[15:00] Assistance they didn't get. So they started looking elsewhere to where they could grow and where they would be welcomed and where they could get that assistance, Opus County.

[15:11] So we were able to recruit that company in here into our county because some where they were before was not willing to assist them.

[15:21] We don't want that to happen to our companies.

[15:24] We want to be able to continue to facilitate the companies we have,

[15:28] help them be successful and to grow,

[15:31] and that means to retain those jobs and create new ones as we go forward.

[15:35] On that note, the city of Fort Walton Beach has been very successful in doing just that.

[15:42] With your brownfield program, you've had one brownfield, you just created a new one,

[15:48] And because of your insight of seeing the value of enticement and helping companies and providing incentives,

[15:57] you have taken on the task of creating brownfields.

[16:01] As a result, we have a tool that we can now use to help businesses expand and locate here.

[16:10] Such a success story is one that just was announced earlier this month in the Mesopotamia machine.

[16:15] So they were just awarded a Brown Spilled Incentive through the Governor's Office.

[16:22] And that's been in partnership with the City of Fort Walton Beach to make that happen.

[16:27] So you should be commended on working with your companies and keeping them here

[16:33] as well as being able to draw in new ones.

[16:36] The EDC's Techman Group is very active right now.

[16:41] Now, I shared with you previously that we created our technology training academy.

[16:50] And last year we were able to provide $150,000 worth of training free of charge to companies

[16:57] across Douglas County.

[16:59] $97,000 went to specifically City of Fort Walton Beach Companies.

[17:04] And this is incumbent training.

[17:07] That was in partnership with the University of West Florida.

[17:09] And EDC has partnered with the University of Florida again, and we have submitted an application.

[17:16] It's a federal grant for us to be able to provide incumbent training again starting this fall.

[17:24] The announcement to that grant is anticipated in August.

[17:28] So we're interested in waiting for that and hope that we're successful so that we can continue to train our

[17:33] and keep them employed and help our businesses stay successful.

[17:40] Another big topic that the EDC with the technical leadership is working on,

[17:45] and that's the Emerald Coast Technology and Research Center.

[17:48] Now this is a design plan to be built around the University of Florida Reef Research,

[17:54] Engineering and Education Facility in Shawmar.

[17:56] And I mention that because although it is in municipality next door,

[18:05] this facility, this creation will create thousands of jobs.

[18:11] And the spin-off from that presence at this point is immeasurable.

[18:16] It would be a high-tech research and engineering facility.

[18:20] The EDC leadership team has been working with the University of Florida and the Air Force

[18:27] to try to re-engage the reef and get this development going, and it is successful.

[18:33] Movement is taking place again, agreements are being made.

[18:38] The Air Force Research Lab is a huge partner on this, and that is a very big step to bring this to fruition.

[18:45] You do have, in your brochures, an architectural rendering of the conceptual plan for this center.

[18:54] And if we stay on track, this facility would hopefully break ground next year.

[19:01] So this would be a huge impact to your community and your residents.

[19:07] I'll keep you posted on that as we do move forward.

[19:09] You previously heard me share about the successful business workshop and the partnership between

[19:17] the EDC, the City of Fort Walton Beach, primarily working with Mr. Mearns, and then the Greater

[19:24] Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce.

[19:27] As you know, we held a successful business workshop in February.

[19:33] We had great participation, we got a lot of feedback.

[19:37] We had a lot of discussions and what I primarily took away were two of the top things that came out of that.

[19:46] The need for career vocational training for my high school students is something that was identified, as well as adult training,

[19:55] this incumbent training that I'm talking about.

[19:58] Also to, buying for our partnership is to support the business-friendly community of the City of Fort Walton Beach.

[20:10] Making it easier for businesses to open and to stay here.

[20:14] So through the partnership of the three, we are focused on doing that and we are continuing to work together to make that happen.

[20:22] There's a new initiative that came out after, well, the Oil Recovery Act, but it's a bill

[20:28] between 156, and I want to mention this to you, because through this bill, there is,

[20:35] as of July 1, there will be $30 million that will be allocated for economic development

[20:43] projects in the eight coastal communities that were hit the worst by the Deepwater

[20:50] horizon disaster. That $30 million will be spread out over three years, so roughly you're

[20:57] looking at $10 million a year. And the impact or what the intent of the program is, is to

[21:05] draw in big deals. Large companies with a high employee count, which also will offer

[21:15] a high-skill and a high-wage industry into the community.

[21:24] So the eight counties can submit applications to the state in order to try to get this funding.

[21:32] And what it is, it's an incentive package.

[21:34] It costs money to move and relocate and establish a business.

[21:38] So this is an incentive package to try to generate economic diversification

[21:42] diversification in stability in those eight counties.

[21:46] Now, not all of the eight counties will submit an application,

[21:50] not all of the eight counties will have an application that will qualify.

[21:54] But we are working this, and we've actually identified a couple projects that we will be

[21:59] submitting the first week of July.

[22:02] The money is a first come, first serve basis, and it's an incentive package.

[22:08] A second step to that is if the community themselves puts skin in the game, if the community

[22:18] themselves offers the company that's being recruited incentives, then the state will

[22:25] increase the amount that they offer.

[22:28] So they look almost as your input as a match to theirs.

[22:33] So if you put in, they're going to give more.

[22:35] I mentioned this because I talk about incentives, the ground field is an incentive.

[22:42] It would be a good consideration for the city to look at creating a toolbox of incentives.

[22:50] And you can address whatever you're comfortable with and pass them for use at your discretion when you want to use them.

[22:58] but it could be something like a utility rebate,

[23:02] or it could be an ad valorem tax abatement.

[23:06] Whatever you would be comfortable with doing,

[23:10] approve it, set it aside, and then when it's needed

[23:13] for one of these big projects,

[23:15] or the EDC, Larry Sasano, EDC president comes to you,

[23:19] then you can say, hey, we can help entice that company

[23:22] here because we have this incentive

[23:24] that we've already approved.

[23:26] So for those two reasons,

[23:28] Since I would recommend that something that the City Council consider for future use to

[23:32] help you entice companies in here when we're going after something.

[23:37] In closing, I'll just mention it is the time of year again for the State where the EDC

[23:44] is the facilitator of Defense Infrastructure Grant Applications, and they recall that

[23:50] last year I worked with Mr. Beatty and facilitated a grant application that was

[23:56] submitted and awarded for $500,000 to the City of Fort Walton Beach for the Water Reuse Project.

[24:03] Well, at that time again, the RFPs will be released June 30, and I have about a three-week time period

[24:11] to put some grants together for projects for our area and submit them.

[24:16] Last year, the cap amount for application was $500,000, which you were awarded.

[24:24] This year is going to be half that amount, and we only can submit one application last year, we can submit three.

[24:32] So we have tighter constraints, but I did want you to let you know that we were successful last year, as you know.

[24:38] But we're going to be approaching it again this year to see how we can better our communities through that process.

[24:44] So I thank you again for the opportunity to share this information with you.

[24:49] And Mr. Mayor, if there are any questions, I'd be happy to take those.

[24:52] I appreciate it, Mr. Rasmus, and also I appreciate you working with us so closely with our staff

[24:56] on the bound fields, working with Fort Walden Beach Machines.

[25:00] It's a very great effort, and I know they appreciate it, so they can grow down here.

[25:05] Thank you.

[25:06] Do you have questions for Mr. Rasmus and then the EDC plans for bringing those 15 winter

[25:12] jobs to us for the next two years?

[25:16] Okay.

[25:16] Thank you.

[25:17] Appreciate the update.

[25:17] Okay, just one more sort of a special presentation too is that if Mr. Peters can bring us up to date on the 12-year-old All-Stars and how they're doing.

[25:33] Yes, sir. Thank you, Mayor.

[25:36] The State of Florida of Dizzy Dean Baseball Tournament is being held currently in Gulf Breeze,

[25:41] and our 12-year-olds have ran off six wins in a row and will compete tomorrow for the state finals.

[25:47] tomorrow the winner receives a ticket to play in the Dizzy Dean World Series in South Haven, Mississippi,

[25:53] towards the middle of July, so I'm real proud of them and be chairing them on tomorrow,

[25:58] and I know you guys are, and ladies are as well.

[26:00] Okay, thank you. 12-year-old All-Stars, huh?

[26:03] They've been representing the city real well and give you guys something to be proud of.

[26:09] I understand the 10-year-olds didn't quite last as long, huh?

[26:11] We won the first game on Friday, 16-2 and lost two 16-15 games Saturday and Sunday, so not a lot of defense, but some offense.

[26:22] Thank you, Jeff. Appreciate the update.

[26:26] Mr. Carlin.

[26:28] Oh, okay. Thank you. Appreciate it, sir.

[26:31] All right. Presentations aside, recognitions.

[26:35] Now we get into actually approving the agenda for our visitors tonight.

[26:39] Can I get a motion to approve the agenda?

[26:42] Mayor, I'll move to approve the agenda as presented.

[26:45] I'll second.

[26:46] Okay, Mr. O'Rearson.

[26:47] Second, Mr. O'Rears motion to approve the agenda as presented.

[26:50] Discussion on it?

[26:51] No.

[26:52] Seeing nothing, please vote.

[26:55] Okay, just passionately with everyone present.

[26:58] Okay, so the first item of the approved agenda is the consent agenda.

[27:03] Can I get a motion on the consent agenda?

[27:15] Yes, ma'am.

[27:20] On the request for proposal for the disaster recovery services, a curiosity, what about

[27:30] the presentations that were made by DJ and Crowder Gulf caused the swing in the plants.

[27:40] Michael Bede, Engineering Utility Services Director. We decided to bring the first two ranked firms in just to kind of get a feel for their personnel and experience in this area.

[27:52] And Crowder Gulf seemed to have a more of a grasp of what this area needs during the times of emergencies and disasters.

[28:00] And they have actually done work for the city before, as has D&J, but they actually have

[28:06] a continued presence in this area, so that those were the main reasons.

[28:11] So one was ahead on paper, but when they showed up physically, the other one, they flip-flopped.

[28:17] Thank you.

[28:18] Thank you, Mayor.

[28:19] Okay.

[28:19] You have questions on the consent agenda.

[28:23] Seeing no further discussion, please vote.

[28:26] Okay.

[28:27] So the consent agenda just passed unanimously.

[28:29] Thank you.

[28:30] Now, move on to the next item, which is an opportunity for the public to speak on any

[28:34] business of the city that's not on the agenda this evening, so if anyone would like to speak.

[28:41] That matter?

[28:42] Seeing none, okay, we'll move on to the resolutions.

[28:46] The first one is Resolution 2011-2016, which is the Mid-Year Budget Amendment.

[28:51] It's a resolution of the City of Fort Laumich for amending the fiscal year October

[28:56] October 1, 2010 through September 30 of 2011 budget to make certain amendments to appropriations

[29:02] of city funds and providing for an effective date.

[29:08] Ms. Timlis, are you going to present

[29:09] this?

[29:10] Yes, thank you. Mayor Charlotte Dunlop, Budget and Grants Manager. This is just a mid-year

[29:15] budget amendment to recognize changes to various city funds to account for unanticipated

[29:20] activity that has occurred. Just very briefly, primarily, the activity in the general

[29:27] The federal fund has been the result of donations and the changes in the CRA and utilities funds are being made at this time to reflect prior action items approved by city council.

[29:40] I'm available to answer any questions in the mail.

[29:42] Any questions you must have on this item?

[29:47] Thank you. Anyone from the public like to speak on it?

[29:51] Seeing no further discussion, I'm going to get a motion on Resolution 2011, Day 16.

[30:00] Mayor, I'm going to approve resolution 2011-16.

[30:04] I'll second that, Mayor.

[30:05] Okay, Mr. Mayor, second. Mr. Neighbors' motion to approve resolution 2011-16.

[30:10] For the discretion of Mr. Neighbors.

[30:11] Nothing.

[30:12] Mr. Mayor.

[30:14] Anyone else? Discussion?

[30:17] Is there anything else? Please load.

[30:19] Yes, passionately. Thank you.

[30:22] Okay, resolution 2011-17, the FDRT subordination of utilities.

[30:27] It's a resolution of the City of Fort Walms Beach, Florida to subordinate the rights of

[30:31] utility easements along State Rd. St. Road 85 in order to construct new mast arm traffic

[30:37] signals at the intersection of Magland Parkway and Hollywood Boulevard in providing an effective

[30:42] meeting.

[30:43] Mr. Beatty.

[30:44] This resolution is sort of a formality from the DOT.

[30:49] If you'll remember back in June of last year, we approved a project to construct

[30:54] the mass-darm traffic signals at the intersection of Eglin and Hollywood.

[30:58] It's one of the last remaining intersections that don't have a mass-darm signal,

[31:03] and this will actually allow us to be better prepared for hurricanes.

[31:08] This subordination of utilities basically will allow the DOT to come in and do the work.

[31:14] It does not prohibit the city from future maintenance or upgrades of the existing utilities in this easement.

[31:21] And in fact, the DOT is in the process of acquiring this portion of the ride away from

[31:27] the property owner at the Northwest corner, which used to be Reachens Bank.

[31:33] So we're asking for approval of this resolution so we can move forward with the project,

[31:37] which has already been funded and is in the final stages of design.

[31:42] Okay.

[31:42] I think there's going to be questions with Mr. Media.

[31:45] Anything else?

[31:46] No.

[31:47] No, I'm sorry.

[31:47] I didn't want to cut you off.

[31:49] And we're going to have questions of Mr. Beatty on this project.

[31:53] I just have one. When will it start? I think I missed that. Do you have any idea?

[31:58] The bidding phase is slated for September of this year with construction to begin in January or February of 2012.

[32:06] Okay. That'll be a fun intersection to watch the construction going on.

[32:10] And that's for the entire project. They're going to be surface aglent all the time.

[32:14] Oh, it's all part of that same?

[32:15] It's all part of that same project.

[32:17] Okay. Thank you, sir.

[32:19] Anyone else have questions or anyone from the audience like to speak on this?

[32:23] Yes, Mr. Covey.

[32:26] My name is Dean Covey.

[32:28] I live at 270 Brook Street.

[32:30] And I have a question for Mr. Beattie.

[32:37] I know that you come on down at Hollywood and hit 85.

[32:47] It's awful rough there.

[32:50] I don't know exactly who would do it, but are you going to try to smooth out that area, too, when all this action is going to take place?

[33:01] Or are you talking right at the traffic?

[33:02] Yeah, the project entails that DOT coming in and actually going, you know, 100 or so feet on both sides of the intersection of Hollywood.

[33:16] This is roughness on the ruffling that I'm not talking about.

[33:20] That's all I'm going to do.

[33:21] Thank you, Mr. Covey.

[33:23] Anyone else like to speak?

[33:26] I'm going to see no further comments from the public.

[33:28] Can I get a motion on Resolution 2011-17?

[33:32] They all move to approve Resolution 2011-17 as presented.

[33:37] I'll second.

[33:38] Dr. Gossin seconded Mr. Reeves' motion to approve Resolution 2011-17.

[33:43] any further discussion?

[33:45] Mr. Ray, Dr. Gossum.

[33:47] Thank you, Mayor.

[33:48] Anyone on council for the discussion?

[33:51] Seeing no further discussion, please vote.

[33:54] Okay, it does fashion assay.

[33:56] Thank you.

[33:59] Moving on to items 11 and 12.

[34:01] We have no ordinances on the first and second reading.

[34:03] And we'll move on to item 13,

[34:05] which is to nominate a voting delegate

[34:06] for the Florida City's Conference.

[34:12] I'm just going to present this.

[34:13] Ms. Hallam, you need to come, who's already signed up so they know who to select from.

[34:18] We have

[34:30] a meeting for a land of them at the global senator, Mary.

[34:34] Dr. Nelson, we are now a delegation, but she cannot attend.

[34:40] So I haven't heard from any of you all.

[34:43] Mary, just a question.

[34:44] Yes, sir.

[34:44] You're probably getting interest.

[34:46] Nominated voting delegate.

[34:48] Do both of us, or whoever goes, do we select a member to represent us at this?

[34:52] Yes.

[34:53] Yeah, anyone who's gone just as well, one representative to cast her votes.

[34:59] But yeah, just to piggyback on the expenses, I know maybe it's sort of short notice for

[35:05] me guys, the newer ones, but if you get a chance to see it sometime maybe in November, there's

[35:10] another mega-cities conference which will be at the International Airport.

[35:13] We'll consider it next year for those who are going to your second term.

[35:16] It's a good opportunity to network.

[35:18] I know that Dr. Gossin has been to some of the functions, and I think Mr. O'Rearnerson has been before, so it's a good opportunity.

[35:27] And there's great workshops in addition to the Institute for Elected Municipal Official Training.

[35:32] You get this opportunity to listen to your colleagues.

[35:34] And if you haven't been to that, that is really well worth your time.

[35:39] The email?

[35:39] Yes.

[35:40] Okay.

[35:40] It is excellent.

[35:43] Okay, so no other sign-ees or sign-ups tonight, so...

[35:49] I nominate Mayor Anderson for our voting delegate for the Florida Leave of Cities Conference.

[35:54] Any other nominations? I'll second that.

[35:59] Anyway, he doesn't have to go to that meeting.

[36:02] Okay, are there any other nominations?

[36:05] Okay, all those supporting the Mayor as the voting delegate, please vote.

[36:10] Okay, I will do that. Thank you.

[36:14] All right,

[36:18] moving on to item 14, which is in 14.1,

[36:20] which is the setting of the tentative FY 2011-12 millage rate.

[36:25] We're going to set the tentative at the long rate,

[36:27] and I think it's done with us going to make a presentation.

[36:31] Just a mini presentation.

[36:33] I just wanted to advise the Mayor and Council

[36:35] that we did receive the property appraisers certified values last Thursday,

[36:38] and they are in line with what staff was anticipating.

[36:42] Our overall taxable value is $1.15 billion.

[36:46] That's about a 4.9% decrease from the prior year.

[36:51] And that's approximately $163,000 revenue decrease

[36:55] in the general fund and about $110,000 in the CRA fund.

[37:00] Like I said, the staff was anticipating that

[37:02] and we have already built that into our proposed budget.

[37:05] But so the direction that we received from council at the May 17th budget policy workshop

[37:12] was to maintain the current military of 4.5383.

[37:16] So at this time staff would respectfully request that council officially adopt

[37:23] a military that they would like to have the property appraiser

[37:28] include on the notice of proposed taxes, which the property appraiser is going to mail out for

[37:33] to the tax collector, I guess nails that out in August to everyone,

[37:37] as well as a second motion to set the two public hearing dates for September.

[37:43] We have checked with the school board, as well as Obusa County,

[37:47] as the dates cannot conflict, and staff would recommend Wednesday,

[37:51] September the 7th, as well as Wednesday, September the 21st at 5.30pm.

[37:59] Okay, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[38:00] Questions for Mr. Inworth on this item?

[38:02] And then just for those of you who have gone through this before, the tentative millage rate that you set tonight cannot be raised, but throughout the discussions as we go on to the next, it can be lowered.

[38:14] So if you see things that you want to adjust, the tentative millage rate can be adjusted down.

[38:18] But what we set tonight will be the maximum or the cap on the millage rate.

[38:23] OK. Questions for clarification, may I just have any extra money built into the budget for requests to increase certain items?

[38:30] No line item increases. So this will, our budget will be built on this number.

[38:36] Yes. The budget is, it's a continuation budget, more or less, from last year to this year.

[38:41] In order to maintain the same levels of service, some positions have been lost, but sure it's been used to fill in the gap.

[38:48] Okay.

[38:50] But along the same lines, if there's some big project that's currently in the budget that you don't think is in your main,

[38:56] you could take that out if you wanted to and to reduce the mileage rate.

[38:59] Okay.

[39:01] Accordingly.

[39:01] Right.

[39:02] Okay.

[39:03] Like later.

[39:04] Any other questions or comments on Mr. Donovan's presentation?

[39:09] Okay.

[39:10] Thank you Mr. Donovan.

[39:11] Anyone from the public like to speak on the setting of the tentative millage rate?

[39:17] Okay.

[39:18] And we'll close the public hearing on this.

[39:20] So can we get a motion on setting the tentative millage rate?

[39:23] And at the same time, set the dates for our final budget hearings which will be

[39:29] Wednesday, September 7th and Wednesday, September 21st.

[39:37] Okay, yes, sir.

[39:38] I would like to make a motion to approve the staff's recommendation

[39:42] of holding the millage rate to a maximum of 4.5383 mills

[39:47] and proposing a hearing date of September 7th and September 21st,

[39:52] both Wednesdays at 5.30 p.m.

[39:55] I'll second.

[39:56] Dr. Gossum second.

[39:57] Mr. Neighbors motion to approve staff's recommendation

[40:00] for discussion, Mr. Neighbors.

[40:03] Dr. Gossum?

[40:04] No, no thank you.

[40:05] I have a conflict on September the 7th that I cannot break, and I won't be available to attend that meeting.

[40:13] I just know that I'm going to have that problem, and I wanted to know what the flexibility of those means being changed possibly would be

[40:20] to maybe make them a Tuesday instead of at least that one a Tuesday, because I didn't think it's important that we be there as a full council.

[40:27] Okay, I do have to understand that because there's a date.

[40:29] We have to be there.

[40:30] Because it's going to be a specific, yeah.

[40:32] That's the only issue.

[40:33] Right.

[40:37] I believe one of the other dates was the, there were Thursdays, the September 8th was one of them.

[40:46] So I don't believe that Tuesday would be a problem.

[40:50] And

[40:54] discussion part, Mr. Anderson, you said?

[40:57] I'm looking at my own personal calendar and I have a conflict on the 7th as well, which I can get out of to make the meeting.

[41:03] But if we could move it to the 8th, that would be convenient for me.

[41:07] It could not be. The county's public hearings are tentatively scheduled for September the 8th and September the 20th.

[41:14] 8th and 20th? Yes.

[41:16] Okay. So we only have that day.

[41:18] How about the 6th? Does anybody have a conflict on the 6th?

[41:24] How about the 6th?

[41:25] I'm good with the 6th.

[41:28] If Mr. Neighbors will amend his motion if we can do it that day.

[41:31] Can you change it to the 6th?

[41:34] We certainly can. I just want to make sure that that does not conflict with, no, the school board is okay, but with the trim calendar, you know,

[41:44] there are certain dates that it has to not be earlier than.

[41:50] Could you go ahead and set it for the 6th now and then, when you come back in August, if there's still additional conflict, is that what you want to do?

[41:58] I'm not going to get Mr. Lovers will accept that amendment.

[42:04] Thank you.

[42:06] So friendly amendment to change it to September 6th.

[42:09] Is that OK?

[42:09] Thank you.

[42:09] Yeah, awesome.

[42:12] OK, so thank you.

[42:14] To maintain the military at 4.5383 and set the hearing dates as Tuesday,

[42:20] September 6th and Wednesday, September 21st.

[42:23] Any further discussion?

[42:27] No further discussion? Please vote. Okay. There we go.

[42:35] And Miss Dunworthy will let us know when we get together in August if that's, there's a conflict, right?

[42:41] Before then?

[42:43] Yes, it'll have to be before then because we have to have a date to the property of Razor Viola.

[42:46] Okay. That shouldn't take, you can find that out tomorrow.

[42:49] Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Just let us know as soon as possible.

[42:55] Okay, that's the regular agenda for the city tonight, and Mr. Herbs, the only city manager

[43:01] of the courts.

[43:02] I do have one brief issue, and I am talking about the budget and the budget workshops

[43:07] that are scheduled from August 15th, 16th, and 17th.

[43:13] I don't think it's going to take three days of workshops to resolve this budget.

[43:16] I don't think so.

[43:18] I would recommend that we do it on again Tuesday, the 16th, to keep that rhythm

[43:21] the whole and tell you the truth. So unless you have a problem that we'll have the first

[43:25] workshop at six o'clock on August 16th. And then if we need we can carry over to Wednesday

[43:32] to 17.

[43:34] Now, what I'd also like to have is a workshop or a special meeting at five o'clock to discuss

[43:41] the rec center presentation to you.

[43:43] Which five o'clock?

[43:45] Which date?

[43:46] The 16th.

[43:47] Okay.

[43:49] A lot of the planning has been done before we get too far into it and spend any extra dollars

[43:58] or want to run it past council and get your input and ideas on it.

[44:01] There's a lot of variables here, and I don't want to go anywhere past what would be recent, so I need your input.

[44:10] So they have a whole month of July to work on this, so we should be very prepared at that time.

[44:17] Both the structure, the layout of the fields, as well as the most important part, which is the funding.

[44:24] Okay, thank you.

[44:26] Are we going to get those days and times?

[44:28] We will remind you.

[44:30] We will.

[44:31] All right, thank you.

[44:33] All of us, all right.

[44:34] No, not that afternoon.

[44:38] That's all I have in there.

[44:39] Okay, thank you.

[44:41] Mr. Reichs.

[44:43] Okay. Mr. Gregg's coming. Okay. Dr. Gasa.

[44:47] I just have a couple, ma'am. I'd like to add my condolences to the families of Tech Sergeant DeVille and Tammy Lynn Shields, as well as the family of Dan-

[45:01] Our community had three losses in a very short period of time.

[45:07] And then also to share that the Continuum of Care and Opportunity Inc.

[45:13] held a retreat for incoming board members this past week.

[45:18] And almost all of the new members were there,

[45:22] and we received a binder full of information about the Continuum of Care.

[45:28] So I continue to serve on that board.

[45:30] I'll be half of the city, and we're in the process of developing our strategic plan.

[45:35] So I'll share that with you as it moves forward.

[45:39] That's all.

[45:40] Thank you.

[45:41] Mr. Hughes.

[45:42] Mayor, I just want to tell everybody to have a good vacation month.

[45:45] And I'm looking forward to my time off here from the council.

[45:49] Not that I really enjoy it, but it tends to get somewhat laborious sometimes.

[45:53] But we've got a nice August and September of the budget hearings and meetings coming up.

[45:57] So I'm looking forward to that.

[45:58] Enjoy everybody.

[45:59] Enjoy their month off.

[45:59] But speaking of budget hearings, will we get a presentation from the CRA on their proposed

[46:05] budget during those August meetings?

[46:10] Yes.

[46:11] Good deal.

[46:13] I'm more excited about that.

[46:16] Okay, so that would be part of the August meetings.

[46:18] Oh, yeah.

[46:20] Good deal.

[46:21] Enjoy July.

[46:23] Thank you.

[46:23] I will.

[46:24] Thank you, Mayor.

[46:24] Glad Viara-Lester is here.

[46:26] I like that, yeah.

[46:27] Can't wait for those meetings.

[46:28] Okay.

[46:30] Mr. Goodwin, Mr. Nielers, Mr. Rigdon, Mr. Ryan Anderson, I've got a couple.

[46:39] I was privileged to ride with the O'Wall Beach Police Department on the 22nd of this month.

[46:46] My officer, I was able to ride with Officer Jeff O'Dell, learned that he's a super guy.

[46:53] he redefines the words tact and diplomacy in my mind in every contact he had

[47:00] with the public, be it a traffic stop, be it a citizen complaint, be it whatever it

[47:04] was, I think my mouth just kind of fell open in the way he was able to deal

[47:12] with every situation and again with the utmost tact and diplomacy. He made me

[47:17] proud to be part of the city of Fort Walton Beach and he certainly did the

[47:20] Department proud, because everyone he dealt with, I know at the end of the encounter they came away

[47:27] thinking that Fort Welm Beach is a really great place. Secondly, again, this is a

[47:35] kudos to the Police Department. On the 23rd of June, about 300 to 350 people met at

[47:43] Kenwood Elementary School for a tribute to Elena Bowman, the M.A. who was killed just a year

[47:48] ago on the 23rd. The folks all met at Kenwood, the park there. There was a small memorial

[47:59] time there, and each of the parties was given a carnation, and they walked silently up to

[48:05] the woman's home where they played the carnations at the spot where Elena went to heaven.

[48:11] But I'm announced to me, the city of Fort Walton Beach Police Department learned of this.

[48:18] There was no request from the family for support or anyone officially associated with putting

[48:23] that meeting together, but they showed up in mass and the traffic control was absolutely

[48:30] astounding.

[48:32] Everyone was able to walk in silence, no problem crossing any street, right across

[48:38] into the Bowman's Yard to do the memorial and back to Kenwood.

[48:42] And again, it was all done silently by the police.

[48:45] Cars were just magically put in place.

[48:48] So traffic control was just magic.

[48:51] I can't compliment our police department enough for the way they handled that.

[48:54] Thank you.

[48:56] On a brighter note, on the 24th, it was kids' day at the landing.

[49:00] What a great day.

[49:02] I never saw some mates finally faces all in one place at one time.

[49:07] The water apparatus that was set up for all those kids, they had a dunking booth there,

[49:15] there was face painting, there were exotic animals, lots of food, snow cones I saw.

[49:22] Just everyone having just a great time and it's just, again, the city did themselves proud.

[49:28] I wish all the council folks could have had the opportunity to run down there and see it, it was just really good.

[49:35] Next to last on my list, there's a flag raising on July 1st at Uptown Station.

[49:40] Our police department will be part of a part of the Honor Guard that will raise the flag.

[49:44] That's always a wonderful ceremony.

[49:46] Courage is public to come to Uptown Station at noon on the 1st.

[49:49] And last but not least, I think the mayor will talk about the Fourth of July celebration, so I won't go through that program.

[49:54] But what's the giant landing starts at 3.30 goes till till 10. I think our fireworks are at 9.30

[50:01] Yes, a bicycle parade for the kids at about 6.45 decorating bicycles. There were some great prizes

[50:08] Looking for a great turnout this year. Thank you. That's all I got. Okay. Thank you. Yeah

[50:13] before to try Ellen and her staff have really done a good job and complete with some

[50:20] The firework from the 46th test wing, I guess, will be there, too, so come out and enjoy that.

[50:24] Again, the fireworks are a little bit later, but it will definitely be dark at 9.30.

[50:28] And in Kids Day, it was fabulous. It's just amazing.

[50:31] And it came in ways, which I guess was appreciated by the folks that were down there,

[50:35] because some would come in, and then as they leave, another group of buses would show up.

[50:40] So it was a steady flow, five or six hundred kids there all day long.

[50:43] Was that a fair guess, Jeff? I don't know if you get any more than that.

[50:48] Okay, so, and it was, you know, a good day.

[50:53] The other couple of things that I wanted to talk about, were you done, Mr. Anish?

[50:57] Yes, sir.

[50:58] Okay, we've got a nice letter from the four-wall meat sale and power squatter and about their safety

[51:03] boat check that they put on and the fact that we were able to help them to advertise on our LED

[51:10] and just a nice note, I guess it came in to the odd attorney parking lot and Miss Corcoran

[51:17] and did a great job, again, working with them on that project.

[51:21] I had the opportunity to attend the Yolanda D. Thomas Scholarship Golf Tournament.

[51:28] It was Friday out, the golf course.

[51:30] And, again, there's 120-some golfers out there Friday afternoon.

[51:33] And nothing but high praise for the things that Mr. Trunin and his staff are doing out there.

[51:37] And, of course, he's looking in great shape, and everybody seemed to enjoy it.

[51:42] So, again, I talked to Mr. Trunin and Jim Hates and all those folks who, Jim Hates, who helped him.

[51:47] put the tournament together.

[51:50] Another Parks and Recreation thing went down to the dedication.

[51:53] Mr. Mearn spoke at the Civil War exhibit, which is cooled on at the Historical Park and Cultural Center down there.

[52:00] It's just another building that the staff put together, working with the folks from the engineering department

[52:04] and all that, and volunteers, the friends of the museum, and the things that they've put down there.

[52:09] It's amazing, so if you haven't had a chance yet, you need to go down to the Historic Park and Cultural Center

[52:17] and see the new addition down there, the new baby, the Civil War baby.

[52:23] You all should have received a letter on a thing called an honorary commander program.

[52:30] Some of you that participated on this, Emerge was in the test wing honorary commander, Chief

[52:33] Litchauer was the force of support, squadron commander, so it's a neat program for those

[52:38] of you who don't have any military background and opportunity to be associated with a squadron

[52:43] either at Eggman or Colbert and get to know a little bit about the military.

[52:46] And so you should have something in your new basket that I got a reminder today from the

[52:51] folks out at Herlberts that they need their application by this Friday, if you want to

[52:55] participate in it.

[53:00] There's a thing going on called the redistricting.

[53:04] Dr. Gossum spoke and attended some workshops on the redistricting.

[53:08] For those of you who don't know what's going on, the state is being two new U.S. House

[53:14] of Representatives seats.

[53:15] We're going to go from 25 to 27.

[53:17] So they're going to have to redistrict the areas that people represent, and to the point

[53:24] that, you know, Governor or through Chairman and Senator Gates and representing Wetherford

[53:30] are going around 26-some different workshops throughout the state.

[53:35] For those of you to go out on, as Dr. Dawson did and had a great time, on to the redistricting

[53:40] website and draw your own lines, and if that doesn't work, get out here sharpie

[53:45] and draw in your own lines and fax it to them, but it's an opportunity to participate in it,

[53:49] and it's very interesting discussions because there's arguments that we should have a senator

[53:57] that represents the southern part of the state or of our area, the animal coast, and the northern part.

[54:03] But then there's others who said we only had one senator representing the whole animal coast

[54:09] in the discussions at the state level. It would have been nice if we had a vertical

[54:13] distribution, so we might have had three or four senators to fight our battles

[54:19] instead of just one. Same argument goes for the House of Representatives.

[54:22] So it's going to be very interesting to see how it falls out. And so it's going to go on all summer long to the

[54:28] point that it's going to be a major issue for the legislature coming up

[54:31] next year to the point that they've advanced the legislative section by

[54:37] two months. It's normally the 1st of March to the 1st of May. This year

[54:41] it's going to be the 1st of January to the 1st of March.

[54:44] So you've got a shorter timeline.

[54:46] So those of you who want to lobby,

[54:47] you've got to go over there in the wintertime to Tallahassee.

[54:51] And the last thing, the Northwest Florida League of Cities,

[54:55] who are here tonight,

[54:57] they have a thing called their legislative priorities.

[55:00] And you don't have this brochure from last year

[55:03] and Carol can get you one.

[55:05] But in August, we will be discussing what we think

[55:09] the city should be lobbying for in January.

[55:12] So last year they talked about taxpayer bill of rights, energy policy,

[55:16] septic tank legislation repeal, municipal sales tax, and local government pension plan.

[55:21] Some of those have been resolved, so what we'll be doing in August

[55:26] we'll be deciding getting a tally from you guys as to what you think the priority should be

[55:31] because we have a suspense out of the last part of August to turn them into the four bigger cities.

[55:35] who will print out nice brochures for you to carry around.

[55:38] Tallahassee, when you go to lobby.

[55:43] And I think that's all I had.

[55:45] I hope Michael and Alex had a good time tonight and enjoy your stay.

[55:51] And if there's no other business of the city, we're adjourned.

City Council Regular Meeting

Agenda

Transcript