Good afternoon. I would like to call this meeting of the city commission of the city of St.
augustine to order, and I'd ask the clerk to please call the roll.
all the commissioners here present. We have a quorum.
it is our distinct honor this afternoon to have mr.
logan smith, who's one of our student honorees, and logan is going to give us our Invocation.
he aspires to perhaps one day be a youth minister, and we are honored and delighted that He has volunteered to do the invocation for us.
I would ask you to stand remain standing for the pledge of allegiance that will be led by
vice mayor sikes-kline.
dear, lord jesus, I'd just like to pray for the wisdom of our leaders in st.
john's county, and I'd like to pray that we may express confidence in the lord jesus Despite every circumstance that we face in our daily lives
, and amen.
please join me for the pledge of allegiance to the united states of america flag.
thank you, please be seated. Commissioners you have before you the regular agenda as prepared and published.
are there any modifications to the agenda?
none. Mr. City manager, any modifications? Good evening, mayor and commissioners.
staff has no modifications. Thank you very much. Is there motion to approve the agenda as published?
so move. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor. Please signify by saying aye.
aye. Any oppose. Thank you, the agenda is approved now.
it's an opportunity for the commission to recognize a number of graduating seniors from Throughout st.
john's county who have been selected to by their high schools to be recognized for their Citizenship during their tenure at
their respective schools, and so our communications staff has tried very hard to prepare Me to do this orderly.
so we'll see how well this goes.
it is that time of year again. It's graduation season, and we're so delighted, so honored to be here to celebrate the Accomplishments of the young people of our
community as they close one chapter of their life and embark upon a new adventure.
for high school seniors, it's a time that they have worked hard, that you have worked Hard, you have earned this time, and we are here to reward you for your efforts.
it's an honor for me as mayor and for the entire city commission to take a few moments to Recognize these outstanding graduating seniors and to wish them well.
each year, we ask st. John's county high schools to identify a graduating senior who has exemplified the Characteristics of citizenship by their leadership and service to both
their school and community in order to receive the city commission's citizenship award today, these students are Being recognized and awarded a commemorative plaque,
a city lapel pin, and $200 to help defray the cost of your continuing educational Pursuits.
now, here's the choreography. As I call your name, please come forward.
the commissioners are going to join me here in just a moment. The commission will congratulate you personally after I present the award to you.
we will take a picture with each recipient and the city commission.
after you receive the award, we ask that you move out to the courtyard for a group Photograph, and so we'll have the opportunity to share this
recognition on our website and on our social media. So, commissioners, if you would, join me here.
leah crenshaw from creekside high school.
leah is a member of the national honor society's executive council, junior ladies club, Rho kappa honor society historian.
she's an officer of creekside's crazy club, a member of mu alpha theta honor society, the National
english honor society, link crew and fellowship of christian athletes.
leah plays basketball for the lady knights. She's in the academy of emerging technology for cybersecurity and has earned three Industry certificates.
she plans to attend the university of central florida and pursue a degree in civil Engineering.
our next on honoree is margaret [inaudible] from ponte vedra high school.
maggie's currently class president, president of her school's chapter of hugs across the Country and was a four year member of the cross-country team.
she's also team captain of the chinese competition team is a member of the national Chinese honor society, national honor society, national science, honor
society and national history honor society.
she hopes to study neuroscience in the future, but enjoys learning about everything from Physics to history.
maggie plans to attend the university of virginia next year as a jefferson scholar.
[applause]
our next honoree is kush gandhi from allen d. Nease high school.
[applause] kush is the class of 2020 vice president, a battalion leader for the second Ranked navy junior rotc program in the nation and is a four year ib student.
he served as mayor at boys state and as vice president of the national honor society.
kush plans to attend florida state university and pursue a degree in biomedical Engineering, followed by medical school to become a doctor.
congrats.
[applause] our next honoree is jose [inaudible] reyes from the florida school for the Deaf and blind the blind high school.
jose, please come forward. [applause] jose's a member of the debate team, the drama club, the social
dance club, creative writing club and the young life club. He participates in goalball and is one of six goalball players to win nationals, bringing Home a gold medal to fsdb.
jose translates spanish to english for different community groups and has learned American sign language to communicate with the elementary students when he volunteers in
the deaf department classrooms. Jose would like to pursue political science after graduation.
congratulations. [applause]
our next
honoree is jacob jackson from st. Augustine high school.
jacob's a member of the st. Augustine high school swim team, the lacrosse team and kiwanis kids.
jacob has amassed 544 volunteer hours while working in the police athletic league in st.
john's parks and recreation department, in addition to countless hours of lunchtime Student tutoring and geometry.
he's involved with local youth groups and as a coach for many sports. Jacob is a mentor for the dean's office, as well as a peer pal for the school staff.
jacob plans to attend florida state university and study mechanical engineering.
he believes in helping his fellow man and knows that you have to work hard for the things You want out of life.
congratulations, jacob. [applause]
our next honoree is lauren jackson from st. Joseph's academy.
lauren is president of mu alpha theta honor society, historian of the veterans heritage Project, a member of the national honor society, the interact
club, as well as being a cheerleader. Lauren is an after school tutor, a school ambassador for the admissions office, and she Is an altar server at her church.
lauren, congratulations.
[applause] our next honoree
is emily martin-willett from pedro menendez high school.
[applause] emily's co-founder of the nationally award winning school newspaper, the Falcon flyer, secretary of the national honor society, leader of the impact
committee and the national honor society of dance arts, and a four year member of the Varsity tennis team.
she is a member of key club athletic leadership council, the ruff club and the film club, And she volunteers daily in the school guidance department as an intern.
emily, we're very proud of you. Congratulations.
[applause]
and our final honoree of the evening is mr.
logan smith from st. Augustine technical high school.
logan is an active student at st. John's technical high school, participating in the water program, as well as many field Trips.
he volunteers at anastasia baptist church and helps with the technology team.
he currently works at publix. We're so proud of you. Congratulations to you.
[applause]
this concludes our this concludes our citizenship award presentation.
we are so honored to have these students here with us from throughout the county.
our congratulations, especially to their friends and to their family, whose support is, Of course, crucial for their success.
we appreciate your involvement and being here with us this evening.
we're going to take just a small break to allow the families and students, if they choose To, to exit to the courtyard, and then as soon as folks
have had a chance to re-order themselves, we will continue the meeting.
thank you very much.
they wanted to make sure you saw them. Thank you, marin.
thank you, sir.
while we're taking a moment to get reorganized, if there is anybody who wishes to address The commission, because we're going to begin public
comment in just a minute, I do need you to complete a speaker's card there on the back Table, and city staff will be happy to bring those
forward.
okay, we are now on item four of our agenda, the public comment section of the meeting.
we do ask that you limit your comments to 3 minutes. We do ask that you complete a speaker's card.
if you were so inclined, we would ask you to give your name and address before you begin Your remarks.
the first card that I have is ms. Gina jonas. Ms. Jonas.
welcome. Good afternoon.
this is a privilege and an honor to speak for the first time in front of the esteemed Commissioners who are deciding very important things in our
community for us, and to be part of the celebration of the young people was very, very Inspiring to know that they are being honored
for the education and the efforts that they have made to learn to become wise as the man, The young
man who gave the invocation said that this is our aim to become wise, and if that is Meaningful, it means to act wisely.
so I am here to speak in support of placing the marker for the isaac barrett that was Lynched in this town in a
public place. My reason for supporting this is to help bring us together as a community, to acknowledge That
we have differences, to acknowledge that we can accord dignity to each and every
one of us, that we can live the words of the bible to be all of god's children
and it is in your power to make that possible by giving this sign to the community that Everyone counts.
I appreciate your considering my words and hope deeply that you will help create this Atmosphere
for everyone to thrive in. Thank you. Thank you very much.
our next speaker is jerome [applause]
. Welcome, sir. Good afternoon. As miss jonas said, it's an honor to be here and to speak.
I'm a resident of the county, just outside of the borders of st.
augustine. I live on the island, and I would also like to speak to the marker for the Isaac
barrett lynching marker. I have recently learned the history of of the event and also the history of previous Marker that had been placed in the
county and disappeared apparently almost immediately thereafter, and I do believe it's Appropriate that we
honor the memory of such a tragic history that we continue to live with today, and so I Just am here to speak in
favor of its placement. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, sir.
our next speaker is trish becker.
good evening, commissioners. I'm trish becker. My address is on file. I'm not here to talk about mosquitoes today, although you know I could, [chuckling] but I Just wanted to talk to you for a minute and thank you all.
I know that as an elected official, you get a lot of curveballs thrown your way that Sometimes can be pretty challenging, and from someone that's
been a part of the isaac barrett remembrance committee since the beginning, I just want To thank you because I know it's been tough.
we've had ups and downs and hopefully today we can have a great up and celebrate and give Somebody the justice that they deserve, and I think
that it's going to be a wonderful way to educate the community, and I'd also just like to Shout out all the students and especially the teachers, because those
were some fantastic students that we had up here. Wow. Should be really proud.
so thank you so much. Thank you. Our next speaker is lisa lloyd.
hello, lisa lloyd, address on file. It's exciting to come down and have to put makeup on to come before you all to say Something positive, and just thank you again for what you all have done in the last few
years about addressing accurate history, which is really important in a city like this, And I think this new marker for isaac barrett is going to be another step in that.
in germany after world war one, they didn't put up things to memorize or memorialize the Warriors, but they left the concentration camps because that message was
so important to convey of the horrors of racial injustice and what transpired there.
so when I had an opportunity, when bryan stevenson was here to go hear him speak, and then We have these amazing people that worked so hard
to bring this about, and I was there the morning that was supposed to be to commemorate It and install it, and obviously that did not happen.
so I'm glad it will have an opportunity to happen, and being near the visitor's center Where people can use it for a more accurate interpretation of why
these things are important to know and the relevance and the implications of people's Actions and racial injustice, hatred and those kind of
things. I just want to thank you. Thank you very much.
our next speaker is andrea clarke.
hi, my name is andrea clark, 4640 carter rd. Sorry. Good afternoon.
I'm here to speak on the lynching marker for isaac barrett, but first, I'd like to say How proud I am of all the students receiving awards today.
as someone approaching middle age, I have confidence in our future, knowing that it's in The hands of students like we saw today regarding the marker.
thank you for your time and hearing us regarding the placement of the isaac barrett Junior lynching marker in conjunction with the st.
john's remembrance project and the equal justice initiative. The project committee has chosen a great location for the marker on the visitor center Grounds.
we feel that the location will give locals and tourists alike the space to read and Process the information on the marker.
it's a peaceful space on the grounds, perfect for remembering mr. Barrett. We really look forward to completing this project and celebrating with our Community.
thank you. Thank you very much. Our next speaker is mr.
ken mcclain.
good evening, commissioners. Ken mcclain, p.o. Box 912 hastings, florida.
I am a lifelong member of st. Augustine, florida, and it is an honor and a pleasure to be up here for this remembrance Project.
I am too, a member of eji and also a member of the remembrance project, and I think this Is a great start
to getting things back on track for us in augustine because it's long overdue, and I also Just had the
opportunity. So if you guys are on facebook, I visited--mr.
mcclain, if you can pull that microphone a little bit closer, that'll be better.
thank you. I visit eji in montgomery, alabama.
may we never forget all those who suffered and died because they asserted their basic Human rights to be free.
so thank you guys for your consideration and all the due diligence that you've done, all Of the back and forth, but I do believe this is going to serve
st. John's county very well. Thank you, sir. Our next speaker is susan
[inaudible], and forgive me if I mispronounced that.
while miss [inaudible] is coming to the microphone, if there's anybody else that wishes to address the commission on any topic, including this One, now would be your opportunity to
complete a speaker's card and hand it to one of our staff members, please.
welcome. Hi, I'm susan [inaudible] 4280 coastal highway, st.
augustine 32084, and I'm just here to lend my support for the placement of the marker in The visitor's center and to thank you for working with us on that.
I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
ma'am, if you want to come on forward, we'll we'll take you right now if you're ready.
thank you, miss mary cobb. Hi, thank you all. It's an honor to be here and also be part of the festivities with the high school Students.
I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for all the hard work. This has been a labor of love.
I know, as far as for the eji marker for isaac barrett, it's been something that I've Been working on for about five years and it's been a journey and I
think that this is the right time, the right place, and I think that things happened to Make as far as us to get to this point.
so I really appreciate all the thoughtfulness and the hard work with everybody.
that was part of the eji community remembrance project for st. John's because we've come together and it's something that we're really proud of and Something that we feel will serve as far as education and discussion around important
topic and I do want to thank you all. Thank you. Thank you very much.
thank you, and our next speaker is aubrey desanto.
welcome. Hi, I'm a flagler college student, rising junior.
I'm studying coastal environmental science and creative writing, and my concern is Actually about stricter boating laws and safer waterways over your hospital creek and
julia's island. So I've been able to work with zach mckenna, a local marine researcher And owner of eco tours, and we've been working together on how this can happen.
it was great with the manatee signs, the great bright yellow to say like, hey, there's Marine life, but this is still happening.
animals get hit twice a week, just about which is devastating to our community, but not Only is the marine life being really hit,
just there's not safe voting laws. People are still flying through. Kayaks are being like flown by like jet skis, and it's been just awful, and I would like You guys to think about if this was an
intersection on us one, it would be solved if the waterways near hostile creek and Julia's island were seen as a busy intersection on
us one there would be a red light, or at least a stop sign or something. Something would be happening for this to be able to be stopped or even just lowered.
so I really would like you guys to take this in consideration and think about it and it Would be great.
thank you, guys. Thank you very much. I have one last card and unless I see someone waving frantically to me, I'd like to Recognize
bj kalaidi.
bj kalaidi. Address on file?
hmm, I like that. Please check your property tax bills. We pay the port authority and find if indeed to remove derelict boats.
7(a)(1) on the agenda. The marker should be placed where this incident occurred in st.
john's county, not within the city limits of st. Augustine. A more appropriate place would be 102 mlk avenue.
it's unfortunate politicians and bureaucrats write audiences to further their political Agendas.
as the city of st. Augustine repaired the memorial at trout creek, which three politicians voted to move from The plaza.
taxpayers please read the city's annual comprehensive financial report 10(a).
remember, our tax dollars had paid for one the water bills of some city employees since 2005.
two car allowance for some employees. Three those with electric vehicles to receive electricity for their vehicles.
rumor is our tax dollars may be spent to give 500 tax dollars or 175,000 tax dollars to All city employees to
gas up their vehicles. Property taxes are for needs, not wants--also known as greed.
how many septic tanks are located in the city limits of st. Augustine? Property owners need to connect to city sewer if the city wants to be good Stewards of the environment.
let's encourage the saurs. I don't know how to say that the saurs to give $5 million to the college for new classes Since 1 million was a write off for a ball field, state
taxes should not be given to a 501(c)(3) sitting on 70 million plus endowment dollars.
it's always follow the money. This is what this is all about, and does anyone remember what happened on september 25, 2020?
september 25, 2020. Thank you. I have no further cards and so the public comment section of the meeting is Now
complete. We're on item five the consent agenda. Mr. Regan, if you'd please read the consent agenda.
on tonight's consent agenda, we have a reminder of upcoming meetings. The may 9th, 2022 5 p.m.
regular city commission meeting the may 23rd 2022 3 p.m. City commission special meeting to review strategic plan mid-year budget analysis and cip May 23rd, 2022 5 p.m.
regular city commission meeting june 13, 2022 5 p.m. Regular city commission meeting.
we have approval minutes from prior commission meetings, including march 28th, 2022.
special city commission meeting march 28th, 2022 regular city commission meeting.
we have a release of lein for unit connection fee mortgage at 114 grafft ln and the Pronunciation is going to get past me,
balakrishna kalappa. We had the second quarter report by the legal department.
that ends the consent agenda. Thank you very much. Is there motion to approve?
so moved. Is there a second? Second. Madam clerk, if you'd please call the roll.
the consent agenda is approved.
commissioners, we are on item 7(a)(1), and I'm going to make an attempt at introducing This.
I think this is a topic that we're well familiar with. This has been before the commission, prior to commissioner blonder being elected, but the Other four of us were here, and at that point the
commission voted five zero in concept to place the marker in the plaza.
a lot has happened since that vote, I believe, in 2019, and after much heartfelt Conversation and
discussion, I'm coming forward with a proposal that perhaps a better location for this Very important marker is at the visitor's
information center. It provides, I think, a certain number of advantages.
perhaps first and foremost, it will be protected.
we know that when the monument was originally placed in orangedale that it was stolen the Night before the dedication and as one
member of the remembrance committee said, we have an effect been silenced for four years Because of the act of theft.
for someone taking this message for which they presumably did not agree and trying to Silence the message, and so the city is
uniquely and thankfully well equipped to protect it as we do our other historic Resources.
the second is, is that, of course, the vic is an exceedingly high traffic location.
it's really what we want to be the, front door to our community.
so it is the opportunity we direct people to go to the vic, to park their car, to go into The vic, to get oriented to st.
augustine, and as they begin their walk into the nation's oldest city, the proposed Location of this marker would be on the east
side. As you exit the vic grounds, you of course have a a photoshop of it, and I think One
of the things we would want to hear from mr.
regan is that if, in fact, we do approve this placement, that he and his staff will make Sure that the immediate surrounding area is
appropriately improved and beautified and that it has more of a place of dignity than Perhaps, is conveyed in
the photoshopped photograph in your agenda book.
the third reason I think that the vic is particularly compelling is by ordinance.
we have designated this as a location to tell both st.
augustine and st. John's county history. This is not just black history.
this is a part of all of our history, and while it did happen some 20, 25 miles west of The city, this is still a
location that we have designated to tell county history as well as st.
augustine history, and so let me digress here just a moment.
one of the things that strikes me is these wonderful young people that we recognize Today.
maybe none of them actually live in the city of st. Augustine. They come from all over the county, and but yet st.
augustine serves--it may sound corny--as the spiritual home of the county and it has Always
served that role and I think continues to serve that role.
it is this special place, and while sometimes that's exceedingly burdensome for us, on The other hand, it's an honor for
us to have that role to play, and so this is a larger history, but still by ordinance, we Have designated the vic as an appropriate
place to tell this history. I voted for this issue many years ago.
we have dealt with many, many other things. In the interim, the supporters of this monument, this marker, have been more than Patient, and I agree with the speakers
that now seems to be the right time to place this marker at the vic.
at the appropriate time, I want to have some conversation about the contextual plaque that Has been
proposed, but those at least are a general introduction, and I'd be happy to if any of The other commissioners wish to speak to this now or if the
city manager. Vice mayor sikes-kline so I would like to comment, when we pass this Ordinance for that area, what was going on at the time was
this was back in, I think 2009, I believe what was going on at the time.
we were having a haitian delegation come and speak to us about placement of a [inaudible] Statue there, and well, there were lots of other ideas as well
about what we could do for the area, but we really had to establish that we could do so And protect the space
and establish the purpose of the space around that area between the parking garage and The vic, and so [inaudible]
history did relate to other areas outside of the city, all the way down to matanzas.
I believe he supervised the [inaudible] down there that protected the city, and some of Us people have studied history.
we all really have said for a very long time that our history is exactly what you said.
our history has a thread stretching from here all the way past tallahassee, really.
I mean, we really do. It's just goes that far back, but I just want to say this.
I support the marker because I think it says the quiet part out loud about the era of Racial lynching in our region, in our
nation's history, and I think the location is well suited and I think everybody's Patience for working through this, but I think this is going to work
out very well for all of us. Thank you. Thank you.
I want to say two things. I'm very much in support of placing this marker, getting it out of the closet at the Lincolnville museum and cultural center
and in a place where it can serve to educate people and engender the hard conversations That we have to try
to undertake in order to heal, in order to prevent these horrible actions from continuing To happen.
it is very clear to me that in resolution 2009-38, which is what you're referring to, Vice mayor, the
enabling wording is there. This location is exactly appropriate for the visitor information center.
it says in part, whereas and I'm just going to skip, and the orientation and education
of visitors and residents regarding the significant historical resources of st.
augustine and st. John's county. It couldn't be any clearer that it's the appropriate location.
so I'm going to support this.
I'm in support of it as well. Thank you. You don't have to say anything.
I feel compelled to say something because the lynching memorial for isaac barrett Represents
human condition at its lowest ebb. We still see it on this planet today.
we see it happening right now in ukraine. Humans are not nice to other humans, and the more we remind ourselves that's the case, The better the chance of the future that we won't be the way we
are. I supported the monument staying in the square because I wanted to turn it to a Civil war memorial, because that's part of the story, and I think that's the story we need
to tell. This deserves a place of prominence as well because it tells a story that is Ongoing, even though it may
not affect us directly so much here today. It could. So this is important, and I support this 100%.
thank you very much. So you have in your packet the monument that has, I
think, been paid for by the equal justice initiative, it has been, and that language has Been vetted, and we have that
language. We have then proposed to place what I'm calling a contextualization plaque.
my reaction to the wording, this is a city plaque. My reaction to the wording is it's redundant in large measure what's already on the Marker, and so I would suggest one of two
things. I'm going to offer some alternative language that may appeal to the commission, And if so, then we can certainly adopt it and move
forward. If it's not acceptable to you or if we're unable to amend it, then my suggestion Would be that we simply remove the
contextual marker and then just erect what the larger blue main monument.
so this is my proposed language. It's pretty short. When your wife is a tutor of elementary school kids, the printer prints on orange paper.
[chuckling] the lynching of isaac barret did not occur in the city of st.
augustine. He was murdered in orangedale, over 20 miles to the west of this location.
regardless, both communities are in st. John's county, and as such, this event is a part of our history.
in order to educate our residents and visitors, the city commission of the city of st.
augustine approved the placement of this marker in this prominent public space on april 25th, 2022.
it is meant to generate conversations that will help to open new avenues of Understanding, that will strengthen community bonds and increase inclusiveness among
all people. So I took a little bit of the language from the proposed and simply Emphasized that this is
hereby active the city commission and that while it occurred 20 miles away, it is a part Of our shared historical heritage.
I think that's much improved. I agree. I like it.
I agree. Can you read it again, please? Absolutely. The lynching of isaac barrett did not occur in the city of st.
augustine. He was murdered in orangedale, over 20 miles to the west of this location.
regardless, both communities are in st. John's county, and as such, this event is a part of our history.
in order to educate our residents and visitors. The city commission of the city of st.
augustine approved the placement of this marker in this prominent public space on april 25th, 2022.
it is meant to generate conversations that will help to open new avenues of Understanding, that will strengthen community bonds and increase
inclusiveness among all people. I like it a lot. Thank you.
okay, so the first is I would like to make a motion that the language I just read a copy Of which has been handed to the
clerk be substituted for the contextual marker.
I'll second. I have a motion. The vice mayor seconds and I, without further discussion, ask the clerk To please call the roll.
thank you. Now I would make a motion that the isaac barrett monument be placed at the Visitor's information center
in the location indicated in our packet, and that the city manager take necessary steps To
beautify the location. There's a motion and I have a second from commissioner horvath.
further discussion? Seeing none. Madam clerk, please call the roll.
the motion passes. Congratulations. [applause] no,
you are the ones that deserve the credit. You have been carrying this cross for a very long time.
you have met a number of setbacks, but we thank you for your vision.
we thank you for your perseverance, and we thank you for your goodwill.
okay, good work. Thank you for providing the language contextualization; that was very thoughtful.
thank you. We are on item 9(b)(1) resolution 2022-09.
thank you very much and have a good evening to you that are taking off.
miss lopez, this is you. Yes. Mayor, vice mayor and commissioners, at our last meeting, we chatted a little bit About the land property management guidelines.
I think there was general consensus that the categories identified were in keeping with What you're looking for, but there was a request from the
commission to add a little bit more language regarding when the city manager would bring Back to the city commission a particular
parcel to discuss with the commission and get their direction.
if there was a scenario where two or more evaluation factors conflicted and were Irreconcilable, and so I've added
that language, which was what was discussed at our last meeting in subsection one, and That language
would say the city manager will bring a recommendation for city commission approval. If the city manager finds that after review of a specific property, two or more Evaluation factors are in conflict, cannot be reconciled and are mutually
exclusive. So hopefully that addresses the concerns of the commission at our last Meeting, and I'm looking for a motion to approve the resolution.
I think a couple of us had asked for that.
I think it's a very good resolution. Thank you, and I move that we pass resolution 2022-09.
second. I have a motion and have a second. Do I have further discussion?
madam clerk, please call the roll.
thank you very much.
the resolution passes and thank you, ms. Lopez, for your additional work.
resolution 2022-12.
mr. Franklin, this has to do with the execution of a construction and maintenance Agreement between florida department of transportation and the city for maintenance repair
of a pedestrian crossway on state road a1a and anastasia boulevard.
yes, mayor. Good evening, mayor and commissioners, reuben franklin, public works Director.
this resolution is to enter a construction maintenance agreement for dot to construct a Signalized pedestrian crossing at zorayda and
anastasia boulevard. This has been on our list for a very long time.
it is funded. So our next step will be to approve this resolution and dot should be constructing it Within the year.
I did bring a this is not an exact rendering, but this is what it will look like.
it is a cantilever hawk system that's push button.
so when a pedestrian goes across the street, they will activate this and cars will come To a complete stop, allowing the pedestrian or bicyclist across the road.
I'm happy to entertain any questions. I am so happy. Our neighborhood, north david shores, south david shores will be thrilled and it has been A long time.
thank you. I would just wallow in this for a moment because so
many wonderful things are happening on anastasia boulevard. Some excellent restaurants, some fun places, some nightlife
and this will have a traffic calming effect.
it will make it safer for people to be in that space and crossing the highway, and it's a Wonderful
improvement, and thank you for your work on this.
we've had in the past month, to my knowledge, and I probably don't know all of them, but At least one pedestrian death
killed by a car out of [inaudible]. Two more, one at [inaudible], and another one, I think, somewhere on a a1a, but the fact Is,
we've got a problem and we need to address it. This is a great step in the right direction, pun intended.
no, let's take it as unintended. [chuckling] anything further?
do we have a motion? I move that we--second.
oh, there we go. [chuckling] I have a motion from the vice mayor to approve resolution 2022-12, a second from commissioner horvath.
further discussion? Seeing none. Madam clerk, please call the roll.
the resolution passes. We now have a presentation of the city's annual comprehensive financial report for fiscal Year 2021, as well as a report from the
audit committee. Welcome, mr. Simpson. Good evening, mr.
mayor, madame vice mayor, commissioners. Mark simpson, director of finance.
as you stated, I am here to present our annual comprehensive financial report and Introduce mr.
todd neville, who is on our audit committee, and he will review the findings of the Audit.
does everybody have a copy of this document or can I provide anybody with a copy?
you could provide the mayor one. His copy's the same place with his
agenda.
I would just like to hit a few high points before I introduce mr.
neville. It's only once a year when we get to review these.
we spend a lot of time on the budget, which is just the revenues and expenditures of the City.
we very rarely go over the balance sheet. So I'm just going to hit a few items on the balance sheet.
this report is divided up into five sections, the introductory section, the financial Section, the statistical section and the compliance section.
I'll let mr. Neville handle the compliance aspect of things as a member of the audit committee, but I Would like to address some things in the financial section that I think are
noteworthy. In total, our city's balance sheet is a quarter of $1,000,000,000.
we don't see that very often. We think of our budget as approximately 60 million, but our balance sheet is actually $250 million when you
add the governmental funds, the business type funds and our pension funds.
so we're talking about some sizable numbers here that we don't always get to mention in The budget.
the management discussion and analysis is simply my attempt to put the numbers into words For you and for the general public,
bond counsel, investors, banks, things like that. So I would encourage you to read that.
be happy to answer any questions at any time about the management discussion and Analysis.
it's on page 35 and a lot of those comments are promulgated by the government finance Officers association, and it's what we need to
mention in order to win the award for excellence for this report, which I believe has Been going on for over 30 years now.
page 53 is really a good snapshot of the city's what we call net position now.
net position is similar to equity or retained earnings in a private sector business, and On page 53, you will notice that the net position we
have in our governmental activities is $25.8 million.
the business type activities are 125, almost $126 million.
there are various restrictions placed on these assets.
the next page I would like to hit, which is
the budget to actual.
I believe it's on page 63 of this document.
it's the general fund budget to actual which shows everybody how we did in relation to Our plan, but I think what needs to be
highlighted is that the budget for fiscal year 21 was established in the summer of 2020, In the middle of covid, and there was a lot of uncertainty
about our revenues and we did very well.
florida bounced back very quickly from the pandemic.
if you look at the far right column, the variance of all of our revenues, almost all with The exception of
our investment income, was interest rates were historically low. So we did not earn a high rate on our investments, but we very rarely do.
we hit it out of the park with most of our revenues. So there is a nice favorable variance that's the biggest portion of our savings.
$1.5 million of that did come from st. John's county in the form of relief for the expenditures for our covid 19 program related To the
pandemic. So that's a million and a half of our favorable excess was from st.
john's county. The expenditures came in very well as well.
a lot of that due to labor shortages. We simply cannot find enough workers right now to be fully staffed all the time.
so our expenditures were a little light. That, combined with better than anticipated revenue, led to what I believe to be is a Record surplus in 2021.
all in all, $4.8 million for the general fund.
I don't think that you are giving yourself and city staff enough credit.
yes, those two things are true, but we budgeted very, very conservatively.
we managed very, very conservatively, and so when those things turned out positive, the Rebound,
the money from the county, those things, all it did was accelerate the foundation you and The city manager had
laid, and so take a bow. It was a great job.
it was a fantastic year, and it couldn't have come at a better time.
with the army corps study coming on. We definitely need the funds for that army corps study.
we need the funds for affordable housing. So it's a fantastic position to be in.
can I just jump in here and say also, so you mentioned the 1.5 million that came through From the county.
I'm not sure where it originally--was that federal funding? It's in the grant slide.
it's actually considered a local grant. St. John's county took on all the funds themselves and they spent it on programs that Qualified for the cares act and they just gave us their
own general fund appropriation of $1.5 million. That was originally due to the cares act?
yes. So what I loved and what jumped out of me was that one of the results of that was an Increase in the general fund reserves of $4
million, which is superb.
I mean, that's just a dream come true. So thank you for that. That's great news.
I wish I could take credit for it, but it was an uncertain time. No, you should. I mean, you guys did a good job managing the money when times were scary.
so you mentioned that the corps of engineers study affordable housing.
those are one time ticket item. That what you foresee spending this $4 million on?
potentially, yes, conservative governmental accounting. We wouldn't want to use savings to fund ongoing operations.
we'd want to use current revenues to fund current expenditures and future years.
if there are other things that the commission would like to consider, then we are in a Unique position this year to have a pretty large increase in our fund balance in the
general fund. So would you be able to bring back to us some options what you might see as Priorities for that?
absolutely, next month, our workshop will be a pretty robust discussion on the capital Improvement plan, things like that, that would be appropriate uses of one time
windfalls such as this, and then also just following along on what commissioner valdes Said at our last meeting, I believe, where he was interested in
finding out what the value of the three acre property on plantation island drive that the City owns might be.
could we also bring that into the special workshop?
mr. Mayor, I could cut to the chase.
we just got the appraisal and david birchim's been leading that. The property in the south of 312 is appraised at 1.8 million.
okay, and then just to finish what I wanted to say, that the entire narrative and the Letter of transmittal pages 1 through 13, I think it's a
really I mean, I would encourage people to read it. I know it's a financial report, but it really puts a nice context.
it's succinct. It's a summary of really all of the different citywide objectives that we've recently Completed that are underway and that are planned, and it just puts them
all together, and I hadn't seen anything like that before where you could just look at, Hey, here's what we're doing.
so I would encourage anybody to get a copy of this report, and take a quick look at pages
1 through 13, because there's a lot of great information in there. Thank you. Thank you, commissioner, and the report is available on our website for Everybody, and there should be a copy at the public library by the end of the week.
before I move on to the business type funds. I wasn't quite finished. Sure.
you'd like this one, commissioner blonder; you should read the ones in the past and Compare this one to the level of work that we've done in the past going back.
it's amazing what's happening now. I think there's a common in here that I mean, there's so much work it says
the funding and project management and financial reporting involved in all of the arpa Money that will be receiving will consume the
majority of city staff's time for the next several years, and that's something that I Think we need to be aware of moving forward as well.
that's an aside because I had a question. I had a question.
fiscal management, the city has developed a long term revenue forecasting model for the General fund that identifies anticipated future revenue for forecasting five years of
predicted expenditures for operations and capital outlays.
so can you talk to me about that a little bit? That's a first for me. Is this a kudo for you?
oh, not at all. That's a kudo for ms. Breidenstein who developed that.
this is something new. She was promoted right before I came on board as the budget director.
so we hope to dust that off. It's a robust five year model, the biggest excel document I've ever worked with, but I Look forward to showcasing it for you.
I'd love to see it, really, I think it's going to be helpful for us. That's meredith's doing.
I wish I could take credit for it. Congratulations. Thank you. Yes, please.
yes. So the tying our financing to the near-term capital plan of five years we've been Doing
for a while, and every time when you see we're like the how we pick our timing on Refinancing or taking out new debt like we recently did on the
utility fund, it's all timed to keep levelized debt services. So, we're very proud of this, that we have a vision, we have a strategic plan, we have a Budget and a budget with a five year plan that is tied to
how we're going to pay for it. A lot of cities don't really totally always have that.
so, yeah, it's something that we are just really proud.
I'm just really glad that you pointed that out. It's a chance toot our horn.
we have a fantastic and we've always had great finance members of staff, but I think We're at an all time high right now.
well, may I add to this? We're taking longer and longer looks out to the future now, because as we understand our Role in resiliency and sea
level rise, the climate changes, would it be worth exploring a longer window or I
don't know what the constraints to your model are, but I wonder something we're looking To 2
100 now as we do our modeling for resiliency, and I just it's a question.
with enough time. I mean, microsoft excel is a very powerful tool. We can go out as far as you like.
[chuckling] I like the answer. Thank you. I had one thing that really caught my eye that I want to bring up, and it's Really it just made me like, buckle up, and
this is on page 161 where you have demographic statistics.
mm hmm, and I looked at the little box toward the bottom and saw that the 2022
current population of the city is 15,650 people, and then I saw that in 2027, five years From now, it's
projected to be 20,069, which I did a quick math trick not using excel, and that's a 22% Increase
within the city limits and over the past, since 2011 to 2021, so ten years, it's been a 17% increase.
over ten years, and now we're talking about five years being a 22% increase.
I think that has to factor into our planning on all different levels because that's a Really high rate of growth.
so I just wanted to call attention to that. I'm glad you did. Could you elaborate on your assumptions?
that data is provided by the chamber of commerce and the office of economic and Development research.
I do not come up with most of the data in the statistical section. I'm really all about the money.
[chuckling] all right, so I sidetracked you and I'm sorry.
go back to your presentation, and then we have mr. Neville. Oh, sure, I would just like touch on the business type funds as briefly as Possible.
we do have the three utilities. The marina had a banner year thanks to what I would consider to be the increase in Boating popularity because it was a permissible activity during the
pandemic. Our marina was also open for the entire fiscal year without having a hurricane.
so we had a full year marina income. Marina did very well. Visitor information center, also badly hit by the pandemic, had a banner year with Parking revenue, was able to
reduce some of the deficit and the visitor information center fund.
so the utilities are performing as well as we can expect right now.
I do think we have a challenge ahead of us during the budget season as far as inflation Adjustments and necessary increases to the workforce who
are having a hard time with population increases and service levels.
so we've got some challenges coming up in the next couple of months with the utility Budget, so I'll present more on that, but the
results were satisfactory in those three funds utilities, stormwater and solid waste.
with that, the final thing I will add that's also positive was our pension funds hit it Out of the park as well.
the stock market was on fire in 2021, and our pension funds, two of the three wiped away Their pension liabilities and now have pension assets.
so we're very pleased with the pension fund performance as well.
if there's any more questions, I'll be happy to answer them, and otherwise I'll turn it Over to mr.
neville, who's on our audit committee. Thank you very much, mr.
simpson. Mr. Neville, welcome, former commissioner, and we appreciate your leadership of the audit Committee for many years.
thank you, mayor and commissioners. Mark finished up as he said the numbers.
want to remind everyone, those are your numbers. What I'm here to talk about is what the auditors presented to us, the audit committee
and we are a quasi body that represents you guys with the auditors, and there are just a Few highlights of
the audit that I wanted to bring to your attention that are in that report. Most of that report is yours.
small parts of it, the opinion letter and the compliance letters, are from the auditor Themselves.
so let's talk about those areas, the real high level items.
the auditor was required to give us a summary of how the audit went.
did they have any difficulties during the audit? Did they have any disagreements with management?
did they find any fraud? All of those high level things, the auditor came back and gave us a clean opinion, said The city, they did not find any of those things or
have any of those issues during the audit itself. One of the other things that they also presented to us was whether or not you had any Material audit adjustments.
you had six or seven audit adjustments. When I went through those audit adjustments, and I know everybody knows me, but for Public record, I am a cpa.
this is what I do every day. None of the adjustments were anything that were significant in my mind.
they were just clean up things at year-end, reclassification things for the financial Statements themselves.
then, to get into the findings themselves, all prior year findings were cleared.
an auditor always goes back and says, okay, were last year's findings addressed?
they were. There were two findings this year in the audit.
one finding was during the inventory count, the auditors go out and double check.
we don't like the word verify, but they verify to make sure that those accounts were Accurate.
they found several items that the counts were off. Well, when they went back and looked, they found out the counts were never done.
that has been addressed by mr. Simpson. The person that was doing the counts is no longer in his department, was there For a very short time.
the second item is your accounts receivable.
so the money that is owed to you, the ledger that keeps track of that did not agree to The financial system.
so you have the subsidiary ledger and you have the general ledger. They didn't agree to each other again.
that was due to staff turnover. We talked at length about those in the audit committee.
when staff turns over, sometimes the item on the checklist forgets to be done.
it got missed, and then when the auditors came in, they figured it out and it has Subsequently been addressed and fixed.
so those are the major findings. Neither one of those, from the conversations I've had with mr.
simpson, with the auditor nothing rose to the level that it was a material weakness or a Significant deficiency.
those are just items that they found during the audit. Auditors like to report something.
I wouldn't really be concerned about it. The one thing I'd be more concerned about is that a person told, the auditors told their Boss that they did an inventory count, that they didn't do.
it could be fraud. We all agreed it was likely just laziness on the employee's part, that he didn't want to Do his job; that's why he's not there anymore.
with that, I will turn it over to you guys for questions.
just briefly, mr. Neville has served on the audit committee since we've had the audit committee and has Recently indicated that he's going to step away.
so we will have a vacancy and that we'll notice for just as we've done the others.
dominic [inaudible] is a member of the committee. He's also cpa, cory [inaudible], a city employee, and then I sit on it as mayor and as Your representative.
questions of mr. Neville? Real quick, I think the audit committee recommended, didn't we recommend to leave that Seat vacant and just consolidate into three?
I think that the as I understand it from staff, we're required to have four. Yes, we have passed a resolution that has specific criteria and two members of the General public that are with a strong financial background
, and we will be seeking once I get your official resignation.
okay. Okay. Questions of mr.
neville? I would just comment that thank you for doing this for us, vice mayor.
we appreciate it. That's a retro comment, but we're sorry to see you go.
it's been nice having you there, knowing that you were there because I know how thorough You are.
well, no, certainly understandable. But you brought a great perspective both, of course, as a cpa, but also having served on The commission, having greater familiarity with how the
city operates on a day to day basis. We appreciate it very much.
other comments, I would just say also that the things that were found, that's the good Thing.
it's a positive thing that they were found and that they were repairable and fixable.
so good job. I agree. That's a good job to you guys.
I'd like to just chime in here real quick and thank you for your service. I know how diligent you are and I appreciate everything you've done for the city in the Years you've served and big, tough shoes to fill.
so thank you. Thank you. Okay, thank you very much. Thank you. Do we need any type of vote, mr.
simpson? Yes, I believe we need a motion to accept the--I would move that we accept the Annual
comprehensive financial report for fiscal year ending september 30th, 2021.
second. I have a motion a second. Further discussion? Seeing none. Madam clerk, please call the roll.
the report is accepted. Thank you very much, mr. Simpson. All right, we're now on item 10(b) quarterly update from public works and utilities Department.
gentlemen, welcome.
good evening, mayor and commissioners.
reuben franklin, the public works director, and mr. Grant, the utilities director, will be providing our quarterly update.
I'm going to go over an update of one of our largest active construction projects, the Fema 13 lift stations.
a brief update on the resiliency program, the west augustine gravity sewer improvements, And then I'll turn it over to mr.
grant for the sustainability and environmental updates, and then I'll close with the Capital projects overview and a brief discussion and update on king street.
we are more than halfway through reconstruction of our 13 lift stations.
they were damaged in hurricane matthew. They are spread out across the city.
things are going well. We substantially completed a force main along arricola avenue, Which was a big part of the project.
whenever we had storm events, storm surge, we would always get sanitary sewer overflows And this force main will connect to pumping stations.
that should eliminate those overflows in future storm events, and currently we have three Stations under construction.
we do anticipate ps12, which is behind sebastian harbor, is probably the one that's Causing the most angst.
we do plan to have that road open by july 4th if we stay on the current schedule.
just a brief update on the resiliency program, and I will make a note that not all the Resiliency slides are most current because we were awarded some grant funds that we did
discuss at the last workshop, but we are making very good headway in the resiliency Program.
we've received 26 and a half million dollars in florida resilient funding that helps us Complete
our current projects at south whitney box culvert replacement and also our maria Sanchez, we currently have totally funded with grant funds.
we're finishing our internal review of the stormwater outfall resiliency master plan.
we also received monies from the state to do, I believe, up to 20 additional outfalls That are outlined in this plan.
so again, projects that we have underway right now are the fema 13 lift stations.
lake maria sanchez, the avenida menendez seawall, the south whitney west, king street Flood mitigation, and then we're also looking
at lining some existing stormwater pipes in neighborhoods and happy to entertain Questions along the way, if we have any.
question, going back, you just dropped the bomb.
we have funding, you say we would have a recommendation for 20 additional outfalls.
is that out of the that's out of the stormwater, the draft that you're reviewing right Now?
we have to finalize this report and then we can retrofit up to 20 additional outfalls.
that's in in the report because I know I just got a copy of it today, but I didn't get That far.
no, yeah, so we'll be bringing back once we finalize the report, what those 20 outfalls Are.
oh, good, thank you. Mr. Franklin, I don't know, 26 and a half million dollars you just kind of skipped over it Again.
it's a lot. It's a great job, and I just want to highlight that again.
that's going to allow us to do a lot toward resiliency. Also, I didn't see in the presentation probably because it hasn't been updated, but the New city website every chance I have to remind people about that on flood
resilience. It's excellent, tons of resources on what individuals can do and information that they can Use to be best prepared to protect
themselves and their property. So what is the web address on that, again?
I think it's just flood resilient st. Augustine, if anybody wants to put that in a search box.
so great job. Thank you very much, and I was trying to go over we had a fairly robust workshop and I'll Be back in front of you before you know it with the capital improvements workshop coming
up. So that's a brief overview of the resiliency program.
everything's going well. West augustine, we're moving forward.
we're still working on the master plan, but we also have west third street, which is in Design that's going to eliminate 20 residential septic tanks, and we're
also actively converting septic to sewer right now with 57 septic tanks abandoned to date , and then we're also in design for the pearl street
gravity sewer main as well, and with that, I'll hand it over to mr.
grant. Thank you, reuben.
todd grant, utilities director. Before I get into this, I kind of want to do some clarification.
even though you may understand the role that reuben and I play. So, as utility director, I'm in charge of operations, and so his department is in charge Of designing, getting the projects built and then turning them over to
operations to own and maintain, and so it's a really good partnership that reuben and I Have developed over the years, and so I just want to kind of highlight that, and then also
walking up here realizing as far as you brought up the projected population growth and Maybe what might be good from an operational standpoint is for you to
understand. Currently I've got six open positions in utilities, two, possibly three in Solid waste and two in the water treatment plant.
it's getting better and I'd like to recognize our hr department for they found a new Platform called neo gov, which is really helped to bring in
candidates that are truly looking for a governmental type of job.
we had four or five positions open in solid waste and once that website or that service Was up, we had four positions filled relatively quickly
, and so it's my job on the operational side to make sure that we're planning for the Future, and so you'll probably see some things coming forth in the next budget to try to
address the projected growth within our own community.
that being said, for our sustainability updates, you can see that we just finished the First round of the tree planting.
85 trees got in, things happened during the way where somebody either decided after they Wanted a tree, something happened, they didn't want it
or somebody wanted a tree, and one of the spouses said, well, you didn't ask me, I don't Want the tree or we said, you must move this stump.
they didn't move the stump. So overall, 85 trees got planted, which I think is phenomenal.
a lot of credit, all the credit goes out to mark hartley, jb miller and glabra skipp for Putting that together.
right in beginning of may, we're going to have another meeting to figure out how we can Fine tune it, make it easier, streamline it,
and determine how many trees are actually sustainable for us to.
put into the ground from a staff resource perspective.
the compost bin, my goodness, we opened up the applications and within an hour we had 50 And closed it.
all of those bins are in at solid waste. We have them assembled and so hopefully beginning in may we'll start delivering those to The residents.
depending on how the budget looks throughout the rest of this fiscal year, we might be Able to open up another round.
it's much easier to implement than the tree program as far as the site surveys, so that's Exciting.
we just wrapped up our earth day. We had a little over 100 people come through for the electronics, oils and shredding Seems to be a popular event.
mr. Grant, with the compost bins, you and I have talked about data a lot of times about Tipping fees and getting some of the weight
out of our landfills and getting them back and forth to there.
will, do you have some way to gauge over time how much savings these compost bins are Actually providing to us?
is that something that I mean, it's only 50, but as we go forward.
I'll have to say no, because it is only 50. The concept here is that if I give you a compost bin, the average family produces a ton Of trash.
of that, how much is organic waste? So the bins cost anywhere from 50 to $60.
so that's one ton of trash at current disposal rates. So two years, two and a half years, it's paid for it.
so and so. Maybe much like the trees, as we add more and more compost bins to the mix, we could Actually see reduction.
it's interesting in doing data analysis on tonnages, you can see the ebbs and flows Throughout the season, but then there's head
scratchers on why was there so much more this month than the previous year's month?
it's hard to track that unless we had a page throw or a weighted system, which we're not There yet.
okay, and then one other question. I didn't see it anywhere in the presentation, but I've had a couple of people ask me.
we did engage in the mayor's monarch pledge about this time last year, and I'm told that You all have are working on renewing
that and continuing it. We are we didn't put it in because we haven't finalized that yet, but yes, we are Re-upping on the mayor's monarch pledge, and of course, everything that's
near and dear to my heart. Fat oils and grease or the fog program. I know it's yours as well [chuckling], but again, kind of going back with what reuben Said about sanitary sewer overflows and a new force main,
this is really important. We can go back as far as a data collection and see a significant drop in the number of Sanitary sewer overflows that we report to the state.
many of the ones that we have now are actually on kind of the private side of the Plumbing, but we still report those because they go to our system
and so with the inclusion of a new inspector year a little over a year ago, you can see Dramatic results from previous years.
we had one person doing the two programs across connection and the fat, oils and grease And those two programs alone are almost one person's full time job on top of some of the
other duties, and so I'm very proud of the group.
one highlight I'll put as I get reuben back up here--one quick point is that it's not Just the staff, but it's the educational outreach you're doing as
well. I'm seeing a lot of that. Don't pour that stuff down the drain, and you're doing a great job with that outreach.
thank you, they also put together kind of a pamphlet to leave behind, because that's an Opportunity when they're meeting with a restaurant owner to go over other things as
far as sustainable with your trash, water conservation, illicit discharge.
so they've done a really good job as far as the outreach. Along those lines, too, glaber and I are working hopefully by the beginning of the summer To roll out our business appreciation program as far as with sustainable practices.
she got these two under her belt and so we're ready to tackle the last one. One of the highlights on this is the last phase of our automatic meter reading that has Been complete, I would say substantially complete.
we have some large meters left to go, not too many. That is, I think of all the commissioners, maybe only vice mayor was on for the state Revolving fund approval.
that was a four and a half to $5 million project, which allows our meter readers to Technically just drive by rather than popping the lids
and we've done some financial analysis and we'll hopefully bring that back as far as a Project that actually could pay back because as the meters get older,
they're not spinning faster, they're spinning slower, and so you're actually getting more Water than what you're paying for.
so that's a great program that we're wrapping up on. So with that, I'll bring reuben franklin back.
so this is our snapshot of our capital improvement projects.
this is an overall status summary and it divides it up into columns; it has different Statuses of the projects, and when we come back for the capital improvements
workshop, we're going to have a fairly robust discussion and I've started to add more Detail to the sheet so you can actually start to look
at it and then flip back in an appendix, which I'd like to just show you real quick, but We've taken every project on that
sheet and we've started to come up with project information sheets.
that way you can flip to the back and look at this. So we intend to with the capital improvements plan booklet, you'll have All this information, you'll have a table of contents and a proposed five year schedule
that's showing projects that are dropping off because we're nearing completion, and then You'll get to see that year, five new projects that are going to start to matriculate
through the process, and so we have almost completed every project information sheet for What you can see in that overall status
and just some mobility highlights. We are working on advertising for the downtown circulator for route one, which will be Out of the existing visitor information center.
dot is committing funding of 750,000 this fiscal year with $1,000,000 following years.
we're also moving forward with the downtown improvement district, spanish street, [inaudible].
we're finalizing the bid package right now to advertise on the street for construction.
groundwater monitoring is one of the grant funded projects we have, and I'm trying to get To king street.
stop here for a second because I'd like to give the commission a brief overview of where We're at on the king street ownership transfer.
before you go on to that. So that's at the end, you're at the end now? Yes. So I just wanted to come back to I hope it doesn't get glazed over in the context of A large kind of
unsexy stormwater infrastructure utility report.
we are getting a circulator downtown; the city is going to have a transit circulator!
so this is something that's happened before, but it's big news and it's going to change Everything.
so I just wanted to call it out, make sure we didn't just eyes glaze over on that one, And then I also wanted to say I have a comment about st.
francis--now that you've provided this information, I can dig in and go through it.
and the fact that the state is willing to help support it, and so you're you're smart to Highlight it.
thank you. I appreciate it, because it is big news, and then our partnership with the dot Is beginning to really pay off.
I mean, we've had great relationship with them for many, many years. We've worked very hard.
city managers, yourself, myself, have worked on it for a long, long time and it's really Paying off.
so that's good stuff. So but my thing was and now that you're giving me these more details, so I'm digging in.
so on st. Francis street utility improvements, you mention that you might replace the Roadway after the utility
improvements with asphalt or brick. So I thought we had a policy on brick replacement for streets, and so what I would like To do is if we
don't have a policy, I would like to bring a policy forward, however we make that happen Because it's
important to the citizens. In fact, this was wonderful because I was actually able to send a snapshot of the civil Street project because that's big news for some
people. That's a that's a big one, too, and it's going to be all re-bricked.
so it's important to people that the bricks go back where they were.
so I would like to put that in the mix, and like I said, I can't recall.
it's been so many years now. I thought we talked about it. Maybe it's just an internal policy, but maybe it needs to be formalized, but we really Should be replacing brick streets with brick.
mr. Mayor, vice mayor sikes-kline is correct. We do have a brick street policy, but to your point, I don't think we've read it in more Than in quite a while.
so we do need to pull back what we have in place and then do whatever is the appropriate Updating.
thank you. I even forgot that. I mean, I'll be honest, it was a while back that we did that.
so thank you. Well, I get nudged by people every now and then, and my late mother was a Very strong champion of the brick streets in st.
augustine, and she was hovering over me, tapping me on the head
and then I had another citizens tap me on the shoulder.
so a brief update for king street, because this will be coming before the commission in The next may meeting, may 9th or may 23rd meeting,
but dot just held a public meeting with the hearing for the transfer.
they did a virtual meeting on wednesday and then they had an in-person meeting here in Town on thursday.
the next step for the commission to give you a high level overview is they have agreed to The $18 million which will go to
making improvements along the king street corridor that will include cathedral, the Section of cordova between cathedral and king, and then king
street from the bridge of lions intersection, all the way to the san sebastian bridge.
it will be a reimbursable agreement. We did want it to be a lump sum transfer, but in discussions with the state, they cannot Do it any other way than a reimbursable agreement
. In order to make that work for staff, we just asked them to extend the time period out To june 2033.
the reason being is that we want to make sure we have a lot of time for public input for The design of the street and not get caught up with running into
the dot's time frame for the end of the agreement. So it will be reimbursable up to $18 million.
they will rebuild the san sebastian bridge with their own money, and then that will Transfer to the city, and then they'll also commit to making the intersection
improvements at the base of the bridge of lions as well.
their fiscal year starts in july. So they will need something, a resolution and the reimbursement agreement approved by the Commission in may sometime.
so with that, I'm happy to answer any questions if I didn't cover anything but happy to Answer any questions, but that is the current status.
so I do have a comment. I did attend the online, I did not attend the person and I don't know if anybody maybe we Should show the commissioners but the
bridge now that won't be any of our doing. That will be the dot doing.
that's correct. My comment on the bridge was they've got a ten foot sidewalk on the north And a
six foot sidewalk on the south, and my comment was, that's what they're planning for, and My comment is concern
that really where people are going to want to travel will be on the south side of the Bridge because of the vista and
the future intended boardwalk and multiple hotel rooms, pedestrians and that sort of Thing.
so that's something that really concerns me.
so staff, when we looked at it, we had encouraged a ten foot sidewalk on the north side
but there's also a technical reason that the state wants to put it on the north side as Well.
the reason staff we were looking at that is we were thinking about the [inaudible] Development and site and there's some improvements we can make to shorten the
pedestrian crossing on us one nd king street. So that's why I was comfortable with it being on the north side, the ten foot sidewalk, But we can go back and
readdress those concerns. The plans are only at 60%.
one of the things that did bubble up from the conversation was looking at a couple of Different concepts, including a shuttle lane, what that would look like through the bridge
cross section. So we can readdress that, but there was a technical reason from the state That they wanted it there, but also staff was thinking about the [inaudible] site
development to have it on the north side. Is it possible to do eight and eight?
I'll have to go back and check. I don't see why not, but I would have to check with it.
I think it's valid to be addressing the [inaudible] property because that's why I thought They had the ten feet.
exactly, but eight and eight would satisfy both conditions I think.
but don't we have the river to sea bike?
that was going to be my question is there better be a bike lane on that bridge.
there's a lot of people who commute from west augustine downtown and back.
more will commute when it's safe. Yeah, right. So with everything in st.
augustine, we're always limited with the space. That's what makes us get creative as well, but the bikes for cyclists, they were going to Accommodate that with [inaudible], with 11 foot lanes and a
wider sidewalk that would potentially accommodate the river to sea loop through an urban Area.
the river to sea loop was always going to be compressed through the king street corridor Just because of the nature of of
speakers]. I'm satisfied that staff is highly sensitive to all of these things, and we Just continue
to urge you to think holistically and to consider all our kind of unique, eccentric and Our unique
particulars as a community, but let me ask you this. Who is responsible for doing the archeology under the san sebastian when the bridge is Replaced?
because I think it's rich. Well, I believe the state would be looking at the archeology under the san sebastian River.
I don't know the exact status of it. I can reach out to dot and find out what
white because I believe we have discovered foundations of earlier bridges doing earlier Work
and the vice mayor has sources.
I have sources. I think there's good stuff down there.
we haven't heard anything about the nepa and the I don't believe they're using federal Dollars.
I have a feeling they're not disturbing the peers. I have a feeling they're very shy about that.
I just want to be sensitive to it. Well, it is it is a whole bridge replacement, but they're only utilizing state funds.
oh, well, then that would let them off the hook. So what I'll do is I'll follow up with them.
one thing that this agreement does do in the proposal is that the city has design input Over the bridge.
so we have an opportunity at this point to engage with them on that.
well, you've heard me preach this before, this is so incredibly important to our Community, in my
opinion, that we take control of king street.
we have a concern. We have needs, we have vision, none of which dot has the ability to focus on or to Address, and
so we need to have our destiny in our own hands, and this is the mechanism to do it, and I'm so grateful for your hard work and
trying to negotiate the best possible agreement. It's through no fault of ours, not everything we've hoped for, but it's a street and it's $18 million, and those are the key things.
everything else is of secondary importance. So I'm very supportive and very appreciative.
yes? If I could ask kind of put you on the spot, how supportive or opposed were people During these public hearings?
overall, would you say did it weigh on the side of supporting, I hope, or what was your Sense of that, the comments?
the dot public hearings, I have to go back. I actually did not stay for the public portion.
I'll check with dot to find out, but there was not very many people in attendance at the Meeting.
I will tell you that we have had meetings for the corridor in the past, probably going Back to 20
14-16, something like that just came up on my facebook memory the other day, and they're Concerned.
I don't know what happened with this because it didn't seem like there were a lot of People in attendance, but when we start doing our own meetings, I think we'll see more,
and I almost had to knock on everybody's door to let them know along the court or to come To the meeting and discuss it.
so that may be it. I remember this. Okay, so old memories, martha graham started this when she was public Works director, but let's be crazy going back
. Let's be really clear, the conversation with dot is focusing on the bridge.
that's their responsibility and merely the concept of conveying.
nobody is talking about design elements for most of king street.
absolutely, that's when we will have much more public input but we're not voting on any Changes
to any of those things. We're simply voting on taking ownership.
then we'll begin that process. Okay. Other questions of mr.
franklin? Yes, mr. Regan?
thank you very much. You're welcome. Actually, I do have something. Okay. It's more of an observation I broached this the day with reuben.
we're building bridges, we're building culverts at the oyster creek, and we're missing an Opportunity to address rising sea levels to some
degree. If you look at oyster creek versus which I've become very familiar with, because I'm living there now and wasn't fully aware of it, we have gone out of our way to talk
about resiliency on david shores downtown, but we haven't really looked at west augustine That much, and it just so happens we have a topographical
feature there that would be an excellent element to combine into a higher survivability For portions of west augustine.
it's called us one, and it's a shame that they're replacing the culvert now.
they're just starting to do that, that we didn't take a consideration putting floodgates There because you could literally protect that whole area behind us one from high water.
I don't know how many houses that involves, but it's quite a few, including my own, but Having said that oftentimes you don't see things if you're living in the middle of it.
I'm just saying, going forward, we need to consider, for instance, the bridge, the san Sebastian could we design a
floodgate into that system that protects the upper san sebastian in the future?
you know, I'm just saying, look out 25 years from now. Isn't that what the back bay feasibility study is for?
isn't that going to be? Is it? That is I mean, there have been visioning.
university of florida did one up at [inaudible] we did years ago. That was really encompassing comprehensively, but that was just a spitball kind of thing With modeling, but the fees back bay feasibility study,
I think that's the purpose of it is to look at that bigger area.
well, I understand that, but looking just at oyster creek today, we had a flood there a Few weeks back.
we had a high tide for a month or two ago. The water was halfway up my front yard.
this wasn't a tropical storm. This was just a nor'easter with a moon event and there were houses that had water in them That could be so easily fixed by putting
a gate in that culvert there, rebuild superior starting construction [inaudible].
anyway, I think that's one we missed and we got to stop missing those going forward.
we got to look way out ahead, and anyway, that's my comment.
thank you. Yes, mr. Regan.
well, coming back on king street, so we worked every which way to sunday to try to figure Out if we could have made this
a pay forward by the dot and it just isn't, but there are so many good examples in District two of these types of agreements where communities took back
their streets and have beautiful urban design, gainesville being one of them.
so what I'd like to do is schedule for may 9th, a little richer presentation and the Consideration of the
ownership transfer on may nine, and I'm projecting the agenda is extremely
light, but I'll look at the agenda, but I'd like to not use any more available slack Time, if you will, in the
consideration. I'd like to put it in front of you may 9th. If there's anything we need to change or fix, we can handle that on may 23rd.
also, this is coming with a recommendation, just for what it's worth from staff that you Approve this.
we are advocating the ownership transfer from a staff perspective.
so I just want to let you know what we're thinking about in terms of scheduling and I see Quite a I see
quite a bit of consensus on that as a schedule, we'll make it the feature item.
we really need to, if at all possible, make it the only item on the may 9th.
okay, thank you very much.
ms. Galambos, I think we're--no, we're not.
scared you. Yes, it is you. I was going to say I'm ready.
[chuckling] all right. We're on item 12(a) request for appointment to code enforcement.
yes, we received three applications for one term vacancy due to the appointment of
brad beach to our historic architectural review board. We can do it one of two ways.
if somebody has a nomination or we could do--let's do the ballots, please.
mr.
regan while the clerk is working on those, do you have any items for us under number 13?
no, sir. Items by mayor and commissioner.
I do not have anything. Commissioner blonder, do you?
yes, it's actually related to these appointments.
I noted that at least one of the applicants didn't [inaudible] the required cover letter And that for the lincolnville
c.r.a., that we don't require a resume in addition to the cover letter, if I read that Correctly.
we actually, mr. Pierce submitted his whenever we had another position open during just our general, and He submitted it too late
past the deadline. So, he wasn't aware.
what I guess I'm saying is that I don't want to add to the workload, but if there is a way When somebody does apply--let me back
up, we want to encourage good people who want to get involved, to apply, to serve, Volunteer in the city, get more involved.
if there's any way we can continue to do that, such as, say, for example, somebody forgets To do something, doesn't submit a cover letter or a
resume that we could reach back out to them and say, hey, by the way, your application is Incomplete, and just overall, I
get the sense that we don't have kind of a consistent approach to recruiting people and Or what is required of them.
I want to know as much as I can about the applicants, is what I guess I'm trying to say.
one, I want to know as much as I can, and two, I want to encourage people to apply.
I will say that we have updated most of our applications and it's very clear that you Must submit a cover letter and
resume. I think we were operating off of an older lcra because that's handled Predominantly by our cra
coordinator, but we will make sure that this does also.
the majority of the applicants for that have submitted, but not everyone.
okay, so now we're toggling back and forth here. So, ms. Galambos back to you for item 12(a).
so the ballots was one vote for mr.
[inaudible] and four for mr. Reuben and I have the ballots and they will be preserved for the public record.
so mr. Reuben is then appointed to the code enforcement board.
we're now an item 12(b). We received a whopping nine applications for the lcra and this evening I am requesting Appointments for three.
when we first established the this committee, these applicants have served their two full Terms.
so that's why we have three new members that were requesting and probably by ballot.
yes.
thank you.
commissioner blonder, did you have anything further? Yeah, I noticed one of the speakers during the public comment did bring up the speed zone Issue that we have talked
about previously on a couple of occasions. We had a presentation by mr. Piggott on the manatee signs have had no impact.
they're there but they're having no impact, in the times that I've been out on the water And in talking with mr.
mckenna as well, so I'm still very concerned about public safety on the water and about Collisions with wildlife.
so I'd like to ask staff if we could revisit that in the future in some way.
that's all I have. I agree 100%. Yes, mr. Regan. Yes, actually, now that the boating season is upon us, we had planned to Do a little
bit of a call it a discreet speed study on the water. If you put a police boat with a radar gun, it kind of slows everybody down.
so we actually have a plan to do a little bit more of a discreet speed study, but when we Went to do it, it was really when the number of boats were pretty low because of the
season. So now that we're there, I think we need to go back and revisit doing that work To justify creating a speed limit.
okay. Wonderful. Thank you. Anything further? Commissioner horvath? That was on my list, too.
very good. Commissioner valdes? That was on my list as well.
the problem with enforcing speed limits on the water is you got to have speed limits in The various areas, and this is much deeper if we're really going to do this.
I know I watch jet skis do 60 miles per hour out there and congested areas and there's no Sign that says you can't do 60 miles per
hour. So anyway, it's a much deeper water runs deep on this one so.
yes, mr. Galambos. After tallying the ballots, miss mary hayes received five votes.
thomas [inaudible] received one vote. James st. George received four votes.
nicholas [inaudible] received one vote, and miss [inaudible] duncan received four votes.
so, we have our three new members, miss hayes, mr. St. George and miss duncan.
very good. Thank you very much. Miss galambos, anything further? I have nothing further.
thank you so much. Commissioner sikes-kline, for your comments. So, yes, I have several.
first, I want to wish gina burrell happy 90th birthday. I hope you're watching, gina.
she's been such a great friend of the city over the years, and we've honored her formally
and I just wanted to shout out to gina.
also, I agree with the mayor's monarch butterfly challenge.
I'd like to hear more what staff is working on at a future meeting.
two more, I would like to propose a letter from the mayor to the governor
supporting senate bill 518, which you might remember is a bill that will clarify the tree Trimming
bill and the sense of it will.
clarify specifically when a tree poses an unacceptable risk, and that is really the best We could come up with this session.
so, it's something that's being supported by the florida league of cities, and they're Asking us to write letters and contact.
there's been quite a bit of pushback from condo associations, but anyway, I would
like the support of a letter from the mayor. If it's something that we supported through the league of cities, I'm supportive, and if City staff would draft the letter for my signature.
thank you. Thank you. We really thought that it was going to go smoother than this, but it's something to do With the condo association.
so, the last thing I have, thank you very much, is I would like to suggest that we move The table back
to one all of us sitting at one table and have this because we've got, the cameras over Here, 90% of the
meeting, switches over here, sometimes it's over there. People can't see us all, and that's something that I'd like to see changed.
I mean, basically, I think it's time we try to return to normal, but I'm just bringing it Up because I really wanted to hear your thoughts.
well, I'd love to see the table. I just asked that city manager check where we are on covid at this time, since there are Breakouts in dc and
many other places. I for one have really enjoyed the extra space afforded by the individual desk, and while I will
only be here for a short time further, I'm very happy with the current configuration.
I have to concur with the mayor because I enjoy watching my fellow commissioners and Mayor when I'm sitting at the end of the table, though, am I battling a piece of steel
between my legs, because the way that thing is constructed, which needs to be looked at, It makes it very difficult to get eye contact, which I really enjoy.
so, I would like to see us have a table that looks like this.
well, I mean, if the commission isn't interested and of course, we have the lower boards That are interested too, but I really wanted to get back to that [inaudible]
because if we're going to stay with that situation the way it is here, which maybe Everybody's comfortable with, I think you need to get your camerawork straightened out so
that you can get us all on the camera together at one time.
I think you're going to need to provide a restructuring as far as how you cover us.
okay, thank you very much. Anything further? Nope, that's it. Commissioners, anything further? We are adjourned.