City Commission Workshop

City of Deltona 2345 Providence Blvd. Deltona, FL 32725 Minutes City Commission Workshop Monday, October 12, 2015 5:30 PM 2nd Floor Conference Room 1. CALL TO ORDER: The October 12, 2015 City Commission Workshop was called to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL – CITY CLERK: Commissioners Honaker and Smith were excused from the meeting. Present 5 - Commissioner Brian Soukup, Commissioner Chris Nabicht, Commissioner Heidi Herzberg, Vice Chair Nancy Schleicher, and Mayor John C. Masiarczyk Sr. Absent 2 - Commissioner Diane J. Smith, and Commissioner Gary Mitch Honaker 3. PLEDGE TO THE FLAG: PUBLIC COMMENTS: – Citizen comments limited to items not on the agenda and comments on items listed on the agenda will take place after discussion of each item. 4. BUSINESS: A. Discussion re: Update and presentation of the Thornby garden development project - Vice Mayor Schleicher, (386) 878-8860. Vice Mayor Schleicher gave a short history of the historical part of the Thornby area and how the City got here, she provided a video presentation and a PowerPoint Presentation on the Thornby garden development project she is working on that is also known as the Historical, Educational, Recreational, Environmental (H.E.R.E.) project that will include a natural garden, a children's garden and Fort Kingsbury. She stated her research took her to Leu Gardens, Fort Christmas, Kanapaha Gardens and Fort Foster. She spoke about meeting with neighboring organizations describing the project and receiving favorable responses to the project and then speaking with the St. Johns River Water Management (SJRWMD) and receiving an enthusiastic response due to the minimal impact on the lake and wetlands. She also received positive responses from Volusia Forever and the Volusia County Parks Department. She listed some new opportunities for the community center that would be created by this project and she went over possible costs that were based on previous City and County projects and related sites . She spoke about staffing, operating hours, implementation timetables with a proposed completion date in 2019, possible grants and Memorandums of Understanding (MOU’s), City of Deltona Page 1 Printed on 10/23/2015 City Commission Workshop Minutes October 12, 2015 foundations and corporations that fund these types of projects. She spoke about recreation being a hot item and she went over annual attendance figures for other related areas. She stated she found that there are a lot of tourists from Europe who are fascinated with American history and these forts and the continued promotion and exposure of these improvements will soon show that the Deltona Natural Gardens and Fort Kingsbury at Thornby will be a prime destination for the tourism industry in Central Florida. She spoke about the project being unique to the area and she gave a brief description of the project and what the different parts of the project would look like. She asked that the Thornby project be put on an agenda to get a formal vote to move forward and be able to start applying for grants adding there may be a need for up to about $10,000 for an updated site survey because she was using the original site survey from when Thornby Park was built and the flood plain levels have since been changed by FEMA. Kevin Finn, Enterprise Preservation Society (EPS), 2189 Dumas Drive, commented EPS is in favor of low impact eco-tourism; he is in favor of the project and he believes that it will be a win, win for everybody in the area. Roy Walters, 480 Warrior Trail, Enterprise, commented the project really looks good and he likes it. Sandy Walters, 480 Warrior Trail, Enterprise, of EPS, Friends of Thornby and the author of The Story of Thornby, commented she wanted to remind everyone that the project cannot be historically accurate and say that Fort Kingsbury was on Thornby; it is not known where the fort was originally. She stated it was located on the north shore of Lake Monroe but, even with all her research the actual location is unknown and there are no traces left. She stated the City can say it might have been in that vicinity unless someone finds out otherwise which would be wonderful. Mayor Masiarczyk commented a Mr. Brown who just moved into our area had visited the Veterans' Museum and was big on history and the St. Johns River. He stated he had told Mr. Brown about Mrs. Walters and Mr. Finn and he hoped Mrs. Walters did not mind but, that he had given her contact information to Mr. Brown. He added that Mr. Brown does commercials such as the AMSCOT commercials. Mayor Masiarczyk stated he thought Fort Kingsbury was a fantastic idea even if it is not historically accurate but, it is a depiction of what is historically sound in Florida and it would be a draw for everyone and all he asked is that the City does not scrimp and be sure to make it big enough that a whole classroom can visit. The Commission commented Vice Mayor Schleicher had done a fantastic job and the presentation was great. The Commission discussed the number of expected visitors, how much would be charged for admission, the admission being free, partnering with the State Parks, Thornby being a partnership with the County, making it a school destination, incorporating with native American grants, the fort being a great draw, the project being a huge addition to the River of Lakes, moving forward and getting to work publicizing and expanding the marketing. City of Deltona Page 2 Printed on 10/23/2015 City Commission Workshop Minutes October 12, 2015 After discussion, the Commission concurred to have the City Manager prepare an agenda memo to cover what needs to be done to move the item to the next level including background material and put the Thornby project on an agenda for further discussion by the Commission. Larry Kent, 235 River Village Drive, DeBary, asked to speak about seeing two (2) pieces of actual railroad rails during the tour and it looked like someone had tried to steal them or vandalize them. He asked that the City secure the rails or move them. B. Discussion re: The City’s contribution for the survey to be conducted regarding the proposed half-cent sales tax to Volusia’s current 6.5 percent sales tax to pay for roads. Mayor Masiarczyk stated he could give an update on the proposed half -cent sales tax from today's roundtable meeting and Ms. Shang stated she wanted to provide the Commission with an update as well and that she had provided backup documentation with the status of other municipalities within the county. Ms. Shang stated she needed direction from the Commission as to how the Commission wants to proceed with the contribution. Mayor Masiarczyk stated Commissioner Herzberg was also at the meeting today and the majority of the discussion was about Mayor Green's offer to give the County $ 1.00 and it was typical of what was said around the table with most of the cities not being interested in spending $100,000 - $150,000 on a survey. He stated most are not committing or at least not until someone else does and it seems it is not going anywhere from what he understands. Ms. Shang gave spoke about where the 16 municipalities were on this issue and Mayor Masiarczyk stated the County even removed the issue from the roundtable as it appears there is not much interest in moving forward. The Commission discussed not supporting contributing without knowing how the money would be divided, the City had provided a list of road projects, the lack of support for the half-cent sales tax, the County wanting to keep the money for themselves and deciding how it gets disbursed, the City just saying "no", the County mismanaging their money, some of the roads being their responsibility to maintain, the whole thing starting with the County running out of funds for the Volusia Transportation System (VOTRAN) and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and SunRail being a regional issue, the County needing funds by the year 2021 or the municipalities are going to be on the hook for the funds especially Deltona. Commissioner Herzberg suggested instead of the City just saying "no", the City should provide an alternative such as the cities looking inside their own borders and seeing where the needs are and determine which roads are County roads and which ones are the City's. Mayor Masiarczyk replied there is an existing list that has been submitted to City of Deltona Page 3 Printed on 10/23/2015 City Commission Workshop Minutes October 12, 2015 the County as was asked for by the County and the intent was so the County would divvy the money up and the City could choose how it wanted to spend the City's portion of the money. Commissioner Herzberg asked if that list had been approved by the Commission and Ms. Shang replied that list was the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) list. Commissioner Nabicht stated he does not want to just send a "no" and that he agrees with Commissioner Herzberg on sending an alternative response and that alternative is he is not against spending the $16,000 but, he wants to know what that money is going to get the City, the details of the survey and the plan for the distribution of the funds. He stated he believes the funds should be distributed the way the gas tax is currently distributed. Commissioner Herzberg suggested maybe the cities could sit down together and come up with an initiative and market the half-cent sales tax and Mayor Masiarczyk agreed that the City can market what the City can do with the amount of money raised but, that amount is unknown. Ms. Shang suggested a hybrid; it seems there are a lot of questions about the survey that are not being answered and the other municipalities also have questions so, she would like to create a dialogue with the other City Managers to propose an alternative rather than a survey. Mayor Masiarczyk stated the City Managers were invited to the next meeting so, that would be a good time to lay out the City's plan. After discussion, the Commission concurred to send a letter to the County explaining the City's position that the City will work with the County but, the City wants some semblance of an organizational distribution of the funds raised so the City can plan for the future. C. Discussion re: Support of an affordable senior housing facility requested by Mr. John DuPont with Westbrook Housing. Ms. Shang stated the next item is a follow-up to the request by Mr. John Dupont to provide affordable senior housing in Deltona. She stated there were two (2) projects mentioned The Magnolia with 80 units and Journet Place with 108 units located in Port Richey and in New Port Richey; a power point was presented. Mr. Dupont with Westbrook Housing Development gave a brief overview of the projects stating the projects are state of the art and are built with Federal Tax Credits, not State or Local, the projects not having anything to do with Housing & Urban Development (HUD), the facilities operating under the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, the dollars are distributed through a fierce competition, Westbrook operates up and down the East Coast and is very successful in Florida and only do affordable housing, the facilities not being Section 8 housing although some HUD vouchers are portable for individuals who apply, there being a long waiting list for HUD vouchers, the vouchers being like school vouchers and have to be accepted as the same as cash, it is a unique partnership between the Department of Treasury better known as the Internal Revenue City of Deltona Page 4 Printed on 10/23/2015 City Commission Workshop Minutes October 12, 2015 Service (IRS) and Private Enterprise, the facility will have a low permanent mortgage that will allow Westbrook to charge rent that ranges between $350 and $625, it is age restricted to 55 years of age and older, there is full time staff and possibly live in staff, it is a community and Westbrook knows who is living there and Westbrook has a 50 year commitment. Commissioner Soukup commented Commissioner Honaker and Commissioner Smith had expressed they were in favor of the project and he also is. Ms. Shang stated after having staff look at these projects, do its due diligence and then she has the responsibility to provide adequate research to make sure she is comfortable with the project. She stated she thinks the projects shown are high quality and she wants to make sure the project being built in Deltona matches this high quality and wants the assurance it will be maintained because that is a major concern for this community. She stated with that caveat that she has the necessary documentation contingent upon if the Commission approves it. She stated there are other factors such as the verification of contribution, discussion of the presence of certain infrastructure and zoning in this area being compliant and the question of a site plan. She stated the City has signed the proposed paperwork contingent on the understanding the City does not have a formal site plan. Mr. Dupont commented he has to go through water management and the Health Department but, that will be after he receives funding. Commissioner Nabicht commented he assumed the building would be three (3) stories and have a sprinkler system and Mr. Dupont replied it could be five (5) stories and sprinkler systems are in all the senior facilities. Commissioner Nabicht stated there are also some wetlands and storm water issues that may constrict the buildable area on that property and in the event that does happen the Commission needs to be prepared to allow a variance for the facility to go more vertically to maybe five (5) or six (6) stories if needed to get the number of units. It was determined the water for a sprinkler system is there. He asked Mrs. Vose if the Commission does this by consensus and Mrs. Vose replied "yes". Ms. Shang added the issue of wetlands had been discussed specifically with Mr. Dupont. Mr. Dupont stated he has done an elevation survey of the property and only a small portion on the Eastern property line is wetlands. After discussion, the Commission concurred to sign the paperwork to move forward with this project. Mayor Masiarczyk stated if there is no objection he had a couple of things to bring up; one being he had given Commissioner Nabicht's name to the Red Cross for the Red Cross Fire Campaign to replace 10 year old fire detectors. Larry Kent, 235 River Village Drive, DeBary, asked to make a comment on the affordable housing project. He stated what a difference a week makes regarding this project and he believes this is a very important project. He stated he was glad there was a good presentation providing the information the Commission needed but, his concern is why the Commission did not get this information to begin with. City of Deltona Page 5 Printed on 10/23/2015 City Commission Workshop Minutes October 12, 2015 Ms. Shang explained the concept of low income tax credits is new to the staff and the City has not worked with this and the City will have to make a pledge of funds that will use the City's State Housing Initiate Partnership (SHIP) dollars. She stated this is one of those cases where you wish the paperwork was submitted earlier but, it was submitted around the first week of September and staff needed to do its due diligence. She stated because of comments that were made she had staff go out to Port Richey and New Port Richey to look at the facilities. She stated she had noted she had some reservations and would not make a recommendation until she was fully comfortable. Mayor Masiarczyk thanked Ms. Shang for doing her due diligence. 5. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: Ms. Shang stated she wanted to bring up an issue raised by Commissioner Nabicht regarding a resolution on the no bear kill issue and with the date approaching there is a letter before you of support to not issue permits rather than a resolution. She asked the Commission to authorize the Mayor to sign the letter. After discussion, the Commission concurred to authorize Mayor Masiarczyk to sign the letter on behalf of the Commission. Commissioner Soukup asked about the meeting on Saturday and Ms. Shang replied this meeting is for the public and she will follow up with a report. She added the meeting on November 7th will be for the Commission to comment. Ms. Shang stated she wanted to recognize Mr. Lopez for receiving an award this past Saturday in regards to his contribution to the community from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Mrs. Vose stated she had handed out a memo having to do with a prep report on the Sign Ordinance for the Sign Ordinance Workshop. Commissioner Soukup spoke about a house in his neighborhood that is a rental property and is completely neglected all of the time. He asked for Code Enforcement to go after the landlords. Mayor Masiarczyk asked if there was a property in Deltona that the City is going to demolish explaining that he had heard it is a home that sits in between two (2) lots. Ms. Shang replied the Commission approved the demolition program for old boarded up buildings but, she had not heard about one between two (2) lots. 6. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 7:07 p.m. City of Deltona Page 6 Printed on 10/23/2015 City Commission Workshop Minutes October 12, 2015 ________________________________________ Janet Day, Deputy City Clerk City of Deltona Page 7 Printed on 10/23/2015