City Commission Workshop Meeting

APPROVED: 5/16/2013 City Hall City of Eustis, Florida 10 North Grove Street Post Office Drawer 68 Eustis, FL 32727-0068 Meeting Minutes- Final* City Commission Workshop Thursday, April 25, 2013 4:30PM Library Community Room CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Muenzmay- 4:31 p.m. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF QUORUM AND PROPER NOTICE Present: 5 - Linda Bob; Albert Eckian; Michael Holland; Karen LeHeup-Smith; and Kress Muenzmay I. Workshop Item 13099 Review and Discussion of FY2013-14: 1) Strategic Plan 2) Commission Governance Documents 3) Budget Guidelines Paul Berg, City Manager, reviewed the information provided with the agenda and noted documents sent separately via email so that the comment notations would show. He referred to the cost estimates for Ferran Park and information provided regarding the Eustis High School Engineering Lab cost estimates. He suggested discussing the governance documents first due to the lower number of comments on those documents. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission to begin discussion with the governance documents. II. Commission Discussion The Commission reviewed and discussed each of the inserted comments previously provided to the City Manager regarding the draft governance documents. Action regarding each of the comments was as follows: Commission Responsibilities and Code of Conduct 2. In the Community- "Be united once a decision is made; support the decisions of the Commission"- Mayor Muenzmay clarified his comment stating that he would support whatever the Commission's final decision was on an issue. He noted that if he were questioned about his personal opinion he would explain his position and why he voted against the issue. CONSENSUS: It was the consensus of the Commission to leave the wording as drafted. 3. In the organization - "Determine the core businesses of the City" The Commission discussed whether this item referred to the business of the City or to commercial businesses within the City with Commissioner Eckian explaining his comments referred to identifying commercial businesses that were desirable to bring to the City. Mr. Berg explained that the bullet point was intended to show that it is the Commission's responsibility to determine the services provided by the City. CONSENSUS: It was the consensus of the Commission to change the wording to "Determine the core services of the City" and to discuss Commissioner Eckian 's comments during the review of the Strategic Plan. City of Eustis, Florida Page 1 Printed on 413012013 City Commission Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 25, 2013 City Commission Protocols Protoco/17 - Project Proposals from the Public - Expectations for Staff Review The Commission discussed what services or funding may be requested of the City and the amount of time and effort the Commission would expect staff to provide to members of the public presenting a proposal to the City. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission to retain Protocol17 but to clarify that staff is not to invest a lot of time in a proposal unless the proponent has the basics such as a business plan and funding already arranged. Protoco/18- Staff Recommendations for Commission Action The Commission discussed the amount of information to be provided to the Commission depending on the type of action item and what is requested, the ability of the Commissioners to request additional information if they have questions on an item, and the amount of staff time involved in compiling information. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission to leave Protocol18 as written. It was also agreed that if one Commissioner asks for additional information, then the same information will be provided to all Commissioners, and for large documents to continue to be provided to the Commission via hard copy. It was suggested that anything over 40 pages should be provided as a hard copy. Protoco/19- Commission Meetings The Commission discussed the handling of public inquiries under "Audience to be Heard". CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission to leave the wording as drafted with the explanation that the Mayor will refer the individual to the City Manager or Development SeNices; however, a Commissioner may, under "Commission Comments", request the individual be referred elsewhere. Mr. Berg then asked the Commission if they wished to establish some guidelines for the handling of proclamation requests. The Commission discussed the number of proclamation requests received that have already been recognized either by the county, state or federal government, and the need to keep proclamations for those issues with local significance. Discussion was also held regarding the possibility of recognizing some people with letters from the Mayor rather than proclamations. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission for staff to draft some guidelines for the issuance of proclamations. Budget Guidelines for FY2014 & 2015 The Commission discussed the need for all job classifications to have salary caps and the range for merit increases. Mr. Berg explained that all City job classifications have a minimum and maximum salary with Human Resources Director Ann Isaacs explaining that merit increases were utilized from 2001 to 2008, when the City began not funding salary increases. She stated that the merit increases will resume whenever they are budgeted for. She noted that the last time the merit increases were provided the range was from 0 to 4%. It was confirmed that the plan is for merit raises to be included in the budget for FY2013-14. RECESS: 5:42p.m. RECONVENE: 6:06p.m. City of Eustis, Florida Page2 Printed on 413012013 City Commission Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 25, 2013 III. Public Input- None IV. Commission Direction Strategic Plan Goal One - To be a beautiful, livable city with a vibrant lakefront identity The Commission discussed the comments regarding Goal One- Strategies including the following: 1) The possibility of expanding community events to other areas of the City; 2) Branding the City from the gateways in; 3) Improving the Bay Street and US 441 gateway; 4) Possibly omitting "ensure a pedestrian friendly downtown core area" as a strategy due to that being accomplished; and 5) possibly adding to subparagraph (f) - "using economically sound principles". The Commission then discussed the comments regarding Goal One - Actions including the following issues: 1) The need to prioritize projects; 2) Possible uses for funds from the sale of surplus City property; 3) Identifying which segment of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan should have priority; 4) Identifying what types of infrastructure improvements the City should undertake; 5) Planning for the next project as each project is completed; 6) Whether or not to incentivize single-family residential construction; 7) Prioritizing the maintenance and appearance of City properties and facilities; and 8) Identifying inexpensive cleanup and maintenance projects that are not capital projects. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission to not provide monetary incentives for single-family residential construction but only for commercial and multi-family development. Goal Two - To expand the local economy The Commission discussed the following issues and comments: 1) Adding "Develop eco-tourism" to the Strategies; 2) Creating a kayak launch in the Ferran Park area to encourage kayakers to visit the downtown area; 3) Attracting major fishing events, renting kayaks through Parks & Recreation, and creating a Eustis Water Trail; 4) Whether or not to be more specific in the Actions; 5) Directing staff to review and update the previously prepared marketing plan; 6) Visiting businesses, particularly along the City's gateways and setting criteria for objectives for those visits; 7) Recruiting businesses that would utilize the planned rail improvements; 8) Ways for the City to identify and support education initiatives including the high school, vocational school and Lake Sumter State College (LSSC); 8) Possibly hiring a consultant to identify which City-owned properties could best be marketed for sale; 9) Possible problems with waterfront development and Sharp's Park; and 10) Reviewing and eliminating those business-related regulations that do not directly involve public safety and screening proposed ordinances to avoid creating additional obstructions to business. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission for the following under Goal Two: 1) Staff to proceed with implementation of a kayak launch in the Ferran Park area; 2) Staff to develop criteria and purpose for visitation to businesses; 3) Staff to develop methodology for recruiting businesses for utilization of the rail improvements; 4) Staff to research possible City support for the LSSC environmental studies program; and 5) To omit Mayor Muenzmay's suggested additions to the Goal Two -Actions and for Mayor Muenzmay to re-draft his comments for future consideration. Goal Three - To provide quality, cost-effective public services The Commission discussed the negotiations for the fire district, with or without the County's involvement, and the possibility of considering the mulch plant property for a north fire station. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission for staff to proceed with researching the feasibility and cost of retrofitting the mulch plant property as a fire station. The Commission discussed employee compensation and benefits and the target labor market noting that some positions within the City do not correspond to any private sector positions. City of Eustis, Florida Page3 Printed on 413012013 City Commission Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 25, 2013 CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission to change the wording from ''private and public sector'' to "labor market". Future Priorities and Actions (beyond 2013114) The Commission discussed the following issues and comments: 1) Removing under Goal One - f) Expand the streetscape design in the downtown area; 2) Under Goal Two- Item "a" - eliminating "and encourage':· 3) Changes in federal funding for commuter rail, the Lake Sumter MPO's continuing analysis of the economic benefit from commuter rail, and reduction in transit ridership in Clermont due to the recent rate increase; 4) The need for any incentive programs to show a return on investment; 5) Expansion of the downtown streetscape as new development occurs and whether or not those developers will be willing to give up property to allow for that expansion; and 6) New job incentives versus construction incentives. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission for the following: 1) Under Goal One (f) - To add "as developed and feasible':· 2) Under Goal Two- To change (b) to "Continue to explore and evaluate commuter rail opportunities"; and 3) To have a future discussion regarding job creation and construction incentives. The Commission then discussed Commissioner Eckian's suggestions regarding economic development, what types of businesses the City wants to attract and the possibility of needing additional staff in order for the City to pursue more economic development. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission for staff to bring back a report within three months on how the City can become more proactive in attracting new businesses to the City. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission to have the Fe"an Park master plan priorities placed on the regular Commission agenda for discussion. Commissioner Eckian asked to have placed on a regular agenda discussion on how the City should dialogue with Mr. Keating regarding settlement of the litigation with Development Services Director Dianne Kramer stating that the City Attorney has indicated it would be alright for the Commission to meet with Mr. Keating in a workshop. The Commission discussed scheduling for the workshop with the suggestion that any workshop be held the Wednesday prior to a regular Commission meeting. It was also suggested that an initial workshop be held for the Commission to review all of the pertinent information with Mr. Keating and then a second workshop be scheduled to allow public input. CONSENSUS: It was a consensus of the Commission to place on the May 16th regular Commission agenda a discussion of the process to be used for considering terms and conditions for any settlement. V. Adjournment - 8:24 p.m. City Clerk Mayor/Commissioner ·- •These minutes reflect the actions taken and portions of the discussion during the meeting. It should be noted that, due to the location of the meeting, neither an audio nor a visual recording was made of the meeting. City of Eustis, Florida Page4 Printed on 413012013