Board of Commissioners Regular Workshop Meeting

THE CITY OF MADEIRA BEACH, FLORIDA PUBLIC NOTICE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR WORKSHOP MEETING The Board of Commissioners of the City of Madeira Beach, Florida will meet at City Hall, located at 300 Municipal Drive, Madeira Beach, Florida to discuss the agenda items of City Business listed at the time indicated below. 2:00P.M. TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2014 AUDITORIUM CALL TO ORDER - The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Travis Palladeno, Mayor Nancy Hodges, Vice-Mayor (V-M) Terry Lister, Commissioner District 1 Elaine Poe, Commissioner District 3 Pat Shontz, Commissioner District 4 STAFF PRESENT: Shane Crawford, City Manager (CM) Thomas Trask, City Attorney (CA) Aimee Servedio, City Clerk (CC) Vince Tenaglia, Finance Director (FD) Dave Marsicano, Central Services Director (CSD) WORKSHOP FOR APRIL 22, 2014 1. TOPICS: A. DISCUSSION ON UNDERGROUND UTILITIES-Presentation by CPWG, Steve Tarte City Manager, Shane B. Crawford, Central Services Director Dave Marsicano CM: Introduced Stave Tarte, who is the actin engineer on this project. There was a previous presentation six to eight months ago and this is an update on what is going on now. The Board can further discuss the funding. There will be new power lines and poles going north to south and the area will look a lot better when this is completed. They need buy-in from everyone on Gulf Blvd. He urged the Board and audience to ask if they have any questions after the presentation. Steve Tarte: This has been a project that has been going on for a couple of months. The presentation included a partial history, undergrounding, and an FDOT update. There will be undergrounding along Gulf Blvd, 150th (Tom Stuart Causeway), and Madeira Way that is estimated to be around $9 million. FDOT will do safety improvements on Gulf Blvd. About 2/3 of the City will be worked on. The work th included undergrounding, pole replacements, safety improvements, a signal at 140 and Mill, and resurfacing. CPWG has met with Ocean Sands and other condos to help plan a project of this scope. CM: Are those wires and pole replacements for the new signal? BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 Mr. Tarte: Partly yes. It will also be done to allow for two 4-foot bike lanes to be added and new mast arms to be installed. Commissioner Lister: Who is responsible for maintaining these new lights? Mr. Tarte: Duke Energy will be responsible. CPWG managers will do a walk through in mid-May. The FOOT will start in summer/fall of this year and the undergrounding will begin in 2015 and go through th 2016 and 2017. The basic cost includes east/west lines, 150th to 155 , and wood poles will all be approximately $3,100,000. The Big Chas helped fund this and there will be potential cost sharing with Pinellas County. The Board has overall control of the project with CPWG acting as a consultant. Mayor Palladeno: When they do the overlaying, will there be by-planes as well? Mr. Tarte: Answered that he was not sure but could find out and come back to the Board with the correct information. Mayor Palladeno: Confirmed with the FD that of the $1.3 million that was allocated to the City through the Gulf Beautification Fund that we've spent about $150,000 so far on Archibald. CM: The decision will be very time influenced; we should do what works best at the time when the funds are needed/requested. CPWG put a lot of time and effort to get the City to this point. If we were to look at this in totality, the City would need to do easement after easement. The example of this that he referenced was Indian Shores, which took years to complete their project. Undergrounding will clean up the City quite a bit. The CM wants to get input from Mr. Tarte and the FD to present a short one- page summary of the project to establish a timeline for this project. FD: We have not submitted our invoices to the county yet because we are waiting for the last wire in Archibald to come down. Commissioner Lister: Is Verizon going to be undergrounded too? Mr. Tarte: Verizon is already underground. Mayor Palladeno: Asked if this would be a binding contract and Mr. Tarte confirmed that it would be. Mr. Tarte: We are going to require other utilities to maintain clean-up of these streets. The wooden poles will be replaced with concrete ones. V-M Hodges: Had a question in reference to the bike routes: will those new lanes affect area with medians and crosswalks? Mr. Tarte: No, room as been planned and grass medians will not be affected. The consensus was to proceed. B. DISCUSSION ON FANTASY PLANET BUILDING EXISTING LEASE BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014  City Manager, Shane 8. Crawford CM: The lease on the building is expiring and this is the Board's chance to do what they see fit. The tenant always pays on time and the City has never had any other complaints or problems with the tenant. There has been a slight escalation that may want to be included as well as an insurance housekeeping issue to amend in the new lease if the Board wishes to proceed. The two parking spots that we've allowed them up front are not attached to the lease. There have been complaints from people trying to park in those spaces only to realize they are coned off when they're already halfway parked. The spots are not used for unloading but for the business owner and employees. Commissioner Shontz: It was a complimentary allowance. When this was established, the parking lot area looked vastly different than it does today. Mosha has always cooperated with us. We have to give him some parking for employees, but maybe somewhere else not right up front. What will happen, he will park at the lizard and a turf struggle could begin. CM: There's a clause that the FD wants included for insurance payments. Also there is a 2 and ½ percent escalator. The tenant has asked for a ten year lease and while that is the longest amount he can do, but he recommends that the City should allow a five year lease with an option to sign for an additional five as to not lock themselves into something for that long. Commissioner Shontz: Requested that she, the CM and the CSD all go and speak to the tenant about changing the location of allocation of the parking spots. CM: With these additions and amendments to the lease included, the CA can come up with a draft for the next BOC meeting. There are two spots near the surf shop that could be used. The two spots on Village Blvd do not work now. If the Board trusts the staff to handle and solve this parking dilemma, we can do that. The consensus was to proceed and have the CA draft a new lease. C. UPDATE ON SHORT TERM RENTALS Commissioner Elaine Poe Commissioner Poe: Asked to Board members to check the pages she had printed out for the meeting. In October/November, there were a lot of people asking questions about rental properties. Today, there are over 1800 of these properties on different websites. The latest SWAT analysis is showing that there is a lot of untapped revenue in bed taxes. We need to find a way to solve this problem by using our existing codes. The City can create an ordinance for temporary noise and parking. Her proposed solutions were to better enforce the City's existing ordinances, pass an ordinance to include fines, and help identify these properties to start taking action about it. She's worried about the deterioration of Madeira's neighborhoods. BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 A short recess for the Commissioner to answer an important phone call was called at 2:33 and the meeting reconvened at 2:34 p.m. CM: In 1 and 2 zoning, they are 3 months and 6 months respectively. There is an argument on both sides. There is a tourism aspect of this, those who stay for a short time on vacation. On the other hand, there are long-time residents here that have their neighbors change over ten times a year. There is a problem. There is current legislation of the books that we are not enforcing - to hit all of the problem areas is near impossible. He thinks that people are unaware of the code itself and that some people could use an education on how to handle their properties. This will be a balancing act. The City would need some extra help because everybody in City Hall is pretty heavily booked. Commissioner Poe: If we don't get help, we will never be able to get this done. She brought up the point that the City will benefit indirectly from the bed tax but the code enforcement will be beneficial for the City. CM: Many do not have the regulatory components in line with the code. The ordinance has to be realistic and enforceable. There is a culture to this and a lot of background this issue. It will take a lot of resources to enforce this and we need to figure this out Commissioner Poe: We need to weigh the pros and cons. It is not just a problem here; other cities have been faced with this issue recently as well. CA: An entire neighborhood was being used for these short term rentals in Tarpon Springs. They've tried to remedy this problem as well. Commissioner Poe: She has spoken with other cities and they have the same problems but don't understand or know the depth of it as Madeira does. She thinks that the City needs to enforce what is already on the books. CM: The ordinance implements a fine? Would it be a lien? Commissioner Poe: it would be $500.00 fine per day the owner illegally rents that would be added to their ad valorem taxes. CM: He thinks that this has a lot to do with more education. Poe disagrees and says there are many that know they are breaking the law, have been sent information by Gwen, and are still violating. The CM thinks that everyone should be notified that charges will start to enforce the penalties and that could help resolve a percentage of the issues before the code enforcement needs to address it. Commissioner Poe: Many of the houses and condos that are being rented out are owned by people living outside of Madeira. The owners are not being affected. Commissioner Shontz: Does she know who these out-of-town owners are? Commissioner Poe: She does not -there are too many and are too hard to find. CM: he thinks this is just one more thing that we were lax with in the past and need to better enforce. The city cannot forget that there is a huge tourism aspect to this. BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 Commissioner Lister: Is this only affecting R1 and R2 areas? Commissioner Poe: Condos are classified as R3 and there are members in the audience here to speak on how it is affecting them. CM: The has been a reoccurring problem where the tenant is suddenly related to the owner and the short time tenants will use this as an excuse to circumnavigate the code. Commissioner Poe: This problem as escalated - in February there were about 1000 of these, now there's over 1800. We cannot change the current ordinances. Bill Priakos: Owns a rental office off site. He represents about 91 of the 160 condos there. They pay bed tax automatically. Condo Association Alliance to help keep condos in code compliance -which is apart from what the Board is trying to do. He does not think his problem is as big as what they are facing. The City really has a problem and he has done research to see how his council can assist the City. There are all sorts of moving parts and factors involved. He said he would be willing to help and is the de facto representative of the TDC. CM: Has the Tourist Development Council (TDC) taken a formal position'? Mr. Priakos: No, they have not. He thinks that most of the TDC was unaware of the severity of the problem. He sees it as individual home owners than actually condos. CM: if a county sponsored council supports the stance by Commissioner Poe, then that really takes some meat aware from the tourist angle argument. Commissioner Poe: Florida League of Cities is doing the same thing. Mr. Priakos: This is why we have hotels, condos, and motels. The tourists need to be put back in these areas. The TDC is appointed by the Commissioners of Pinellas County. CM: Who should take priority? The homeowners are the City's priority and the Board and Staff exist to serve the community's residents. Mayor Palladeno: Is this covered by the bylaws of the Condo Association'? Mr. Priakos: No. CM: Some condo Associations are making up their own set of rules that are not in compliance with the City code. CA: R3 zone is not covered by the ordinance. You don't want to change R1 and R2, and you can't add R3 because of state statute. Commissioner Poe: Many other states are rezoning to get around this issue. CM: Do you know the numbers, excluding those in the condos since we can't enforce there? sl BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 Commissioner Poe: That's about half of the problem areas. CA: Doesn't think that they should rezone R3 to Rl or R2 because that could cause other issues (for example, a house being renovated into a triplex) which also is not something the City would want. He suggests adding an additional fee for the purpose of regulation. According to state statute, we are unable to a lot of what we want to do save for collecting a fee. Beverly Liselle: What are Rl, R2, and R3 zones exactly? CA: Each one is a particular zoning district that allows a particular type of ownership. Rl and R2 are single family homes while R3 is more multifamily homes, condos, or triplexes and duplexes. He could look up the exact definitions in the code. Ms. Liselle: Half of the areas/condos have been rented out by the owners illegally and where they live is becoming more of a commercial enterprise. Barbara Levy: It is becoming a problem for the residents. People are constantly moving in and out. Ms. Liselle: The problem isn't as big in Redington. They have regulation that prohibits it better. CA: Suggests that they need to put pressure on their condo to address these issues. There is currently not a provision in the code to cover R3 zones. The only thing the City could do is require landlords and owners to pay an additional fee. He says the condo board needs to address this. Guy: We have the same issue in Indian Rocks Beach. It is going to be up to each City to enforce their ordinances. They have not done a very good job at enforcement either. It will also take the will of the Board to back this up and give it some teeth. If the Board chooses to go this route, they need to back up the staff because it won't be very popular in implementation. He has seen the same issue of tenants claiming to be relatives to the owners. He agrees with the CM that a letter for education that clearly defines the current rules and notifies that the fees will be enforced. The City would then need to make an example out of a few people in order to make some headway. Unfortunately, the statutes that were passed have made it very difficult to face these problems locally. It will be up to each individual city to enforce what they already have. Commissioner Poe: It won't affect us as much as those that did not have an ordinance previously past. Greg Mims: Has a neighbor that rents out his property out every week and has homestead exemption. Commissioner Poe: There are a ton of them doing this with homestead exemption. She has very good contacts with the county. Mayor Palladeno: Thinks they need to do a little more homework. Commissioner Lister: He agrees that educating the owners and neighbors of these properties would be very beneficial. He really thinks an education campaign needs to be conducted. al BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 CM: Agrees that education is the key. Neighbors can help enforce and notify the City about violations. Staff can put together a mailer to reach the absentee land owner. He suggests that we get in contact with the property owners and then we can start to enforce it. He agrees with Mr. Mims that making an example out of a few violators will spread the word that the City is serious about enforcement. Commissioner Poe: Why can we not send letters to websites that advertise these properties? CA: If we have specific information that they are violating the code, then it would be a good idea to send them the information as well. Commissioner Poe: How much evidence or information would we need to contact the websites about those that are in violation of the codes? CA: We would send it first to the violator as a basis. It would then be sent to any other person who is involved. tf there is a specific address, we should send it by certified mail to ensure that it reaches the person in question. Commissioner Lister: This is especially important for those with homestead exemptions. He suggests that Barbara and Beverly get together with the other Condo Association to figure out how to get their condo board to comply. The City does not have jurisdiction over R3 zones (condos) but the TDC can help. CM: Next week, Commissioner Poe can put together a document to have the CA look over. Commissioner Shontz: We should include the fines and ordinance in the mailer. Commissioner Poe: (Directed to Deputy Luckett) how has the education that has been mailed out worked so far? Deputy Luckett: There have been some that have been educated but there are definitely some repeat offenders. The consensus was to do some more research and have Commissioner Poe work with the CA on this. D. UPDATE ON SOBER HOUSES Commissioner Elaine Poe Commissioner Poe: As of this time, we do not have a problem with sober houses. Currently, there is no regulation on these homes even though many of the people living in these homes are court-ordered to be there. Up to 10 people are living in these homes and are unsupervised. Some are within blocks of elementary, middle, and high schools. These houses bring crime and drug-related issues. There is a House and Senate bill that requires some certification but she advocates for an ordinance that defines what regulations for these places would be. Past ordinances have cleaned up other rehabilitation areas in 2011. Mayor Palladeno: It cannot be so many feet from a public park, school etc.? BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 Commissioner Poe: No, there is nothing in the code books to regulate Sober Houses and where they can be located. Commissioner Lister: Aren't they considered renters? How are they zoned Rl and R2? Commissioner Poe: The houses are rented by the corporation and there is no paper work tracking the renters themselves. Deputy Luckett: Very briefly, from a law enforcement perspective -you are going to heavily tax the law officers you have now. Recently, in Seminole, there was a halfway house. Between 2008 and 2012, the police department was called over 900 times to respond to complaints about individuals. There were 480 problems on the property itself in that time. It's not that you don't support people trying to better themselves. These places are court ordered - meaning most are not dedicated to making a personal change to better themselves. Many of the problems occur such as court-ordered people hiding drugs, guns, and other contraband in bushes and areas around the property in neighborhoods where kids and other innocent bystanders can find them. Seminole closed one such place up, he recommends that the Board understand how much regulation would tax the current law enforcement officers. Of course, they will do the will of the Board, but there will potentially be a lot of crime surrounding these properties and neighborhoods where they exist. Commissioner Lister: Could this issue be covered under chronic nuisance ordinance? Deputy Luckett: A lot of the fix comes from kicking out the person or in this case, corporation, that rents the house. The problem is, whoever replaces one company could be worse than the one that was originally booted out. In Seminole, it took over four years to close that problem property. The closest ones now are in St. Pete. Commissioner Poe: There are 27 in St. Pete. They are not required to notify that any of these types of people are moving in -you won't know until you see a bunch of bunk beds being moved into a house. Most of the deputies she has spoken with do not want these places here. Vice-Mayor Hodges: She doesn't understand why there would not be notification for these people as there would be for sex offenders, for example. Deputy Luckett: The difference is that sex offenders are regulated, tracked, and monitored by a government entity. No such system or regulatory entity exists for Sober Houses. Mayor Palladeno: Asked for the CA's opinion. CA: He is very concerned about this. A town nearby just spent over a $1 million in a lawsuit on this issue and lost. He thinks it is not an issue of keeping these places out, but regulating where these Sober Houses can exits. He said that Lynn, the Community Development Director, can look into zoning areas where the City would allow these places to get established. The City needs to at least give them a place where they could set up, if not, they could face a similar lawsuit. Increasing a fee would not deter these properties. Commissioner Lister: We don't want these in residential areas. He sees this becoming a NIMBY issue. Mayor Palladeno: Would R3 (a condo) be not desirable for these places to go? We need to narrow down where these places can go as a means of deterrence. al BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 CA: You may find an area or zoning district that would be appropriate, and limit it to a particular area within a certain zone. CM: He says he will not find a desirable place even if he gets together with the City Planner. We just need to keep our eyes open to prohibit it and keep it from coming. He fears designating a 'Sober House area' would cause a huge stir for residents near that area since the City is so small. He suggests putting this on the May workshop to see what develops with the bills currently in the state House and Senate. Consensus was to revisit this topic after a decision has been rendered by the state on two bills that could affect how the Board addresses the problem. E. DISCUSSION OF VACANCY ON LIBRARY BOARD (1) OPENING City Manager, Shane 8. Crawford, City Clerk Aimee Servedio CM: Brian Bornemann is now unavailable to serve and we need a replacement for a term that extends through 2015. So far, there have been no applications Marilyn: The Library Board meets at 4:00 p.m. on the last Monday of the month from September through May. There are no meetings scheduled during the summer months. The consensus was to continue to try to find an applicant for the position. F. DISCUSSION ON RFP FOR LAND LEASE AT NORTH END OF VILLAGE BLVD City Manager, Shane B. Crawford CM: This is something you decided to proceed with or not. The land has been surveyed and an RFP would be put out, similar to how we did the Snack Shack. We would clear out some of the bushes and it would be visible from Gulf Blvd. It makes sense to lease this area. The maintenance of the area would be the responsibility of whoever won the bid. Commissioner Lister: Is concerned about who wants to rent the property. There have been several noise complaints because the one who would want to rent would want to add more tables and contribute to the noise. He thinks we should have conditions for the lease of this area. CM: These are two separate issues; they are abiding by the noise compliance. He understands the pain, but the noise comes from music. From an enforcement standpoint, they are in compliance. Guy: When he or someone calls to complain about the music playing, someone will notify the business or the office and they will turn the music off by the time the Sheriffs Office gets to the site. He has talked to the people there and has had no luck. CM: The noise issue is not the same as the land lease. We do not know who will win the bid. There is room for maybe three high top tables to seat maybe about 8 people. BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 Commissioner Lister: He is just concerned that the more people that are there, the more noise will be created. CSD: It's going to clean up that area and it's going to make it more attractive from Gulf Blvd. CM: Needs to know if the Board wants to proceed and put out an RFP. G. DISCUSSION ON INCREASE IN FEES FOR BUSINESS TAX RECEIPTS City Manager, Shane B. Crawford, Finance Director Vince Tenaglia CM: The last time this was raised was back in 2007. It can be increased up to 5% and this decision is up to the Board. The 5% would be an increase of about $3,500 in total revenues. He doesn't think it will be a huge burden for any business owners. Commissioner lister: Asked the CA about the tax because he under the impression that the business tax law was defeated. CA: He replied to the Commissioner that this was not the case. CM: Does that adjustment need to be made? CC: The Fees and Collection Manual is already correct, it has been adjusted. CM: If there are any ordinance issues that need to be adjusted with this, please prepare this. CA: It is already done. Consensus was to move forward. H. DISCUSSION ON ESTABLISHING THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 2014-2015 POLICY HANDBOOK City Manager, Shane 8. Crawford, City Clerk Aimee Servedio CM: There was a striked version in the packet. The main difference would be to move Workshops permanently to the auditorium because of the problems with audio broadcasting in the conference room. Commissioner Shontz: She prefers to set up the tables in front of the dais and to be seated level with the rest of the Staff and audience like it was today for Workshop meetings. CM: There are more presentations and constituents that want to come to these meetings and the conference room fills up quickly; the auditorium is a better use of space. Vice-Mayor Hodges: Questioned if the Board should continue to do the Home Owner award. BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 CM: This award is difficult to give out; there are always people who end up offended by who is chosen. He thinks it creates more problems and headaches than anything else. Commissioner Shontz: There are a lot of projects and things going on in the City and she agrees that we don't need any of these home or business awards. She also agrees it offends people and that it can cause some animosity between residents who don't agree with the decision of the winner. Mayor Palladeno: Agrees with Home Owner's Award but thinks they need to keep the Business Award. Commissioner Shontz: That is a job for the Chamber of Commerce, not the Board of Commissioners. That is what they do - they know the businesses and how they do. Mayor Palladeno: He respects her opinion because of her experience and she makes a good point. CM: If the Board wants to keep it, we can. He thinks the awards are a little bit skewed and subjective - it causes more grief in the City than excitement. Commissioner Lister: Agrees to push it over to the Chamber of Commerce. CM: Would like to keep the volunteer of the year since City Hall has a volunteer department. He suggests deleting Item B. Business Recognition from the current handbook. Mayor Palladeno: Recommends to delete the home and business awards. The consensus was to remove the Business Recognition award and keep the other changes as they were presented. I. DISCUSSION ON RV PARKING IN JOHNS PASS PARK City Manager, Shane B. Crawford CM: This is something the previous Commission established. It was scheduled to come back to the Board. There were six designated RV spots but nobody drives, let alone, parks RV's at John's Pass. We just want to take down the signs. Commissioner Lister: Agrees that he's never seen any RV's in John's Pass so it doesn't make sense to keep those spaces if they are not used. The consensus was to proceed and have the signs removed through an ordinance that deletes references to spaces reserved for RV parking. J. DISCUSSION ON POTENTIAL DEBT ISSUE RELATED TO STORMWATER DRAINAGE AND ROADWAY IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS Finance Director, Vincent Tenaglia CM: What this does is creates the ultimate flexibility for you handle stormwater drainage however you want. In a few years, if a new plan is decided, you can pay yourselves back from this fund. We have 11 I BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 received $1.3 million from SWFWMD. This funding is available on an annual cycle. If we do this on an annual basis, five years out we could have a substantial fund built up. He doesn't think we should take a huge amount out and do the entire City. He suggests that by requesting these grants on a yearly basis, the City can fix these stormwater issues in stages, first improving areas with the most need. FD: There are two ways to fund: issue a bond and tackle everything at once or make improvements based on yearly available dollars. CM: It is completely non-obligatory. It just gives you some flexibility. This year was $1.3 million, but don't think that it will be the same amount every year. The $1.3 million gets voted on by the SWFWMD Board in the fall. FD: The reason this resolution is time sensitive is that it has to be done within 60 days of the first invoice. Because of that, this resolution needs to be put on the next BOC agenda. Commissioner Lister: You are not obligated to bond yourself for the project? CM: If you go out for bond in future years, this allows you to pay back what you are doing today. Commissioner Lister: Does that deter any available grant money in the future? FD: No. Now if we had an available bond issues, that might affect it but it is not sure. th CSD: We are doing improvements in a triage fashion. For example, we are working on 140 now. The consensus was to move forward. A recess was called at 4:18 p.m. and the meeting reconvened at 4:34 p.m. K. DISCUSSION ON RFP FOR REPLACEMENT OF DOCKS AT CITY MARINA City Manager, Shane B. Crawford, Central Services Director, Dave Marsicano CM: We have an $800,000 budget for improvements to the fuel docks. The fuel dock needs to be replaced and we want to do a floating dock with lower maintenance. CSD: Maintenance repair and replacement is what we are looking at right now. CM: We can afford to put in some lifts. The lifts are money makers and we can get a lot out of these. Today we are looking for approval to put in seven (7) more. Not only will we get handsome rent that will pay us back in approximately three years, the life of the lift is up to 15 years and encourages those who rent the lifts to buy fuel and other items from the Marina. The ones on the commercial dock will not have to go out for RFP because they are under $15,000. There is also a worm that will need to have a diver inspect pilings to make sure they are fixed. Unless there are any concerns, staff recommends moving forward. You'd probably be appropriating more money to fix these things later than redoing and doing some maintenance on what we have now. BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 CSD: A-dock needs attention, C-dock needs a lot of replacements. This is a continuous process; this isn't the entire project. The fuel dock and all of the charter boat area (and lifts} will be done pretty quickly. The lifts are also rented very quickly- usually within the first 60 days. People don't want to leave their boats in the water anymore. He's had the permit and has had to renew it twice so far. CM: It is a good business investment and people want to rent these. CSD: You have a captive audience. They will buy everything from the Marina. We are waiting for word on how we are going to do work on 8-dock in terms of permittfog. CM: This is certainly a major step in the right direction Mayor Palladeno: Is the renting month to month or long term? CSD: They are monthly but we will secure that they rent for up to a year at a time. There were already several people who were interested and committed to renting these slips. The consensus was to move forward with this since the Board agrees this is a great way to increase revenue to the Marina. L. DISCUSSION ON POSSIBLE PURCHASE OF DON'S DOCK City Manager, Shane 8. Crawford, Central Services Director Dave Marsicano CM: The current tenant is actively trying to purchase it but the owner seems interested in doing business with the City. Right now, the way that it is being operated is not completely up to code and that needs to be remedied. He thinks it is reasonable to say that the Board does not own enough property in the City. Also, it would be good to establish a presence at John's Pass. There is a $300,000 budget for transient slips - if you buy Don's Dock, you are getting the slips for free. There are about 20 slips there. Now you can be running a mini-marina and have a boat shop. It wouldn't necessarily compete with the existing marina. Right now, $1.5-1.6 million is the asking price and the purchase price is in the range of $1.4 million. He recommends the Board should authorize staff to have a consultant do a condition report on what needs to be done to the building and the state of the docking slips. There are citizen concerns such as the sea wall that need to be addressed. There are two options for paying for this: you could pay the whole thing in cash and deplete the reserve, you could borrow, or you could put the $300,000 of the Dock budget down; there are many different options. The next agenda item suggests areas where we could cut to pay for the property. The idea is that the purchase of this property will pay for itself. We could do some welcome signs. We don't own a lot of property in this area. At the end of the day, we want to know if the Board is interested/committed to this project and if so, get an appraisal for it. The cost for t he appraisal has been calculated to be less than $1,000. The methods of payments are varied and there are many options to consider. Mayor Palladeno: Would it run the same as the Marina fund? FD: We could do it together or as a separate enterprise fund. He can figure out the finances if and when the Board decides to proceed with purchasing the property. 13 ) BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 CM: Right now, he thinks it should be in the Marina fund but he doesn't want to get too far into this before getting himself and the Board more educated on the finances and more committed to the idea. CSD: The tanks have been squared away, there are a couple of things that need to be done but we do not think it will exceed $1.65 million in total. It's our intention to make it all transient docks. We have a meeting later this week to get some transient dollars from the state through grants. CM: Linda Fischer is coming in to talk about other grant eligibility for transient-related issues. This is a tough one for the Board. We have been spending a lot of money lately for various projects. However, this is a good opportunity. If you look at John's Pass, this would be ideal for the City to own and we have a Marina director that knows how to best use this property. You have to be prepared to make the difficult decision to borrow. This could be a short 10-year note. Put some projects down and delay them. We need to show the citizens that we are prioritizing and not just spending money. Commissioner Lister: This is a win-win situation - just raising the parking the rate created $400,000 worth of revenue that covered the $300,000 debt service for City Hall. There are options and this is a great opportunity. [v'layor Palladeno: Let's look for getting some appraisers and experts to give us a better estimate. CM: The appraisal consultant will be under $1,000. Decide what you want to do for a tit for tat scenario. We need to know a number to work with. We need to work with the FD to make sure we find the best way to fund this but he urged that the Board needs to maintain flexibility. You have a budget for this. He recommends putting the budgeted money down and doing a combination of options to borrow. The Board agrees this would be a great opportunity. Commissioner Lister: This will pay for itself. If you own this property, you will make money. CM: From an evaluation standpoint, the CSD knows what he is doing and can turn a profit. There are some challenges, but the CSD could bring in boat club and get them involved. We need boat access to John's Pass. Commissioner Lister: Whether we do this or add transient docks at somewhere else, we need boat access to John's Pass. CM: We've even gone over the operational part of it. Commissioner Shontz: Didn't we okay docks down there? Commissioner Lister: Don's Dock is already built for 20 slips. CSD: We'll have to do some modification to the docks. We have accounted for the modifications. What is another plus is that the City will also own that property and has room to expand. CM: We will go ahead with the appraisal study and get moving on the financial plan. There is an existing lease with a tenant down there. There owners would like to work with the City more than what the current tenant, who also wants to buy it, has planned. The owners would like to get an agreement for the City for purchase the property when the tenant's lease is up. You will have to obligate yourselves to buy this within in the next 60-90 days and would attain it by summer of next year. 14 I BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 CSD: It will pay for itself. Mayor Palladeno: Will you gain anything for fuel purchase by buying more? CSD: No, we purchase fuel through a state contract and it won't be affected. There has already been support and interest by businesses to purchase fuel at that location instead of shipping it. The consensus was to move forward and have the property inspected and appraised. M. DISCUSSION ON DIGITAL SIGNS, ELECTRIC UPGRADE IN JOHNS PASS VILLAGE, AND PUMP-OUT BOAT City Manager, Shane B. Crawford, Central Services Director Dave Marsicano CM: The Board approved $125,000 for a digital welcome sign in the City of Madeira Beach. The Planning Commission has scheduled to take up digital signage, he recommends cutting this and instead only spend $8,000 to refurbish the existing Marina sign and the remainder of the budget can go to the purchase of Don's Dock. Pump-out was budgeted when there were issues with water pollution. It was originally thought that a few boats were the cause for this pollution but it was discovered that it is not the case. This budget can also be used to put down for the Don's Dock purchase. It is completely up to the Board, but staff recommends that these can be used to help pay for the purchase instead. If you were to prioritize your projects, these would be good candidates to let go. Commissioner Shontz: Not worried about the digital signage and agrees it is not needed. th CSD: We have poles at 150 that we could put a banner on poles there. CM: He thinks there are other ways to address signage. On the Florida on a Tankful segment, the CM and Mayor Palladeno were asked where the "Welcome to Madeira Beach" sign was and they explained they did not have one. That is another thing to look into, but he doesn't think digital signs are the way to go. CSD: So with using these budgeted items to put down towards the dock, where does that put us? CM: At about $500,000 down. The consensus was to consider these and revisit the topic when further information is gathered after the appraisal of the property. There was an additional issue to be discussed about which advertisement to use in the Qualities Cities publication for the Florida League of Cities Annul Conference. CC: Her assistant and former intern, Sea put together some examples for an advertisement to include in Quality Cities for the Florida League of Cities Annual Conference. We need to know which one the Board prefers, in what size, and any comments or changes they may want. 1s l BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014 CM: Thinks we should include one with a picture of the Commission. Commissioner Lister: Initially liked the beach background but agrees with the CM that the Board should choose a full page with the picture of the Commissioners. Consensus was for the full page ad with the picture of the Commissioners and Mayor. 2. ADJOURNMENT- The meeting was adjourned at 5:20 p.m. Date Approved: () 5 I \~ I ~ 0 I t.-f Travis Palladeno, Mayor ecialist BOC Workshop Meeting 04/22/2014