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HomeMy WebLinkAbout_2009 02 16 City Commission Workshop MinutesCITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP FEBRUARY 16, 2009 CALL TO ORDER The Workshop of Monday, February 16, 2009 of the City Commission was called to Order by Mayor John F. Bush at 6:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of the Municipal Building (City Hall, 1126 East State Road 434, Winter Springs, Florida 32708). Roll Call: Mayor John F. Bush, present Deputy Mayor Joanne M. Krebs, present Commissioner Jean Hovey, present Commissioner Rick Brown, present Commissioner Gary Bonner, present Commissioner Sally McGinnis, present City Manager Kevin L. Smith, present City Attorney Anthony A. Garganese, arrived at 6:01 p.m. REGULAR AGENDA REGULAR 600. Office Of The City Manager Requests That The City Commission Review This Agenda Item Related To A Possible Charter Review. City Attorney Anthony A. Garganese arrived at 6: O1 p. m. Brief discussion. City Manager Kevin L. Smith introduced this Agenda Item. Much discussion followed on who could best facilitate this process; what should be changed in the Charter; and a possible citizen's Committee. Commissioner Gary Bonner referenced a previous Resolution Number 2000-27 related to the last Charter Review process; and suggested that a list of ideas be considered, related to potential changes to the Charter. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP -FEBRUARY 16, 2009 PAGE 2 OF 8 Discussion ensued on the structure of a possible Charter Review citizen's Committee to which Commissioner Rick Brown suggested a type of hybrid, that "We actually have a citizen's group that we Appoint from the outset and we work with them -side by side with them, reviewing the Charter." Attorney Garganese noted, "That is perfectly acceptable." Commissioner Brown remarked that his preference for Appointees to a Committee, "Two (2) per Commission, one (1) for the Mayor would give us eleven (11)." Discussion. Mayor Bush remarked, "I sense that -the Consensus that we consider a citizen's group Appointed by the Commission to move this forward and I think Rick's (Brown) idea of the Commission working with them in concert." Further discussion. Commissioner Bonner stated, "I do agree wholeheartedly that whatever the process is, it needs to culminate in being placed before the citizens and the opportunity to participate in the development of anything that would go to Referendum." Discussion ensued on previous Workshops that were held, as noted in Resolution 2000- 27, to which Commissioner Bonner stated, "Last time, there was an effort to go out, not only to invite the public to City Hall, but to go out into the public and invite the citizens to meet with - I assume it was the Committee, to have these discussions and these Workshops out in the public, as close to the people as possible. So, I absolutely support that as well." Mayor Bush added, "I think that is a good idea." Mayor Bush summarized, "Let me try to summarize where we are so far -Rick's (Brown) recommendation of an eleven (11) Member Committee -Commissioner's Appoint two (2), the Mayor Appoints one (1) for eleven (11) people; Commissioner Bonner's suggestion that we hold it at various locations throughout the City as we have done in the past." As for a Facilitator, Mayor Bush explained, "We kind of have gone both ways - do you want a Facilitator, in house or out of the house, so I think we decide on that." Regarding which kind of Facilitator would be best, Attorney Garganese suggested it depends on how bad a Charter is. Furthermore, Attorney Garganese added, "If you have a good working Charter, that may need to be tweaked a little bit. I have found that the City Commission is probably in the best position to do that -because they know what needs to be tweaked." Attorney Garganese then noted, "Every ten (10) years or so, it is kind of good to -put it out there and see what the citizens think about this Charter." Commissioner Brown recommended that, "The first night of whatever citizen's body does come into play, if one does, that could be spent with Anthony (Garganese) just doing that kind of grass roots education of what exactly a Charter is." Commissioner Sally McGinnis said, "I would expect that." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP -FEBRUARY 16, 2009 PAGE 3 OF 8 With further comments on this, Mayor Bush suggested this be done at each Workshop. Commissioner Jean Hovey suggested, "Why couldn't we have a short five (5) minute PowerPoint presentation done up on what the Charter is and some of the key parts of the Charter and show that at the beginning of every Meeting." Discussion ensued on Charter Officers and the Facilitator position. Deputy Mayor Joanne M. Krebs mentioned that if a PowerPoint is presented, "Please don't read it." Much discussion ensued on the best Facilitator and the pros and cons and costs for a Special Election or a Mail Ballot. Attorney Garganese suggested, "You always do better when there is some other General Election that you can stick a question on the ballot and the Supervisor [of Elections] takes care of it." Mayor Bush pointed out, "One of the things that I think we have got to be aware of too is that -this year and the work that is going to go into the Budget, our Visioning, our Goal Setting -the plate is pretty full. And -Kevin's (Smith) plate is really full and to put this on him even more to try to get it any faster, Ithink - it is something we need to think about." Further discussion followed on a Facilitator; a citizen volunteer as the Facilitator; and the other Charters the Commission recently received. Mayor Bush said, "I do not know what the Institute of Government charges, but my guess, it is not very much. Do you have any idea Andrea (Lorenzo-Luaces, City Clerk) what their costs are for something like this?" City Clerk Lorenzo-Luaces responded, "I don't. I would be glad to find out." Mayor Bush suggested, "I think we ought to look." Commissioner McGinnis stated, "I do too." Mayor Bush added, "I think we should go with an outside Agency if it is a reasonable cost, the Institute of Government, somebody else -send it out for a Bid." Commissioner Brown noted, "I won't have a problem with the Institute." Mayor Bush recommended, "Why don't we ask Andrea (Lorenzo-Luaces) to contact them and find out how much we are talking about?" Discussion followed on Ms. Lynn Tipton with the Florida League of Cities and other possible Facilitators. Mayor Bush then said, "Commission, let us ask Andrea (Lorenzo- Luaces) to investigate the Institute of Government, the [Florida] League of Cities..." Commissioner McGinnis noted, "...Good, I support that..." Mayor Bush continued, "...And if Kevin (Smith) has any other -contacts or whatever, to bring it back. Is the Consensus then that we would go with an -unrelated Facilitator..." Commissioner McGinnis remarked, "...Yes..." Mayor Bush added, "...In other words, outside Agency." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP -FEBRUARY 16, 2009 PAGE 4 OF 8 Commissioner Brown suggested, "I would just suggest that we stay clear of -City Managers or former City Manager's to be that Facilitator." Mayor Bush said, "I would agree." No objections were voiced. Tape 1/Side B Commissioner Bonner commented, "If we are going to go outside and buy a service, I would suggest that we instruct the Manager to craft an RFP (Request for Proposal), very specific, goals, roles, obligations, performances; put it out for Bid and let us see what we get." Mayor Bush said, "Okay" and summarized that the Consensus was, "Eleven (11) Members; the different locations and trying to take advantage of the schools if at all possible. The intro PowerPoint presentation to kind of inform the citizens who do show up; an outside Facilitator." Deputy Mayor Krebs stated, "I do not agree to an outside Facilitator." With further comments on who could be the Facilitator, Mayor Bush noted, "This is an important job and it needs to be done right and it needs to be done - I think the citizen's have to see this that it is not a ploy by the Commission to get something through -that is why I think having it arm's length is kind of important." Deputy Mayor Krebs stated, "Then, RFP (Request for Proposal) it. That is my Vote." Mayor Bush summarized, "So, then we have agreed that the facilitation will be through an RFP (Request for Proposal) which the Manager will prepare and you can bring back what we have talked about. What is going to go in the RFP (Request for Proposal) -the number of Members; the locations; kind of the format of the program. And do we need to decide on -whether or not we will do a Special Election, or General Election or mail out -does that even need to be in there?" Attorney Garganese stated, "No." Mayor Bush added, "So, we can handle that later." Commissioner Bonner commented that "I think we are going to need to hammer out the scope of work a little bit more than this very, very high level -perhaps the Manager, I don't know if Kevin (Smith), if you feel you have enough direction to put together a draft, but I would think we would want to see that draft before it goes out from a RFP (Request for Proposal) standpoint." Further, Commissioner Bonner suggested, "This is a pretty complicated beast with lots of Meetings with citizen's groups at various locations and has timelines and so on and so forth to be put together for anyone to effectively respond to the RFP (Request for Proposal); they are going to have to calculate the amount of time necessary and define resources and things of that nature." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP -FEBRUARY 16, 2009 PAGE 5 OF 8 Manager Smith stated, "I think I might want to bring it back to you to make sure that we are all on the same page; that everybody feels comfortable with what we are doing." Mayor Bush remarked, "We want Kevin (Smith) to concentrate on the Budget." Commissioner McGinnis added, "Yes." No objections were voiced. Attorney Garganese asked for "Clarification for RFP (Request for Proposal) drafting purposes -what is the City Commission's intent in terms of those Workshops -the citizen Workshops that you are talking about? The previous process that was done in 2000, those Workshops in the neighborhoods were done after the citizen Committee had their Public Hearings and worked up recommendations. That is an important part; because if you are planning on taking this whole process on the road and doing it section by section by section of the City, you're basically duplicating efforts at various parts of the City; or are you planning on just having -one (1) central location where this whole thing gets worked up and then take it on the road to advise the public - to advise them and to get any fine tuning in the process." Deputy Mayor Krebs stated, "That sounds good." Commissioner Bonner stated, "I was just going to echo, it is the latter. From my perspective, the first thing that has to take place is this collection of ideas, suggestions and then that collection of ideas or suggestions is what is going to go on the road for citizen input that would lead us to whatever would go in a Referendum." Mayor Bush opened "Public Input ". Ms. Pamela Carroll, 865 Dyson Drive, Winter Springs, Florida: suggested that whoever serves on this Committee should sign a document that they reviewed the current Charter before they serve; and liked the suggested eleven (1 I) Appointees. Mayor Bush noted, "In terms of the Charter Review, we should have in the Charter, how often the Charter should be reviewed." Commissioner McGinnis agreed and added, "That should be in the Charter." Deputy Mayor Krebs also said, "Yes, it should be in the Charter." Mr. Bob Henderson, 635 White Ibis Court, Winter Springs, Florida: commented on the individuals who often attend City Commission Meetings; and the importance to get input from the rest of the public. Mayor Bush closed "Public Input ". CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP -FEBRUARY 16, 2009 PAGE 6 OF 8 Next, Mayor Bush asked Manager Smith if he had enough information. Manager Smith responded, "I think I do Mayor and again, I am bringing it back to you and - I can get your input at that time, if you think there are changes that need to be made." Regarding a time frame, Manager Smith noted, "I would not want to diminish the importance of this process at all, but I would certainly underscore the Budget challenges against us." Mayor Bush suggested, "Let us not put a time frame Kevin (Smith) on this at this point. I know he is going to work on it." Commissioner McGinnis added, "I agree." No objections were voiced. In other City business, Mayor Bush mentioned the Tri-County League of Cities Meeting scheduled for this Thursday. Deputy Mayor Krebs passed out a photograph of Lake Mary name badges and showed a City of Winter Springs Seal. Mayor Bush mentioned City stationary and explained, "We have a Seal, but there is no definition of it. In other words, what color it should be, should it be multi-colored, etc., etc. I think that is something the Commission needs to do, just to solve this problem in the future." With further discussion, Manager Smith stated, "I believe that what we see on the screen here is just in fact that, the Seal. I would suggest, and I have always been a proponent that maybe we need to establish - what I would call a logo. I think they are two (2) different animals. The logo would be more of a marketing type tool. For example, Seminole County has a logo that I think you all are familiar with, but that is not their Seal." Manager Smith added, "I agree that the Seal needs to be consistent and the colors need to be established, but maybe just think about also developing a City logo and marketing and branding the City through that logo." Commissioner McGinnis remarked, "Good." Mayor Bush added, "That is a good idea -that can be something to be brought up. Next, Mayor Bush mentioned that he had given Commissioner Krebs some information from a presentation on water held in Longwood, and stated, "Oviedo gave, I thought, a very interesting presentation on their water conservation and landscaping, and I know that Commissioner Krebs is very interested in this." Mayor Bush added, "They have an Ordinance on this which I think is pretty well done and I would like to see the Commission at some point review this..." Commissioner McGinnis remarked, "...I agree." Mayor Bush then suggested, "If everybody agrees, we would let Commissioner Krebs take the lead on this?" Deputy Mayor Krebs stated, "I am walking down that path right now." No objections were voiced. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP -FEBRUARY 16, 2009 PAGE 7 OF 8 Deputy Mayor Krebs commented on some segments she did for Channel 52 and explained, "I took Steve Richart (Urban Beautification Services Division Manager, Community Development Department) with me -thank you Kevin (Smith). He did an excellent job." Deputy Mayor Krebs added, "He did a fantastic job, so you all really - should be proud of him." Additionally, Deputy Mayor Krebs said her second program segment "Was about the Lockbox program that we are in the process -Chief (Brunelle) is in the process of implementing right now; and - I have intentions hopefully with your blessing to take my message to all of our sister cities in Seminole County and then beyond. I plan to contact as many cities in Florida that I can about this program." No objections were noted. Mayor Bush said, "Andrea (Lorenzo-Luaces), would it be possible for you to contact Channel 52 and see if we could get the clips, because I know Commission Bonner, did this." Mayor Bush suggested, "That would be good to put on our Website, if they will give it to us. Will you check on that?" City Clerk Lorenzo-Luaces nodded in agreement. Deputy Mayor Krebs remarked, "That is a good idea." Manager Smith stated, "Great idea." Manager Smith commented further on Deputy Mayor Krebs' comments on the Lockbox program and stated, "I think it is awesome that with Chief (Kevin) Brunelle, I think that we are out on the forefront. We're first on that. I think it is awesome that we're taking the lead on that process and I want to thank the Chief and the Commission for that initiative, foresight." Deputy Mayor Krebs added, "From what my research has shown, we are the first in Central Florida, if not the first in the State of Florida to have this program." Manager Smith added, "To me, that is the kind of information that not just us, but everyone needs to know." Mayor Bush noted, "I agree." Manager Smith then said, "That is the kind of information that we need to be proud of; we need to get it out there. We need to show that our Police Department - is out there on the forefront; the Commission is on the forefront and I think that is huge." Discussion followed again on City name badges and Mayor Bush suggested, "In terms of what we see here on the screen here, Commissioners, would you agree that we maybe have -Andrea (Lorenzo-Luaces), do research on what something like this would cost?" Deputy Mayor Krebs stated, "Yes, and she actually has done some research." No objections were voiced. Mayor Bush added, "Andrea (Lorenzo-Luaces) is going to research it." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP -FEBRUARY 16, 2009 PAGE 8 OF 8 ADJOURNMENT Mayor Bush adjourned the Workshop at 7:08 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: ~ -7 ,, AN LORENZO-LUACES, MMC CIZ"Y CLERK AFf ~~OVED: .~ .~St'OR JOHN F. BUSH NOTE: These Minutes were approved at the February 23, 2009 Regulaz City Commission Meeting.