0 0 0 0 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION MEETING November, 0 The City Commission met this date in regular session in the Commission Chambers. Comm. Hamilton gave the Invocation. Mayor Smith recited the Pledge of Allegiance. A quorum being present, the meeting was called to order at :00 PM with the following in attendance. Mayor : Hubert B. Smith Commissioners : Kay Hamilton : Christine Wasdin : Edward Crosby : Jay Denney City Clerk : Tammy Johnson Police Chief : Joe Hart City Administrator : Carl Scott City Attorney : Hayward Dykes Interim Fire Chief : Tommy Mayville Public Works Director : Nathan Kelley (camera) Recorder : Beth Millsaps Others in attendance: (Not inclusive) Joe Morgan, Pat D Aquila, Chad Lee, Amber Knicley, Mack Regans, Timmy Sallee, Mike Valenzuela, Joe Cobb APPROVAL OF MINUTES COMM. HAMILTON MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM OCTOBER, 0 AS SUBMITTED. COMM. CROSBY SECONDED THE MOTION, WHICH PASSED BY A UNANIMOUS VOTE OF COMMISSION TO 0.. CITIZENS CONCERNS (non-agenda items) Resident There were no resident concerns.. CITIZENS CONCERNS (Non-Agenda Items) Non-Resident There were no non-resident concerns.. ACTION ITEMS Added Agenda Items No added agenda items this evening.. ACTION ITEMS Ordinance no. 0 Mobile Food Vendors Mayor Smith read the title to Ordinance No. 0 an ordinance amending chapter of the Valparaiso code of ordinances to require permitting, fees and penalties for mobile food vendors and providing for () findings, () repeal of conflicting ordinances, () severability and () an effective date. COMM. DENNEY MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE ORDINANCE NO. 0 AS READ, COMM. CROSBY SECONDED THE MOTION. Mr. Joe Morgan, South Bayshore, said he would like to thank the Commission for moving forward with this ordinance, in the ordinance it limits the vendor to one parking space size and only operating on private property both of those conditions seem very restrictive. He said the city of Pensacola has allowed food trucks and they have helped revitalize their downtown, so if we are going to restrict them to private property only can we allow the trucks to have a little more room. Comm. Denney said when he and Mr. Scott looked at doing an ordinance the size was brought up a lot whether to allow the vendor to have tables and chairs right there and while he could see a slight increase it wouldn t be much. Mr.
0 0 0 Scott said once you start adding to the size you have to look at occupancy load and then the fire department becomes involved, this might be something to look into down the road but not now. Comm. Denney recommends to change the wording from one parking space, 00 square feet to two, 00 square feet. Comm. Wasdin said when she had the Planning Commission initially look at food vendor ordinances, she was thinking about giving them opportunities on public property, like the park beside Angels R Us, that way several food trucks could be there together but with this ordinance that prohibits public property all together. Comm. Denney said something like that would be possible if they had a contract with the city and then it would be a special event type thing. Mayor Smith said if he was looking at this from a vendor perspective and saw that you had to move the trailer every single day, he would not be interested, is there not away around this on like a case by case basis? Mr. Scott said no the state law is that the trailer must be moved every night. Mayor Smith said he knows that other cities have that same rule but those restrictions are not enforced. Mr. Dykes said if we pass this ordinance, once it is passed it must be followed. Mr. Dykes said there isn t anything to say that if down the road the Commission would like to amend this ordinance or repeal it there is nothing to say it can t be done. Mr. Dykes said according to the Commission they would need to add an amend to the ordinance to change the wording from one space to two spaces if that is what they want to do. COMM. DENNEY MADE A MOTION TO CHANGE THE WORDING A STANDARD PARKING SPACE (TWO HUNDRED SQUARE FEET) TO TWO STANDARD PARKING SPACE (00 HUNDRED SQUARE FEET). COMM. WASDIN SECONDED THE MOTION, WHICH PASSED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THE COMMISSION TO 0. MAYOR SMITH MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE ORDINANCE NO. 0 WITH THE CHANGE FOR THE SECOND READING. COMM. CROSBY SECONDED THE MOTION WHICH PASSED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THE COMMISSION TO 0. Mr. Dykes said the changes will be made to the ordinance and will have for the next meeting.. ACTION ITEMS Resolution No. --- Amend Employee Handbook Drug Policy Mayor Smith read Resolution No. --- a resolution of the City of Valparaiso amending the city of Valparaiso employee policies and rules manual to include a statement regarding medical marijuana drug free workplace; providing for () findings, () repeal of conflicting resolutions, () severability and () an effective date. Mr. Dykes said this addition stems from a recent employee situation so that it is clear to all employees the cities stand on medical marijuana. Mr. Dykes said even though state law approves the use of medical marijuana each city and business have the right to make its own policy. MAYOR SMITH MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE RESOLUTION NO. --- AS WRITTEN. COMM. DENNEY
0 0 0 SECONDED THE MOTION WHICH PASSED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THE COMMISSION TO 0.. ACTION ITEMS Resolution No. VCA 0--- Increase Internet Speed & Decrease Rates Resolution No. VCA 0---, a resolution of the Valparaiso Cable Authority, to increase internet speed, reduce some rates and provide for an effective date. Mayor Smith said he would have Comm. Hamilton speak to this, she deferred to Mr. James Butler, Communication Systems Manager. Mr. Butler said we are in the process of an upgrade which he hopes to have complete before the resolution goes into effect, it has been slowed by the rain. He said basically we would be taking the speeds up to the next tier with no price increase. Mr. Butler said the only change money wise would be in the commercial max and ultimate and those would actually be lowered from $. to $0.00 and $. to $0.00 for max and ultimate respectively. Mayor Smith said he would like to ask because he has people ask him why can t Cox Communications come into Valparaiso? Mr. Butler said they are in at both the Stemm School and Lewis School. Mr. Butler said it is Cox s policy not to over build small areas. Comm. Hamilton said she had previously researched this question and Cox was initially interested about six years ago but they are no longer interested due to the size of the city. Comm. Hamilton said however there are other options for cable internet, there is CenturyLink, Hughes net, satellite they just aren t as fast. Comm. Hamilton said we as a city would never bar anyone from coming into our city, Cox is just not interested. Mr. Butler said our infrastructure is very similar to Cox s infrastructure in Niceville, however they have more money to work with, we do have more fiber to use. Mayor Smith said this is on a different topic but he would like to mention our garbage department. He said he feels it is time to look at having people bring their garbage to the street, with exceptions for the elderly or those unable physically to get to the curb. Mayor Smith said he had spoken with several sanitation employees and there have been instances where they have removed something close to the can or beside in by the house and the resident has chewed them out because it wasn t supposed to go with the garbage. He said he thinks this is unfair to put our employees in a situation that requires them to make a judgment call on whether something should or shouldn t go with the garbage. Mayor Smith said other employees have said they have not taken something by side the garbage can and got chewed out for not taking. Mayor Smith said the sanitation guys are great workers and he would like the Commission to think about having the cans be placed at the street so there is not confusion in what goes and what doesn t. Mrs. Johnson said the last time we looked at this and took a survey, people wanted to keep back door service. Comm. Denney said with the elderly and disabled we could use a reflector system similar to what the newspaper uses so to know what they would need to go to the home for and what not. Mayor Smith said of course we do not want to take anything away and we want to accommodate our elderly and
0 0 0 disabled. Mayor Smith said in his opinion we have some of the greatest garbage folks in Florida. Comm. Crosby said he would get with Nathan and see what we can do. Mayor Smith said he also fees where our workers comp comes into play with injuries and maybe if they didn t go to the house and bring out there would be less injury and that would give us a reduction in workers comp. Mayor Smith said he was elected to do what is best for the city and he feels our population is more diverse than it has been years prior and thinks a change might be in order. COMM. HAMILTON MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE RESOLUTION NO. VCA 0--- AS SUBMITTED. COMM. CROSBY SECONDED THE MOTION, WHICH PASSED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THE COMMISSION TO 0.. OLD BUSINESS Tom s Bayou Bridge Utilities Update Mayor Smith said Ms. Brant, city engineer with Poly, Inc., is out this evening due to a medical situation. Comm. Hamilton said she could update the Commission, tomorrow they would have the lanes down to one each way and be working out front of the Compass Rose and it would be a full day project. Ms. Brant submitted an email to all of the Commissioners detailing the project. Mayor Smith said he spoke with General Dertien and Eglin will be receiving F s and they are going to try to keep them on the west runway. Mayor Smith said the General is concerned with housing and also the traffic flow. Once John Sims is down to two lanes there will be traffic problems, Mayor Smith said General Dertien assured him that they would try and stagger the times of work and encourage employees and members to use to west gates. Comm. Hamilton said that the bridge authority has a Facebook page and it is really good about getting the information out that way.. OLD BUSINESS Half Cent Sales Tax Mayor Smith said we are all grateful that the half cent sales tax passed, it would bring in about $00,000 a year and while no one likes a new tax, this tax will bring tremendous help to our city for infrastructure projects and stormwater. Comm. Denney said it was approved by approximately % for the tax and that the money should begin coming in around January.. OLD BUSINESS Fire Department Update Comm. Denney said there might be an article about the fire department in the paper tomorrow as he spoke with reporter Tom McLaughlin today, Mayor Smith said he did also. Comm. Denney said he would like to thank our volunteers and part-timers again tonight for all they do and have done. Comm. Denney said the City of Valparaiso has a long and proud tradition as a volunteer fire department as we continue to grow as a city and county as we ve made this transition we are talking to the City of Niceville; Chief Mayville is here tonight. Comm. Denney said he has spoken with Mr. Lannie Corbin, the City of Niceville s city manager, and looking to bring a package to the Commission to integrate the departments together and he would like to say it is not for money saving but for efficiency and more protection for more people as we continue to grow. Comm.
0 0 0 Denney said thanks to the efficiency and great quality we ve had he looked at the ISO report and we are at a, he said we have already talked about way to get to a. Comm. Denney said continuing to work with departments on good integration, he said there is always going to be a rough patch when you first begin to change but he is pleased with our progress. Chief Mayville said the transition between the two departments is working out great. He said things are working good, a few communication issues but sorting those out which we need to do for safety reasons. Chief Mayville said he thinks we are on the right track and that the community has been very supportive and we will continue to press forward. Mayor Smith said he told Mr. McLaughlin we are always going to be Valparaiso Volunteer Fire Department, Comm. Wasdin said not with Niceville Fire Department trucks parked out front. Mayor Smith said like he told Mr. McLaughlin we will always be Valparaiso Volunteer Fire Department, we have an interim fire chief right now who is bringing over personnel who bring their vehicles over and we will not make a Commission decision on what to do until after the first of the year. Mayor Smith said we have not and will not decide until after first of year to integrate into one facility and one fire department or hire a new fire chief. Comm. Denney said he has been working with Mr. Corbin on a proposal that they are building to bring to the council in Niceville and our commission in Valparaiso but it will not be complete until after the first of the year. Comm. Wasdin said she wants to say she would like to discuss the options we have and it feels like things have already been pre-decided on what we are going to do. She said she isn t against change but would like to know the reason to go with Niceville, we don t have to discuss tonight but before the decisions is made, she would like to discuss the pros and cons. Mayor Smith said he doesn t think we ve made any decisions. Comm. Denney said due to the Sunshine Law he can t discuss any of this outside of the Commission meetings but until he has a full package with the City of Niceville and we can always advertise and have the option to go back. Comm. Denney said what he would like to tell the Commission is that this department was in systemic disfunction and fixing to be shut down by the state. Comm. Wasdin said she isn t questioning his decision just would like to discuss some of the reasons that one is better or worse, more efficient versus less efficient. Mayor Smith said he thinks we are going to do that. Chief Mayville said it is never going to be Niceville s fire department, he wants everyone to understand that, it will always be Valparaiso s fire department with one mission statement to take care of the citizen s and property of Valparaiso. Chief Mayville said time is of the essence when responding to a health care, no one is trying to steal the show. He said the bottom line is the customer, the one who pays the taxes is who we work for. Comm. Wasdin agrees. Chief Mayville said those folks are reaping great benefits right now since September th you ve had -hour service. He said we have had numerous people contact to say thank you for the services you are providing. Chief Mayville said it will always be Valparaiso Fire
0 0 0 Department the mission statement is a little different now get out the door as quick as you can to render services and go as fast as you can. Mrs. Johnson said it sounds like a decision has already been made, that is what it sounds like. Comm. Denney said whether we go with Niceville or not we had no SOG, barely a charter to work from and actions that were taken because it has always been that way with 00% volunteers, which he isn t saying is a bad thing, and when everyone lived in that small village it was fine but right now, we only have six volunteers who live within the city. Comm. Denney said you can t count on people who live in Destin, Niceville, Ft. Walton, Eglin etc. responding to volunteer siren. He said our fire services here should work like our police department across border lines, city lines, county lines as required. Comm. Denney said what he is trying to do with the fire department is not have a vice hold where this is ours and this is what we are doing. He said he is trying to eliminate some bureaucracy why do we have four headquarters and less workers, we have always said we needs more workers than chiefs, no offense to the chief s in the meeting tonight. Comm. Denney said he has studied fire departments across state and across the southeast area and he can give those interested a list of websites addresses we are not the only ones going through this transitional phase. He said it is not a money savings operation it is an efficiency and safety for our citizens operation. Comm. Denney said right now it is two cities working together which hasn t always been that way in the past but with communication being the most important so that all of our first responders and emergency personnel can do their jobs. Chief Hart said he wanted to remind the Commission our retirement system for the police department and the fire department is a combo, we have to have one paid firefighter to get those state funds which in turns saves the taxpayers a lot of money and if we give up that paid firefighter position we will have to come up with the funds from somewhere else. Mrs. Johnson said it needs to be a fulltime firefighter. Mayor Smith said he doesn t think we would ever do that. Chief Hart said he just wants to put that out there for their consideration. He said that factor affects not only the fire department but police department as well. Comm. Denney said we will always have volunteers that will never change. Mayor Smith said the volunteers make it available for grants that we wouldn t be able to apply for without them. Mayor Smith said no decision has been made on anything. Mayor Smith said protecting our citizens right now because we were in a little bit of a mess and we are working toward correcting. He said we may hire a new fire chief, that hasn t been decided. Comm. Denney said this is what he plans for after the first of the year bringing to the Commission what we can do with a new fire chief, paid part-timers and volunteers, what we can do with all paid members and what we can do with Niceville.. REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE/ANNOUNCEMENTS TPO/DOT Comm. Wasdin said there was not a TPO/DOT meeting this month.. REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE/ANNOUNCEMENTS Stormwater
0 0 0 0 Comm. Wasdin said we had not had any stormwater calls this month even with all the rain. Mr. Scott said he hadn t heard from anyone either.. REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE/ANNOUNCEMENTS Community Liaison Report Comm. Wasdin said the most pressing thing according to the Chamber is the Christmas parade which will be December st. Mayor Smith will be in the parade along with the city fire truck and we will have the responsibility of driving Santa this year.. REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE/ANNOUNCEMENTS Department Update Mrs. Johnson said that both Mr. Tony Shipley and Ms. Bonnie Lowitz will be leaving the library. Mr. Shipley is going south for another job opportunity and Ms. Lowitz will be retiring. Both employees have contributed greatly to the library and will be missed, their last day will be Wednesday, November st. Comm. Denney said that in this area we will have about,00 military members separating and within their last 0 days they can work an intern program and it might be a good idea for the city to put together an advertisement so that maybe one of those members would be interested in a job opportunity at the library. Mr. Shipley handled the IT/ website program and with departure we will need to find someone else to handle that.. REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE/ANNOUNCEMENTS Disbursements COMM. WASDIN MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE BILLS AS OUTLINED IN THE FINANCIALS. COMM. CROSBY SECONDED THE MOTION, WHICH PASSED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THE COMMISSION TO 0.. REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE/ANNOUNCEMENTS Etc. Mayor Smith said Mrs. Annie Cameron had approached him on behalf of the rotary club and said they were wanting to do some type of community effort in the parks. He said that he instructed her to reach out to Comm. Hamilton as that is her department. Mayor Smith said he on behalf of himself he wanted to thank each of the Commissioners, there had been very few disagreements and wanted to thank each of them for working so well to be a part of the team. ADJOURN There being no further business to be brought before the Commission, the meeting adjourned at :0 PM. Hubert B. Smith Mayor Catherine Hamilton Chair, VCA ATTEST: Tammy Johnson, CMC City Clerk
***A recording of the November, 0 Commission meeting will be kept on the City s secure file server as a permanent part of these minutes.***