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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 05-17-2011 RegularCITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING CAPE CANAVERAL LIBRARY MEETING ROOM 201 Polk Avenue, Cape Canaveral, Florida TUESDAY May 17, 2011 7:00 PM MINUTES CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Pro Tem Hoog called the Meeting to Order at 7:00 P.M. and led the pledge of allegiance. He noted Mayor Randels is absent to attend a conference related to "Green Cities ". ROLL CALL: Council Members Present: Mayor Pro Tem Bob Hoog Council Member Jim Morgan Council Member Buzz Petsos Council Member Betty Walsh Council Members Absent: Mayor Rocky Randels Others Present: City Manager David L. Greene City Attorney Anthony Garganese Parks and Recreation Director Robert Lefever Public Works Director Walter Bandish Assistant Public Works Director Jeff Ratliff Building Official Todd Morley Planning and Development Director Barry Brown Brevard County Sheriff Commander Alan Moros City Treasurer Andrea Bowers City Clerk Angela Apperso PRESENTATION: Presentation: Cape Canaveral — Cocoa Beach Community Fireworks Show on the 4 of July, 2011 - Cocoa Beach Commissioner Kevin Pruett. Commissioner Pruett explained the event and encouraged the City's participation, as well as his offer to Council Member Petsos to wear a Florida State University T -shirt. Discussion ensued and included: the benefits to the businesses within Cape Canaveral; the barge being located off Shepard City of Cape Canaveral, Florida City Council Regular Meeting May 17, 2011 Page 2 of 7 Park; the use of contingency; that an organized event is much better than having individuals use their own fireworks, which can be very dangerous; contributions from individual hotels as well as the Hotel Association; that staff is doing all it can to reduce expenditures; whether there are excess funds from prior years, to which Cocoa Beach City Manager Billias responded to the negative; the personnel costs paid by the City of Cocoa Beach in addition to their contribution to the Fireworks display; and that people from all over Central Florida come to this area for the Holiday. A motion was made by Council Member Petsos, seconded by Council Member Morgan, to approve. [$10,000 for this year and subsequent years subject to funding availability] The motion carried 4 -0 with voting as follows: Mayor Pro Tem Hoog, For; Mr. Morgan, For; Mr. Petsos, For; Mayor Randels, Absent; and Ms. Walsh, For Add -on Item: Approve Proclamation Recognizing June 5 - 11, 2011 as "Management Week" in the City of Cape Canaveral as requested by the National Management Association (NMA). A motion was made by Council Member Petsos, seconded by Council Member Walsh, to approve the add -on. The motion carried 4 -0 with voting as follows: Mayor Pro Tem Hoog, For; Mr. Morgan, For; Mr. Petsos, For; Mayor Randels, Absent; and Ms. Walsh, For. Mayor Pro Tem Hoog read the Proclamation into the record. A motion was made by Council Member Petsos, seconded by Council Member Walsh, to accept the Proclamation. The motion carried 4 -0 with voting as follows: Mayor Pro Tem Hoog, For; Mr. Morgan, For; Mr. Petsos, For; Mayor Randels, Absent; and Ms. Walsh, For. Mr. Ray Polniak accepted the Proclamation, thanked the City Council and explained one member of the organization will be selected as the Golden Knight of Management. He noted the conference is held at Patrick Air Force Base in June. The Manager of the Year for Brevard County is also selected at the conference. POW /MIA (Prisoners of War /Missing in Action) Flag Donation to the City of Cape Canaveral by Rolling Thunder Florida Chapter One, local chapter of Rolling Thunder® Inc.: Mr. Dale Brown presented the City with 6 flags, which will be flown at all City facilities. City Council thanked the organization for their donation. REPORTS: City Attorney Anthony Garganese indicated all the Harbor Heights Easements have been received and recorded in the Official Records of Brevard County. AUDIENCE TO BE HEARD: Mr. Arvo Eilau thanked the Council for the Bike Path on Ridgewood Avenue. He was concerned about safety of walkers. Mayor Pro Tem Hoog indicated the path is for both pedestrians and bicyclists. City Manager Greene indicated Staff is closely monitoring the situation to see if any action needs to be taken. City of Cape Canaveral, Florida City Council Regular Meeting May 17, 2011 Page 3 of 7 CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Pro Tem Hoog inquired if any items are to be removed from the Consent Agenda for discussion. With no items being removed, he read the item titles into the record. 1. Approve Minutes for Regular City Council Meeting of April 19, 2011: 2. Approve Resolution No. 2011 -06; Appointing an Alternate Member as a Regular Board Member, Shawn K. Painter, to the Business & Cultural Development Board: 3. Approve a Proclamation Designating the Month of May 2011 as "Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month ": 4. Award the Bid for Stormwater Improvement Project - Manatee and Banana River Parks in the amount of $231,599 to Goodson Paving, Inc.; authorize the City Manager to execute the contract and approve budget transfer for same: 5. Authorize the City Manager to skin contracts with selected firms for Professional Engineering /Surveying, Planning, Consulting and Architectural Services, as submitted in response to RFQ 2011 -01, without need for further City Council approval: 6. Award the Bid for Stormwater Improvements Project — Pipe Replacement in Harbor Heights in the Amount of $83,470 to Atlantic Development of Cocoa, Inc.; authorize the City Manager to execute the contract and approve budget transfer in the amount of $91,470: A motion was made by Council Member Morgan, seconded by Council Member Walsh, to approve Consent Agenda. Attorney Garganese noted the contract in the packet for items four and six will be replaced with their Standard Contract. The motion carried 4 5-0 with voting as follows: Mayor Pro Tem Hoog, For; Mr. Morgan, For; Mr. Petsos, For; Mayor Randels, Absent; and Ms. Walsh, For. ORDINANCE: Second Public Hearing: 7. Ordinance No. 02 -2011, amending Section 110 -486 of the Code of Ordinances related to Resort Dwellings and Resort Condominiums; requiring Nonconforming Resort Dwellings and Resort Condominiums to be licensed by the State in order to operate; providing that Nonconforming Resort Dwellings and Resort Condominiums shall be considered abandoned and lose their Nonconforming Status if their State license lapses for more than 180 days; providing for the repeal of prior inconsistent ordinances and resolutions; incorporation into the Code; severability; and an effective date. Attorney Garganese read the title of the Ordinance into the record. A motion was made by Council Member Petsos, seconded by Council Member Morgan, for approval of City of Cape Canaveral, Florida City Council Regular Meeting May 17, 2011 Page 4 of 7 Ordinance 02 -2011. The public hearing was opened. No comments were received and the public hearing was closed. The motion carried 4 -0 with voting as follows: Mayor Pro Tem Hoog, For; Mr. Morgan, For; Mr. Petsos, For; Mayor Randels, Absent; and Ms. Walsh, For. 8. Ordinance No. 03 -2011, amending Chapter 110 Zoning, Article VII, Districts, of the Code of Ordinances to permit Breweries with Tasting Rooms and Associated Retail Sales in the M -1 Light Industrial and Research and Development Zoning District; providing for the repeal of prior inconsistent ordinances and resolutions; incorporation into the Code; severability; and an effective date. Attorney Garganese read the title of the Ordinance into the record. A motion was made by Council Member Walsh, seconded by Council Member Petsos, for approval of Ordinance 03 -2011. The public hearing was opened. No comments were received and the public hearing was closed. The motion carried 4 -0 with voting as follows: Mayor Pro Tem Hoog, For; Mr. Morgan, For; Mr. Petsos, For; Mayor Randels, Absent; and Ms. Walsh, For DISCUSSION: 9. Approve implementation of the Parking Meter program at each Presidential street beach end and at the beach end in Harbor Heights, including identified support systems and making the meter system purchase utilizing the Ft. Lauderdale contract with Digital Payment Technologies Corp.: City Manager Greene noted the prior request of Council Member Petsos for this item. Discussion ensued and included a memo which indicates the need to have equal rates for all individuals; if different rates are used, it will create problems for Brevard County because the un- metered parking spaces in Cape Canaveral were used as part of a grant consideration for beach re- nourishment; to have Staff do more research on the issue as well as to see if "Parker Systems" would place the meters for a certain return on their investment so the City would not have any Capital costs. A motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Hoog, seconded by Council Member Petsos, to table. The motion carried 4 -0 with voting as follows: Mayor Pro Tem Hoog, For; Mr. Morgan, For; Mr. Petsos, For; Mayor Randels, Absent; and Ms. Walsh, For. A Point of information was asked by Mr. Scott and Mrs. Vicidomini as to whether Audience Members will be able to comment on the items, to which Mayor Pro Tem Hoog indicated since the item was tabled no comments will be allowed. 10. Discussion of Council Consent Agenda Policy and Rules of Procedure: City Manager Greene reviewed the item. The reasons for changing the policy were discussed and included no longer reading the Consent Agenda Items into the record and the insertion of a Code of Conduct. Consensus was reached by the City Council for the City Attorney's Office to prepare an Ordinance for the changes. 11. Discussion of Red Light Cameras and a survey conducted by ATS American Traffic Solutions; ATS representative Al Bushami presented the findings of the traffic survey, the services provided by his company, a demonstration of how the cameras City of Cape Canaveral, Florida City Council Regular Meeting May 17, 2011 Page 5 of 7 work and video of violations that have been recorded. A question and answer session ensued and included: • Whether the timing mechanism for the caution (yellow) light could be adjusted to allow the light to stay on longer? Answer: This is controlled by the County and the State; the City cannot adjust. • Concern regarding rear end collisions and when you see someone closely behind you, you must decide whether to run the Tight or take the chance of being rear ended? Answer: This would be up to the discretion of the local police when video is reviewed. • What requirements did the legislature change this year regarding Red Light Cameras? Answer: No major changes; just some minor adjustments: Courts will be paid by the violator and not the City. The right -hand turn issue has been left up to the discretion of the local police. • If light is red and someone pulls up, stops and turns, is this a right -hand turn violation? Answer: No, as long as you authorized right turns on red lights. This is a business decision established by the City. • Whether a rolling / "California" stop at 8 -10 mph is a violation? Answer: This is a Policy decision and is up to the City to establish threshold for the reviewing officer to follow. • The number of accidents caused by a vehicle that ran a red light. Answer: Crash statistics were collected and presented; several careless driving citations were issued; no red light tickets were noted; however; officers can use a careless driving citation and determine if the crash was caused by a vehicle running a red light, each report will have to be pulled and reviewed. • Who testifies in court? Answer: The officer who reviewed the video and issued the citation. • Whether there are constitutional issues surrounding these cameras. Answer: There are two categories of cases: those that precede the legislation that was adopted by the Florida legislature last year — those cases are challenging the cities' ability to adopt a home rule ordinance and those cases that are challenging provisions of the state law that authorize the red Tight cameras to be installed at intersections. There are some cases which have been decided (pre statute being adopted) and other cases challenging the statute are ongoing. There are still a plethora of cities that are using the new statute as authorization to adopt ordinances and implement the program. Some cities have been using this program since its infancy, have adopted Home Rule ordinances and have continued with the program under the new statute. The City would be under the new legislation adopted last year that enables this program. Under new legislation, the State receives a substantial cut of all tickets; ATS is paid a portion; the City retains a portion of each ticket as well However, there are potential legal issues like everything else. • For cameras being placed on A1A, does City need to have an agreement with the County? ATS: Would be worked out with Sheriffs Department. City of Cape Canaveral, Florida City Council Regular Meeting May 17, 2011 Page 6 of 7 Comments from Audience: • Mr. Scott: felt the system saves lives, works and makes money for City. He noted past work by motor units to reduce red Tight running. He advocated for public education and the system should not be all about raising money. • Ms. Judith Lau objects to red light cameras. She noted that the agenda packet exempts leased vehicles from being ticketed and it was stated most of the violators were either out of state vehicles or rental cars. She questioned what percentage of out of state motorists actually pay their citations and how many of the citations issued are actually collected. She felt the driver of the vehicle should have to be recorded as well as allowing the individual cited to have the right to confront and cross examine those accusing them of a violation. Ms. Lowe felt the City will lose revenue from the rental cars and commercial vehicles and the burden of the payment is going to be on the City. She is all for safety, but she is not for allowing somebody who she doesn't know to make a determination of whether or not her stop was sufficient and she proceeded prudently after coming to a stop. Mr. Greene noted rental cars do receive citations and are pursued under the program. Mr. Bushami indicated ATS has 85% of violations paid and this figure includes out of state citations. Mr. Greene: stated it is not the person driving who is identified, it is the vehicle; and the rental car company will be able to identify to whom the car was rented. • Mr. Al Vicidomini: Thought there was something in the new legislation that FDOT has to review the City's accident records to authorize the installation of red light cameras. He encouraged the City to look at percentage of moneys received. Discussion returned to the actions of the legislature. Consensus was reached for Staff to gather additional information and obtain answers to questions raised by audience this evening; Commander Moros to refine data to reflect the actual number of red light crashes and bring all information back to the City Council. REPORTS: 12. Council Council Member Walsh asked if the City could paint on the path a symbol identifying the facility as a path for bikes. City Manager Greene indicated there are pros and cons to painting on the path, which include increased costs and maintenance. He also reminded the Council that bicycles are also vehicles and, therefore, can also be on the roadway. Mr. Greene felt the simplest and best solution is for people to use common sense. Mr. Vicidomini requested signs telling people not to run in the street. Discussion ensued and included the state law which requires individuals to use the sidewalks where they are present; whether to ticket individuals who are not using the sidewalks and that parking on the driveway where it blocks the sidewalk continues to be an issue. City of Cape Canaveral, Florida City Council Regular Meeting May 17, 2011 Page 7 of 7 Council Member Morgan asked what happened to the program for bikes. Mr. Greene responded it is on the "to do list ". Council Member Walsh noted the need for bike racks. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the Meeting adjourned at 8:58 P.M. Bob Hoog Mayor Pro Tem Angela M. Apperson, MMC, City Clerk SEAL of Cape Canaveral, Florida