Auld Lang Syne Meeting with current Fernandina Beach City Commission

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm

Reporter- News Analyst

On December 4, 2012, the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) held its final meeting with seated commissioners under its current organization.  Both outgoing commissioners Jeffrey Bunch and Tim Poynter were thanked by the city manager and some of their peers.  But not before the FBCC waded through a relatively short agenda.

Library Development

Many library supporters attended the December 4 meeting hoping to see the FBCC approve a tri-party interlocal agreement with the Board of Nassau County Commissioners and the Friends of the Library to expand and renovate the library in downtown Fernandina Beach.  Their hopes were dashed when Mayor Filkoff pulled the item from the agenda due to last minute changes by County Attorney David Hallman.  At the end of the meeting, City Manager Joe Gerrity indicated that he would be setting up a meeting with County Manager Ted Selby to try to address the library agreement and the terms of that agreement with the City.

Facility Rental Fee Waiver

The FBCC passed Resolution 2012-190 on a 3-2 vote (Corbett and Pelican dissenting).  This resolution provides for a one-day facility rental fee waiver for a list of non-profit art organizations, as recommended by the Arts Council.  The waiver is in lieu of approving grant funding for these organizations during the 2012-13 Fiscal Year.  While supporting the waiver in principle, both Commissioners Charlie Corbett and Sarah Pelican indicated that they were uncomfortable approving blanket waivers, preferring to be approached by each organization on a case-by-case basis.

The Public Speaks

Four members of the public spoke on various issues.

  • Sean McGill publicly thanked City Manager Joe Gerrity and city staff for cooperation on a recent project to replace light bulbs at the municipal airport.  He expressed support for “the positive working relationship” between McGill Aviation and the city, which he said had not always been the case in the past.
  • Sam Lane thanked outgoing commissioners Tim Poynter and Jeffrey Bunch for their leadership and support for maintaining the municipal airport.  He expressed his belief that both men will remain positive forces in the community after leaving office.
  • Lynn Williams told the commissioners that they must find ways to increase city revenues.  He suggested that they form an ad hoc citizens committee to tap into local thinking on ways to both bring in more revenues and avoid cuts in services.  City Manager Gerrity responded that the first 2013-14 budget workshop will be held in January where suggestions such as this might be considered.
  • Joan Bean told commissioners that Main Beach at night looks “dismal and desolate.”   She said, “Now that turtle nesting season is over, the beach needs people lights.”

First Stormwater Project Moves Forward

City Commissioners approved on a 5-0 vote the first project proposed under the city’s new stormwater management plan.  The city will spend $34,650 to reconstruct a storm drain on Highland Street to relieve an area of five city blocks that routinely floods during heavy rains because of a collapsed city drain.

Front Street Rehabilitation Planning and Engineering

The FBCC unanimously authorized payment of $14,000 to Zev Cohen Associates to acknowledge completion of 60% plans for Front Street.  Curtis Burkett, representing Zev Cohen, indicated that as a result of the work done to date, there is a high probability of the city’s receiving permits from the St. John’s Water Management District within 2 weeks.  He also reported that work done to date represents about 90% of the engineering work for the stormwater system.  In response to questions from Commissioner Corbett, the city manager affirmed that the work had been authorized and has saved money by reducing future construction costs.

Land Development Code Amendments

Confusion surrounded FBCC consideration of 3 ordinances on revisions to the Land Development Code (LDC) following public comments from both Board of Adjustments member Lynn Williams and local attorney James Shroads.  All three ordinances related to matters of general applicability involving variances, setbacks, parking, accessory dwellings and specific applicability to property in the Historic District.  Williams claimed that wording changes to proposed Ordinance 2012-29 needed to incorporate more leeway.  Commissioners asked newly elected commissioner Pat Gass, long time chair of the Board of Adjustments, to respond.  Gass indicated that her concerns had been addressed in the previous meeting on this topic and that she had nothing further to add at this time.

The FBCC approved the ordinance on first reading and moved on to related ordinances 2012-28 (second reading) and 2012-27 (third reading).  Mr. Shroads arrived during the discussion of 2012-28 and began discussing his concerns regarding the previous ordinance that had been acted upon.  He challenged the staff assertions that sensitive setback changes could be made by the City Manager to preserve neighborhoods without public hearing.  He seemed to assert that the City Commission had wrongly empowered the Historic District Council (HDC) hear variances and conduct quasi-judicial hearings.

Marshall McCrary, Community Development Department Director, reminded Shroads that the HDC had been hearing variance cases since 2006 under the same rules as the Board of Adjustments.  City Attorney Tammi Bach said that the City Commission can delegate the hearing of quasi-judicial matters and that as the city’s legal advisor, she had signed off on the proposed changes as complying with legal requirements.  Shroads claimed “improprieties in interpreting the intent of the law.”  Meanwhile, Mayor Filkoff tried to focus commissioners’ attention on the matter at hand – Ordinance 2012-28, not the already passed Ordinance 2012-29 – and Director McCrary tried to remind both Shroads and the commissioners that the authority of the HDC was not even a factor, since that was covered in a different section of the code.  Commissioner Poynter moved to approve the ordinance under consideration; Vice Mayor Bunch seconded his motion.  But when the vote was taken, only Poynter and Filkoff voted in favor, causing the motion to fail.

Speaking as a member of the public and a member of the Historic District Council, Suanne Thamm rose to address the commission on the consequence of their vote.  She suggested that the proposed changes had been in process for two years and had involved city staff, multiple discussions, meetings and workshops individually and jointly of the Planning Advisory Board, the Board of Adjustments and the Historic District Council.  By voting down this ordinance on second reading the FBCC was disregarding the work of all those involved and the public, many of whom had been requesting such changes.  She suggested that the FBCC might more properly rescind their vote and instead vote to table the ordinance until concerns raised by Mr. Shroads could be addressed to their satisfaction.  City Manager Joe Gerrity emphasized the staff work that had been invested in proposing these changes.  After further discussion and comment, the FBCC reconsidered their vote and tabled further action on the matter until January 2013.

Although the FBCC had last month passed Ordinance 2012-27 relating to consolidating all relevant historic preservation and community redevelopment area sections of the Land Development Code in one chapter of the code, it came back for a third reading for technical deficiency:  the entire ordinance as amended had not been made part of the official meeting packet.  Mr. Shroads again raised his concerns regarding the Historic District Council.  Local business owner Melba Whitaker once more expressed her unhappiness with the FBCC’s decision to allow neon or neon-like signs that do not exceed two square feet in the Central Business District.  Lynn Williams added to the discussion by suggesting that current wording would allow a business to add a neon sign that was an inch high and 576 inches long (the equivalent of 2 square feet).  Commissioner Pelican asked what the city will do with existing lit signs that are not in compliance with the new ordinance.  The City Manager indicated that Code Enforcement would require that they be removed.  This ordinance passed 5-0 on third (and what many hoped, final) reading.

And in conclusion …

City Manager Gerrity thanked Commissioner Tim Poynter and Vice Mayor Jeffrey Bunch for their service on the commission.  He also thanked Commissioner Arlene Filkoff for her service as Mayor over the past year.  Both Pelican and Filkoff joined him in expressing appreciation to Bunch and Poynter, with Pelican stating that life on “the other side” of the commission table is much different than the public side.  While Jeffrey Bunch had no departing remarks, Tim Poynter thanked the people of Fernandina Beach for allowing him the opportunity to serve and asked for their support for the new commissioners.  In concluding her remarks as Mayor, Filkoff asked all commissioners to focus on making decisions that are right for the city as opposed to personal relationships and history.  She stressed how important it is for all commissioners to talk to everyone, not just their close circle, to truly understand the concerns and needs of the entire city.

December 6, 2012 8:30 a.m.