Weekly Comments from Dale Martin: updates on budget, waterfront, FEMA and marina

Submitted by Dale Martin
City Manager, City of Fernandina Beach
June 12, 2020

Budget preparation

Initial meetings with City Commissioners have indicated a general consensus on many facets of the draft budget. The most significant impact on the draft budget from last year to this year is the elimination of the half-mill levy for conservation purposes. That levy was included in last year’s budget as a one-time addition to the operational millage, with the original intent to seek voter approval through a referendum for additional future funding. The City Commission unanimously decided not to move forward with the conservation referendum.

The funds raised through the conservation levy (approximately $1.2 million), as well as other conservation-related contributions, are secured in a dedicated conservation fund which restricts the use of those solely for conservation purposes. The most gracious and notable anonymous donors recently raised their original donation from $100,000 to $150,000, as well as revising their pledge to contribute up to another $150,000 based upon matching individual and corporate donations up to that same amount by November. If interested in contributing as part of this effort, please contact Ms. Kelly Gibson, Planning and Conservation Director, [email protected].

The Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan was presented to the Planning Advisory Board (PAB) earlier this week. Several comments were provided and the members of the PAB will craft a letter summarizing the comments to the City Commission for consideration. City staff will be able to address and clarify the questions and comments raised.

The 2020/2021 budget is scheduled to be presented to the City Commissioners on July 20 and formally presented to the community at the July 21 City Commission meeting.

Waterfront development

The review of the proposed waterfront development was proceeding relatively smoothly (for Fernandina Beach) prior to the onset of the pandemic. A Steering Committee reviewed several development concepts and offered a recommendation to the City Commission, which unanimously endorsed the concept (commonly known as ‘Concept E’). Concept E was then presented to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission, the Marina Advisory Board, the Historic District Commission, and the Main Street Executive Board. While several questions were raised, Concept E was generally well-received.

The next step was to have been a public outreach effort in early April to solicit comments from the general public. Due to the pandemic, that effort was postponed. The City has tentatively rescheduled the outreach effort for July 11. More details of that effort will be forthcoming.

Part of the waterfront development is the installation of additional railroad signals on Ash and Centre Streets at Front Street. This effort will primarily be funding by the Florida Department of Transportation (approximately $750,000) and is part of the larger Front Street access plan that will conclude with the re-opening of a crossing on Alachua Street at Front Street. Due to the restricted areas at Ash and Centre Streets, the intersections will have to be reconfigured to accommodate the new signals. The preliminary design of those intersections will be available for review as part of the public outreach effort in July (somewhat incorporated in Concept E).

FEMA and Marina

As presented, the proposed Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement is significantly less than originally considered by FEMA officials. For a more thorough review of the history of this effort, please read a previous article published on March 6 in several local media outlets. To further clarify, the project cost of approximately $6.5 million was developed by FEMA, not the City. Upon review of the damage to the Marina, FEMA staff determines whether the extent of damage requires either repair or replacement.

If the estimated cost of repairs (as determined by FEMA) exceeds fifty percent of the replacement value (as it was determined by FEMA on two distinct occasions), the project qualifies for replacement and 75% reimbursement (and additional reimbursement from the State). Once replacement has been determined, the actual cost is irrelevant with regard to the related reimbursement. If the final construction cost were $12 million, FEMA would reimburse 75% of $12 million. Based upon the two (signed) documents indicating the scope of the project qualified for replacement and reimbursement and the City proceeded accordingly with demolition and construction.

It was only last month (three-and-a-half years after Hurricane Matthew) that FEMA changed the scope of the project from replacement to repair. The City believes that FEMA officials have not appropriately reviewed and considered the thousands of documents related to damage assessment and construction, which is the basis for the City’s appeal. The City didn’t “apply” for FEMA reimbursement. Based upon FEMA damage assessments, FEMA prepared two estimates of repair/replacement costs, and following both estimates, the City proceeded accordingly. The City’s appeal is due to the State of Florida by August 31.

The State has sixty days to review before sending to FEMA with a recommendation. Early conversations with State officials indicate that the State will recommend to FEMA that the appeal be granted. FEMA then has ninety days to respond. Stay tuned.