Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
September 6, 2018 8:25 a.m.
Fernandina Beach City Hall Commission Chambers were packed at the Special Meeting on September 4, 2018 for the legally mandated public hearing on the upcoming budget and millage rate for the new fiscal year, which begins October 1, 2018.
No votes were taken at this hour-long meeting, but Commissioners had an opportunity to hear citizen concerns and make adjustments to the millage rate (which could only be lowered) or the budget. No one challenged the proposed millage rate or the size of the proposed budget.
Citizens will have a final opportunity to address the Fernandina Beach City Commission on their concerns on September 18, 2018 at the Second Public Hearing.
Pickleball advocates
The single issue generating the most concern among the audience members was that funding might be at risk for building and lighting two additional pickleball courts. In the proposed budget $188K had been allocated from the Parks and Recreation Impact Fees to fund these items. The Fernandina Pickleball Pirates feared that money from this fund might be diverted to purchasing land for conservation.
Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the country. It is especially popular among older adults. Some say that it is like playing ping-pong without a table.
The city currently has four courts, which are heavily used by the 67 city team players and others who do not regularly play. Proponents stressed that the existing courts are in constant use by the various teams, and that lighting all the courts would mean that the hours courts might be used could be extended. Team members told commissioners that they have provided at their cost windscreens for the courts as well as extra paddles and balls for those desiring to try out the sport. The sport is growing in local popularity as new residents learn about it.
Commissioner Ross allowed that he was probably the source of audience concerns about potential loss of funding. He explained that he had originally thought that there was $1.3M in the impact fee fund, but that he subsequently learned that there is almost $2.3M in the fund. In light of that discovery, he suggested “the Commission hit the pause button.” He proposed “zeroing out” all proposed expenditures from this fund proposed for the next 2-5 years. He would then call for a workshop or Special Meeting to decide the best way to spend this money. “There may be the pickleball people here tonight – and I understand what you’re saying – but there are other constituencies that want other things,” Ross said. He added that pickleball was not in the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, but that perhaps it should be. An audience member later corrected Ross and cited three instances where pickleball was mentioned in the Master Plan.
“We need to take a deep breath and decide how to spend this money in the next year or two,” Ross said. “We have the waterfront park. There are others who believe we need more passive park land. … A more prudent approach might be to zero out expenditures, place the funds in a reserve, and have broader discussion in the community. Those are my thoughts.”
Commissioner Roy Smith disagreed. Smith asked, “Why should we hurt the people who could utilize these funds now? There is nothing on the list that I would remove.”
In removing the almost one million dollars of projects proposed to be funded from the impact fees Smith noted that already $400K was proposed for a new park off Simmons Road. He also noted that many of the people asking for additional pickleball courts had paid the impact fees when they moved into the city.
“I say, let’s spend the funds exactly as we said we would [in preparing the budget]. At the end of next year, we’ll have another million dollars to spend. But we will reach a point when we won’t have impact fees to spend [as growth tops out in the city]. I don’t want to see the citizens of this city go without when we have the money for the project, and it is a proper use of these funds. I just don’t see doing that,” Smith said.
Vice Mayor Len Kreger added that the projects proposed were specifically in line with legal requirements to use impact fees to cover increased needs caused by population growth. “I have no problem with looking at a plan for future years, but these projects are appropriate in following state law and we have an obligation to spend that money.”
Ross emphasized that he agreed that the city must spend the impact fee money, reinforcing his call for a broader plan that would take the entire fund into account. He affirmed that he was not in opposition to any of the projects currently slated to be funded from the impact fees. Ross said that he was merely asking to hit the pause button to obtain broader input from the community over the next few months on how the total fund could be spent. “It was just a thought,” he said, “and I am one of five [votes].”
Smith reminded Ross that all the commissioners had agreed on the fund allocations when the budget was first presented. “At this point, we should go ahead and spend this money, since we all agreed on it,” he said. “If we’ve got certain special interests in the city that are trying to put a stop to this by delaying because they want something else … well, we’ve got more money coming in this year.” Smith received a round of applause from the audience.
Kreger emphasized that legally the impact fees go to fund infrastructure needs created by growth, not just what people want.
It appeared to be the consensus of the FBCC to continue according to their original plan to fund projects, including pickleball, from the Parks and Recreation Impact Fees in the new budget.
Conservation funding
The final speaker to address the FBCC was Betsie Huben, a resident of Amelia Island who also owns land in the city. She cited data from the recent National Citizens Survey in which respondents highlighted the importance of conservation. She recognized the city’s creation of a conservation program and trust fund to further save undeveloped land. She urged that city decision makers view the need for additional conservation on the entire island, regardless of city boundary. She indicated that weather systems do not heed political boundaries in doing damage.
Huben urged the execution of interlocal agreements with Nassau County to advance island wide conservation goals. “Erase the lines as you currently do for police, fire and EMT service,” she said. “Find the funding and get land trust done. It won’t be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. It won’t come cheap, but neither does storm recovery.” She echoed suggestions made by Margaret Kirkland of the Amelia Tree Conservancy: use Parks and Recreation impact fees to buy land for passive parks; allocation of other existing funds. She received audience applause following her remarks.
Commissioner Roy Smith asked if Huben was planning on placing the five lots that she owns across from the new Hickory Street development into conservation.
“As a family, we have no plans for that land,” she replied. “At this point we are doing nothing.”
Smith continued. “So at some point you might add houses to those lots, right?”
Huben said that she did not believe this was the appropriate place for a discussion of what the family might do with the land. “We might build fewer houses than allowed,” she said. “Keeping open space would be a part of the plan. We intend to put our money where our mouth is.”
Smith acknowledged that part of his problem in dealing with her concerns was assuming island wide responsibility for conservation. “We can’t – and I’m not going to vote for – buying land that is not in the city. It’s not right for the citizens to be buying county property.”
Huben shot back. “I don’t remember asking you to buy county property. I asked you to buy property.… You could do a lot to assuage the issues just by focusing on the city. But I think a wider conversation with the county about what to do about conservation is certainly appropriate. We’re at a tipping point; we don’t have a lot of undeveloped land left.”
Huben continued to complain about the city’s failure to put funding into the Conservation Trust Fund. “Get the money from some place, I don’t care where,” she said, suggesting possibly a bond referendum.
Smith reminded her that the Greenway was funded as a result of a citizen referendum, adding that he would have no problem with that as a way of determining what the people want and are willing to spend. “Just remember,” he said, “the Greenway bond barely passed.”
Vice Mayor Len Kreger reminded Huben and the audience that a discussion of conservation funding is scheduled for the October 2 FBCC Regular Meeting. He added that everyone needs to step up to the plate on this matter, not just city government.
Commissioner Ross said that at the October meeting he would push for a voter referendum on this matter, which will involve perhaps upwards of $5-10M. He also suggested the city could impose an impact fee for open space conservation. He said there were several options on the table for commissioners to consider as funding mechanisms over the next few months.
If the FBCC decides to put the issue to the citizens via a bond referendum, it would need to wait until the 2020 General Election, unless commissioners called for an earlier special election at a special cost to the city.
Editor’s Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne’s many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.
It does tahe a good bit of hutspa for county residents to tell city residents what they MUST do. And then fume when asked what they plan to do with their land. My my, what a world.
My personal sense of urgency about land conservation and preservation on Amelia Island is based on several facts. The city has generously adopted an ordinance for conservation and seeded the account with $115,000.00 for THIS year. This is a great step in the right direction. But strategic problems still exist. First, based on current pricing for lots inside the city limits, this sum would only allow for a purchase of about 1-1/2 lots. Second, there is no action plan in 2018 budget to add to these funds or replenish them when they are used. While I certainly hope for a future referendum to help fund the effort, as stated in the hearing, it cannot be accomplished before November of 2020. There are about 900 acres of undeveloped land left inside the city limits. Using calculated absorption rates, before that bond measure could be passed and secured, most of that land will be gone! And the reality is – when it is gone, it is gone for good! Gone with the opportunity to conserve will be thousands more of our beautiful trees, much of our magnificent vegetation, and the few remaining wetlands that protect us all from harm, add to our local economy and help to enhance the quality of life we all enjoy. In the city’s own survey, 88% of the respondents stated that land conservation is very important to them. And with good reason. We dodged not one but two bullets recently with Hurricane Matthew and Irma. To date, we have a stinky, dysfunctional, sludge-filled economic disaster lingering down at our marina as a constant reminder of just how lasting the impact can be from a single Cat 3 storm on Amelia.
I am a Hurricane Katrina survivor. Some of the biggest lessons I learned in 2005 are that – this is real life. In real life, there are no do-overs. What we will allow is what will continue. We either get this thing right ahead of the next storm or we do not. Time is not on our side in these endeavors. It never is. One conversation at the hearing was about a game. Mine was not.
For G. Decker – you say I have chutzpah. You are wrong. It takes gumption, moxie, grit, and an ample sense of humor to approach the podium at a SRO city meeting and seek relevance in front of an audience comprised almost exclusively of concerned sports enthusiasts. I will not be publicly chastised by you, Mr. Smith, or anyone else. I have every right to stand and speak to our city government, to whom I pay ample taxes for the property that I own inside the city limits. It is precisely because I am not a city resident and I cannot vote that I make the effort to show up and speak up at hearings and meetings. It is my single only opportunity to be a part of important conversations that will affect me and mine. I did not “fume” when Mr. Smith began “guessing” about what the Hubens plan to do with city land we own. Clearly it was nothing more than thinly-veiled, “gotcha” trap designed to ensnare the only family member present. When I attempted to engage and address, I was rebuffed. That’s REAL chutzpah! Realizing Mr. Smith’s goal was to distract, deflect and obfuscate, I let it go. I love sports and all manner of games. I look forward to trying pickle ball after the discussions the other night. But I will not engage in “gotcha” games when it comes to very serious matters like conservation and preservation that directly affect the health, safety and welfare of our island and ALL it’s citizens regardless of their home address.
The pickleball players were well represented at the budget meeting. I was at that meeting, not as part of their group, just to watch.
But I have attended Commission meetings as a member of an enthusiastic group much like theirs. Our cause was an effort to prevent then port operator, Kinder Morgan from spoiling Fernandina with a coal transfer facility at the port downtown. We were just regular folks like the pickleball players. And yet the opposition called us activists!
Commissioner Smith contributed valuable help as part of the group facing down Kinder Morgan. He wasn’t an activist and neither was I or any of the other caring people like Phil Scanlon or Medardo Monzon. We were hoping to protect Fernandina Beach from a polluting blight.
Because of that past experience, during the recent public discussion at the budget meeting it startled me to hear Commissioner Roy Smith refer to citizens as ‘special interests.’ He was referring to the group in favor of land conservation.
Using terms like activists and special interests are ways to make those with a different opinion appear to be the enemy.
The terms divide us into opposing camps.
Aren’t the pickleball players representing their interest? And isn’t it okay for people who are working hard to protect some of Amelia Island’s natural environment to represent their interest?
We all have the right to speak and commissioners should not use inflammatory terms such as ‘special interests’ to describe citizens participating in the process of our city government.