Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
November 19, 2015 9:30 a.m.
Following a moment of silence to honor victims and families of the recent Paris terrorist attack, the Fernandina Beach City Commission began its Regular Meeting on November 17, 2015 with three presentations: one involving an award; a second regarding an upcoming event; and the third an update on deliberations and recommendations of the CRA Advisory Board.
Great Places in Florida Award
On behalf of the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association, Brian Teeple made the designation official: Fernandina Beach has been awarded the Second Annual Great Places in Florida People’s Choice Award for Historic Downtown Fernandina Beach. Mount Dora was the first Florida recipient of this award.
In presenting the award to Mayor Ed Boner and Community Development Director Adrienne Burke, Teeple said that communities recognized with this award represent “the gold standard of community pride and involvement with the future.” The panel of judges reviewed eight nominations for this award, before narrowing the field to 4: Fernandina Beach Downtown Historic District, Lakeland, Lake Worth, and the Gaines Street district in Tallahassee. Close to 4,000 people voted via the APA website, and to quote Teeple, “Fernandina Beach knocked it out of the park.”
“Historic downtown Fernandina exemplifies everything a great place should have,” Teeple said. “It has a vibrant downtown, it values its historic assets. It’s a place where people want to come to visit from Florida, the country and throughout the world. And you have an eye to the future. You are not a community just content to rest on its laurels. You’ve recently initiated a Main Street Program to complement the work you have laid in place with your Community Redevelopment Area (CRA). … The sense of stewardship that you all maintain and have will ensure that historic downtown Fernandina remains a great place forever.”
Teeple serves as CEO of the Northeast Florida Regional Planning Council. Earlier this year he facilitated a strategic planning session for the Fernandina Beach City Commission.
Amelia Island Vintage Grand Prix
Tony Parella, owner of Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) updated the FBCC regarding the proposed Amelia Island Vintage Grand Prix at the municipal airport in March 2016 following the Concours d’Elegance.
Parella reported that the FAA has supported his proposal. The first batch of invitations to vintage car racers was mailed last week and to date 40 commitments have already been received. He reminded commissioners that at his last meeting before the commission, he indicated that he had sought and received a 5-year commitment from the city, subject to performance bond requirements and annual FAA approval.
He requested that the FBCC move forward with finalizing the agreement, assisting with language regarding the performance bond and liability insurance. He also asked that the city move forward to request FAA approval for the 2017 event now to avoid last minute stress. As the owner of the airport, the city must make the official request to the FAA. “The more time we have to organize this event,” Parella said, “the better job we can do.”
“We are excited to be here, and the feedback has been amazing. And we want to exceed expectations,” Parella said.
City Attorney Tammi Bach said, “I think Mr. Parella is asking for two things: that we draft an agreement and that the city apply to the FAA for permission for the following event.” Parella said that he had paid for the 2016 FAA permit and would expect to do so for future years also. Bach confirmed that the FBCC was in agreement with a 5-year commitment, provided that Parella continued to abide by city requirements stipulated in the agreement.
Parella ended by thanking elected and appointed Fernandina Beach officials who had worked with him to make this event possible along with Passero Associates for help in getting the FAA permit and the Airport Advisory Commission. “We are going to get this right,” he said.
CRA Advisory Board (CRAAB) update
CRAAB Chair Arlene Filkoff thanked the FBCC for agreeing to do an assessment of the property north of the existing city marina. Filkoff and CRAAB member Dan McCranie presented recommendations for enhancing development incentives in the CRA, which do not involve changes to the city’s comprehensive plan, to the Planning Advisory Board (PAB) last week. She said that the PAB would pass those to the FBCC for consideration.
She reported on the CRAAB’s ongoing assessment of the CRA, which will result in further recommendations upon its completion, and suggested strategies for making the CRA successful.
Filkoff said, “There are a thousand moving parts with respect to our waterfront.” She said that commissioner-elect Len Kreger has brought to CRAAB the need to develop a flood mitigation strategy. “All CRA development will need to meet FEMA guidelines as well as CRA design guidelines,” she said. “Rising tides and recent storms would seem to indicate that we have a much bigger problem on the waterfront than we did in earlier years.”
The Community Development Department is supportive of developing a flood mitigation plan for the entire city. Filkoff said that the item would soon come to the FBCC for action.
“We are also recommending—and this came as a surprise to some people—a complete survey of what we have in place citywide to deal with stormwater,” she said. She asked City Manager Pro Tem Marshall McCrary to verify the absence of such a survey, which he did. Filkoff expressed concerns on behalf of the community regarding what has already been done in the CRA.
She said that because people use different words to mean the same thing, there is much confusion over what work remains to be done to build or improve existing infrastructure in the CRA. She said that there is not a good set of data to indicate what is in place and its condition.
On behalf of the CRAAB she recommended that the city first have a good understanding of what is already in place before talking about spending large amounts of money in stormwater systems.
She also reported that the CRAAB feels very strongly about the city’s need to improve communications with the railroad. All discussions that have been held, she maintained, could be characterized as “duck bites” because they deal with discrete issues and not the big picture of the entire CRA and its relationship with the railroad. The CRAAB recommended that a partnership be developed between the city and the railroads and the port and that somebody be named “to own that relationship.” That person would insure that the railroads and the port understand all the plans that the city has for the waterfront CRA. The CRAAB hoped that by assigning such a responsibility to someone, future conflicts could be avoided through meaningful partnerships.
In response to a question from Mayor Ed Boner, Filkoff said that the CRAAB was not recommending a particular person for the liaison role, but that a logical place to begin would be with the new city manager.
Commissioner Pat Gass wondered if the new director of the Main Street Program would fall into that category. Filkoff allowed that such a possibility exists, but that much of the coordination among the three entities would target infrastructure improvements, “an area of government responsibility that most people don’t quibble with.” She suggested that two competing organizations working from different perspectives might not be the most cost effective way to proceed with stormwater mitigation.
Commissioner Robin Lentz suggested that Marshall McCrary might be the best choice for such a job. Vice Mayor Johnny Miller echoed her endorsement of McCrary’s talents. Lentz added that McCrary’s extensive planning background has led many to comment that he is the best planner they have ever worked with. McCrary said that if City Manager Dale Martin assigns him to such a job, he would be happy to take it on.