Weekly comments from Dale Martin

Dale Martin
City Manager
Fernandina Beach
September 20, 2019

City Manager Dale Martin

The next step of the City’s budget process for the 2019/2020 year is a second public hearing scheduled for 5:05 PM, Tuesday, September 24, at City Hall. Please note that the date of this hearing does not appear on the Truth in Millage notices sent to property owners. This hearing, one of the two required public hearings required to be conducted as part of the budget adoption process, was originally scheduled for September 3, but the evacuation due to Hurricane Dorian disrupted the hearing, leading to the new date. Following the public hearing, as part of the also rescheduled regular City Commission meeting, the City Commission will consider the final adoption of the proposed 2019/2020 budget, which would then take effect on October 1.

Even as the 2019/2020 budget process concludes, staff will immediately commence work on the 2020/2021 budget. Under the leadership of Comptroller Pauline Testagrose, the City’s budget calendar has been adjusted. As Vice Mayor Kreger indicated at this week’s budget public hearing, for many years, the City budget was balanced through its capital improvement funding. This meant that after operational and personnel costs were determined, capital projects were either added or, most likely, reduced, in order to present a balanced budget. This process has led to an inevitable neglect of capital needs.

The City funds capital needs primarily through two accounts. The first account is funded through property tax revenues and other sources such as state and federal grants. These funds can be used as determined by the City Commission (and appropriate granting agencies) to serve the best interests of the City. The second account is funded through local impact fees (derived from new or re-development), but the use of those funds is more restricted than the first account described: the funds can only be used to fund projects needed as the result of growth (although a clear definition of “growth” has been elusive).

Ms. Testgrose has recommended that the budget process be “flipped,” with the capital needs being more fully developed and incorporated as the first component of the budget, not the last. As such, a Capital Improvement Committee, comprised of select senior staff, will begin its capital project effort in October. The goal of the committee is to complete the development of the Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan by the end of the calendar year so that, when the City Commission meets for its traditional annual visioning session in January, staff recommendations for projects and funding have been completed and presented for City Commission review. The remaining budget development can then begin in February following the City Commission’s visioning session.

Some of the most significant capital needs of the City are related to facilities. The most visible example of facilities needs this past year has been the City’s beach walkovers. These walkovers were constructed roughly twenty years ago and the materials used to build the walkovers (wood) are reaching the end of their life expectancy. Included in the budget for 2019/20 is funding to build four walkovers. Grant funding will continue to be sought for additional walkover work.

At its October 1 meeting, the City Commission will hear a presentation regarding alternative materials for walkover construction, technology that wasn’t utilized for walkovers two decades ago. A vendor has offered (at first glance) to install a walkover of the alternative material at no cost to the City for a pilot project. If deemed satisfactory, the City may consider the further use of alternative materials for walkover construction- balancing the higher initial costs with the long-term projected savings due to reduced maintenance and longer service life.

Other facilities are in need of review beyond the visibility of beach walkovers. City Hall, the Atlantic Recreation Center, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center are all over seventy years old. The demands and services provided at those facilities has changed over those decades.
The City has long considered the re-purposing of the downtown United States Postal Service (USPS) facility to serve as City Hall (in an effort to retain that facility under public ownership), but despite the admission of postal officials of financial hardships, the USPS has expressed minimal to no interest in working with the City to make better use of this woefully underutilized facility. Due to the continuing lack of response from USPS officials, I have requested a proposal from an architect to prepare a review of sites for City Hall, including renovation of the current site, relocation to the Peck Center, or new construction elsewhere.

As for the continuing use of two separate and aged recreation facilities, I will charge the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee to review the desire and needs for such facilities, whether new or renovated. Community outreach will be critical for this review.
Of course, the City has many other capital needs such as fire stations and fire trucks, boardwalks, and streets. It is crucial that the long-term capital planning be more robust and thorough than in the past. The effort led by Ms. Testagrose and the Capital Improvement Committee will be paramount to this effort.