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27aug02 Min
27aug02 Min
MINUTES
REGULAR SESSION
224 S. Jefferson Street
Perry, Florida
August 27, 2002
MEMBERS PRESENT: Shirley Scott, Richard Frith, Pam Feagle, Doug Everett
STAFF PRESENT: Bill Brynes, Barney Johnson, Wayne Putnal, Billy LaValle, Sarah Drawdy, Bill
Blue and Annette Anderson
Mayor Frith called the meeting to order. City Attorney Bill Blue led those attending the meeting in
prayer. Mayor Frith led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. The secretary then called
the roll.
PRESENT ABSENT
Councilmember Feagle X
Councilmember Alexander X
Councilmember Scott X
Councilmember Everett X
Mayor Frith X
Mayor Frith noted that Councilmember Alexander had surgery and was unable to attend the meeting.
Mayor Frith noted city employee Danny Willis had twenty-five years of service with the City.
After a brief review of the minutes, Councilmember Feagle made a motion to adopt the minutes of
August 13, 2002, Regular Session as written; seconded by Councilmember Scott and upon roll call
vote was as follows:
YEA NAY
Councilmember Feagle X
Councilmember Alexander ABSENT
Councilmember Scott X
Councilmember Everett X
Mayor Frith X
Ms. Taylor asked the Council’s permission to place a flagpole and light at the City Park. Ms. Taylor
said the organization would incur all costs of replacing the flag when necessary, lights and
Page 2, August 27, 2002, Council Minutes – Regular Session
maintenance. Councilmember Scott made a motion that the Keep Taylor County Beautiful
organization be allowed to install a flagpole and light at the City Park. The motion was seconded by
Councilmember Feagle and upon roll call vote was as follows:
YEA NAY
Councilmember Feagle X
Councilmember Alexander ABSENT
Councilmember Scott X
Councilmember Everett X
Mayor Frith X
Mayor Frith said this item would be brought back at a later date.
Mayor Frith commented this is the standard agreement between the Planning Council and the City for
services provided by the Planning Council. City Manager Bill Brynes said this is only used on an as-
needed basis. Councilmember Feagle asked if the amount (not to exceed 32,000) is the price it has
always been. Mayor Frith said the amount might have increased several hundred dollars.
Councilmember Feagle made a motion to approve the Agreement for Local Government
Comprehensive Planning Services. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Everett and upon
roll call vote was as follows:
YEA NAY
Councilmember Feagle X
Councilmember Alexander ABSENT
Councilmember Scott X
Councilmember Everett X
Mayor Frith X
Councilmember Scott made a motion that Ordinance No. 761 be read by title only. The motion was
seconded by Councilmember Everett and upon roll call vote was as follows:
YEA NAY
Councilmember Feagle X
Councilmember Alexander ABSENT
Councilmember Scott X
Councilmember Everett X
Mayor Frith X
The secretary read Ordinance No. 761 by title only. Mayor Frith opened the public hearing.
Councilmember Feagle asked if there had been any opposition heard against this. It was noted there
had been no opposition. There was no one else to speak for or against this ordinance. Councilmember
Everett made a motion to adopt Ordinance No. 761; seconded by Councilmember Feagle and upon roll
call vote was as follows:
YEA NAY
Councilmember Feagle X
Councilmember Alexander ABSENT
Councilmember Scott X
Councilmember Everett X
Mayor Frith X
Councilmember Feagle made a motion that Ordinance No. 762 be read by title only; seconded by
Councilmember Scott and upon roll call vote was as follows:
YEA NAY
Councilmember Feagle X
Councilmember Alexander ABSENT
Councilmember Scott X
Councilmember Everett X
Mayor Frith X
The secretary read Ordinance No. 762 by title only. Mayor Frith opened the public hearing. There was
no one to speak for or against the ordinance. Councilmember Feagle made a motion to adopt
Ordinance No. 762; seconded by Councilmember Scott and upon roll call vote was as follows:
YEA NAY
Councilmember Feagle X
Councilmember Alexander ABSENT
Councilmember Scott X
Councilmember Everett X
Mayor Frith X
Page 4, August 27, 2002, Council Minutes – Regular Session
AGENDA ITEM 6(F)…PUBLIC HEARING AND FINAL READING – ORDINANCE NO. 763
Councilmember Everett made a motion that Ordinance No. 763 be read by title only. The motion was
seconded by Councilmember Scott and upon roll call vote was as follows:
YEA NAY
Councilmember Feagle X
Councilmember Alexander ABSENT
Councilmember Scott X
Councilmember Everett X
Mayor Frith X
The secretary read Ordinance No. 763 by title only. Mayor Frith opened the public hearing. There
were a number of interested individuals to address the Council.
Mr. Kidd said, for non-profit organizations, rather than making records public, he would like the
Council to consider just putting in the ordinance making such records available to a city official (City
Manager or member of the Council). Mr. Kidd said he is not against accountability, but thinks the
Council should consider this option.
Mr. Greg Parker, local attorney. Mr. Parker told the Council he had been asked to address the Council
on behalf of the president of the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Parker said he appreciates what the
Council is trying to do about accountability and responsibility of those who receive monies from the
City. Mr. Parker said he thinks some of the content is burdensome and is already addressed by state
law. Mr. Parker pointed out several areas of concern, but said he appreciates the removal of some of
the language previously drafted. Mr. Parker said he doesn’t know why this should go beyond what is
already established by state law and he has a question as to whether this violates the “home rule” under
Florida Statutes 166. Mr. Parker said he asked City Attorney Bill Blue if there were any precedent for
this and he thinks Mr. Blue’s answer was no. Mr. Parker asked if the City of Perry is unique—why
Page 5, August 27, 2002, Council Minutes – Regular Session
there is a need to do this. Mr. Parker said he would suggest this item be tabled or rejected. Mr. Parker
said further work needs to be done in the area of the personal exposure of members of board of
directors and pointed out some grammatical errors.
Mr. Mike Smith, local attorney. Mr. Smith said it is questionable whether the issue of accountability
should be addressed in the ordinance. Mr. Smith said this could be addressed in policy rather than an
ordinance. Mr. Smith said the ordinance has problems from the standpoint of whether it would pass
Constitutional muster. Mr. Smith said in the section pertaining to duties of board of directors, it is not
spelled out what “greater standard of care” should be. Mr. Smith suggested caution by the Council but
agreed accountability should be addressed.
John Sunderland, Civil Air Patrol. Mr. Sunderland said he doesn’t understand how the ordinance
might apply to the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) concerning open meetings. Mr. Blue said there is nothing in
the ordinance that requires any of the recipients to have open meetings. Mr. Blue said it is only public
documents that are being addressed.
Don Lincoln, Perry Newspapers, Inc. Mr. Lincoln told the Council he doesn’t think an ordinance is
needed. Mr. Lincoln said his suggestion would be to throw the ordinance in the garbage and follow the
policy that has always been followed. Mr. Lincoln said if an organization is not worthy don’t give
them any money.
Dan Simmons. Mr. Simmons says he comes to address this issue as a private volunteer who serves on
local boards. Mr. Simmons said he commends the Council on their intent with the ordinance but he
had several questions. Mr. Simmons said, as a volunteer, he doesn’t think he has the background as to
know when to ignore Florida law. Referring to section 28.2 (b) of the ordinance “…totality of the
factors…” Mr. Simmons said just tell the volunteers what to comply with and make it more specific
what volunteers are to do. Referring to Section 28.4 Public Records, Mr. Simmons spoke about
confidential records being exempt (as discussed earlier by Mr. Kevin Kidd). Other concerns of Mr.
Simmons included, “private cause of action in section 28.10 (b) and prohibition and liabilities in
section 28.9 (b) and Section 28.11 Attorney’s Fees as it refers to the “prevailing party.”
Mr. Simmons said he thinks volunteers would work with the city staff and attorney and sit down and
work out what things can be done and commit to the Council to come up with some good ideas
Mr. Don Asmus, resident and plant manager at Buckeye. Mr. Asmus had questions as to how this
might affect local businesses and referred to the sewer line expansion at United Welding as an
example.
Mayor Frith asked Mr. Blue to respond to some of the concerns. Mr. Blue said, as the Council knows,
the issue of “recipients” has been clarified as have other concerns been clarified after meeting with
members of the board of directors of Doctors’ Memorial Hospital and other organizations. Mr. Blue
Page 6, August 27, 2002, Council Minutes – Regular Session
said a lot of issues have been addressed and incorporated into the draft ordinance. Mr. Blue said three
specific issues seem to come up. One being “Private cause of action,” “personal liability on behalf of
individual members of board of directors,” and “identity of employees.” Regarding personal liability
of members of boards, Mr. Blue said the entity, as opposed to an individual, could be made liable for
returning any monies. Mr. Blue said, with respect to the identity of employees, it was suggested that
the nature of the position and salaries could be disclosed as opposed to an individual.
Mr. Blue spoke about how the ordinance came to be drafted. Mr. Blue said questions were raised
about the spending of different organizations and of allegations being made. Mr. Blue said the Council
expressed concern with respect to organizations and having difficulty obtaining information from
organizations when asked. Mr. Blue said the Council requested an ordinance be drafted. Mr. Kidd
asked why an ordinance is needed if the Council can get the information it requests with a letter, such
as was recently sent to organizations. Councilmember Feagle said she doesn’t believe an ordinance is
needed as long as the Council can get the information it needs by requesting the information in a letter.
Someone in the audience asked if Councilmember Feagle would put that in the form of a motion. Mr.
Blue stated Councilmember Feagle could not make the motion. When questioned about this, Mr. Blue
noted Councilmember Feagle’s employment with DMH. DMH Administrator Jim McKnight asked
Mr. Blue if he was advising Councilmember Feagle that she could not make a motion. Mr. Blue said,
he had advised Councilmember Feagle she could not take action on the ordinance because of her
employment with DMH, which he said was opposed to the ordinance. Mr. McKnight said
Councilmember Feagle does not work for the Board. Councilmember Scott then addressed Mr. Blue
and asked if parts of the ordinance that deals with liability of board of directors could be stricken as far
as liability goes and persons serving as volunteers would not be held liable but that the organization
itself would be. Mr. Blue answered yes and said the Council could do whatever it wishes with the
ordinance.
Councilmember Everett said in the most recent draft such language has already been added.
Councilmember Everett said he thinks the ordinance in its idea is a good idea for the protection of
taxpayers. Councilmember Everett said he thinks the ordinance is being misinterpreted and thinks it
would be prudent to issue the most current draft to all those present. Councilmember Everett said the
people’s participation is the kind of input and feedback needed to make the ordinance work.
Councilmember Feagle questioned again why an ordinance is needed if the Council could get the
information it needs by a letter of request. Councilmember Feagle said if an organization does not
provide the requested information or misuses the monies, the Council could cut them off from
receiving any more.
Mayor Frith said he had expressed to Mr. Blue earlier the concerns about material changes to the
ordinance and felt enough changes had been made that discussion of the ordinance should be continued
for further input and another public hearing held. Mayor Frith said if the majority of the Council wants
to pass or reject the ordinance he would yield to them, but nothing precludes the Council from tabling
Page 7, August 27, 2002, Council Minutes – Regular Session
the issue. Mayor Frith said he would like some clarification on Councilmember Feagle’s position (to
vote on this issue). Mr. Blue said if this issue moves forward beyond this meeting, he would get an
advisory ruling from the Commission on Ethics. Councilmember Everett said feedback from citizens
raised some questions in his mind and, personally, he would like to have an opportunity to give more
thought to the ordinance based on the feedback received and give Mr. Blue more time to put certain
language into the ordinance.
Councilmember Feagle said she would urge the Council to think about why an ordinance is needed if
the Council can get the information it needs with a letter. Councilmember Feagle said she thinks there
would be accountability with doing it this way and doesn’t think an ordinance is needed to spend the
taxpayer’s money wisely. Councilmembers agreed to table the ordinance to the next regular meeting.
Mr. Blue asked the Council if there was anything Council wants him to do between this time and the
next meeting. Councilmember Scott said she would like to see the individuals receive a copy of the
latest draft ordinance. With respect to re-advertising the ordinance, Councilmember Everett said it
should be advertised for consideration of a decision. Mr. Blue asked the Council if they wished him to
meet with and discuss the ordinance with any of the individuals raising questions. Councilmembers
said Mr. Blue could do so as long as it was on his own time. Councilmember Everett then made a
motion to table Ordinance No. 763 to the September 10, 2002, regular session Council meeting. The
motion was seconded by Councilmember Scott and upon roll call vote was as follows:
YEA NAY
Councilmember Feagle X
Councilmember Alexander ABSENT
Councilmember Scott X
Councilmember Everett X
Mayor Frith X
Mayor Frith called a ten-minute recess at 7:30 p. m. and called the meeting back to order at 7:40 p. m.
The Council then heard from several organizations requesting funding from the City for the fiscal year
2002-03.
Mr. Kidd reviewed the Club’s accomplishments for the year and presented information on the various
programs offered to the members.
Ms. Taylor said the Chamber’s request remains at the same amount as last year. Ms. Taylor reviewed
the goals and accomplishments for the year. Councilmember Feagle had several questions. Discussion
included:
Page 8, August 27, 2002, Council Meeting – Regular Session
1. The Chamber’s partnering with the Florida Chamber Federation to help small business
members obtain health care, workers’ comp and hospital benefits for its employees.
2. A $6,000 Tourism Grant: Ms. Taylor said $5,000 of this was used to produce a brochure to
promote Taylor County, which also benefited the City.
3. 600 Flowers planted at parks. Ms. Taylor said this included the Southside Park and schools.
4. Promotion at five local tourism centers. Ms. Taylor said the Taylor County Development
Authority (TCDA) and Tourism Development Council (TDC) and the Chamber participated,
with the Chamber facilitating the project.
5. Fiscal Year Operating Budget 2002 was $145,502. Fiscal Year 2002 Operating Budget is for
$131,362. Councilmember Feagle asked Ms. Taylor to explain. Ms. Taylor said several grants
were cut and expenses adjusted in the budget.
1. Tourism Alliance Contract. Mr. Humphries said TCDA receives $15,000 from the County to
administer the TDC and some is given to the Chamber.
2. $350,000 Loan to local business. Mr. Humphries said TCDA helped secure this loan for a local
business but the business declined to accept under the provisions set forth in the contract.
3. Some accomplishments: website and satellite Mr. Humphries said TCDA and the Chamber
did this jointly but the TCDA provided the money.
4. Brought developer to Perry but negotiations broke down between the landowner and developer.
Mr. Humphries said TCDA is still pursuing the site for other developers.
5. $18 Million Project in Steinhatchee. Mr. Humphries said the project had been stalled. The
issue came before TCDA and a decision was made to go to the County and request an
ordinance change, which was approved. Mr. Humphries said this would add additional ad
valorem taxes to the County tax rolls.
Councilmember Feagle said it is good what TCDA has done for the County, but questioned what
TCDA could do for the City. Councilmember Feagle said City property values had decreased $5,500,
while the County’s property value increased. Councilmember Feagle said there have been no new
businesses to come to the City that she knows of and she has concerns of what TCDA could do to bring
in business to the City. Mr. Humphries said there are not a lot of sites within the City to accommodate
large businesses.
Councilmember Feagle asked, if the City decides to give TCDA its funding request, what kind of
commitment TCDA could give to the City for bringing in a major business. Mr. Humphries asked that
Council review TCDA’s accomplishments for last year and reviewed the sewer expansion project at
United Welding Services, Inc. (UWS), which will generate revenue for the City. Mr. Humphries noted
also UWS is the second biggest gas customer of the City.
Councilmember Feagle asked Mr. Humphries if he has always given the Council what it has requested
(information). Mr. Humphries answered yes. Councilmember Feagle asked if there is a city council
Page 9, August 27, 2002, Council Minutes-Regular Session
member on the TCDA board. Mr. Humphries answered yes. Councilmember Feagle asked if TCDA
plans to stay in its present location. Mr. Humphries said, presently, TCDA does plan to stay in its
present location, as it can work jointly with the Chamber and share office staff.
Taylor County Senior Services: Request for $15,000.
Director Wynette Huxford gave a review of the organization’s plans for 2003, which included adding
additional fund raising events to provide additional transportation, personal care and meals for its
homebound clients who are presently on a waiting list for services. Ms. Huxford said the monies
received from the City go directly to feed the clients with only $1,862.45 used to help pay the salary of
two employees. Councilmember Feagle asked if Senior Services was able to provide for everyone who
came to them last year. Ms. Huxford answered no. Ms. Huxford said the organization needs $15,000
for this year and this is why the organization is requesting an increase. Councilmember Feagle asked
when the organization began utilizing its monies received from the City last year. Ms. Huxford said
this was in January. When asked by Mayor Frith, Ms. Huxford spoke on the organization’s counseling
program.
Councilmember Feagle noted Ms. Huxford’s salary of $39,078.00 and asked if she receives any
additional monies. Ms. Huxford said she receives gas money allowance and 29 cents per mile for
mileage allowance when traveling out of town. Ms. Huxford said of the overall budget 8 percent is for
administrative costs. In closing, Ms. Huxford said she would appreciate it if the Council could give
more funding this year.
Councilmember Feagle asked how long someone is allowed to stay at the shelter. Ms. Gray said it
depends on the circumstances but no one will be required to leave the shelter until they have someplace
else to go. Ms. Gray said Refuge House provides food, lodging, support programs, assistance in
obtaining housing and jobs.
AGENDA ITEM 6(H)…CITY COUNCIL AND STAFF TO REVIEW PROPOSED BUDGET FOR
FISCAL YEAR 2002-03.
It was the consensus of the Council to have a budget workshop session on Tuesday, September 3, 2002
at 5:30 p.m.
Mr. Byrnes told the Council the paving project and storm water drainage projects should begin
Tuesday, September 3, 2002.
Councilmember Feagle said she would like to see all department heads and supervisors attend the
Council meetings, especially the budget meetings, so they can provide input to discussions. The city
manager informed the Council all non-salaried employees would have to be paid overtime. Mr. Brynes
said there would be nine employees on overtime if they were to attend the meetings.
There being no further business to come before the City Council at this time, the meeting was
adjourned at approximately 9:26 p. m.
ATTEST:
_______________________________ _________________________________
William E. Brynes, City Manager Richard D. Frith, Mayor
___________________________ _________________________________
Annette Anderson, Secretary Date