OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL

 

117 WEST DUVAL STREET, SUITE 425

4TH FLOOR, CITY HALL

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 32202

904-630-1377

 

 

CITY COUNCIL AGENDA MEETING MINUTES

City Council Chamber, 1st floor, City Hall


July 24, 2018

4:00 p.m.

 

Location: City Council Chamber, City Hall – St. James Building; 117 West Duval Street

 

In attendance: Council Members Aaron Bowman (President), Greg Anderson, Danny Becton (arr. 4:05), Lori Boyer, Anna Lopez Brosche, Doyle Carter, John Crescimbeni, Garrett Dennis, Al Ferraro, Terrance Freeman, Reginald Gaffney, Tommy Hazouri, Bill Gulliford, Joyce Morgan, Sam Newby, Ju’Coby Pittman, Matt Schellenberg,  Scott Wilson

Excused: Council Member Jim Love

 

Also: Peggy Sidman, Paige Johnston, Susan Grandin and Shannon Eller – Office of General Counsel; Kyle Billy, Kim Taylor – Council Auditor’s Office; Carol Owens and Adri Segui – Legislative Services Division; Steve Cassada – Council Staff Services; Jeff Clements – Council Research Division; Sam Mousa, Jordan Elsbury Leeann Krieg and Brian Hughes– Mayor’s Office; Bill Killingsworth and Folks Huxford – Planning and Development Department; Kirk Wendland, Paul Crawford and Ed Randolph – Office of Economic Development

 

Meeting Convened: 4:01 p.m.

 

President Bowman called the meeting to order asked for the committee reports.

 

NCSPHS Committee: Council Member Newby reviewed the actions of the committee from its meeting

 

TEU Committee: Council Member Ferraro reviewed the actions of the committee from its meeting. On 2018-431 (honoring and commending Vietnam Veterans of America 40th anniversary) Mr. Ferraro suggested the addition of all council members as co-sponsors, which will require pulling the bill from the Consent Agenda to amend.

 

Finance Committee: Council Member Anderson reviewed the actions of the committee from its meeting

 

Rules Committee: Council Member Hazouri reviewed the actions of the committee from its meeting.

 

LUZ Committee: Council Member Schellenberg reviewed the actions of the committee from its meeting.

 

President Bowman noted that 2 bills are being administratively withdrawn for being in a pending status for more than two years; those bills may be kept active for another 60 days by a 2/3 vote of the Council.

 

2018-334 (rezoning on Kings Avenue and Perry Place) – Council Member Boyer explained her floor amendment to place the parking ratios as conditions in the ordinance.

 

Council Member Schellenberg invited the council members to recommend persons to give the invocation at the start of the council meeting; the dates through December are filled but slots in 2019 remain open.

 

2018-238 (Authorizing a Community Aesthetic Feature Agreement with FDOT) – Council Member Gaffney had attorney Paige Johnston explain his floor amendment to clarify the wording of several provisions.

 

President Bowman said that there will be a large Addendum to the Agenda, including all of the budget bills, two emergency medical transport CONs, and a request from Council Member Ferraro for emergency action on 2018-499 to authorize the General Counsel to challenge a request by Dames Point Workboats, LLC  to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for a dock permit  and submerged land lease to accomplish on the water what the City Council prohibited on the adjoining upland by denying a recent rezoning request by the company. Susan Grandin of the General Counsel’s Office briefly summarized the legal issues involved.

 

Council Member Anderson reported that the Finance Committee had recommended approval of 2018-500, the tentative millage rate and rolled-back millage resolution.

 

With regard to 2018-498 (authorizing issuance of a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for emergency medical transportation), Fire Chief Kurt Wilson explained that the JFRD advertised the availability of 2 CONs for emergency transport and had 3 applicants, 2 of which were previously awarded. Since the medical transport ordinance was last rewritten in the 1990s there has been tremendous growth in the number of hospitals and stand-alone emergency rooms in the city, and he believes that an additional CON is justified at this time.

 

Council Member Wilson said that the new Special Committee on Historical Remembrance will start up in August with an organizational meeting and he invited all interested council members to attend. He has invited Matt Carlucci and Earl Johnson Jr. to address the committee about commemorating the 50th anniversary of city/county consolidation this year.

 

Deputy General Counsel Peggy Sidman explained the need for the floor amendment on 2018-485 regarding the Value Adjustment Board’s organizational meeting.

 

President Bowman said that the Council has a considerable backlog of resolutions awaiting presentation at council meetings and he recommended that consideration be given to making presentations in venues other venues than Council meetings and, when making presentations at meetings to keep remarks brief. He is considering restricting council members to 2 presentation opportunities per year. He also urged council members to not debate persons speaking in the public comment period and instead to meet with them privately. He noted that he had distributed the council’s annual electronic communication policy via e-mail yesterday. The President requested that floor amendments be submitted by 2 p.m. on Council meeting days so that council members have an opportunity to review them in advance, and if considerable debate on the amendment ensues on the council floor he will refer the bill back to committee(s).

 

Regarding requests to discharge bills from committee at council meetings, the President asked council members to please make the request at the agenda meeting to give fellow members fair warning to be able to prepare to discuss the merits of the bill and the discharge request.

 

Election Canvassing Board – Mr. Bowman said that Council Member Brosche has volunteered to be the primary Council representative on the board but he needs an alternate and asked for volunteers who qualify and have not publicly endorsed any candidates.

 

Council Member Gullford said that resolution presentations at meetings are getting more numerous and may be starting to get out of hand.  The former strict limit of 2 presentations per meeting has expanded to 3, and he recommended that the Rules Committee look at the policy. With regard to the Canvassing Board, he wondered why the Supervisor of Elections isn’t responsible for finding a replacement for himself because he has endorsed his son in the upcoming election and why the task has fallen to the City Council. Ms. Boyer said that council members may officially withdraw previous candidate endorsements in writing and thereby become eligible to serve on the Canvassing Board.

 

Council Member Crescimbeni said that the Council Rules will need to be amended to reflect President Bowman’s proposed changes to the public comment and discharge processes. He also suggested that time could be saved by having speakers move to the front of the chamber when they hear their names called on the list of upcoming speakers rather than lingering in the back of the Council Chamber and making the long walk to the podium only when called to speak. President Bowman said that he will ask council members to pose their questions for public speakers to him and he will decide case-by-case if the question is relevant and of interest to the full council, in which case he will permit it to be asked.

 

Peggy Sidman explained the current discharge procedure under the Council Rules.

 

President Bowman said that he has asked Rules Chairman Hazouri to review the Council Rules for opportunities to improve the efficiency of meetings.

 

Council Member Morgan expressed reluctance to limit the number of presentations a council member may request in a year and preferred a limit on the time allowed for each presentation rather than limiting the number of presentations because of their importance to the community. Council Member Gulliford felt that the Council Rules need to be codified to address the purpose and regulation of resolutions.

 

Council Member Schellenberg agreed with starting the public comment clock immediately when the speaker’s name is called so that their walk to the podium comes from their speaking time.

 

Meeting adjourned: 4:40 p.m.

 

Minutes: Jeff Clements, Council Research Division

7.24.18     Posted 5:30 p.m.

Tapes:  City Council agenda meeting – LSD

             7.24.18