MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

 

January 26, 2006

 

 

 

The Board of County Commissioners Brevard County, Florida, met in special workshop session on January 26, 2006, at 9:00 a.m. in the Government Center Florida Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida.  Present were:  Chair Helen Voltz, Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Ron Pritchard, Susan Carlson, and Jackie Colon, County Manager Peggy Busacca, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

 

 

Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to appoint Laurilee Thompson t o the Planning and Zoning Board, replacing Matt Sokoloski, with term expiring Dec. 31, 2006.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.   

 

 

Commissioner Pritchard requested County Attorney Scott Knox review the letter received from Senator Mike Haridopolos regarding proposed Senate Bill 138 to be put forward in the legislative session for the portability of homestead to Save Our Homes.  Commissioner Scarborough requested Mr. Knox provide an interpretation.

 

 

Commissioner Colon commented on how the County needs to improve skills and leadership to expedite the permitting process.  Commissioner Pritchard stated the County’s permitting process was brought to the Board’s attention a couple years ago; the Business Advisory Group made its concerns known and some adjustments were made, but not enough; and communication is needed to bring a permit in and to get a permit out.  Commissioner Colon stated County staff is frustrated and unhappy with the way things are; and Planning and Zoning Director Robin Sobrino and Assistant County Manager Ed Washburn want to see changes.  County Manager Peggy Busacca commented Commissioner Pritchard’s group was frustrated about the permitting and the Ordinances; there have been some changes, such as the Landscape Ordinance which did not work out and the Board sent it back to a committee; the Board could help staff identify issues that need to be addressed by ordinance; and landscaping is the most challenging for the Board to address.  Commissioner Pritchard commented that is just one of the elements.  Ms. Busacca stated sometimes the ordinances are well written and sometimes they are not; and when they are well written it is difficult because people are endlessly creative.  Commissioner Carlson inquired about the County’s one-stop permitting.  Ms. Busacca responded it is a difficult job to sit all day and review the plans; and there is a lot of turnover.

 

Commissioner Carlson commented on the one-stop permitting; and stated to have it done in a certain amount of days is impossible.  Commissioner Pritchard stated the County needs a leaner more efficient system; and the permitting requirements are needed for each city and the County to figure how to make it work better.  Assistant County Manager Ed Washburn stated there have been comments concerning the timeline.  Commissioner Colon stated staff needs help by expediting the process.  Assistant County Manager Ed Washburn stated there is a timeline getting permits approved.  Commissioner Pritchard stated Ed Washburn and Ed Lyon should be empowered to make decisions so it will get done.  Ms. Busacca stated there are staff present today who are terrified to make a decision for fear of what will happen to them.  Commissioner Colon and Commissioner Pritchard inquired about solving the problem.  Ms. Busacca commented on accountability, individuals who make $7 and hour who are questioned about decisions, policies and changes, and encouraging staff; and advised the Board, Assistant County Managers, Department Directors, and she needs to be more responsive to staff in bringing forward information.  Chair Voltz advised people should feel comfortable enough to ask questions.  Ms. Busacca responded culture change is part of it.  Commissioner Pritchard commented the Board should make the decision process accountable and at the lowest level within an organization or it will end up having autocratic control. Commissioner Scarborough stated he disagrees because some degree of uniformity is needed.  Chair Voltz commented it has been a major issue for permitting; and nothing gets done.

 

 

Amy Tidd stated the County’s big problem is growth; there is no funding for transportation; the cost of building roads has gone up significantly; and the impact fee has not been increased in seven years.  She stated Wickham Road, Pineda Causeway, and Barnes Boulevard are the same as they were twenty years ago.

 

 

Georgia Phillips, representing Space Coast Growth Management Coalition for the City of Rockledge, stated at this time there are several cities involved in law suit with the County over annexation; but there has not been any new law suits since the Coalition has been in existence. She stated on September 5, 2006 the Coalition focused on annexation relating to growth management in the County; and as a result, the Coalition created a subcommittee to address the annexation issues.  She advised the new School Board Member for the following year is Bea Fowler, who was appointed to replace Larry Hughes on the Space Coast Growth Management Coalition; Mark Ryan is no longer a city manager; and Bennett Boucher from the City of Cape Canaveral has been appointed to take his place.

 

Anthony Caravella, representing Space Coast Growth Management Coalition for the City of Cocoa Beach, advised timing is everything; Senate Bill 360 has regional effects and will have an overall effect; and a regional priority list is going to be required.  He stated the subcommittee met in  October  and  November of  2005 and  the following  proposal  of recommended  actions  is a result of those meetings; the project purpose is to promote intergovernmental coordination by having cities identify areas where annexations may occur and be promoted by the city in the next ten years.  He stated the identification of annexation areas is the first initiative they want to put forward to the County and the cities; and described the project, and outlined the strategies and actions from the cities, County, and Coalition. 

 

Jim McKnight, representing Space Coast Growth Management Coalition for the City of Rockledge, stated the growth rate could be between 12% and 15% over the next ten years and 22% to 25% over the next twenty years; areas are limited in their ability to grow; and factors affect the population, household sizes, land availability, interest rates, and economic factors.  He stated the goal is to get the different cities to get on board and start heading in the right direction.  Mr. McKnight stated identifying the issues, Senate Bill 360, urban service boundaries, and maps to reverse impacts that are occurring where the growth of the County areas are having impacts on incorporated areas, would help.  He stated the Joint Planning Agreement is very successful for dialog and feedback.  

 

Commissioner Pritchard questioned the projection buildout percentage.  Discussion ensued on projection build out percentage. 

 

Commissioner Colon stated based on factors in the past 15 to 20 years, the County has had a steady growth of 2%; and they need to focus on factors from each of the cities and County to track the increase in growth.  Commissioner Scarborough commented there are different limitations to different counties and it will have a regional effect.  Mr. McKnight stated all cities need to cooperate to solve some of the issues because land is becoming less available.  Geo Ropert, Director of Brevard Tomorrow, stated they need to work with the community and the government, and address issues and move forward with smart growth. 

 

Commissioner Colon inquired on the endorsed vision process.  Ms. Phillips explained each of the cities and County would provide input and have the same vision and compatibility.  Chair Voltz stated Brevard Tomorrow is trying to facilitate those issues.  Commissioner Colon stated Brevard Tomorrow can provide feedback and cost with the visioning process and the specifics.  Ms. Phillips stated Mr.  Ropert will be consulted before spending any money; and Brevard Tomorrow and private sources in the visioning process will have citizens view and structure view from the professionals.  Commissioner Carlson stated the benefit of doing a communitywide vision from the cities and the County prospective is to find an experienced consultant.  Mr. Ropert stated he filed a CBRS with Representative Allen and Senator Posey for the community.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he would like to fund visioning to help the individual communities determine their own identity and own visioning.  Commissioner Carlson stated the visioning process from a regional prospective provides information needed to make changes.  Ms. Phillips commented hiring more than one consultant for a visioning force will make the expense go down.  Commissioner Pritchard encouraged using Broward County as a tool since Brevard County is 25 to 30 years behind it.  He noted that is why the Space Coast Coalition is good.  Ms. Phillips stated bringing in outside resources to the Coalition Committee is good at this point because of the level of trust between members.  County Manager Peggy Busacca commented consultants have not been used a lot in the past few years; and this may be the year for consultants.  Commissioner Pritchard commented on the projected growth management to the year 2015.  Discussion ensued on the projected growth management.

 

Robin Sobrino, Director of Planning and Zoning, stated Senate Bill 360 and statutes outline the timeline for the next three years of planning activity; and a fair share ordinance according to Senate Bill 360 is to be adopted by December 2006.

 

Bob Kamm, Transportation Planning Director, stated proportionate fair share is a standard feature of regional impact; Senate Bill 360 requires all jurisdictions in the State to have an ordinance; and the County has to have a consistent fair share ordinance countywide.  He stated by December 2007 all local governments must have a financially feasible Capital Improvement Element adopted; and the ability to fund Capital Improvement Element projects will be determined by the public sector in a three-year window.  Commissioner Carlson stated Capital Improvement Element project’s is another area where communications with the cities are needed.  Mr. Kamm stated there are not a lot of answers to the application of Senate Bill 360; and the Department of Community Affairs will be developing several different examples of a financial feasible Capital Improvement Element and the regulatory mechanism that goes with it. 

 

Chair Voltz inquired about the information from the Department of Community Affairs. Mr. Kamm stated he would find out the information from the Department of Community Affairs.  Chair Voltz stated the timeframe is getting shorter everyday.

 

Mr. Kamm commented that the Capital Improvement Element Project process will be changing over the next two years.  Ms. Sobrino stated the Potable Water Element has a deadline coming up. 

 

Planner Todd Corwin stated Department of Community Affairs made changes to the legislation linking land use with water supply and the growth occurring in Florida; all counties at some time will look at needing to provide water in the future and that adequate supplies are available to supply future growth; and the County needs to address the reuse capacity.  Commissioner Pritchard questioned the cost to expand facilities that increase the supply of reuse of water; with Mr. Corwin responding the Department of Community Affairs requested looking at the current reuse capacity and expanding those capacities.  Commissioner Pritchard commented five sewer users make up one Potable Water Reuse. 

 

Utility Services Director Richard Martens stated reclaim water currently has two areas in the County’s Wastewater System; it can be expanded big enough to increase reuse reclaim water during the winter months and will nevertheless meet those peek demands. Commissioner Pritchard questioned deep well injection.  Richard Martens stated deep well injection is reuse water and does not meet the technical specifications so it would not be distributed as much. 

 

Ms. Sobrino commented school concurrency is going to force jurisdictions, cities, and counties to come to the table as one unit.  Planner Steve Swanke stated Senate Bill 360 has established new requirements for public schools and each jurisdiction is going to be required to adopt the public schools facilities element; school concurrency will be established on a district-wide basis; and in five years or less on a district-wide basis.  He noted there will be a consulting firm that will coordinate and prepare the Public Schools Element. 

 

Chair Voltz questioned money already contributed to the task.  Mr. Swanke responded, the School Board has already contributed $200,000 to fund a consulting firm; and school facilities
 

and permanent classroom capacity have to be in place within three years after the approval of application for a residential site plan or a final subdivision plat.  Chair Voltz inquired about the numbers on development; with Mr. Swanke responding he does not know or see it as a burden, but it is something to be aware of when considering which service standard is to be adopted. 

 

Commissioner Carlson questioned property not needing an amendment for capacity and density. Mr. Swanke responded capacity and density is based on district standards and a surplus in the north end of the County can offset a deficit in the south part of the County.  Commissioner Scarborough commented there may be excess space that is not usable.  Mr. Swanke stated initially yes, but the Board needs to be aware of items not listed, such as the class size reduction amendment that apply to the School Board; and the County’s school capacity is going to lose 5,000 students over a period of time.  He stated the construction of permanent student stations is a very expensive process and the State Legislature has very little money; impact fees continue to be a major source of income for School Board; and some kind of bond referendum or sales tax referendum requiring the consent of the voters is needed.  Chair Voltz commented the State law says charter schools are public schools.  Mr. Swanke commented still under consideration are when charter schools become operational it reduces the capacity demands on the School Board. 

 

Commissioner Scarborough inquired about having the need of capacity before getting State funding.  Mr. Swanke responded that process and its inherit failure is understood at the State level; he does not think it is resolved at this point;  and there may very well be some changes in the State requirements.  Commissioner Carlson commented the Growth Management Glitch Bill mentions the impact of the class size amendment; and mitigation options for school currency include the infrastructure necessary to support schools.  Mr. Swanke stated last week’s School Board meeting was about changes contemplated; and they are not completely flushed out at this point.  Commissioner Pritchard inquired about the Class Size Reduction Amendment.  Mr. Swanke responded the Class Size Reduction Amendment is established at the districtwide level and by 2009 or 2010 it will be done at the individual school level.  Commissioner Pritchard inquired if the School Board plans to build the student stations so there is no crisis in 2008.  Mr. Swanke responded he will defer to the School Board, and since they are not present, will get back to the Board with an answer.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the problem with State funding is when the situation has to pertain to overcrowding, building, and class reduction size before getting the State funds.  Commissioner Pritchard commented they are only building to capacity; and it takes two years to build a school.  Commissioner Carlson commented the State mandate justifies the schools being built.  Commissioner Pritchard stated the State mandate needs to say how many student stations are needed in a school.

 

Discussion ensued concerning student stations.

 

Mr. Swanke stated regarding the concurrency services, the Bert Harris Property Act raises some implications; and the Board needs to understand the ramifications.  Commissioner Carlson commented the community cannot afford the cost of mitigating for all infrastructures and it may be cheaper to go out and buy the property.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board is compelled under State law to do certain things; the Governor can remove each Commissioner from office for failing to follow the law; and he will follow the law.  County Attorney Scott Knox commented the Legislature may consider fixing some of the problems with the Senate Bill 360 and the Growth Management Glitch Bill. 

 

Commissioner Carlson inquired if the Legislature avoided thinking about the implication of Bert Harris Law; with Mr. Knox responding the Bert Harris Act was superseded by the new legislation.  Commissioner Colon encouraged more partnerships, looking at what other communities are doing, and learning from it for the children of this community.  Chair Voltz stated everyone needs to work together. Commissioner Scarborough stated sometimes there are 20 to 30 different developers, which becomes more problematic with a lot of situations.  Commissioner Colon stated the Board needs to look ahead at what is coming when allowing building of homes and the kind of impact it causes in major corridors.

 

 

Planning and Zoning Director Robin Sobrino advised although it is not listed on the Agenda, Senate Bill 360 requires the update of the Capital Improvement Element to make sure it is financially feasible; the important parts are local creativity and addressing what is considered  local needs; and preparation of  the  Evaluation  and Appraisal Report allows staff to do a report card on the Comprehensive Plan and make it more dynamic by  keeping pace with the needs of the community.  She stated the EAR has to be in Tallahassee by August 2006; some preliminary work has been done on it; and Planner Todd Corwin is going to talk about it.  

 

Mr. Corwin stated the Evaluation and Appraisal Report is based on major local planning issues; later this year every Element in the Comprehensive Plan will be evaluated. Commissioner Carlson inquired about talking to Brevard Tomorrow on the community issues; with Mr. Corwin responding staff can do that.  Commissioner Carlson inquired if staff is aware of the Rural Land Stewardship Program and if they have talked to the agriculture folks regarding interest.  Mr. Corwin stated he has not talked to any agriculture folks; but do have knowledge of the Program; Rural Land Stewardship Program is to encourage the preservation of rural and agriculture uses and criteria for development; and stewardship areas have to be a minimum of 10,000 acres and can be an incorporated area and rural in nature.  He stated the only rural stewardship area, which is adopted and implemented in a Comprehensive Plan of the State, is Collier County; and he has reviewed that specific stewardship.

 

Commissioner Carlson Inquired if the website for rural land stewardship is the Adam’s Ranch; with Mr. Corwin responding he did not see the specific statement; Rural Stewardship encourages the preservation of natural resources and agricultural uses by taking certain properties in sending areas, and giving a certain value based on agriculture, natural resources, and where they are located, etc.; and the receiving district in Collier County cases is a delineated rural village or core community.  Commissioner Carlson inquired can the space of 10,000 acres be accrued with multiple large landowners bringing their lands together to make 10,000 acres and creating a bank to affect all of them in some fair share methodology.  Mr. Corwin responded the 10,000 acres, as long as it is an established area, could be cumulative by multiple property owners.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the idea is not to respond to what somebody says, but to what the community would like to do by going beyond the minimal requirements, and trying to find out where the community is heading.

 

 

Planning and Zoning Director Robin Sobrino stated the approach is to have options that will have value in the planning process.  Chair Voltz inquired will it be different from 1995 when good ideas from the community visioning process were not affordable.  Ms. Sobrino stated the State established nine areas to consider in the visioning process and the County must choose five of them; and the public participation process consists of one workshop and two public hearings to give the community more awareness of growth in the County than back in 1991.  Chair Voltz inquired what those nine items are, and who would choose the five items; with Ms. Sobrino responding she would look to the Board to select the five items.  Commissioner Carlson advised the Board could use the Coalition to help with the community visioning process by focusing on the strategy of those nine areas.  Commissioner Scarborough stated the County is unique and its percentage exceeds the research triangle; Brevard Tomorrow is a good example of the visioning process; and the comparison of the County to the Nation would do good things. Commissioner Colon stated data is important to our community.

 

Ms. Sobrino stated the State points out the concept of urban service boundaries, which is used as a planning tool to help program for infrastructure improvements and allocate resources within the urban area; and Mr. Corwin will explain the pros and cons on a very preliminary basis.

Planner Todd Corwin advised the urban service boundaries are where services will be provided in an area where they will not be provided; and the original Comprehensive Plan had two maps. He stated the Future Land Use Map has policies which govern the placement and the timing of public facilities as well as services and the residential density maps are for properties to be developed at a maximum.  He stated low density areas increase quality of life within the urban areas by making communities more walkable; concurrency management implements the adopted level of services standard; the Future Land Use Map is lower density out in the areas where public services are not available and higher density where public services are available; other communities have delineations between urban and rural areas with density limited to one unit per ten acres; but higher density development is possible. 

 

Doug Sphar advised the Workforce Development Board is investigating innovative solutions for workforce housing; and those will include innovative ideas for financial incentives, comprehensive planning, zoning, and permitting.  He stated implementing many of the ideas will require high-level coordination between the County and municipalities; the ideas will require legislative or regulatory actions to implement; and as the team brings the solutions before the Board and other governmental entities, they need to consider them with vision and an open mind.

 

A member of the audience stated there is a workshop in April to discuss the key issues and to give ideas on policies to incorporate into the Comprehensive Plan to make housing available to all spectrums of the economy. 

 

Discussion ensued concerning Property Appraiser Jim Ford’s presence at the workshop in April.

 

Commissioner Carlson inquired about a motion so staff understands what they are supposed to do at this point; with Ms. Sobrino responding staff understands the direction.

 

Commissioner Carlson stated the visioning process and the urban growth boundary are the intent of the Board for planning groups to talk to it about all those things; and they want direction for the Coalition to work with the cities and the County to come together with a plan to create their vision.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he would like to talk to staff before things begin because different things go in different directions and there may be some other thoughts.  Commissioner Carlson inquired about the task for the Coalition; with Commissioner Colon commenting to continue doing what it is doing.

 

Chair Voltz stated all the cities should be involved with the visioning process; and the Coalition should insure they all want to be involved, because if not, along with the School Board, then it is not going to go anywhere. 

 

Commissioner Carlson stated the task is to go out there and find out if the cities are willing to work on a community vision together and involve Brevard Tomorrow.  Chair Voltz inquired about a consultant for visioning process.  Commissioner Carlson commented she could suggest it as part of the Space Coast Coalition. Chair Voltz suggested looking at the cost.

 

Commissioner Colon commented each Commissioner, especially the ones that have municipalities in their Districts that are annexing a great deal, need to talk about the urban services area, map out the municipalities where the future visioning are of the unincorporated areas, and present it to the Board.

 

Ms. Sobrino stated a city having interest in annexing needs to be part of the Joint Planning Agreement (JPA) in recognizing areas that interface between the County and the city boundaries; and the JPA being a binding contract, will ensure the future development plans honoring density and intensity.  She stated the subcommittee is ready to sit down and start mapping the points of interface between the municipalities and County; and the annexation programs are just in Titusville, Palm Bay, and Melbourne.  Commissioner Scarborough commented Titusville is one of the more agreeable situations in the County today; however, Cocoa is still in litigation.

 

Commissioner Pritchard commented people are concerned about growth management and not dealing with the process; and if the municipalities are not comfortable doing this expeditiously, then it may force another way to see that other people become involved.

 

Commissioner Colon stated anyone from the public or any elected official is welcome to attend those meetings; it is not the Commissioners sitting on the Coalition; the County is growing and that is where those serious discussions are happening; and the Joint Planning Agreement has a positive affect because the cities with JPA’s are now pushing other cities to do the same.

 

Commissioner Carlson stated the Rural Land Stewardship Program provides some positive incentives with more density than the County allows in its Comprehensive Plan and protects those rural areas.

 

Commissioner Pritchard stated his concern was that the Coalition move forward and if that requires incentive every now and then to make sure that happens it is fine with him. Commissioner Carlson advised positive incentives may work better.  Commissioner Pritchard commented as long as the incentive causes it to move forward, then that is great.

 

Commissioner Scarborough advised the Joint Planning Agreements are seen by our constituents as superficial, so there may be those who ask for something more.

 

Chair Voltz stated the constituency should be aware of everything that goes on in a community and be involved with making changes for the future. 

Commissioner Pritchard inquired if County Attorney Scott Knox has reviewed Senator Mike Haridopolos’ proposed Senate Bill 138 and letter; with Mr. Knox responding it is easier to give the Board an example.  Mr. Knox advised what the bill basically says is if a person has a home that he or she sells for $300,000 it is assessed at $150,000 on the tax roll, he or she buys a $400,000 home, and then the $150,000 assessment travels with the person.  He stated the new assessed value is $400,000 less the $150,000, which gives a new assessed value of $250,000.  He stated a homeowner would get the benefit of the differential that he or she has before the circumstance with the new house.  Commissioner Pritchard advised it would only apply if a person purchases a home of greater value; and inquired what if a person buys a home of lesser value.  Mr. Knox responded a person would get assessed at just value

 

Chair Voltz advised as it is written now it would prevent people from downsizing.  Commissioner Scarborough stated he knows of a person who lost her husband; she could not afford to keep her home so she downsized; and she ended up in a worse situation.

 

Motion by Commissioner Pritchard, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to authorize the Chair to write a letter to Senator Mike Haridopolos requesting he consider revising Senate Bill 138 to provide homeowners who sell their homesteaded property and purchase another property within one year to apply the savings they have accrued to their newly homesteaded property even if the new property is assessed at a lower value.

 

 

Commissioner Colon inquired if the Board could not write a letter to Senate Haridopolos but invite him to come to talk to the Board.  Commissioner Scarborough responded he does not believe Senator Haridopolos will be opposed to the idea; and it needs to be explained to him that there are people who from financial necessity need to downsize their home.  Chair Voltz stated the Board should ask Senator Haridopolos to address the issue of those who are downsizing.

 

Chair Voltz called for a vote on the motion.  Motion carried and ordered unanimously.

 

 

 

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 11:32 a.m.

 

 

 

ATTEST:

 

                                                                                    ___________________________________

                                                                                    HELEN VOLTZ, CHAIR

                                                                                    BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

                                                                                    BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

___________________

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK

 

 

 

           (S E A L)