February 16, 2006 Special/workshop
Feb 16 2006
`MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF
February 16, 2006
The Board of County Commissioners of
.Present were:Chair Helen Voltz, Commissioners Truman Scarborough, Ron Pritchard, Susan Carlson, and Jackie Colon, County Manager Peggy Busacca, and County Attorney Scott Knox.
REPORT, RE: ARRANGEMENT WITH JOE WALLACE OF
Commissioner Scarborough stated over the last several months, members of the Industrial Park at
Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Colon, to direct staff to formally work with the City of
REPORT, RE: SNIPE SIGN GRAB
Commissioner Pritchard thanked staff who worked on the snipe sign grab on
; stated the improvement it makes to the corridor and the neighborhood when the signs are removed is good; and he appreciates all the effort.
REPORT, RE: PANDEMIC AND AVIAN FLU
Commissioner Carlson stated staff is getting briefings from the Health Department and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) regarding the pandemic and avian flu; detection systems are in hospitals all over the State to show data regarding the flu or other diseases occurring in the community; and
Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Scarborough, to direct staff, including the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Health Department, to provide a report to the Board regarding early detection systems at hospitals and clinics on the pandemic and avian flu, costs involved, and who pays the bill. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.
REPORT, RE: PANDEMIC AND AVIAN FLU (CONTINUED)
Commissioner Scarborough stated veterinary clinics need to have the same surveillance system so the veterinarians are the first lines of defense with the avian flu; it is important to be prepared; and EOC is working with the Health Department. He suggested the Health Department take the next step and get with the hospitals and clinics to find out how much it is going to cost; and inquired who will foot the bill.
Commissioner Colon stated in March there is a town meeting at the
REPORT, RE: EAST
Commissioner Colon stated the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council (ECFRPC) is in the process of getting a new director; and it is someone who is very qualified. She commented on the scope of work done by the Council, including reviewing Development of Regional Impacts (DRI’s) and work to connect the Geographic Information System (GIS) Departments. Commissioner Carlson stated she and Commissioner Colon went with the recommendation of the Selection Committee for the new Executive Director; they will meet him in April before one of the regular scheduled meetings; and they will be looking at the Geographic Information System framework for the capabilities, interests, and needs of all the counties in the Region to see how things will be fed into one centralized system. She stated they are very interested in the new Director because of his leadership skills and background; and he comes on board in 45 days.
REPORT, RE: PUBLIC RELATIONS (PR) PERSON
Commissioner Colon stated the Board needs to get more assertive with its PR person; the community needs to know about the good things going on; and there are positive articles coming out twice a month to inform the community of where their dollars are being spent.
REPORT, RE: MEET AND GREET IN
Commissioner Carlson suggested the Central Florida Smart Growth Alliance occasionally meet in
REPORT, RE: ADMINISTRATIVE REZONING FOR AQUARINA
Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Pritchard, to direct staff to carve out Parcel A from Administrative Rezoning for Aquarina as such Parcel was sold. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.
REPORT, RE: PERMISSION TO TRAVEL TO
DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION ANNUAL COMMUNITY LEADERS MEETING
Motion by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Pritchard, to grant permission for Chair Voltz, Commissioner Colon, and any other Commissioner who desires, to travel to
REPORT, RE: PERMISSION TO SEND LETTERS REGARDING RESTORATION OF
TURKEY CREEK AND COMPLETION OF C1 RE-DIVERSION PROGRAM
John Mongioi, Friends of Turkey Creek, stated Turkey Creek has been suffering from the C1 canal and it needs to be restored. He requested funding be reinstated for the Section 206 Program to help restore Turkey Creek. He stated Suzie Perez, representing Senator Nelson’s office, recommended requesting a letter from State Representative Mitch Needelman and the Board to go with the request to support the effort to restore Turkey Creek. He noted if the funding is approved, the City of
Motion by Commissioner Scarborough, seconded by Commissioner Pritchard, to authorize Chair Voltz to send letters to Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez, Congressmen Dave Weldon and Tom Feeney, and Lobbyist Eddy Pauley requesting funding to complete restoration of Turkey Creek’s valuable ecosystem and completion of the C1 Re-diversion Program. Motion carried and ordered unanimously.
REPORT, RE: N19 EZ CORPORATION AIRPORT
Chair Voltz requested County Attorney Scott Knox explain what the letter from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says.
Office does not agree with the County’s position regarding N19 EZ Corporation’s request for hangar development. Chair Voltz stated the Board is going to work with them.
REPORT, RE: RESCHEDULED BREVARD CULTURAL
Chair Voltz requested staff reschedule the March 16, 2006 Brevard Cultural Alliance Workshop as some Commissioners will be attending the Economic Development Commission Annual Community Leaders meeting in Washington, D.C. County Manager Peggy Busacca stated that will be fine.
DISCUSSION, RE: STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION
Commissioner Carlson inquired if the consumer and employee surveys will be done by March. Ms. Busacca responded the National Citizens Survey is already complete; there is no date for the staff survey; and it will be discussing the structure. She stated everything staff does will be consistent with the structure so the Board sees it come together and not be a random Strategic Plan over here, the budget there, and the Comprehensive Plan there; and that is how staff is focusing on the budget as it comes through.
Commissioner Pritchard stated the strategic element is an umbrella with three major components, the Budget, Comprehensive Plan, and Capital Improvement Plan (CIP); and under budget there is a fiscal responsibility. He stated staff knows where the measurable outcomes are and whether it achieves performance measures; annual evaluations for management and other staff should be tied to performance evaluations and the Strategic Plan; and it has to be fully accountable to what the long range goal is and how to achieve the goal.
Bob Seemer, Executive Director of Electronic Training Solutions, Inc., stated the Strategic Plan is an umbrella; and all the other plans are currently on their way and important components of that. He stated building on previous discussions shared with the Board, the County-level measures are the measures being viewed monthly and quarterly; and it cascades all the way down to priorities for the County and addresses the needs of today and tomorrow. He stated eventually every employee, whether full-time or part-time in the County, understands how he or she ties into helping the County achieve its goals of success and efficiencies; and it is about proactive communication and letting citizens know how to help them receive better service, get value for the expenditures of taxes or fees, be able to show the cost versus the services, and how that translates into value. He advised he has received a lot of feedback over the last couple of months, and not just positive feedback but concerns; the County cannot make everybody happy all of the time; and the plan and format focus on measures and priorities. He advised the big issues will be addressed and will provide the capability for staff and County government to do a great job in the future; he can address any questions or concerns the Board has; he will review the proposed County-level measures; and the Board will be reviewing measures on a monthly and quarterly basis. He stated he wants to discuss the County-level measures, strategic goals, objectives, and measures, how the County-level measures and strategic objective measures tie together; and he will review the deployment process, the proposed final Strategic Plan format, and continue to work with the County Manager and staff on specifics.
DISCUSSION, RE: STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION (CONTINUED)
Commissioner Pritchard inquired about how to measure the quality of life issues and the elements of it; stated people do not realize how to measure the quality of life by dividing it into elements such as recreation or environment; and these elements can determine the measure for quality of life. Mr. Seemer advised he has worked with senior citizens, persons with disabilities, children zero to five years of age, and the Department of Education; all of these different demographic groups have their own idea of what the quality of life looks like; years of research goes behind developing those dimensions of quality of life; and it is definitely measurable based on the particular citizen’s point of view. He commented some people focus on golf and do not support soccer fields or parks on the beach; and there are the people who do not use those, do not see the need, and do not realize it is all part of the big picture of what Brevard County is.
Chair Voltz advised everybody plays a part in the whole scheme of things; and just because a person has no children in school does not mean he or she does not support the school system. Mr. Seemer stated it is all about the community, the County that he can participate in, and it makes a better community. He stated the County needs to continue to emphasize that it is providing value and a wide-range of services; and if it does not provide quality and those services today it may not be there later. He advised the Strategic Plan will be deployed throughout the County departments; to measure success is not specifically the citizen’s satisfaction only and not in government efficiency only; the County wants its citizens to understand the services they are getting for the price they are paying is a very high value; and many studies would show people are willing to pay for the value but do not want to pay for poor quality or poor service. He stated when the County is doing a great job it needs to be communicated; and it could do a better job of proactively letting citizens know how it is doing. He stated measure and data are used to promote management by fact; the intention is to understand how well the County is doing by communicating the facts; and to use the terms service levels and benchmarks will give staff the tools so they can improve without a lot of money. He stated by having the data, staff would know specifically where to focus attention and make changes; critical issues are addressed in the plan; and the plan is clear, concise, balanced, and efficient. He advised the plan addresses today’s issues and tomorrow’s needs; and the goals and objectives can be translated into meaningful action by all departments.
Commissioner Pritchard stated after reviewing the executive summary, opportunities for improvement and the mission as it pertains to the quality of life have not been translated into measures. Mr. Seemer commented there are a lot of measures that are available that have not been capitalized on; and a lot of data available is being tracked by other counties in other states. Commissioner Pritchard stated often the County is doing great in the State but the State of
Commissioner Scarborough stated about two years ago a study was done on the levels of satisfaction in the region;
DISCUSSION, RE: STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION (CONTINUED)
He stated he read the University of Indiana Report that dealt with the level of satisfaction of happiness by continuing to use economic data, but once it hit a certain threshold, there is a disconnect.
Mr. Seemer stated he would like to cover the measures; the first one would be all citizens’ satisfaction, such as basic services, safety related services, and to have staff report on overall value; next is the quality of life issue; there are two areas where the County can get meaningful measures; and it is tracking community measures which have benchmarks of ten other counties and the National Citizen Survey that comes out periodically. He stated community measures have a lot of financial related measures in them; data can be found on usage of facilities, cost and money allocated for those services, which are useful when needing to communicate; the Comprehensive Plan is a huge document; and it is beyond the ability of any one person to manage on a day-to-day, month-to-month basis. He noted the key to the Comprehensive Plan is significant citizen input; it represents what the County could look like in several important areas in the future; and it is a good blueprint for building out the County. He stated there are 13 elements with about 96 objectives in the Comprehensive Plan; those objectives have specific policies that support them; so the County can see the magnitude of keeping track of something that large.
Chair Voltz inquired why 600 policies are necessary. Ms. Busacca responded staff recommends policies be removed or consolidated if they are outdated; and the Board can check them off the list and remove them. She stated the Board could consider taking policies out, but leave them in the Land Development Regulations; some people do not feel comfortable with that because the Comprehensive Plan has a more stringent review process than the Land Development Regulations; and the Board may feel more comfortable having that safety net. Commissioner Carlson stated the Board could have the Comprehensive Plan as a foundation, but some departments may feel they own a piece of the Comprehensive Plan through an ordinance; and the ordinances under a particular department are scattered and not under one umbrella. She commented how the County tried to do this with environmental and was not successful. She inquired how to consolidate and make the Plan more efficient so it can be translated.
Mr. Seemer stated many of those policies are linked to the same ordinance; and there may be one in the Conservation Element, Coastal Management, or Surface Water; and they are all related and similar. Commissioner Pritchard stated the problem is to provide input as to how to do something; the different departments are all looking at it from one perspective and they say okay; and another department looks at it and says no it is not okay. He commented the Future Land Use Element, part of the Comprehensive Plan, is supposed to be the worst case scenario; parts of Merritt Island riverfront are 25 units per acre; it needs to be more realistic; and if the current zoning is AU, the most would be one or two units per acre, but not 25 units per acre. He
stated when people buy the property they look at the elements and think they can have 10 units per acre, and then find out he or she cannot really do that.
Ms. Busacca commented having worked in Planning and Zoning she has spoken to many of those people on a day-to-day basis. Ms. Busacca advised there will be some retentiveness to the Plan because the State Statute is written in such a way that it is required to say the same things two or three times. Commissioner Carlson stated the elements are laid out to have certain elements in the Statute to define each one; and it is up to staff to integrate them.
DISCUSSION, RE: STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION (CONTINUED)
Ms. Busacca stated laws are not always written as crisp as needed; in order to do in-depth evaluation, if it is the Board’s top priority, then a lot of the other things are going to have to go by
the wayside; and that is what staff wants out of the Strategic Planning effort. She requested the Board provide staff with its priorities because every week the State has a new thing to put on the County’s list; and it gets more confusing to the staff as to what the priorities are. She stated the Strategic Plan gives staff, citizens, and the Board a piece of the action; and everyone needs to help set the priorities, so limited staff and limited resources can be put where they belong.
Commissioner Pritchard stated his priority is the development of what Mr. Seemer is doing to get a better understanding of where and how the County is going to do it; once it gets to that level then the Board can take the Comprehensive Plan or Capital Improvement Plan and say Brevard County has too many policies that are not needed; there can be an overall guide; and if staff can make a reasonable intelligent decision it can run with it.
Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board is aware of limited staff; on a number of occasions it has added a position; and the Comprehensive Plan is unyielding and some people do not understand it. Ms. Busacca stated she asked for an estimate of what it would cost to hire a consultant to help with the Evaluation and Appraisal Report, which may be the alternative to the current staffing problem. Commissioner Scarborough inquired what can be done to make it work. Chair Voltz stated she received an e-mail yesterday that said those positions have not been filled because of the salary; the Board should look at those salaries and get the positions filled immediately; it is vitally important to the County; and it needs to get it done now, as fast as the County is growing. Commissioner Carlson stated it will be part of the discussion when the salary study is brought back to the Board; and it should be at the end of the month.
Mr. Seemer stated another important measure is the cost of government; suggested taking the normal operations of maintenance expense plus short-term capital, and using the capital outlay as a component to figure out the cost; and track for long-term investments. He stated the fifth measure not listed on the chart is the overall employee satisfaction; the Board in different ways has voiced the importance to have a satisfied staff; and dissatisfied staff gets into retention issues, productivity issues, and poor service quality issues, which makes it difficult to deliver high quality service. He commented the Board has mentioned the importance of staff satisfaction; it needs to be tracked at this level; driving those measures should be the Board’s priority; but it has limited resources to make hard choices. He stated concerning the proposed four goals and eight objectives to drive County level measures the Board is watching on a routine basis; the first one is to increase citizen’s satisfaction with government; one objective is to increase satisfaction with services where every department would identify the key services it provides to citizens; and the Board would track satisfaction. He suggested setting up a mechanism in five departments by being more specific so the departments can zero in on certain service areas; stated they can start making specific improvements; working with each department on the planning process will help identify the key services they provide; and at the end of the process is an inventory of services the citizens feel can be evaluated for quality.
Commissioner Pritchard stated he brought the Park and Recreation’s summary deficiencies today and identified nine that the Department has no method for determining the needs of segmented customers; the Department’s Strategic Plan has no goals, objectives, or measures for all of its goals, and no method to deploy its goals; and there is no systematic approach for
communicating the status of projects or completion. He inquired if Mr. Seemer has a way to
overcome all of those deficiencies in this Department.
DISCUSSION, RE: STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION (CONTINUED)
Mr. Seemer responded within six to eight months those should be good. Commissioner Carlson stated this is a problem with many of the departments; and the County is trying to do the deficiency analysis in all departments.
Commissioner Pritchard stated there was a possible 1,000 points that could be accrued, but Parks and Recreation Department only received 178. Mr. Seemer stated an organization that gets up in the 300 to 400 range has its act together. Commissioner Pritchard stated the stellar performers have a lot of necessary tools in place to build on. Mr. Seemer stated getting up around in the 400 range in 12 to 18 months is doing well; and the highest score ever achieved in the history of the program is around 800. Commissioner Pritchard commented he expected around the 600 range. Chair Voltz inquired where Mr. Seemer came up with 1,000 if no one has even come close to it. Commissioner Pritchard stated he did not want to set his sight at 400 ranges and wanted to set the sight at 600 or 650, and then see if that level can be achieved. Mr. Seemer stated he wanted to focus on capability, how staff is doing, and measures for improving the effectiveness of key services. He noted the County wants to make sure the services are being achieved at level of service standards by identifying services and measures; he wants to see the relationship between level of service standards and the citizen satisfaction; and if the County exceeds the standards, but citizens are still not satisfied, then there is a disconnect between what the County is measuring and what it is claiming a success. He stated citizen satisfaction is a perception; and improving effectiveness of key services is around the hard data the
Commissioner Scarborough stated Clerk of Courts Scott Ellis has ranked all the different positions of level of stress and dissatisfaction by identifying them as being hard jobs, and if a person has been doing a good job in a stressful position and is burning out, he moves them to a less stressful job; and if a person is in a good job but appears to be marginal at it, he moves them from the good job to a stressful job. Mr. Seemer inquired if the employees encourage themselves. Commissioner Scarborough responded a person gets what he or she asks for in life; and suggested he talk with Mr. Ellis. Commissioner Carlson inquired if Mr. Ellis provided that information to the Board; with Commissioner Scarborough responding Mr. Ellis visited with him and shared some of his thoughts. Commissioner Carlson stated she would be interested in seeing that.
Mr. Seemer stated the next goal is effectively managing growth; one objective is to improve utilization of the Comprehensive Plan; and one measure is percent of policies on schedule with a complete status. He stated the next objective is to improve the transportation network; one measure would be to report in use the road miles that have more than 80% capacity; the next measure is average commute time; and another measure might be passenger miles using alternate means other than cars, such as the bus system and safety. Mr. Seemer stated the
next goal is to increase workforce satisfaction; one thing that came up during the analysis last
year was employee development; many employees did not have development plans that were being used to improve their capability; and by making sure 100% of all employees have a
development plan will increase employee capability. He commented it is where he would want to track the effectiveness of the training that the employees are getting; and he will work with the
DISCUSSION, RE: STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION (CONTINUED)
Commissioner Pritchard inquired if the County has a succession plan if someone leaves. Ms. Busacca responded when it comes to lower ranks, typically a succession plan is fairly well established, as long as the County continues to hire people in those positions; with upper ranks it is very low on people who could fill in for directors; and each director, as part of his or her performance agreement, is to identify a person who can take over for him or her in the event he or she can no longer continue. She commented there are four directors who can readily identify successors in his or her place; and the Board approved the money to do the training so the directors would be able to identify them. She stated in some areas such as Finance Managers, the County is coming up with a system that will be set up in the Budget Office; people will be brought into the Budget Office for training; and him or her move into a department as he or she becomes knowledgeable. Commissioner Pritchard inquired do department managers feel the need to train their replacement. Ms. Busacca responded she does not think it has been a high priority. Commissioner Pritchard stated it is his experience that in other areas the manager is insecure about having someone capable of taking over; and the motivating factor is employees can look at it as an opportunity for advancement. Ms. Busacca stated the County is trying to create a career ladder system because staff does not see opportunities for increases and improvement; that is one of her priorities since becoming County Manager, since there are 30% of the people eligible to retire in the next five years; and it would be an impact on the type of services the County is providing to the public.
Mr. Seemer stated the fourth goal is to increase government efficiency; one objective is to increase the efficiency of services measured by citizens per County employee; and another measure is expenditure per capita. He stated the County Manager will be managing those very carefully to make sure every department is looking at the quality of service and the cost of providing those services; the County Manager or Assistant County Manager Don Lusk would be able to show the level of service by adding to staff; and one measure will be utilization of the funding in how to manage the County; and the Board will review the status of the results, and when it comes back to the Board will focus on increases in citizen satisfaction of services. Commissioner Carlson inquired if the existing Strategic Plan is being used for a guide. Mr. Seemer responded all of the departments have already done a lot of work in planning and reviewed all those documents. Commissioner Scarborough stated people elected the Commissioners to represent them and to ask the questions; and there has to be a process. Commissioner Carlson stated staff, headed by a
global perspective strategically, and the facts that support it. Mr. Seemer stated looking at the
five County measures there is one citizen satisfaction; the
to create a Strategic Plan and have it ready by October. He commented there is a process for developing the plan to have sufficient input so goals make sense. Commissioner Carlson stated Mr. Seemer’s four strategic rules are transportation, growth management, work force satisfaction, and efficiency. Commissioner Scarborough stated the Board is charged by the citizens to be on guard for opportunities or risks at any moment. Mr. Seemer stated for the plan to be useful it has to be flexible for other issues and incorporate those issues; the goals represent the County’s current policy for where it is heading; and if it is out-of-sync with any of those then adjustments need to be made.
DISCUSSION, RE: STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION (CONTINUED)
He stated it is the
Commissioner Carlson stated between level of service and standards there is sufficient information to make the same decisions on any department; and a critical piece is integration. Commissioner Scarborough stated the best policy is a clear policy that everybody understands, and being fair to the individual case. Commissioner Pritchard stated the elements in the Comprehensive Plan, include Conservation, Coastal Management, and Future Land Use; the Conservation Element has 10 objectives and 88 policies; the Coastal Management Element has 107 policies, and the Future Land Use Element has 95 policies; and in managing those policies the Board should look at the objectives.
Commissioner Pritchard stated looking at other counties’ comprehensive plans, the delineation of policies and objectives should be similar from county-to-county with a higher proportion in the three areas of conservation, coastal management, and future land use. He inquired if the State provides a guideline on the development of comprehensive plans for staff to follow. Ms. Busacca responded the State’s guideline drives the number of policies; and all but historic preservation is mandatory. She stated Chapter 9J5 and Florida Administrative Code says a mandatory policy relates to the preservation of residential land uses, commercial land uses, and industrial land uses.
Mr. Seemer stated step four is the most labor intensive step to identify the cost and how it will impact the budget; it takes somewhere between six and eight weeks, depending on how efficiently staff can schedule 30 departments to meet; and he will be working with staff to finalize the plans. Mr. Seemer stated step six executes the Strategic Plan at all levels; and step seven is reporting back, showing the progress, monitoring, evaluating, and making adjustments. He stated the next year will be baseline data of services provided to the County, its performance, citizen satisfaction data, and cost for better improvements. Commissioner Carlson stated the Comprehensive Plan is in relationship with the cities trying to get a handle on growth. Commissioner Colon stated the quality of life issue is the investment the County gives to the community. Mr. Seemer stated one thing he found is work hard at the department level, improve services by looking at the measure of service, and look at the citizen’s survey to see what the perception is for improvement. He stated when citizens have no need for improvement remind them of the County being proactive.
Chair Voltz suggested doing a guest column in
DISCUSSION, RE: STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION (CONTINUED)
Mr. Seemer stated Page 21 is a summary of everything discussed, and about delivering the facts to show value to citizens; the Strategic Plan includes the Comprehensive Plan, service
quality, and efficiently supports the needs of
Upon motion and vote, the meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m.
ATTEST:
__________________________________
HELEN VOLTZ, CHAIR
BOARD OF
___________________
SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK
(S E A L)