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01/31/1978 ", "".' ;.,"'1: , ?"" ~..:, . , . , . :'.J," 'j" 'j' " . -2- Mr. Bustin stated that the statute does apply to the Downtown Deveopment Board. Mr. Bustin then went on to explain the following nine points: 1) Government in the Sunshine Law is not limited to final, formal meet- ings where action is taken, but applies to any meeting or gathering where members of theBoard deal with a matter in which ~foreseeable action is to be taken. . 2) The test that is applied is whether or not two or more members of the Board have dealt with a problem in which foreseeable action m~y be taken. 3) The Executive Director of the Board can meet with each member of the Board to discuss business, provided he does not act as a conduit by circulating the thoughts and words of m~bers. . 4) Each item you consider, need not be placed on an Agenda as a pre- condition to Board consideration or action. Something which comes up between the time you set your Agenda and the meeting, will not prevent its being placed before the Board. 5) Mere attendance by two or more members of the Board at meetings of associations or organizations will not violate the Sunshine Law, as ~Jong as no discussion may be. participated in by the Board m~bers re- lating to any matter which they may foresee taking action on before the Board. 6) Executive sessions or work sessions of the Board would be covered by the Sunshine Law. 7) No distinction is made whether the Board is elective or appointive. The statute applies regardless. 8) The Board may not even meet privately with its attorney to discuss pending litigation. 9) Tha best policy to follow is, when in doubt, the members of the Board should follow the open meeting policy. Chairman Phifer asked "if the Chairman picks a Board Member to Chair a committee and the committee Chairman has to report directly back to the Chairman of theBoard, is that breaking the law?" Mr. Bustin replied that any reporting back to the Chairman of the Board by a committee Chairman other than that, the job 1s done, should be reported in the open. . '. '. . ~:: .1 ~ .. . .-- .... , ~'.r " . .'.} :'.';-' ~ ^~. '. . ," , .'. " ',' :<< I" ",. .;"': ':'.\ .' .I ,,;. ;, I' '. . J, ' . . .' , ., , ;.' )", . \, '.' .{ " " ' '. ' ' "', " GD,;:;;.;; [....".- "'".' -3- . Mr. 099 asked if a meeting of the Historical Committee must be held in the Sunshine Law. Mr. Bustin replied that when a committee is related to the City Commission, and is considering matters which may be taken up by the commission, then he would recommend meeting in the open. Mr. Hammock asked what actually constitutes notice under the Sunshine Law? Mr. Bustin replied that you should follow your by-laws to the letter. Mr. Hammock asked about the recent discussion concerning a meeting of the County Commissioners, in which it was held that there was no intent to vi- olate the Sunshine Law. Mr. Bustin replied that the matter to which Mr. Hammock referred was actually a states attorney's opinion that sufficient evidence would not exist for a criminal act in that particular case. Chairman Phifer welcomed Mr. Paul Hatchett, Chairman of the County Facili- ties Committee. .Mr. Hatchett introduced Mr. Jack Wilkinson, the Director of General Services of Pinellas County. Mr. Wilkinson reported that the County Commission had requested a study from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), and that the LEAA report had not yet been received. Mr. Wilkinson said that he believes the Oounty Board is going to go ahead and discuss the matter soon. Mr. Wilkinson said that the County Board has authorized hiring an architect for a structure adjacent to the Court House, and that their basic need right now is to find property for an additional 500 parking spaces. Mr. Wilkinson said the County is also budgeted for a maximum security jail which is still uncertain as to location. Chainman Phifer asked what would happen to the jail if the prisoners were taken out? Mr. Wil kinson repl ied that it would probably be used for offices, coordinating offices which have been moved to other locations, such as Largo and the 1100 Building in Clearwater. Mr. Wilkinson said that if the jail was moved, that only three (3) judges would be taken from Clearwater and three (3) judges from St. Petersburg. Chainman Phifer asked when a decision would be made. Mr. Wilkinson said it would be hard for him to say when a decision would be made. Chainman Phifer asked where the records and computer would be located. Mr. Wilkinson answered that the computer would continue to be located in the Court House Complex. . I,;, . .....' .... ~,..~ >~~!'.: ,,--. .':' . ... -' '" ' - , ," ," 'I - ,.1 " , ' , ',r . """",': ' j I'.' J.. ,'. ~" :' ': \ . , ;!,' , , " ',' " ~l.. .,.\,'...-.' ',' . '. " ., ,I. '.','" . " "", , :. . .. < . -4- . Mr. Casella asked if the County Board is still considering the City of Clearwater's offer to jointly fund a feasibility study for a parking structure. Mr. Wilkinson replied that no. 'official action has been taken. Mr. Wilkinson added that a feasibility study from the City of St. Petersburg in- dicated that a parking garage was not feasible in St. Petersburg, and that it appeared that if fea~ibility was lacking in St. Petersburg, it would also be lacking in Clearwater. Mr. Nunamaker asked if the County was considering using a bayfront community center parking garage jointly with the city. Mr. Wilkinson replied that if the two structures, the county's new office building and the community center parking garage materialized at the same time, then it is possible that some joint arrangement could be put together. Chairman Phifer asked Mr. Tom Brown if he had anything relating to State Road 60. He stated that he expected further meetings in the comeing week, and he would report at a later date. Chairman Phifer introduced Mrs. Aaron Bilgore, representing the Girls Club of p'jnellas County. Mrs. Bilgore announced that the Girls Club is planning a movie opening at the Carib Theater and a party atop the Bank of Clearwater on March 18, 1978. Mrs. Bilgore said that the Girls Club hopes to sell ad- vertising in its program and hopes to encourage downtown restaurants to re- main open the evening of March 18. Mrs. Bilgore said the name of the movie is "A Hero Ain't Nothing But a Sand- wich.1I ... . Chairman Phifer called upon Mr. Aaron Bilgore to report on the activities of th~ Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Bilgore said the Chamber of Commerce is concentrating its activities towards approval of the bayfront community cen- ter. Chairman Phifer stated that she would like to bring up a matter which is not on the'Agenda. The Chairman then referred to a memorandum from Mr. Casella to the Board of Directors in which he informed the Board "that he . has been appointed to the Regional Capital Improvements Technical Advisory Committee of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, and he would report .. to the Board from time to time on the activities of that committee. The Chairman asked for an explanation of the purpose of the committee and its membership. Mr. Casella explained that the purpose of the committee is to help identify local projects that serve area-wide needs and to provide for federal finan- cial assistance for local projects. Mr. Casella said that membership of that committee consists of representatives of local government, transporta- tion and educational agencies and most members are staff personnel, as this is a technical advisory committee. . ~. ',' .' . ~!'.~ '.' _.' , ",I:,' ;.~..,'. .... ~ .or . :~:::, . J: .. ',:, . I",. .,. ,~ '. - . .' : ,.....: "..' ,.,'" ',r_' " .:;, '/,'.", I~ '. " ," .... . .'" '. "j. -, ,t>. I,.." , ,',. .,,' .J.' . ,. ," " . -5- . Mr. Nunamaker stated,that with $58,000,000 of federal money being funneled into the region, it would be important to have input to the regional plan- ning council. Mr. Casella said that he would supply the Board members with a list of the members of the committee and that he would attend the first committee meeting and the report to the Board whether he believes continued participation is warranted. Chairman Phifer suggested that the order of business be amended to mov~ consideration of adoption of goals to later in the meeting. Mr. Casella reported that he recommends the matter of acquisition of an of- fice copier be continued to the next monthly meeting. Mr. Casella made a recommendation that the Board approve the parking amend- ment to allow a Farmers Market, and to approve the rules for a Farmers Market Committee. Chairman Phifer stated that the memorandum concerning the Farmers Market should be amended to state that the Downtown Development Board should endorse a Farmers Market, but administration and supervision should be by the Farmers Market Committee of the Downtown Clearwater'Asso- ciation. Discussion followed, in whi~h Mr. Casella pointed out that the suggested rules, as amended on January.20, 1978, include the provision that you must grow or make what you sell. Following discussion, Mr. Warren made a.motion that the Board approve the amendment to the parking agreement as submitted and the amended rules for operation of the Farmers Market with the stipulation that the Director be authorized to enter into an operational agreement with the Downtown Clear- water Association, and that the Farmers Market be held in accordance with the rules. Mr. Bilgore seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed. Mr. Casella recommended that the Board establish a policy concerning tax increment financing and consider passing a resolution. Mr. Hammock made a motion that the Board approve a resolution that requests the Constitu- tional Revision Commission to amend the Florida State Constitution to per- mit Florida communities to use tax increment and tax abatement financing for urban redevelopment purposes. Mr. Warren seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed. . :;;, . ,j; I .. _ ..~.:~.:~:: l.. , ~, '.'\ . ..... ...".1' ... ',~ ' . ' 'I':{-' (I; , '. > .::- ~. \ ! -'," : ,l: ',-' ~ " . '.l~ -:' ",' 'I '.1 ;' . , ,. I.' '.1. . , , 1',- , I. ..-.:6 ., t.,...1' ~ . t' . ,~ .;, ," ..:..:.]]. '.. .' . ' , . , " , , ., ., , . I ~ ,. .'," ,,' 1\' ., , . I"~ .. . -7- . Mrs. Phifer stated that she and Mr. Bilgore intend to go to the Chamber of Commerce Executive meeting on Tuesday, to urge the Chamber to join hands in promoting the Civic Center. Mr. Bilgore suggested that it would be important to register voters whq lived downtown. Mr. Hammock said that he agrees with everything that has been said and believes that we have got to get behind the Center. Mr. Hammock said that maybe as a Board, we could not do too much, but individually we could try to sell the concept of the':Civic Center. Mr. Hammock said the problem is to get the people to go out and vote. Mrs. Phifer said that renderings should be placed in churches, banks, and residential buildings. Mr. Nunamaker suggested that each Board member distribute picture postcards to encourage people to support the community center. Mr. Nun.amaker said there is a need to get information out to people and to utilize a Speakers Bureau. Mr. Bilgore made a motion that the Board appropriate $300 to provide, brochures to convince people to support the bayfront community center, and to obtain legal counsel concerning the leagality of that act. Mr. Hammock seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed. Mr. Bilgore made another motion that an additional $300 dollars be appropriated to demonstrate the beauty of the Community Center through posters pending on opin- ion from the attorney that the Board may do it. The motion was seconded by Mr. Warren. A vote was taken and the motion passed. Mr. Nunamaker suggested that the goals be prioritized and considered at the next work session. Mr. Warren made a motion to adopt the goals with priority and time frame to be looked at further. There being no second, no action was taken on the motion and there was a consensus that the goals would be considered further at the next session. Chairman Phifer asked for nominations for Chainman and Vice-Chainman. Mr. Btlgore nominated Mr. Hammock for Chairman. A vote was taken and Mr. Hammock was elected. Mr. Warren nominated Mr. 8ilgore for Vice- Chairman. A vote was taken and Mr. Bilgore was elected. Meeting ajourned at 6:28 p.m. Respectfully submitted, "-'1 hL Sam Casella, Executive Director . SC/kjm .' '. . .. , /. 1: ' ,.;