Loading...
10/05/2020 Council Work Session Meeting Minutes October 5, 2020 City of Clearwater Main Library- Council Chambers 100 N. Osceola Avenue Clearwater, FL 33755 m ap ® e Meeting Minutes Monday, October 5, 2020 9:00 AM Council Philosophy Discussion - Special Work Session Main Library - Council Chambers Council Work Session Page 1 City of Clearwater Council Work Session Meeting Minutes October 5, 2020 Rollcall Present 5 - Mayor Frank Hibbard, Vice Mayor David Allbritton, Councilmember Hoyt Hamilton, Councilmember Kathleen Beckman, and Councilmember Mark Bunker Also Present: William B. Horne II — City Manager, Micah Maxwell —Assistant City Manager, Michael Delk—Assistant City Manager, Pamela K. Akin City Attorney, Rosemarie Call — City Clerk, and Nicole Sprague — Deputy City Clerk. To provide continuity for research, items are listed in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. 1. Call to Order— Mayor Hibbard The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. in Council Chambers at the Main Library. 2. Council Discussion Item 2.1 Roundtable Discussion of Philosophy and Priorities 1) The ICEBREAKER Each Councilmember answered the questions, which provided insight to their personal lives. 2) What do you believe Clearwater's identity is and what would you like it to be? Discussion ensued with comments made that Clearwater is a beautiful city that has grown a lot over time, has the best parks in the area, each neighborhood has their own personality, is a nationwide beach destination, Clearwater is viewed as a clean, safe city with benchmarks prospective property buyers want that it could do more to balance residential and commercial properties, would like to be known as a first class beach, disparity in neighborhoods needs to be addressed, Clearwater is not seen as innovative or leaders locally - need to determine how much do we want to spend on each service - want to be a town where a child born here can get a good education and a good job and not move away after college. 3) What is the role of city government? Page 2 City of Clearwater Council Work Session Meeting Minutes October 5, 2020 Discussion ensued with comments made that the state, federal and county governments do things the City does not, citizens are concerned with safety and city infrastructure, the city assists non-profits to address social service needs, that the state does not provide enough for those needing affordable or subsidized housing assistance or for early childhood education. It was stated the City has been a leader in several areas (i.e., LED lighting, library services and park amenities) but Council needs to determine if it wants to be a leader in other areas. A comment was made that economic development is a responsibility of the local government, Imagine Clearwater will spark much needed economic development that will bring in revenue so that the City can continue to financially assist social service programs. The role of local government is to provide the goods and services the private sector does not provide. In response to a comment, the City Manager said the city charter does not provide him the mandate to provide social services. The City uses general revenue funds to pay for social services, which is a function of the millage rate. When elected officials say they do not want to raise taxes, that means he has to be careful how funds are spent. He said homelessness is the only social service the City funds through the general fund, which is directed to social service providers. General fund dollars are used to address homelessness because staff was having a difficult time with those who choose to live on the streets. Pinellas County has a larger social service budget. He said, being a built-out community, staff identifies opportunities to strengthen the economy because otherwise the burden of providing social services will fall on the community and not all residents have the capacity to take on additional taxes. He said that is why redevelopment of The Landings has been part of the plan. The City Manager said if he is being directed to provide social services, council policy and guidance is needed. The City Attorney said there are three different levels of response: 1) individual response to individual needs, 2) regulation (what government can do to make it better), and 3) support non-profits and social service providers through the use of general funds. A comment was made that the City should partner more with social service providers. 4) How do we want to encourage diversity? Discussion ensued with comments made that Council is responsible for Page 3 City of Clearwater Council Work Session Meeting Minutes October 5, 2020 recruiting prospective advisory board members and that diversity should include experience, age and ethnicity in addition to gender, race, and geographic areas. It was stated that board membership and awarded contracts should represent the makeup of the community. 5) What should the City's role be in economic development? Discussion ensued with comments made that economic development is an important function and that incentives are needed but property owners must also invest in their own property. It was commented that the City should invest in catalytic projects even though ROI may be difficult to determine. In response to questions, Economic Development and Housing Director Denise Sanderson said there are a couple of ways to look at economic development: 1) Main Street ED, which is most familiar in Clearwater through the CRA funding mechanism that allows the CRA to make investments that lead to traditional investment or 2) Economic Based Theory, which is the net in-flow of money(i.e., tourism) versus the leakage of money going out. She said that is the reason why the Department pursues manufacturing, IT, software, finance and insurance industries, which bring higher-paying and higher-skilled job opportunity. The Main Street model gets to the vitality of the community and generates interest. Ms. Sanderson said she is interested in the second floor and up, what is putting people in those offices and what kinds of jobs are they doing. The Department partners with the CRA to help with a vibrant ground floor destination. She said economic development can incorporate both theories. She said US 19 is the greatest economic opportunity Clearwater has for quality job creation with dynamic and interesting environments. When attracting businesses to the area, staff knows that CEOs are considering sustainability and accessibility to airports and highways, US 19 is becoming a 5-minutedrive to a 55 mph route. She recommended implementing incentives that stay with the asset, regardless of what happens to the job creator over time. It was stated that the City focuses on the main street but needs to focus more on the economic based theory. A concern was expressed with how COVID may impact the need for office space. Discussion ensued with comments made that measured risks and investments are needed. The Council recessed from 11:09 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Page 4 City of Clearwater Council Work Session Meeting Minutes October 5, 2020 6) What is your philosophy on projects that we expect a positive ROI? Discussion ensued with comments made that public facilities are not expected to have an ROI but should be a benefit for Clearwater residents and that quality of life should be included when considering ROIs. Every project should be guided by Greenprint but not necessarily achieve LEED certification. The Greenprint plan should be updated and include measurable goals there was support for 5 and 6-year ROI timeframe. A comment was made that Imagine Clearwater will have an impact for generations but the ROI will be longer than two years. It was suggested that a future presentation on solar panels be scheduled, the presentation would include experts and will address what goes into the solar panels and what happens when they are discarded. 7) The beach is our largest economic engine, how do we make certain that we preserve the quality of the beach? Discussion ensued with comments made that Beach Walk is a popular destination for visitors and residents and that Clearwater beach, and its infrastructure, should be clean and maintained to serve the needs of our residents and visitors. It was suggested that Clearwater beach be the first ocean friendly beach and engage Clearwater youth to design signs that encourage individuals to keep the beach clean of trash. Support was expressed to cutback bar hours of operation, alcoholic sales are currently permitted until 3:00 a.m. The City Manager said the beach is known to be a clean family friendly destination and staff will identify actions needed to reclaim the brand. As it relates to businesses that undermine the family friendly environment on the beach, staff will revaluate the hours when alcoholic sales are permitted, he believes the sales should be cutback to 1:00 a.m. It was stated that staff has been requested to schedule a parking fund presentation and the services the parking revenue funds. In response to a question, the City Attorney said staff will be presenting information regarding the legal issues associated privately-owned properties in the CRA at the next CRA meeting. Ms. Sanderson said providing information on underutilized vacant properties citywide will not serve any value because the information is changing daily due to Page 5 City of Clearwater Council Work Session Meeting Minutes October 5, 2020 COVID, she suggested waiting a year. Staff was directed to schedule another meeting within the next couple of weeks. 3. New Business (items not on the agenda may be brought up asking they be scheduled for subsequent meetings or work sessions in accordance with Rule 1, Paragraph 2). — None. 4. Closing Comments by Mayor— None. 5. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 12:08 p.m. Page 6 City of Clearwater