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Description |
Palatka City Commission 3-9-06; 6:00 p.m. |
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Date |
3/9/2006 |
Location |
Palatka City Commission |
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Time |
Speaker/Item |
Note |
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CALL TO ORDER |
Mayor Flagg called the meeting to order. |
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PRESENT: |
Mayor Karl N. Flagg; Commissioners Mary Lawson Brown,
Allegra Kitchens, and James Norwood, Jr. |
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ALSO PRESENT: |
City Manager Allen Bush, City Clerk Betsy Jordan Driggers, City Attorney Donald Holmes, Finance Director Ruby Williams, Assistant City Clerk Karen Venables, Police Chief Gary Getchell, Planning Director Adam Mengel, Fire Chief Kenneth Venables |
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Invocation |
The Reverend Zion Djatar, Pastor, Emmanuel United Methodist Church. |
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Pledge of Allegiance |
Mayor Flagg |
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APPROVAL OF MINUTES |
Commissioner Brown moved to approve the minutes of 2-23-06 and 2-27-06 Called Meeting as read. Commissioner Kitchens seconded the motion, which passed unopposed. |
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PUBLIC RECOGNITION |
PROCLAMATION - Women's History Month - March 2006. Mayor Flagg read a proclamation recognizing March 2006 as Women's History Month, and asked all women present to stand and be recognized. |
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GRANT AWARD CEREMONY - Florida Dept. of Community Affairs, Community Development Block Grant Award; Millie Schrader from the Florida Department of Community Affairs was present to present a CDBG Neighborhood Grant Award in the amount of $750,000 for the Madison Street Drainage Project. Commissioner Norwood accepted on behalf of the City Commission. |
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Mayor Flagg thanked Ms. Schrader and said the Grant was much needed and appreciated. |
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STUDENT OF THE MONTH |
March, 2006 - Mayor Flagg was joined by Commissioner Kitchens in presenting certificates for academic excellence, leadership, citizenship and attendance to the following students at their respective schools: |
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Stephanie Lauren Baquera Beasley Middle School Daniel Gilbert Browning Pearce Elementary School Carl Glenn Childrens’ Reading Center Charter School Zachary Griffis E. H. Miller School Xavier Matlock James A. Long Elementary Jonathan Keith Jenkins Middle School Kelsee Largacci Kelley Smith Elementary School Fred Dunbar Mellon Elementary School David Bostic Moseley Elementary Dan Brinson Palatka High School Ashley Spedden Peniel Baptist Academy Michael Richardson River Breeze Elementary School |
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PUBLIC COMMENTS |
Sam Deputy, 917 Carr Street, said he wanted to thank the Commission for supporting the Azalea Festival, participating in the Azalea Festival and for allowing the City Staff to do all the work that they did for the Festival. |
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As to the nuisance ordinance, Mr. Deputy said he would like to see this ordinance come to some end with positive results so that they can begin to work on locations that seem to take a lot of city energy to control and/or keep under wraps. As to the Town Hall meeting, he noted this falls in the middle of the schools’ Spring Break and on Community Night at the County Fair, and said people are either on vacation or have volunteered to work the fair than night. He thinks the city is making them choose between family, community and town meetings. He recommends the city consider delaying it and to also look at placing meeting dates on gas or water bills. |
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Christy Sanford, 312 Dodge St., thanked all who worked on the Azalea Festival. She said the parade was great and thanked Cathy Butler and her team, and Sam Deputy and his team. |
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Mayor Flagg thanked everyone for their work on the Festival, and said each of the components and the aspects of the Azalea Festival were superb. He said each year you see improvements, and noted the azaleas and the weather cooperated. He said the Mayor's reception was impeccable and City Staff is to be commended more than once for their outstanding cooperation in each of the departments that were involved in the details. |
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Commissioner Norwood said on behalf of First Coast Community Credit Union he wanted to thank the City for hosting such a wonderful event; they were pleased to sponsor the Mayor's Reception. |
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CONSENT AGENDA |
a. Introduce meeting call for Town Hall Meeting March 23, 2006 @ 7:00 p.m. at Price Martin Center, for Riverfront Development and Design b. Introduce Notice of Revised Time and place of regular Palatka City Commission meeting on March 23, 2006, to begin at 4:30 p.m. at Price Martin Center c. Declare as Sanitation Dept. Surplus two (2) front and two (2) rear loaders as listed, for disposal at public auction. d. Declare as Fire Department Surplus miscellaneous communications equipment as listed, for disposal at public auction. |
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Commissioner Brown said she did not want to pull anything from the consent agenda but wanted to let everyone know she will not be able to attend the next City Commission meeting on March 23, 2006. Commissioner Kitchens said she did not want to pull anything from the consent agenda but there are things on it that may need to be discussed. |
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Motion |
Commissioner Norwood moved to pass Items (c) and (d) as presented, and to pull items (a) and (b) from the consent agenda to be discussed. Commissioner Kitchens seconded the motion, which passed unopposed. |
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Mayor Flagg said the motivation of this meeting was to have input from the public before the Commission goes to Tallahassee for the Legislative Delegation. He has concerns about any meeting date simply because there are conflicts in schedules of all concerned. If there were decisions being made in the meeting he would have greater concern and would support delaying or postponing. The Commission will take notes and he is sure the television station will be there, or the City can videotape the meeting. People that will not be physically present are giving input through letters, e-mail and the web site. The Commission may have to go back and look at the video. The Commission wants to give the citizens of Palatka the opportunity to know that they are in control, and the Commission wants them to talk. There should be no ‘mixed signals’ sent to Elite Hospitality/Vestcor. When all is said and done, it is not the five-year Team that is going to make the final decision. The final decision is going to be made by this commission, based upon the desires of the community, and with the understanding that the developer is not going to make an investment in a project that is going to fail to give them a reasonable return on their investment. The Commission has to create a balance. The Commission needs to be in a listening mode, rather than an interactive one, so they can take in what is being presented to them. |
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Commissioner Kitchens said she will make sure it is videotaped so that any Commissioner who is not able to attend can obtain a copy. |
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As to the presence of the 5-Year Downtown Revitalization Team, Mayor Flagg said if the Commission was making a decision that night, they would be including the 5-year Team in the meeting in an official capacity, but this meeting is being held to be certain that everyone has the opportunity to participate in the process, and that every avenue is being explored. He hopes as many members that can attend, will do so. |
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Commissioner Brown said she does not want to miss these meetings; they are very important to her. She would like to know of tentative meeting dates ahead of time. |
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Mayor Flagg said the reason the meeting was scheduled for that date and time is because it was a regular commission meeting night. |
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Commissioner Brown said the meeting she is going to is important for the City, she not going just to be going. This Board meets on issues that are not only important for Palatka, but other cities as well. She would like time to check her calendar so people can make arrangements. |
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Commissioner Norwood said, as to the people that are going to be doing other things the night of this meeting, he would like to encourage them to use the avenues that the city has provided for the public to express their opinions. They can leave letters and other written documents at city hall and use the city web site. This gives those individuals an opportunity to voice their opinion. |
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Motion |
Commissioner Norwood moved to approve items (a) and (b) on the Consent Agenda as presented. Commissioner Kitchens seconded the motion, which passed unopposed. |
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REPORTS OF DEPARTMENTS AND COMMITTEES |
Commissioner Kitchens gave a report from the Palatka Better Place Plan Oversight Committee (filed). She said for the fiscal year October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005, the Better Place Plan sales tax revenues brought funds to the City of Palatka in the amount of $735,828.63. The total spent for 3 years was $1,035,011.01 and the balance forward for fiscal year 2005-2006 is $767,394.10. |
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Motion |
Commissioner Norwood moved to accept the Better Place Plan Report. Commissioner Brown seconded the motion. Commissioner Brown thanked Commissioner Kitchens for serving on this Committee. |
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Mr. Bush noted Plan monies for 2005/06 are encumbered; although it has not all been spent yet, the report includes the items the Commission has appropriated the money for. The projected balance of $117,552.10 is the amount of unencumbered funds at the present time. This money is only used for commission-approved Better Place expenditures. |
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Call on the Motion |
There being no further discussion, the motion passed unopposed. |
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REQUEST FOR DONATION OF REAL PROPERTY |
Mr. Bush said the Commission had a letter from David Buchanan of the Department of Environmental Protection in their packets stating they want to make improvements at the Ravine Gardens State Park. They are looking at two potential sites for a shop, and he thinks the more important of these is the more visible one and the land directly behind it. He has asked the Park Ranger, Randy Hester to come tonight and talk with the City Commission. |
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Mr. Randy Hester, Park Ranger, said they have identified areas in the park where they can expand the park for development purposes. One of the areas is the old pool building. They want to create parking and move their shop area behind the power station. |
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Commissioner Kitchens asked if they intend to continue to allow Friends of the Ravines to use the building as a gift shop and meeting place until it is replaced with something else they can use. Mr. Hester said they work together and support each other; they will be housed in a facility that will be acceptable to them, whether this one or another one. |
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Commissioner Kitchens said she would like to make sure that the mural on the side of the building could be preserved or relocated as it is on the Mural Trail and is important to the citizens of Palatka as well as the Conlee Mural Committee. She would like to make sure that if any other building is erected there, another mural can be commissioned to replace the one that is going to be torn down. |
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Mr. Hester said he is not in park planning but he will make every effort to see that it happens. |
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Commissioner Brown said she would like the City be able to use the Ravine Gardens free of charge on occasion, maybe once a year, for public information functions. |
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Mr. Hester said they are glad to work with the City of Palatka in any way possible; if the City will write him a letter of request, he will pass it along the ‘chain of command’ and receive authority and permission. The city did not have to give them property to do this. |
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Mr. Bush said the Ravines are very important to Palatka; they are one of the reasons people come here to visit, and they will do whatever it takes to allow the State to make improvements. |
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Mr. Hester reminded everyone that Azalea Days, Part 2 takes place this weekend, and all are invited. He also manages another park at Dunns Creek State Park and invited everyone to come down on April 8th for the open house event. |
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Mayor Flagg read a letter from Adam Mengel, President of the Board of Directors of the Friends of Ravine Gardens, into the record, noting their concurrence on the donation of the Old Pool Building to the Park. (Filed) |
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Christy Sanford, 312 Dodge Street, said the park management should allow citizens into the park one day each week at no charge. |
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Motion |
Commissioner Norwood moved to approve the request for donation of the Old Pool Building site and abutting property to the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection for Ravine State Gardens' shop area. Commissioner Brown seconded the motion. |
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Roll Call Vote |
A roll-call vote was requested, with the following results: Commissioners Brown, Kitchens, Norwood and Mayor Flagg, yes. Nays, none. Motion carried. |
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PUBLIC HEARING-Ordinance |
Ordinance granting Florida Power & Light an electric franchise – 1st reading. The Clerk read Ordinance entitled AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PALATKA, FLORIDA, GRANTING TO FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS, AN ELECTRIC FRANCHISE, IMPOSING PROVISIONS AND CONDITIONS RELATING THERETO, PROVIDING FOR MONTHLY PAYMENTS TO THE CITY OF PALATKA, AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. |
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Motion |
Commissioner Norwood moved to approve the ordinance on first reading as read. Commissioner Brown seconded the motion. |
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Mr. Bob Coleman, FP&L Regional Manager, was present to speak on behalf of Florida Power & Light. He said what the city is basically agreeing to is not to go into the business of providing electric service in their service area. |
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Commissioner Brown asked if they were ever going to open a customer service office in Palatka again. Mr. Coleman said it is not likely. |
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Commissioner Kitchens said they have call centers that are contracted out, but not at this end of the state. She asked if it would be possible to get a call center somewhere in north Florida. Mr. Coleman said he has lobbied since 1991 to bring a call center back into this area without success. |
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Commissioner Brown said when she had her house re-built and got to the point she could reconnect her lights, water and phone, she ran into a communication problem. She did what she believed she needed to do and ended up with unnecessary delays. Putnam County is facing tremendous growth, and people need information on how to go about connecting their utilities. Mr. Coleman said they have informational pamphlets they place in city and county building departments, and he will look into this for Palatka. Commissioner Brown suggested he speak to Mr. Womble about the trial she endured in trying to reconnect her electricity. He was very helpful to her. |
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Commissioner Norwood asked if there was a way for the average citizen to know who their Putnam County representative is, and how they get easier access to information. The 800 system is difficult to maneuver and you get passed around too many times. Mr. Coleman said they use the 800 number when Mr. Womble is out. |
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Commissioner Norwood related a problem a constituent had when trying to relocate a power pole, and said it was delayed around 3 months because things got ‘lost in the shuffle.’ It would help if people could speak to a person that knows the general area. |
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Jeff Womble, Major Accounts Rep, said he is working with Mr. Mengel and his staff at Building & Zoning to set up a process designed to inform people about opening or moving service. He will meet with Mr. Mengel to be sure it meets Palatka’s needs. |
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Mayor Flagg asked Police Chief Getchell if they are still having problems with burned out street lights; Chief Getchell said they are on occasion. Mayor Flagg said this is a concern, and asked if FP&L is depending 100% upon the City to tell them their lights are out, or if their servicemen pay attention to these details. Mr. Womble said they do patrol for unlit street lights, and know they have a serious problem with unlit street lights, but at this time they do depend upon folks letting them know lights are out. |
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Mayor Flagg said his concern is, in the absence of FPL or any other utility office, the elected officials are the ones who are called about unlit street lights. They all have an objective to provide a level of customer service to minimize complaints. They need a place for people to go and conduct business, or a place to call for service. Palatka’s citizens deserve some options and flexibility. Most metro areas have small service centers, and he feels that Palatka is metro enough to have one. Commission Norwood concurred. Mr. Coleman said they will look into that. |
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Commissioner Kitchens asked if 30 years is a usual length of time for such a franchise. Mr. Coleman said they make a large investment in equipment, and need assurance that they will get a return on their investment. |
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Mr. Holmes said this agreement states that the city will not compete with them, but does not give them an exclusive right of distribution. This is an agreement by the City not to go into the electricity distribution business. If the City is considering going into the electrical distribution business within the next 30 years, they don’t want to sign this, but many changes would have to take place before the City can start distributing electricity. He noted that Mr. Bush did a good job of negotiating this franchise. |
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Commissioner Brown said they almost went into the cable business at one time, and need to be careful; they want an entity that can be trusted to take care of people and do what they are supposed to do. |
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Roll Call Vote |
There being no further discussion, a roll call vote was taken, with the following results: Commissioner Kitchens, Norwood, Brown and Mayor Flagg, yes; Nays, none. The ordinance was declared passed on first reading. |
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PUBLIC HEARING |
196 County Road 309C - Planning Board Recommendation to Annex, Amend the Land Use Map from County Urban Reserve to City Low-density Residential and Rezone from County A (agricultural) to City R-1 (single-family residential) Ben Bates, Jr. and Marc Spalding, owners - Continued from February 23, 2006 -Adam Mengel, Planning Director said he provided a memo to accompany Mr. Spalding’s request for a time extension (filed). He outlined the Commission’s options for action on these items. One, the Commission can table it to a date certain of April 13 as requested by Mr. Spaulding. Mr. Spalding states he has met with the city utilities department and they are looking at options, but are not committing to water service at this time. They are also looking at revisions to the plat and density. The request is to allow them time to review their plans and possibly amend them before coming back to the Commission on April 13. If the Commission does not want to table to a date certain, they can pass the annexation and land use ordinances and pass the zoning ordinance on first reading, and then consider the subdivision variance request. A Third option is denial of the requests. He does not believe there is any negative impact by continuing these items until April 13. |
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Motion |
Commissioner Brown moved to continue Agenda Item No. 7, request to annex, amend the land use map and rezone 196 CR 309C, and Item No. 8, Subdivision Variance Requests, also tabled from February 23, to April 13, 2006. Commissioner Kitchens seconded the motion, which passed unopposed. |
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ORDINANCE 06-15 |
ORDINANCE rezoning the SW Corner of the Intersection of Reid Street (SR100) and N. Moody Road - Planning Board Recommendation to Rezone from County IL to City M-1 – Palatka Lodge 184, Loyal Order of Moose, owner; Gordon Brooks, Representative – 2nd Reading for adoption -The Clerk read an ordinance entitled AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PALATKA, FLORIDA PROVIDING THAT THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP OF THE CITY OF PALATKA, FLORIDA BE AMENDED AS TO THAT CERTAIN PROPERTY IN SECTION 30, TOWNSHIP 10 SOUTH, RANGE 26 EAST; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. |
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Motion |
Commissioner Brown moved to adopt Ordinance No. 06-15 as presented. Commissioner Kitchens seconded the motion. |
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Mayor Flagg asked that all rezoning requests be assigned a 911 address prior to coming before the Commission. He is also concerned about the length of the legal descriptions, etc. when they are doing legal advertisements. Since both the City and County have 911 addressing systems, they should go ahead and assign an address to that parcel number. |
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Mr. Mengel said he believes the Code provides for an addressing procedure, and it could be done if a site plan is submitted in conjunction with rezoning applications. At this time, they don’t require it. Mayor Flagg said they need to set those guidelines. |
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Commissioner Kitchens said the proposal is to rezone to City M-1. She has received comments that currently the Moose Lodge has RV's parked on their property, and some stay there on a permanent bases. She asked if that will be allowed under City M-1 zoning or if there is anything that addresses that. |
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Mr. Mengel said he believes M-1 allows for the sales of RV's but he does not think there is any provision for overnight camping. Commissioner Kitchens asked if it is prohibited; Mr. Mengel said it is not. The M-1 zoning is consistent with airport zoning. |
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Roll Call Vote |
There being no further discussion, a roll call vote was taken, with the following results: Commissioner Norwood, Brown, Kitchens and Mayor Flagg, yes; Nays, none. The ordinance was declared adopted. |
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ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS |
There were none. |
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COMMISSIONER COMMENTS |
Commissioner Kitchen said Lynda Crabill was present to talk about the purchase of Blue Crab Festival T-shirts. |
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Lynda Crabill, citizen, said she had Blue Crab Festival T-shirts for sale and showed the Commission what colors were available. She said the design on the shirts honors fine arts. |
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Mayor Flagg said the Commission would be going through the city for their purchases. |
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Commissioner Brown asked for some brochures and said if they are ready by the 28th she would like to take some to Tallahassee to let people know about the Festival. Ms. Crabill said the web site carries information about the T-shirt sales. She will check as to the availability of brochures. |
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Commissioner Brown said she put a flyer from Congresswoman Brown in each Commissioner’s box telling them that she will be in Palatka at the Price-Martin Center on March 20th from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. to talk about the Medicare prescription program. She asked they pass the word around to as many people as they can. |
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Commissioner Norwood asked if the nuisance abatement ordinance would be ready by the next meeting. Mr. Holmes said he would bring it to the next pre-agenda meeting. |
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Commissioner Norwood said he wanted to know the status of their request to FDOT to place a turn single on SR100/US17, turning on to 19th Street from either direction. |
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Mr. Mengel said the Traffic Council sent out an e-mail noting they had a request for this from the School Board, and they are investigating it. |
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Mayor Flagg said City Hall needs to also send a letter of request, as this is becoming a dangerous situation. They keep hearing the story about the synchronization of the signals and the upgrading that is going to take place, but that is not sufficient. Something needs to be in the works to make the traffic flow smoother than it does now. |
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Commissioner Brown said the light at 9th and Reid Streets also needs to be looked at; this is also a dangerous intersection. Mayor Flagg said many lights seem to be out of sync, and someone needs to give them an explanation as to why this is so. |
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Commissioner Norwood said he knows they have recognized city personnel for the excellent job they did during the Azalea Festival but he wanted to give recognition to Clerk Driggers and Assistant Clerk Venables in particular for their role in the Mayor’s Reception. The Commissioners were the ones with the opportunity to “parade around” and accept all the accolades, but they are the ones that have done the work. He didn’t think Ms. Driggers even came out of the back until the reception was almost over. He just wanted to say thank you for doing such an excellence job, and that it is really appreciated. |
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Mayor Flagg said he has received additional telephone calls about the long train whistles, and he knows there are federal regulations concerning the trains blowing their horns. There are local ordinances that work in conjunction with the federal ordinances. The engineer, conductor or whomever is blowing the whistle that must be still in training, because they are really laying on it all the way through the community. They need to get some answers and write to whomever they need to write to, referencing whatever laws they have to in order to get some answers. They need to give the citizens more respect than what they are getting. |
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ADJOURN |
At 7:39 p.m. upon a motion by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Kitchens. |
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