COMMISSION MEETS
December 06, 2016
Meeting Specifics
The Cedar Key City Commission met on Tuesday, December 6, 2016, at approximately 6:25 pm at the Cedar Key Community Center, not City Hall, because of Hurricane Hermine damage. The commission met immediately after the Community Redevelopment Agency adjourned. Present were: Mayor Heath Davis, Vice-Mayor Dale Register, and Commissioners Sue Colson and Royce Nelson. Commissioner Diana Topping was absent.
Staff in attendance included: City Attorney Norm Fugate, Police Chief Virgil Sandlin, Fire Chief and Emergency Operations Director Robert Robinson, City Clerk Nicole Gill, Office staff Crystal Sharp and Donna Risker.
Among those in the audience were: Michael Craig, Crosby Hunt, Chris Topping, Lis Brasher, Molly Jubitz, Doris Hellerman, John McPherson, Amy Gernhardt, Bobby McCabe, Ron McCabe, Janice McCabe, Jan and Steve Stackhouse, Rachael Weatherington with her six Cedar Key School Future Farmers of America students, Nita and Mac Cox, Sue Wooley, Allison Nelson, Janice Fugate, Michael Hancock, Andrew Gude, Doug Maple, Mike Davis, Ray Ermel, Esta Johnson, Bob and Jeri Treat, and Mandy and Frank Offerle.
PUBLIC COMMENT
FUTURE FARMERS OF AMERICA PERFORM:
After the FFA presentation and opening of the evening’s CRA meeting, Vice-Chair Sue Colson drew the audience members’ attention to the article contained in their agenda packets of the Tractor Supply Company’s Fall 2016 issue of its Out Here magazine entitled “Fighting Hunger: FFA Students Grow Bountiful Harvests to Feed the Hungry on Their Tiny Florida Island.” Colson reminded all that, over the years, the CKS FFA groups have grown, nurtured, and donated 9,000 pounds of produce to the Cedar Key Food Pantry.
COMMISSION SUPPORTS SALTONSTALL-KENNEDY GRANT: Commissioners unanimously approved Mayor Heath Davis’s letter of support of the proposal entitled “Implications of Shifting Fish Distributions via Climate Change on Inshore Fisheries and Food Webs in the Gulf of Mexico.” The Saltonstall-Kennedy grants are awarded through the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration; for more information, click on the following: http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/mb/financial_services/skhome.htm
The UF IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station’s Dr. Charles W. Martin will function as the project’s principal investigator.
COMMISSION SUPPORTS US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE PROJECT:
Commissioners unanimously approved an initial proposal from United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s Andrew Gude which proposes to build on Atsena Otie Key public wildlife viewing enhancements that will include: an observation tower, an observation deck, and tern nesting enhancement.
Atsena Otie is owned by the Suwannee River Water Management District and managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. If all proceeds as planned, in addition to these two entities, partners will include: the City of Cedar Key, Friends of the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges, and the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge.
ROBINSON FORWARDS FEMA PROCESS:
Fire Chief and Emergency Operations Director Robert Robinson requested approval to add several signatories to some specific and timely FEMA-required documents. Commissioners unanimously approved the request.
FIRST POLICE OFFICER RETIRES FROM CEDAR KEY POLICE DEPARTMENT:
Cedar Key Police Officer John McMullen will retire from the Cedar Key Police Department December 21, 2016, after five-and-a-half years of service here.
Police Chief Virgil Sandlin announced a gathering on Wednesday, December 14.
COMMUNITY RELIEF FUNDS SPONSORS SPIRIT TOUR:
Commissioner Sue Colson announced that four churches will be open, complete with guides, for a “Spirit Tour,” when families may visit and view Christmas decorations and diverse architecture. The tour will occur on December 17, from 1 – 3 pm, neatly sandwiched between the Taste of Cedar Key and the arrival of Santa Clam and Christmas Community Dinner in City Park.
The tour’s ten-dollar fee will go to the Community Relief Fund which supports individuals sick and/or in need in the Cedar Key area. Additional information may be found by clicking on: http://cedarkeynews.com/index.php/city-news/2678-xmas-spirit-tour-2016
CANAL AND BEACH ENHANCEMENT PROJECT DELAYED:
Commissioner Royce Nelson announced that the Canal and Beach Enhancement Project for the Joe Rains Beach and Tyree Creek Canal will be postponed until January 2017 as the University of Florida personnel involved in the project are not available until that time.
QUASI-JUDICIAL HEARING
A formal quasi-judicial hearing occurred to decide if a conditional use should be allowed on two submerged lots owned by Christopher Topping. The property is currently vacant and the request is for a conditional use, to allow a clam nursery structure and a raceway, in a location designated residential. The Laws of Cedar Key allow conditional uses if they qualify as a home occupation. According to staff recommendation: the request does not qualify as a home occupation as there is not currently a structure on the premises. An official court reporter, hired by nearby property owners, took notes throughout.
Topping briefly presented his plans, which included: two unofficial “surveys,” one containing no date, the other dated in the 1970’s; the argument that aquaculture structures exist in the area now.
In writing, the owner of most the adjacent property, Martha A. Diaz, opposed the raceway based on: the fact that the area is residential; potential loss of property value; increased vehicular traffic; irreparable environmental damage.
Adjacent property owner Ron McCabe opposed the raceway based on: conflicts of interest of Commissioner Diana Topping, Mayor Heath Davis, and Commissioner Cue Colson; the fact that the public notice was not posted on the property; Topping’s seriously “flawed” and “false” site plans containing misshaped lots and inaccurate measurement; insufficient parking; the residential designation with no aquaculture “next door” as forwarded by Topping; garbage collection difficulties; the need to fill in part of the property and the right-of-way to gain access to the land; destruction of wetlands and mangroves; no bathroom facilities; the fact that all neighbors oppose the request.
Topping rebutted saying that if he is not allowed to use the property to build a dock and raceway then that "pretty much makes this property useless." The property, according to the survey, contains approximately 105.9 square feet of upland. In an email to McCabe, Topping offered to sell the property to him for the price of $35,000; Topping recently purchased the property for $5,500.
Commissioners voted three to one against granting the request for conditional use in regards to a land based aquaculture clam nursery structure within a residential land use. Dissenting, Mayor Davis stated his belief that Topping’s request met the requirements. Colson argued that all the issues of garbage, parking, and so on could be managed; her negative fact finding rested in the fact that no building is on the premises.
Attorney Fugate clarified by citing two reasons why the request was denied: improper surveys and no home currently occupying the location.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR PLANNING SELECTED:
Mayor Heath Davis explained that, according to Florida law, Cedar Key, as a Florida State Municipality, must assure the state that its comprehensive plan and land development regulations are in concert with the state’s comprehensive plan and land development regulations. The Florida Community Planning Act, as set forth in Chapter 163 of the Florida Statutes, requires this compliance and regularly calendars it.
Deemed too technical a job for the Cedar Key Land Planning Agency, the commission sought personnel experienced with this kind of work; hence requests for proposals to do the job were requested from interested parties.
Three proposals were returned:
- Gainesville’s EDA Engineers, Surveyors, Planners, Inc. quoted $12,00 annually;
- Boca Raton’s Gray Robinson, Attorneys at Law, quoted no final amount;
- Gainesville’s North Central Florida Regional Planning Council quoted $7,000.
Commissioners unanimously approved the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council proposal.
ANNEXATIION OF CEDAR KEY PROPERTIES
Mayor Davis requested and received unanimous approval to approach the non-voting landowners from the Number Four Bridge into Cedar Key and excluding the islands around it. The purpose being to obtain a 50% favorable approval for annexation of the land.
RESIDNTIAL LOT DENSITY DISCUSSED
Mayor Davis requested and received unanimous approval to send the issue of land density to the Land Planning agency that will convene on the third Tuesday in January. The issue in question is regarding the potential acquisition of larger tracts of land and how the existing density will work with the new, larger pieces of acquired property.
REMINDERS
Mayor Davis reminded all that: department heads/supervisor performance reviews, which are conducted by the mayor, are due in January; employee performance reviews, which are conducted by the department heads and supervisor, are due in January as well.
MINUTES APPROVED
Commissioners unanimously approved minutes from the October 18, November 1, and November 15, 2016, commission meetings.
MEETING ADJOURNED
The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:15 pm.
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