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 CEDAR KEY AUDIT COMMITTEE,
CRA & COMMISSION MEET
August 7, 2014
 
 
Three meetings occurred in Cedar Key City Hall Tuesday, August 5, 2014; Audit Committee Meeting, CRA Meeting, and the City Commission Meeting. In attendance were Mayor Dale Register, Vice Mayor Sue Colson, Commissioners Tina Ryan, Royce Nelson, and Nettie Hodges.
Staff in attendance included City Attorney Norm Fugate, Police Chief / Public Works Director Virgil Sandlin, Fire Chief / Building Department Manager Robert Robinson, City Clerk Teresa George, and Staffer Lisa Fine.
 
In the audience for the commission meeting were: Ron and Mrs. Taylor and Grandson Cory Rudd, Galina and David Binkley, Allison Nelson, Bob and Jeri Treat, and Mandy and Frank Offerle;  and Piney Point residents Nancy and Jerry Salamon, Henry and Brenda Coulter, Richard Ziegler, Maria Yates, and others.
 
AUDIT COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS PURVIS AND GRAY
At 5:15pm, the three-member committee, consisting of Dale Register, Tina Ryan, and Teresa George, met to discuss the Purvis and Gray Audit Engagement Letter which offers services for the 2013-2014 fiscal year at an estimated $13,500, a sum substantially decreased from last year. 
 
The committee discussed two options: accepting the engagement letter or requesting proposals from other auditing companies.   Commissioner Ryan stated her concerns that: Purvis and Gray reduced their price only after speaking with Mayor Register several times; the company may have become complacent after so many years with the City of Cedar Key. 
 
 
Clerk George stated that with this being her first year on the job and with this being CPA Robert Beauchamp’s first year with the City, it would be prudent to retain Purvis and Gray for at least another year.
 
Register expressed concern that the time span was short that the City would have to orchestrate the request for proposal process.
 
In a two-to-one decision, the committee voted to recommend to the City Commission that they accept the Purvis and Gray engagement letter for one year. Register and George voted yes; Ryan voted no.
 
CRA MEETING
At 6pm, the Cedar Key Community Redevelopment Agency convened.  Commissioner Sue Colson reported that she met with Clerk George and Public Works Director Sandlin and deduced from hours spent maintaining CRA-initiated properties the percentage of time City employees spent.   Clerk George reported that the CRA figures presented in the evening’s worksheets reflected that percentage. 
 
Former CRA Chair Register reiterated, to the growing audience awaiting the upcoming Piney Point land acquisition agenda item, that the repayment of the CRA SunTrust Bank loan could only be repaid from tax increment (TIF) dollars, not from City taxes. 
Resident Jeri Treat asked when the loan itself and when the tax increment funding would end.  In consultation with Attorney Fugate, Register responded that the loan was received in 2000 and will run until 2027. The TIF funding, Register believed is in place for thirty years; thus the TIF would continue until 2031.
  
Board Member Sue Colson reminded all present that the CRA completed many critical projects:  replacing crumbling sewers, water mains, roads, and more.  She further reminded all that no City of Cedar Key tax dollars were or will be spent for these large infrastructure improvements because, according to the terms of the SunTrust loan agreement, only TIF funds may be used to repay the debt. She further mentioned that other cities have no such new infrastructure and cited the recent Los Angeles ninety-year old water main that broke.
 
Public Works Director Sandlin reported that the storm water sewer maintenance project is ongoing.  His crew has recently completed cleaning the drains at Third and Fourth Street and State Road 24.
 
Minutes Approved:
Board members approved the July 1, 2014, CRA Meeting’s minutes. 
 
CITY COMMISSION
REJECTS LAND ACQUISITION
 
At 6:22pm the City Commission convened.
 
Budget Workshop Rescheduled:
Because of the inability of two commissioners to attend, the August 21, 204, Budget Workshop is cancelled and an August 28, 2014, Budget Workshop will be established to take its place.  
 
Public Comment:
Introduced by his grandfather Ron Taylor, Boy Scout of America Cory Rudd, asked the commission for access to the Cedar Key Cemetery to complete his project for Eagle Scout.  Using the global positioning system application, (BillionGraves.com) and a cast of approximately 25 volunteers, Rudd’s plan is to map the headstones in the cemetery and give each a global position so that, with the help of the free application, families can locate their loved ones.
Commissioners unanimously approved Rudd’s request.  Rudd said that he would be certain that the results of his project would come to the City and the Historical Society.
 
Resident Jeri Treat posed two poignant questions.  The first requested the status of the “as-built” drawings from the FWC Boat Ramp Engineer Mittauer. Attorney Fugate reported that he had no recent correspondence from Mittauer and read the last correspondence to the commissioners; the correspondence, in effect, states that Mittauer has already given the City what it “considers” to be “as-builts.”  Cedar Key Building Officer Walt Brown says they do not qualify as “as-builts.”  Mayor Register directed Attorney Fugate to draft further correspondence to Mittauer seeking resolution; Fugate will present the draft to the commission on August 19.
 
Resident Treat’s second question asked how, considering the dissatisfaction with Mittauer’s boat ramp performance thus far, the commission could use Mittauer again as an engineer for the upcoming RBEG grant that will construct a bathroom in the Marina parking lot, a grant to be initiated soon. Commissioner Colson responded by saying that she does not tie the two projects together. No other commissioner responded to the question.
 
Public Works Crew Lauded:
Mayor Register read aloud a letter written to the City of Cedar Key from a visitor to Cedar Key who stayed at Park Place; the correspondence lauded Cedar Key Public Works employee Michelle and her pride in her work.  The writer said the park was the “cleanest City Park” he had ever seen.
 
Purvis and Gray Hired:
Commissioners approved the Purvis and Gray Engagement Letter.  Commissioners Colson and Nettie Hodges and Mayor Register voted yes; Commissioners Ryan and Nelson voted no, preferring requests for proposals instead.
 
Piney Point Property Rejected:
After some discussion and hearing from Piney Point residents, commissioners unanimously rejected the gift of a 2.68 acre piece of property valued at over $300,000 at the end of Piney Point.   Residents, after they were asked to express why they did not want the City to accept the property, responded that they: owned the road, hence access to the property in question, and wanted no one on it; did not want the City or future City leaders making a park out of it; did not want kayakers and fisherman on their property; didn’t want fireworks being ignited again from there.
 
Minutes Approved:
Commissioners approved minutes from the July 1 and July 15, 2014, meetings.
 
ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
Cedar Key Cemetery:
Attorney Fugate reported that he spoke to two of the three Cemetery Committee members.  He advised not disbanding the committee because “continuity of command” is important and some members have deep and broad knowledge of the community, most helpful when dealing in cemetery matters. He advised that the committee should: meet regularly, in the Sunshine; discuss with commissioners how records should best be kept and located. Commissioner Ryan consented to be the Commission’s liaison to the Cemetery Committee.
 
Garbage Nonpayment:
Unanimously commissioners passed a motion directing Attorney Fugate to place a lien on any property of those Cedar Key property owners who do not pay the garbage bill. Owners would receive a written notice after two months of nonpayment; then after six months of nonpayment, a lien would be placed on the property. After the lien is filed, the garbage fees continue to accumulate.
 
Library Roof Estimate:
Public Works Director Sandlin is awaiting an estimate from CHW Engineering.
 
At 7:45pm the meeting was adjourned.
By unanimous consent, the Budget Workshop scheduled for the evening was cancelled.
 
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