Town of Melbourne Beach TOWN COMMISSION WORKSHOP WEDNESDAY, September 2, 2020, 6:00 p.m. MASNY ROOM, 507 OCEAN AVENUE MINUTES Commission Members: Mayor Jim Simmons Vice Mayor Wyatt Hoover Commissioner Steve Walters Commissioner Sherrie Quarrie Commissioner Corey Runte StaffMembers: Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro Town Clerk Jennifer Torres Finance Manager Jennifer Kerr 1. Call to Order Mayor Simmons called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. Roll Call Commissioners Present: MayorJim Simmons Vice Mayor Wyatt Hoover Commissioner Sherrie Quarrie Commissioner Corey Runte Commissioners Absent: Commissioner Steve Walters Staff Present: Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro Town ClerkJennifer Torres Finance! Manager Jennifer Kerr 3. Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence Led by Mayor Simmons 4. Public Comment Dan Brunger 400 6th Ave. Mr. Brunger said he heard there was some theft of the recently issued beach parking decals and suggested residents "score" them to keep them from being stolen. Thijs Stelling 902 Oak Street Mr. Stelling said that upon his return from vacation hel learned oft thej proposed RV/Boat Ordinance. He expressed frustration that thisi issue isl back because he thought it, was already settled. He didn't agree with separating the boats and RVsi in the Ordinance because boats can bej just as big as RVs. Mr. Stelling also mentioned receiving a letterin March which hej proceeded tol hand out and said many people who received this letter made financial decisions based on it. Mayor Simmons said he needed to clarify thei issue. The motion made in March was for the Town Attorney to develop an Ordinance. It was then sent to Planning & Zoning for a non-binding recommendation. So despite what the letter says - the' Town Commission did not pass the changes - only permission for the Town Manager to authorize the' Town Attorney to draft an Ordinance. He said the second reading of the draft Ordinance will be at the September 16 RTCM. Judith. Neal 316 Banyan Way Ms. Neal said she moved to Melbourne Beach five years ago - looking fora home where they could park their RV and were told they could have the Fifth Wheel they own on their property. She said none ofl her neighbors have complained and when Mr. Stelling let her know about the proposed Ordinance she wanted to come and say that she was opposed tol being told what she can do with her property and what she can't. Mayor Simmons said she should not have listened to the Realtor - instead she should have contacted someone from the Town because that wasn't the code. Commissioner Runte asked Ms. Neal to clarify that shei is in favor of increasing the length of RVs to 45- feet and therefore in favor oft the Ordinance - and she said yes. Deborah. Marchese 3101 1st Avenue Mr. Marchese said there are a lot of trailers and cargo trailers sitting out by the road and nothing is done about that. 5. Presentation A. Presentation on beach re-nourishment by Michael McGarry of Brevard Mr. McGarry discussed how the recent decision of the' Town Commission to create resident-only permitted parking at the' Town dune crossovers may have possible effects on funding local beach re-nourishment projects. He shared a series of before and after photos to demonstrate how beach re-nourishment has significantly improved local beaches after various storms and reminded the' Town that without beach re-nourishment, the area would be significantly less attractive which would affect the' Town's He explained that the recent decision oft the' Town to create resident-only parking in certain areas could make the area ineligible for beach re- nourishment funding because iti impacts the federal funding which he said requires beach parking access to remain public and that the' Town is free to charge for parking - but they must allow residents and non-residents In the current budget he said there is about $12 million dollars for re- nourishment and that while Ocean Parki is currently open to the public, it County Natural Resources Management tax base. access to thej parking permits. still counts as public accessible, but with the current resident-only permit parking at the dunes that makes 43-percent oft the Town's: shoreline ineligible for funding - amounting to about $1.8 million. He said he realizes the' Town never signed on the dotted line and agreed to certain terms that would keep beach parking public, however, the Town was very supportive of the project years ago when it was conceived and he hopes the Town agrees the beach has value and thei re-nourishment has value. Cocoa Beach and Indialantic charge for parking but structured their program to comply with the program and are therefore eligible for funding. Her went on to explain that normally they won'tlet you skip areas when they re-nourish - they havei to do the whole area. So, in the event they can'treach a resolution with Melbourne Beach it could also affect other Mayor Simmons asked how the City of Melbourne gets away with not allowing public parking on their beachfront property and instead builds high-rises on it - but they are: still eligible for re-nourishment funding. Mr. McGarry said much of Melbourne Beach is also private such as the Commissioner Runte said there is an easy solution and that is that the Commissioner Quarrie said we are only talking about eight crossovers and this area is the Town's access and our residents are paying fori that. Further discussion ensued about the issue and possible options. Mr. McGarry said he was only recently made aware oft the newly instituted resident-only parking and wanted to reach out to the' Town to try and work Commissioner Runte suggested that Mr. MGarry talk to his contacts at the County and help them understand that the County has to work better with the' Town to enable things to work both ways - because it feels that the county is always asking for things from the Town without ever giving Mr. McGarry said he is willing to do what he can but wants the Town to understand hei is in a specific department and can likely only do SO much Mayor Simmons asked Mr. McGarry, if we went to all paid parking, would areas like Indialantic. Breakers. Town should simply offer visitor parking passes. through thei issue before others have to get involved. anything back. toi improve the relationship. residents have toj pay as well? Mr. McGarry said the City of Cocoa Beach phrased their program SO that residents pay for their parking through their taxes and non-residents paya Vice Mayor Hoover asked how many visitor passes they would have to issue to comply. Mr. McGarry said he did not know the answer to that - but if the intent is clearly seen as one that restricts visitors - that may be an issue. He said he would ask the state ift there is a specific number. Commissioner Runte asked what the deadline is to comply. fee. Mr. McGarry said it won't be looked at closely until next June when he will have to mark thej parking truthfully and submit that to the state. However, ifsomeone from the state comes to Town and sees the signs - resident- only parking - they may take action sooner and that may result in a loss of grant funding, adding that money may even have to be returned. Vice Mayor Hoover suggested they discuss this issue and possible Mayor Simmons recognized Doug Hilmes, who had raised his hand and said while they do not typically allow public comment at this time but Mr. solutions at the October RTCM. Hilmes was being insistent so he would allowit. Doug Hilmes 443 Riverview Lane Mr. Hilmes said that while on a walk he saw Ocean Avenue Park was full but Avenue A and Avenue B were empty. He then discovered all eight accesses were empty with only one car parked. Despite resident passes being handed out, he said no one is using them and suggested the' Town sell guest passes and make some money for the Town. Debordh Marchese 3101 jstAvenue Ms. Marchese said she is unhappy that handicapped parking was eliminated. She also said there is not enough room to park on one side of the street and have two-way parking = sO they should be made one-way. Also she suggested the Town speak to everyone on those streets because they don't understand what resident-only parking means. The Mayor thanked Mr. McGarry for coming to the meeting and explaining the situation. Vice Mayor Hoover said he had a side-issue to discuss. He said the whole county is growing and the population is exploding. These people come to Brevard's beaches and he thought there should be more traffic mitigation effort on the part oft the County.As an example, he proposed offering more Town Manager Mascaro said there once was public transportation offered Further discussion ensued about how the County could do more to help ofa public transportation network. in this area but very few people used it. the Town of Melbourne Beach. 6. Adjournment Commissioner Runte moved to adjourn; Commissioner Quarrie seconded; Motion carried 4-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:46 p.m. ATTEST: Wtt Hoour Wyat!Hoover, Mayor Jennifer Torres, Town Clerk Ao