Town of Melbourne Beach  TOWN COMMISSION WORKSHOP  WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. MASNY ROOM - 507 OCEAN AVENUE  MINUTES PUBLIC NOTICE  The Town Commission conducted a' Town Commission Workshop on Wednesday February 5, 2020 in the Masny Room  toa address the items below. 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 Nancy Wilson    I.  Call to Order - Led by Mayor Simmons Mayor Simmons called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.  II. Roll Call  Town Clerk Wilson conducted the roll call.  Commissioners Present: Mayor Jim Simmons Vice Mayor Wyatt Hoover Commissioner Steve Walters Commissioner Sherri Quarrie Commissioner Corey Runte Staff Present: Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro Town Clerk Nancy Wilson Gavin Brown, Fire Chief  Fire Department representatives present:  Dave Micka, Safety Coordinator (previous Fire Chief) III. Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence  Led by Mayor Simmons IV. Public Comment Noj public comments V. New Business  A. Consideration of verbiage for the short term rental ordinance - Town Mayor Simmons said that since the agenda item considering verbiage for the short term rental ordinance was removed, they'll move: right into thei fire tax discussion. He: reported that short term rentals were discussed at the SCLOC meeting and the only way the bill (which would remove all control at the municipal level and give it all to the State, Division ofTourism under Business and Professional Regulation) is going to get killed is at a committee meeting on February 11th. The Committee consists of five people, two for and two against. Senator Tom Wright is the swing vote who campaigned on a foundation of Home Rule. Ifthis committee passes thel bill (it's already passed two committees and this is the third) it will go tot the full floor. The thinking is, ifit passes out ofthis committee, it will be approved in the Senate. Tol handle short term rentals, the Department of Professional Regulation is going to add six employees to monitor  Attorney Repperger    all short term vacation rentals in the State. The Mayor asked that anybody interested should contact Sen Wright to encourage him to vote against SB1128 (Mayor Simmons to provide contact information). It is uncertain if grandfathering provisions written prior to 2011 or 2014, will be allowed orifany Commissioner Quarrie said she wished when the Planning & Zoning Board was working on tackling short term rentals in 2011 that it had been taken seriously B. Discussion and possible action imposing a fire tax to support the Fire Town Manager Mascaro said that during budget discussions, the commission talked about how best to support the Fire Department. They reviewed ways to offset costs and one way suggested by Commissioner Walters was toj put to referendum a fire tax proposal. She talked to someone in West Melbourne about their process for fire taxes that would be most equitable to homeowners, and their answer was to charge based on square footage. InJ January 2020, the Commission's consideration to institute a fire tax was put on hold when they decided on the stipend plan. Given that they were talking about the fire tax again, the Town Manager asked how the Commission wanted to proceed: wait until they see how the newly adopted stipend plan works out; have a referendum vote in November or get more information regarding costs. Commissioner Walters said his suggestion of having a fire tax was based on the Fire Department saying they didn'thave enough people. Now, he understands that they require 25 people and they have 39 so that's why he suggested the fire tax; it was just a thought. Mayor Simmons asked it the intent was to have residents understand the true cost of the Fire Department by isolating it or was it to get more money or was it to build a mechanism for the future or what? Currently, the Fire Department is being funded out of the General Fund. Commissioner Walters responded that, ifwe are to institute a fire tax to pay for additional fire fighters, he wanted to go to the voters with the proposal because it could result in a significant increase in taxes. The Commission continued the discussion about taxes and Fire Chief Brown said he doesn't think the Fire Department is in a dire situation at all and doesn't think now is the time to do anything, that we should wait to see how the stipend program works. He said, however, ifthey decided that the stipend plan wasn'tworking as planned, there a FEMA grant called SAFER that pays 80% of Fire Department salaries for the first year of the grant and 60% for the second year. That would give them ample time to  grandfathering will be allowed  nobody wanted to move forward on it.  Department - Town Manager Mascaro  the effect on taxpayers.    determine what the next step should be. Regarding the first quarter of the stipend plan, the Fire Chief said that there was increased participation but that the counts will be more accurate after the second quarter. He said that, realistically, there will be limits to how effective the stipends will be. They are The Town Manager said that budget discussions begin in three months. The Commission may want to discuss it in more detail at that time. Commissioner Runte said that if we are going to assess a firet tax, he wants the taxpayers to vote on it. He wants to see how the current solution works with the understanding that there would be a twelve month wait period to  good for now but the future is unknown.  potentially get a fire tax approved.  Commissioner Quarrie is not in favor of hiring people unless the taxpayers are involved. She wants more investigation into thei true cost of fire services SO the residents can be fully informed before any decisions are made. Vice Mayor Hoover said Brevard County taxed $41.48 per year for houses under 1,700 square feet; houses over 2,600 square feet are taxed $329 per year for fire services. He is not in favor of expending labor and effort talking about a new tax structure while waiting to see ifthe stipend program works.  Commissioner Walters said he is not in favor of a firei tax.  Commissioner Walters then asked the Fire Chiefift they respond to emergency medical calls. Chief Brown explained the process and said that they only respond if somebody is already at the station or if there's a fire but in some situations, they don'twant to be behind the eight ball by waiting to see if there's a fire before proceeding to the scene. They are not paged out for medical calls. MBVFD has five EMT's and one paramedic and they are  looking for more. They always respond to: cara accidents anything fire related anything rescue related water rescues  The consensus was for staff to gather facts so ift the time comes when the Fire Department has to vastly increase their budget, they'll be armed with  information that can be relayed to the residents.    C. Discussion regarding amendments to the Comprehensive Plan - Town The Town received a grant from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to partially fund their Comprehensive Plan update. East Central Florida Regional Planning Council (ECFRPC) received those grant funds to create the first part of the plan, the Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR), which brought a new piece into the plan. It provides sustainability suggestions that the' Town could take on, similar to EABssustainability plan, to protect residents and the Town from sea level rise and to make sure the  Manager Mascaro  Town remains viable over the next 50-100 years. The Comprehensive Plan is broken down into two pieces:  1)The EAR is for the Town Commission to review and present questions. This part of the plan doesn'tgo to the state; it simply offers a compilation of suggestions for the Town to consider for sustainability and future viability. 2)The Comprehensive Plan is sent toi the state and is usually updated every 5- 10years. Place Planning is currently working on this piece that the  Commission will vote on.  Regarding the EAR, it is just a guide. The Town Manager said that whatever questions the Commission have, she will get them answered. The Mayor said the report doesn't bind the Town to anything sO he questioned its usefulness. The Town Manager answered that they want to make sure the Commission Commissioner Quarrie questioned height limits which the Town Manager will lookinto. She also said it was suggested in the report that the Town consider utilizing rain barrels and swales which is similar to a suggestion she made a long time ago and which would be very inexpensive. Commissioner Quarrie also said that in 11.6 (b), she didn't know that we didn'thave an elevation provided. Commissioner Runte said that maximum height and minimum floor elevations will need to be revisited in the future due to sea levels rising. Commissioner Quarrie then went to page 42 policy 11.1.3 and said that the matter of storm panels should go to EAB; she doesn'teven know what they are. Commissioner Walters has a problem with all the "shalls". He asked if Vice Mayor Hoover asked for how many Towns ECFRPC has written these EARs? He said the document is not designed for Melbourne Beach specifically. The Town'ss sustainability guidelines are much better. Moving forward, the' Town should collaborate more with EAB. Mayor Simmons suggested some things he would like future Commissions to tackle such as  discusses it.  "may" could be used instead.    swales, mangrove planting, eliminating seawalls, etc. He also pointed out  several typographical errors.  Town Manager Mascaro said that Jennifer Torres contacted her about grant writing which shel has been doing for many: years. Dwayne DeFreese can't help the Town get a grant for the Ocean Park parking lot project and because it'sa a unique project, would they want Jennifer Torres to work on it? She would charge by the hour or project. Vice Mayor Hoover said before jumping into hiring somebody to write that grant, he'd like to get input from the EAB about what the Town should be working on this year and to make sure our interns are doing what they've been hired to do. The hiring of a grant writer  can be discussed at budget time. Two. Action Items were added:  Swales in Bicentennial Park (April RTCM) EAB projects to be budgeted in 2020  Two. Action Items were updated:  Fire tax item updated to revisit (February 2021) EAR given to EAB for review and comments (May RTCM)  VI. Adjournment  Commissioner Runte made a motion to adjourn; Vice Mayor  Hoover seconded. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:08 pm  ATTEST:  Jamés D. 5  Simmons, Mayor  Town Clerk  A