There are several important topics on Tuesday’s Agenda. Plan for a long day.
Only one Proclamation will be presented, recognizing the Graduation of the 100th Veteran from the St. Johns County Veterans Treatment Court.
Items of Interest on the Consent Agenda
Consent Agenda Item 6 – Silverleaf DRI Impact Fee Credit Agreement (Fire/Law Enforcement/Public Buildings) will surely raise questions. Largely because most residents don’t understand what the term “Impact Fee Credit” means.
Background materials are here: Consent Agenda Item 6
“The proposed Impact Fee Credit Agreement with Whites Ford Timber, LLC (Owner) seeks to establish Fire/Rescue, Law Enforcement, and Public Buildings impact fee credit for dedication of a 4.58 acre parcel on CR 2209 within Parcel 19 of the DRI. As required by Special Condition 27 of the Silverleaf DRI Development Order, Resolution 2006-65 (DRI DO), as amended, the Owner is required to convey a three (3) to five (5) acre parcel to the County for fire and police protection. The Owner is proposing to dedicate a 4.58 acre parcel valued at $1,950,000 based County appraisal. The Owner is requesting that the total impact fee credit be divided equally under the Fire/Rescue, Law Enforcement, and Public Buildings impact fee categories at $650,000 each. The impact fee credit will be awarded following the conveyance and acceptance of the subject property by the BCC.”
Read carefully the background documentation where it says, “WHEREAS, St. Johns County Ordinance Nos. 87-59 (“Public Capital Facilities Impact Fee Ordinance”), as has been or may be amended, allow for impact fee credits to be granted by the Board of County Commissioners for the property dedicated to St. Johns County and/or improvements made or funded by the Owner as identified within the Impact Fee Credit Agreement attached hereto and incorporated herein.”
Further, “The appraised value of the Public Safety Parcel to be dedicated to the County shall be One Million Nine Hundred Fifty Thousand and No/100 Dollars ($1,950,000.00). A summary of the Public Safety Parcel appraised value is set forth on Exhibit “C” attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference.”
Bottom line – the developer has paid for the land that will be used to build the fire/rescue, law enforcement, and other public buildings. The value of the land they are conveying is being credited towards the Impact Fees they were assessed.
Consent Agenda Item 19 is important. Recognize and Appropriate unanticipated revenue from developers for certain road Capital Improvement Projects.
“In FY 2024 developers have made required contributions to St. Johns County to fund capital improvements to roads in the impacted area of their developments. To date the following contributions have been made to the County and need to be recognized and appropriated for expenditure: $574,691.68 for the CR 210 Widening – Greenbriar to Cimarrone; $214,229.70 for the Woodlawn Road Improvements; $1,196,879.92 for the CR 210 Road Improvements from I-95 to US 1. Staff is requesting the funds be recognized and appropriated into the Transportation Trust Fund and Impact Fee Roads B Fund Major Collector Road budgets.”
This is the action to move the funds received from developers through impact fees over into the Transportation Trust Fund to pay for these improvements. Details are here: Consent Agenda Item 19
Consent Agenda Item 25 is of interest to those of us who travel SR 1 (Phillips Highway in the north) between Race Track Road and St. Augustine. Award of Invitation for Bid (IFB) No: 1850; US-1/Pine Island Road Intersection Improvements – FDOT FPN 210418-9-54-01
“St. Johns County identified the need to construct intersection improvements at US 1/Pine Island Road/Stratton Road in St. Johns County, Florida. Improvements consist of milling/resurfacing, roadway striping, roadway signage, drainage improvements, installation of traffic signal w/ preemptive connection to railroad, improvements/added lanes to Pine Island road and US-1, improvements to Stratton Road. This project is partially funded under State of Florida Department of Transportation State-Funded Grant Agreement No. G2T28, FPN #210418-9-54-01. The Purchasing Department issued an Invitation for Bids (“IFB”) for construction of intersection improvements at the US-1/Pine Island Road in St. Johns County, Florida. Six (6) Bids were submitted, with the responsive and responsible bid being submitted by DB Civil Construction, LLC, at a lump sum bid price of $1,689,920.50. Staff recommends Board approval to award IFB No: 1850 to DB Civil Construction, LLC, and to execute a contract in substantially the same form and format as attached for completion of the project in accordance with IFB No: 1850.”
Details are here: Consent Agenda Item 25
Consent Agenda Item 33 is another of great interest, particularly in the Northwest. Request to Apply for Beluthahatchee Park to be Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
“The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources. Beluthahatchee Park is located on the William Bartram Scenic Highway (SR 13) approximately one-fourth of a mile south of Roberts Road and approximately 200 feet north of Cricket Hollow Lane. Beluthahatchee Park originated out of the 10,000 acre land grant given to Francis Philip Fatio in 1774. This land grant created the Switzerland community today located in St. Johns County, Florida. In 1945, George Wallace Kennedy, dammed Mill Creek that originally ran through the property to create Lake Beluthahatchee. His son, William Stetson Kennedy acquired the 50 acre property in 1948 and added a further 20 acres. Stetson Kennedy was an author, folklorist, labor and human rights activist, and environmentalist. He became highly involved in the Civil Rights Movement and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King in St. Augustine, FL. By the 1970s, Kennedy wanted to make Beluthahatchee is permanent home, building a more substantial house that replaced more primitive camp-style cabins on the property. This property is already designated as a St. Johns County Historic Landmark, a Florida State Historical Landmark, and a Literary Landmark.”
Details are here: Consent Agenda Item 33
Regular Agenda Items
Item 1 – TyMe Institute Economic Development Incentive Request
“The St. Johns County Economic Development Agency has received an application from the TyMe Institute for economic development incentives to develop a total of 30,165 square feet of space for a cancer prevention clinic that will also in the future include a cancer research laboratory and smallscale cancer drug manufacturing facility. After the Applicant submitted their application, they subsequently withdrew their request for confidentiality. The project scored 7 points under the new industry category of the County’s Business Incentive Program, which makes it eligible for expedited permitting and an economic development incentive of up to 100% of fees paid to the County by the Applicant (impact fees), four years ad valorem taxes paid by the Applicant (general County portion) on capital improvements, and four years tangible personal property taxes paid by the Applicant (general County portion). Completion of the project is anticipated by the fourth quarter of 2025. With this schedule, the first annual incentive payment would be anticipated during FY27. The total estimated value of the incentive is $621,031. In accordance with Program requirements, the Agency is required to review the application and make a written report to the Board of County Commissioners. Staff recommends support of this incentive application.”
Background materials are here: Tyme Economic Incentive Request
Item 2 – Fiscal Year 2025 Recommended Budget & Proposed Millage Rates
Details of the presentation are here: Budget Presentation
“The BCC will need to approve proposed Millage rates (see the attached sheet) for the County’s TRIM mailing, and approve September 3, 2024 @ 5:01 PM in the County Auditorium as the Date, Time and Place of the first public hearing for the adoption of the FY 2025 Budget for the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners”
Details of the budget are transparently presented at this link: Office of Managment and Budget Website
Drill down into the various components. It is very educational to spend some time on this website.
Item 3 – 2050 Vision – Comprehensive Plan Update
This will be an update from the Consultant on the Comp Plan update. There is no presentation posted at the time of this writing.
Item 4 – Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) Based Comprehensive Plan Amendments – Transmittal Hearing
“The State of Florida requires local governments to evaluate and update their Comprehensive Plans every 7 years, this process is known as the Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR). The County’s consultant, Inspire Place Making Collective, has provided an analysis of the County’s current comprehensive plan and identified proposed changes in order to meet current state regulations. The proposed changes reflect updated Florida Statute code sections and citations, as well as an expansion of the current planning horizon from 2025 to 2035, as required by Florida law. The Planning and Zoning Agency is scheduled for a Transmittal Hearing on July 11th. Recommendation of the PZA will be presented to the Board after the recommendation has been made.”
Link to the materials is here: Comprehensive Plan Details
Item 5 – RFP 1480 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solution
“The purpose of implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is to create efficiencies and improve the effectiveness of the internal service departments that provide support to all County departments in its daily operations within budget, procurement, finance, human capital and other business systems. This project will allow the integration, consolidation, and automation of business processes currently handled in separate systems as well as the elimination of duplicative, manual, and offline processes. The County’s current systems are outdated, disconnected and undersized, and not able to meet the needs of the County. Implementing a modern, integrated ERP software system with increased functionality, user access, reporting, automation, integration, and data structures will support the comprehensive needs of the County, including the internal service departments and end-user departments that use these core resources within their daily functions. The Purchasing Department issued a Request for Proposals (“RFP”) for the implementation of a cloud-based, centralized Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solution, for four (4) main functional areas: Finance, Human Resources, Procurement and Budget. The RFP was developed with the assistance of the County’s ERP Consultant, Plante & Moran, PLLC. The County received six (6) responsive Proposals, which were evaluated, and demonstrations were presented by a shortlist of two (2) firms. The evaluation committee, based upon Proposals and demonstrations, identified Cognizant Worldwide Limited as the top ranked firm. Cognizant is the firm who is responsible for developing and implementing the ERP Solution. The proposed ERP Solution is Workday, Inc for the procurement, finance and human resource functions, with Sherpa Government Solutions, LLC (EUNA) proposed for the budget function, and Can/Am Technologies, Inc proposed for the cashiering function. Staff has negotiated Statement(s) of Work and agreements with the four (4) firms that will make up the entirety of the ERP Solution. Each of these agreements with their respective Statement of Work is attached to this agenda for review and approval. Staff recommends Board approval to award RFP 1480; Enterprise Resource Planning Solution, to the top ranked team of Cognizant, Workday, Sherpa (Euna) and Can/Am and to execute the contracts, as negotiated, in substantially the same form and format as attached hereto. Due to the size of the Exhibits and Attachments, they are available upon request from Jaime Locklear.”
Materials are here: ERP Proposal
Items 6 and 7 – PUD 2023-22 Shearwater 210 PUD
These two items will be heard together as they are companion pieces.
“Request to rezone approximately 6.04 acres of land from Open Rural (OR) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) to allow for a maximum of 72,480 square feet of commercial, retail, and/or office uses; located on the southwest corner of CR 210 W and Shearwater Parkway. This request is a companion application to CPA (SS) 2023-11. This request was originally heard at the 4/18/2024 PZA, where it was continued with a 4-2 vote. At the 6/20/2024 PZA, it was recommended for denial with a vote of 6-0. Agency members and nearby residents discussed a range of topics, including compatibility, traffic on CR 210 W and the status of it being widened, the approved CR 210 Town Center PUD located to the north, and the demand for non-residential uses in general for the nearby area.”
Item 6 details: Agenda Item 6
Item 7 details: Agenda Item 7
Item 8 – PUD 2023-09 Rivers Self Storage PUD
“Request to rezone approximately 5.99 acres of land from Open Rural (OR) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) to allow for a maximum 100,000 square foot Self Storage facility, specifically located at 1065 State Road 16. The Planning and Zoning Agency (PZA) heard this request at their regularly scheduled public hearing on June 20, 2024 and recommended approval with a vote of 6 to 0. Agency members discussed the Applicant’s plan to provide buffers along SR 16 and Mission Trace, where the Applicant highlighted that the buffer reduction was limited to the southwest corner of the site. They also noted that the reduced setback was adjacent to the open space parcels for Mission Trace to the south and west. The Agency discussed the Applicant’s plan for the preservation of significant trees, controlled onsite lighting, security fencing, and acknowledged the Project Team’s outreach through unofficial meetings with Mission Trace neighbors. There was only one member of the public who spoke during public comment, and they presented the Applicant’s agreement to address site/area security, adequate stormwater management, prevention of damage/trespass during construction, and appreciation for the courtesy meetings hosted by the applicant.”
Materials are here: Agenda Item 8
Item 9 – PUD 2023-23 Village Commons PUD
“Request to rezone three (3) parcels from Open Rural (OR) and PUD (Ord 2008-20) to PUD to accommodate a maximum of 55,000 square feet of commercial/retail uses as permitted in the Neighborhood Commercial zoning designation of the Land Development Code, and a 7,000 square foot expansion of the existing church, specifically located at 5845, 5865, and 5885 State Road 16, Saint Augustine. The Planning and Zoning Agency held a Public Hearing on this item on June 6, 2024, and voted 5-1 in favor of recommending approval. Concerns raised by Agency members included increased traffic, and that the church expansion and proposed commercial uses appeared to be incongruent. The applicant waived any right to develop the property pursuant to the Live Local Act, Chapter 2023-17, Laws of Florida, and any subsequent amendments.”
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Beth Tate 
This review, particularly with the consent agenda items, is very thorough and exceedingly helpful.