Summary of the November 19 St. Johns County BOCC Meeting

The Reorganizational meeting began with the swearing in of returning Commissioner Christian Whitehurst and was followed by the swearing in of new Commissioners Clay Murphy and Ann Taylor.

Following the swearing in ceremony was the election of the new Chair and Vice Chair. Commissioner Taylor nominated Commissioner Joseph to be Chair. She was elected with a 3-2 vote, Whitehurst and Arnold voting no.

Commissioner Joseph then nominated Commissioner Murphy for Vice-Chair and that passed with a 3-2 vote, Whitehurst and Arnold voting no.

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After a short recess the regular meeting was convened with Commissioner Joseph now serving as Chair.

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Public Safety Update

In what now appears to be our last Public Safety Update, the Sheriff’s department reminded the public of warnings about many scams that are proliferating during the Holiday season. They provided some general guidelines about how to protect yourself against scams, the most basic being, don’t trust strangers offering to separate you from your money.

Request from Representative Kim Kendall

Tatum Wang from Representative Kim Kendall’s office read a letter from Representative Kendall asking the Board to submit a change order to revise planned road improvements for the World Golf Village area.

Commissioner Whitehurst, who has been our county representative on the North Florida TPO indicated support for the concept and shared that he has raised this topic with the TPO in the past. He wanted to make sure that if we move forward with this change order that it not bump one of our current 5 top priority projects that are already funded and under construction.

Ms. Wang countered that this is already in the top 5 and is just a change order. Commissioner Joseph sought confirmation and County Administrator Andrews stated that this is NOT currently in the top 5.

After more discussion staff was asked to review and come back to the board with the impacts of the project at a December meeting for the Board to make a more informed decision.

You can watch the presentation of the letter and the discussion here: Road Improvements Discussion

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Consent Agenda

Item 4 was pulled from the Consent Agenda by the County Attorney – not yet ready for presentation.

Commissioner Murphy asked to move Consent Agenda Item 5 to the Regular agenda. he wanted to have an explanation of the item presented so his constituents who were concerned about this item could gain a better understanding of Impact Credit Fees.

Commissioner Joseph wanted to “lay on the table” numbers 5, 6, and 13 for future meetings.

During public comment on the Consent Agenda items, Attorney Ellen Avery-Smith, who represents the developers for items 5 and 6, pointed out that under current procedures, it is improper to delay these items to a future meeting. She noted that the money has already been paid to St. Johns County and asked the County to not violat the law by approving this motion.

Some residents were defensive about the removal of the items from the Consent Agenda. What they seemed to have missed was that the motion was NOT to move the items to the Regular Agenda for discussion but for a postponement of the items to a later meeting. Had the motion been to bring them on to the Regular Agenda, there would have been no objection. Instead, they were motioned to move to a later meeting, without a date indicated.

Commissioner Joseph modified her motion to delay Items 5 and 14 to a future date and to put Item 6 on the Dec. 3 agenda and that passed 5-0.

Will there be a lawsuit filed by the developers for the indefinite delay?

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Regular Agenda

Agenda Item 1 – The first item, the Accessibility Needs for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community.

This was a presentation only with no vote. There will be future work to assess how to bring this much needed system to St. Johns County.

“Presentation by Calvin Britt of SeaMe Systems. Currently, there are no emergency alert notification systems on beaches in Florida that provide immediate and on-demand information to the deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) community at public beaches during an emergency evacuation. Discuss information about the accessibility tools in public spaces such as beaches, public parks, etc. that may assist the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in the event of an emergency. Highlight a system similar to the Beach Emergency Evacuation Lights System (BEELS) at public beaches. BEELS is an emergency alert notification system that incorporates programmed audio loudspeakers and LED lights that provide real-time alerts on beaches for the general public and the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. The system alerts the public of shark sightings, lightning, rip currents, etc.”

Watch the presentation here: Agenda Item 1

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Agenda Items 2 & 3 were for the St. Augustine Marketplace. This is a Small Scale Comp Plan Amendment and a Rezoning request. The requested change is from Res-B to Mixed Use. This is for 5 acres of land located southwest of the I-95 and SR 207 intersection.

Links to the materials for items 2 & 3 are here: Agenda Item 2 – CPA and Agenda Item 3 – Rezoning

This item was approved 5-0

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Commissioner’s Comments

Commissioner Comments were early on the agenda because it was not yet 11:30.

Commissioner Whitehurst extended congratulations to Commissioner Taylor and to Commissioner Murphy for being elected Vice-Chair and Commissioner Joseph as Chair.

Commissioner Arnold also extended congratulations. She raised the idea of forming an advisory board of farmers because of the potential development requests for agricultural land that may be coming forward in the future. All Commissioners agreed there was value in this idea and opened the floor for public comment.

During public comment concerns were raised about the potential make-up of such a board and there was a call for a balance, with more than just farmer’s on the board. Consensus was gained to move the idea forward. I think that means staff will provide recommendations but it wasn’t clear.

Commissioner Taylor congratulated Commissioner Joseph for her Chair appointment and Commissioner Murphy as Vice-Chair. She raised the idea of having evening meetings of the commission. There was consensus to explore the idea. She also asked to get moving on hiring a permanent County Attorney.

Commissioner Murphy congratulated all the new Commissioners sworn in Tuesday morning and extended thanks to Roy Alaimo for his stewardship of District 3 during his tenure on the commission.

Commissioner Joseph thanked Mr. Kommando for his work and said she would like to move forward with the hiring of a new attorney. There was consensus to begin that process.

She also reset the beginning of the agenda for meetings going forward. It will now be:

• Invocation
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Consent Agenda Additions/Deletions
• Regular Agenda Approval
• Public Comment with no limit on how long public comment will proceed – no longer capped at 30 minutes. No public comment at the end of the agenda

The Minutes of the Meetings will now be more detailed with comments on who spoke and what they spoke about.

She thanked the citizens for their trust in her to do the job.

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Public Comment

You can watch Public Comment here: Public Comment

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Post Script

Since last week’s meeting, new Chair Joseph is busy realigning the Commission meetings and some of her changes are sparking criticism.

Action News Jax reported that all proclamations are currently on pause, the St. Johns Veterans Council will no longer lead the pledge, and Rich Kommando will be replaced as County Attorney.

While it is no surprise that the interim County Attorney would be replaced, it is puzzling about the change for leading the Pledge of Allegiance. Commissioner Joseph stated she was extending this to employees of the county who are veterans.

In the First Coast News coverage it was disclosed they are removing Public Safety Updates and Infrastructure updates. The Infrastructure updates have been some of the most popular updates over the past several months as residents have had more transparency into what projects are in the works. Let’s hope that does not come to pass!

Check the First Coast News coverage here: First Coast News Coverage

The St. Augustine Record reports that the elimination of the Veteran’s Council leading the pledge is not sitting well with the Veteran’s Council. It also raises a question. Commissioner Joseph says that the Pledge will be lead by County Employees who are veterans and gold star families. But it is also noted that county resident (and former candidate for Commissioner) Chuck Labanowski will be leading the Pledge on December 17th.

You can read the St. Augustine Record coverage here: St. Augustine Record

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