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This week has some important meetings on the St. Johns County Government calendar.
Start Monday, October 30, with a “Meet and Greet” from 4 – 6 PM in the County Auditorium.
The final candidates for the St. Johns County Administrator position will be on hand for you to get an in-person look at who is in the final running.
Oh, and they’ll be serving Ice Cream if meeting the candidates isn’t enough to entice you!
photo from Canva
On Tuesday, October 31, beginning at 9:00 AM in the County Auditorium, the County Commissioners will conduct interviews of the four final candidates for the county Administrator position. These will be conducted in public, with the candidates recusing themselves from each others interviews.
This puts a panel interview into a whole new light, with the public in person and observing your interview!
Moving ahead to November, the Planning and Zoning Agency will have it’s first meeting of the month on Thursday, November 2, at 1:30 in the County Auditorium. I’ll be sharing the Agenda soon.
Interested in the Beach Management Plan?
On Friday, November 3, the County will be conducting discussions with the top 2 ranked firms for this project. Discussions in the County Auditorium will be closed to the public but recorded “in accordance with public records laws.”
At the conclusion of the discussions, there will be a public evaluation meeting to announce the updated scores for the 2 finalists.
Presentation Schedule
9:30 AM – 10:10 AM
Olsen Associates, Inc.
10:20 AM – 11:00 AM
Atkins North America, Inc.
11:15 AM
Final Ranking Meeting (Public Meeting)
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Yesterday was a rare occurrence, a joint meeting of the 2 Board that have the future of our County in their hands.
The live audience was sparse, with more School District and County employees on hand than general public. This may be because of short notice and little publicity about the meeting.
The meeting opened with a surprise guest invited by Commissioner Chair, Christian Whitehurst.
Commissioner Whitehurst had met with Senator Travis Hutson last week and discussed some of the items on the agenda for the joint meeting. He invited Senator Hutson to speak to the group. As he introduced Senator Hutson, he pointed out that the school concerns are a “three-legged stool” with the School District, the County, and the delegation in Tallahassee providing solutions.
Senator Hutson shared that he had already begun some work on deregulation around education. He noted that St. Johns County has always been a high growth county, since he was elected to the House, working with Senator Thrasher at the time, they brought millions of dollars back to the county for education. He shared that the money that can be brought back to the county is based on a mathematical formula based on the needs and performance of the county.
Last year the total funds that could be used were about $40 million in total and 3 or 4 other counties made that list, with St. Johns County falling to be bottom of that list. Out of that dollar amount, St. Johns County only got about $1 million based on needs, compared to the other counties on the list.
He noted this is a statewide issue. There are policies on the books that have “hamstrung” the school districts with the bureaucracy. Example is that you have to build schools to hurricane standards now. This is requiring schools to be built to higher standards than necessary and that increases the cost. Not all schools need to be built that way – changing this formula could allow funds to be used for additional schools, not hardening schools.
There are also limits on how specific dollars can be spent for specific uses. That means dollars are tied to very specific uses – they can’t be used for other uses.
In the next couple of weeks, they will be launching a series of deregulation bills (for education) and will be working directly with the school board and others to refine those bills. Senator Hutson’s bills will be specifically about construction and the physical impact. He has a draft, but it is not ready for prime time.
During comments from the dais for Senator Hutson, School Board Member Canan mentioned the frustrations about money for the teachers as well as some of the mandates that are placed on teachers by Tallahassee.
Commissioner Dean took the time to point out that many of the homes that are being built today were actually approved long before the existing School Board and County Commissioners were on the boards.; 80% of the homes constructed since 2016 were approved during the process between 2000 and 2008. Roughly 40,000 homes remain to be built that were approved prior to 2008.
Overview of the School Construction Funding Process
Next up was School Superintendent Tim Forson and a presentation on how new schools are funded.
Mr. Forson talked about the complexity of funding sources for building new schools.
There are 2 silos of budget funds, Operating Funds and Capital Funding. The two funds cannot be intermingled or used for other purposes. Operating Funds are more Human Resources focused, daily operations of the schools. Capital Funding is for buildings.
He shared that when the county was building schools in 2006, 2007, and 2008, there were significant state dollars that were used with local dollars to build the schools. That state funding is now gone.
Today, new construction of schools falls on the local communities. State sources and PECO (Public Education Capital Outlay) funding no longer exists. That is not because the state is not allocating the funds; it is because the funding sources have dried up.
NOTE: PECO funding comes from the state gross receipts tax from the sale of electricity, gas, and communications services (cable, cell phones, and land lines). As these tax receipts have decreased, so has funding for PECO.
There is no state source that will help build schools in today’s environment.
Commissioner Dean asked about the money from the Florida Lottery that is supposed to fund education. The lottery money is largely for Bright Futures, not K-12 education.
Looking at Local Sources, there are 4 primary sources:
Local Discretionary Capital Outlay Millage (was 2.0, is now 1.5 mills)
School Impact Fees
School Concurrency Proportionate Share Mitigation Payments
Half-Cent Sales Surtax
Capital Outlay millage can ONLY be spent on capital projects.
Impact fees are tiered based on the value of the home – timing is an issue.
School Proportionate Share Mitigation are based on a formula that is applied to a new construction project.
The Half-Cent surtax can only be spent on the four designated categories:
Meeting the Needs of an Increasing Student Population
Maintain High Quality Educational Facilities
Provide New Technology to Prepare Children for 21st Century Learning
Continue to Keep Children Safe
Timing of the sources:
The Millage is property tax – the school district doesn’t see that until the first time a property owner pays their property taxes. They money has to accumulate over time to fund new construction. Timeline is about 18 months before the district sees that money.
School Impact fees – paid by the homeowner when the new home is closed on.
School Concurrency fees – Mitigation fees. When a large project is phased, the proportionate share is paid when they are ready to move forward on a project. This is money that the school district gets in advance.
Sales Tax – purely economically driven
Why don’t more of these funding sources come earlier? It is taxpayer dollars and you can’t get too far ahead of the funding sources.
Not every county has Impact Fees and not every county does the work on the Proportionate Share funds. This is because not every county has capacity issues.
Not every county has the additional sales tax revenue for funding.
Observation was made that Florida’s funding of schools is not the same as other states and that can be confusing for parents coming from other states. The tax structures are so different as well as how schools are funded.
Commissioner Dean raised a question about the common belief that new schools cannot be built until the schools are at least 50% over capacity.
Answer? Statutes have changed over the years, since Mr. Forson has been involved since 2006, they have never been held from building a school because of a capacity number issue. They create a 5 year work plan, develop that workplan, and it’s approved. What stands in the way is the flow of dollars, not the state saying yes, you can build or no you can’t build.
You do need to build new schools at a size to operate in the black – there must be enough funding based on numbers of students to operate in the black.
The bonding capacity IS regulated by the state so the reduction in Millage from 2 to 1.5 did have an impact. They must complete a project before they can issue more bonds.
NOTE! School Board members have been perpetuating this urban legend – refer them back to this presentation the next time you hear it!
Commissioner Joseph asked if the School Board wanted more input into the approval of new homes.
Mr. Forson pointed out there are some legal considerations into how that happens. There are statutory and local requirements and mandates that drive the process. He did point out, they are at the table. The School Board does see the project and approves the mitigation portion before it goes to the Board of Commissioners.
School Board Member Mr. Canan wanted to refer the audience to the sales tax portion of the funding and underscore its importance. This was voted on and put in place at a time when school funds were drying up and there was no money for new schools. He asked Mr. Forson what the sales tax had funded.
Response:
2 new schools
2 partial schools that would probably have been only 1 school
1 school expansion
5,655 student stations have been built as a result of sales tax
The district would probably have about 4000 fewer seats in the system.
Mr. Forson indicated that In 10 years, the district has grown by 13,467 students to 52,000 students. Doing some fact checking, numbers in 2012 were 32,187 and numbers today are at ~52,000.
During that time, they have built 9 new schools, 3 expansions, and 3 are under construction now.
40% of that construction was based on sales tax funding.
There was further discussion about communication between the School Board and the County Commissioner’s regarding approval of new developments. Both School Board representatives and County representatives emphasized there is communication, and the School Board is engaged and aware of all new developments. They determine the proportionate fair share the developers pay and that is approved by the School Board before the Commissioners make their determination.
Presentation of school-related infrastructure projects
Colin Groff Interim Deputy County Administrator presented on the Infrastructure projects.
He began the discussion with an explanation about the concurrency and proportionate share process.
When a developer brings forward a project, before anyone on the Board of Commissioners sees it for approval, that project has gone through the School Board and they have looked at the concurrency and said, “yes we have the capacity.” If they do not sign off on the project, it stops right there and does not move forward until the capacity deficit is addressed.
If the capacity is not there, the developer may choose to pause, or to pay the proportionate share agreement that is approved by the School Board for the developer to fund their portion of future schools.
Important to note that the process stops and the project does not move forward to the County Commissioners for review unless there is capacity or an agreement to fund future capacity. The School Board does play a role in that process.
Capital Project Updates
Dr. Asplen presented on the current school projects. He answered a question about a new High School with a projected date of around 2027 – 2028.
Colin Groff presented on the school related Infrastructure Projects
Adam Teckler, Legislative Affairs Manager, presented some next steps.
State Board of Education Report is due by November 1
Purpose is to reduce unnecessary regulation on public schools. Expected to review cost per student station formula and options for high growth school districts. May also address student transportation.
After a brief recess, they heard Public Comment.
Public comments were shared about:
Teacher pay
Appreciation for this meeting and hope for continued joint meetings
Don’t forget the older communities and their school needs
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Tuesday’s meeting was long and contentious. No doubt you’ve seen some social media coverage and local news coverage of some of the topics covered.
I’ll try to break it down for you here and provide you links and source information to form your own opinions.
The meeting opened with a Recognition Award for Commissioner Sarah Arnold.
The St. Johns County Professional Firefighters Association presented an award to Commissioner Arnold in recognition of her efforts to establish a Mental Health program for the Firefighters. The award was presented by David Stevens, President of the St. Johns County Professional Fire Fighters. He shared a moving story about what it is like being a firefighter and the mental/emotional toll it takes to do the job day-in and day-out. He reminded us of the 3 firefighters lost to mental health issues in last year.
He explained the tradition of the presentation of the fire ax to an individual. Because the fire ax is a tool that represents saving lives, it is generally reserved for those who have saved lives, like a retired fireman who spent his entire career helping people. On special occasions, they present that ax to elected officials who have put forward legislation or initiatives that help and save firemen.
He noted that one year ago, Commissioner Arnold proclaimed men and women in fire rescue are in crisis and rallied her fellow commissioners to put forward the initiative for mental health that is in place today. They declared, “Commissioner Arnold, you are our hero.”
The representation from the fire department was large. It was quite moving to see the presentation.
This was followed by a Proclamation recognizing the 100th Anniversary of Kiwanis of St. Augustine
The third proclamation of the morning was timely. St. Johns County has been recognizing St Johns County Israel Friendship Day for 3 years. The timing of this year’s proclamation falls during a horrific time for Israel.
We learned during the acceptance of the proclamation that much aid has been sent from St. Johns County already. The Rabbis who spoke expressed appreciation for the support and love that they have felt from the community.
Commissioner Dean read a resolution of support for Israel into the record, as it defends itself from the war from Hamas. You can watch and hear the resolution here: St. Johns County Resolution for Israel
Public Safety Update
Director Beaver from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office emphasized that the Jewish community should know SJSO is staying on top of what is going on and monitoring. Sheriff Hardwick has been reaching out personally to the Jewish Community. He shared that just a few months ago members of the staff visited Israel.
Interim Fire Chief Sean McGhee shared a story from last week’s news of a St. Johns County Fire Rescue K-9 providing a blood transfusion for a K-9s for Warriors K-9 in Duval County.
Consent Agenda
For the Consent Agenda, Commissioner Joseph asked to pull Items 8 and 33, suggesting that Item 8 should be sent back to the LAMP Board for review. Both items were moved to the Regular Agenda for discussion.
Attorney Migut reported that the applicant would like to pull Agenda Item 2.
Regular Agenda
Before beginning the Regular Agenda, Commissioner Joseph asked if Item 3 could be moved forward to Item 1, because there were many in the audience there for just Item 3.
Commissioner Whitehurst expressed concern that there were many residents from Rock Springs Farms for Item 2 and they had been waiting several months for this item to make it to the agenda. He indicated items 1 and 2 should go quickly so the agenda was not altered.
Item 1 was a request for a Non-Zoning variance to waive roadway standards to allow the building of a single-family home on a lot on Hickory Lane. This item was presented by the landowner who wishes to build a home on the property they purchased on Hickory Lane. Three neighbors spoke in opposition to the request. The variance was approved unanimously.
Item 2 was the long awaited Rock Springs Farms PUD modification that would release the HOA from maintaining the county owned public park. For several months residents of Rock Springs Farms have been coming and asking for relief from maintaining the County owned park. Commissioner Alaimo championed addressing the situation and it was finally brought to the Agenda. After a very well done presentation by the President of the HOA, the modification was approved unanimously.
Agenda Item 3 was a discussion item for the Review and Analysis of 14 Goals introduced at the July 18, 2023 Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting. In the published materials for this item there was no ordinance proposed, just an analysis of the goals and how they might become part of the Land Development Code.
This was the hot topic of the day and took a long time, interrupted by General Public Comment at Time Certain of 11:30. I’ll consolidate the Tree discussion and update on the General Public Comment in a separate section.
The discussion on trees spanned over three hours with the break for public comment. While it was posted on the Agenda as a Discussion item, there were many emails and social media posts encouraging people to attend and make their voices heard. Many people came into the meeting expecting this to be a vote on a new Ordinance to protect trees.
I’m including a link that starts at the beginning of the discussion and will also include a link to the subsequent discussions with the Board that will be of interest. My intent is to make it easier for all to follow and learn.
Goals 1 and 2 – Lots of Record – Proposed: Lots of Record east of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and Lots one acre or larger west of the ICW shall provide 80” of trees per acre through preservation or replanting.
Goal 6 is for the Tree Bank – Proposed: Update the Tree Bank Fund Fee
Two options presented.
Option 1: Payment is the current market value of average cost of the purchase of replacement trees.
Option 2: $150 per lost tree inch.
Goal 11 is for the Commercial Exemption – Proposed: Delete the exemption for commercial projects.
Three Options presented:
Current Tree Bank Fee – Cost: 80” removed = 80” X $25 = $2000
Average cost of a 2” Live Oak is $442. Cost: 80” removed = 4:2” trees or 40 X $442 = $17,680
$150 per lost tree inch. Cost: 80” removed = 80” X $150 = $12,000
Goal 3 is for Specimen Trees – Here are the three slides explaining Specimen Trees:
Goals 4, 8, and 9 were for Development Buffers, Natural Vegetation, and Grading. Proposed:
Keep natural or undisturbed as much as possible buffers of original, natural vegetation/trees to protect neighboring properties.
Preserve minimum of 20% of upland natural vegetation, not including Upland Buffers
Disallow grading with 15 feet of a property line or buffer
Goal 7 is for Early Clearing – Proposed: Eliminate the Clearing and Grading Construction Plan application. Developers that do have clear plans for construction will submit construction plans and request early land clearing with the first round of construction plan review, tying the clearing to eminent construction of the development.
Goal 10 is for Drainage – Proposed: Attention must be given in the planning stage by county staff to drainage so that the water table in preserves does not change post-construction.
Goal 12 is Tree Bank Fund Use – Proposed: Ensure that disbursement of funds from the county’s tree bank goes 100% towards the purchase and installation of trees. Disbursement of the Tree Bank Fund shall be made only with approval of the BCC.
Goal 13 is for Pine Trees – Pine Trees are typically grown as “crop trees” and are an important part of our silviculture. They have been on the “Exempt” list of trees considered for tree inch value. The proposal is to keep exempt, except for Slash and Longleaf Pines.
Goal 14 is Notifications – Proposed: Notice to homeowners within 300’ of clear cutting, prior to cutting.
Goal 5 is Increase Fines – Proposed: Trees removed illegally should be subject to a fine 10X the current fine to discourage such violations.
At the conclusion of the staff presentation, Commissioner Joseph clarified that it was not her intent to force people to put trees on their property.
Public Comment – 39 people spoke during Public Comment on the analysis. The majority were for doing something to save the trees. Some agreed that something needs to be done, but to proceed with thought and caution. No one was in direct and full opposition to updating the Land Development Code to provide for saving trees.
The topic then came back to the Board for discussion.
It’s worth a watch to get the full context of the discussion and form your own opinions. Here’s a brief synopsis:
Commissioner Joseph asked for consensus to move through each item, one by one. Other Board members did not respond to that request.
Commissioner Joseph tried to initiate discussion about Item one with no response from the other Commissioners. She then moved onto item six about the Tree Bank. Again, there was no input from others.
Commissioner Dean spoke and shared that he had come into the meeting with the expectation that this was a “listening and learning” experience. He thanked Commissioner Joseph for bring it forward and said he had thought today was a day to listen and learn, hear from the public, give it further thought and then come back with a suggestion going forward.
Commissioner Dean called out areas that he thought he could support:
Some limitation on clear cutting
Preserving our buffers
Higher permit fees
Higher fines for violations
Some increase in conservation of trees for PUDs.
He did want to hear more from the public and wants to look at this in the context of Comp Plan amendments that the county is undertaking.
He stated he was impressed with a number of the recommendations but was just not prepared to vote on them Tuesday. He said that did not mean he was not in favor of the others; it just meant he didn’t have enough information on the other 9 items.
Commissioner Whitehurst added his thoughts that he was very much in favor of conservation but wanted to understand any negative consequences. He has concerns that this could violate Florida statutes and could cause higher prices for homes and that would harm the middle classes in St. Johns County.
Commissioner Joseph made a point that many people had come to the meeting Tuesday with the expectation that something would be voted on. Her view was this was “sad” and she hoped “everybody remembers this in a year when some of those people run for re-election.”
Commissioner Alaimo spoke up and echoed Commissioner Dean’s thoughts that he wasn’t prepared to vote on these items thinking it was just a discussion item. He referenced the work on the Comp Plan and shared that he thought this would be the time to review and get input from experts on the revisions. He expressed the concern that if this was going to cost the developers money, they would just pass that on to the home buyer. He wants to get more input from the public during the Comp Plan related Town Halls.
Commissioner Arnold thanked the staff for all the work they had put into the analysis. Her opinion was they need more analysis with subject matter experts and that this is premature.
Commissioner Whitehurst said he just couldn’t vote on something that could increase the cost of a home in St. Johns County.
Commissioner Joseph made a motion to move forward the 5 items Commissioner Dean had mentioned. Commissioner Dean seconded the motion.
There was additional public comment on the motion with 10 people speaking.
Interim Administrator Andrews brought up the Comprehensive Plan updates and that this is one element of the Comprehensive Plan. She shared the timeline for the process and the Town Halls that are to begin in November.
Commissioner Alaimo asked for clarification on the Motion that had been put on the floor.
EditorialNote: No one could clearly articulate what the actual motion was. I have received calls, emails, and texts during and since the meeting asking me for clarity on the motion. In the video you can see the confusion about what was being voted on.
Commissioner Dean shared more insight into his thinking. He clarified that the reason he made the second for the motion was that there is a clear path to use the plan and the process to engage the public more and to engage the staff to address questions and get any misconceptions cleared up. He wanted to be clear that the changes need to be clearly vetted and understood before they make a decision.
Commissioner Joseph wanted to keep the motion as made today because it will be a year before the Comp Plan changes come to fruition.
Commissioner Alaimo shared that he believes this should be part of the Comprehensive Plan and the process in place for that plan.
Commissioner Arnold agreed with that position.
The motion was finally voted on and failed, 3-2, with Arnold, Whitehurst, and Alaimo voting No.
General Public Comment
General Public Comment at time certain 11:30 started with a surprise entry from former Fire Chief Scott Bullard.
You can watch Mr. Bullard’s comments, followed by others in support of Mr. Bullard, at this link; Bullard’s Public Comment
Mr. Bullard spoke in defense of his career and spoke against recent actions of the Interim County Administrator and one Commissioner. He is seeking to be returned to his former role of Battalion Chief and be allowed to finish his career in St. Johns County.
Others, including Mr. Bullard’s wife, spoke in his defense, as well.
David Stevens, President of the Firefighter’s Association, spoke up and shared examples of actions that Mr. Bullard had taken that led to the complaints levied against Mr. Bullard.
Regular Agenda Item 5 was the Agreement between the St. Johns County Community Redevelopment Agency and Vilano Beach Main Street, Inc. This was approved unanimously.
Regular Agenda Item 6 was an update from County Attorney David Migut on the County Administrator Recruitment Process.
The list of candidates had been narrowed down from 105 to 5 by the selection committee:
Joy Andrews
Scott Andrews
Sarah Campbell
James “Jim” G. Doar
James “Jim” K. Harriott, Jr.
Mr. Scott Andrews has withdrawn from the process.
The Board was able to vote on the final interview slate. They could have added to or taken away from the candidates recommended by the selection committee.
Previous meetings regarding the selection process can be reviewed here:
October 30 has been set aside as a day that the Commissioners can interview the finalists one on one, in private, if they choose.
Also on October 30, there will be a public “Meet the Next county Administrator” ice cream social event from 4 – 6 PM on October 30th in the Rotunda of the Administration Building.
There will be a special Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, October 31 at 9:00 AM. The Board will interview the candidates selected Tuesday. The meeting is open to the public. Candidates have been asked to recuse themselves from the meeting so as not to give any candidate an advantage, having seen the other questions and answers provided.
They chose to proceed with the 4 candidates.
Agenda Item 7 was the Consent Agenda Item 8 regarding a proposed Land Management Plan from the LAMP Board. This item was sent back to the LAMP board for further discussion and a more clear recommendation.
Agenda Item 8 was the Consent Agenda Item 33 about a resident serving on 2 appointed Boards. After discusson with the attorney, it was determined this would be allowed and did not set a precedent as the Board as the ability to approve any future such situations.
Commissioner’s reports
After a very long day, the Commissioner’s reports were rather light. Of note was Commissioner Whitehurst’s comments that Wednesday, October 18 marked the one year anniversary of the loss of Commissioner Paul Waldron. There will be a memorial celebration of his life sometime in December.
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Item 2 on the Agenda is a Car Wash on US1 South, north of State Road 312 and south of Nix Boat Yard Road. This is the former Sonny’s BBQ location on US1 South. The property is zoned Commercial General.
Location of proposed car wash
District 2
Item 3 on the Agenda is a request from The Home Depot for a Non-Zoning Variance to the Land Development Code to allow 610.5 sq. ft of Advertising Display Area for the Home Depot building wall signage in lieu of the maximum 200 sq. ft. per business. This is located on International Golf Parkway, near the current Buc-ee’s.
Location of new Home DepotSite Plan for Home Depot
District 1
Item 7 on the Agenda is the Race Track Road PUD request for a modification to the Race Track Road PUD to allow construction of a Self-Storage facility, which is an allowable use within the PUD. The request is a waiver for the distance from residential homes.
Race Track Road PUD – location of self-storage building
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The morning will start with 3 Proclamations, including recognizing the 100th Anniversary of Kiwanis of St. Augustine.
Consent Agenda
There are 36 items in the Consent Agenda, with a few of interest.
Consent Agenda Item 11 concerns intersection improvements at Longleaf Pine and Greenbriar road. Details here: Consent Agenda Item 11
Consent Agenda Item 19 details an agreement btween the County and FDOT for the further construction of CR 2209. Details here: Consent Agenda Item 19
Consent Agenda Item 20 addresses funding for intersection improvements at SR 16 and International Golf Parkway. Details here: Consent Agenda Item 20
All Consent Agenda Items can be found in the last pages of the full Agenda at the link above.
Regular Agenda Items
Agenda Item 2 is the result of concerns raised by the residents of Rock Springs Farms at several BOCC meetings.
“Request for a Major Modification to the Rock Springs Farms PUD (Ordinance No. 2017-49, as amended) to clarify the project is limited to 182 single family dwelling units and remove the obligation of the Rock Springs Farms Homeowners Association (HOA) to fund the maintenance of the dedicated public park. The Planning and Zoning Agency recommended approval of MAJMOD 2023-14 at its regular September 21, 2023 meeting with a 4-0 vote.”
Rock Springs Farm Park is a small community of 182 homes located off 206. At the inception of this PUD, an agreement was struck that the HOA would be responsible for maintaining a public park owned by St. Johns County.
When the community management was turned over from the developer to the HOA, the HOA quickly realized they did not have the funds to maintain this public park. In the existing agreement, St. Johns County Parks and Recreation operates the park for use by the general public. There are 2 pieces to the park; a linear park close to US1 and a walking trail further to the interior of the community. This agreement would split the park and the walking trail would be maintained by the HOA with the linear park maintained by the county. Cost to the county is $31,000 per year.
Agenda Item 3 is a discussion item on the 14 Goals for updates to the Land Development Code for tree preservation presented by Commissioner Joseph at a previous meeting.
Staff analysis found that some of the 14 goals were interrelated and they have created a more cohesive view of the goals for this discussion.
The presentation is worth reading, not only for the details of the proposed changes but for the correspondence from builders on impacts to the development/builder community.
Agenda Item 4 is a proposed Settlement Agreement related to the Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Irma FEMA Restoration Project. There were disputes regarding claims for reimbursement for unforeseen costs during the project.
Agenda Item 5 is discussion on the Agreement between the St. Johns County Community Redevelopment Agency and Vilano Beach Main Street, Inc. The request is for an extension of the existing agreemet.
And the last item of the day for discussion is Agenda Item 6, County Administrator Recruitment Process.
“The Board has engaged GovHR USA to conduct a national search to hire a new county administrator. Additionally, the Board has appointed a selection committee to interview top-tier candidates and make a recommendation to the Board regarding which candidates to interview. GovHR USA has provided the selection committee with the list of all applicants, as well as a recommended short list. The selection committee met in a public meeting to review this information and has provided its guidance regarding which candidates are recommended for in person interviews with the Board. A list of the recommended candidates, as well as their application materials, are attached. Staff will also provide any additional updates on the process, as applicable.”
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Beth Tate 