The June 6 BOCC meeting was a packed agenda resulting in one of the longest meetings this year! With brief remarks from the Clerk of Court and no comments on the Consent Agenda, the Regular Agenda began with the Constitutional Officers 2024 Budget Presentations.
Sheriff Rob Hardwick presented the Sheriff’s budget for Fiscal Year 2024. The largest proposed increases in the Sheriff’s budget were for salary increases for all personnel and adding 22 deputies to the staff. The budget will accommodate raising the starting salary from $52,000 to $55,00. There was discussion about recruiting and retention of deputies. Sheriff Hardwick spoke to the need for workforce housing so his deputies can have a home here in St. Johns County. He commented that when his deputies live in an apartment complex and have their marked car there, they don’t really get time off.* The Sheriff was asked about body cameras and he confirmed that every deputy working on patrol has a body worn camera. He made particular note that deputies working in the schools do not have body cameras operating when they are in the schools.
(*author’s comment – many advocates for workforce housing push the value of having a marked SJSO car sitting in the parking lot of an apartment complex. These deputies often become the de facto security force and, as Sheriff Hardwick noted, they may not get real down time in their off hours.)
The Supervisor of Elections, Vicki Oakes, presented her budget and a strategic plan amendment. She noted that her 4 year budget this time includes 2 elections; the 2024 March Presidential Preference Primary and the 2024 General Election. They anticipate qualifying between 140 and 150 candidates for local elections in 2024.
It is always reassuring to hear from Ms. Oakes about how our elections are conducted in the county. She mentioned in her presentation that she does welcome residents to come and tour their offices. I highly recommend the tour as it is very informative.
You may want to watch her presentation here: Supervisor of Elections Presentation
You can view both the Sheriff’s budget and the Supervisor of Elections budgets at this link: Sheriff and SoE Budget details
Item Two on the Agenda was an Economic Development Incentive Request from KeHE Distributors, presented by the Deputy County Administrator, Joy Andrews. This package is intended to keep KeHe and its 345 jobs in the county and open up the possibility for 100 additional jobs. This was approved 5-0.
Agenda Items 4 & 5 were for The Cottages at St. Johns. This request was to approve a development of up to 232 residential units within a rental community. The development would be located on SR 16 at International Golf Parkway. Concerns about insufficient infrastructure resulted in a denial of the application with a 5-0 vote.
During the Time Certain Public Comment, several residents of Rock Springs Farm again voiced concerns and asked for relief from the County regarding an agreement that their HOA would be responsible for maintaining a County owned park.
Agenda items 8 & 9 took up a previously delayed Adoption Hearing of the Workforce Housing Ordinance modifications and the Second Reading of the Workforce Housing Land Development Code changes.
There was a presentation from the Northeast Florida Builder’s Association about the ordinance updates, which they had written. I presented on behalf of the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, stressing the need for Essential Worker Housing in our county that is affordable and available for our deputies, teachers, first responders, healthcare workers and others. My statement also attempted to clarify that this is about Workforce Housing, not Affordable Housing. There were several who spoke during public comment about the need for housing for the essential workforce as well as our tourism, hospitality, and other service workers. Some local employees shared their difficulties with finding housing they can afford within St. Johns County.
Commissioner Dean had proposed adding an AMI (Area Median Income) Cap of 120% to the Land Development Code and a 3-year requirement for Owner Occupancy.
After much discussion amongst the Commissioners, the Comp Plan Amendment was approved. The Land Development Code was more confusing as the Commissioners agreed with removing the 120% AMI Cap and adjusting the requirement for Owner Occupancy to 2 years. The submitted documentation had two versions; one included the Cap, one did not. The county attorney advised there was other wording that may need to be adjusted, as well. The vote was delayed to the June 20 meeting to allow staff time to ensure the documentation matched the desires of the Commissioners expressed in the meeting on Tuesday.
Agenda item 13 was a request for the county to engage a contractor to work on behalf of residents needing flood mitigation and request available grants for residents. The grant process can be cumbersome and difficult for individual homeowners to navigate on their own. This was approved 5-0.
Agenda item 14 was an update on the Hurricanes Ian and Nicole Emergency Beach Berm work. The Board approved moving forward with the contract to begin work on the Butler and Crescent Beach projects.
Agenda item 15 was a presentation from Deputy County Administrator Joy Andrews on the future of the World Golf Village properties being vacated by the World Golf Hall of Fame and the IMAX Theatre in September of 2023.
Public comment on this topic included comments that the county should sell it and a resident from the World Golf Village area sharing about a Neighborhood Alliance hoping to have input into what happens with the property going forward.
The Board had good discussion about possible uses of the property. Commissioner Arnold had a range of ideas including offices for those County employees who need new space, like the Sheriff’s office or the Supervisor of Elections. She mentioned the need for new libraries in surrounding areas like Rivertown and Nocatee.
At the conclusion of discussion, staff was directed to conduct due diligence and engage with staff and community stakeholders to develop a recommendation for the Board to considering the future.
During the Commissioner’s updates, it was agreed further work was needed to address the concerns about the park at Rock Springs Farm. This will be taken up at a future Commissioner’s meeting.
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Beth Tate 