MEETING: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, REGULAR/WORKSHOP

1. CALL TO ORDER: September 19, 2000, at 9:42 a.m., in the Palm Beach County Governmental Center, West Palm Beach, Florida.

1.A. ROLL CALL
MEMBERS AND OFFICERS PRESENT:
Chair Maude Ford Lee - Absent
Vice-Chair Warren H. Newell
Commissioner Burt Aaronson - Absent
Commissioner Mary McCarty
Commissioner Karen T. Marcus - Absent
Commissioner Tony Masilotti
Commissioner Carol A. Roberts
County Administrator Robert Weisman
Assistant County Attorney Tammy K. Fields
Deputy Clerk Carl Zettelmeyer

2. AGENDA APPROVAL
2.A. ADDITIONS, DELETIONS, SUBSTITUTIONS - None
2.B. ADOPTION
MOTION to adopt the agenda. Motion by Commissioner Masilotti, seconded by Commissioner Roberts, and carried 4-0. Commissioners Aaronson, Lee, and Marcus absent.
2.C. UNSCHEDULED ITEM - See page 5.

3. 9:30 A.M. - 2000 AFFORDABLE HOUSING STUDY - See pages 2-3.

4. 10:30 A.M. - ANNEXATION POLICY - See pages 3-4.

5. REGULAR AGENDA
5.A. CLERK
5.A.1.  WARRANT LIST DATED SEPTEMBER 18, 2000.APPROVED 9-19-2000

MOTION to approve the warrant list. Motion by Commissioner McCarty, seconded by Commissioner Masilotti, and carried 4-0. Commissioners Aaronson, Lee, and Marcus absent.

5.A.2.  RENEWAL OF TERM CONTRACT WITH LANDSCAPE STRUCTURES, INC.; CONTRACT CONNECTION; NEVCO SCOREBOARD; PLAY IT SAFE ENTERPRISES; REP SERVICES, INC.; OUTDOOR ALUMINUM; PS FLORIDA, DBA PARK STRUCTURES; PLAYCORE, INC., DBA GAMETIME; PETE JEFFREY & ASSOCIATES, INC.; AND THE GERBER GROUP FOR A TOTAL OF $500,000 TO PROVIDE PLAYGROUND AND PARK EQUIPMENT ON AN AS-NEEDED BASIS FROM SEPTEMBER 23, 2000, THROUGH MARCH 22, 2002. APPROVED 9-19-2000

MOTION to approve the term contract. Motion by Commissioner McCarty, seconded by Commissioner Masilotti, and carried 4-0. Commissioners Aaronson, Lee, and Marcus absent.
5.B. PLANNING, ZONING, AND BUILDING
5.B.1. DOCUMENT R-2000-1357
CONTRACT WITH THE FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY/FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY JOINT CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND URBAN PROBLEMS FOR $4,770 TO ASSESS THE COUNTY'S REDEVELOPMENT AND REVITALIZATION POLICIES. APPROVED 9-19-2000

MOTION to approve the contract. Motion by Commissioner McCarty, seconded by Commissioner Masilotti, and carried 4-0. Commissioners Aaronson, Lee, and Marcus absent.
5.C.1. See page 5.

WORKSHOP ITEMS
3. 9:30 A.M. - 2000 AFFORDABLE HOUSING STUDY. DISCUSSED WITH DIRECTION 9-19-2000
Carol Thompson of Thompson Consulting, Inc., summarized the 2000 Affordable Study, noting that it was a revision of the 1994 Affordable Housing Study. Commissioner Masilotti asked about measures that would promote home ownership rather than rental and learned from Ms. Thompson that the report presented a view of the county's affordable housing situation as it existed rather than recommendations for change. She suggested that the report was a resource for the board to use in formulating policy. Commissioner Newell observed that promoting job growth would be a fruitful direction to take in the effort to promote home ownership. Commissioner Roberts recommended scheduling a workshop in the coming year on promoting job creation.

Commissioner Newell also inquired about the use of the data in the zoning review process as a means of avoiding overbuilding and saturation of the market. Ms. Thompson answered that rents and sales prices do not typically come under consideration in the process of reviewing a zoning petition unless the petitioner is seeking a voluntary density bonus. Commissioner Newell observed that some reported vacancy rates were quite different from those that had been reported in other sources. Ms. Thompson said the vacancy figures were projections based on the 1990 census carried forward. Commissioner Newell recommended annual review of the data in order to have the best possible sense of the state of affordable housing in the county.

Continuing his comments, Commissioner Newell noted that the impact of affordable rental housing on the community was typically underestimated, particularly as it affects student population and trip generation. The underreporting of these numbers made it especially helpful to use a resource such as the Affordable Housing Study in determining the most effective location of affordable housing units, he concluded.

Commissioner Masilotti asked whether it was the board's direction to staff to use the report in its planning efforts. Director of Housing and Community Development Remar M. Harvin said that would be his understanding. Commissioner Masilotti also asked staff and the consultant how the board might persuade the School Board to use more accurate data in its prediction of the number of students living in affordable housing. Planning Director Frank M. Duke responded that the School Board had changed its methodology so as to consider the number of students actually living in affordable housing units.

Commissioner Masilotti asked Mr. Duke whether it would be useful to consider levels of service in siting affordable housing developments. Mr. Duke recommended against this because of the multiple social-service needs typical of the residents of affordable housing units. If the board was not prepared to fund all of these needs, then it would be necessary to target certain residential areas with affordable housing funds, Mr. Duke suggested. As an alternative, he recommended using the voluntary density bonus program as a means of achieving dispersal of affordable housing. Additionally, the traffic performance standards exemptions for affordable housing could be reserved only to those areas without a concentration of affordable housing, he said.

Affordable housing for seniors was also a pressing issue, Commissioner Masilotti asserted. In this connection, Commissioner Roberts recommended consideration of single-room occupancy (SRO) situations for senior citizens. As a final note, Commissioner Newell said mass transit had to be taken into consideration in the location of affordable housing developments.

4. 10:30 A.M. - ANNEXATION POLICY. DISCUSSED WITH DIRECTION 9-19-2000
Planning Director Duke summarized staff's request for direction concerning the board's annexation policy. Under the proposed policy, the county would not object to a voluntary annexation that creates an enclave if the municipality simultaneously approves an interlocal agreement with the county to eliminate the enclave and presents written confirmation that 67 percent of the property owners within the enclave agree with the annexation.

Commissioner Roberts pointed out that the proposed policy was merely a means to circumvent the force of statute. A more appropriate tactic, she suggested, was to change Section 171, Florida Statutes, through the legislature. Commissioner McCarty observed that 67 percent of the residents within an enclave would never agree to its creation, rendering the proposed change moot.

Annexation issues, Commissioners Masilotti, Newell, and McCarty agreed, needed to come before the board rather than be decided at the staff level.

PUBLIC COMMENT:
Samuel J. Ferreri, mayor of the City of Greenacres, agreed with Commissioner Roberts, saying that a unified effort involving the municipalities and the county in the creation of a local bill for consideration by the legislature was preferable to the policy being proposed by staff.

Commissioner Masilotti urged a more vigorous public education effort on the part of the municipalities that would persuade residents to agree to voluntary annexations. Too frequently, he continued, property owners were merely notified that an annexation would take place, not canvassed for their opinion on the issue.

Richard C. Radcliffe, a member of the City of Greenacres City Council, recommended the creation of a legislative task force that would develop local legislation on annexation to be introduced in the legislature.

Commissioners McCarty and Newell suggested placing the annexation issue on a future regular agenda. Commissioner Masilotti called for input from the Palm Beach County League of Cities before the issue came back before the board.

James "Jamie" Titcomb, executive director of the Palm Beach County League of Cities, expressed the league's willingness to work with county staff and the municipalities toward developing a local bill on annexation.

Commissioner Masilotti suggested that there might be instances of annexation for which the county might be willing to increase its 33 percent share of the annexation incentive. He encouraged Mr. Titcomb to convey this message to his membership.

Commissioners Newell and Roberts asked Mr. Titcomb whether a draft bill could be ready by December 2000. He replied that it was his sense that much of the preliminary work toward the coming legislative session was already complete. Certainly, he continued, the league could have a draft available well in advance of the session for 2002. Commissioner Newell encouraged Mr. Titcomb to have a draft ready for the coming session.

Commissioner Roberts expressed confidence that a draft could be ready by December 2000 and then pointed out two areas of emphasis: enclaves created by other municipalities and enclaves created by annexation. Mr. Titcomb stressed his sense of the legislative delegation on annexations, which was that the delegation had insisted on preliminary work by the county and the members of the League of Cities before the delegation would entertain a proposed local bill.

Commissioner Newell then summarized the session, calling for cooperation between the League of Cities and the county toward a draft of a local bill on annexations, to be delivered as soon as possible, preferably in time for consideration during the coming session of the legislature. Meanwhile, he concluded, the board would take no action to support the change in annexation policy proposed by Planning, Zoning and Building.

5.C.1. RESOLUTION R-2000-1358
RESOLUTION SUPPORTING "THE EVERGLADES: AN AMERICAN LEGACY ACT." ADOPTED 9-19-2000
County Administrator Weisman noted that Commissioner Marcus had proposed a resolution supporting "The Everglades: An American Legacy Act," a federal act, at the regular board meeting on September 12, 2000. Action on the act was imminent, it had been learned, and Commissioner Marcus had therefore requested adoption of the resolution during the workshop.

MOTION to adopt the resolution. Motion by Commissioner Masilotti, seconded by Commissioner McCarty, and carried 4-0. Commissioners Aaronson, Lee, and Marcus absent.

2.C. UNSCHEDULED ITEM
2.C.1.  SWEARING-IN OF NEW MEMBERS ON NOVEMBER 21, 2000. DISCUSSED 9-19-2000
County Administrator Weisman surveyed the board on its wishes concerning the swearing-in of new members scheduled for November 21, 2000. In past years, the board had held a luncheon following the swearing-in, and Mr. Weisman asked whether that would be the case this year. He said he would discuss the issue with individual members and return to the board with a recommendation.

6. ADJOURNMENT
The Chair declared the meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m.
ATTESTED: APPROVED:

Clerk Chair