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DSAC Minutes 06/03/2009 R June 3, 2009 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COLLIER COUNTY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE Naples, Florida, June 3, 2009 LET IT BE REMEMBERED that the Collier County Development Services Advisory Committee, in and for the County of Collier, having conducted business therein, met on this date at 3:00 P.M. in REGULAR SESSION in Conference Room #610 in the Collier County Community Development and Environmental Services Center, 2800 N. Horseshoe Drive, Naples, Florida, with the following Members present: CHAIRMAN: Vice Chair: William Varian Thomas Masters Charles Abbott James Boughton Clay Brooker Laura Spurgeon Dejohn Dalas Disney David Dunnavant Marco Espinar Blair Foley George Hermanson Reed Jarvi Robert Mulhere Reid Schermer Mario Valle ALSO PRESENT: Joe Schmitt, Administrator, CDES Judy Puig, Operations Analyst, CDES - Staff Liaison Bob Dunn, Director, Building Review and Permitting Nick Casalanguida, Director, Transportation and Planning Phil Gramatges, Interim Director, Public Utilities Division Gary Mullee, Operations Support Mgr, Bus. Mgmt. & Budget Ed Riley, Fire Code Official DEVELOPMENT SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE AGENDA June 3, 2009 3:00 p.m. Conference Room 610 NOTICE: Persons wishing to speak on any Agenda item will receive up to three (3) minutes unless the Chairman adjusts the time. Speakers are required to fill out a "Speaker Request Form," list the topic they wish to address, and hand it to the Staff member seated at the table before the meeting begins. Please wait to be recognized by the Chairman, and speak into a microphone. State your name and affiliation before commenting. During discussion, Committee Members may direct questions to the speaker. Please silence cell phones and digital devices. There may not be a break in this meeting. Please leave the room to conduct any personal business. All parties participating in the public meeting are to observe Roberts Rules of Order, and wait to be recognized by the Chairman. Please speak one at a time and into the microphone so the Hearing Reporter can record all statements being made. I. Call to Order - Chairman II. Approval of Agenda III. Approval of Minutes from May 6,2009 Meeting IV. Public Speakers V. Staff Announcements/Updates A. Public Utilities Division Update - Phil Gramatges B. Fire Review Update - Ed Riley C. Transportation Division Update - Nick Casalanguida D. CDES Update - Joe Schmitt VI. Old Business A. Overview of the FY2010 proposed budget - Gary Mullee B. LDC requirements on AlC unit locations - Bill Varian VII. New Business A. 4-Day/32 hour work week - Joe Schmitt VIII. Committee Member Comments IX. Adjourn Next Meetin" Dates July 1, 2009 CDES Conference Room 610 - 3:00 pm November 4,2009 CDES Conference Room 610 - 3:00 pm December 2,2009 CDES Conference Room 610 - 3:00 pm June 3, 2009 I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 3 :05 PM by Chairman William Varian and a quorum was established. Chairman Varian read the procedures to be followed during the Meeting. II. Approval of Agenda Marco Espinar moved to approve the Agenda as submitted. Second by Blair Foley. Carried unanimously, 12-0. III. Approval of Minutes - May 6, 2009 Meeting Chairman Varian asked for clarification regarding a statement on Page 5: "It was noted that Fund #113 has overpaid to Fund #131 for a number of years prior to 2003. " Dalas Disney stated Fund #113 had been established prior to 2003 and, either by Statute or Florida Building Code, was to operate to fund itself, and was funding itself plus the entity prior to Fund #131 - Zoning and Planning - before being separated out into two Funds. The statement was amended to read as follows: "It was noted that Fund #113 had paid for services that are currently Fund #131 for a number of years prior to 2003. " On Page 7, questions asked of Robert Wiley were clarified: · Would the Ordinance provide increased points for the FEMA classification? Mr. Wiley's answer was "none." · What cost reduction to homeowners' flood insurance would occur if the Ordinance was implemented? Mr. Wiley's answer was "zero dollars" in savings. Thomas Masters moved to approve the Minutes of the May 6, 2009 Meeting as amended. Second by Reed Jarvi. Carried unanimously, 12-0. IV. Public Speakers (None) V. Staff Announcements/Updates A. Public Utilities Division Update - Phil Gramatges Mr. Gramatges stated the proposed Budget for Public Utilities has been reviewed by a Subcommittee of the Productivity Committee. The Budget reflects a marked decrease in Capital Improvements for FY 2010. In 2008, the Budget was $88M and for 2010, it will be less than $30M. There are no big growth projects being built. The only repair/replacement projects are slated. When asked if pressure has been reduced during the evenings, Mr. Gramatges stated discharge at high service pumps has not been reduced because capacity is more than sufficient. Pressure is being maintained between 85 - 90 psi. (Charles Abbott arrived - 3:14 PM) 2 June 3, 2009 B. Fire Review Update - Ed Riley, Fire Code Official Mr. Riley stated his report indicated a slight increase in reviews over the previous month. He has not heard anything further from Lee County concerning conducting reviews for the Lee County Fire Districts. Chairman Varian asked about fire sprinkler reviews. Mr. Riley stated there are Subcommittees for the Sprinkler and Alarm Contractors. The Subcommittees have been working on ways to increase first-submission approval ratings and also have been gathering data for future classes. Information has been published in the newsletters. Regarding Chapter 43' s form requiring a survey from an AHJ ("Authority Having Jurisdiction"), Mr. Riley stated buildings must comply with existing Fire Code(s) before applying the segments in Chapter 43. Some buildings have been inspected in several years. Chapter 43 permits Contractor/ Architect/Engineer to submit drawings and a detailed Scope of the Work in order to determine what is required to bring the building into compliance. He further stated Chapter 43 was enacted to reduce or relax some of the requirements previously applied to new renovation work. Chapter 43 of the Florida Fire Prevention Code was adopted January 1,2009. There is a PowerPoint presentation on the Collier County Fire Code Official's website specifically explaining Chapter 43. (Marco Valle arrived - 3:21 PM) C. Transportation Division Update - Nick Casalanguida · Mining Impact Fee Update - the fee was reduced and is less than Lee County's Fee. The Productivity Committee recommended adoption of the Study and it will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners. · The I-75/Immokalee Interchange MOA ("Memorandum of Agreement") with the DOT was presented to the Board of County Commissioners and adopted · A public meeting regarding the I-75/Everglades IJR ("Interchange Justification Report") will be held on June 3, 2009 at 7:00 PM A problem concerning a delay in a call back for a Right-of-Way inspection was mentioned. Mr. Casalanguida stated the Department's policy is to return all calls on the day received if at all possible. A question was asked concerning Senate Bill 360 ("Community Renewal Act "). Nick Casalanguida stated the concurrency issue will not be a problem for the County, but if the Mobility Fee is adopted next year, it may hurt the County. A question was asked about House Bill 227 concerning Impact Fees. Joe Schmitt stated the County's Impact Fees studies are based on legally defensible analysis. The Bill requires the County to prove to an Applicant that a contested Impact Fee is valid. The standard appeal process will be followed. The burden is now on the County ("government") to prove that the Impact Fees were not suspect. 3 June 3, 2009 Bill 360 also extends Building Permits for two years only if the developer applies for the extension. D. CDES Update - Joe Schmitt, Administrator Mr. Schmitt had no report but would answer questions. A question was asked about an RFQ ("Request for Quote '') for a Building Permit Fee Study. Joe Schmitt stated the Study has begun and data will be collected starting the following week. It is expected that the Study will be completed by September, 2009. Tindale-Oliver is already conducting a Study of the Zoning Review/SDP Review fees. Chairman Varian requested to include either a member ofDSAC or CBIA ("Collier Building Industry Association") on the Committee that will review the Study reports. Joe Schmitt stated he will send information regarding meetings to both Chairman Varian and CBIA. A question was asked concerning "collection offees" mentioned in Mr. Schmitt's weekly memo. . Re: Open Permits The policy has been to collect fees when the Certificate of Occupancy is applied for by a developer. Some commercial permits have never been called in for a C/O and contractors were "flagged." They were not allowed to pull another permit until the fees were paid. Mr. Schmitt stated most of the fees have been collected. VI. Old Business A. Overview of the FY 2010 Proposed Budget - Gary Mullee · Re: General Fund #001 and Fund #111: The evaluation data received from the Property Assessor was different than anticipated and the Budget is being revised. A copy of the document will be sent via email to the Committee members by next week. · Overall Divisional Budget will remain at 25% less · To remain Millage neutral, 15 positions may be cut from CDES in Compo Planning and Code Enforcement · The Productivity Committee will review the General Fund portion of the Budget and may recommend augmenting funding for Code Enforcement · Re: Fund #113 and Fund #131, reserves are being used to meet payroll B. LDC Requirements on A/C Unit Locations - Chairman Varian Staff had asked for guidance from DSAC concerning the additional cost to relocate A/C Units either to the back of a house or create an architectural design with an indentation to avoid encroaching into the side setback The issue concerns homes with 5 and 712 -foot setbacks. Consensus: an all-inclusive Ordinance will not be effective. Joe Schmitt asked for input to determine the cost differential to meet the requirement. 4 June 3, 2009 (David Dunnavant arrived at 3:45 PM) Committee's concerns: · The focus of the proposed Ordinance should be narrowed - where is this a problem? Is it just in the City of Naples? Where else? · The cost to redesign a house may be minimal · If there is a pool, equipment may be stored behind the pool cage, but (especially in a subdivision) noise will become a factor · If the equipment is tucked in a recess, circulation around the equipment will be impaired and result in a decreased operational life of the unit · There is a limitation of how far the compressor can be located from the unit- they work more economically when located next to the house Joe Schmitt stated the proposed Ordinance will be part of the LDC Cycle and will be reviewed by the Committee. VII. New Business A. 4-Day/32-Hours Work Week - Joe Schmitt · Effective June 12,2009, the CDES offices will be closed on Fridays · Some staff (non-131 and 113 funded) may work on backlog of permits in Zoning · Will save approximately $5,000 a month in Utilities costs · To obtain a time-specific inspection on Friday, a request must be called in by 12:00 Noon on Thursday and the charge will be a minimum of$220 There was a discussion concerning why allocations were so high in the past. The old allocation system was based on the Nexxus system. It was suggested the Building Department's review process should be examined from an efficiency standpoint. How can the County make the biggest impact in the shortest amount of time? Joe Schmitt stated he has been examining process review for the past five years. The Tindale-Oliver study is concerned with time analysis to determine if the fees charged are commensurate with the service that is provided. He further stated he asked each of his directors to give him a minimum of three areas where costs can be cut. He suggested eliminating one of the Advisory Committees to the Board of County Commissioners as a cost-cutting measure, but the Board chose to keep the Committee in operation. Chairman Varian outlined allocations from Fund # 113 and Fund # 131 : · In 2007 and 2008 - $3M; . In 2009 - $2.8M · In 2010 - anticipated budget is $1.1 M Chairman Varian suggested a fee that could be increased is the licensing fee charged for State-certified general contractors to register in Collier County. 5 June 3, 2009 Public Speaker: Thomas Lykos, Vice Chair of the County's Licensing Board, stated the Licensing Department should be maintained as a fully staffed operation: · Even if the CDES building is closed on Fridays, Investigators can still work in the field using laptops . The Licensing Department generates revenue for CDES · Contractors pay fees to the County and part of the fees is to pay for protection against unlicensed activity · He supports raising licensing fees for State-certified Contractors and suggests an increase should be implemented as soon as possible . There has been a substantial increase of unlicensed activity in Collier County - Citations have increased (4x) over the past year · A recent problem is that licensed contractors are not pulling permits to avoid costs . The Licensing Department's workload has increased and is anticipated to Increase Joe Schmitt stated the Licensing Department generates approximately $500,000 per year in revenue, but the operational cost is approximately $650,000, so the Department operates at a net loss. A suggestion was made to give some staff members off on Monday instead of Friday to provide coverage. Mr. Schmitt stated the hotline that was installed to report unlicensed activity has not received any calls. It was suggested the short-fall could be made up by charging Contractors a fee of$75.00 every two years, instead of the current $10.00 fee. (Robert Mulhere and Blair Foley left at 4:30 PM) VIII. Committee Member Comments (None) Next Meetin1!: July 1, 2009 at 3:00 PM DSAC Meeting Dates: August 5, 2009 - 1 :00 PM September 2, 2009 -1:00 PM October 7, 2009 -1:00 PM ***** 6 June 3, 2009 There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chairman at 4:40 PM. DEVELOPMENT SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE William Varian, Chairman The Minutes were approved by the Board/Committee on as presented , or as amended 7