Recap from the City of St Augustine Beach commission meetings

The City of St Augustine Beach held two commission meetings in February, the regular meeting on February 3rd and a special meeting and workshop on February 10th.

Here are the results of the Commission’s actions, provided to Historic City News by the city manager’s office:

1. Presented a plaque to City Attorney James Wilson for his four years of service to the City.

2. Heard an appeal of the Planning Board’s decision to allow chickens as comfort animals at a home on A Street and vacated that decision. The Commission then decided that any code enforcement action should be delayed to give the staff adequate time to research a reasonable accommodation to allow comfort animals in the City that are otherwise prohibited by the City’s current regulations. At its March 2nd meeting, the Commission will review a proposal from the Planning Board and the Building Official.

3. Approved on final reading two ordinances: the first to restrict micro-mobility devices, such as electric scooters; the second to adopt the St. Johns County School Board’s five-year facility workplan.

4. Passed on second reading an ordinance to adopt changes to the Land Development Regulations. A final reading of the ordinance is scheduled for March 2nd.

5. Passed on first reading two ordinances: the first to amend Chapter 10 of the City Code concerning trash removal for businesses; the second to adopt regulations for dune protection.

6. Approved a resolution to authorize the Supervisor of Elections and the County Canvassing Board to count and certify the vote-by-mail ballots cast in the March 2020 presidential primary.

7. Rejected a proposed contract from the firm of Paul, Elkind, Branz and Paul of DeLand to provide legal services to the City and directed the current City Attorney to send the original contract unchanged back to the firm. The firm later informed the City that it was withdrawing its proposal to be the City Attorney.

8. Awarded the bid for piping the 3rd Lane ditch between 2nd Avenue and the Sea Oaks subdivision to Hassell Construction of Jacksonville for $119,999.

9. Approved 1 and a half additional holidays for the City employees: Good Friday and all-day Christmas Eve. This change will provide a total of 12 paid holidays to the employees.

10. Discussed at an emergency meeting on February 10th the next steps for hiring a City Attorney. The Commission directed the current Attorney to send the proposed contract to the four remaining firms that had originally been interviewed in January and to another firm that since has expressed interest in being considered. The Commission scheduled a special meeting at 5 p.m. on March 2nd to review the responses.

11. Held a workshop with the Comprehensive Planning and Zoning Board. Topics discussed included the Commission’s expectations of the Board and how the Board can help the Commission do its work; how communication between the Commission and the Planning Board could be improved; and whether the City needs to hire a City Planner. The Commission and the Planning Board will have another workshop in several months.

The City Commission next met at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 2, 2020, to discuss the City Attorney candidates. Its regular meeting began at 6 p.m. on March 2nd. The public was encouraged to attend.