BUSINESS & CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
February 20, 2008
A Regular Meeting of the
Business & Cultural Development Board was held on February 20, 2008 at the
City Hall Annex,
Chairperson Muncey called the
meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
John Anderson None City
Manager Bennett Boucher
Dianne Marcum Council
Member Shannon Roberts
Joanne Muncey Recording
Secretary Kim McIntire
Darrell Peterson Steve
Shirtzinger, Resident
Randy
Harris, CBACC
Lori
Peppers, SSA
ADOPTION OF MINUTES:
1. Regular Meeting of January 16, 2008
Moved by Mr. Anderson,
seconded by Ms. Marcum to approve the minutes of January 16, 2008. Chairperson Muncey asked for discussion.
In response to Ms. Marcum’s
questions, Ms. McIntire responded that (a) the business survey had not yet gone
“live” and (b) “Images in Art” had been added to the BCA calendar and would be
placed on the City’s calendar, home page and marquee; to date, TNT had received
30 applications, to date; the City would continue to work on media coverage.
Motion to approve the minutes
carried unanimously.
Chairperson Muncey took
agenda items out of order:
NEW BUSINESS
Action: Memorandum of
Understanding Between the
Ms. Muncey stated that staff
was looking for a recommendation from this board. She introduced Mr. Randy Harris, President,
Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Harris stated that the
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of
Commerce and the City of
In response to Ms. Muncey’s
question regarding Number 2 of the agreement, Mr. Harris confirmed that the
chamber would request all of the offerings for goods and services from the City
together with the appropriate category that the goods and services would fall
into so that the chamber could provide this information to its appropriate
business partners so that they could respond to the City.
In response to Mr. Peterson’s
question regarding how information would be transmitted to the chamber from the
City, Mr. Harris proposed that once the MOU was adopted, he would work with the
city manager to find the best mechanism to facilitate the intent of this
document between the City, the chamber and the business community.
Ms. Marcum was concerned about
1) the verbiage in the second paragraph that stated the chamber would be “the
primary representative of the local business community” and 2) the verbiage in
Number 5 that stated the chamber partners would have priority opportunity to
respond to the City’s procurement needs.
She opined there might be some legal issues with the local businesses
that were not members of the chamber.
Mr. Harris expressed it was not the chamber’s intent to cause any potential
legal issues for the City; however, he believed that the chamber was the number
one representative of the local business community, particularly the small
business community, as evidenced by the number of partner directory inquiries
on their website. He was unaware of the
number of Cape Canaveral businesses that were members of the chamber, but
stated 20% of the businesses located within the City of
Ms. Marcum said she would
feel more comfortable if the verbiage in the second paragraph of the MOU read
“as an important or strategic representative” rather than “the primary
representative”. Mr. Harris responded
that the MOU was not intended to restrict anyone from competing and it was very
careful not to state that the City had to award to a chamber partner. He would be happy to work with the city
manager regarding the verbiage.
Mr. Harris presented that the
City of
Mr. Anderson welcomed the
chamber’s partnership initiative; however, he was concerned about the “primary
representative” language contained within the MOU as it suggested exclusivity and
said he would feel more comfortable with more generalized language, such as
“partner of the local business community”.
Mr. Harris presented that
this agreement was the first of a number of business outreach programs being
developed by the chamber. He said he
would be happy to present their “Small Business Outreach” program to members at
a future meeting. Mr. Harris informed
that the chamber recently opened their
Moved by Ms. Marcum, seconded
by Mr. Anderson that the board recommend to staff that they adopt this
Memorandum of Understanding with the caveat that the B&CDB has some
concerns regarding the specific language noting the Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of
Commerce as the primary representative of the local business community. Chairperson Muncey asked for discussion.
Mr. Anderson opined that the
existing language communicated exclusivity in terms of representation of the
City’s business community’s interest and he did not feel that was appropriate
and stressed the importance of recognizing partnerships and collaborations.
Mr. Harris confirmed for Mr.
Anderson that the MOU was a specific collaboration on government RFP’s with the
City of
In response to Mr. Peterson’s
question regarding the naming of the Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce rather
than the Central Brevard Area Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Harris noted that the
chamber was established in 1968 and because this was a tourist community, the
name
Mr. Peterson recommended that
the city attorney review the MOU as well as the city manager.
In closing, Mr. Harris
reiterated that he would like to come back to a future meeting to present the
chamber’s Small Business Outreach Program.
He stated it was the chamber’s goal to be a proactive business force in
these economic times. He added that the
chamber’s strategic plan, which was implemented in October 2007, was to provide
value back to the community and business sector.
Motion passed unanimously.
Add On Item: Interview Prospective Board Member
Ms. Marcum presented that she
had met Ms. Peppers at the open house for the expansion of the Cocoa Beach
Library and had invited her to attend this evening’s meeting. Staff explained that her application was
received after the agenda packet had been prepared; however, copies of her
application had been provided to members.
Mr. Anderson invited Ms.
Peppers to the podium and requested that she brief members on her business and
cultural arts promotion experience in
Members agreed that Ms.
Peppers would be valuable asset to the board.
Moved by Mr. Anderson,
seconded by Ms. Marcum that the City Council interview Ms. Peppers for an
appointment as a regular member of the B&CDB at their March 4, 2008
meeting. Motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS
Discussion: Debriefing of
9th Annual Student Art Show
Ms. Muncey summarized this
was an annual event held at the library.
This year’s show had a lower school participation than in the past and
this issue was discussed among Ms. Muncey, Ms. Marcum and the event’s sponsor,
Tony Hernandez, III, Esquire, the day prior to the event. Mr. Hernandez recommended that the City
recognize the classes; i.e., certificates for supplies, to encourage continued
participation.
Members agreed that the
teachers had extremely heavy workloads and it had become difficult for them to
take on the additional initiative of encouraging their students to participate
in the show. Ms. Muncey volunteered to
pursue courtesy phone calls to the art teachers who participated in this year’s
event, as well as those who did not participate, well in advance of next year’s
event to ascertain how the City could help the schools. Staff to provide art teacher contact
information to Chairperson Muncey.
Ms. Peppers recommended that
the City commence generating interest at the beginning of the school year. She stressed the importance of the parents
buying into the event and the need for the teachers to encourage the
participation of their students. Council
Member Roberts opined the PTO’s might be helpful.
Discussion: Proposed
Writer’s Fair
Ms. Marcum reported that she
and Ms. Muncey had met with the Library Director, Library Board, Friends of the
Library, Ray Osbourne, and representatives from the BCA and Cocoa Beach Writers
Workshop regarding a one day Writer’s Fair on April 12, 2008 to “kick off”
National Library Week. Discussion was
centered on the envisioning/purpose/why of the event. A follow-up meeting was scheduled to discuss
the “how” of the event. Unfortunately, the
library representatives, Library Board and Friends of the Library were not
going to be able to attend that meeting. While everyone was in favor of the
proposal, the Friends of the Library and the Library Board expressed the need
for an earlier lead time in order to plan for the event. Therefore, Ms. Marcum was recommending that
this proposal be set aside for this year and revisited the early part of next
year.
Mr. Anderson presented that
it was going to be a challenge for the next couple of years for this board to
bring initiatives to fruition because of the non-performance of the
economy. He said it was difficult to
create enthusiasm for cultural activities and encouraged the board to start
discussions with the library folks as early as possible next year.
Mr. Peterson suggested
contacting
Action: Draft
Marketing Video Script
Chairperson Muncey summarized
that the board was tasked with the review and comment on the first draft of the
marketing video script submitted by Communication Concepts, Inc. (CCI) the
company that had been was tasked with updating the City’s 1997 marketing video.
Ms. McIntire reiterated that
the goal of the video was to be an effective marketing tool to attract new
businesses into the area and encourage the relocation of existing businesses
into the area with a theme of “work, play and live”.
Members had various concerns
such as: 1) what was the relevance of including the
Members unanimously recommended
that CCI be invited to workshop the draft script on Wednesday, March 19 at 5:30
pm.
NEW BUSINESS
Action: Review Section
110-331, Permitted Uses Within C-1 Low Density Commercial District
Ms. Muncey presented that the
City Council was requesting that this board review the list of permitted uses
within the C-1 zoning district and the special exception uses within the C-1
zoning district and make any recommendations or revisions to the code.
Council Member Roberts
presented that the council was encouraging all the boards to be more active in
the recommendation process and stated this was this board’s opportunity to
review the code with a fresh look and provide input on whether the permitted
businesses were accurate for the future of the City.
Mr. Anderson pointed out that
this issue came up 1-1/2 years ago and the board voted to respectfully decline
to participate in this process. Members
agreed they were not knowledgeable about density/zoning/height issues or the
legalities. Mr. Anderson presented that
this board had in the past, formally and unanimously, forwarded specific
recommendations to the council; i.e., introduce mixed use development in
selected areas of the City, and he was unsure what further the council expected
of the board. He opined it was the board’s
assumption that they were doing what was expected per the code, and the City
Council now had to act on those recommendations; i.e., accept or reject.
A lengthy debate followed
regarding this board’s involvement in this code review, as well as discussion
on the budgeted position of Community Development Director. Members presented that once this individual was
on board, he/she would be the liaison between the board and the City Council
and would communicate this board’s concerns/recommendations to the City Council.
Mr. Anderson presented that
this board appreciated Council Member Roberts observations and comments
together with her interest in gaining this board’s participation. If it was the
council’s intent for this board to take this code section and make specific
language modifications, members would be happy to provide input; however,
members were seeking guidance from the City planner at a workshop.
Mr. Anderson said,
personally, he thought it would be appropriate for this board to make a
recommendation that Special Exceptions permissible by the Board of Adjustment,
be recommendations to the City Council and council would act upon those
recommendations after public hearings.
As a citizen, he felt it was outrageous that a City board would have the
authority to unilaterally modify or make exemptions to something that is
codified in zoning.
Ms. Marcum agreed with Mr.
Anderson and stated that this board needed more quantifiable data in order to
make recommendations.
Mr. Peterson questioned why
the permitted special exceptions in Section 110-334(c) were still recognized
since the City Council voted to eliminate special exceptions along the A1A
corridor.
Following discussion
regarding the height issue of Mr. Mays proposed project, Mr. Anderson commented
if the City Council was seeking input from this board regarding types of
businesses, there should be a requirement that developers appear before this
board. Members and Council Member
Roberts agreed.
Moved by Mr. Peterson,
seconded by Mr. Anderson to table review of Section 110-331 until further
clarification from the City Planner who could respond to questions by the
board. Motion passed unanimously.
OPEN
Council Member Roberts
presented that the City Council was considering a “Welcome Center” at the
northern entrance on the West side of A1A.
Mr. Peterson suggested that
the schools that participated in the Student Art Show be invited to display
their artwork at the Images in Art festival.
Ms. McIntire responded that invitations had been extended to the
schools.
Council Member Roberts
encouraged members to attend the next sign ordinance workshop.
There being no further
business, the meeting adjourned at 9:15 pm.
Approved this _______________
day of _____________, 2008.
________________________________
Joanne Muncey, Chairperson
ATTEST:
___________________________
Kim M. McIntire, Secretary