City to negotiate paid parking contract with some public Involvement

Fernandina Beach commissioners decided late Tuesday that city staff will lead contract negotiations with One Parking, the vendor chosen to manage a proposed paid parking program in the historic downtown, but the public will have a role in shaping the details through open meetings or a citizen committee.

City Manager Sarah Campbell asked the commission for direction. “Our contract negotiations are going to go, so I would like to hear from you all on your recommendation for that… do you want me and my team and the charter officers to negotiate that contract and bring you updates, do you want a public ad hoc committee or task force… do you want to be the body that negotiates it and we'll set workshops in order for you to do that? We have a lot of options available to us.”

Vice Mayor Darron Ayscue said his priority was transparency.

“The only major preference that I have is that this is done in the sunshine. That the public is allowed in during negotiations to see are we paying a hundred dollars if we're a resident, are we free for residents, are the churches free on Sunday till noon or are they free only until two p.m. Whatever those parameters may look like I would just like to see those done in the sunshine that's my only real concern,” he said.

Commissioner Genece Minshew said staff should take the lead, as with other city contracts, but added, “I also think it would be appropriate to have a small ad hoc group of local um citizens… perhaps someone from the churches, somebody from Main Street, somebody like a local business owner in the downtown area… and to kind of hit the high points.”

Commissioner Tim Poynter supported limiting the group’s size.

“If it gets too big it's going to get more and more complicated… I don't think everything should be in sunshine at the beginning… but I think when they get to the first draft or whatever that point is, there could be a public meeting where people can hear what's being said and get feedback at that time,” Poynter said.

Commissioner Joyce Tuten stressed that residents need to understand the two stages of the process.

“For clarity for the public I think it needs to be clear that there's sort of two steps in this… there's the actual contract of how much it's going to cost and what we're going to get… but the second piece once that contract's in place, the second piece is some kind of a citizens task force where many of our questions can't get answered until that contract is in place.”

She added an analogy: “that it's like hiring an architect… you sort of have an idea of what you want but you have hundreds, thousands maybe of questions to be answered you still have to hire the expert who then walks you through answering all these questions.”

The discussion circled back to whether terms such as resident rates, church exemptions, or library parking should be hashed out publicly.

Ayscue argued, “I don't want that conversation to be had with just the city manager and her team and the vendor. I want those questions answered out loud so everybody can see it in the sunshine… I would like to see that happen out here so everybody can see it, everybody understands.”

Mayor James Antun summarized the direction: “so commissioners I'm hearing consensus that a committee is acceptable and if I'm not over speaking, I think it would be fair once that committee is able to convene with staff and the vendor perhaps this comes to a workshop for your request to be able to come to fruition.”

City Attorney Teresa Prince explained that if commissioners delegate to Campbell, “the way we would run it is as we do with a selection committee you will just notice it when you get the (committee) applications in, and it would that even the committee would be picked in the sunshine.”

After nearly half an hour of discussion, Minshew urged simplicity: “we're making this too complicated… I'm fine with that.”

Antun closed the item by telling Campbell, “Okay i believe you have sufficient direction please object if you do not.”