May 5, 2025 Destin City Council: lien reductions approved, fee schedule adopted, employee PTO consolidation approved

(Matters not specifically listed on the agenda may be added and acted upon with a super-majority vote of the Council members present and eligible to vote on the matter)

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(Note: Individual speakers will be limited to 3 minutes. At the discretion of the mayor, this 3 minute allowance may be adjusted depending on the level of business coming before the City Council)

The City is transitioning to MyGovernmentOnline (MGO) as its new Permitting and Licensing software, with a planned go-live date of May 13, 2025 for Permitting, August for Code Compliance, and September for additional data transfer. To ensure data integrity and facilitate a seamless transition, it is best practice to maintain the existing software solution, provided by Tyler Technologies, concurrently with the new system for an overlap period. Due to the complexity of these two systems, a period of 6 months overlap is recommended. | attachments=1 | reports=1

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Announcements

On June 19, 2018, the Special Magistrate for Code Compliance found the subject property in violation of applicable City Codes for failure to register as a short term rental. The property owner was given until July 20, 2018 to come into compliance and register as a short term rental. Because the property was not in compliance on that date, the Special Magistrate imposed a lien at $250.00 per day. The City's position is that the property remains out of compliance, and the lien is still accruing at $250 per day. The applicant is attempting to sell the property and is now requesting a reduction of the lien as set forth in the attachments to this staff report. It is believed that the applicant will be present at the City Council meeting to respond to questions. | attachments=5 | reports=1

On March 26, 2019, the Special Magistrate for Code Compliance found the subject property in violation of applicable City Codes as an unsafe building that was constructed without a permit. The property owner was given until May 3, 2019 to come into compliance. Because the property was not in compliance on that date, the Special Magistrate imposed a lien at $250 per day. The property obtained all required permits and passed required inspections on February 5, 2021. At that time, the daily fine stopped accruing at $161,000. The applicant (both via himself and through his attorney) is now requesting a reduction of the lien as set forth in the attachments to this staff report. It is believed that the applicant will be present at the City Council meeting to respond to questions. | attachments=4 | reports=1

Attached is an updated Schedule of Fees with changes and updates for the Building Division permit fees and Parks and Recreation fees. The Building Division brought forth the proposed 34% fee increase for the Building Divisions portion of the permit fees during February 3, 2025 council meeting. The Council approved the fee increase with a vote of 5-1. The Parks and Recreation brought forth their recommended fee changes, modeled after Fort Walton Beach, with an exemption for non-profits, during the February 18, 2025 meeting. The Council approved the fee changes with a vote of 5-1. | attachments=2 | reports=1

On October 2, 2023, the Human Resources Director, through the City Attorney, requested that future amendments to the Employee Manual be adopted by resolution, rather than through the more extensive ordinance process. Council had no objections. This change simplifies administrative procedures, allowing for more timely and flexible updates to personnel policies, while preserving transparency and Council oversight. The Employee Manual was adopted in July 1988 - and Revised: Feb. 1996, Jun. 2003, Dec. 2008, Nov. 2009, Nov. 2020. The most recent version is attached in strikethrough and underline form showing the current proposed revisions to the current Employee Manual. | attachments=2 | reports=1

The following direction was provided to staff during the Regular City Council meeting on February 3, 2025: An update was provided to Council on March 3, 2025, regarding the request for the Community Center building inspection quotes. Staff reached out to three companies, receiving two quotes and a response from the third indicating that their current workload would prevent them from conducting the inspection in a timely manner. The quotes received were from BECI at $9,500 and O'Connell & Associates at $14,100. BECI was selected by staff. BECI has provided an exterior building condition assessment and an executive summary, which are attached to this item. | attachments=2 | reports=1

The City's fiscal year is October 1 to September 30th. In accordance with the City Charter and State Statute, a budget must be adopted for the new fiscal year before September 30th. The budget requires two public hearings, which cannot take place on the same day/time as budget public hearings for Okaloosa County or the Okaloosa School Board. The first budget public hearing is advertised on the TRIM notices mailed to all property owners in August. The TRIM notice includes the tentative millage adopted by council resolution before August 4th. | attachments=1 | reports=1

City Staff, alongside the City's consultants, 3TP Ventures, LLC, have been working for the last three years to develop a comprehensively rewritten and reorganized Land Development Code. To date, there have been numerous Public Meetings on each draft article to include the LPA recommendation of approval for the final drafts of each article and City Council Workshops on each draft article. | reports=1

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At the March 1, 2021, City Council meeting, Council passed a motion to replace transportation concurrency (MMTD) with a Mobility Fee-Based Plan . Staff worked with 3TP Ventures to create the Mobility Plan, which was adopted by the Council on September 16, 2024. The Mobility Plan is a comprehensive blueprint for addressing the City's current and future transportation needs. Mobility fees are an important tool for cities like Destin to fund transportation projects to address impacts from future growth, while also tackling service gaps such as multimodal infrastructure and traffic congestion. The attached Mobility Fee Study examines the feasibility and potential impacts of increasing mobility fees in Destin, with the goal of enhancing the City's transportation network and promoting sustainable solutions for all modes of travel. Once adopted, the mobility fee will replace the existing transportation impact fee in Destin’s current fee structure. At the regularly scheduled City Council Meeting on November 18, 2024, The Fee Study was presented to City Council for their consideration. There was discussion at that meeting concerning how this affects single-family or single dwelling developments among other development the city would like to incentivize as per the Comprehensive Plan. This item and presentation is to address how to incorporate those concerns into the new fee structure. Further, because the demonstrated need study provides for increases in excess of the phase in limitations set forth in state law due to extraordinary circumstances in the City of Destin, City Council conducted two Public Workshops as required by Florida State Statues. One on February 18, 2025 and the second on March 3, 2025. | attachments=4 | reports=1

(Comments from the public on any matters considered at the meeting, or on any matters not on the agenda)