January 19, 2016
The Town of Glen St. Mary held the regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at 7:00 P.M. at the Town Hall with Council MembersDavis, Foster, Hodges, and Rhynehardt present. Mayor Juanice Padgett presided over the meeting. Council Member Davis opened with prayer followed by the flag salute.
Note: These meeting minutes are a summarized version of the actual discussions at the meeting. These are not verbatim transcripts. For a complete audio recording of the discussion please contact Donna Loadholtz at glenstmary3777@gmail.com.
Public Hearing:
Ordinance 2016-01 - Public Nuisance, Nuisances Injurious to the Public Health, Sanitary Nuisances, Biological Waste and Noxious Odors – Mayor Padgett asked Attorney Bense to read Ordinance 2016-01 by title. Mayor Padgett then asked if there was anyone present that had any questions or comments. No one had any comments so Mayor Padgett closed the public hearing and reopened the regular meeting.
Minutes: Consideration:
Approval of minutes of December 15, 2015 – Regular Monthly Meeting: On a motion by Councilmember Davis, second by Council member Hodges, the Board voted to approve theminutes as presented. (Vote 5-0)
Policy Agenda Items:
Vote to Approve First Reading of Ordinance 2016-01 – Public Nuisance, Nuisances Injurious to the Public Health, Sanitary Nuisances, Biological Waste and Noxious Odors. – On a motion byCouncil member Hodges, second by Councilman Foster, the Board voted to approve the first reading of Ordinance 2016-01 as presented. (Vote 5-0)
Discussion about Mobile Home Special Exceptions. – Attorney Bense led the discussion. He told Council there are many things to keep in mind. Fair housing for discrimination. Even under a special exception, you cannot exclude them from town. In order to have a mobile home put in Town, the person must apply for a special exception. Council needs to be very careful. If there is no good reason, Council should not deny the request. Section 6.35 of the Land Development Regulations speaks of surrounding structures. He suggest the application be as detailed as possible. A non-conforming use mentioned in section 7 states that any existing mobile home is allowed to continue within six months. He suggested that in the future all mobile homes should be applied for under special exception for non-conforming. It should be specifically tailored for the life of that mobile home. Councilman Foster stated that in a lot of other counties when they pull out old trailers, there are certain standards they must go by. Attorney Bense added there are state standards. Each mobile home would have a permit. Under the special exception, it should show the town standard so it is not bringing down the surrounding areas property values. They must also meet state standards and hurricane codes. This would be on a case by case basis. Attorney Bense added that he could look at other case laws. If there was no mobile home on the property previously, they must apply for a special exception. Councilman Rhynehardt asked if he put in to have a brand new mobile home put on his land if Council was going to deny him. Attorney Bense responded it would be on a case by case basis. Council would need to look and see what is going on around that property. Under the non-conforming structure, they would be allowed six months to replace the mobile home, after the six month period, they would have to apply for a special exception.
Review Prior Month’s Expenditures (Check Register) – Council had no questions about the prior month’s expenditures.
Mayor Padgett told Council an issue has come up relating to Blocks 79 and 80 and Lincoln Avenue. She had Attorney Bense go with her to Baker Title where the matter had been researched. Mayor Padgett told Council she always assumed there was a roadway. Attorney Bense stated that for now he will approach it as a right-of-way. There was a voluntary annexation in the past. Right now we can’t tell who owned the road. The annexation was voluntary and all were annexed. All the legal descriptions mention Plat Book 1, Page 1. His title concerns are that there was no Block 79 or 80 on the original plat of the Town. The legal descriptions do include the roads with the annexation, but he also refers back to not being on Plat Book 1, Page 1. An involuntary annexation was not done. The Town’s Charter includes the properties, but can’t legally claim it. The real question is who owns the land. This would have to be done in the courts. He saw a quiet title uit included with one of the parcels, but it was done after the fact. A court is the only way to establish legal ownership. Councilman Foster’s daughter owns lots that adjoin the roadway. He was a part of a quiet title suit. The warranty deed shows the legal description. Attorney Bense would like to see the deeds. He told Council there are other legal actions. First you would need a paper giving a color of title or a marketable title. Then there is adverse possession where you are paying taxes on the property. Mayor Padgett thinks the Town should establish a road then close it. Attorney Bense responded that we still need to establish ownership of the roadway. Mayor Padgett told Council the title search has been a problem since 1993. Attorney Bense has looked at the County side residents. They don’t show any description of the roadway. Mayor Padgett has spoken with one of the property owners and Mr. Davis would not have a problem if the road was closed. Mayor Padgett asked Council if they had any ideas. Council wanted to know how much money it would take to get ownership of the roadway. Attorney Bense didn’t think getting to the root of the problem would be too hard since so much of the search has already been done. He felt like it would only take a few hours of work to get to the root of the problem. An attorney would be involved whether the Town used its own attorney or a title company to search it out. Attorney Bense suggested starting from the beginning with Mr. Geitgey and work forward. Mayor Padgett wants to clear the matter up once and for all. On a motion by Councilman Rhynehardt, second by Council member Davis, Council voted to allow Attorney Bense to search the records of the Lincoln roadway next to Blocks 79 and 80 to find who owns the roadway. (Vote 4-0) Councilman Foster abstained from voting because his daughter owns property affected by this issue.
Council member Davis motioned for the Town meeting to adjourn at 7:45 P.M.
