I.

APPROVE MINUTES FROM THE November 9, 2010 TOWN COMMISSION MEETING - Mayor Combs entertained a motion to approve the November 9, 2010 minutes. Commissioner McCallister moved to approve the minutes of the November 9, 2010 Town Commission Meeting with one correction related to dangerous intersection at Shalimar Drive and Eglin Parkway.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Behnken and passed unanimously.

II.

APPOINTMENT OF TEMPORARY REPLACEMENT OF COMMISSIONER GARCIA - Mayor Combs explained the procedure that would be implemented to choose a new Commissioner.  Each volunteer had 5 minutes to speak to the Commission and then the Commissioners were to list their preferences on a provided form, rating each volunteer from 1 to 7, one being first choice and 7 being last choice.  These forms would become public record and were given to Attorney Chesser to tally the results.

Tony Simpson of 905 Sunset Bay Court was the first volunteer to speak.  His qualifications include teaching police recruits at the local University. While in the military, Mr. Simpson was part of a team whose decisions resulted in solutions of complex problems.  He stated that he was interested in interacting between the Town Commission and the Shalimar Police Department.  He further stated that he is considering running for the Town Commission in the March election.

Jim Wilton of 243 Shalimar Drive has lived in the area for 44 years and in Shalimar for 22 years.  He has a Doctor of Business Administration education and he is a Certified General Real Estate Broker.   His related qualifications include being a police officer in Connecticut where he retired after being injured.  He was Chief Compliance Officer for a company in the Defense Industry and Chief Compliance Officer for a small family corporation.  He stated he is interested in doing civilian oversight of the Shalimar Police Department.  He also is considering running for the Town Commission in the March election.

John Henderson of 125 Gardener Drive has been a Shalimar resident since 1993.  He held the position of Shalimar Police Commissioner from 1998 to 2002.  His motivation for applying for the Town Commission seat is that he wants what is best for the town and also stated that if he was chosen to temporarily fill the Town Commission seat he would consider running for the Town Commission in the March election.

Robert Chapman of 910 Sunset Bay Court has been a Shalimar resident for 3 years.  He spent 27 years as an officer in the United States Air Force.  He stated he knows the importance of integrity and honesty.  He also stated that he knows the importance of staying calm when dealing with adversity.  He has worked in the Leadership and Accountability Department of the Air Force and was a former squadron commander.  He knows management and has experience dealing with complex problems.  He ran the air war in Afghanistan and Iraq as the F22 program monitor.  He has experience in financial management and working with difficult people with patience and understanding.  He was the Deputy of the Senate Liaison Office working with Congress and knows the importance of respecting opponents.  He has been a member of the school board and has served as a member of his homeowners association in which he was President for a period of time.  He has no personal interest in the storage lot issue but feels he is open to the case and feels the issue should go to the voters as a referendum.

Tim Smith of 912 Sarah Drive has lived in Shalimar for 33 years.  He owns 3 local businesses with 160 to 180 employees.  He owns a number of properties in Shalimar.  He stated that, after attending 17 months of meetings, he did not agree with the storage lot issue.  He said he was familiar with the storage lot issues.  He also is working on rewriting the Town’s animal ordinance.  He feels that he wants to be a member of the Town Commission because he believes he cannot complain about Town Commission decisions if he is not part of the Commission.   He also stated he would be running for the Town Commission in the March Election.

Ray Morgan of 202 Snug Harbor has been a resident of Shalimar for 20 years.  He has an Engineering and an MBA degree.  He is retired from the United States Air Force.  He is President of the Snug Harbor Homeowners Association.  He has had a strong interest in the Town’s growth and maintaining continuity at the level the Town has reached.  He works part time with FEMA and has considerable experience in dealing with public issues and officials.

MK Simpson of 2 Gardener Drive has 10 years’ experience in the Air Force military police field. She has attended the Department of Veterans Affairs Law and Training Center.  She set up a neighborhood crime watch in the Florida Keys. She holds a security clearance with the US Government.  She felt her two drawbacks were that she is not current in Florida law standards and has no legal experience.

Mayor Combs stated that all qualifying Commission volunteers should understand that they need to attend the Town Commission meetings and if they cannot attend that they should not apply for the position.

Attorney Chesser totaled up the votes.  The voting results were:

Commissioner McCallister made a motion to appoint Tim Smith as the temporary Town Commission member.  Commissioner Behnken seconded the motion and it was unanimously passed.

The Commission thanked all the volunteers. Commissioner McCallister and Commissioner Behnken stated that they had chosen Tim Smith because of his attendance at the Town Commission meetings.

Attorney Chesser read the oath to Tim Smith who then swore to uphold it.

III.

Storage lots:  Mayor Combs brought up that he felt that a referendum on the storage lots was not a good idea because it would be a non-binding referendum and he thought it would be a bad precedent and that the Town Commission should make the decision.

Mayor Combs then gave a list of alternatives.  1.  Do not develop the Town’s Richbourg lot with no expenditures nor security.  2.  Use all three lots allowing perimeter parking with large items only on the Snug Harbor lot.  3.  Forget formal storage development of any lots and leave them as they are presently being used.  Put in place an annual usage charge and a formal contract.  Mayor Combs encouraged any commissioners to make a related motion.

Commissioner Smith made a motion to eliminate the Richbourg lot and go forward with a storage lot for boats and trailers only with no provision for motorhomes and campers on the other two lots.  Commissioner Behnken seconded the motion.  The Commission discussed and clarified this motion that the original motion was related only to the Richbourg lot and did not cover storage of items on the other two lots.  Following public discussion, a vote was taken.  The motion to eliminate the Town’s Richbourg property for a storage lot passed with Mayor Combs being the only dissenting vote.

Commissioner Smith made a motion to go forward with the Cherokee Road lot and the Snug Harbor lot with boats and boat trailers only and use 100 feet of the Cherokee Road lot and all of the Snug Harbor lot.  Commissioner Behnken seconded the motion and the Town Commission discussed this suggestion and then opened the floor to the public.  After the public input, a Commission vote was taken.  The motion failed with all votes dissenting except Commissioner Smith.

Commissioner McCallister made a motion to clean up the Cherokee Road and Snug Harbor lots and have owners remove stored items and use Cherokee Road lot for Town Hall Parking.  Commissioner Behnken seconded the motion and the floor was opened to public discussion.  A vote was taken. The motion failed with Commissioner Behnken and Commissioner McCallister voting for the motion and Mayor Combs and Commissioner Smith against the motion.

Next, Commissioner McCallister made a motion to not allow any parking of resident’s personal RV type items on town property.  Commissioner Behnken seconded the motion.  Following Commission discussion and clarification, this motion   was opened to public discussion. This motion failed with Commissioner McCallister and Mayor Combs voting for the motion and Commissioner Behnken and Commissioner Smith voting against the motion.

Commissioner Behnken made a motion to have storage for open trailers on the Cherokee Road lot and no storage on the Snug Harbor property along with a new set of related rules which would be strictly enforced.  Commissioner Smith seconded the motion. This motion also needed more clarification and Commission discussion.  During the Commission discussion, Mayor Combs restated his feeling that if storage was allowed on the Cherokee Road lot, it should be allowed on all three of the lots.  This motion was opened for public discussion. After the public discussion, a vote was taken and the motion passed with the only dissenting vote being Mayor Combs.

Mayor Combs requested Town Manager Burns create a set of proposed rules to be available prior to December 14, 2010 Town Commission meeting.