Town of Orchid Pursues Local Bill
Florida Statute
In the past, the Town was permitted under Florida law to hold its public meetings outside of its exterior jurisdictional boundaries, because its population was below 500. This authority is given to all municipalities with small populations by Florida Statute 166.0213(1). And on occasion, the Town would indeed use its Town Hall on U.S. Highway 1 for public meetings. However, the results of the 2020 Decennial Census indicated an official local population for Orchid over the threshold of 500 for the first time. The Town’s count exceeded that maximum number by just 16! It meant that the aforementioned statutory provision no longer applied to the Town.
In mid-2022, the Town Council started to discuss the possibility of seeking adoption of a so-called local bill by the Florida Legislature that would grant the Town the ability to again hold public meetings outside of Town limits. A local bill is any bill adopted by the Florida Legislature which relates to a specific geographical area as opposed to a general bill which affects the entire State of Florida. A precedent for the Town's particular interest already existed, because a similar local bill was adopted for the Town of Ocean Breeze in 2020.
The Town Council became interested because, without a facility owned by the Town within its own boundaries, public meetings must be held at the Orchid Island Beach Club in the evermore popular Sandpiper Room. A wonderful multi-purpose facility in such high demand that arranging municipal meetings there is often challenging for both Club and Town staff. The Town Council recognized that being allowed to meet outside of the Town’s boundaries would provide the Town with flexibility to address matters more fully and promptly, and may alleviate some of the pressure on the current meeting location.
Pursuing a Local Bill
During early July 2023, the Town sent a digital survey to its mailing list to obtain direct feedback on the potential pursuit of a local bill as described above. Over the course of the days and weeks that followed, the results showed that 82% of respondents were in favor of allowing the Town to hold public meetings outside of its boundaries at a maximum distance of no more than 5 miles.
On August 11, the Town Council, in the presence of Representative Brackett, adopted a resolution memorializing their unanimous support of pursuit of a local bill for consideration by the Florida Legislature in 2024. The Town Council also reviewed the associated Economic Impact Statement that had been drafted for submittal with the Town's request. Next, legal notice was published in the TC Palm newspaper on August 18 advertising the Town's intent to pursue a local bill in the 2024 legislative session. Resolution No. 2023-06 and the other supporting materials were submitted to Representative Brackett's and Senator Grall's offices.
Legislative Delegation Meeting
On October 2, the Town Manager for the Town of Orchid went before the legislative delegation that represents the Town of Orchid and surrounding areas in Tallahassee to request their support for and assistance with the local bill. Senator Grall and Representative Brackett heard the presentation at the well-attended meeting and voted in favor of bringing the bill to the full Florida Legislature in the forthcoming 2024 legislative session. The bill, upon adoption, will allow the Town of Orchid to hold its public meetings, of the Town Council and its advisory committees, outside of the boundaries of the Town limited to a five-mile radius therefrom. The only caveat is that the adopted bill will only be effective for as long as the Town has an official population of fewer than 1,250.
The Future
If the local bill is successful, the Town will gain back flexibility in selecting where to hold meetings. The Sandpiper Room of the Orchid Island Beach Club will continue to be an option and likely a favored location, but the Town will also be able to meet elsewhere within 5 miles of the Town limits as may be necessary to attend to Town business expeditiously. Such a location would include the new space in the Orchid Professional Centre at 9301 Highway A1A (northwest corner of A1A and Route 510). The facility is currently being renovated in anticipation of the Town's occupying of the space pursuant to a recently executed lease agreement. Included in the renovation plans is a meeting space large enough to accommodate meetings of the Town's boards. If the Town were to be able to use this space for public meetings, notice would continue to be provided as occurs now and the meetings would of course continue to be open to the public as required by law.
