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2013.07.02_TC_Minutes_Regular TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION MEETING REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, July 2, 2013 1.30 PM Mayor Bernard Featherman called the Regular Meeting to order in Commission Chambers at 1:30 PM. CALL TO ORDER: Roll Call: Members present: Mayor Bernard Featherman; Vice Mayor Ron Brown; Commissioner Dennis J. Sheridan; Commissioner Louis P. Stern and Commissioner Carl Feldman. Also present: Town Attorney Glen Torcivia; Town Manager Kathleen D. Weiser; Town Clerk Beverly M. Brown; Public Works Director Jack Lee; Delray Fire Chief Danielle Connor; Police Chief Craig Hartmann; Training Manager Eric Aronowitz; Assistant to the Manager Zoie Burgess; and members of the public. Pledge of Allegiance: The Pledge of Allegiance was given, followed by a minute of silence. Civility Pledge: The Civility Pledge was recited by the Town Clerk. 1. ADDITIONS, DELETIONS OR ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA Mayor Featherman asked for any additions or deletions. Receiving none, the agenda was accepted as presented. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS Ronnie Svenstrup 3310 S. Ocean Blvd., Chairman Beaches & Shores Advisory Board — On behalf of the Beaches & Shores Advisory Board, I would like to extend a belated thank you to the Commission for having the Beach Feasibility Report done. The presentation by Gordon Thompson was excellent. I also wish to thank you for authorizing the Turtle Talk and Walk Day which we will be doing with Barbara James and other turtle volunteers. This event will take place on Saturday, August 10 at 7 a.m. in the morning and everyone is welcome. When we did this the past couple of years, it was both interesting and fun especially for the children and a great thing for grandparents to bring their grandchildren to. Having heard about the nesting turtle that was caught in wire on the beach, the Beaches & Shores Advisory Board would like to volunteer our services to the Commission. We are most interested in protecting our beaches and nesting turtles. On a personal note, my husband Bill and I would like to thank you for repairing the Town Commission Regular Minutes July 2, 2013 Page 2 of 10 walking path. It was truly needed. We would also like to see a seal coat put on the area that was not redone. This will help extend the life and make the whole job look better. 3. PRESENTATIONS • Public Safety Dispatch /Communications Police Chief Craig Hartmann — I will be making a presentation today and requesting that this item be included on the next workshop agenda for consideration. We use public safety as a term when we talk about police and fire together. The proposal is that we move from the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office, which is our one -point call center for our emergency and 911 calls to the Delray Beach Police Department one -point call center. I will start by describing the good and bad of the way it works now, and what we are proposing to do and why. In our current operations for the Town of Highland Beach, any calls that are made from our town residents to our non - emergency and/or our 911 emergency calls currently go first to our Palm Beach County Sheriff s Office. The Sheriff's Office dispatches to the Highland Beach Police Department. Any emergency rescue or fire rescue calls go from the Palm Beach Sheriffs Office to the Delray Beach Fire Department. Some of the issues we have dealt with over the years are complaints on the delay of repeating the information to a call center. Highland Beach is the only municipality in this county that uses the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office. Other municipalities either have their own dispatch or they utilize an adjoining agency. The big concern is when we lose a call or when a call has to be transferred. The other issue is that we are on two separate channels. Fire Chief Danielle Connor — I would like to speak on some of the seriousness of the nature of our calls; not just the EMS calls, which certainly is the predominant reason for our responses, but the fire and hazardous materials calls as well. I will start by referencing the American Heart Association's response times as far as the care and treatment of two specific types of patients; cardiac arrest patients and those suffering strokes. The magic number is four to six. What happens in excess of six minutes is the person starts to suffer irreversible damage, either to the heart muscle and/or to the brain. Having to make two calls, and/or transfer of a call to share what the nature of the emergency is, is entirely preventable. I think the plan the Chief has put together would reduce that and, in fact, eliminate it. There wouldn't be the threat of a dropped call or something getting lost in translation. Each of your residents would receive more timely care and it would increase our response time. Comm. Feldman — We had 1425 calls last year and you are asking for $54,036, which makes it $37.92 per call. It is about four calls a day and the $54,000 seems a little excessive. I think it is an excellent plan, but I am only questioning the economics of the pricing and, have we checked this out with the Boca Raton Chief? Chief Hartmann — The largest number of calls we receive, go to assisting the Fire Department here in town. Why we are looking at Delray right now is because the contract is with the Delray Fire Department. The contract with Delray Fire began in 2002. Prior to that, the town had the service of the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. The challenge for us now is that we are far away from everything the County does. The radio channel that we are on is everything west of Delray and all the way to Lantana and Route 441. We are an isolated entity down here for the dispatch center where our calls are received. If we looked at Boca Raton or some other entity right now, we would be creating the same situation with multiple call Town Commission Regular Minutes July 2, 2013 Page 3 of 10 points for one municipality. You provide the best level of service by one call coming into one location, and not being able to dispatch to both your public safety entities. We currently pay around nine to ten thousand a year cost for the Sheriff's Dept. based on a call- for - service type of entity. Eliminating this cost, there would be about a $40,000 a year increase in basic annual cost. This is the same contract for the Town of Gulfstream, which they have provided service for three to four decades. This is the fee that they have established to handle all calls that come into them now, rather than transfer calls. We are recommending this to improve our efficiency, our effectiveness and the level of service we are trying to provide. The trade -off is the increase cost associated with this. Comm. Sheridan — Approximately what would be the difference or the change on the response time between the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and through Delray? The annual cost is listed at $54,036 plus the anticipated cost of the consumer price index. Do we have any idea what the average on that index is on an annual basis, so we can get a final figure on what it would cost us annually? Chief Hartmann — We will have to research this and will get back to you at the next workshop. Mayor Featherman — I know all the Commissioners and myself feel that whatever the increase in the cost would be, if it saves one life, it is enough for us to really consider it. However, it is rather exceptionally high; $10,000 against $54,000. Is there any way that price can be negotiated down? I am also questioning why the fire engine at our location is still from Delray after six months. Chief Connor — Your truck has been intermittently out for repairs since October 25, 2012. At one point, it was out for six months. During that time frame, I kept the Town Manager updated on the cost, the nature of those repairs and your truck was returned to service last week. We haven't changed the cab since we are still in negotiations between our two municipalities to firm up the contract for the City of Delray Beach to move forward with the leasing of your replacement vehicles, and include those associated cost into your contract. Comm. Sheridan — It may be confusing because on the side of the truck it reads "Delray Beach Fire Dept. "; on the top of the truck on the ladder it reads "Highland Beach" and on the emergency vehicle it reads "servicing Highland Beach ". Chief Hartmann — Regarding the communications and talking about costs, this proposal brings us in line to look like all the other municipalities in the county. Right now we are an anomaly, because I think we have been in the agency for so long; and our calls are being received by the biggest law enforcement agency in this county. That is where all of our calls from this little area go to on a daily basis. There are some municipalities who do it internally and the cost is several hundred thousand dollars a year. Mayor Featherman — There was some discrepancy regarding the fire that happened at Ambassador's South a couple of weeks ago between the report from your department and some of the residents who indicated the firemen were sitting in the truck. Is it true that firemen are not allowed to go into any building until they have a backup? Chief Connor — That is correct, or within its close proximity to. Mayor Featherman — I want you to be aware of the information given to me by some of the residents. Chief Connor — We are aware of that as well. We have provided those numbers to the manager and, from the time the call was called in to 911 and our arrival, it was less than five minutes. Our numbers are generated by dispatch signals. Comm. Sheridan — I agree with the Mayor that, if one life is saved, the difference in the cost is well within our means to do it. Comparatively, I would like to let the people know that we are spending $100,000 a year to keep our Post Office open. So if it costs us another $30,000 or $40,000 to reduce our response time, where life is involved, I am certainly for it. Town Commission Regular Minutes July 2, 2013 Page 4 of 10 • Emergency Management Plan Police Chief Craig Hartmann — The Police Department recently held a training session for all the department heads and some key town employee staff on emergency operations. The following is a power -point presentation given by Chief Hartmann: Emergency Operations: Hurricanes; Floods /Severe Weather; Mass Casualty Incident; Catastrophic Disaster; Major Incident. Why A Plan Proper Planning prior to an event can facilitate smoother operations during the incident; identifies potential situations and develops plans to manage them; allows the preparation of equipment and allocation of personnel as needed. What is NIMS: NIMS (National Incident Management System) is how we work through these emergencies. The Town staff and employees all have had training on this. Its adoption and use is a pre- requisite for federal preparedness assistance. The National Response Plan indicates how the Federal Government interfaces with state, local and tribal governments and the private sector during incidents of national significance. Basic NIMS Flowchart: We would set up a basic incident command system where we would have one person in charge of the incident and it would flow from there; the various operations. The department heads and key staff would fit into these areas of assignments. Incident Commander: There is one person in charge; gives all the directions and orders so there is no mistake where everything is coming from. Safety Officer: Safety is always a priority and this person monitors incident operations including the health and safety of emergency responder personnel. Public Information Officer: This person is responsible for interfacing with the public and media and with other agencies with incident related information requirements. Liaison Officer: The Liaison Officer is the Incident Commander's point of contact for representatives of other governmental departments and agencies to provide information on their organizations policies, resources available and other incident related matters. Operation Section: Someone oversees what is being done and the work that is being carried out. Planning Section: They are responsible for collecting, evaluating and disseminating operations information pertinent to incidents. Prepares and documents Incident Action Plans and Incident Maps; gathers information. Logistics Section: Provides all the support needs for the incident such as ordering resources and providing facilities, transportation and supplies, equipment maintenance and fuel, food service, communications and medical service for the incident personnel. Finance /Administration Section: A Finance /Administration Section is established when there is a specific need for financial and/or administrative services to support incident management activities. When it is declared a State of Emergency from the Governor, there are things we can be reimbursed for so it is important to keep track of all that we do. Inter - Agency Cooperation: Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management; City of Delray Beach; City of Boca Raton; American Red Cross and Local Organizations; FEMA. Town Commission Regular Minutes July 2, 2013 Page 5 of 10 If there is a disaster such as a hurricane, the Emergency Operations Center for the City of Delray is at the Delray Fire Rescue Headquarters on Atlantic Avenue. They have a secure room on the second floor; hurricane rated building. They have a state of the art operations center. All the information comes through there and we work with Delray through any major incident. In the City of Boca Raton, they have the old Sony Building that the city owns. We have an agreement with them that we are able to operate from there, if we have the need to do so, so we can continue to operate. It is called a Continuity of Operation Plan (COOP). All of our information comes from the Emergency Operations Center in West Palm. Evacuations: We are a barrier island so with a Category 2 Hurricane; the best thing to do is leave. Code Red: This is a way we notify the community of what we are doing and why we are doing it. Emergency Shelters: Boca Raton High School, 1501 NW 15` Circle, Boca Raton; Atlantic Community High School, 2455 West Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach; and West Boca High School, 12911 Glades Rd., Boca Raton. There are shelters for special needs. They need to be registered prior to any incident and need prior approval. The Town Staff went through training and were told what they would need. We have to be here prior to the storm hitting because if we are not able to get here before the storm hits, there is no personnel to staff the Town. They will be here before the storm, during the storm and after the storm. We work and bunk with the City of Delray if we have to spend multiple days here to protect the Town. • Comm. Stern — Does Highland Beach operate separately? Do we have an Incident Commander; a Safety Officer? Chief Hartmann — Yes, if the incident was here, we are prepared with our staff. We certainly have mutual aid and could rely on the resources around us. Comm. Sheridan — On the determination by Palm Beach County that we are to have an evacuation here and Code Red goes out, it is my understanding that the Police and Fire Dept. will not be available for rescue of those people that remain behind. Chief Hartmann — They will be here, and it will depend on the conditions whether it is safe for them to approach anything. The weather dictates whether you can or cannot get to them. They may not even have service to tell us they need help. That is why we encourage you to leave. Town Manager Weiser — It was an excellent presentation and I want to bring up a good point which we will be putting in this month's Highlander. If you chose to stay, you could possibly be putting the Town's utility system at risk and your neighbors at risk. When we say it is time to evacuate; it is time to evacuate. Many people have re -entry cards (Presidents of the different Condo Associations in town). It is important that you know, if we are not in charge of the event and it is a big enough event where another agency comes in (the Federal Government, etc.) and that NIMS system isn't us, those cards are not going to work. We do not have a say in who gets in and who doesn't. The NIMS System is used throughout the country and we are all trained on it. If we ever have to send our personnel to help out in another city, we all know the same system. Mayor Featherman —Have you considered a trial run on this plan to correct any type of problems you might have in following these procedures? Chief Hartmann — That is what our exercise is on July 23 You bring all the entities together; see what you are faced with and go through what you will need and how to plan for it. Town Commission Regular Minutes July 2, 2013 Page 6 of 10 4. BOARDS AND COMMITTEES: A) Board Correspondence: • None B) Board Action Report: • Read into the Record C) Board Vacancies: • Board of Adjustment & Appeals — One Appointment D) Monthly Board Meetings • Beaches & Shores Advisory Board —Next meeting scheduled September 10th • Planning Board —July 10" — 9:30 AM • Bd. of Adjustment — No scheduled meeting. • Code Enforcement Board — No scheduled meeting 5. PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: None proposed. 6. NEW BUSINESS None scheduled. 7 MISCELLANEOUS — ITEMS LEFT OVER: A) Planning Board — Re- appointment Interview: Ron Clark Ron Clark 4750 S. Ocean Blvd. — I have served on the Planning Board for past two years. Believe that the work that I have done on that Board, plus serving on the Charter Review Board indicates my dedication to this Town and speaks for itself. I support the Town and everything that is needed. I enjoy working with the people on the Planning Board. No questions from the Commission. MOTION: Vice Mayor Brown moved to re- appoint Ron Clark to the Planning Board for a three -year term (7/13 — 5/16). Motion was seconded by Comm. Sheridan. ROLL CALL: Vice Mayor Brown - Yes Commissioner Sheridan - Yes Commissioner Feldman - No Commissioner Stern - Yes Mayor Featherman - No Town Commission Regular Minutes July 2, 2013 Page 7 of 10 Motion passed with 3 - 2 vote. 8 REPORTS — TOWN COMMISSION: A) Commissioner Carl Feldman — The fourth of July celebration is coming up this weekend. This past year we did have a few incidents at the north end of Town of people setting off fireworks. It could be very dangerous. Parents, I hope this year if you give your children fireworks, please oversee them. B) Commissioner Louis P. Stern — Ambassador South has changed their legal description and name and is now known as 45 OCEAN. The signage went up today. C) Commissioner Dennis Sheridan - I would like to ask my fellow Commissioners if they would be interested in asking our Town Attorney to canvas several boarding communities regarding the use of leaf blowers. I have found, over the last couple of weeks on AIA alone, that many of these landscapers are just blowing the debris back into our swales. We have enough problems with flooding without that debris going in. I would like to have our Town Attorney check into seeing if any of our local boarding communities have an ordinance and; if so, could we consider one. Comm. Feldman — I would agree to that. I think the Town Manager would be well suited for doing that. Comm. Stern — I would concur with that. Vice Mayor Brown Are we trying to ban the use of blowers or ban the use of blowers along AIA? Mayor Featherman — The question is to ban the blowers that put debris into the street. Vice Mayor Brown — They blow it into all the streets. Comm. Sheridan — Then I would go on a Town basis. If they are blowing it into all the streets, then the same thing would prevail. Vice Mayor Brown — Then I would not be in favor of that. Town Attorney Torcivia — You are not banning the blowers; just blowing it into the street. D) Vice Mayor Brown — It is the Fourth of July and everyone will be doing fireworks. They have public displays in Delray and Boca. If you go to those, they are much safer than doing them yourself. Enjoy the Fourth of July and the fireworks. E) Mayor Bernard Featherman — 1) On Friday, June 28 I was contacted by Emily Schmidt of FEMA Region VI on the Flood Plain Management. I have added the Commissioners' names so you can get information on it in case it affects any one of you. 2) The Criminal Justice System has contacted me subject to an approval of fifty -one percent of all the cities in Palm Beach County. I have spoken to the Police Chief regarding this and he is holding it under advisement and will get back to us very shortly. 3) I would like to commend all of you for July 4 It is a great celebration and I feel that all of us will take advantage of those things that are occurring in our own community. 9. REPORTS — TOWN ATTORNEY: On the sale of the Boca property; they originally had 60 days to conduct their due diligence. The Town :Manager and I had a conversation recently with Mr. Durrett regarding extending that for an additional 90 days to continue their due diligence, particularly dealing with the City of Boca and the zoning issue. I suggested a cost of $5,000 a month. Not an additional amount for the contract, but a non - refundable Town Commission Regular Minutes July 2, 2013 Page 8 of 10 deposit; so if they use the whole 90 days, they would deposit an additional $15,000. If the transaction closes that is fine; but if it doesn't close, they will lose that money. If you are comfortable with that I will put the document together for the next meeting. Comm. Stern — The current 60 days expires August 5 t ' and the meeting would be August O h . It goes beyond our budget period. Town Attorney Torcivia — That was a concern that we had and is why we talked about the good faith deposit. Mayor Featherman — It means we can't make settlement before that time as well and we do have some things that we are planning to consider that may be affected by that. Doug Durrett — I am under contract to purchase the properties that are owned by Highland Beach. It has been my pleasure working with your Attorney, Kathleen Weiser and Jack Lee to this point in developing our relationship and our contract. We approach all of our projects with a very optimistic attitude. This has been my first project in Florida in years and working with the City of Boca, I have quickly come to realize they march to their own drummer. The City of Boca is only meeting once a month during the summer, rather than twice a month, and we realize we are not going to be able to get in front of the City of Boca with our proposed site plans and other projects and get any type of feeling for what their response is going to be to our request. I have put a team together; Mitch Kirschner, our Attorney and the Architectural Firm of RLC. I feel I have the right team to push this through and accomplish what we want to. I am not comfortable that we are going to be able to get any type of indication from the City of Boca in the short time frame we initially agreed to under our contract. So for that reason, we have asked for some additional time. Comm. Sheridan — This would apply for any builder that would have to go before Boca. Mr. Durrett — That is right. I have assembled a team that has worked with both cities and we are moving as fast as we can. Town Attorney Torcivia — I will bring this back at our next workshop and then at the regular meeting. 10. REPORTS — TOWN MANAGER: I want to remind everybody that with the Fourth of July all the Town Offices will be closed on Thursday. 1.1. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Featherman asked if any item needed to be removed from the Consent Agenda. Town Clerk Brown read the Consent Agenda into the record: A) Re- appointment of Evelyn Weiss to the Board of Adjustment and Appeals for a three -year term (04/13 — 03/16). B) Re- appointment of Carol Stern to the Planning Board for a three -year term (06/13 — 05/16). C) Selection of Mayor Bernard Featherman as the Voting Delegate to the 2013 Florida League of Cities Annual Meeting. D) Authorization for the Beaches & Shores Advisory Board to participate in Turtle Walk and Town Commission Regular Minutes July 2, 2013 Page 9 of 10 Talk Day, August 10, 2013. E) Authorization for Mayor Featherman to sign the Phillips & Jordan Mutual Aide Engagement Letter extending contract for Emergency Debris and Disaster Recovery Services. F) Approval of Minutes: May 28, 2013 — Workshop Meeting June 4, 2013 — Regular Meeting MOTION: Commissioner Sheridan moved that the Consent Agenda is accepted as read by the Clerk. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Stern. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Sheridan - Yes Commissioner Stern - Yes Vice Mayor Brown - Yes Commissioner Feldman - Yes Mayor Featherman - Yes Motion passed with a 5 -0 vote 12. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS RELATED TO ITEMS DISCUSSED AT MEETING John Ackerman 4202 Intracoastal Drive — I totally support the call center change. When the landscapers next door to me broke a gas line, my wife called 911; her call was dropped in the transfer. I then called 911; the 911 dispatcher did call her back. There is an example of where that system did fail us. The Police and Fire Dept. came and there were no problems. The EOC is in Delray Beach so I think we should do this. As I mentioned at an earlier meeting, don't skimp on my fire employees; conserve our money anywhere else. There has always been a truck next door, either ours or Delray Beach, and the Fire Dept. has always serviced us well. I feel they should assign the equipment and the personnel to man the equipment. We have a very unique town and I am very happy with the individuality that this town represents to the rest of the County and State. There is one thing this town does not conform to and that is the time our flags are supposed to be at half -mast. As you drive along A I A, you will see half the flags at half -staff and half the flags at full staff. We have to get the word out when the flags are to be at half - staff. Regarding the blowers, I would like to see the blowers stop blowing their problem into somebody else's yard and solve the problem by picking up the debris and hauling it away. Ronnie Svenstrup 3310 S. Ocean Blvd. — I would also like to say that I am in favor of the transfer of our call system to Delray to increase the response time. I think it is well worth it. I hope they would give us a reduction since we do lease our fire equipment and our emergency personnel from Delray and maybe that could be a bargaining point. Nonetheless, whatever it takes, it should be shortened. Town Commission Regular Minutes July 2, 2013 Page 10 of 10 13 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Featherman adjourned the Regular Meeting at 2:45 PM upon a MOTION by Commissioner Feldman: seconded by Commissioner Stern. APPROVED: 1, / Bernard Featherman, Mayor ,e / Ron r wn, Vice ayor Dennis J. SheridaN Commissioner '/-� iiAs:z- - J Ste o issioner Carl Commissioner ATTEST: Beverly M. Brown, M Town Clerk j6L r Date