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1996.01.30_TC_Minutes_Workshop TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION METING WORKSHOP MEETING January 30, 1996 _ 1:30 P.M. Mayor Arlin G. Voress called the Workshop Meeting to order in Commission Chambers at 1:30 P.M. Town Clerk Doris Trinley called the roll. The Mayor and Commissioners David Augenstein, Arthur Eypel and John F. Rand were present. Vice Mayor Bill Paul was absent. Also present were Town Attorney Thomas E. Sliney, Town Manager Mary Ann Mariano and Attorney Cormac C. Conahan, as were members of the general public. The Agenda was accepted as presented. 96.1 PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS None. 93.8 DISCUSSION RE ADELPHIA CABLE Regarding the proposed franchise agreement, Attorney Conahan reported that Adelphia had been receptive to the changes as requested by the Commission at the January 23, 1996 Special Workshop. He said a final draft should be ready for review at the February 6th Regular Meeting, at which time the first reading of the ordinance would take place should the Commission be satisfied with the draft. Attorney Conahan said he would further request a change to clarify where the system office will be located to afford access to Adelphia's books and records; he will request that same be located as close as possible, preferably in Palm Beach County. 96.2 BOARDS AND COMMITTEES Mayor Voress noted that Joseph Sarubbi had completed his first three-year term on the Code Enforcement Board and was eligible for reappointment. There was no correspondence to consider from any Board; however, a letter from Leonard Bell, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Start-Up Committee of the Highland Beach Library Foundation, would be addressed under discussion of the Foundation (Agenda Item 94.7). 96.3 PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS The following proposed resolution was read by title only: .Town Commission Workshop Meeting - Minutes Januarv 30, 1996 Page 2 of 6 A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN COMMISSION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING THE PALM BEACH COUNTY LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION TO SUPPORT H.B. #173 AND S.B. #16 IN EFFORTS TO AMEND FLORIDA'S FELONY/MURDER STATUTE TO INCLUDE THE ACT OF VEHICULAR HIT AND RUN AND THE ENUMERATED OFFENSES OF SAID STATUTE; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mayor Voress gave a brief background of the resolution, noting Mayor William Wagner of Lake Park had requested the Town's recommendation of this action; Mr. Wagner's son had been a hit and run fatality in the early 1990's, and both had resided in Highland Beach in the late 70's. Ms. Mariano explained that in essence passage of this legislation would designate "hit and run" as a first degree felony, rather than the current second degree designation, thus eliminating any statute of limitations in bringing perpetrators to prosecution. The resolution will be considered for adoption at the February 6th Regular Meeting. • 94.7 DISCUSSION RE LIBRARY FOUNDATION/CONSIDERATION OF APPOINTMENT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS In discussion of the proposed Highland Beach Library Foundation, a recent letter from Ad Hoc Committee Chairman Leonard Bell was reviewed. In his letter, Mr. Bell noted the Committee had completed by-laws for the Foundation, submitting them to the Commission for review and, therefore, the work of the Committee as assigned by the Commission was now completed. Also included in Mr. Bell's letter was a request for a loan from the Town in order to defray initial costs that the Foundation will incur during its inception (indemnification insurance, fidelity bonding insurance, administrative and fund raising costs). It was the consensus of the commission that this loan would be in the amount of $5,000. Upon request of Town Attorney Sliney, Town Manager Mariano will check with the auditors to confirm the legality of such a loan. If the auditors do confirm its legality, the granting of the $5, 000 loan will be placed on the February 6th Regular Meeting Consent Agenda. (Copy of Mr. Bell's letter attached to and made part of these Minutes.) Concurring that the work of the Committee was now finished, the Commission turned to discussion of initial appointments to the Foundation. In this regard, Mr. Bell, who was present in the audience, advised that those who had served on the Committee were willing to continue on as members of the Foundation. Thus, these . five (5) members, as well as the outstanding 6th seat, will then be appointed by the Commission at the February 6th Regular Meeting. • Town Commission Workshop Meeting - Minutes January 30, 1996 Page 3 of 6 MISCELLANEOUS - ITEMS LEFT OVER The Status of Building Development in Town Report was accepted as information,and two (2) sets of Minutes were moved to the February 6th Regular Meeting for possible adoption: December 26, 1995 - Workshop Meeting January 02,.1996 - Regular Meeting Building Official Ed Hardy gave an update on the status of the fire station remodeling, answering several questions regarding pilings and other technical aspects of the project. He noted groundbreaking would take place immediately following the meeting. REPORTS - TOWN COMMISSION Neither Commissioner Arthur Eypel nor Commissioner David Augenstein had reports. Commissioner John F. Rand had several items to address, including: .AARP, in conjunction with the IRS, will offer free income tax preparation again this year, with no obligation whatsoever, including membership in AARP. He noted dates and times would be posted in bulletins in Town Hall, Post Office and Library, as well as on Government Channel 12. .Why Ms. Mariano's memo of January 24, 1996 regarding fire/rescue fees was necessary. The Town Manager responded that she had done the research to aid Commissioner Augenstein in answering questions from Braemar Isle resident s, and had subsequently felt it would be good information for all Commission members to have should they encounter questions regarding savings realized by the Town and its residents by contracting with Delray Beach Fire/Rescue versus the County. The Commissioner suggested the memo be transmitted to all condominiums in an effort to get this information to as many residents as possible. (A copy of Ms. Mariano's memo is attached to and made part of these Minutes.) .Regarding the possibility of a flat-tax being enacted into federal legislation, Commissioner Rand said this action would effectively destroy the municipal bond market. He noted he would shortly attend a symposium regarding this controversy, and urged residents to contact our congressmen and senators to protest the possible implementation of a flat tax. . Town Commission Workshop Meeting - Minutes Januarv 30, 1996 Page 4 of 6 Under his report, Mayor Arlin G. Voress advised that Palm Beach County Municipal League, of which he is a Director, has established a Building Advisory Committee, which will periodically make suggestions to the Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners regarding an update of building standards. He advised that this Committee had recently suggested that the County: .update Southern Building Code, which the Town also follows, from the 1991 to 1994 the edition. The County will propose a countywide ordinance to accomplish this, and municipalities will have the option to adopt it when it is enacted. Mayor Voress said he felt it would be appropriate for the Town to adopt the ordinance. .another suggestion was for the County to adopt an ordinance mandating the installation of impact resistant glass on all new construction in order to meet hurricane standards. The Mayor gave a technical description of this glass, which he said was much like vehicle windshield glass. He said that although very expensive, installation of this glass would negate the need for hurricane shutters. Mayor Voress further • advised that this being a rather controversial issue, the County Commission voted 4-3 against such an ordinance; however, Commissioner Bert Aronson said he would support such an ordinance if the Municipal League could give him confirmation that the county municipalities would take such action. Advising that some municipalities in the County already have such an ordinance in place and others are considering it, the Mayor suggested that since Highland Beach is a coastal community, this is something that needs to be deliberated. Noting that some insurance companies give a percentage discount if hurricane shutters are installed, Mayor Voress said a follow-up step would be to have both the County Commission and municipalities inquire of various insurance companies if indeed they would consider giving some premium rate relief for installation of impact resistant glass. The Mayor further stated that another aspect for the Town to consider would be to require developers of new homes, or major remodeling projects, to advise the owner that impact resistant glass is an option; if the owner declines, then the developer would get a written statement attesting thereto. Building Official Ed Hardy was then asked to join this discussion and gave some comparison on the impact resistant glass versus • hurricane shutters. He stated that the Town's code requirements are more stringent than those in surrounding areas in that r Town Commission Workshop Meeting - Minutes January 30, 1996 Page 5 of 6 everything that is .built must meet 140 MPH impact; however, there is no Town mandate, as there is no county mandate, that hurricane shutters must be installed on new buildings or major renovations, whereas this is a code requirement in Broward, Dade and Monroe counties. Substantial discussion followed, with Mr. Hardy suggesting that the Town Code be amended to require installation of hurricane shutters or impact resistant glass on all new construction or major remodeling projects. Suggested by Commissioner Rand, it was the consensus that further discussion take place at the February 27th Workshop, with Mr. Hardy requested to submit a written recommendation to the Commission as to what he thought this proposed amended ordinance should embody. Also at Commissioner Rand's suggestion, the Mayor gave an update on the status of the proposed CCCL line, advising that the State will decide by April 1 if it will continue to press forward to establish the line as it is now proposed, or whether the model will be redone. Concurrently, Representative Bill Andrews is sponsoring a bill that would delegate control of the westward movement of the CCCL to the County; it is hoped that Senator Jim Scott, while he is concerned with the other two counties in which the line has not yet been imposed (Bay and Pinellas) will sponsor a version of the bill for the Senate. If nothing goes awry in the process of legislative • deliberations, the Mayor said he felt the County would accept this delegation from the State, based on approval of the county municipalities. The County will then study the existing line for a year to see where changes need to be made. Where changes are called for, there will be an allowance of 10 years to mitigate the problem (seawalls, etc.). REPORTS - TOWN ATTORNEY Town Attorney Thomas E. Sliney had no report. REPORTS - TOWN MANAGER Town Manager Mary Ann Mariano advised that Building Official Hardy had several suggestions regarding amendment to various areas of Town Code and she then asked him to present same to the Commission: .elimination of boat basins on inland waterways. Town Attorney Sliney suggested that this issue merited more thorough discussion before a proposed ordinance was drafted. The Commission agreed, and will again address this possible amendment at the February 27th Workshop. .guardrails being not less than 42" when installation relates to an area more than 30" above finished ground level or floor • below. Mr. Hardy told of an error in the Southern Building Code,. which they admitted to, which would allow single family homes an escape from this requirement. Town Commission Workshop Meeting - Minutes Januarv 30, 1996 Paae 6 of 6 • .uniformity as it relates to height of seawalls, which would ensure. parallel height between or among adjoining properties. The Commission was in agreement that this would be an appropriate requirement. include the terms "contractor" and sub-contractor" appropriately in Section 6.5. This would ensure that, following provisions of Code, a contractor could dismiss a sub-contractor with whom he was dissatisfied, as well as a homeowner having the same right as regards dissatisfaction with a contractor. The Commission was satisfied with Mr. Hardy's explanation of why this amendment was necessary, but requested that he clarify the language so there would be no question as to whom the amendment would refer. With the exception of the boat basin amendment, the Commission concurred that they would consider proposed ordinance amendments to Mr Hardy's other suggestions. Note: Materials submitted by Mr. Hardy to the Commission regarding these amendments are attached to and made part of these Minutes. Regarding the renovation of the Town Hall complex, Ms. Mariano advised she had met with some of the Town's foremost developers • regarding this issue; in this regard, she said some new and creative ideas should be ready for .presentation to the Commission by the February Workshop, which will consider and incorporate a more cost effective approach to the project in all areas. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Commission at this time, Mayor Voress adjourned the Workshop Meeting at 3:10 P.M. upon MOTION by COMMISSIONER AUGENSTEIN/COMMISSIONER RAND. dmt APPROVE: ~ ~~~, Ar n G. ~Voress/`Mayor ,~ hur Eypel~, ATTEST: • DATE: ssi - ABSENT - Bill Paul, Vice Mayor ~.. ~ ~ '1 SC.1 David Augenste' ,Commissioner o Rand, Commissioned