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2013.07.30_TC_Minutes_Workshop TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION MEETING WORKSHOP MEETING Tuesday, July 30, 2013 1 PM Mayor Bernard Featherman called the Workshop 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 Dailey Weiser; Town Clerk Beverly Brown; Finance Director Cale Curtis; Public Works Director Jack Lee; Police Chief Craig Hartmann; Police 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 submitted. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS Jim Jiovanazzo, 3700 S. Ocean Blvd — We have a problem with vegetation growing rapidly along the walking path. One is at the south end of Seagate's crosswalk, but is taken care of when the management is informed of this problem. The other is at the south end of Coronado's driveway. I have spoken to Carol in the Building Department and was informed that it is not Highland Beach's responsibility. It has to be someone's responsibility because there is a serious problem with traffic coming out of Coronado and drivers cannot see walkers or bicyclists. After contacting several people, including the management and the Police Department, it was finally resolved by Coronado who had the shrubbery cut back. I realize the city is not responsible but there should be something done on a consistent basis because there could be a serious accident. Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Page 2 of 14 3. PRESENTATIONS: No presentations. 4. BOARDS AND COMMITTEES A) Board Correspondence: • None B) Board Action Report: • None C) Board Vacancies: • Beaches & Shores Advisory Board — One Appointment • Board of Adjustment & Appeals — Two Appointments • Code Enforcement Board - One Appointment D) Monthly Board Meetings: • Town Commission Budget Workshop — August 7th — 4:30 PM • Financial Advisory Board — August 9 — 9:30 AM • Planning Board — Aug. 14' — 9:30 AM • Beaches & Shores Advisory — Turtle Walk scheduled August 10 at 7 AM • Town Commission Budget Workshop (If Needed) — August 21S — 1:30 PM • Bd. of Adjustment — Meetings are scheduled on a "as needed" basis • Code Enforcement — Meetings are scheduled on a "as needed" basis 5. PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS Town Clerk Brown read the following Resolutions No. 13 -008 R, No. 13 -009 R and No. 13 -010 R, title only, into the record. A) RESOLUTION NO. 13 -008 R A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 167 WHICH AUTHORIZED THE MAYOR TO WITHDRAW MONIES FROM THE TOWN'S GOVERNMENT SECURITIES INVESTMENTS; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. B) RESOLUTION NO. 13 -009 R A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA, REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 754 WHICH REQUIRED THAT THE TOWN COMMISSION'S AGENDAS FOR REGULAR AND WORKSHOP MEETINGS CLOSE TEN DAYS PRIOR TO THE SCHEDULED MEETING; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. C) RESOLUTION NO. 13 -010 R A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA, REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 791 WHICH ESTABLISHED A POLICY REGARDING THE Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Pay 3 of 14 PLACING OF ITEMS ON AN AGENDA FOR ANY TOWN COMMISSION MEETING OR WORKSHOP; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Town Manager Weiser — The resolutions you just heard are to repeal resolutions that are no longer in effect. They are either policies or procedures that we no longer use. One has to do with how we withdraw money from the Town's investments and the other two having to do with agendas regarding the timeframe for setting up the agenda and where things go on the agenda. Comm. Feldman — Since these resolutions are in effect at this time, is there any chance in the future that these resolutions would want to be or have to be used by any future Commissions. If so, what harm is it on leaving them on the books. Town Manager Weiser — They are on the books but we do not follow them. We went through the books and pulled out the ones we no longer follow. Comm. Feldman — Is there a reason we don't follow them? Town Manager Weiser — For example, one sets up a timeframe that you have to have things on the agenda. Often times you come to us a week before and request that we add an item to the agenda and we add it. We are not as rigid as what these require. Comm. Feldman — What about the spending resolution? Town Manager Weiser — The Mayor does not withdraw money. That is not how you do it. We have a different procedure /policy on how to withdraw money. That is something we do not follow anymore. Comm. Stern — If you take a quick look, the resolutions were adopted 1970, 2000 and 2002. It is a long time to keep them on the books. Consensus was to include these resolutions on the August 6 Consent Agenda. D) RESOLUTION NO. 13 -011 R A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA, SUNSETTING THE FOLLOWING BOARDS CREATED BY RESOLUTION NOS. 690 AND 806, RESPECTIVELY: TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MUNICIPAL BUILDING AUTHORITY, INC. AND PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY BOARD; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Town Clerk Brown read Resolution No. 13 -011 R, title only, into the record. Town Manager Weiser — These two resolutions sunset boards that no longer exist. They were put into existence for certain purposes and then the resolution was never gone back and changed. What we are asking to do is sunset these boards. Comm. Feldman — For the benefit of the public what are the two boards we are looking to eliminate. Town Manager Weiser — The Municipal Building Authority that was put together to make improvements to the Town Hall Complex back in 1996 and a Public Safety Advisory Board that last met in 2004. Comm. Feldman — Is there no need for them now since we will possibly be going into reconstruction of the Town Hall? Town Manager Weiser — When these were started they had specific purposes. You sunset a board that was set up for a specific purpose, and has completed that purpose. My opinion would be if in the future you would need such a board with a specific purpose then you would start it but you wouldn't keep it on the books all this time if it is not a board that meets on a regular basis. Comm. Feldman — You couldn't redefine their duties? Town Manager Weiser — You could but the normal process in these types of boards is that once they have completed their purpose, they are sunsetted. For some reason these boards were never sunsetted. Consensus was to include this Resolution No. 13 -011 R on the August 6` Consent Agenda Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Page 4 of 14 E) ORDINANCE NO. 13 -002 O AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA AMENDING ARTICLE III, "DEVELOPMENT REVIEW," OF CHAPTER 30, "ZONING CODE," OF THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANCES BY AMENDING SECTION 30 -46, "PUBLIC NOTICE," TO UPDATE THE PUBLIC NOTICE REQUIREMENTS TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH STATE LAW AND TO CLARIFY THE WRITTEN NOTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR PROPERTIES SUBJECT TO A CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Town Clerk Brown read Ordnance No. 13 -002 O, title only, into the record. Town Manager Weiser — This ordinance makes sure that our procedures for notifying residents regarding public notices follows the recently adopted rules of the Florida Statutes. There are certain requirements as to who you have to notice in a condo association and in the distance around the applicant's property. Comm. Stern — Having been on the Planning Board and chairing it for a number of years, this particular part of the Code was always very difficult for us. It simplifies and makes the written notices a lot easier by sending them to just within 300 feet of those who need to get it; not everybody. Vice Mayor Brow — I ran into a situation in Bel Lido where it was confused as a homeowner's association under the condo situation. This, in fact, pulls out the property owner's association where it is single family homes from a condo association. It requires the Town to notify the people there; not just the president of the association. Consensus was to schedule for a First Reading on the August 6` Agenda. 6. NEW BUSINESS A) Commission to authorize transfer of Town's Dispatch /Communication Services for Police and Fire protection to the City of Delray Beach. Town Manager Weiser — This is a follow -up to the presentation you had at your meeting of July 2nd regarding public safety dispatch and communications. The Chief is going to give you another brief presentation for the benefit of the audience so they know what the issue is. This has been included in our budget; so we want to make sure you have all the details and he can answer any questions you might have. Police Chief Craig Hartmann — The recommendation is from Staff looking at our police and fire dispatch as was explained in the last meeting. What you have now is our calls come in through town (911) for emergency calls; then they go to the Palm Beach County Sheriff s Office in West Palm Beach. They decide whether it is a police, fire or medical EMS call. They then will transfer the caller to Delray Beach, who will again take that information, then dispatch the fire or EMS which we have housed here in town. What we are recommending is that our call center comes into one call center through the Delray Beach Police Department that currently dispatches for police and fire. This would eliminate it having to go to the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office. The new system would have all Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Page 5 of 14 the calls go to Delray. There is a lot more inner operability of communication with police and fire on scenes. There is no way of measuring or knowing the difference in response time; but we know that we are cutting out an extra step in the process by moving to this recommended type of process. There will be no transferring of calls, 911 calls, dropped calls or disconnected calls which have been a problem. We had a question about the cost. It is what it is. That is what the city is charging the Town of Gulfstream and that is the same established price that they have for us and the other municipalities. We have some start-up costs which can be anywhere from $20,000 and up. We have several thousand coming back from the County, if we move away from them as well as some other fees, so that would offset some of the start-up costs. We are asking that maybe for the first year we reduce the contract to offset some of the start-up costs; licensing, software programs, etc. as we work through that. The question about Consumer Price Index (CPI); yes, it is standard in the contract and was reviewed by the Town Attorney. Finance Director Curtis made a recommendation of capping the CPI so that it wouldn't go above a certain number to keep that low. It also means it could go down, so when that happens the contract could go down. Comm. Feldman — I do agree 100% with the faster turnaround service. I do have some serious thoughts about the pricing of $54,000. Also, have we contacted Palm Beach telling them our concerns about the response time or missed calls, etc. Chief Hartmann — We talk to them about issues that may arise, calls that have been missed, etc. They are so large and deal with so many calls. This is not a matter of convenience that this recommendation is being made; but it is for efficiency, effectiveness, safety for our officers, our fire fighters and residents and the level of service it will bring to this community. Comm. Feldman — Has anyone looked into why it is a cost of $54,000 since we only have four calls a day on the average? Chief Hartmann — This is what Delray has established as if they are talking on another whole municipality's responsibility of being their point of call service for all of the public. Their call center, around the clock, will have to answer those calls for our community and be responsible for hurricanes and other emergencies. Comm. Feldman — I don't understand the $54,000 charge. What is the difference if the calls are coming from Palm Beach County to Delray or we call Delray? It would be the same call going to Delray Beach Call Center using the same personnel. Chief Hartmann — They are not the 911 call center or emergency call center for this municipality. Right now they are taking transferred calls that may be fire or EMS. We do handle several hundred calls a year; so there would be additional calls, just police related, that they would handle. Comm. Feldman — With communications the way they are today, between our fire and police departments, it seems we should be able to upgrade our communications department within if there is a problem with that. Incurring the cost that they are asking us for now, are we getting too dependent on Delray? Chief Hartmann — The only reason why, with the City of Delray, is you have contracted with their Fire Dept. This is about putting your public safety piece together. As I have said before, we are the only municipality that deals with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. Town Manager Weiser — Those are policy decisions. There are cities that operate as contract cities or municipalities. It is quite common for municipalities of our size to get their fire service from a bigger municipality because, over the years, fire service has gotten so technical that to hire your own force, keep them trained, purchase equipment; it is just too expensive. Over the past twenty years all the municipalities go to a larger municipality to get their fire service in this area. It put the volunteer firefighters pretty much out of business and smaller cities couldn't keep up with all the technical rules, regulations and laws that were surrounding a fire department. Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Page 6 of 14 Comm. Feldman — We are spending money and I want to be sure we are buying the right product for the right price and has it tried to be negotiated down. Delray is making a profit. Are we basing this on what they charge the Town of Gulf Stream? Chief Hartmann — That is how they established the cost. They charge a smaller community with fewer residents, less volume of calls and less activity. They have a contract in place with them and they could not create a contract that would come in lower with the adjacent community just to the north of them for a lower price for our town. In answer to the statement that they are making a profit, it costs Delray over two million dollars a year just to run that call center for police, fire in Gulf Stream, and it could be for us also. Comm. Stern — I had the pleasure of spending about an hour at the Palm Beach Police Call Center. It is very efficient and very effective. There must be a reason why we are the only town left that Palm Beach is handling. I think if they re- evaluated our costs, it would be a lot higher than it is at the moment. There are two sides to the coin. I agree, safety is number one; but the cost for four calls a day is astronomical and I wish there was some way we could get around that. I have had a number of calls from people who have house alarms and they go off. Whether it is real or a false alarm it takes forever for someone to show up; if they show up at all. I am hoping that if we move to Delray, things could become more efficient. I know, side by side, your police officers and their police officers having radios that would correspond a lot better, might be helpful. I guess safety has to be the winner here. Comm. Sheridan — I agree with both my fellow Commissioners. Comm. Feldman spoke my thoughts as to exactly how I felt, that I figured out that there was almost a 400% increase in cost. But, as Commissioner Stern said, you have to waive the fact that a few minutes may save someone's life and not worth saving $10,000 or $20,000. 1 am totally in favor of it, but I agree that I was hoping we could negotiate a better deal because we are using Delray right now. If we go directly to Delray, they don't get the call from Palm Beach but directly from us. As the Chief has explained, these are the costs that other municipalities are paying and Delray has a certain overhead that they must meet whether it is four calls or forty calls. I am in full agreement to move forward with this new program. Vice Mayor Brown — Cost versus my life or your life. I don't think anybody in here would bat an eye if you knew, for your $54,000 it was going to save your life or it was going to save my life. I understand the Commission was created for two reasons; public security and public safety. This falls under both of those. A few years ago the residents said no to farming out the police department to the Palm Beach Sheriff's office. They would rather spend more money and have their own police department. Because of the great expense of the fire department, and we already had it in place, staying with Delray made sense. I disagree with the cost as a sole factor here. I have had experiences making calls outside of the police office after hours, and it was supposed to go directly to the Sheriff's office. The first time it rang ten times and nobody answered. I hung up and tried again. After five calls they finally answered. If this is what we are looking at, then I am in total agreement to spending the $54,000 to save a life. Mayor Featherman — In hearing what was said here today, I do agree with my fellow Commissioners. The cost may be high, but saving one life is worth whatever it takes to make sure we are getting service. I feel we could do this on a temporary basis of one year to see if it works out. We do have a very fine relationship with Delray, have utilized their services for a number of years and know the people we are dealing with. Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Paize 7 of 14 Consensus was to include this item on the August 6 Consent Agenda. B) Commission to approve a 3 month extension to the Purchase Contract by Douglas and Esther Durrett of the Town of Highland Beach owned property located in Boca Raton. Town Attorney Torcivia — The one in your packet is an earlier draft and I am passing out the revised draft. It is extending actually 93 days, because of the way the days of the week fall, for Mr. Durrett to do due diligence. The biggest change is, that in the earlier version, they had asked for an assignment to his wife. Kathleen and I have discussed that, but Mr. Durrett is the one we have been dealing with. There was no real concern with having them be jointly involved; but to have him completely drop out, we had some concerns about that. The earlier draft had some of that language in it and that is what we took out. This is strictly an extension. On or about August 10th, if you approve this and they sign it, they will deposit $5,000 with the escrow agent which gives them an additional 30 days to do their due diligence. There will be another $5,000 on September I O and $5,000 on October 10`". The further out they go the more it will cost them. This is applied to the purchase price and does not increase the purchase price. If they back out for any reason and they don't close then they forfeit the $5,000 to $15,000 depending on how far they have gone. Mayor Featherman — You did not put on there what is for sale and what is extended as far as the location. Town Attorney Torcivia — That refers back to the first agreement. In the next agenda packets, I will have Beverly attach the original agreement that has been signed so the Commission can see what the first agreement is and this is simply amending that first agreement. Location, purchase price, etc. has already been established in the first agreement. Mayor Featherman — There are cases where people do have extensions and do not close on a deal, even though this amount is very small. I thought we should have done more on it to make sure they want to make a closing. I spoke to the Town Manager about whether we would get our monies or not until after they agree to all of this. No money would be transferred at all and that puts us in a precarious position of taking back the land and starting all over again. Comm. Feldman — We did receive a deposit; is that correct and is it non - refundable? Town Attorney Torcivia — I will have to review the contract to see whether it is or not. Comm. Feldman — Was there anything in the contract about the deposit being based on them getting the approval from the town they are buying the property in? That could leave us in a bad spot because then we could lose the deposit. Town Manager Weiser — It is not predicated on them getting the approval from Boca Raton. The work they are going through and the approvals they are getting; any buyer of those properties would have to go through. They have done the work that anyone buying those properties would have to do. If it makes you more comfortable, the variances they are looking for if they would back out of it, we have all that work in hand; we have all their studies; we have what the comments were from Boca on this piece of land. Comm. Feldman — If they are asking for all these extensions, can we keep the property on the open market, legally? Town Attorney Torcivia — Legally you could but you would morally need to disclose that it is under contract. Town Manager Weiser — We have done that. Comm Feldman — Has anybody verified the fact with the Town of Boca that there is a hold up on their end on this property? Town Manager Weiser — I have. It is not particularly a hold up; it is their meeting schedule for this time of year. Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Page 8 of 14 Comm. Stern — I am also concerned with the small amount going forward of $5,000. 1 do know for a fact that Boca Raton is on an every other month schedule over the summer so maybe they can and maybe they can't. It may not help us to find out what Boca turned them down on and we get the property back because then our new buyer may not be interested either. There has to be some way we can push them a little. Comm. Sheridan — As the Town Manager said, whatever prospective buyer we have, they are going to have to meet all these requirements one way or another. I don't think we should make it any more difficult for this perspective buyer. The property has been for sale for a very long time and the price hasn't gotten any better. I agree that we should assist them in any way to get the property sold. Vice Mayor Brown — I agree with Comm. Sheridan and press on with the way it is right now. Mayor Featherman — I feel there should be a step up for each month for the three months because we put ourselves in jeopardy of losing that property if they default on it and want additional extensions. Meanwhile we have not gotten the money and have several things we have done in anticipation of it. We have several big projects that will run close to a million dollars each and we changed the arrangement to pay off our bond from the sale of that property. We want to have a sale but I feel we should have more monies and hold off on agreeing to this particular extension. Comm. Feldman — The prospective buyers had two of the best attorneys from Boca Raton and if they didn't know they were going to have a problem they should have known it. If they thought they were going to have a problem they should have put it in the original contract. I just want to make sure we have something for what we are doing also. Vice Mayor Brown — I feel we should wait and see what the original contract says. Mayor Featherman — We are selling a lot of land for 3.5 million dollars and that is a lot of money. However, there are certain restrictions and obligations that each party has to have. Town Manager Weiser suggested we move on to the next item and come back to this when we have the agreement. All agreed. Continued discussion regarding Item No. B: Town Attorney Torcivia — I have looked at the contract between Mr. Durrett and the Town. There is a deposit of $50,000. If Mr. Durrett cancels the contract during this inspection period which expires in approximately 12 days or so; that is why he wants the extension; he gets the money back. By extending the inspection period, you re extending the period of time that he has to get that money back. If he does not terminate it at the end of the inspection period, then he forfeits the money. At the end of the inspection period, he has 15 days to close. If you grant him the extension, and there is non - refundable money involved, you might want to increase the five, five and five thousand to five, ten and fifteen thousand. Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Page 9 of 14 Comm. Feldman — Is there some way of legally extending but putting the wording in that he loses his deposit if he doesn't go through with it? Town Attorney Torcivia — We can certainly try that. Whether he is going to agree to that or not I don't know. Mr. Durrett is not here today to put him on the spot. You can step it up each month so there would be $30,000 at risk instead of $15,000 or any numbers you want. Comm. Stern — Can we give him an option. Step it up five, ten, fifteen thousand; but if he is not willing to do that because you have a contract at five thousand, can we then keep his deposit of $50,000 if he doesn't meet the ninety days? Town Attorney Torcivia — Thirty thousand as opposed to $50,000. I think it is a fair option to give him because it lets him know how serious you are about this. I will contact them today to see if they are agreeable. I'll re -write it, send it over, and see if they sign it. They have a week to sign it. If they don't, they have to make the decision to either go forward or give us notice that they are going to back out. Comm. Stern — Could you reiterate these pieces of properties in the amendment as well? Town Attorney Torcivia — This will come back to you next week with the five, ten or fifteen thousand or the $50,000, depending on which option they choose. C) Commission to Declare certain Property Surplus and Authorize Disposal. Town Manager Weiser You have an item in your agenda with town owned property that is being declared surplus. The majorities are small pieces of equipment; microwave, printer, projector that are damaged or they no longer work. There is a large list of library items and probably the most valuable piece of property is a 2007 Ford Crown Victoria. That shows you what kind of surplus we have because, if this is the most valuable piece of property, the salvage value is $1,500. Disposing of these items does not necessarily mean they are being thrown out; they go to auction. Comm. Feldman — Is this listed so the Town can see it in case some of our residents would like to buy it? Finance Director Curtis — This is put on a website called "Public Surplus.com ". We let the Town know that so anybody with internet access throughout the United States can bid on these items. Mayor Featherman — Can it be seen visually as to what it looks like? Finance Director Curtis — I take pictures of the items, post them and put a brief description of these items. Prior to this we had an internal sealed bid auction that we would advertise to anybody in the Town. Comm. Feldman — It seems like a good way of doing it because it gives the people a chance to look at the product and maybe a chance to buy it. I would not want the Town employees buying them. Mainly for the reason that is obvious. Finance Director — The experience we have had is very little participation from residents. A lot of the items would only be picked up by Town employees and that is why we went to this surplus auction website. It takes the internal buying factor out of it. It opens it up to the entire public. Mayor Featherman — We should exclude all Town employees from bidding because it brings up a question on ethics. Town Manager Weiser — That is exactly why we went to this company. If they bid on it they will bid on it along with anyone else. We are also bringing in more money that way. I believe ethically this is a fairer way to do it. Mayor Featherman — I believe a statement should be made and sent to all employees that they cannot bid on these items. Town Manager Weiser — You Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Page 10 of 14 can make this your policy but I don't see how we can regulate that because they would be bidding just as if they would bid on E -bay. Finance Director Curtis —This was not just an exclusive auction for anyone who knows about it. We put it on this website so everybody knows about it whether they are an employee or family member of an employee or somebody living in Canada. Anyone can bid on these items. Mayor Featherman — I still believe our employees should not be able to bid on these items because it is an ethics issue. Vice Mayor Brown — I believe anyone should be able to bid on these items whether they are an employee, resident of Highland Beach or a Commissioner. 7. MISCELLANEOUS — ITEMS LEFT OVER B) Minutes: June 25, 2013 — Workshop Meeting July 2, 2013 — Regular Meeting July 15, 2013 — Special Meeting No corrections received from Commission. Consensus was to include minutes on the August 5, 2013 Consent Agenda. 8. REPORTS — TOWN COMMISSION A. Commissioner Carl Feldman — Our first budget meeting is on August 7 th but the Financial Advisory Board meeting is on August 9 We are going to look at the budget but we might want to ask the Financial Advisory Board some of the questions we may have or get some advice from them as an advisory committee. Is there some way we can give the Financial Advisory Board a copy of the budget and have them attend the budget meeting, or at least invite them to it so they can give us some input? Town Manager Weiser — Yes and we will. It is set up like this on purpose so that if there is something at your workshop that you would like their input on you can give it to them and present it at the meeting. They are an advisory board to you. Comm. Feldman — A note to the residents. The meeting is August 7 th at 4:30. These are very important meetings so please attend them. B. Commissioner Louis Stern - I found an interesting article in the paper. It says "Want to become a Condo Board Member. Board members are required by state law to either take a certification class or file a written notice that they have read the governing documents of their associations ". Is that correct? Comm. Feldman — Yes, it is true in our building. Comm. Sheridan — It is in my building as well. C. Commissioner Dennis Sheridan — 1) There is going to be a Turtle Walk on August 10 at 7:30 in the morning. I was contacted by Ronnie Svenstrup who is running this. Seagate's entrance to the beach is through Ambassador's East which is completing some construction and will not allow the public to go through there. I have made our building beach access and parking area along with Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Page 11 of 14 Penthouse Highlands, next to me, for parking for people interested in this program. Our entrance to the beach is directly across from our parking area, and participants are more than welcome to use it. 2) Today, the Town Manager is going to discuss the grass clippings and yard waste. I brought that up at the last meeting and perhaps I accused too many people of doing the wrong things. I took the time to go through Bel Lido, Russell Drive and went down further and watched several of the individual gardeners on the private homes in these sections and they do abide by the regulation that they blow the clippings back into the grass and not on the street. Our main offenders of this, unfortunately, are the condominiums on A 1 A and also the private homes on A 1 A. If we do make some type of an ordinance, I would like to say that it doesn't apply to those individual homes that are not a problem at this point. D. Vice Mayor Ron Brown — I would like to thank the town staff for all the hard work they did in putting together this budget. You worked hard and you tried to keep the line on where you think the budget is effective and you are presenting that to us for our policy and we will present it to the Financial Advisory Board to see how they think we can do it better. I would also like to thank our Fire Dept. and our Police Dept. for keeping us safe. E. Mayor Bernard Featherman - I would like to have in writing, given to all the Commissioners and myself, what monies have been transferred out of the Reserve Fund each year from the total amount; where it is transferred specifically into from the reserve balance of each year from 2009 until the present date of July 31, 2013. When I came aboard we had close to six million dollars in reserves and it dropped down to 3.5 million dollars last year. I have been told that monies have been transferred out. I would like this information by our next meeting. We have a wonderful town and we are doing everything we can as Commissioners and Mayor to make sure that the town has the proper reflection of what they need. I want to commend our Commission and our Staff for the outstanding job they are doing. 9. REPORTS — TOWN ATTORNEY GLEN TORCIVIA: I am sure you have read the articles regarding the Inspector General's Litigation. The consortium of cities have made a proposal; one that we thought was pretty reasonable to the County, and they rejected that. At this point, both sides are gearing up for a trial. 10. REPORTS — TOWN MANAGER KATHLEEN DAILEY WEISER: The Dolphins Cycling Challenge, a cycling route that raises money for cancer, will be coming through the weekend of November 2 nd and 3 This is one that you do not need to approve. They do not ask for any services from us; but we just want to make you aware of it. You asked for information on what other municipalities have in their Code regarding grass clippings and yard waste and the blowing of such into the streets and swales. I provided you with ordinances or portions thereof from six different municipalities in the area that regulate this raking, blowing or otherwise disposing of grass clippings. It is strictly for your information and I would like your discussion on whether you should or should not decide to do anything on this. Comm. Feldman — On Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Page 12 of 14 AIA most of the condos have their own grounds keeper and they take care of their own clippings. We don't see much of the debris in the street. Comm. Sheridan – There are several condominiums that have outhouse gardeners and do not have their own maintenance people. These are the people that blow it out into the street. I did not want this to reflect on the homeowners in Bel Lido or Russell Drive because I have witnessed it myself and they do abide by the rules. Comm. Stern – I would like to thank Kathleen. She did a great job on a lot of research here. Having read all the information from the towns which you found for us, I found the one from Greenacres most interesting. If we are to adopt any kind of a resolution or ordinance, it is their Section 7 -157 which we already have in our book; but it has no teeth in it. I don't know what Code Enforcement could do; but it puts them on notice that grass clippings, vegetable material, debris can't be intentionally washed, swept or blown into the water drains, ditches, wetlands, etc. It covers everything. I am not sure what this means; but if we want to have such a thing, I think it is a great addition to our rules and regulations. Vice Mayor Brown – As a single family homeowner, anything we do in the way of how they take care of our yards would add hours and a huge expense to picking it up. In Bel Lido we have our gardeners and yard men. They do the normal cutting and edging and they blow the extra grass back onto the yard and it acts like compost. One of our codes, and I don't know which one it is, there is a nuisance code that would work very well in this and goes through all the items Comm. Stern read. So I don't think we need to continue with any more codes. Who enforces it; the Police or Code Enforcement Board? Reply — Both do. Mayor Featherman – Let us temporarily put this aside. If our residents have any views that you would like to express, please let us know by email, phone or coming to our meetings. Town Manager Weiser – Town staff participated in a hurricane exercise with the City of Delray Beach on Tuesday, July 23 It is a chance for all of us to come together and go over all our emergency management plans. Comm. Feldman – With the construction going on to alleviate the water problems on A I A, have you or someone from the Town looked to see exactly what they are doing, because from what I understood, the Town didn't even know this was going to happen. Town Manager Weiser – Our Public Works people have been there. An individual property owner was able to pull in a favor and get this done by the State of Florida Department of Transportation who as far as Jack and I know, has neven given out a permit for having drainage come off of AIA as long as we have been here. This is a very odd and unique situation that they were able to obtain a permit. Vice Mayor Brown – I talked to the owners on both sides and they started this process about five years ago. They have been constantly writing and calling FDOT to get that done because you can't get in and out of that driveway after a heavy rain fall. It looks like they are doing a very good job. Town Manager Weiser – FP &L is doing construction at the south end of town, putting in poles. Public Works Director Jack Lee – Regarding the drainage work, Bill and I knew about it two years ago. FDOT came to me indicating that there was an area in the town that kept retaining a large amount of water and has been a problem for some time. We didn't know when the work was going to come about until a month ago. I sent a notice to Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Page 13 of 14 the town staff that they were going to begin construction on a French drain system that drains into a catch basin that drains into the Intracoastal. This helps the town's drainage. We have been monitoring it almost every day. Comm. Feldman — Is there any way we can get some type of drainage in front of Seagate? Director Lee — I was told by Lisa Tropepe who is our engineer of record, that to get drainage system permitted into the Intracoastal nowadays is very difficult. There is a serious problem with flooding in front of Seagate every time we have a hurricane or a storm event. I could ask Lisa if there is something we could do. We did a drainage study back in 2000 and the engineer had a lot of recommendations for drainage along AIA. All the improvements they recommended were about nine to ten million dollars. The Mayor and Commission felt, at that time, it was too much money to spend on a 100 year event. When they repaved AIA, FDOT installed swales to alleviate some of the problem. In addition, my department went down some of the side streets and enlarged some of the storm drains that were a minimal of eight inches which we increased to fourteen to sixteen inches. Comm. Feldman — There is flooding in front of the proposed 3200 building. When I spoke to the developer, he indicated that he intends to eliminate that. Director Lee — He could install French drains. There are several things he could do. 11. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REOUESTS RELATED TO ITEMS DISCUSSED AT MEETING George Kelvin - Braemer Isle — Regarding the auction for the surplus items, is the name Highland Beach attached to any of the auction items. Town Manager Weiser — No, it is not. George Kelvin — If a resident calls the Highland Police Dept. with an emergency call, are they authorized to respond or does it have to go to 911 first. Chief Hartmann — If they call the Police Dept. for a fire or medical emergency, it has to get sent through Delray Beach Communications. They dispatch the Fire Dept. We have no inner communications. The Police Dept. does not dispatch fire personnel. All the 911 emergency calls go to the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office. Once they determine whether it is fire, medical or what the situation is, it then is transferred to the Delray Beach Dispatch Center so they can dispatch their medical personnel. In every municipality, all calls must go through a dispatch center. Comm. Sheridan — If a Highland Beach resident calls the Police Dept. number between the hours of 8:00 to 5:00, five days a week, then you can respond here to that particular need. Chief Hartmann — Yes, if it is a police matter and it is during administrative hours. We don't encourage that because, if it is medical and it is after hours, there would be a problem. Even during administrative hours, if it is a medical we would have to send you over to Delray Communications Center so they can dispatch those units. Jim Rovanazzo, 3700 S. Ocean Blvd — Any Condo Board member must take a certification class? Comm. Feldman — The condo laws for the State of Florida states that your board members must read the specs from your condo and understand them and sign the form; or they would have to attend a class. 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Featherman adjourned the Workshop Meeting at 3:22 PM upon a MOTION by Commissioner Stern and seconded by Commissioner Sheridan. Town Commission Workshop Minutes July 30, 2013 Page 14 of 14 APPROVED: Bernard Featherman, Mayor ut Ro rown, Vice Mayor Dennis J. Sherildhn, Commissioner - )"A 4ZEZ P. Stern, o issioner Feldman, ommissioner ATTEST: Beverly M. B wn, MMC D afe