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2013.08.21_TC_Minutes_Workshop TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF THE TOWN COMMISSION 2013 -2014 PROPOSED BUDGET WORKSHOP MEETING Wednesday, August 21, 2013 1:30 PM Mayor Bernard Featherman called the Budget Workshop Meeting to order in the Commission Chambers at 1:30 PM. CALL TO ORDER: Roll Call: Members present: Mayor Bernard Featherman; Vice Mayor Ron Brown; Commissioner Dennis J. Sheridan; and Commissioner Louis P. Stern. Absent - Commissioner Carl Feldman. Also present: Town Attorney Glen Torcivia; Town Manager Kathleen D. Weiser; Town Clerk Beverly M. Brown; Police Chief Craig Hartmann; Finance Director Cale Curtis; Public Works Director Jack Lee; Library Director Mari Suarez; Building Office Manager Carol Holland; Assistant to the Town Manager Zoie Burgess; and members of the public. Pledge of Allegiance: The Pledge of Allegiance was given, followed by a moment of silence. Civility Pledge: The Civility Pledge was recited by the Town Clerk. 1. ADDITIONS, DELETIONS OR ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA: Mayor Featherman called for any additions or deletions. Receiving none, the agenda was accepted as submitted. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REOUESTS: No Public Comments received. 3. PRESENTATION OF 2013 -2014 BUDGET: Town Manager Weiser — We have the presentation that you have already seen ready to go. If you have any questions we can show it again. Right now I am going to answer the various questions that were proposed at the last Workshop, and were not answered at that time; or were not answered totally at the Workshop. I will run through those quickly: There was a question about the layout of the new Commission Chambers; if it includes two exits should there be a fire or earthquake. Those are already in the plans as required by the building code. Town Commission Budget Workshop Meeting August 21, 2013 Page 2 of 5 There was a question whether we added an extra employee to the Police Dept. There have been no additional employees added. It is the same as last year; there are fifteen sworn, three reserves and one administrative person. There is an unfunded post position in the books; but it has been there for several years, and we still are not filling that post. Clarification on the number of emergency calls: For last year the police department had approximately 1100 calls and fire /EMS had 736 calls. Expansion of the Library: Enclosing the terraces is in next year's CIP (Capital Improvement Plan). Expanding the Community Room has not been proposed, nor has it been discussed in the past. Cost of Lockers: What was included in there is estimated before the project goes to bid. Actual cost for these lockers will come when the project is put out to bid and we get that cost back from the bidders. The type of emergency trucks used, provided and owned and operated by the Town of Highland Beach, are any of those vehicles used elsewhere at any time; of course we have the ladder truck and ambulance. They can go over the bridge as a last resort if there was a huge event. However, since I have been here, that has not happened. More often than not, additional apparatus has been brought in to help us. If we would have to send our trucks over the bridge for an extreme event, mutual aid comes in to play where we get help from surrounding communities. Is there a need for a Purchasing Agent? We have not recommended it. Purchases are done following approved procedures and accountability is checked by our auditors. There were some questions on the purchasing policy itself and I will turn it over to our Finance Director who serves as our Purchasing Manager. Finance Director Curtis — A question was raised at the last Budget Workshop Meeting with regard to hiring a Purchasing Agent. As the town structure currently is, the Town Manager serves as the Purchasing Agent and the Finance Director serves as the Deputy Purchasing Agent. At that point, the services of purchasing are decentralized and are the responsibility of the individual departments and the department heads. They serve as the requesters of purchases. At the department level, the department heads only have the authority to purchase up to $500.00. Anything above $500 requires the secondary levels of approval from myself and the Town Manager. There are also different thresholds for obtaining quotes. Purchases up to $2500 require one quote; from $2500 up to $25,000 require three quotes. Anything over $25,000 is subject to the formal bidding process. There were some questions about not knowing what we were purchasing, or following those procedures. I can assure you those procedures are followed pretty much to the tee. Our departments do a pretty good job getting the quotes that are requested, filling out the proper paperwork, getting the proper approvals prior to the purchases being made. The reason our system is good is that you have the initial requesters. They are the experts in their department; they know what they are looking for and put the requests in. I make sure they are following the purchasing guidelines. The last layer of approval is the Town Manager who makes sure it is in line with the department's goals. Town Manager Weiser — We also trained all of our employees this year on our purchasing policies; so it is fresh in their minds what they need to follow. We can answer any other questions you have on the budget at this time. Town Commission Budget Workshop Meeting August 21, 2013 Page 3 of 5 4. COMMISSION REVIEW, QUESTIONS & DISCUSSIONS• Comm. Stern — Most of my questions that I found, in going through the budget a number of times, were answered totally and completely by our Town Manager and our Finance Director. In addition, the budget that we did last year was so accurate that we came in with a little bit of a profit at the end of the year. Looking at this budget, it does make total sense to me. I think we will have a discussion at a later time on the fire engine replacement as to whether we might purchase it or continue with the lease. Other than that, I rely very highly on the fact that our accounting auditing firm, Nolen, Holt, Miner have given us a letter of recommendation that we are doing the best job here. I am very comfortable with the budget, the personnel and the staff. Comm. Sheridan — I too have reviewed the budget several times and have taken the time to visit with our department heads to find out exactly their feelings regarding it. I am very comfortable with the budget and the way it is presented. I would like to compliment Cale on the budget he has presented to us. I think it is in order and I am very comfortable with it. Vice Mayor Brown — I have been through the budget several times, also. At the last meeting, I brought out a difference that I saw in the Police Dept. between $72,000 and $68,000. Since then I found out what that is. It is not radar or other equipment; it is, in fact, video cameras that we want to install in those cars and that came up after the budget. The additional equipment was in there. That was one of my major questions. The other question I have is when are we going to discuss the dispatch services budget or is that a done deal? When are we going to discuss the option for the fire truck? I think right now we are looking at option three where we pay the additional fee to Delray; but are we going to go ahead and include that in our budget and press on? Town Manager Weiser — We have included both items in the budget. You have approved the dispatch at your last meeting. We are meeting with Delray at the end of this month. One of the things we are going to propose to them is combining it into one contract; so you might see that item in front of you again as one contract. If we don't come to an agreement on the fire truck, we would still be purchasing that fire truck; so the money is in the budget. Whatever option we go with, it is still in there to purchase a truck. Even if we say go tomorrow, I am told it could take up to a year to get a new truck. _Vice Mayor Brown — If we order a truck then the budget is completely different than it is right now. I think we need to solve that as soon as we can so we can have an approved budget without coming back with an amended budget. Whether or not we buy a fire truck depends on what the Commission decides to do as a whole with option one, two or three. Town Manager Weiser — Our marching orders from you is to work with Delray to approve adding it to their contract as a vehicle maintenance service fee. If that should not come to fruition, then we would come back to you with additional options. Even if it should not come to fruition, the amount that is in the budget would cover if we would order the truck; unless you change your mind, order it and pay one flat fee for it. Vice Mayor Brown — My only concern is that we have three options listed and I thought we were going to go with working out a contract with Delray. Town Manager Weiser — It is only in there because we did that portion of the budget before it was presented to you. Those were the options we originally presented. Since then, you said move forward with this; but until we have an actual contract, you are looking at what was presented to you before you made that decision. Vice Mayor Brown — I think the Town has done great through this and all the department heads know what they need and how to operate their budget. Obviously you and Cale have done a great job. I am happy with the way it stands right now. Town Commission Budget Workshop Meeting August 21, 2013 Page 4 of 5 Mayor Featherman — I have also gone over the budget several times as well. I still have some questions. If we buy the ladder truck on a ten year basis, how do we present that without paying the $130,000 additional? Town Manager Weiser — What we would do then is come to you indicating what the cost would be. Don't forget that amount is for two vehicles, the ladder truck and the ambulance. So, if we couldn't come to an agreement with Delray, we would come back to you with what the cost would be for us to purchase the vehicle over a ten year period. Mayor Featherman —I noticed there is a Delray ambulance here and not our original ambulance. If our ambulance is in Delray service, it certainly would take four or five times as much use because they have about 50,000 people in Delray compared to our 4,000 here. My point is, do we have to buy that ambulance and why shouldn't we have our own ambulance returned to us. Up till this year we have not paid a maintenance charge. Is that correct? Town Manager Weiser — Yes, that is correct. Mayor Featherman — Why don't we have that returned? Town Manager Weiser — The only time we would have a Delray ambulance is if ours is out of service. If ours is in service it is here. Don't forget Mayor, the ambulance has both their name and our name on it. Mayor Featherman — They put approximately $5,000 in to put springs on the last repair for the ambulance. When was that? Finance Director Curtis — It could be close to a year ago. We have had the vehicle back since then. Mayor Featherman — The question is do we consider buying that ladder truck on terms because our contract really ends on 2017 and we have to give them notice in 2015. If they supply the truck, and we don't continue on with the contract, then we are without a ladder truck which will cost us instead of $850,000 this year probably close to a million dollars four or five years from now. Town Manager Weiser — That is the negotiations we are having with them now. Mayor Featherman — On the sources for pricing, when we had prices presented to us, someone had sent me a note saying that I really didn't realize what the prices were on some of the equipment we have for the renovations. I have checked that out now and it seems that it is one -third of what the price is for an estimated new piece of equipment. I checked it with three different sources on my own. Do we have somebody who could give us accurate prices, not only on the equipment going in, but also the building itself? Town Manager Weiser — Again, as I have mentioned to you when I went through your questions from the last workshop, those prices will come in when we actually do a bid. The only thing you are looking at is an estimate. When those go out to bid, all those numbers will come back the actual of what someone is going to charge us. Mayor Featherman — With the delay of one year, last year we had $750,000 and this year it is $825,000 for renovations. Of course you can figure they will run ten to fifteen percent overages on new buildings that come up. So we are really looking at a cost of one million dollars. Have you figured out where we are going to get the money? Town Manager Weiser — If you recall, you asked our architect to come back to us with their best estimate so we could put it out on the street, and they are supposed to get back to us in September. Vice Mayor Brown — Talking about the building, the $34,000 is already in there for the architect to come back and give us what their best guess is for the contract. Town Manager Weiser — Not only best guess but to give us documents that we can put out on the street to bid. They have been here and going over the building with a fine tooth comb. Vice Mayor Brown — What are we waiting for phase 3. Town Manager Weiser — For the bid documents that we could put out on the street so we have actual quotes of what the building will cost. The architect will give us their best guesstimate when they put this together, and they have done plenty of city and town halls and municipal buildings. So, I would think the number they give us will be pretty accurate. You may have some leeway with the ancillary services. How far do you want to go with electronics in the new Commission Chambers? Town Commission Budget Workshop Meeting August 21, 2013 Page 5 of 5 We don't really see that as part of the construction budget. If things go much higher I think it will be your policy decision as to where you want to go with that. 5. COMMISSION BUDGET MEETING: September 5, 2013 — First Budget Public Hearing — 5:01 PM September 17, 2013 — Final Budget Public Hearing — Set Millage Rate — 5:01 PM 6. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS RELATED TO ITEMS DISCUSSED AT MEETING: Jim Jiovanazzo, 3700 S. Ocean Blvd — Several years ago I brought up the idea, particularly when they were putting the water line underground, that we consider having the underground electric line as well. It was not a consideration at that time. More and more communities are doing that here in South Florida because of the storm situations. The other day we had an electrical line break and were without power for about an hour. I think we should seriously consider the practicality of having electric lines underground rather than having the ugly wires hanging there. I wish the Commission would take another look at that, see what the cost would be and perhaps bring it up in the future. Mayor Featherman — I think that is a good point. I would assume that we could ask the electric company if they would participate in the cost of putting that in. 7. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Featherman adjourned the Budget Workshop Meeting at 1:55 PM upon a MOTION by Commissioner Sheridan and seconded by Vice Mayor Brown. APPROVED: IWA Lk" Be d Featherman, M l r� C Ron Brown, Vice Mayor pep 1 nis J. S e an, Commissioner 1 Loui . Ste , Commissioner Carl Feldman, Commissioner ATTEST: U 1 Bev rly M. Bro MMC Date