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2013.10.01_TC_Minutes_Regular TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION MEETING REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, October 1 2013 1 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; Finance Director Cale Curtis; Public Works Director Jack Lee; 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 REOUESTS• No comments received. 3. PRESENTATIONS: No presentations scheduled. 4. BOARDS AND COMMITTEES: A) Board Correspondence: • None B) Board Action Report: • Read into the Record Town Commission Regular Minutes October 1 2013 Page 2 of 9 C) Board Vacancies: • Beaches & Shores Advisory Board — One Appointment • Board of Adjustment and Appeals — Two Appointments D) Monthly Board Meetings • Beaches & Shores Advisory Board — No Meeting Scheduled • Planning Board — Meeting Cancelled • Bd. of Adjustment — No Scheduled Meeting for September • Code Enforcement — No Scheduled Meeting for September 5. PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: A) ORDINANCE NO. 13-003 O — First Reading AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA AMENDING ARTICLE I, "IN GENERAL," OF CHAPTER 6, "BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES," OF THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANCES BY AMENDING THE ADMINISTRATIVE AMENDMENTS INCORPORATED INTO SECTION 6 -27 TO INCORPORATE STREAMLINED INSTALLATION AND PERMITTING PROCEDURES FOR LOW VOLTAGE ALARM SYSTEMS; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Town Clerk Brown read Ordinance No. 13 -003 O, title only, into the record. No comments were received by the Commission. MOTION: Vice Mayor Brown moved to approve Ordinance No. 13 -003 O on first reading and schedule the second reading and public hearing on November 5, 2013. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Stern ROLL CALL: Vice Mayor Brown - Yes Commissioner Stern - Yes Commissioner Sheridan - Yes Commissioner Feldman - Yes Mayor Featherman - Yes Motion passed with a 5 to 0 vote. 6. CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Featherman asked if any item needed to be removed from the Consent Agenda. Town Commission Regular Minutes October 1, 2013 Page 3 of 9 Town Clerk Brown read the Consent Agenda into the record: A) Appointment of David Stern to the Code Enforcement Board for a three -year term (10/2013 — 09/2016). B) Re- appointment of Ilyene Mendelson to the Planning Board for a three -year term (10/2013 — 09/2016).. C) Authorization for Mayor to sign Phillips & Jordan Mutual Aid Engagement Letter extending contract for Hurricane/Disaster Debris Removal, Reduction and Disposal Services. D) Authorize purchase of quantity two (2) new police patrol vehicles funded in the 2013 -2014 Fiscal Year Budget; Account #001 - 521.000 - 564.000. E) Minutes: August 21, 2013 — Budget Workshop Meeting August 27, 2013 — Workshop Meeting September 3, 2013 — Regular Meeting September 5, 2013 — Budget Public Hearing MOTION: Commissioner Feldman moved to accept the Consent Agenda. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Stern. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Feldman - Yes Commissioner Stern - Yes Commissioner Sheridan - Yes Vice Mayor Brown - Yes Mayor Featherman - Yes Motion passed with a 5 to 0 vote. 7. NEW BUSINESS: None scheduled. Town Commission Regular Minutes October 1, 2013 Page 4 of 9 8. MISCELLANEOUS — ITEMS LEFT OVER: A) Status on Sale of Town owned Boca Raton Property Town Attornev Torcivia — A letter from the Town Attorney dated October 1, 2013 was presented to the Mayor and Commissioners. As I mentioned to you at the Workshop last week, this has been an ongoing everyday project working with Mr. Durrett, his Attorney and the engineers that they have for the site plan. We have a contract with the Durretts' to purchase the Boca property and there was an extension that was granted with the nonrefundable deposit. As they were going through their due diligence and attending staff meetings with the City of Boca staff, it was pointed out that the underlying Comprehensive Plan is not consistent with the zoning. The foundation of the house is the Comprehensive Plan. In this case the Comprehensive Plan for the property that we own was PI/Institutional which means government use or institutional use. The zoning was residential. They purchased it believing it was residential. We believed it was zoned and it is zoned residential, and as they went through the planning process, it came out that the underlying Comprehensive Plan was not consistent with the zoning. They have to be consistent. It apparently was an oversight that no one was aware of until they were going through this process. As the owner of this property, if we are ever going to sell this property to anybody to use it for residential purposes, the owner is going to need to change the Comprehensive Plan. Boca has a universal application process and Mr. Durrett has already started that process. Now we need to join in on the Comprehensive Plan piece of that. The Town would actually be the applicant to the City of Boca to change the Comprehensive Plan. We are working very closely with Mr. Durrett and his legal team and engineers to facilitate that. Cale has made some calls to see if we can get a better price for the Town. The companies listed are going to be doing services for Mr. Durrett that are needed for the site plan and it is not that much more to do additional services for the Town's part. Schnar and Donaldson have come in with the best price so far. We are continually negotiating this and trying to get the best price for the Town. What we are requesting today is entering into a second amendment with Mr. Durrett that extends the time, because you can't close until the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning are both done. We have it in the agreement as either May 14` or whenever that process is completed. Realistically, we are thinking March will be the time when we get through the zoning and the Comprehensive Plan process and close on the property. There is also a consent form, which I have attached, to allow Mitch Kirschner to file the application on behalf of the Town. He is not representing the Town, just filing the application. I or someone from my office will be doing the legal work necessary that hopefully is pretty minimal on the Comprehensive Plan. There is the agreement with Mr. Durrett, authorizing the Manager to hire the appropriate consultants which is probably going to be Schnar Engineering ($2,000) and Donaldson Traffic (a little under $2,500) unless someone comes in with a better price within the next day or two, and the City of Boca who has an application fee of a little over $6,000. We are going to request that they waive that fee, or reimburse that fee, if they require an upfront payment. Only the Town Council in Boca can waive that. Kathleen has had conversations with the staff there. Generally Boca does not waive that fee. We are hoping that as a sister government we can appear in front of the Town Council and waive that fee which is the single biggest expense. Commissioner Feldman — What happens if after the six month extension, this does not come to fruition and the deal does not go through? We have been paid a stipend each month. Do we keep that money or return it? Town Attornev Torcivia — That is a nonrefundable deposit, a total of $20,000 over the next three months. If the deal closes it gets applied to the purchase price. If it doesn't close, we keep the money unless it is our fault that they don't close. Then they will get the money back. Town Manager Town Commission Regular Minutes October 1 2013 Page 5 of 9 Weiser — In my discussions with Boca, they indicated that if we were the applicant they tend to get it done much quicker than if a buyer is the applicant. That is why we are stepping in and they have all looked favorable on the application; but it has to go through the process. Mayor Featherman — How did we advertise the sale of the property? Was it residential, commercial or industrial? Town Manager Weiser — This was before my time, but I believe it was advertised as property zoned residential in Boca Raton. I will have to look into it. Boca's Comprehensive Plan is Boca's Comprehensive Plan. That would be their Land Use that we are talking about. Public Works Director Jack Lee — The 8 -1/2 acres was zoned residential (R -3). The other piece, which was the old water plant site, was zoned commercial and that is how we listed it. Mayor Featherman - I would like to ask the Attorney if on these additional charges, is it generally protocol to charge for the filing fees, the engineering and traffic. Town Attorney Torcivia — Yes it is. Over the last week, our office and Cale have been contacting other engineering and traffic companies, because through the purchasing process, you need to get the best price. We already had these prices and I believe they are going to be the lowest prices because they are already on the job. We have not gotten any other prices that are even close. They are reputable firms and should get the job done at a good price. MOTION: Vice Mayor Brown moved to approve the Second Amendment to Contract For Sale and Purchase between the Town of Highland Beach and Douglas T. and Esther Durrett and authorize the Town Manager to contract with the appropriate consultants within the budget that would be no more than $6,000.00. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Stern. ROLL CALL: Vice Mayor Brown - Yes Commissioner Stem - Yes Commissioner Sheridan - Yes Commissioner Feldman - Yes Mayor Featherman - No Motion passed with a 4 to 1 vote. Mitch Kirschner, Attorney for Mr. & Mrs. Durrett — Thank you very kindly for the motion and the vote. The Durrett's entered into an agreement to pay the stipend for the three months which would have brought us to November 10 We were targeting the November 7 meeting of the Boca Zoning Department where we were pretty comfortable with getting our site plan approval, and then we would have been able to close. We are staying the course with the stipend. Now that we know what we know, it is going to take at least six months for the Comprehensive Plan to be amended. We think the site plan would have been done November 7 We are not asking for our money back, we are just here to stay the course. What we really need to know is that whether the City waives or doesn't waive the fee, we are hanging in with you, so, please if you can't get a discount, please let us know you are in with us. We really don't think there will be any problem in the Comprehensive Plan being amended. It makes sense. The property is surrounded by R -3 and has an R -3 zoning. It is highly unlikely that the City won't agree to it. Commissioner Feldman — We did approve the Boca filing fees in our motion. — Town Attorney Torcivia — If they don't waive the fees we are going to move forward. Town Commission Regular Minutes October 1, 2013 Page 6 of 9 B) Revision of Special Occasion Gift Policy: "Town Commission authorizes an amount not to exceed $90.00, including delivery, when sending a fruit basket or flowers." Town Manager Weiser — Right now in our current policy, which is just a policy, we are not able to abide by it when we need to send a gift for some occasion. We are asking you to revise that policy. You wanted a $90.00 limit which is fine. Commissioner Feldman — Is $90.00 enough? Town Manager Weiser — I would prefer that it said within reason, because you will be looking at this again in three or five years. Whatever you are comfortable with is fine. Commissioner Feldman — I think we should go with your discretion since you are the one that approves it. MOTION: Vice Mayor Brown moved to Authorize the Town Manager to spend an amount that is reasonable when providing flowers or fruit baskets to Town employees or elected officials. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Sheridan ROLL CALL: Vice Mayor Brown - Yes Commissioner Sheridan - Yes Commissioner Stern - Yes Commissioner Feldman - Yes Mayor Featherman - Yes Motion passed with a 5 to 0 vote. 9. REPORTS — TOWN COMMISSION: A) Commissioner Carl Feldman —At the last meeting we had many residents here with their concerns. Whether they were right or wrong, they were here. When I received the letter I went to the Town Manager and requested that it be put on the agenda under new business. I think whenever we get a letter from town residents and they are willing to show up, it is our responsibility and we should listen to them. At the end of the meeting, Joe Cantazzaro came up with what I thought was a very passionate remark. He feels it might not be a legal obligation, but a moral obligation, that the Town of Highland Beach listens and does something for their residents if they can. In touring the area this past week, I noticed that they are doing a lot of concrete restoration at the Yacht & Racquet Club in Boca and every one of the windows are protected with plywood. I do not know if it is a building code in Boca. At this past meeting, they indicated that Coronado did not board up their windows because it was a Board decision. I am wondering if it shouldn't be a town code to protect the residents and put it as part of the building permit that they include it. I think we should continue to do whatever it is to protect the residents. I know the Police Department was called when the incident happened and am not sure if this was a code violation. Town Commission Regular Minutes October 1, 2013 Page 7 of 9 B) Commissioner Louis P. Stern — No Report. C) Commissioner Dennis J. Sheridan - My wife and I on a trip back from Delray Beach about two and one half months ago. After crossing the Linton Avenue Bridge and making our turn coming south, I noticed that there were state workers applying a sealant to the walkway in Delray. I mentioned it to Kathleen and she did some investigation. She found out it was not Delray's responsibility; but someone in the state to get this done. She then passed it on to Jack Lee who I am here to congratulate and commend today; because Jack Lee contacted the DOT and asked if there was any reason why we can't get ours sealed here in Highland Beach. They thought that could be done. As of last Friday, September 20 Jack was notified that the State has all intentions; they have already ordered the sealant and are going to seal our walkway from beginning to end at no cost to the Town. Thank you Jack for everything you have done. D) Vice Mayor Brown — I agree with Commissioner Feldman that last week we had a discussion with our residents. However, I disagree with this premise that we as a Commission need to hear individual complaints directed towards individual Town personnel. We have adopted a Code, and need to follow it. If there are problems on job sites, they need to go through the Building Department, if they are not satisfied, then they go through the Town Manager. They are the ones that take care of day to day operations. If a particular department cannot handle the problem, then that problem is elevated to the Town Manager, then to the Commission. I think when we start delving into day to day operations as a Commission; we are outside of our purview. When you look at our Charter, our Charter is specific in that the Town Manager runs the day to day operations of the Town and we need to adhere to that. E) Mayor Featherman - I would like to address several issues that involve policy decisions for our Town of Highland Beach. The first concern is the use of our Financial Advisory Board. We have a group of outstanding citizens with a wealth of knowledge about financial issues. It seems to me that it would make good sense to ask them for their opinions on capital project expenditures, before we vote on such projects, rather than afterwards. For example, we should have asked them to give us financial advice on the repairs of the sidewalk, Police Dept. renovations and a new fire truck purchase. This does not mean they would advise us whether or not to do the project; it means they could advise us on whether it is better to do repairs or replacements on a particular project in terms of what is economically a sensible procedure in that particular case. We have a town policy that stipulates we get three or more bids on projects over $2500. We also should be advertising for bids. I am concerned that the contract for Police Dept. renovations, which is estimated to cost the Town $750,000 or more, did not go through such a bidding process. I do not understand why we have not followed our own purchasing policy of obtaining three bids, especially on such an expensive project. Lots of politicians across Florida have gotten into serious legal trouble over how they award projects. I would like us to assure that we are doing things the right way; upholding the law by using the policies that are on our books to protect us all and the public from criticism about how contracts may be awarded. When we have a project that we need outside suppliers, specifications should be written, requests for bids should be advertised in local newspapers and there should be a fair and open process for awarding the contracts. To protect our citizens and our Town and to insure the integrity of our Commission, I urge my fellow Commissioners to require the Town to follow its own police of requiring at least three Town Commission Regular Minutes October 1, 2013 Page 8 of 9 bids for any project estimated over $2500. We need to be responsible caretakers of our Town's money. 10. REPORTS — TOWN ATTORNEY: Regarding the Inspector General litigation, the court has set up a potential trial date of anywhere between January 6th and January 31 st. At the end of December there is a calendar call and the Judge will put all the cases in order. We will have a pretty good idea at the end of December what the date will be for the trial. Unless you tell me otherwise, I will continue to monitor the case, make suggestions and make conference calls and not take an active role. I do not intend to try the case since there are enough good lawyers out there from the other communities that are pushing this. 11. REPORTS — TOWN MANAGER: Mayor, I want to address your comments, for the record because I do not want the record allude to the fact that we are doing something wrong or illegal. For the record, we are doing the proper procurement policy and procedure for this type of service. This type of procurement policy is allowed for this type of service. Town Attorney Torcivia stated that the Town Manager was correct. The next item is the walk path. They should be starting this within the next two weeks and will only be applying the sealant to the areas of the walk path that were not repaved recently. They cannot seal that area for approximately three to four months. They will be coming back after that time and resealing that area. We will then have a one color path that should last us for several years. 12. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS RELATED TO ITEMS DISCUSSED AT MEETING• George Kelvin, Braemar Isle — One of the best parts of coming to these meetings is the five minutes allocated to every citizen to speak before and after the meeting is over. That is the way the public gets to address this Board one on one. I believe the Vice Mayor suggested that if residents have a problem, they go directly to our Town Manager; but are you suggesting that those five minutes before and after be terminated? Vice Mayor Brown — If I need to answer that I will answer that but I need to research it first. This is not an interaction. 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 Sheridan: seconded by Commissioner Stern. Town Commission Regular Minutes October 1, 2013 Page 9 of 9 APPROVED: Bern; eatherman, Mayor v 9.1 Ron wn, Vice or T 4""4� a Dennis J. Sherid , orn 'over L i . t rn, Co ' ioner Carl eldm , Commissioner ATTEST: Beverly M. rown, MIKC Town Jerk Date