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2013.11.05_TC_Minutes_Regular TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION MEETING REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, November 5, 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; Finance Director Cale Curtis; 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: Peter Rodis, 3224 S. Ocean Blvd — I was a member of one of the Boards that hadn't met in four months. I very much want to serve Highland Beach, so I resigned from that Board in order to join the Board of Adjustment and Appeals. On November 29 my application came up for review and was told that I resigned from one Board and couldn't join another. I would very much like to serve the Town and am asking that my application for the Board of Adjustment and Appeals be brought before the Council and approved. I also have interest in serving on the Planning Board, when and if there is a vacancy. If I was told that I could not resign from one Board and join another, I would never have resigned. Commissioner Feldman — The reason you left the Board that you were on was because they didn't meet and the Board you are requesting does not meet very much either. In fact, they might even meet less. That is why they didn't think it was prudent at that time to switch you to another Board that also doesn't meet. The Boards only meet when an item comes up to be placed on their agenda. Town Commission Regular Minutes November 5 2013 Page 2 of 7 Mayor Featherman — What is your background? Peter Rodis — I have been a real estate broker for thirty years in New York and here in Florida and am also a financial planner. It is a very serious interest of mine to join a Board and serve the Town. Town Manager Weiser — The two Boards you express interest in are related to our Building and Zoning Department and Planning. They only meet when there is a specific interest that they have to make a judicial decision on. Unless there is a plan coming in or something on an appeal, they do not have to meet. They are not like some of the advisory boards that the Commission will send something to them for an opinion. The kind of Boards you are asking about have no openings at this time. Peter Rodis — We have a lot of issues here in Town such as the beaches and the wake on the Intracoastal Waterway. Those things don't seem to be addressed and I believe, as a community, it would behoove us to address these issues. Commissioner Stern — I compliment you for wanting to join us and I wish there was an opening that would be perfect for you. We have addressed the no wake zone and are frustrated ourselves with that. The two Boards that have an opening, neither one of them have met in the last four months. They both have some issues coming up shortly. There is one available spot on the Beaches & Shores Advisory Board and you might want to consider that one. Peter Rodis — I am happy to consider any Board where I can offer a service to Highland Beach. Commissioner Sheridan — I feel you should consider the Beaches & Shores Advisory Board since you are interested in the waterways, etc. Vice Mavor Brown — I feel you should submit another application and indicate which Board you would like to serve on. 3. PRESENTATIONS: • Proclamation — Mayflower Compact Day 4. BOARDS AND COMMITTEES: A) Board Correspondence: • None B) Board Action Report: • No Monthly Meetings were held in October. C) Board Vacancies: • Beaches & Shores Advisory Board — One Appointment • Board of Adjustment and Appeals — Two Appointments • Code Enforcement Board — One Appointment D) Monthly Board Meetings • Planning Board — November 13 — 9:30 AM • Financial Advisory Board — Postponed until January • Beaches & Shores Advisory Board — No Meeting Scheduled • Bd. of Adjustment — No Meeting Scheduled • Code Enforcement — No Meeting Scheduled Town Commission Regular Minutes November 5 2013 Page 3 of 7 5. PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: A) ORDINANCE NO. 13-003 O — Second Reading and Public Hearing 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. Mayor Featherman opened the Public Hearing. Receiving no comments, Mayor Featherman closed the Public Hearing. No further comments were received from the Town Commission. MOTION: Vice Mayor Brown moved to adopt Ordinance No. 13 -003 O. 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 Clerk Brown read the Consent Agenda into the record: A) RESOLUTION NO. 13 -014 R A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN COMMISSION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA, UPDATING THE SCHEDULE OF FEES AND CHARGES FOR THE TOWN BUILDING DEPARTMENT TO INCLUDE A PERMIT FEE FOR LOW VOLTAGE ALARM SYSTEMS; Town Commission Regular Minutes November 5 2013 Paize 4 of 7 PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. B) Commission to Approve and Authorize Implementation of "2013 Classification and Compensation Pay Plan." C) Commission to Authorize the Mayor to Sign a Contract with Susan Bucher, Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections for the March 11, 2014 Highland Beach Municipal Election. D) Cancellation of the December 31, 2013 Commission Workshop Meeting. D) Minutes: September 24, 2013 — Workshop Meeting October 1, 2013 — Regular Meeting MOTION: Commissioner Stern moved to accept the Consent Agenda. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Sheridan. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Stern - Yes Commissioner Sheridan - Yes Commissioner Feldman - Yes Vice Mayor Brown - Yes Mayor Featherman - Yes Motion passed with a 5 to 0 vote. 7. NEW BUSINESS: No scheduled items. 8. MISCELLANEOUS — ITEMS LEFT OVER: No scheduled items. 9. REPORTS — TOWN COMMISSION: A) Commissioner Carl Feldman — On December 6 the Library is going to hold a Wine and Cheese Fundraiser. This year they are eliminating the Craft Fair and having this instead. It will be a great night with wine, cheese, chocolates, entertainment and a raffle. It is $25.00 per person. The cutoff to buy tickets for the event is December 2aa Town Commission Regular Minutes November 5 2013 Page 5 of 7 On today's agenda, we changed Item No. 12 to read: Public Comments and Request related to Agenda items discussed at meeting only. We added the word Agenda. I felt a little uneasy at the last meeting because we had a Town resident speak at the end of the meeting, and was cut short because the item was not on the agenda. She brought this to our attention that it didn't state that it had to be on the agenda. The Town Attorney suggested we add it to the wording and the Town Manager indicated that it is understood. We added it and I don't believe it was understood at that time. I think we owe Carol Wittenberg an apology for cutting her off for two reasons. Number one, she was proper in doing what she was doing; number two, she is a town resident. I feel that any town resident who is willing to come to a meeting should be allowed to speak at any time, either before or after the meeting, even if it isn't on the agenda. If they want to say something, we should listen to them. It is not only freedom of speech but it is a nicety. B) Commissioner Louis P. Stern — Regarding the Fundraiser at the Library, it is important we support the Library. They are going to be paying for the furniture and other items that they are going to be putting in after we expand the Library and close it in, which is in our budget for next year. C) Commissioner Dennis J. Sheridan - Unfortunately I will be out of town, but I would ask residents to plan on attending if they are able to do so. My wife and I will support it even in our absence. We all received a monthly report from our Building Dept. and I would like to publically thank that entire department for the amount of work that has been shown for the month of October. We have an estimated permit fees brought in for the month of $75,641.52. That is an estimated project cost on $5,119, 477.55. I would like to commend them on a great job. D) Vice Mayor Brown — Regarding our Town residents, we need to adhere to some set plan to be able to give everybody the right to speak. That is why, historically, it has been at the beginning of the meeting that any resident can speak about any item they so desire. Then we have a business meeting and it is not a free for all. It is a formal business meeting that we are having here, and the only way we can talk about it is to talk about it in the open amongst ourselves. So, contrary to popular belief, it is not an open meeting except when the Mayor says this is a Public Hearing and is now open to the public. We don't necessarily have all the answers when you ask questions. That is why we need to refrain from hip - shooting some of your questions because we may be giving wrong information. Because it is coming from here, as residents then think that is the gospel. I think we need to stay to the business meeting and the discussion for the public to stay at the end, for anything that has been discussed in our business meeting. Comm. Feldman — I agree with the Vice Mayor 100% and that is why I think the agenda written the way it is now is a good way of doing it. This way the public knows that they have to stick to the agenda. E) Mayor Featherman - Several of you know that I serve on the Palm Beach Justice System: 1 received a letter from their Tallahassee branch where they are open for a thousand dollar grant to law agencies like our Police Dept. That has been passed to our Town Manager who has given it to our Police Chief to see if they want to apply for the grant. Also, I would like to mention that it is good that :we are supporting the Library. Town Commission Regular Minutes November 5 2013 Page 6 of 7 10. REPORTS — TOWN ATTORNEY: I have an update on the Boca Property. As I mentioned to you, the City of Boca takes applications for Comprehensive Plan and Site Plan amendments only on Tuesdays. Today was the day and I just handed Kathleen a copy of what we had prepared and were ready to submit this morning. She gave me the check which we are ready to submit also. Unfortunately, the developer's team wasn't quite ready. They had a glitch with an engineering report and they assure us that they will have it finished by the end of the week; which really means next Tuesday because Boca only accepts applications on Tuesday. Our reports and Comprehensive Plan are finished; we met the deadline and are ready to go. 11. REPORTS —TOWN MANAGER: The Commissioners have received a copy of an email I received from FP &L regarding some of the outages at the southern end of town. For the benefit of the audience and those watching it on TV, I will go over it briefly. Basically, FP &L has had wires down on poles that they have had some problems with which have affected the southern section. Our main electricity comes from Boca and whenever there is a problem with the underground cable and the feeds through that south end, it actually is some problem in Boca. They have been working on the problem. They are keeping me informed and as soon as everything is repaired I should know that. They were supposed to be painting the tower this week, but obviously with the weather we are having and the wind is not safe for them to be up there. They have asked for permission to work on Monday, which is a holiday, and I have the authority to allow that which I have done; because they lost a couple of days this week. It is actually better for us if they work on Monday because we will not have cars here. I have a copy of a letter for you from Tom DeLacy, President of Independent Inspections regarding the Building Dept. You had raised some questions regarding the services and he sent a response to me. There was never a full time assistant to Mike Desorcy. He has an assistant when he needs it. He is a floater and goes to different areas when they need it. That is the position they are trying to fill. He also mentioned about the code enforcement. Mike still does the main code enforcement. Carol does "soft" code enforcement and she has been trained. Mike was so busy doing permitting that training Carol enabled us to handle the "soft" code enforcement in- house. Sad to announce, but happy for him, Richard Curcio of the Post Office will be retiring on Friday. He has been with us for about fifteen years, as a part time employee of the Post Office. His replacement's name is Bill Miller. He is formerly of Seagate and a volunteer at the Library. We wish Richard the best and welcome Bill to our family here at the Town of Highland Beach. I want to put into the record, if you are in agreement with it, an effective date of January 1, 2014 the Personnel Pay and Classification Plan that was approved today. The reason for that is, this coming month, you will be getting our Rules and Regulations that have been rewritten. That is when they will go into play. Also, there are some changes in the Rules and Regulations the way accruals take place and that change will take place January 1, 2014. Town Commission Regular Minutes November 5 2013 Page 7 of 7 12. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS RELATED TO ITEMS DISCUSSED AT MEETING: No Public Comments received. 13. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Featherman adjourned the Regular Meeting at 2:01 PM upon a MOTION by Commissioner Sheridan; seconded by Commissioner Stern. APPROVED: &L�iA,4 S12t�4 Bernard Featherman, Mayor R rown, Vice Mayo „!mo Dennis J. She Man, an, Commissioner Stern, C is 'oner Carl Feldman, Commissioner ATTEST: Beverly M. Brown, C Town,qqrk Date