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2014.05.06_TC_Minutes_Regular TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION MEETING REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, May 6, 2014 1:30 PM Mayor Bernard Featherman called the Regular Meeting to order in the Library's Goldstein Community Room 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 Edward J. Soper; Police Chief Craig Hartmann; Deputy Town Clerk Valerie Oakes; and members of the public. Pledge of Allegiance: The Pledge of Allegiance was given, followed by a minute of silence. 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: Dr. Bill Weitz - 1135 Boca Cove Lane — I want to formerly apologize to the Honorable Commissioner Stern. At the last workshop meeting I mistakenly made the error thinking that since one of the statements that had been made at a prior meeting would not be influenced by the same issues around not including them in the minutes. I made that statement and that was incorrect. I found out that statement, relative to some of the Mayor's spending, was also removed. There was nothing in my statements, in any means, to attack or be dishonorable to the Commissioner. I want to apologize to him formerly and in public, recognize it was in error and I hope that he understands that it was in error. Most of us have been following the issue in Delray with respect to the Waste Management contract and the fact a decision not to follow the three bid requirement. They went ahead and awarded a bid to Waste Management, which of course was found to be illegal and now Delray is suffering financial consequences. It seems that some of our bids are moving in a one bid direction, when our rules and regulations in Highland Beach require a three bid situation. Recently there were some issues around the Construction Manager being able to offer, Town Commission Regular Minutes May 6 2014 Page 2 of 14 on a one bid provision, to allow them to go ahead with the contract. I think that is a mistake. The reason is to try to maximize quality of service for the best possible price for the homeowners or the residents. The other issue is that it is a matter of public conception. I would ask that our Commissioners revisit that issue. I know that the issue has been based upon opinions from the Town Attorney. I respect the Attorney, but I would question whether the Commission might be advantageous to request the Town Attorney put his opinion in writing. I would hope the Commission might consider that, because we might wind up in a very similar situation like in Delray where we are spending significant monies, and I think we should stick to our current rules and procedures on getting three bids. Dr. Sandra Featherman - 3210 S. Ocean Blvd. — I am sorry to say, but I think it is incredibly disorienting for our lawyer, during the testimony by someone raising issues about bids, to have side conversations with just two people on the Commission, the Town Manager and the Vice Mayor. As an onlooker, I found it rude. Town Attorney Torcivia — Vice Mayor Brown asked me whether or not the Town followed the procedure which the gentleman was questioning. I conferred with the Town Manager so we could respond. The answer is yes. The Town did do an invitation for qualifications and we did receive two qualifications. The Commission did make a selection and it was through a public process. John Ross - 3600 S. Ocean Blvd. — I am very concerned over censorship. Has the Commission adopted a policy on censorship? Who determines what gets censored and when it gets censored? If a policy such as that exists, I would like to see what it says and whether it interferes with my rights to know what is going on in my government. 3. PRESENTATIONS: None Scheduled. 4. BOARDS AND COMMITTEES: A) Board Correspondence: • None B) Board Action Report: • Read into the record. C) Board Vacancies: • None D) Monthly Board Meetings • Planning Board — May 14 - Cancelled • Beaches & Shores Advisory Board — No Scheduled Meeting • Bd. of Adjustment — No Scheduled Meeting • Code Enforcement — No Scheduled Meeting • Financial Advisory Board — No Scheduled Meeting Town Commission Regular Minutes May 6, 2014 Page 3 of 14 5. PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: A) ORDINANCE NO. 14 004 O — Second Reading and Public Hearing AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN COMMISSION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING ARTICLE IV, "ZONING DISTRICTS," OF CHAPTER 30, "ZONING CODE," OF THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANCES BY AMENDING TABLE 304 OF SECTION 30-67, "USES PERMITTED, SPECIAL EXCEPTION, AND PROHIBITED USES," AND SECTION 30-68, "SUPPLEMENTAL DISTRICT REGULATIONS, SUBSECTION M, "TEMPORARY STRUCTURES", TO MODIFY THE APPROVAL PROCESS FOR TEMPORARY STRUCTURES; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Town Clerk Brown read Ordinance No. 14 -004 O into the record. Mayor Featherman opened the Public Hearing. Receiving no public comments, Mayor Featherman closed the Public Hearing. MOTION: Vice Mayor Brown moved to adopt Ordinance No. 14 -004 O on second reading. Commissioner Stern seconded the motion. ROLL CALL: Vice Mayor Brown - Yes Commissioner Stern - Yes Commissioner Sheridan - Yes Commissioner Feldman - Yes Mayor Featherman - Yes Motion passed with a 5 — 0 vote. B) ORDINANCE NO. 14 -005 O — First Reading AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA AMENDING CHAPTER 28 "XERISCAPE- LANDSCAPE REQUIREMENTS, INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE, THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANCES BY AMENDING SECTION 28 -10, "MAINTENANCE STANDARDS FOR CULTIVATED LANDSCAPE AREAS ", TO CLARIFY THAT THE ADJACENT PROPERTY OWNER SHALL MAINTAIN ANY LANDSCAPING IN THE PUBLIC RIGHT -OF -WAY; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION, CONFLICTS, SEVERABILITY AND FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Town Clerk Brown read Ordinance No. 14 -005 0 into the record. Town Commission Regular Minutes May 6, 2014 Page 4 of 14 Comm. Feldman — Is this ordinance for the right of way between the sidewalks and the street? Reply — Yes. When you look into the second part of our packet which describes it, we are saying that the owner has to maintain all of the trees, grass and landscaping which also means the palm trees? Town Attorney Torcivia — This ordinance has been in effect for a long time. The only change is the language in Section A that talks about landscaping located on their property and adjacent right of way. Comm. Feldman — So they do have to maintain the palm trees which many are not doing at this point. Now it has to be enforced that they do have to maintain them and have to pick up the fronds. Are they responsible for the falling fronds if they hit somebody since they are pretty heavy? Whose responsibility is it since it is State land, and up until now the homeowner could not do much with that land unless they went to the Town for planting, etc. Now we are telling the homeowner that you not only have to maintain the trees that the State put there but, if they die, you have to replace. Is that correct? Town Attorney Torcivia — Yes that is correct. In terms of if a palm frond falls and hits someone, I wouldn't want to venture an opinion as to who would be responsible. If I am the person that got hit, I may claim that the tree wasn't properly maintained, but the obvious defense is "Act of God" or "Act of Nature" if a palm frond falls. Comm. Feldman — We have had a resident come to many meetings and asked the Town, when fronds are ready to fall, whose responsibility is it to maintain them? The Town or the homeowner? Now we know it has to be the homeowner and if a palm tree dies the homeowner has to replace it. I think all the condos and homeowners should be made aware of this ordinance because I don't think they are. Town Manager Weiser — We can do that. Comm. Feldman — You can plant in the right of way. Town Attorney Torcivia — They can't plant in the right of way unless they get proper approval and a permit by the Town. MOTION: Vice Mayor Brown moved to accept Ordinance No. 14 -005 O on the first reading and schedule for a Public Hearing and Second Reading on June 3, 2014. Commissioner Sheridan seconded the motion. 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. 6. CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Featherman asked if any item needed to be removed from the Consent Agenda. Mayor Featherman asked that Item D — Minutes be removed at this time until further clarification. Vice Mayor Brown — The minutes listed under Item No. D were approved at the last meeting and sent to the Consent Agenda. The minutes of April 1, 2014 — Regular Meeting was sent to the Miscellaneous — Items Left Over. Item No. D should remain on the Consent Agenda. Consensus was to place Item D back on the Consent Agenda for approval. Town Commission Regular Minutes May 6, 2014 Page 5 of 14 Mayor Featherman questioned the sale of the chairs and the price received for these chairs. Finance Director Curtis — We had to make an on the fly decision regarding these chairs. We were holding Commission meetings up until the day before demolition began. Once demo began, what was left in that building was taken out. I took it upon myself to list these chairs to get the best value we could at that time. The best we could get was $150.00. We are bringing it before you today as a form of transparency to say these chairs didn't go missing, we disposed of them. While I understand we are asking for the authorization at the end, it is still a part of giving full disclosure and transparency on how we handle the items. Mayor Featherman — What would you think those chairs would go for retail today? Finance Director Curtis — I believe those chairs were twenty years old. Many of them were rusted and broken. I don't know what they would go for today. Mayor Featherman — They would go for between $50 and $100 a chair. Finance Director Curtis — I find that hard to believe since they are old chairs, twenty years old. Mayor Featherman — They were given away without our approval. Is that correct? Finance Director Curtis — They were sold, not given away. Town Clerk Brown read the Consent Agenda into the record: A) Commission to Declare certain Property Surplus and Authorize Disposal. B) Commission to authorize placement of an Ad in the Florida League of Cities (FLC) Conference Issue of the Quality Cities Magazine. C) Commission to Table "Town Hall Parking Study." D) Minutes: March 12, 2014 — Special Meeting March 25, 2014 — Regular Meeting E) Commission to authorize purchase of a table at the Palm Beach League of Cities Annual Luncheon. MOTION: Commissioner Sheridan moved to accept the Consent Agenda. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Stern. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Sheridan - Yes Commissioner Stern - Yes Vice Mayor Brown - Yes Commissioner Feldman - Yes Mayor Featherman - Yes Motion passed with a 5 - 0 vote. Town Commission Regular Minutes May 6, 2014 Page 6 of 14 7. NEW BUSINESS• A) Commission to approve waiver of the Town's Procurement Policy to allow the Town Manager to authorize Contract Change Directives above the $10,000 limit when such a Directive is necessary for the project to continue in a timely manner. Town Manager Weiser —This is an "if and only if' situation. If there is a change order in the project that would go above $10,000 that would holdup the project until you had another meeting, this will authorize a change in our procurement policy to allow me to approve that. I don't see that happening, but if it does, there is a concern on our part that we don't want to hold up the project and thus be charged for doing that. Comm. Feldman — We have a Town of Highland Beach Purchasing and Procedure Policy that states anything over a certain amount of money we would need three quotes on. $10,000 is way over the limit. That falls into the $10,000 to $25,000 where three written quotes must be obtained. When we first met with the architect, we were told that the only change orders would be something we wanted. If he ran into a problem, I don't consider that a change order. That is why we gave him $850,000 to go ahead and build this building. I don't feel any one person should be allowed to make a decision for any limits over $10,000. If something like that does happen, and we need a quick decision, I think the Town Manager could meet with each Commissioner on a one on one basis and get their approval or disapproval or see if we have to bring it to the Commission. At the last meeting the Town Manager said we are way ahead of schedule. If we are ahead of schedule and something does come up for over $10,000, I think we should have a special meeting. Comm. Stern — I concur with Commissioner Feldman. In addition, I am not comfortable giving anybody the right to spend over $10,000 without coming to the Commission. For a change order over $10,000, we could call an emergency Commission meeting on a moment's notice. I don't think it is right to allow any single person to make that decision for over $10,000. Comm. Sheridan — I agree with my two fellow Commissioners; but I suggest that any decision made on this should come before the entire Commission and not Commissioners individually. Vice Mayor Brown — I personally think we must be misinterpreting this. We as a Commission meet twice a month and what we are trying to do is not worry about three bids, because it is the contractor we hired is making decisions. We, the Town, must approve a change that is necessary now and that there is really not any decision making process. We need to make that change to continue on, or we could slow down the production of our building. I feel very confident in passing that capability on to our Town Manager. Mayor Featherman — If it were approved, what would the upper limits be? Town Manager Weiser - As I mentioned before, I really don't see this happening. These are the type of things that they have found, now that they have gotten into the building, are structural things. They had to chisel out walls that were basically a safe. These aren't the things I am talking about like windows where you have a choice if you do it. They are major structural things that they only found when they got in the building. I would also like to put into the record that it is illegal for me to poll the Commissioners to see how they feel about something, and take a vote that is not at the meeting. So, that is not an option. Mayor Featherman — Town Commission Regular Minutes MU 6, 2014 Page 7 of 14 How many times would you limit the number of changes? Town Manager Weiser — Again, I don't see this happening; but if it would, we meet on a bi- weekly basis with the Construction Manager. I hope we are through those because they have done all their chiseling as we all have heard over the last few weeks. It is things they find that structurally have to be changed and it would hold up the project if I had to bring it back to you. Comm. Feldman — I agree with Comm. Stern. An immediate meeting can be held. We are always here and I would not want to give the authority for anybody to spend any amount of money without the Commission's approval. Comm. Stem — I would like an explanation of what "At Risk" means when we have a contract for $850,000. The change order is something we should approve. I am not quite sure if he took an "At Risk" situation here and whatever he needs to chisel a wall. He should have known that when he made the bid. Could you explain "At Risk" and why we have change orders that are possibly big dollars? MOTION: Commissioner Stem moved to not approve the Town Manager's right to spend over $10,000 without getting permission from the Commission at a regular or a special meeting. Commissioner Feldman seconded the motion. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Stern - Yes Commissioner Feldman - Yes Commissioner Sheridan - Yes Vice Mayor Brown - No Mayor Featherman - Yes Motion passed with a 4 to 1 vote. 8. MISCELLANEOUS — ITEMS LEFT OVER: A) Commission to consider approving an amendment to the contract with Doug Durrett on the Well Field Property in Boca Raton. Town Attorney Torcivia — (Distributed a proposed third amendment to the contract for sale and purchase). The Town entered into its original contract in June of 2013. There were two amendments and the second amendment expires May 12 After your last meeting I met with Mitch Kirschner, Attorney for Mr. Durrett. We exchanged some drafts and it pretty much tracks what your direction was last week with two exceptions. The direction last week was to go ahead and grant the extension until September 30 at no cost. When Mr. Kirschner and I talked, he requested to go to November 30' but I requested there be compensation to the Town for the extension. What he suggested is $1,000 a month. They made a $50,000 deposit that is refundable if, for some reason, the transaction doesn't close. The suggestion is that $1,000 of that $50,000 every month would become non - refundable. If it doesn't close in the next six months there would be $6,000 that would go to the Town, whether it closed or not. It doesn't increase the purchase price. It isn't new money to the Town; only if the transaction doesn't close, then the $6,000 would be money to the Town. Those are the two differences from what we talked about last week, Town Commission Regular Minutes May 6, 2014 Page 8 of 14 otherwise it is a fairly standard extension. This is no one's fault. The City of Boca has a process and it takes some time. The anticipation is that it should be done by August or September; but to be safe, Mr. Kirschner went to the end of November and to get the Town a little bit of money. Comm. Feldman — At the last meeting Mr. Kirschner stated during this past year he has had a chance to do a complete layout of the property, plot plan, renderings, designs and engineering specs, etc., all on our dime. He has done a great job for his client because we don't have the 3.5 million dollars. This has gone on for almost a year and I feel we should get at least $25,000 a month in our pocket. If he wants to drag it on for six months, fine. This is a situation where we are selling the land but we are holding it for the developer to do all the work. I realize it is not his fault or our fault. They have spent approximately a quarter of a million dollars for land deposits, legal fees, consultants, etc. All this was done and that amount of money was laid out, but not our 3.5 million. I think we should be compensated for the 3.5 million for the past year and should be paid for holding this note. I think we should move forward and not delay it because this could go on and on. My opinion is that we get up front money that is not returned until the buyer comes up with the money, or we put the property back on the market with the first right of refusal to this buyer. Comm. Stem — Comm. Feldman has said all of my feelings. I agree that we need to get some non- refundable monies that would either keep the property in our hands, or indeed make him go to closure now so that we can get the 3.5 million. If not, I would like to see us put the property back on the market. Comm. Sheridan — I agree to a point. However, with the amount of money that Comm. Feldman has requested, I think is a little bit exaggerated; but I am not happy with the $1,000 a month either. If we could come up with something in between there; otherwise I would have to agree that we have held this property for a year and we do have a responsibility to our residents. Vice Mayor Brown — We have a contract right now with Mr. Durrett. I think a lot of the hold -up is to get a land use change through Boca Raton. I think November 30 is a little excessive and that is why we asked for the end of September the last time. We have extended ourselves and we understand that a lot of this is part of our problem in land usage change. So no, I am not in favor of putting the land back on the market because we are opening ourselves up to numerous delays of the land at any point past that. Mayor Featherman — We have given both a three -month extension and a six -month extension. I agree that we should impose $25,000 a month for the six month extension. Attorney Mitch Kirschner — At the Workshop meeting last week I thought your Town Attorney was articulate and reasonable and was giving you a correct legal opinion and interpretation as to where we are right now. We are a collaborate participant with you. We have done nothing wrong, we have done everything right. We have submitted every paper required by the City of Boca Raton. We just received confirmation from Boca Raton that they will be putting us on the Planning and Zoning agenda for June 5. We have staff approval. The only things we need now are the Planning and Zoning endorsement and the vote of the City. The City is going to vote, not only on our site plan, but on your Comp Plan amendment. The property has an R3 (Residential medium zoning) but you can't build residential medium until the Comprehensive Plan is changed to residential. I am asking for the end of November only because, keep in mind, as soon as we get the approval on the Comp Plan, we are required to close. We are going to spend a lot of ex pane time. We are going to visit with each of the Planning and Zoning members and Town Commission Regular Minutes May 6, 2014 Pa -ge 9 of 14 each of the Council members. Under the Sunshine Law we have to do it one at a time. You have a good faith $50,000 in escrow which we couldn't put to our own use. You have another $20,000 that is not refundable to us. We could have asked for it back when we realized that you don't have the future land use designation you need. You are selling us something you can't sell. Nobody who calls themselves a developer would buy a piece of property without getting approvals. We have the 3.5 million dollars, you have the land. We are partners. We can't get our site plan approved until you get your Comp Plan approved. We have abided by the contract in every way we can. We are asking you to be fair and equitable. We have a hearing on June 5 After that, it is waiting for City Council approval. Comm. Sheridan — You are going before Planning and Zoning on June 5 and hope to get approvals at that time. From that date, to when we go to closing, what are we talking about? Town Attorney Torcivia — The matter of the underlying land use has been a matter of public record for a decade. The purchaser had every opportunity to review that. There are staff notes and emails from Boca to the purchaser back from when they bought the property. Our position is that they were aware of the underlying land use issue when they bought this property. It wasn't a hidden fact. It wasn't well known to Highland Beach because we all thought it was properly changed as the Town Clerk of Boca indicated that they changed part of it but not the other part of it. We are almost at the finish line. This is a long process. There have been extensions in the past. The site plan and the Comp Plan both go to the Boca City Council, which is a Boca requirement. We could change the Comp Plan on our own if there were no project. But when there is a project pending, Boca requires they go together. If the Town had the 3.5 million in the bank, I would assume we would be earning at least one percent interest every month. It is about thirty five hundred dollars a month in interest. That would be a fair number to say $3500.00 a month, over and above the $50,000.00 of new money non - refundable. I think that would encourage the closing to happen a little sooner. I believe it would be better to go ahead and say November 30 instead of September 30 at $3500 a month and that is the final extension. I am not sure if you would agree to this or they would agree to this but I am trying to find a middle ground that seems to make some sense and could move the project forward. Comm. Stern — If November 30 would be a final extension, could we put in this contract that we would get a free and clear release from the buyer so that they would not have a lawsuit on us at that time? Town Attorney Torcivia — We would like that but you never know what the contingency is going to be. There is no requirement in the contract that this is dependent on the site plan or the Comp Plan. It is strictly a sale at 3.5 million. Comm. Feldman — How much legal work have we put into this so far cost? Town Attorney Torcivia — I would guess between $5,000 and $10,000. Comm. Feldman — The one percent would be non- refundable and doesn't go toward the sale of the property. Town Attorney Torcivia — That is my suggestion and I have not discussed this with them or if they are agreeable to this, Vice Mayor Brown — I don't think we should negotiate in public. Our Town Attorney should get together with them and talk about what we have proposed here. Mayor Featherman — I still feel that, since it has been extended so far and we are still owed 3.5 million dollars and they are now asking for another six month extension, we should charge them for that. Town Commission Regular Minutes May 6, 2014 Page 10 of 14 Town Attorney Torcivia — Since the Commission seems to be in favor of the $3500, I will recess this item and discuss this matter with the buyer. ***Town Attorney Torcivia met with Attorney Mitch Kirschner outside the meeting room. Once they returned, this part of the agenda continued.*** Town Attorney Torcivia — We had the opportunity to meet and we've reached a tentative agreement subject to the Commission's approval, which would be to pay the Town $3500 a month in new money, over and above, up until November 30 The deadline for the extension would be November 30 , but they are not able to agree to the idea that's it a final date. We met each other half way. We all anticipate it is going to be closed by the end of September based on Boca's June 5 0, and Boca's two Council meetings at the beginning of August and September. By the end of September, beginning of October, we should be closed. Comm. Feldman — I am sure it is going to go through and everyone is acting in good faith, but I would like a little more protection on our side, so that this doesn't continue into 2015. Town Attorney Torcivia — I agree with both Comm. Stern and Comm. Feldman but it takes two people to make a contract. They went as far as I think they are going to go at this point. They had a hard time agreeing to the $3500 because they feel they should not have to pay anything. That was the compromise; $3500 and no on the other part of it. Comm. Feldman — The $3500 shows good faith, but the second part of the good faith will be that this thing is going to end. If this doesn't close by November 30 how long are we going to sit on this? Are we tied into this forever? Town Attorney Torcivia — We are not tied into this forever. If they don't close by November 30 and there would be no more extensions granted, they would file a lawsuit. I am firmly convinced that we would win that lawsuit. My concern is that by filing that lawsuit, it ties up the property. I would love for them to agree that November 30 complete release. I think we are in great shape now or November 30 I don't think they are going to have a great lawsuit, but to get them to give up their right to file a lawsuit is where they are not willing to go right now. Mitch Kirschner — We would like to move ahead with this extension because we have a lot of work to do with the City of Boca Raton. If November 30 comes and we don't have our approvals, then we are out of contract. We are locked into November 30 if we sign this. All we need is that assurance and we are all in good faith. If it isn't done by November 30th, then forget it. It is not worth it. Tomorrow I am meeting with the Planning and Zoning Department and I need to know we have a deal. Comm. Stern — I am comfortable with what the Attorney has said. We have it on record and he did say that November 30 we are done. Comm. Sheridan — I feel the same way. At this particular point they have shown good faith and I am in favor of accepting their offer. MOTION: Commissioner Feldman moved to grant Doug and Esther Durrett an extension to November 30, 2014, imposing an additional, non - refundable thirty five hundred ($3,500.00) for each utilized thirty (30) day period of the Extended Inspection period beginning May 12, 2014. Commissioner Sheridan seconded the motion. Town Commission Regular Minutes May 6, 2014 Page 11 of 14 ROLL CALL: Commissioner Feldman - Yes Commissioner Sheridan - Yes Commissioner Stern - Yes Vice Mayor Brown - Yes Mayor Featherman - Yes Motion passed with a 5 to 0 vote. B) Commission to consider Window Alternatives to Town Hall Renovation Project. Town Manager Weiser — Once the demolition started, they found that the windows needed to be replaced. There were three options: 1) replace them with non - impact windows, 2) replace them with impact windows and 3) replace the entire Town Hall building with impact windows. There was a consensus from the Commission to do impact windows at the construction area only at a cost of $17,400. There are some advantages to doing impact windows. It is increased protection, a reduction of exterior noise and there is some savings on the electric bills. Comm. Stern — How many windows are involved? Manager Weiser — There are 12 windows. Comm. Feldman — At the February meeting there was a discussion on hurricane impact windows for the whole building at a cost of $45,654. When the Construction Manager was here, he said one of the other reasons for replacing the window was that he had to cut in another window, and to match them all they should be replaced. I did not see this on the original drawings. We don't have three quotes to spend $17,000. There again it goes against the Town's Purchasing and Policy Procedures of August 2, 2011. If we do go that way, we do need the hurricane windows. I think the architect should have presented this to us in the beginning. Finance Director Curtis — The Town did actually receive three quotes on the impact windows. It goes back to when we originally brought the contract before you. As an alternate to that contract, was replacing impact windows to the Town. The contractor had three bids for those windows and is recommending the best bid for the construction area. I have the three bids in my office. Vice Mayor Brown — When the Town hired a General Contractor to do this, we also assumed that he would abide by our directives and one was to get three quotes. He has the three quotes. The reason we talked about not putting all windows in is because we discussed replacing the rest of the Town Hall windows in our next budget. MOTION: Vice Mayor Brown moved to replace quantity twelve - 4 x 5 impact windows in renovation area only for $17,400. Commissioner Sheridan seconded the motion. ROLL CALL: Vice Mayor Brown - Yes Commissioner Sheridan - Yes Commissioner Feldman - No Commissioner Stern - Yes Mayor Featherman - No Town Commission Regular Minutes MU 6, 2014 Page 12 of 14 Motion passed with a 3 to 2 vote. C) Minutes: April 1, 2014 — Regular Meeting. Comm. Feldman — I brought up the discussion at that meeting because I noticed that Mayor Featherman' s statement was not in the minutes of the meeting. It was quite a statement and I thought it should have been included. I am referring this matter to the Town Clerk since she indicated that the minutes do not have to be verbatim. Town Clerk Brown — We summarize the minutes unless it is a public hearing, or it is pertinent to what the decision was. These were verbal statements and I summarized both Commissioner Stern and Mayor Featherman's statements. That is the common practice and that is what Roberts Rules say. We started recording the meetings back in 2007 or 2008 and you can go back and see any one of these videos. Vice Mayor Brown read from the Operating Procedures Manual which indicated what is to be left out. He stated that we don't need to put criticism and problems that are individual oriented into our Town meeting minutes. Mayor Featherman read from the 2012 Florida Statutes 419 from the Office of the Attorney General's website. He stated that there are audio tapes of the meetings which are a public record and his comments should be put into the minutes. Town Attorney Torcivia — As an overview on the public records law, the Sunshine Law requires that the meeting be opened to the public and that minutes be taken of that meeting. The law does not specify how specific the minutes have to be. Some organizations have very summary minutes, others have very lengthy minutes. You will notice that at the top of every agenda it always tells the public that, if they decide to appeal any decision, they will need a record of the proceedings and they need to insure a verbatim record is made in case there is an appeal. The audio tape itself is a public record so anyone could request a copy of the audio tape and the Clerk would provide it. In terms of the minutes being put together, that is the Clerk's responsibility. The Commission has the authority to say to the Clerk that we want more or less extensive minutes. The minutes that are in here meet the law. MOTION: Commissioner Feldman moved to accept the minutes of April 1, 2014 as presented. Commissioner Stern seconded the motion. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Feldman - Yes Commissioner Stern - Yes Commissioner Sheridan - No Vice Mayor Brown - Yes Mayor Featherman - No Motion passed with a 3 to 2 vote. Town Commission Regular Minutes May 6, 2014 Page 13 of 14 9. REPORTS — TOWN COMMISSION: A) Commissioner Carl Feldman — I was very happy to see the participation of the Town Attorney in today's meeting. I would like to see more participation at the meetings. I think his input, if not asked for, is not given. Even if he could keep the civility in the meeting, it would be appreciated. B) Commissioner Louis P. Stern — Commissioner Feldman and I just returned from the Advanced Institute for Elected Municipal Officials held in Altamonte Springs. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Town for allowing us to do this. The advanced class was fabulous. The presentation and the subjects were of great interest and definitely a benefit to me. We had a group of about 35 attendees who were vocal with great questions and, for sure we have many less problems than most of the cities that were in attendance. A special thanks to our Town Clerk Beverly Brown for her wonderful coordination in making the arrangements for our attendance. C) Commissioner Dennis J. Sheridan — We need a new fire truck. The truck is no longer obsolete. It is dead. I don't know how long we are going to procrastinate. We need this vehicle whether we are going to rent it, lease it or buy it. We have to bite the bullet and do it soon. It will take at least one year to get this truck after we order it. I would like my fellow Commissioners to start considering something that we are going to face this expenditure with. D) Vice Mayor Brown — I would like to clarify why I was talking to our Town Attorney while the public presentations were going on. It was brought to my attention by Dr. Featherman. I specifically asked the Town Attorney if the contractor had gotten three bids because I was going to discuss that later in our discussions. If that offended Dr. Featherman, I apologize. E) Mayor Featherman — I would like to thank the Commissioners, Staff and all who sent me cards while I was out on sick leave. It was greatly appreciated. 10. REPORTS — TOWN ATTORNEY GLEN TORCIVIA: No Report. 11. REPORTS —TOWN MANAGER KATHLEEN D. WEISER: A reminder that May 21" is the installation for the Palm Beach League. Also, we will be coming to you to set up a special meeting the week of July 14 to set the tentative millage rate. This week we had emergency management training for all our department heads and top managers on how to handle emergency crisis. They do a similar type of training for elected officials and what is the role if something would happen in this town of any kind of emergency manner. Chief Brad Fitzer does this nationally and the training was absolutely wonderful. It really prepared us and brought things to the forefront in case there was ever an emergency in Highland Beach. I am highly recommending that you consider us to move forward with having this training for you as elected officials. The cost would be about $500 for the session. By consensus, all agreed. Town Commission Regular Minutes May 6, 2014 Page 14 of 14 12. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS RELATED TO ITEMS DISCUSSED AT MEETING: Dr. Bill Weitz, 1135 Boca Cove Lane — Regarding the extension, I am not against the vote. I understand that. I am offended by his comments. He basically said in public forum that you are inexperienced, you lack financial understanding, you aren't good business men and you are missing the point. That's offensive. You are all elected Commissioners. We elect you and I respect each of you and your accomplishments. Then he threatened a lawsuit in public, even though our Attorney basically laid out that the contract had nothing to do with the conditions under which this has been delayed. The buyer was fully aware of the situation. I found it offensive to our elected Commission. What he said, how he said it and the threats he made had nothing to do with good faith. It is intimidation. I have nothing against you extending the contract. We are basically sitting on a deal that has been totally in their benefit. So, I respect your vote, but I want to stand up for you and say "I wouldn't take that from that dude ". 13. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Featherman adjourned the Regular Meeting at 2:59 PM upon a MOTION by Commissioner Sheridan; seconded by Commissioner Feldman. APPROVED: Bernard F atherman, Mayor Ron own, Vice Mayor 3 Dennis J. Sheri ommissioner th PIS o sae ' Carl Feldm issioner ATTEST: Beverly M. Brown, C Town Clerk � M 3�� Y A �l O D to /