1992.05.05_TC_Minutes_Regular~.. _ ~; - -
. TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA
Minutes of Meeting of Town Commission
REGULAR MEETING
Tuesday, May 05, 1992 1:30 p.m.
Vice Mayor Bill Paul, in the absence of Mayor Boulay, called the
Regular Meeting of the Town Commission of the Town of Highland
Beach, Florida, to order in the Commission Chambers at Town Hall
at 1:30 p.m. Others in attendance were Commissioners Arlin
Voress, Arthur Eypel, and John F. Rand.
Also present were Town Attorney Thomas E. Sliney, Town Clerk Anne
M. Kowals, and members of the general public. Town Manager Mary
Ann Mariano was absent.
Following roll call, the Pledge of Allegiance was given.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
The agenda was accepted as written.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
• The following minutes were submitted for approval:
March 31, 1992 - Workshop Meeting
April 07, 1992 - Regular Meeting
April 07, 1992 - Arbor Day Program
A MOTION by COMMISSIONER RAND/COMMISSIONER VORESS accepting the
minutes as written carried without objection.
PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS
Mr. Michael Dent of the Casuarina addressed the Town Commission to
inquire of the status of recent Town litigation. Town Attorney
Sliney, noting it is a major constitutional case with a lot of
issues involved, advised the judge issued three conflicting orders
within six weeks (an indication of many errors); the Town is work-
ing with an appellate counselor to file appeals to the Eleventh
District Court in Atlanta.
Mr. Dent, noting we will hear more with regard to the CCCL later,
in questioning the existing Town ordinance, was advised by the
Building Official that any nonconforming structure exceeding 70$
destruction cannot be rebuilt except in conformity with the provi-
sions of the ordinance.
Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes
. May 05, 1992
Page 2 of 5
Mr. Jose Echeverria of Russell Drive, advised the Town Commission
the turtle nesting has already started; there are 7 nests and 9
false crawls. Mr. Echeverria noted that, over the weekend, a
leatherback turtle, found on the beach, was helped back to sea.
Mr. Echeverria, noting the beach in Town is quite clean, thanked
Mr. Ted Hanna of the Maintenance Department, and his staff, for
putting out the trash receptacles which people are now using.
REPORTS - TOWN COMMISSION
Vice Mayor Bill Paul
No report.
Commissioner Arlin Voress
Commissioner Voress explained the up-dated proposal regarding the
Town's Saline Intrusion Monitoring Program, prepared by the Town's
Engineers, J. M. Montgomery, in response to South Florida Water
Management District's Limiting Condition 20 of the Town's 10 year
water consumptive permit. The proposal indicates the location of
the Town's wells, the monitoring frequency, and the water sample
collection. All monitoring wells will be sampled monthly and data
will be submitted to S.F.W.M.D. Following discussion, MOTION was
made by COMMISSIONER VORESS/COMMISSIONER EYPEL to accept the pro-
posal for tasks 1, 2, and 3, at a total cost of $27,300, and the
submission of our proposed Salt Water Monitoring Program as con-
tained in the letter dated May 04, 1992 to Mr. Scott Burns of
S.F.W.M.D. A roll call vote resulted as follows:
Commissioner Rand "AYE" Commissioner Eypel "AYE"
Commissioner Voress "AYE" Vice Mayor Paul "AYE"
Commissioner Arthur Ey el
Commissioner Eypel, under his report, reminded all citizens of the
May 28, 1992, Public Hearing at 7:00 p.m. at Boca Raton City Hall,
201 West Palmetto Park Road, for the purpose of receiving in-put
from concerned citizens who will be affected by the move of the
Coastal Construction Control Line. Alluding to a DNR submittal of
the most commonly asked questions with the agency's responses, the
Commissioner noted the bureaucrats have given some ambiguous
answers to serious questions regarding rights of property owners.
Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes
May 05, 1992
. Page 3 of 5
Commissioner Eypel, noting the common question of "Will any prop-
erty owner lose complete use of his property under the projected
change?", cited a portion of the DNR response which reads "As ex-
amples, one need only consider the numerous private lots that are
now wholly or partially on submerged lands due to long term ero-
sion." The Commissioner stated he has been a resident of Highland
Beach for 43 years, he has watched the dune and he has yet to see
one piece of property under water (there is actually more beach
than less). Some properties have suffered the effects of the
movement of sand; but, to arbitrarily move the CCCL on to AlA is
ludicrous and the ramifications are far reaching. Commissioner
Eypel reitereated the importance for all to attend the Public
Hearing on May 28 at Boca Raton City Hall as this matter affects
all people in Town by reduced property values and by shifting the
tax burden from one side to the other.
It was noted this is not a legislative matter; it is a matter
decided by Governor Chiles and his Cabinet as to whether the new
CCCL goes into effect. The 21 Counties with the revised CCCL in
place were approved by the Governor who accepted everything the
DNR presented to him (tee Governor rubber stamped the DNR
proposal).
Commissioner Eypel, noting the DNR is an agency that does a lot of
good work, they put a lot of items on the book to protect what
needs to be protected; however, it is his opinion this particular
issue is poor judment on the part of the DNR.
Commissioner John F. Rand
Commissioner Rand, under his report, noted there seems to be a
trend in our citizenry protesting either judicial decisions or tax
matters or CCCL's. It behooves all of us to bear in mind that if
we are dissatisfied with something, we have to do something about
it and not just sit back and let it take place.
The Commissioner noted we are coming to that time of year where we
will be doing budgets and taxes. Our residents can expect tax in-
creases mainly due to matters beyond our control (i.e. the preli-
minary notice for Fire/Rescue Service which will be increased from
$1,250,000 to approximately $1,500,000.) The Town has been work-
ing to try to get the County to change the system of calculating
the assessment which it feels is unjust and not at all equitable;
it makes a Town like Highland Beach subsidize other less affluent
communities. The Town requested the calculation be made on the
size of the Town's population or any other basis that would be
more equitable. We are still in discussion with authorities
regarding this matter.
Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes
May 05, 1992
Page 4 of 5
Commissioner Rand urged all residents to make an attempt to attend
the May 20, 1992, 2:00 p.m. Value Adjustment Board Meeting at the
County Commission Office in West Palm Beach to speak up and make
their feelings known regarding property tax assessments.
Mayor Joseph A. Boulay
Absent - no report.
REPORTS - TOWN ATTORNEY
Town Attorney Sliney, under his report, explained the Coastal
Construction Control Line is a development line on the Atlantic
and Gulf Coasts; no development is allowed eastward of that line.
The Town Attorney noted there are exceptions and variance proce-
dures that are costly and cause delays. In many cases, the re-
established CCCL would be moved westward to a position on AlA or
on the DOT right-of-way. The scheduled public hearings will give
citizens the opportunity to speak on this issue in an attempt to
persuade the DNR that this is not a good idea. Particularly in
Highland Beach, the configuration of the property is entirely
different than in many other places; it is not a situation where
you have a lot of low land property, you have high dunes and
beaches in many parts of the Town. At the request of the Town
Commission, the Attorney prepared a letter for mailing to Town
residents summarizing the situation. Discussion resulted in a
consensus to amend the salutation to read "Dear Property Owner"
and a directive to prepare same for mailing as soon as possible
(before the end of this week).
REPORTS - TOWN MANAGER
Absent - no report.
REPORTS - BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
Vice Mayor Paul noted there are no vacancies on the Town Boards;
he further noted the scheduled meetings of the Town's Advisory
Boards.
PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
1. AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA,
AMENDING CHAPTER 6 ENTITLED "BUILDING AND STRUCTURES" BY
THE ADDITION OF ARTICLE X, ENTITLED "SWIMMING POOL
CODE", PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION.
•
~ ,
Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes
May 05, 1992
Page 5 of 5
The proposed ordinance, given first reading on 04/07/92 and pub-
lished on 04/17/92, was read by title only by the Town Clerk. A
MOTION by COMMISSIONER VORESS/COMMISSIONER EYPEL to adopt this
ordinance carried with all "AYE" votes.
REGULAR BUSINESS
Items Left Over
None.
Consent Agenda
Approval of Antonacci triplex (Lot 78 East)
3525 South Ocean Boulevard
The Consent Agenda was adopted upon MOTION by COMMISSIONER VORESS/
COMMISSIONER RAND. Same carried without objection.
At this point, Dr. Ray Murphy of 4023 South Ocean Boulevard
addressed the Commission to voice his support of the Town Commis-
sion in opposing the proposed reestablishment of the Coastal
Construction Control Line.
There being no further business to come before the Town Commission
at this time, Vice Mayor Paul, upon proper MOTION and SECOND,
adjourned the Regular Meeting at 2:25 p.m.
APPROVED: (Absent)
Joseph A. Boula Mayor
Bi 1 Paul, Vice Mayor
n/Voress, Commissioner
Arthur EvpeA1L/ C~nissioner
Jo
~ ~ -
Commissioner