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2014.06.24_TC_Minutes_Workshop TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION MEETING WORKSHOP MEETING Tuesday, June 24, 2014 1:30 PM Mayor Bernard Featherman called the Workshop 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. Stem; and Commissioner Carl Feldman. Also present: Town Attorney Glen Torcivia; Town Manager Kathleen Weiser; Town Clerk Beverly Brown; Finance Director Cale Curtis; Public Works Director Edward Soper; Police Chief Craig Hartmann; 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. 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 attended the Delray Council meeting regarding the Fire Department services. It was agreed by the Mayor and some Council Members that they did not want the County to take over these services. I thank the Town Manager, Vice Mayor Brown and Commissioner Stern for attending that meeting. I also would like to know if construction will be starting on 3200 S. Ocean Blvd. Comm. Sheridan — They have definitely filed their plans. The plans have gone to Palm Beach County and they paid their impact fees. It is presently with the Delray Beach Fire Dept. for their inspection. We anticipate them going on time. Bill Weitz, 1135 Boca Cove Lane — Regarding the Boca property, at a previous meeting there was discussion regarding the sale of the property and different options, such as time limits and whether or not certain financial requirements would be necessary. My concern was that this discussion took place in public in front of the Attorney representing the buyer, and who threatened litigation against the Town. The problem was that all the various issues were expressed and he knew exactly what our limits were; what our weaknesses were and who was in favor of what. I know there is a Sunshine Town Commission Workshop Minutes June 24, 2014 Page 2 of 11 Law; but when it comes to litigation or legal matters, those discussions should not take place in public and certainly not in front of opposing attorneys who are basically building a case against us. 3. PRESENTATIONS: • Presentation of "Certificate of Completion" 2014 Advanced Institute for Elected Municipal Officials to: Commissioner Louis P. Stem Commissioner Carl Feldman Town Manager Weiser read the letter given to Commissioner Stem and Commissioner Feldman by The John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government and the Florida League of Cities awarding them the "Certificate of Completion" for the Advanced Institute for Elected Municipal Officials. She then presented the certificates to the Commissioners. 4. BOARDS AND COMMITTEES: A) Board Correspondence: • None B) Board Action Report: • No Report C) Board Vacancies: • None D) Monthly Board Meetings: • Town Commission Special — July 9 th - 9:30 AM • Planning Board- Regular Meeting — July 9 th — Cancelled • Financial Advisory Board — July 25 — 9:00 AM — Town Hall Conference Room • Beaches & Shores Advisory Board — No Scheduled Meeting • Board of Adjustment & Appeals — No Scheduled Meeting • Code Enforcement Board — No Scheduled Meeting 5. PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: A) ORDINANCE NO. 14-006 O — Second Reading and Public Hearing — July 1st AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA AMENDING CHAPTER 23, "SIGNS AND ADVERTISING," OF THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANCES, TO PROVIDE FOR CLARIFICATION REGARDING THE PERMITTING AND REGULATION OF SIGNAGE; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION, CONFLICTS, SEVERABILITY, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Town Clerk Brown read Ordinance No. 14 -006 0 into the record. Town Commission Workshop Minutes June 24, 2014 Page 3 of 11 There were no further comments by the Town Commission. Ordinance No. 14 -006 O was scheduled for Second Reading and Public Hearing on July 1, 2014. B) RESOLUTION NO. 14-004 R A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA, SUPPORTING THE LOCATION OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAMS IN CENTRAL PALM BEACH COUNTY AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Town Clerk Brown read Resolution No. 14 -004 R into the record. Town Attorney Torcivia — Palm Beach County has been pursuing some baseball teams, particularly the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros. The negotiations had stopped about a month ago because of the gap in money. I spoke with a representative from the Nationals and they are planning on getting back to the County this week. If they are able to bridge their gap, the sites being discussed will be located in Central Palm Beach County. The Cities of Lake Worth and Palm Springs have requested that this be on their agenda in order to get support for Central Palm Beach County as opposed to the northern part of Palm Beach County. Comm. Feldman — If we agree to this Resolution, will there be any automatic costs applied to it? Town Attorney Torcivia — No, since the County has close to 100 million dollars to put into this. The teams are somewhere between 130 and 140 million and that is the gap. The County Commission has made it clear that they were not going to supplement that with ad valorem tax dollars. At this point, there is no request for any community to contribute money and I don't believe the County Commission will request it. Consensus was to place this on the Consent Agenda for July 1, 2014. 6. NEW BUSINESS: A) Commission to authorize Amendment to the Town's Fund Balance Policy for Compliance with GASB Statement No. 54. Town Manager Weiser — The Fiscal Year 2013 -2014 Budget included a Staff and Financial Advisory Board recommendation to change the funding method for the Town's Disaster Recovery Fund Balance (DRFB). It was established back in 2006 with an initial deposit of $50,000 and designed to grow each year with a cap of $500,000. According to the GASB rules, and a recommendation from our Financial Advisory Board, they are recommending that you change this funding mechanism to equal 1/12' of the effect General Fund Budget which will tie the funding to the DRFB to its intended use. For example, if there was any type of disaster it would cover the insurance deductibles, cash -on -hand for recovery operations. To switch this funding policy, you will be taking approximately $525,000 to complete the gap from the Unassigned Fund Balance and assigning it to the Disaster Recover Fund. Comm. Feldman asked that the Financial Advisory Board be notified that we are taking their recommendation. Town Commission Workshop Minutes June 24, 2014 Page 4 of 11 Comm. Stern also agreed and is hoping they give us some good advice when the budget is completed this summer. Comm. Sheridan asked what the difference was that would have to be made up. Fin. Dir. Curtis — The difference would be $521,855. Vice Mayor Brown asked why it was necessary to fund it this year. Why not continue to fund the $50,000 each year, and when it reaches the $971,000 we stop funding it. Fin. Dir. Curtis — We are not required to put these monies aside. It is a best practice to do so. The current mechanism caps out at $500,000 and we could remove that cap and keep funding it. It could be a budget year by budget year decision. This is a method that has been proposed by me and the FAB, and again is a best practice to set funds like this that are inflationary adjustable. Mayor Featherman asked what money would be left in the Unassigned Fund Balance after we take the full amount out versus $50,000. Fin. Dir. Curtis stated that he was estimating it would be $2,971,000. Mayor Featherman was in agreement with Vice Mayor Brown's statement. Comm. Feldman stated that if we have the money in the reserves, we should do it this way. Fin. Dir. Curtis stated that this is not binding. A simple action at a Commission meeting could change this policy, if we were to get into a position where we needed funds from the DRFB. Comm. Stern — Can you take an assigned balance and make it unassigned again? Fin. Dir. Curtis stated that with an action of the Commission you can. Comm. Sheridan — If we don't do the entire amount, can we increase the $50,000 amount to $100,000 rather than the entire $521,000? Fin. Dir. Curtis — It is certainly something that we can do. Is it my understanding that you would like to remove the cap of $500,000 and, over the next few years, fund the DRFB by $100,000 each year, and the new cap would be when you reach 1 /12 of the new budget? All agreed and Mr. Curtis will revise the Fund Balance policy to reflect language that was stated. Consensus was to place this item under Old Business for July 1St 7. MISCELLANEOUS — ITEMS LEFT OVER: A) Commission to approve 2014 -2015 Strategic Plan. Town Manager Weiser — The Commission discussed updating the Strategic Plan and putting new action items into it. A document including priority status placed on the items was given to the Commission. Staff uses this document for its budgeting and setting our priorities in what we do. The following items were read and discussed: Town Commission Workshop Minutes June 24, 2014 Page 5 of 11 High Priority Obiectives 1) Renovations of Town Hall are ongoing: No discussion. 2) Increase public safety and security through the license plate recognition cameras: Comm. Feldman — If you get a license plate recognition camera in the system, are more employees needed in the Police Dept. and will the citizens consider this an evasion of privacy? Police Chief Hartmann — No additional personnel will be needed. There is no privacy or legal issues since they are on public right of ways and the cameras are on many streets throughout our County and portions of AIA. Comm. Feldman — What advantage is this to us? Chief Hartmann — It is the public safety aspect of our community. What you can do to stop crime and solve crime in your community. The value is to find vehicles that are stolen and wanted in committed types of crimes. There has to be a reason to stop a vehicle. It has to be a wanted or stolen vehicle and is in the National Data Base. Light House Point has this, has national recognition and has prevented a lot of crime in their community. Comm. Feldman — Should the residents be consulted as to whether or not they would want this? Chief Hartmann — I have heard people ask why we don't have this and some that are not knowledgeable as to what this is all about. Comm. Feldman asked what the cost would be. Chief Hartmann stated that it could be anywhere from 2,000 to 8,000 dollars a year. Other Coastal communities are looking into this. Boca Raton (limited), Delray has it on their vehicles and Manalapan has it. Comm. Stem — I cannot make a decision until we know costs both ongoing and before we get involved. If it does increase safety for the Town and Coastal communities, I feel it is worth looking into. Comm. Sheridan asked if this is an annual charge. Chief Hartmann — The software and the information could be up to $8,000 a year. Comm. Sheridan — If and when the Commission does approve it, and once the Foundation gets rolling, is there any chance that the Foundation can absorb some of these expenses? Chief Hartmann — We are still in the very infancy with this Foundation and hope that they will be able to support this type of cost in the future. Comm. Sheridan — We should get a ball park figure before we give this any further consideration. Vice Mayor Brown thought the figure was $60,000 initially and $2500 a year. Chief Hartmann — In our preliminary figures for the budget, we are at $68,000 and up to $8,000 a year. If we are in with other communities, depending on our communications, that may not be the cost at all. Vice Mayor Brown — The people in Bel Lido are in favor of this. I am in favor of this, but do agree that we need to know the cost. Mayor Featherman — I have had some residents tell me that they would be in favor of this. I also agree we should know the cost. This item will remain high priority, if affordable, over the next three years. Town Commission Workshop Minutes June 24, 2014 Page 6 of 11 3) Enclosing the Library terraces: Town Manager Weiser stated that the Friends of the Library will be raising money to fund half of this. They are planning on doing a specific fund raising task for this item. However, the Commission will have to budget this entire amount should they not be able to come close to half of it, and if you want to go forward with this project. Comm. Feldman — Would they be obligated to give us this money? Town Manager Weiser — It is your call as a policy maker to say that you will move forward if they raise a certain amount. Comm. Sheridan thought an informal commitment was made to the Library that we were willing to go along with this project. I consider this a high priority item. Vice Mayor Brown Comm. Stern and Mayor Featherman agreed this should be a high priority item and feel this would be a benefit to our Town. 4) Electronic formatting of records: Comm. Stem — I have seen the records over at the Building Dept. and it is overwhelming. The space is being using inadequately by all of these records. I would like to keep this as a high priority item. Comm. Feldman — Is the $47,000 set aside for this project include the town personnel that will go full time? What is meant by Contractor and Staff? Town Manager Weiser — The cost includes the full time employee. The Contractor will be needed to do the actual scanning and electronic software and a staff person that would be working on that to continue it. It will be ongoing year after year. Comm. Sheri dan Vice Mayor Brown and Mayor Featherman agreed it is high priority. 5) Improve water quality through the replacement of the side street water mains: Town Manager Weiser — Finance Director Curtis indicated there are various ways that this project can be funded. What will be coming before the Commission in the budget is funding a Consultant to give us the exact figures on what the project will cost. Comm. Feldman — We would have to move forward in phases with a project this size. Town Manager Weiser — The first phase would be real numbers for the cost of the project. Comm. Stern — This is something we would have to take into serious consideration because the pipes are well in excess of 55 years. It is a high priority to move forward but not immediately. Comm. Sheridan agreed it is high priority. Vice Mayor Brown — This needs to be evaluated and priced. There is a tremendous jump in the cost from one million to 3.2 million in one year's time. At 3.2 million it is not something that can be done all at once. This is a necessary project, but an Engineer should come in and evaluate this; then split the project up over a period of a couple of years. I Town Commission Workshop Minutes June 24, 2014 Page 7 of 11 Mayor Featherman agreed that they should get a price on what this will cost and look at getting some type of bond to fund this, so there will be no additional cost to our residents. This will remain a high priority item. 6) Replacement of the Calcite System: Town Manager stated that whoever was hired to give a cost estimate for the water main project would give a cost estimate for the calcite system. Public Works Director Soper — An engineer was hired to give an opinion of cost to replace it. The original plan was $250,000; but was earmarked for a replacement and would not improve the water quality. You would be putting in the same system that was coming out. Replacing this with a cal- flow system would soften the water, make it more alkaline, less aggressive and taste better. Comm. Feldman — I agree with the Mayor regarding the bonding. Do the both projects at once; raise the money, get the studies made and do it all at one time. Comm. Sheridan Mayor Featherman and Comm. Stern agreed to leave this on the priority list. Vice Mayor Brown stated that both should be done together or the calcite be done after the water main replacement. PWD Soper explained the increase in cost for both the water main replacement and the calcite system replacement as stated in the May 27 meeting. Mayor Featherman asked what the cost would be for the connections for the entire town. PWD Soper — The connections are in the 3.2 million dollars. An average of about $3,000 per connection is a conservative number. Town Manager Weiser will change the timeframe of the calcite system to correspond with the side street water main project. 7) Replace the Emergency Fire Equipment: Town Manager Weiser — This is carried over from the original Strategic Plan. You added review alternative service methods for fire. Comm. Feldman — Will we be getting three quotes to buy, to lease and Delray's proposal for $130,000? Town Manager Weiser — We are in the process of negotiating with Delray to give us a vehicle maintenance fee. We would get three quotes if we were purchasing the vehicles. Fin. Dir. Curtis — All the rescue vehicles are purchased off the State of Florida contracts through Pierce. Last year when we were budgeting the apparatus truck, it was $825,000. The current year's contract is approximately $850,000. We would be purchasing off of the State contract which is competitively bid. If we lease it, not from Delray, I believe a five year lease was $170,000 a year and a seven year lease was $125,000. Comm. Feldman — We will now need a second piece of equipment. How will this factor in with this? Fin. Dir. Curtis — The $130,000 included the anticipated replacement of that vehicle. It is still under negotiations. I have been in touch with Delray's Finance Director and he will be getting back to me with some figures. We have the option to lease or buy. The rescue vehicle is $315,000 to $325,000 to buy outright. My conversation with Delray includes new vehicles and would also include an extended agreement. Comm. Stern — At the Delray Town meeting, one of the Commissioners asked if the Highland Beach contract is profitable for Delray. They need to find this out first before they can give us a number. I think we need to investigate what Boca can do for us since they are very interested in talking with us. This needs to be done quickly since our equipment is in very bad shape. Fin. Dir. Curtis — We are currently under contract with Delray until 2017. If we wanted to terminate our contract we would have to give twelve months notice. Comm. Stern — What I heard was if the County came back with a better offer, Town Commission Workshop Minutes June 24, 2014 Page 8 of 11 they could drop us overnight. Fin. Dir. Curtis — They would not drop us, they would absorb us. It would also be an out clause in that contract. There would be some type of language in there that if they were overtaken by another jurisdiction, they would give us the opportunity to look elsewhere. Comm. Sheridan — One way or another we need to get a new piece of apparatus as soon as possible. Our truck is out of service again at a cost of $17,000 for repairs. The living conditions at our fire station are deplorable. Nothing has been done at this station for years and I would like to see some major improvements be made to the interior living conditions; either this year or next year. Vice Mayor Brown — I think we should explore our options; talk to Boca and the County and continue our discussion with Delray to see what our costs will be. Town Manager Weiser — There is also the additional option if there were some type of coastal community fire district, which is in the infancy stages at this point. Mayor Featherman — I believe we need a new fire truck but we should own it and put it on financing for a term limit of over five to ten years. Comm. Feldman — If our fire house is in such bad shape, I think it should be in the budget for this year. Comm. Sheridan — I have asked Lt. Marino to give me a list of the most urgent repairs. Town Manager Weiser — We have put approximately $15,000 to $20,000 in the budget for minor renovations and you can look at this again with your budget. Replacing the fire equipment will remain on high priority. 8) Evaluate Smart Metering System: Vice Mayor Brown — This should remain high priority but should be tied in with the other water projects and be replaced at the same time. PWD Soper — Currently we have meters that would just have to be modified, and there would be no excavations involved. It would not be necessary to tie it in with the other project. The system I am looking at is somewhere around $50,000 conservatively, and they do have an alternative that would be a little less than that. You would have a system that would notify the Town in the event of a leak. Town Manager Weiser — This has been included in this year's budget. PWD Soper — I am also looking into another system that may be less money. All agreed this should remain high priority. Lower Priority Obiectives: The first two items are carried over from the original Strategic Plan. 1) Investigate establishing joint efforts with other municipalities to oversee waterway concerns. This is ongoing. 2) Evaluate selling the Boca properties. We are beyond evaluating. We are selling the Boca property. 3) Exploring options for beach access. By consensus the beach access will remain in the Strategic Plan. Alternatives will be worked on for access. 4) Improvements to Town Hall parking and in -house review and recommendations to parking. By consensus this item was eliminated from the Strategic Plan. Town Commission Workshop Minutes June 24, 2014 Page 9 of 11 5) Review the water rate structure and policies on usage. Town Manager Weiser stated that a consultant should look at the water rates to be sure they are keeping up with the cost of the system. We are at the point where what we are bringing in is barely covering what it costs to run that department. Fin. Dir. Curtis — Our last rate review was conducted in 2009 and is time to look at them again. Our water revenues are not necessarily meeting the expenditures of the fund. We should have a consultant come in, take a look at our rate structure and provide us with some recommendations; especially looking at our five year Capital Improvement Plan for the Water Fund as well. Comm. Feldman — If we know what our costs are, why can't we adjust our rates accordingly? Fin. Dir. Curtis — It is a little more complicated when trying to come up with a fair billing system for single family home owners and condo residents who don't get a bill based on their actual usage. Our last consultant review costs around $13,000. Town Manager Weiser — You want a legal basis for what you charge for water because people can challenge it. Fin. Dir. Curtis — Having a consultant come in provides us with a good basis for adjusting rates whether up or down. This will be seen in the upcoming budget. 6) Establishing Operating Reserve for the Water and Sewer Fund. By consensus there is to be a three month reserve for this fund. There were two administrative items carried over from the original Strategic Plan: Constantly updating our website; implementing accreditation for our police. These are ongoing. Vice Mayor Brown asked if gas lines could be run when the water pipes are replaced. Right now there is a gas line down the middle of the town. New home owners are asking if this could be done. Comm. Stern — I don't feel it is the town's responsibility to run these lines to the existing homeowners on the side streets in town. Would the gas company run the lines for us when the road is open? PWD Soper — There are certain limitations in running these lines. I spoke with Florida Public Utilities and they are coming up with a ballpark figure but will not run the lines for free. B) Minutes: May 27, 2014 — Workshop Minutes June 3, 2014 — Regular Meeting No errors or corrections received. Consensus was to place this item on the July 1 st Consent Agenda. 8. REPORTS — TOWN COMMISSION: A) Commissioner Carl Feldman — I received correspondence from some residents regarding the beautification of Bel Lido Isle waterways questioning whether we are doing what we are doing legally when we vote for the boatlifts. I was under the assumption that if the Building Inspector, Town Commission Workshop Minutes June 24 2014 Page 10 of 11 Planning Board and State approve it then we should approve it. Can we take boatlifts off the Special Exception list; determine some type of ruling and have them apply for it just under the building codes? Town Attorney Torcivia — You could and would have to change your codes; but you would have to set some standards. Comm. Feldman — The correspondence refers to Section 30 -68 in our code. Town Attorney Torcivia — I will look into this and report back to you at the next meeting. If this is the way the Commission would like to go, I could draft an amendment to the Ordinance. Comm. Feldman was approached this past week regarding receiving a stipend of $100 a month for use of our vehicles. He was not in favor of this along with the rest of the Commission. Regarding the matter of maintaining the right -of -ways, on March 2, 2007 we entered into a maintenance memorandum agreement with the State. Town Attorney Torcivia — We looked at this agreement. If the Commission's position is that the adjacent homeowner is responsible for maintaining the plantings in the right -of -way, and obviously if something happens to those plantings through no fault of the homeowner, they would not be responsible for replacing those plantings. The FDOT agreement puts the responsibility on the Town. Comm. Feldman — Whatever we draw up in our Resolution, we should make it very clear what the responsibility of the homeowner is and the Town's responsibility for the maintenance of these right -of -ways. Right now most of the homeowners take care of this. I spoke with Tim Burnich who is a member of the Code Enforcement Board and he asked if there has been any discussion regarding them meeting quarterly. Town Attorney Torcivia — I am preparing a report as to what they can and cannot do. B) Commissioner Louis Stern — Thanks to the Town Manager for the mid -month memo which we had requested. It was very informative. Also thanks to the staff for the opportunity to attend the advanced class for myself and Comm. Feldman and hopefully will sponsor us again for the third class which is now available. C) Commissioner Dennis Sheridan — I attended the Planning Board meeting at Boca Raton, The entire Board voted approval of the sale and it now goes to the Board of Commissioners. D) Vice Mayor Ron Brown — I attended the Delray Town Hall meeting and noticed there was a sign that was a timer. When the residents came up, someone hit a button for that person to start talking. There was no bickering as to how much time had expired. We should look into this for our new Commission Chambers. Town Manager Weiser — We have had that request and it will be in our new Commissioner Chambers. It is called a speaker timer. E) Mayor Bernard Featherman — Thank you to all those who sent me get well wishes during my medical leave. We are back to business and are working for our residents. 9. REPORTS — TOWN ATTORNEY GLEN TORCIVIA: We received the pro rata language for the last month which was missing from the third amendment for the $3,500 a month. This will be presented to the Mayor for his signature. Regarding the Code Enforcement Board issue, I am still working on this and am preparing a report to bring to the Commission. The Code Enforcement Board can meet with the Code Enforcement Officer on a quarterly basis to give a report on what has happened in the Town over the last quarter. They cannot, however, state that they would make a recommendation to the Town Commission to amend the Town Commission Workshop Minutes June 24, 2014 Page 11 of 11 ordinance to increase a penalty or make it illegal. Town Manager Weiser stated that they do get this report. 10. REPORTS — TOWN MANAGER KATHLEEN DAILEY WEISER: The Commissioners are having a special emergency preparedness training workshop on August 1 ' at the Delray Sands. Delray is planning on keeping their service. They talked about portioning out different services; specifically dispatching. At this time we are going to remove that, moving forward, with taking dispatch to Delray until they decide what they are going to do. We are moving forward on the fire truck issue. You will be getting our budget the first week in July. Regarding the hearings on the Boca properties with the Boca City Council, the Ordinance will be introduced on July 22 The final hearing will be on August 12 Both meetings are at 6:00 PM. 11. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS RELATED TO ITEMS DISCUSSED AT MEETING: No comments received. 12. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Featherman adjourned the Workshop Meeting at 3:30 PM upon a MOTION by Commissioner Stem and seconded by Commissioner Sheridan. APPROVED: ko W Y Bern Featherm , Mayor Ron Brown, ice /Mayor Dennis J ' SSherid �mmissioner s P. Sre Commissioner arl Fel , Commissioner ATTEST: Beverly M. Br , MMC Town Clerk A10 Date �'