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2015.07.07_TC_Minutes_Regular i TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION MEETING REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, July 07, 2015 1 PM Mayor Bernard Featherman called the Regular Meeting to order in the Town Commission Chambers at 1:30 PM. CALL TO ORDER: Roll Call: Members present: Mayor Bernard Featherman; Vice Mayor William Weitz, Ph.D; Commissioner Carl Feldman; Commissioner Louis P. Stern; and Commissioner Rhoda Zelniker. Also present: Town Attorney Glen Torcivia; Town Manager Beverly Brown; Town Clerk Valerie Oakes; Finance Director Cale Curtis; Public Works Director Edward J. Soper; Police Chief Craig Hartmann; Interim Library Director Suzi Hayes 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 called for any additions or deletions to the agenda. Vice Mayor Weitz requested adding an item under new business as 7B "Discussion Regarding Whether or not we want to Continue to Outsource the Position of Building Official or hire within ". Town Manager Brown requested that Item 7A be removed from the agenda since she has not yet received the backup information from the City of Delray Beach. It should be added to the agenda of the Town Commission Special Meeting that is scheduled for next week. Commissioner Stern requested that two items be removed from the Consent Agenda (6C and 6E) and be placed under Miscellaneous — Items Left Over (8B and 8C). By consensus, the agenda was accepted as amended. Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Tuesday, July 07, 2015 Pate 2 of 9 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REOUESTS• Ira Oaklander, 1000 Russell Drive — I was very disappointed when I heard that the Commissioners were giving up on the "no wake" zone. Many residents feel very strongly about this because it is an issue of safety for all boaters and users of the waterway, as well as protecting our property and seawalls from dangerous boat wakes. Giving up should never be an option. Elyse Riesa, 1133 Boca Cove Lane — The Beaches & Shores Advisory Board made a motion to recommend to the Commission that they write a letter to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission informing them that the residents of Highland Beach would like a "no wake" or "slow wake" zone due to dangerous conditions caused by speeding boats. The Commission did not approve this. I know this has been done many times in the past and has always been denied, but we should not give up. This is something that we need done. It takes nothing but someone's time to do this, and someone has already volunteered to write this letter. It would be greatly appreciated if you would reconsider this, put it back on the agenda, and give it another vote. Commissioner Feldman — We might be able to get signatures from residents and send it with a letter because what we have done so far has not worked. Elyse Riesa — I believe the Commission has more authority than ordinary citizens. If you wrote to the local newspapers and our representatives and did it over and over again, eventually they would have to answer you. I would like to see documentation as to what you have done so far. Commissioner Stern — Put this in perspective. We are only 2%2 miles. The entire Intracoastal Waterway from Jacksonville to Miami would like to have the same thing you are requesting. I found out from the Fish &Wildlife Commission that they will not, and are not, going to change. I have done it for five years. In 1990, Mayor Reid passed an ordinance by this Commission that this would be a "no wake" zone, and was told that they would have to reverse it immediately. If Ira Oaklander would like to head it up, I would work side by side with him and do whatever I could and have a file to share. Ira Oaklander — I have worked on this over the years. I believe if the Commission would work together with the residents, they might have a great deal more power to get this done. 3. PRESENTATIONS: a Certificate of Completion • Vice Mayor William Weitz • Commissioner Rhoda Zelniker On behalf of the John Scott Dailey Institute of Government and the Florida League of Cities, Town Manager Brown presented Vice Mayor Weitz and Commissioner Zelniker with the Certificate of Completion for 18 hours of instruction at the Institute for Elected Municipal Officials held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on June 15` and 17t`. Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Tuesday, July 07, 2015 Page 3 of 9 4. BOARDS AND COMMITTEES: A) Board Correspondence: • None B) Board Action Report: • Town Clerk read the report into the record. C) Board Vacancies: • None D) Monthly Board Meetings • Planning Board — July 8 — 9:30 AM • RFP Selection Committee Meeting — July 13" —10:00 AM • Town Commission Special Meeting — July 14` — 9:30 AM • Code Enforcement Board — July 15 — 9:30 AM • RFP Selection Committee Meeting — July 17 —1:30 PM • Financial Advisory Board — July 22 °d — 9:00 AM • Town Commission Workshop — July 28 —1:30 PM 5. PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: None. b. CONSENT AGENDA: Town Clerk Oakes read the Consent Agenda into the record. A) RESOLUTION NO. 15 -005 R A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA AMENDING RESOLUTION NO. 13 -002 R OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA AND PROVIDING FOR A SEVEN MEMBER TO THE FINANCIAL ADVISORY BOARD; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF RESOLUTIONS IN CONFLICT; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. B) Appointing Mayor Featherman as the Voting Delegate for the 8 Annual Florida League of Cities Conference. Agenda. T-a4k & Walk Day en jWy 25, 201 S. T4+is item was removed ftem the GensefA (Moved to Item 8B.) D) Award Contract for Annual Auditing Services to Grau & Associates, Inc. regarding „ T,,..,:. age Study TWs ite . remo f t h e C enser# Age„a.,. (Moved to Item 8C.) Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Tuesday, July 07, 2015 Pau 4 of 9 F) Minutes: • May 26, 2015 — Workshop Meeting • June 2, 2015 — Regular Meeting MOTION: Commissioner Stern moved to accept the Consent Agenda as read. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Feldman, which passed unanimously. 7. NEW BUSINESS: A) Approval of Contract with the City of Delray Beach for Fire Apparatus Diesel Exhaust Systems (Information to Follow) This item was removed from agenda. B) Discussion Regarding Whether or not we want to Continue to Outsource the Position of Building Official or hire within Vice Mayor Weitz — We have direct employees of this Town that are direct hires by our Town and fall under the purview of our Town Manager to supervise, instruct and evaluate. This is different for our Building Official. At one time, we had an in -house Building Official and the Town decided to outsource this positon. He is an employee of the outsource company, or external body, not an employee of the Town and we have no control over this individual. This is no reflection on the Building Official who is doing an excellent job. What are the terms of this outsourcing? Town Manager Brown — The Company gets fifty percent (50 %) of the permits per month and he gets an hourly rate if we require him to attend meetings. Vice Mayor Weitz — I would like to discuss whether this system is in the best interest of our Town, both from a standpoint of control and a standpoint of financial reality. Comm. Feldman — This has been discussed in the past, and the complete makeup of the Building Department is that they can't show a profit. Under the present system, it is covered. A study was made on the cost comparison of having our own Building Official or an outside source. At this time, I see no problem with this. However, if they should increase their fees and they cannot cover themselves as an independent department working at no profit, then we should look into it. Comm. Zelniker — Not having read any study, I feel I cannot comment at this time. Comm. Stern — I have an analysis that covers the years 2009 thru 2013 and has not been updated since then. The summary, at that time, indicated that the Town is still financially benefiting from a Building Official Contract. I would like to update this and put it on the next agenda. Mayor Featherman — We did have a full time employee at one time. Perhaps this is something we should investigate further. Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Tuesday, July 07, 2015 Page 5 of 9 Comm. Stern — In speaking with one of our homeowners, who has totally renovated his entire home, he indicated that his contractor had only the finest things to say about our Building Department and working in the Town of Highland Beach. Whatever we are doing here, we are doing right. Vice Mayor Weitz — I am not disputing that fact. I would like to know if we have any updated analysis, and whether or not it is beneficial to the Town to continue to outsource this position. Town Manager Brown — I will provide an updated analysis and a copy of the contract for the next meeting. The amount went up greatly this year because 3200 South Ocean started construction. We are not going to have many of those in the future because there are not many of those parcels or property of that size. With the economy improving, we are having more construction and reconstruction being done. 8. MISCELLANEOUS — ITEMS LEFT OVER: A) Request from Beaches & Shores Advisory Board Regarding Safety on the Intracoastal Waterway. Comm. Zelniker — I do believe there is more to be done and know this is going to be an uphill battle. I have an 800 number given to my husband by the Coast Guard that the residents can call if they see a speeding boat or any marine life being injured. If they get enough people calling, they will send a boat out on the weekend. Perhaps we can place this number in the Highlander. If the Beaches & Shores Advisory Board wishes us to do this and, they are willing to write the letter, then we should do it. Comm. Feldman — I agree with Comm. Zelniker. Comm. Stern is volunteering to work with this group and hopefully there is something they can do. Perhaps a letter from the Mayor might help because he is on so many committees in the State of Florida. Comm. Stern — I am very disappointed that the two people complaining have left. As I have reported before, Town Manager Brown did meet with the head of the Boca Raton Marine Patrol, and they claim that they do some patrolling on the part of the Intracoastal belonging to Highland Beach because Boca Raton is located on the west side of the waterway. They indicated that they have never issued a single ticket for any violation. I have witnessed many boats flying by and have been to many meetings of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission along with hundreds of residents from our Town. There were thousands of people in the audience and their attitude was, it is not changing and is not going to change. I have been very active trying to do something about this issue. I am still willing to work with the people who have now left if they feel they can do something, and I will be there to help them. I have a great deal of documentation to show what I have done. Vice Mayor Weitz — I have heard discussions regarding this issue for many years. None of our public officials are against fighting for the wellbeing of our town, public safety and the protection of our environment, but there is a difference between being ideal and being real. Our Town Attorney advised us that the reason letters, public displays and protests are not going to matter is Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Tuesday, July 07, 2015 Page 6 of 9 because the criteria for enforcement and getting what we would like to get is in a law established by legislative body and signed off by the Governor. The fact of the matter is that this issue requires a change in the legal statute. Any direct input by our organizations and people need to go to the legislators to modify, change or rectify an existing law. There will be opposition to changing the waterways by the marine and boating industry. I don't want anyone to assume that the fact that we are not in agreement with the advisory boards or some individuals means we don't care, or we gave up. In this case, I would ask you to redirect your energy and effort to making it a political issue with the legislative bodies. Comm. Feldman — There is a patrol boat already on the Intracoastal since the other side is Boca Raton, and our getting a boat would be a waste of time. Perhaps we should make a combined effort with Boca Raton and Delray. Comm. Stern — The only thing I know is that Delray gave up their boats because they indicated that it was so futile. Mayor Featherman — I agree that we do need to have legislative changes in order to get anything done. We will continue to try. MOTION: Commissioner Zelniker moved to have the Commission send letters that was requested by the Beaches & Shores Advisory Committee. Due to a lack of a second, the motion died. B) Request from Beaches & Shores Advisory Board for Authorization to Participate in the Turtle Talk & Walk Day on July 25, 2015. Comm. Stern — I moved this from the Consent Agenda because they requested monies, but that was for beach clean-up. We need to authorize new monies for the Turtle Talk & Walk Day. Town Manager Brown — They are not requesting monies; just authorization to park on town property and go across private property. MOTION: Vice Mayor Weitz moved to approve the request from Beaches & Shores for authorization to participate in the Turtle Talk & Walk Day. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Stern, which passed unanimously. C) Instruct the Town Manager to Request Staff to Contact the Florida Department of Transportation Regarding a Drainage Study. Comm. Stern — There was a discussion last week with Public Works Director Ed Soper regarding having a study made of drainage in the Town of Highland Beach because, after a rain storm, we seem to have some puddles that do go away within 24 hours. Are we constantly asking for items that they cannot do much about because our drainage is pretty decent? Do we really want to send a letter that we are not going to get much of a positive answer to? Vice Mayor Weitz — We live on a barrier island and many times we get a great deal of water on AIA. It is my understanding that if the water does not dissipate within 72 hours something will Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Tuesday, July 07, 2015 Pase 7 of 9 be done about it. I have no problem with a study, but it is my concern that every time there is an issue of concern we are asking someone to do something. I feel the state has already made appropriate input in making some provisions. I will not be in support if the state comes back and says that we can do a study at our own expense. Comm. Feldman — I do not see any problem in sending a letter and letting them know about our situation. Perhaps they could look into it. Comm. Zelniker — I brought this up because a number of residents came to me with this issue. There is so much new technology today. Perhaps a condominium or homeowner can do something on their own if they are given the information to do so. I also noticed that on the south end of town, where the new houses are being built, all the water runs down into the street. Mayor Featherman — I know this is a concern of our residents but it would be very costly if we were to do this on our own. MOTION: Commissioner Feldman moved to have staff send a letter to the Florida Department of Transportation asking them if there is anything that could be done. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Zelniker ROLL CALL: Commissioner Feldman - Yes Commissioner Zelniker - Yes Commissioner Stern - Yes Vice Mayor Weitz - Yes Mayor Featherman - Yes Motion carried 5 to 0. 9. REPORTS — TOWN COMMISSION: A) Commissioner Zelniker — No report. B) Commissioner Feldman — We have budget meetings coming up in the very near future and hope the residents will get involved in the budget process. C) Commissioner Stern — The Coastal Star did an excellent article on the shuttle that goes through the towns of Boca Raton and Delray Beach. I have started a dialogue with the company to see if they would be interested in possibly extending the service on AIA that would connect Boca Raton with Delray Beach. It is an app that you put on your phone. The company's income comes from advertising. I am asking my fellow Commissioners if they would like me to pursue this further to see if we could get the Delray Sands to be an ad. It is zero cost; tips only. By consensus, the Commission agreed to have Commissioner Stern continue his investigation. Commissioner Stern thanked Sue Epling for placing all the American Flags throughout the town. We appreciate the fact that she does it every year. Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Tuesday, July 07, 2015 Pate 8 of 9 D) Vice Mayor William Weitz. — I read an article in the Sun Sentinel that there is an agreement in the works between the two railroad systems, Tri-Rail and All Aboard Florida, Inc. to start working on a shared track arrangement. E) Mayor Bernard Featherman — I would like to thank our Commission and our staff on the fine job they do. Accreditation Manager Eric Aronowitz of our Highland Beach Police Department gave a presentation at our Rotary Club Meeting on what to do in case of an emergency. He did a fine job and would like to compliment him on that. 10. REPORTS — TOWN ATTORNEY GLEN TORCIVIA: Town Attorney Torcivia had no report. 11. REPORTS — TOWN MANAGER BEVERLY BROWN: I would also like to thank Sue Epling. Hopefully more people will do more next year. We received the new plaque for the outside wall, but it came in with a slight problem. We are returning it to have it redone. All the benches are completed and placed around the community. One of the palm trees in front of the Wiltshire House appears to have some type of disease so we have called the doctor from Florida State to investigate the issue. There are two items that will be on the agenda for the special meeting on July 14"'. First, under the Capital Improvement Plan we had agreed to an exhaust system fan and the City of Delray Beach issued a contract and went out to bid for it. We feel we need to have the contract directly with the company and the Town of Highland Beach. If there is ever a problem, we want to be sure we can go back to the contract and have it corrected. Secondly, is regarding the fire truck. I am waiting for a letter from the City of Delray Beach telling us that the truck is surplus and cannot be on the road any longer. I will have to ask the Town Commission permission to put it on the surplus list. I had a request to conduct a blood drive on our property. I will plan on that in the next month or so. I am not sure if the residents or the employees will want to do this. The Town Commission Special meeting on July 14 at 9:30 a.m. is to set the tentative maximum millage rate for the year. We set the tentative maximum millage rate high and, after we go through the budget sessions, we bring it down to what we actually need. We can always bring it down, but we can never raise it unless we notify each individual taxpayer in town. Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Tuesday, July 07, 2015 Page 9 of 9 12. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS RELATED TO ITEMS DISCUSSED AT MEETING: Carl Gehman, 1123 Highland Beach Dr . — Instead of warnings they should be given tickets on the Intracoastal. George Kelvin, 4740 S. Ocean Blvd — Sending letters doesn't work. If you want to get their attention, place an ad in the Palm Beach Post or on television and name names. Ed Neidich, 4740 S. Ocean Blvd — I am sure every individual in this room realizes the safety on the Intracoastal is a serious issue. It really is a legislative issue. The law simply is not on our side, but we should not stop trying. It may be a good idea to have an open forum here in Highland Beach to find out who the key players are in the decision making process. We could invite them to educate us or tell us how they could make this safer. Give them enough time to prepare to answer specific questions and concerns as to what we can do to improve safety here. Mayor Featherman recognized Interim Library Director Suzi Hayes, who was in the audience. 13. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Featherman called for a motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 2:41 PM. I MOTION: Commissioner Stern moved to adjourn the regular meeting at 2:41 PM. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Feldman which passed unanimously. APPROVED: Bernard Featherman, Mayor W' i Weitz, Vice / Mayor V` o P. Stern, issioner C m , Commissioner r t. Rho a Zelniker, C issioner ATTEST: Valerie Oakes, CMC, Town Clerk Date