2015.11.24_TC_Minutes_Workshop TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH
MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION MEETING
WORKSHOP MEETING
Tuesday,November 24, 2015 1:30 PM
Mayor Bernard Featherman called the Workshop 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; Police
Chief Craig Hartman; Finance Director Cale Curtis; Public Works Director Edward J. Soper; 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 added under New Business as item 6D a discussion regarding contracting done by
the Town for major projects when the amount exceeds a certain amount of dollars.
Hearing no further additions,the agenda was accepted as amended.
2. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REOUESTS:
None
3. PRESENTATIONS:
None
4. BOARDS AND COMMITTEES:
A) Board Correspondence:
9 None
7-
Bernard
Bernard Featherman
From: PEGGY <p7eg@earthlink net>
Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2015 4:32 PM
To: Bernard Featherman;William Weitz, Lou P. Stern;Carl Feldman; Rhoda Zelniker
Subject: Fw:Work hours
EMAIL#6 CONSTRUCTION BEGINNING TOO EARLY AT 7-7:15 A.M. FOR 3 WEEKS. PHOTO TO FOLLOW.
--Original Message—
From: Beverly Brown
Sent: Monday, November 23,2015 9:17 AM
To: Peg
Subject: RE:Work hours
Peg-The contractor has been reminded of the time notifications and in addition, I will have the Police check in the
morning.
Beverly
Beverly M. Brown, MMC
Town Manager
Town of Highland Beach, FL. 33487
561-278-4548
bbrown@ci.hiehland-beach.fl.us
Please be advised that under Florida Law, emails and email addresses are public records. If you do not want your email
address released in response to a public records request,do not send electronic mail to this entity.
--Original Message—
From: Peg[mailto:p7ee@earthlink.netl
Sent: Monday, November 23,2015 7:48 AM
To:Carol Holland; Michael G. Desorcy
Cc: Beverly Brown; Bernard Featherman; Ron Brown
Subject:Work hours
Hello Everyone,the job site workers at 4308 Intracoastal Drive are routinely starting work before 8 a.m. most days.
Usually they start at 7:15.
Please advise them of the 8 a.m.start time.They were hammering forms two weeks ago, pouring cement from trucks
and unloading scaffolding last week,and now unloading CBS in the street today beginning at 7:15 a.m.
The backup alarm on the trucks and bobcats are obnoxious and workers are noisy,and we have all three kids home for
holidays being awaken by this earlier than is necessary.
Thank you very much. Peggy Gossett-Seidman and Barry Seidman MD
Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes
Tuesday,November 24,2015 Page 2 of 7
B) Board Action Report:
• No report
C) Board Vacancies:
• (2)Vacancies—Beaches & Shores Advisory Board
Talent Bank—(3 year term)
Robert Klupt, 3912 S. Ocean Blvd. gave a brief description of his background and stated his
reasons for wanting to become a member of the Beaches& Shores Advisory Board.
Consensus was to place this item on the Consent Agenda for December 1St
• (1)Re-Appointment—Beaches& Shores Advisory Board
Talent Bank
Katharina Braun,2727 S. Ocean Blvd. stated that her interest for the beaches is still the same and
would like to serve another term.
Consensus was to place this item on the Consent Agenda for December 1St
D) Monthly Board Meetings:
• Town Commission Regular Meeting—December 1St— 1:30 PM
• Light Up the Holidays—December 7th—5:00 PM
• Beaches& Shores Advisory Board—December 8th—9:30 AM
• Planning Board—December 9th—9:30 AM
• Financial Advisory Board—December 14th—9:00 AM
• Board of Adjustment&Appeals—December 15th—9:30 AM
• Code Enforcement Board—December 16th—9:30 AM
• Town Commission Workshop—December 29th—CANCELLED
• Town Hall Closed:
o December 24'—Christmas Eve
o December 25th—Christmas Day
o January 11—New Year's Day
5. PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS:
A) RESOLUTION NO. 15-011 R
A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING
RESOLUTION NO. 14-006 R WHICH APPROPRIATED FUNDS FOR THE 2014-2015
FISCAL YEAR BUDGET, WHICH BEGAN OCTOBER 1, 2014 AND ENDS
SEPTEMBER 30,2015.
Commission Discussion:
Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes
Tuesday,November 24,2015 Paee 3 of 7
Commissioner Feldman—The Building Department raised more money, but we are taking more
money out of the reserves? Finance Director Curtis — The General Fund operates in two
different ways. There is the revenue side and the expenditure side. The permit revenue flows
into the revenue side not specifically into the Building Department. On the expenditure side, all
costs associated with issuing building permits are expensed out of the Building Department's
budget. (An explanation was provided regarding the expense adjustments in the General Fund.)
Commissioner Stern—This is something we do each year to balance our budget.
Mayor Featherman called for a motion to place this item on the agenda for the next meeting.
Town Clerk Oakes advised the Mayor that a motion cannot be taken at the Workshop meeting.
Consensus was to place this item on the Consent Agenda for December I'.
6. NEW BUSINESS:
A) Cancellation of Maintenance Agreement with Utility Service Group.
Town Manager Brown — Utility Service Group has provided inspection and full maintenance
services to the elevated water tower under an agreement with the Town since April of 2000. The
most notable services performed under this contract include the exterior and interior painting of
the tower. The contract price increase has raised the annual fee to $28,533, which is above the
$25,000 limit set by the Town's procurement policy. We believe it is time to terminate this
contract and look for alternative approaches to provide these services. The contract must be
cancelled by December 22, 2016, which is 90 days before the anniversary date or the term of the
contract automatically renews for a period of one year.
Commission Discussion:
Discussion ensued amongst the Town Commission regarding the cancellation of the contract
with Utility Service Group; there was a consensus to place this item on the Consent Agenda for
December 1St
B) Updates to the Personnel Rules and Regulations.
Town Manager Brown — There are a number of changes that have to be made to the Personnel
Rules and Regulations. They are as follows:
o Outside employment — Exclude vacation leave and include compassionate leave to the
prohibitions regarding outside employment;
o Payroll information—Provide Town Manager with authority to establish and on-call policy;
o Payroll information—Establish procedures for Longevity Pay; and
o Employee Development and Welfare—Delete Section 5 regarding the Education Incentive
Program.
Commission Discussion:
Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes
Tuesday,November 24,2015 Pate 4 of 7
Comm. Feldman — I would like to review the entire personnel rules and regulations and hold a
workshop meeting to discuss further.
Vice Mayor Weitz — I am in agreement with Comm. Feldman. I have some concerns about the
on-call policy. Does this mean they will have an increase in their salary if they are simply
carrying a beeper as opposed to being called in for duty? Town Manager Brown — If they are
scheduled to be on-call, they would be given a slight two (2%) percent increase for that time
period. Vice Mayor Weitz— I have no problem if you are on-call, get called in and you have to
attend to Town business. I cannot support somebody that is simply on a call roster who never
gets called in getting an increase in pay. It is part of their supervisory responsibility to be on-call
and carry a beeper.
Comm. Stern—I concur with Comm. Feldman and recommend that we have a meeting where we
can all speak as a group to review the Personnel Rules and Regulations.
Comm. Zelniker — We discussed some of these changes during the budget process. We should
say yes to these items, read the entire policy, and then go back to the Commission with whatever
changes we wish to make.
Town Manager Brown—The on-call policy could be eliminated, but I would like you to approve
the other three items. We will schedule a workshop in January to go over the entire personnel
policy.
Discussion ensued regarding an employee on bereavement leave who was found working for
another employer. This employee was given a warning. Consensus was the employee should
have been terminated. Town Manager Brown indicated that this was not in the personnel rules at
the time and the reason why it is being added to the policy, as it would present a strong basis for
termination.
Consensus was to place this item, exclusive of Article VII (Outside Employment), on the
Consent Agenda for December 1 st
C) Discussion regarding Contracting done with the Town for Major Projects when amount
exceeds a certain amount of dollars.
Vice Mayor Weitz—Our Town will soon be asked to sign major contracts such as the water and
sewer project and the Fire Department, which will involve serious money. Many towns have
specific departments in their town to handle purchasing and contracts, which involves high levels
of legal input. Our current law firm has people who are specifically involved with contracts. Do
these people get involved when we have these major contracts rather than utilizing our own
personnel who may not have the experience to get involved in these multi-million dollar
contracts? I would like to have some type of discussion and perhaps an action, at the appropriate
time, ensuring that when we have contracts exceeding a certain amount of dollars that the proper
people are involved from the onset of the project.
Town Attorney Torcivia—It depends on the level of the contracts. An example would be the fire
contract with Delray Beach. Fin. Dir. Curtis, Town Manager Brown and I have worked very
closely together on this. We met with the City of Delray Beach several times and they have had
Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes
Tuesday,November 24,2015 Paee 5 of 7
many internal questions as to whether they were going with Palm Beach County or themselves.
They have not been very responsive. We received a revised draft contract just yesterday. We
looked into several other communities that provide fire rescue services and talked about a beach
district of the communities along the beach front. One of the towns has a Request for Proposal
(RFP)to look into this. Town Manager Brown has talked to Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and the
County. We have all been involved with the fire contract,but until we are satisfied with what we
have received from Delray we will not bring it to you. If we can get some competition, we may
have a better negotiating leverage.
Vice Mayor Weitz — I have read many things in the newspaper about the Delray Beach Fire
Department that concerns me such as pay, stations not being up-to-date, equipment and
personnel. I just want to make sure that our legal team plays an active role in the actual
negotiations.
Town Attorney Torcivia — My law firm has several excellent contract attorneys who have been
involved with contract negotiations for the Town of Highland Beach.
Town Manager Brown — We have never submitted a contract to the Commission without first
going to the Town Attorney.
The Commission agreed that our Town Attorney is doing an excellent job in representing the
Town of Highland Beach and the taxpayer's money.
7. MISCELLANEOUS—ITEMS LEFT OVER:
A) Minutes:
• October 27, 2915 —Workshop Meeting
• November 03, 2015 —Regular Meeting
Consensus was to place this item on the Consent Agenda for December 1St
8. REPORTS—TOWN COMMISSION:
A) Commissioner Rhoda Zelniker—Public Works Director Soper gave an excellent presentation at
the Regency Highland Condominium. I would also like to thank Interim Library Director Suzi
Hayes for doing an excellent job in the Library. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
B) Commissioner Feldman — There was an article in the Coastal Star that almost looked like we
took money from the Children's Program, which we didn't. I spoke to the reporter and it
happened to be worded improperly. If the Friends of the Library are going to change their mode
of operations other than the programs they are doing, does the Commission feel they should come
to us to be aware of the changes?
C) Commissioner Stern —Light up the Holidays is on Monday, December 7th at 4:45 PM. Safe and
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes
Tuesday,November 24,2015 Paze 6 of 7
D) Vice Mayor Weitz — I also would like to wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. In
response to Comm. Feldman's question regarding the Friends of the Library, I believe they should
go through the Library Director for any changes or programs they are proposing. If they feel it
has merit, then they could bring it to the Commission if they need approval in terms of funding or
policy changes. Regarding the article in the Coastal Star, the Library budget submitted was
approved in total.
E) Mayor Featherman —A Happy Thanksgiving to all. Received and read into the record an email
from Peggy Gossett Seidman of Intracoastal Dr. (attached as Exhibit "A") regarding the
construction beginning before 8:00 AM, and disturbing the peace and quiet of her neighborhood.
This goes against our Town Code of Ordinances.
9. REPORTS—TOWN ATTORNEY GLEN TORCIVIA:
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
10. REPORTS—TOWN MANAGER BEVERLY BROWN:
We are making arrangements to have Public Works Director Soper's power point presentation on the
water project broadcast on Channel 99. There have been many complaints by residents regarding cars
not stopping at the crosswalks, and asked if we could install blinking lights. I have been in contact
with several companies to find out the cost and what it would entail with Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT). The qualifying period ended today, and Commissioner Feldman is the only
candidate we have for Commissioner for next year. There will be no election next year and we will
provide a resolution stating this. We had an automatic handicapped door installed at the Library. We
are looking into the cost of one for the Town Hall building. Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels to
all.
11. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS RELATED TO AGENDA ITEMS DISCUSSED AT
MEETING ONLY:
Carl Gehman, 1123 Highland Beach Dr. — We have a great Town Commission. Happy Holidays to
all.
Robert Klunt, 3912 S. Ocean Blvd. — The flashing lights are a good idea at the crosswalks. I feel the
Police Department should give citations to those who do not yield at the crosswalks. I don't believe I
have seen this done. Mayor Featherman — I spoke with the Police Department, and they have
informed me that tickets have been issued to motorists as well as bicyclists who do not stop at the
crosswalks.
Police Chief Craia Hartmann — Our officers do give warnings and write citations. We cover the
crosswalks on a regular basis. Vice Mayor Weitz—Do you feel it would be beneficial to have flashing
signs at the entrance of the town stating that vehicles must stop at pedestrian crosswalks? Police Chief
Hartmann—We have looked into this over the years. AIA is under the jurisdiction of FDOT. There is
Bernard Featherman
From: PEGGY <p7eg@earthlink net>
Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2015 4:32 PM
To: Bernard Featherman;William Weitz; Lou P. Stern;Carl Feldman; Rhoda Zelniker
Subject Fw:Work hours
EMAIL#6 CONSTRUCTION BEGINNING TOO EARLY AT 7-7:15 A.M. FOR 3 WEEKS. PHOTO TO FOLLOW.
----Original Message--
From: Beverly Brown
Sent: Monday, November 23,2015 9:17 AM
To: Peg
Subject: RE:Work hours
Peg-The contractor has been reminded of the time notifications and in addition, I will have the Police check in the
morning.
Beverly
Beverly M. Brown, MMC
Town Manager
Town of Highland Beach, FL. 33487
561-278-4548
bbrown@ci.highland-beach.fl.us
Please be advised that under Florida Law, emails and email addresses are public records. If you do not want your email
address released in response to a public records request,do not send electronic mail to this entity.
----Original Message—
From: Peg[mailto:g7ee@earthlink.netl
Sent: Monday, November 23,2015 7:48 AM
To:Carol Holland; Michael G. Desorcy
Cc: Beverly Brown; Bernard Featherman; Ron Brown
Subject:Work hours
Hello Everyone,the job site workers at 4308 Intracoastal Drive are routinely starting work before 8 a.m.most days.
Usually they start at 7:15.
Please advise them of the 8 a.m.start time.They were hammering forms two weeks ago,pouring cement from trucks
and unloading scaffolding last week,and now unloading CBS in the street today beginning at 7:15 a.m.
The backup alarm on the trucks and bobcats are obnoxious and workers are noisy,and we have all three kids home for
holidays being awaken by this earlier than is necessary.
Thank you very much. Peggy Gossett-Seidman and Barry Seidman MD
1
Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes
Tuesday,November 24,2015 Paee 7 of 7
a large cost factor involved and a study would have to be done to determine whether or not the signs
would be warranted.
Myles Schlam, 3600 S. Ocean Blvd. — It is important that the rules be specific in terms of outside
employment so there is not another reoccurrence of what happened with the aforementioned
employee. Also, I am involved with contract negotiations for my Condominium Association and
would be happy to volunteer my services if needed. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
Edward Neidich, 4740 S. Ocean Blvd. — We have an extraordinary Commission in this Town and am
fortunate to be living in Highland Beach. Our Police Department does an excellent job in protecting
our Town. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
12. ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Featherman called for a
motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 2:37 PM.
MOTION: Vice Mayor Weitz moved to adjourn the regular meeting at 2:37 PM. Motion was
seconded by Commissioner Stern,which passed unanimously.
APPROVED:
Bernard Featherman,Mayor CI Feldman, Commissioner
William Weitz, Vice Mayor oda Zelniker, C mi sioner
o P. Stern, 7 ommissioner
ATTEST:
� )CdJAA,-t
Valerie Oakes, CMC, Town Clerk Date