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2016.02.04_TC_Minutes_Workshop TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION MEETING WORKSHOP MEETING Thursday, February 4, 2016 9:30 AM 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; Finance Director Cale Curtis; Public Works Director Edward J. Soper 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. Item 6B—Commissioner Feldman requested a discussion regarding the fire contract. Hearing no further additions,the agenda was accepted as amended. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS: None. 3. NEW BUSINESS• A) Discussion on the Town's Personnel Rules & Regulations Policy Town Manager Brown read the various items requested by the Commission. Consensus was to discuss each item separately. Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Thursday, February 4,2016 Paae 2 of 8 • Salaries of Commissioners and Mayor: By consensus, the Town Commissioner agreed to not increase their salary. • Elected Officers' Class of Federal Retirement System (FRS): Commissioner Feldman — A Resolution was adopted in 2009 (09-016 R) regarding the Commissioner's Retirement Fund. I am suggesting that any new elected official not be part of the retirement fund since it is costing the Town $26,630 per year. It cannot be cancelled on existing Commissioners, but for new elected officials it should not be an option to join this fund. Vice Mayor Weitz — I am all for saving the Town money but the Commissioners are considered employees, and all employees are in this retirement system. We work very hard, do not receive a large salary, and pay taxes. Therefore, we should not be penalized for this. I cannot support this. Commissioner Stern— I agree with the Vice Mayor. We are not getting many dollars, and did not ask for an increase in salary. It is not fair to ask us to work as we do, and not receive this benefit. Commissioner Zelniker— I am in agreement with Comm. Feldman. I am a public servant and serve the people because I want to, and not for the money. I already have a retirement fund. The money could be spent towards the community. Vice Mayor Weitz — It is not fair to say that because you are financially stable, somebody that would like to run for office in the future may not be. The bottom line is that we are paying taxes, and I don't feel we should not be able to participate in this fund. Comm. Stern— If the Town is contributing over $26,000 per year, why is there a much smaller amount shown on my FRS statement? Finance Director Curtis — (Provided an explanation on how the retirement system works, and how the money contributed by the Town is distributed). While the Town contributes almost forty percent (40%) of your salary, the actual amount that hits your account is closer to six percent (6%). Comm. Feldman — The amount of money we are getting back is minimal compared to what the amount of money the Town is putting in, which is quite a bit. We cannot opt out of this retirement fund, but any future officials should not be able to enter into this fund. Fin. Dir. Curtis — In my conversations with the Florida Retirement System, it was an irrevocable decision to enter that class of employment. I don't believe the Commission could take a collective action to restrict a future Commissioner's right to enter the FRS. That decision would have to be made individually by that future Commissioner, I believe within the first six months of his or hers appointment. Comm. Feldman — If a Commission voted this in the year 2009, I can't see legally why it can't be voted out. Town Attorney Torcivia—I will research to see if that is possible. Fin. Dir. Curtis— There are two types of plans: the investment plan, which is one year of service, and the defined benefit plan, which is vested in eight years of service. Vice Mayor Weitz—At the time this Resolution was adopted, it appears that it was in response to the Florida State Legislative providing this option to all municipalities and towns within the Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Thursday, February 4,2016 Paste 3 of 8 State of Florida. This resolution affirms that the Town understood the law existed, and we could participate. I don't believe that for future elected officials the Town can say yea or nay. It is up to the elected official if they want to participate. Fin. Dir. Curtis—There are ways that an individual Commissioner can opt out of receiving a retirement benefit. Town Manager Brown—Does the Commission want the Town Attorney to research this, since there were three against Comm. Feldman's suggestion to opt out of the retirement fund? Fin. Dir. Curtis — All future officials should be made aware of the cost of the system to the Town, as well as compared to the benefit that they will receive. It may not make sense to participate in the retirement fund. The Town Attorney and Finance Director will research options for opting out of the Elected Officials classification. • Discussion on Salary and Compensation Study: Vice Mayor Weitz — The salary and review study that was done in 2013 is completely non- applicable to this Town. The study included surrounding towns that were large metropolitan type communities with large populations, services and staffing. The study used the wrong groups and measures. Comm. Feldman — When this study was presented to the Commission, they agreed that it was in line with the other towns. Salaries were not raised or lowered with this study. Comm. Zelniker — Cody & Associates prepared this study, and they made an evaluation without considering any of the benefits we give our employees. Comm. Stern—Cody& Associates were not asked to consider benefits. They were asked to do the range of competitive salaries in competitive towns. I thought the range was exactly on the mark. Discussion ensued regarding the validity of the study, the surrounding towns, and whether or not is was applicable to Highland Beach. It was the feeling of some of the Commissioners that benefit packages should have been included in this study for a true comparison of employee salaries. • Job Descriptions: Discussion ensued regarding the level of education and work experience qualifications for Town employees. Degrees are very important, as are years of work experience, but should be a combination of both. This discussion was not about present employees, but for future employees. It was agreed that the present employees are very well qualified for their positions, and in some cases be encouraged to further their education to meet the future education requirements. Commission will review all job descriptions to possibly increase the minimum education qualifications for future employment. Each department will be reviewed separately. The Building Department will be reviewed at the next workshop meeting. Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Thursday, February 4,2016 Page 4 of 8 • Time Clocks: Town Manager Brown— I am in the process of receiving quotes on different systems and will provide them to the Commission for their review and direction. • Annual Credit Card Spending: Comm. Feldman — Why are we not receiving points for the money we are spending on the credit cards? Fin. Dir. Curtis— I am currently working with some of the banks we use at this time to implement a rewards system program. Some banks are offering anywhere from one percent (1%) to one and one-half percent (1-1/2%) cash bank. Comm. Feldman stated that Capital One is offering two percent (2%). Fin. Dir. Curtis— I will get a program in place very soon. • Employee Benefits: Comm. Zelniker — (Read Member Ed Kornfeld's report from the Financial Advisory Board meeting of August 20, 2015 regarding the cost of employee benefits). I feel there needs to be a discussion regarding the health care insurance for the Town, and we should have quotes from three different health plan insurance companies. Fin. Dir. Curtis — The health insurance market is a very fluid market, and the rates change dramatically from month to month. Our medical insurance is set to renew each July. Our health insurance is a very good plan,but a very expensive plan. Discussion ensued regarding an employee who has Medicare coverage. The Town's health insurance plan is the primary provider, and Medicare is the secondary. Fin. Dir. Curtis—I will conduct a research to see if Medicare is a primary or secondary provider. Vice Mayor Weitz—Could we present several different types of health plans to the employees, and is there any way we can put the onus on the employee to choose their own plan rather than have the Commission decide? Town Manager Brown — The previous Town Manager, Dale Sugarman presented this idea (referred to as the Cafeteria Plan) to the Commission, and they rejected the idea. We could look into this again for the future. Fin. Dir. Curtis — I am asking the Commission to give me some direction as to the amount an employee will pay each month for dependent coverage. Then we can show the employee what each plan will cost them. At this time, the Town fully covers the employee, and then subsidizes dependent coverage anywhere from ten to fifteen percent. Any amount you increase that the employee pays towards health insurance coverage is going to be a reduction in their pay. My suggestion is to look for a less costly plan so as not to impact the employee's salary. Vice Mayor Weitz — It should not be on the Commission to decide. The employees should be given a choice of plans, and they can decide how much they want to pay towards it. In June, the Town Manager and Finance Director will present the renewal rate; competing plans from the existing provider, competitor plans, health savings plan and cafeteria plan options to the Commission. Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Thursday,February 4,2016 Pace 5 of 8 B) Discussion on Delray Fire Contract. Comm. Feldman— (Referred to an article in the Sun Sentinel regarding the fire contract). One of the main features not reported in the article was the fact that Delray came to Highland Beach with a contract in December of 2015, and we accepted the contract they gave us. Delray is stating that we have not fulfilled our contract obligations, which we have. In the new contract they presented to us, we agreed to purchase a new fire truck and a new ambulance through the City of Delray Beach. By Delray Beach taking our payments for the fire truck and ambulance, they were saving thousands of dollars on their own. The article went on to say that if the Fire Chief wants to put seven people on the truck, she would send the bill to Highland Beach. They keep changing. We signed a contract in good will. Our attorney went over the contract with a fine tooth comb. His firm went over the contract with a fine tooth comb. We accepted it, and then it went back to Delray Beach. Now all of a sudden they are saying that they want $800,000 a year, which is more than twenty percent (20%). We are being taken advantage of and should look elsewhere. There are other options such as going with the County or form our own. When another town puts our feet to the fire as Delray Beach did, it is a very unfair situation. I also believe there could be some legal ramifications because we were given a contract by the provider. We signed the contract in good will and once they received our signature, they thought they had us. It was even said that Highland Beach is going to benefit more and we can't do without them, and that Highland Beach likely needs the contract more than Delray Beach does. They also made a comment "because they are a rich town". I find that offensive. We were paying for our service, willing to continue to pay for our service and willing to buy new equipment and purchase it through Delray Beach. Suddenly they have completely changed it by making it look like we are the bad guys. We were not the bad guys. We did everything Delray Beach has asked us to do, and now they are coming out with this report that it looks like we are breaking the contract. Vice Mayor Weitz — Both Delray Beach and Highland Beach belong to the Florida League lower costs buying major capital expenditures. They work together, meet and discuss ways of improving their cities, and learning information from other towns and cities as to how to improve their own operations. It dismays me to see the city of Delray Beach, which has its own internal problems as indicated in the newspapers with their fire department and the status of their fire stations and underpaid staff, try to essentially put a gun to our head in terms of trying to get additional financial support way above and beyond the contract, which they provided to us to sign. We had expenditures, our lawyer and our staff who reviewed the contract over and over again. We went through this with their personnel, the Fire Chief, their attorneys and some of their management people. They knew what they were doing. If they didn't have direction from their commissioners, shame on them. Then they come back and suggest that we weren't paying our fair share. We are buying and leasing the vehicles on the same terms we can get independently. It is our fire station, and we pay for all the upgrades and all the provisions of the facility. We pay the personnel costs. Anything they have asked us to do in terms of upgrading the fire station and paying the personnel, we have done. We have given them the privilege of using our equipment and the personnel to support their functions when they have ancillary needs, which is being increasingly utilized by Delray on trips out of town. As far as I am concerned, it is nothing but an attempt by unfortunately a sister city to utilize Highland Beach resources to cover their own internal mismanagement and their debts. I would be against any further discussions with them about this. I would encourage the Town Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Thursday, February 4,2016 Page 6 of 8 Manager to investigate other possibilities with Palm Beach County, or setting up our own internal fire department. This is one time I believe that the Town Manager, if you put out a call for employees for the Highland Beach Fire Department, you will see the Boca Raton and Delray Beach fire personnel move over here. You will have more people here then you could imagine. We will not have a shortage of applicants. It is unfortunate, and I hope that we can work better with the City of Delray Beach in the future, but I think that they have worked under some pretty shady terms that are disappointing. Comm. Stern — By point of clarification, the commissioners were sort of put under the gun. They have a gentleman in the town by the name of Kenneth Macnemy who wrote a letter many months ago to the Commission telling them they should not stay involved with the Town of Highland Beach with the fire. He then wrote a new one this past week prior to their meeting, and sent it to every publication(Sun Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Boca Magazine, etc.) outlining pages of the fact that what they are doing, they cannot work at a zero profit, and that is what they have been doing for the past 10 years. I don't buy it, of course. He goes on to say "I am tired of hearing this Commission saying we don't have money; we are broke; have no money to complete the sidewalks and went on and on about what the town is in need of. We can't subsidize Highland Beach." He was front and center at this meeting controlling the commissioners, shaking his head yes, shaking his head no and telling them what he wanted. We have people like that in our town as well. I say we have to go out on our own. We have the fire house which is completely refurbished. After giving them a contract for 3.3 or 3.4 million dollars, they want twenty percent more (20%) some $600,000 or better. We only have an 11 million dollar budget. If we can successfully run our own Police Department at three million dollars, I do believe we can put together a fire department here in our town. Comm. Zelniker — I am outraged at this behavior and the unprofessional way that the Delray Beach Commission handled this entire situation. They say they have had zero profit over the years. Show me the money. Put down on a list what have you paid for that we haven't paid for. They did us a favor. As commissioners, why would they listen to somebody? We are all commissioners here, and there is no way we listen to everybody. We try to use the best judgement for our town. As far as I am concerned, they lost 3.3 million dollars. We have 3.5 million dollars budgeted at this time,we will run our own fire department. The future residents of Highland Beach can be assured that they live in the safest, best town ever. My feeling is we have to go out on our own. They did this with a year and a half before our contract runs out, and I believe they are unmoral and unethical people. Mayor Featherman — I agree with everything that has been said, but I feel very bad about it because we have been working with Delray Beach and they are a very fine town. I was very concerned about what Vice Mayor Petrolia said that we are primarily a wealthy people. That has nothing to do with it. We are existing because we are cutting our costs back, which we did this past year. We have a water main project going through for five million dollars so we are not that wealthy. I do not think it is befitting for a commissioner to make a comment like that. Delray Beach is a nice town and we have enjoyed dealing with them, and I would like to see us continue to deal with them but not at this arrangement. We agreed on everything they wanted. Comm. Feldman — I would like to reiterate the fact that a contract was presented to Highland Beach by Delray Beach. The Fire Chief came here and pitched it, we agreed to it, and we signed it. In business, when someone presents you with a contract and you sign it, they are Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Thursday,February 4,2016 Pate 7 of 8 under some obligation. We went through the expense of going through this contract, having multiple meetings on the contract, and we bit the bullet and accepted it. For them to come back at this point and say you have accepted it, and now we are really going to jam it to you, it is incorrect and immoral. I feel just as my fellow commissioners do, even if it costs us more money we should have our own fire department or look into other fire departments. Town Manager, I believe every year Delray Beach has increased their fee by a minimum of ten percent (10%). Town Manager Brown — I don't believe it is ten percent, but there is an increase by the GPI every single year plus the salary. Comm. Feldman — I request that the Town Attorney send a letter of cost to Delray Beach which the Town has incurred when they breached the contract. Town Attorney Torcivia— We have been negotiating with Delray in good faith for more than a year and a half. This agreement covered all of their administrative cost, and Delray was not losing any amount of money on this. They were covering all of their overhead, and I don't understand what kind of good faith negotiation that is with a sister city. I will look into what claims we may have against Delray. Comm. Stern — If we do establish our own Fire Department, we have a spending capital limit of$350,000. 1 don't know if we could create our own fire department for those dollars. Do we need to think about a referendum for August? Town Attorney Torcivia — This is not a new service but a continuation of an existing service. I will investigate whether a referendum is needed. There are three viable options: the private sector, your own, or contracting with another government agency which Town Manager Brown and I are looking into. 4. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS RELATED TO AGENDA ITEMS DISCUSSED AT MEETING ONLY: None. Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes Thursday,February 4,2016 Paze 8 of 8 5. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Featherman called for a motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 11:50 AM. MOTION: Commissioner Feldman moved to adjourn the regular meeting at 11:50 AM. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Stern, which passed unanimously. APPROVED: J�6 &'LZA A Bernard Featherman, Mayor Carl Feldman, Commissioner William Weitz, Vice Nfayor om . Stern, Cofninissioner oda Zelniker, issioner ATTEST: U&4� y �S. Valerie Oakes, CMC, Town Clerk Date