2008.10.28_TC_Minutes_WorkshopTOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH
MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION MEETING
WORKSHOP MEETING
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 1.30 P M
Mayor Jim Newill, CPA called the Workshop Meeting to order in Commission Chambers at
1:30 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER:
Roll Call: Members present:. Mayor Jim Newill, CPA; Vice Mayor Miriam S. Zwick;
Commissioner Doris M. Trinley; Commissioner John J. Sorrelli; and Commissioner John J.
Pagliaro. Also present: Town Attorney Tom Sliney; Town Manager Dale S. Sugerman; Town
Clerk Beverly M. Brown; and members of the public.
Pledge of Allegiance: The Pledge of Allegiance was given, followed by a minute of silence in
honor of members of the military, both living and deceased.
Civility Pledge: The Civility Pledge was recited by the Town Clerk.
1. ADDITIONS, DELETIONS OR ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA
• Agenda accepted as presented.
• Town Manager Sugerman requested a personal privilege in introducing a new staff
member. At this time he introduced Janice Moore the new Deputy Town Clerk. Janice
comes to the Town with prior experience in municipal government and will be an asset
to the Town. Please stop by and introduce yourself to her.
2. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS
Joseph Asselta - Casurina Condo; S. Ocean Blvd.
Bond Issue - I am not opposed to it, but the time to increase taxes is not right now. You do
not increase taxes or debt service during a recession. Our assessed values recently went
down a lh billion dollars. Shifting the debt from the water plant to taxes is not a good idea
right now. Please do not put us in debt voting yes.
George Kelvin -Brae Mar Isle, Boca Highlands
Milani Park - We have plans in Town Hall that are available to all the residents, but not
many review them. Can they be hung on the wall in the Chambers? With the upcoming
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election, can each candidate make a five minute speech and broadcast it and re-broadcast it
on Channel 19 rather than having signs posted all over the Town?
Dennis Sheridan -Monterey House, 3114 S. Ocean Blvd.
Would like to speak on Agenda Item 6A -Renaissance, LLC, as an extremely interested
neighbor. Would like to ask the Commission to approve these plans without any further
delay, as they have been held up for several months due to lack of quorums by Town
Boards. Please give final approval at your next regular meeting.
3. PRESENTATIONS
Town Mana er Sugerman presented the power point presentation he has been presenting
to interested residents regarding the upcoming referendum questions.
Mayor Newill stated that the Commission is not telling people to vote yes or no. It is up to
the individual voter.
4. BOARDS AND COMIVIITTEES
A) Board Correspondence
• None
B) Board Action Report
• None
C) Board Vacancies
Cultural Board - 3-Year Term
Elizabeth Eidelson of 4222 S. Ocean Blvd. Town Clerk Brown stated that Ms.
Eidelson called and due to weather her flight was delayed and she would not able
to make the meeting. Mayor Newill requested that it be rescheduled until next
month.
D) Monthly Board Meetings
• Beaches & Shores Advisory -Nov. 10th -Regular - 9:30 A.M
• Planning Board -Nov. 12th -Regular - 9:30 A.M.
• Bd. of Adjustment -Nov. 18th -Regular - 9:30 A.M
• Code Enforcement Board -Nov. 19th -Regular - 9:30 A.M.
• Cultural Advisory -Nov. 20th -Regular - 9:30 A.M
5. PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
• ORDINANCE N0.08-003 0 -Second Reading
AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA
ESTABLISHING AND REVISING THE EXISTING RATES FOR SOLID WASTE
AND RECYLCING COLLECTION SERVICES, AND PROVIDING FOR AN
EFFECTIVE DATE.
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Mayor Newill opened the public hearing. Receiving no comments, the public hearing was
closed. Commission Discussion -None. It will be scheduled for the final hearing and
adoption at the November 4, 2008 Town Commission Meeting.
• RESOLUTION N0.08-010 R
A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN COMMISSION OF THE TOWN OF
HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA AMENDING RESOLUTION NO. 07-013 R
WHICH APPROPRIATED FUNDS FOR THE 2007-2008 FISCAL YEAR WHICH
BEGAN OCTOBER 1, 2007 AND ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2008.
Town Manaeer Su eg_rman -The Town's fiscal year ended on September 30, 2008,
however, the books are kept open for the next 60 days to allow for any outstanding bills to
come in and be paid out of last year's budget. We will officially close those books
completely by the end of the next month. As we get to the final closing, we go through the
budget and adjust the bottom line for any department that has come in overspent for the
year. I am very pleased to advise the Commission that, other than costs associated with the
Voluntary Early Retirement Program (VERP) no operating department overspent its
budget. Because of the one-time cost of the VERP, we do have to make an adjustment to
the three operating budgets of the Town Clerk, Finance and Building Departments. These
increases in appropriations are offset by a decrease in expenses in other operating
departments of the General Fund that have under spent their budget. The net effect of the
re-appropriation of these funds is $0.00. The resolution only moves money from one
portion of the General Fund to another portion of the General Fund. Overall, it still
remains fully balanced. The resolution is being introduced at the Workshop meeting so
that we can have the Commission discuss the proposal and ask any questions. If the
concept meets with your general approval, we can move this topic over to the Consent
Agenda for the meeting of November 4`~.
Move to November 4~', 2008 consent agenda.
6. NEW BUSINESS
A) Consideration of Approval of the Site Plan for the Highland Beach Renaissance,
LLC
Town Mana egLr Su erman - On September 22, 2008, the Planning Board, on a 7-0 vote,
granted their approval for the construction of a 7 story, 15 unit condominiums at 3200 S.
Ocean Blvd. 'They have transmitted their recommendation to the Commission. Site plan
review for any multi-family structure, is regulated under Section 30-37 of the Town Code.
With the transmittal of the recommendation by the Planning Board, the first five steps of
Section 30-37 have now been completed. This application is now at Step 6 of the process.
The Town Commission must approve, approve with conditions, or deny the application for
site plan review. The process of considering the site plan application is also governed by
Section 30-46 of the Town Code. Subsection (9) says: "Public notice for ...town
commission public hearings to consider multifamily...site plan approvals...may be
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required by the town commission. " The purpose of this agenda item is to determine if the
Town Commission wishes to hold a public hearing on this site plan application, or if you
wish to consider the site plan application without holding a public hearing (done with a
simple motion, second, discussion and a vote). As a matter of full disclosure, within the last
24 hours, one issue of clarification has arose. How the applicant calculated the width of the
building. The way they have calculated the width is not imbedded in their plans. I met with
them this morning and have asked them to do so. Note -the Board of Adjustment has also
granted a height variance. We believe this project is ready to move forward.
Architect Derrick Vander Ploee stated that he would put together a chart to explain to the
new Building Official how the set backs on the four sides were determined.
Discussion: Commissioner Trinlev - If the width calculation is approved, we need to go
forward with the simple motion. Vice Mavor Zwick -Will the Building Official need to
approve? Town Attorney Sliney - We can still schedule it on the agenda for the November
4th meeting. If there is no agreement, we can put it off. This is a new wrinkle, but does not
prevent us from going forward. Commissioner Sorrelli - We need to move forward with
this project. Mavor Newill - If the Building Official does not agree with the calculations,
who will it be sent back to? Attorney Sliney - If he does not concur with the figures, we
would be talking a variance. Mayor Newill -Would like to stay with a public hearing
regardless. Have heard comments that the resident did not have any say when Toscana was
built. Comm. Trinlev -Toscana was a different ball game. The construction was required
due to a court order. Evidently those people do not know the history. Attorney Sliney -
This item should be scheduled on the 11/4/08 agenda. If you change your opinion, then
you can schedule a public hearing.
B) Approval of Granting An Easement to BellSouth Telecommunications and
Authorizing the Mayor to Sign the Same
Town Mana er Su eg rman -Although Florida Power and Light has completed all of their
underground work on the grounds of the Town Hall complex, their concrete poles still
remain in place because BellSouth Telecommunications (AT&T) has not been able to
remove their lines from these poles. BellSouth Telecommunications will be taking their
overhead lines underground, but in order to do so, they will need the granting of an
easement from the Town. All relocation costs will be born by either FPL or AT&T. The
easement documents have been reviewed by the Town Attorney and they are supportive of
what is contained therein. The memo from Public Works Director Jack Lee states that the
language in the easement provides for all of the necessary protections for the Town. If the
Commission finds everything in order, we can advance this item to the Consent Agenda for
the November 4`'' Meeting.
Move to November 4~', 2008 consent agenda.
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7) MISCELLANEOUS -ITEMS LEFT OVER
Minutes:
September 26, 2008 -Budget Public Hearing
September 29, 2008 -Workshop Meeting
October 7, 2008 -Regular Meeting
October 14, 2008 -Attorney-Client Private Session
Moved to 11/4/2008 consent agenda.
8. REPORTS -TOWN COMMISSION
• Commissioner John Pagliaro - No report.
• Commissioner Sorrelli - No report.
• Commissioner Trinley - No report.
• Vice Mayor Zwick - Would like to apologize for being unable to stand for the Pledge
of Allegiance. Recently had surgery and was unable to rise out of the chair. In
addition, would like to thank the Commission, staff, and residents for their phone
calls and cards.
• Mayor Newill - On Monday, I held the second "Coffee with the Mayor," and it went
quite well. Residents that attended had both good questions and ideas. I am in the
process of scheduling another one for January.
9. REPORTS -TOWN ATTORNEY
No report.
10. REPORTS -TOWN MANAGER
December 30~' Workshop Meeting: The last Tuesday in December will be the 30`t'. Do not
know if anyone will be out of Town at this time, but we typically do not have a lot of
business at this workshop meeting. Does the Commission want to leave it scheduled, move
it to another day or cancel it completely?
Consensus was to cancel. -Will move to November 4t1i, 2008 consent agenda.
Update on Police Chief Selection: I received 105 applications for this position. After I
reviewed the applications, I shared with the Commission the 26 who met all the
qualifications. I asked the Commission to pick their top 10 and once I receive all your
responses will prepare another list. Do not know at what number the Commission wants to
draw the line. Under the Charter, I have the responsibility to rank the finalist and then give
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this ranking to the Commission. It will then be up to the Commission to determine how
many they want to interview.
11. CONSENT AGENDA
None
12. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS RELATED TO ITEMS DISCUSSED AT
MEETING
Felix Goldonson -Seagate
Why do we have to pay for the two water lines at this time? Where will the money come
from? Why is the Commission not taking a stance? You must have agreed in order to put
it on the ballot.
Manor Newill - If the referendums pass, we will review all types of financing.
13. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Newill adjourned
the Workshop Meeting at 2:25 P.M. upon a MOTION by Commissioner Sorrelli seconded
by Vice Mayor Zwick.
APPROV ~
Jim ill, CPA, ayor