1991.01.29_TC_Minutes_Regular~. -
- ~r
TOWN QF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA -
h1i nutES of MEeti ng of Town Commission
WORKSHOR MEETING
TuESda •_~anuar~ 29 1991 1:3C1 R.M.
Mayor, Joseph A. Baulay called the Wor~kshap Meeting of the Town Cammis-
sion of the Town of Highland Beach, Florida, to order in the Commission
rhamber'~s at Town Ha11 at 1:3Q R.M. GthEr•M in attendance were Vice Mayor.
Bi 1 1 Raul , Commissioners Mar~vi n A. Waldman, Betty JEan Stewart and
Harold C. Chambers.
Also present were Tawn Attorney Thomas E. S1inEy, Town Manager Mary Ann
Mar'•iano, Toarn C1er•k Anne 1+4. Kowals and members of the gEneral public.
ADD T O S DEL T ONS OR CCEPTA O A NDA
It alas the consensus of the Taa1n Commi ssi an to ,accept the Agenda as
written.
91.1 PUBLIC ~Q~IMENTS AND REQUESTS
Mayas Boul ay, noting this t~1ar•kshap M19eeti ng i s being te1 evi sed 1 i vE,
reminded the public that the videotape of this Meeting wi11 be replayed
• on Friday, February a1, i99i at 1:3Q R.M. The Mayas, fur~ther~ Hating
"E1ECtian Filing" began this date at Haan, advised he wi11 cut off any
elECtianeering at this Workshop Meeting.
Mr~. ,_iahn Rand of 4211 Intracoastal Drive read a statement into the
P9inutES (copy of which is attached to and made a part of these Minutes)
at this blorkshop Meeting.
hlrs . Evelyn Houck of 1 Q23 Russel 1 Dr•i ve, nati rig she was invaded by the
public mai 1 with a 1 ettEr• stamped with the Hi gh1 anti Beach Letterhead i n
a Highland BEach envelope, que•stiaped ~vhy this was allowed to be sent
undRwr• the auspices of the Toaln. Mrs. Houck stated it was a cheap shot,
(not only the contents} the athale thing alas absalutEly terrible; and,
Mrs. Hauck further .stated that she wished someone would apologize for.
sending this to the public at large.
Mr. Leonard BE11 of 2727 South Gcean 6aulevard advised that he also
received said letter, signed by Harald who signed it as both a To~ron C~m-
mi s•si ones and as a candidate) prababl y i n vi of ati an of the 1 aa~s . Mr .
E,e11 advised that he also objects to the letter which he thinks is very
political, it appears to use our Town Seal - it uses our Town signature
and all our elected officials; it appears to have been de1ibEratE1y done
this a~ay . Mr. BEl 1 questi aned i f this was 1 egal l y car•r•ect; i s i t
morally and Ethically cor•r•ECt; is it an attempt to mislead the voters of
Highland Beach, h1r. Bell quEStionEd hoar he can pursue thesE questions
with our Town Counsel legally and cor~rect1y, as a citizen. Mr•. Be11
• advised that hE intends to have quite a fEw of his friEnds join him in
that pur•sui t to sEE i f i t i s legally correct , Ethical 1 y correct and
rnar•a11 y carr•ect.
4
Tawn Cammis~sion Workshop Meeting Minutes
~Januar'•y 29, 1991
~Fage 2 of 6
Town Attorney S•liney, noting we ar•e in ~ political season, stated he has
alwayM taken the position that Tawn officials and anyone involved in
~lectians should basically stay out of the election pr•oces•M. The Tawn
Attar°ney advised that any questions regarding the election should be
directed to the Civision of Elections, Florida Cepar•tment of State,
Secr•etar•'y of State's Office. It was noted that Commissioner Chambers
relied an the Election's Civilian for an opinion on the "resign to run
law".
lhlhen A9 r• . Eel 1 i nqui r•ed i f he, as a voter and tax payee i n the Town, i s
entitled to the same right to use the seal of the Tawn and the
stationary of the Tawn, the Mayor• responded negatively.
Mr•. Michael Cent of the Casuarina, noting he ivel Game's Mr. Eel 1 's cam--
ments and inquiry as to whether it is mor•a11y and ethically correct to
use the Town's Letterhead, stated he does not think it is morally ar
ethically carr•ect; the entire letter is highly misleading. Mr•. Cent
commented that the proposed ordinance regarding project funding in
exces~.~ of $350, 000. qp i s the mast deadly 1 egi sl ati ail he has heard of .
P9 r•. Cent, noting ti~re TaMrn has law suits that ar•e dangerous, stated the
proposed ordinance is telling the Tawn Commission they can not make a
settlement; it means we go into purgatory for seven months.
l9r. Paul Kane of Ambassadors' South, addressing the Town Attorney,
reque•~teci c1 ar•i fi cati on with r•egar•d to the proposed ar•di nances {pre--
vi ausl y discussed) regarding the requ~i r•ed approval of e1 ectorate Zvi th
election to be held only "between November 01 and April 01 of the _ ~:
following year; which, Mr-•. Kane noted that, if an issue came up on
,Apr•i 1 02 of this year, i t could not be addressed unti 1 (presented to t.}~~
electorate) until November 01 of 1992." Town Attorney Sliney advised
that his feeling is that you can use April 02; however, you would
indicator April 02 of 1991.
91.2 BOARDS AND COMM TTEES
P9ayor• Eaulay noted the existing vacancies an the various Town Eoards and
urged the Commission Members to review the current Talent Eank Applica-
tions on file in pr•eparatian far possible appointments at the F~egular
Town Commission Meeting on February Oa, 1991 at 7:30 P.M. The Mayor
requested any Talent Eank Applicant in the audience to step far•ward for
the purpose of being interviewed by the Tawn Commission.
Talent Eank Applicant i+~ari e Eear•y residing at the eagate of Highland,
noting her• application indicates she is interested in serving on the
Eaard of Adjustment ar the Code Enforcement Eaard, is •~ Law School
graduate. Mrs. Eear•y served as Assistant New yor•k State Attorney
General and, presently, is a Member of the Eoard of Cirector's at Seagate
of Highland Condominium.
•
Town Commission Workshop Meeting Minutes
~nuary 29, 1991
ag? 3 of 6
It was Hated that na correspondence had been received fr•am the Tawn
Boards and Committees.
91.3 PROPOSE RDIiVANC S N R O ON
1. Ai•J ORDINANCE OF THE TONJN OF HIGHLAPdG BEACM, FLORIDA, PRO-
POSING AMENDMENT TO SECTION 2.01 OF ARTICLE II ENTITLED
"P4UNICIPAL POWERS" PLACIPJG LI1~9ITS ON PRO~~ECT FUNGIPdG IN
EXCESS OF $350,000.00 Ind ANY FISCAL YEAR; REyrUIRING AP-
PROVAL OF ELECTORATE WITH ELECTIONd TO BE HELD ONLY
BETWEEN NOVEMBER 41 AND APRIL 01 OF THE FOLLOWING YEAR;
PROVIDING FOR EFFECTIVE DATE OF PROPGSEG AMENGMEPdT UPON
w~U~~CEJJFUL REFEREPJGUM; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION OF
AMENDP1EfdT.
The ordinance, reed by the Mayor by title only, Baas given first reading
an 01/02/91 and arcs published on 01/11/91.
Tawn Attorney Sliney, noting that during Public Comments and Requests,
h1r. Paul Kane alluded to ambiguity with regard to the time frame far the
e1 eeti an for• the r•equi red approval of the el ectar•ate, stated the 1 egi s-
lative intent of the Ta~Arn Commission is "November 01 of one year through
Aril 01 of the next year" being a maximum of seven {7} months delay.
wring substantial discussion, it was the consensus of the Town Cammis--
sian to incorporate the recommended amendments to have W,ectian 1 read as
fat 1 ows
"Any single pr~oject or cumulation of projects, ar extension of
town services requiring an allocation of mare than X350,000.00
in any given fiscal year, shall not be funded until the
pur•pases and amounts of such allocations shall first have been
appr•oveci by the majority of votes cart in an election of
qualified electors residing within the town. "Exceptions +_a
this would be an act of God/disaster• as defined by Webster 'a
sudden and extr•aardi nary mi sfartune, unfar"eseen mi schance
bringing with it the destr•uctian of life and property', as
well as litigation settlement".
"Such election shall only be held between ~dovember 01 of a
given year through Apr•i 1 01 of the fat latvi ng year~•."
It eras Hated that this ar•dinance will be the subject of the advertised
Special Meeting scheduled this date at 2:30 P.h4.
2. Aid ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA,
PROPOSIPdG AMENDMENT TO SECTION 6.01 OF THE TOI~JN CHARTER
ENTITLED "PURPOSES; AMOUNT LIMITED; ELECTION; EXECUTION;
• TERM," OF ARTICLE VI ENTITLED "BONGS" PROVIDING THAT
ELECTIONS TO APPROVE BONG ISSUES BE HELD ONLY BETWEEN
Ta~~in ~wommi ssi an Wor•kshap Meeting hii notes
January 29, 1991
Page 4 of C~
NOVEMBER 01 AND APRIL 01 CAF THE FOLLOWING YEAR; PROVIDING
F~2~R EFFECTIVE GATE OF PP.OPOSED AMEfdDMEi'dT UPON :SUCCESSFUL
REFERENDUM; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION OF AMEPdDMENT.
The ordinance, read by title only by Mayor Baulay, was given first read-
ing an 01/02/91 and was published an 01/11/91.
Lengthy discussion regarding this or•di~ance ensued. It was the
consensus of the Town Commission to include the recommended amendments
to have w.ecti art 1 read as fol 1 o~~is
"Such election shall only be held between November 01 of a
given year through Apr•i 1 0 1 of the fal 1 owi ng year, .'~
"Exceptions to this would be far, Bond Referendums necessitated
by an act of God/disaster, as defined fay Webster, 'a sudden and
extr`aor•di nary mi sfartune, unforeseen mi schance bringing with
it the destruction of life and pr•aper•ty', as we11 as
litigation settlement,"
. It should be rlOted that the legislative intent cited with reg~rr•d to the
first ordinance discussed also applies to this {the second} ar•dinance,
under discussion, which will be the subject of the advertised Special
M=~?ting scheduled this date at 2:30 P.M.
3. APB ORDINANCE OF THE TO4hlN OF HIGHLAND BEA~~H, FLORIDA,
AMENDING SECTION 8.1 "PERMIT; REQUIRED" OF CHAPTER 30
ENTITLED "ZONING" OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE TOWN
OF HIGHLAND BEA~wH.
Fal 1 a~~ii ng br•i of di scussi an of the ar`di Hance, i t was the consensus of the
Town Commission to move this item far, first reading to the Agenda for
the February OS, 1991 Regul ar• Toaln Commi ssi an Meeting of the Tawn
~vammi ssi on .
89.15 Discus io re relimin r e 1 n f r ark ehind Town
H 11 su i ted b r n i n St i
The To~~~n Commission briefly discussed a proposed ballot referendum
questi an relating to a proposed p'ar`k behind To~~in Hal 1 R9ayor Boul ay
recessed the War`kshop h9eeti ng at 2:30 P.M. far the purpose of conducting
the advertised Special Meeting.
At 3:00 P.M., Mayor Baulay reconvened the recessed Workshop Meeting and
continued with the discussion relating to a "straw ballot" r•e,~arding the
pr•opased park behind Tawn Hall. It was the consensus of the Tawn
. Commission to move this matter to the Agenda for the Regular, Meeting of
the Tawn Commission scheduled for, February OS, 1991 at 7:30 P.M.
7a~an Cammi ssi on Workshop Meeting Minute
January 29, 1991
Page ~ of 0
MISCELLA O S - IT MS EFT OV
Status of 6ui 1 di n C~evel a ment i n ToiNn
The status of building C}evelopment in Tawn, ~ report prepared by the
6ui 1 di ng ~~~ff i ci al , was r•ecei ved by the Tawn Commission as information .
Minutes far• a naval at ebru-r• Re ul ar Meeti n
The Town Commission moved approval of two sets of Minutes to the Agenda
far• the February 05, 1991 Regular Meeting.
R PO TS - TOWN CO MI N
Vice Mayor bill Paul
~!a report .
Cammi ssi aner h4ar•vi n A. Wa1 dman
Na r•epart .
• Commissioner betty Jean Stewart
Pdo report .
Cammi s•w i aner Har•a1 d ~w C ambe •s
Commissioner Chambers reported that on February 06, 1991, }aetween 3:30
P.M. and 4:30 P.M., the Palm beach blood 6anl< a1i11 be at the Holiday Inn
to accept blood dor-ratians from residents.
P9ayor• Joseph A. Eoul ay
Mayor 6oulay noted he would defer his report to the February 05, 1991
Regular Meeting. However, the Mayor• noted that the Tawn has }aeon
advised that it has been nominated and approved to be named a Tree City
USA.
The Mayor• requested the Town Commission be prepared to evaluate the per•-
farmance of the Tawn h9anager at February's Regular Meeting. Mayar•
6oulay suggested each Commissianer• meet individually with the Town
Manager during the meek preceding the Regular Meeting.
REPORTS - TOWN ATTORNEY
The Tawn Attorney had na r•epart.
•
t• s
Town Commission War•kshop Meting Minutes
January 29, 1991
. Page 6 of 6
0 T - TOWN MANA ER
For• the record, the Town Manager stated that the letters r•pfpr•r•ed to
earlipr• in the meeting warp not a product of the Town Hall.
Tot~in Managpr• Mariana, citing a letter from Attorney Gan F~asenbaum
regarding a scheduled meeting far February 19, 1991 with Attorney Siff
i"'pC~lrp'Wt'1 ng the Cammi ssi an sal act Onp OY' mOY•e r•epr'•eSpnta'1_"i Vp to attend
the mpeti ng, r•equpstpd di r•pcti an i n rpgar•d to this matter.
Tat~ln P9anager Mari ana, noting receipt of a renal uti an from the City of
F~ahakpe ur•gi ng t}-rp 1 pague of Ci ti ps and the l_pgi s1 aturp to spansar• and
adapt ,;, bill amenciing Florida State Statute 162 allowing County and
Municipal Cade Enforcement E.oards to i mposp a fine i mmpdi atel y upon the
finding of guilty and not allowing mare time to corr•eet the violation
before a fine can by imposed on the viol,-tor, requested approv•~1 to sub-
mit ~waid ordinance to the Highland Beach Cadp Enforcement Eaard with a
r•e:qup~st that, fal 1ot~ii ng thei r• nevi ptv of camp, they submit their r•ecam--
menciati ans to the Tauin ~wommi ssi an .
The Tawn Managpr• infarmeci the Commission that she is working with Delray
~i ty A9anager• C~avi ci Harden with regar•ci to the chl on dp and hydrogen
S st.rl f i cip i n Hi gh1 and Beach sewage t~ihi ch pr•ab1 em :;haul d be salved w•i thi n
the next sixty days.
Thprp being no f ur•thpr• bu~w i Hess to came befor•p the Tat~tn Cammi ssi on at
t}~ri~, lnlar•k~.~}~ap h9eeti ng, h9ayor• Boul ay adjaur°ned camp at 3:2q F.M.
APPR~VEC~
~J sap Bau1 ay, P9-yor•
Bi11 Foul, Vice Mayar•
/2ESi~nlED ~F~• MHR• o-~ l~l
Mar•vi n A. ~1a1 dman, C.ommi ssi aner
RESi6yE FF , FE13 I
Batt ea S r M Ca_ mmi ~i aner•
ar d C. Chambers, Commissioner
~ ~
.~~~
• January 2G,1~~~~1
Remarks to be made any John F. Rand before the Tov,m Commission of
HIGHL.~IVD BL~CH on 1-2~-91
'Lhe Town of Hi:~hland Beach was incorporated in 145 b- a group
of aed~catea citizens a.na vve should not lose sight of the fact that one of
the primary reasons wh;T the founding fathers cie so, was to provide our
ovm independent source~of drinking water on a cost saving and hi;~h quality
'oasis.
In the 4~ years since then, the residents have pesiodic~.ll~J
electea the members of the Tovrn Commission who they felt had the honest~~
integrity and capability to govern us. and vahile we residents ~:a;T not
have always chosen ~¢z~~ ~^risely in this respee.~t, the fact remains that
our Town h~.s survived and progressed ir_ an admirable fashion. 3ut we have
alwa~rs depended upon our electea officials to provide us with the judgement
and leadership that is required to prcvide us with the resources and
manpo~~~~er as ~:vell as administrative taler~t to en~tible us to live in
safetJT and comfort in this be~.utiful and v:onderful toy°~n. r'rom these
co;:ments you should deduce that we people of =ii`hlar_a reach trust tze
judgement capability of the `i'o~hm Commission.
Despite this sentiment, there is a proposal th~.t I understand
-.~ri11 be voted on later today which would tend to indicate that ~ some
members of the presently constituted Commission are reluctant to assume
the responsibilit~T of approving by themselves any expenditure i-r_ excess
of .350,000. Instead, it is being proposed that such an expenditure would
require approval of the electorate with election to be held only between
~lovember 1 an a 1 of the following year. I am rather perplexed as to
~.vhy there is ~~ f"' to enact this legislatio~,~svhen vae have had
an exemplary track record t~:f expenditure approval by our Town Commission
over the past 42 years without such an ordinance: I also do not believe
that ou-r down's governing process should ~o into hibernation between
:ipril 2 ar_d October ~~ 31 of each year. You meet every month of the yeax
and it is Guite conceivable that an urgent matter could ~,x~~~~cxs
une~:~ectedly surface on or after April 2. your example, you are all aware
of the v~,.rious la,vsuits filed a;~ainst our ~~'own, one of which is especially
~:ignificant. Let's assume that the rlaintiff in that particular lawsuit
decides to settle in a manner tn.at upholds our principles and the conditior_=
of which are completely sati$factory to you. If such a settlement is
~~~.~dx~~~~a~r~xx~~i~~_8..~
proposed on April 2, do you mean t~; propose that no referendum c~:n take
place for 7 months? Do you honestly believe that any plaintiff in suc~
a situation would ~etait that long for a decision? Do you believe that you
could adequately explain to our voters the background of such a case in
a re~erendum and isn't there a danger that the plaintiff could also
change his mind alter a fe~rr months because you gave hire too much time
to thinly about the settlement or because there could be a change of
oY~-nership of the plaintiff? prevent
Th.e ordinance makes no reference to/the possibility that an
expenditure in excess of X350,000. could be ch~~.rged to some of the down's
existing cash reserves t~ circumvent the need for a referendum since
technically no new funding would be required in that scenario. I assume
./.
,sue -.r~. .
..
P_iu~ '1',i'U
"~H;iT the proposed ordinance vvou~d spec~.fically r~_andate that a referendum
• would be rewired whether new funding is being sou,rlt and/or that it
would be provided out of existin;; cash reserves. The use of existing
reserves rests with the discretion .~f the Tovvn Co::nlission, as it should b
but if this ordinance is pwssed, then I feel gnat a similwr restriction
should be placed on the use of our reserves to follow the same la~gic.
I do not recall any mention being made of how mach a referendum
would cost to comply with the proposed ordinance and hov°a the=.t trill ~e
budgeted. ~o we know the figure?
In my opinion, I do not feel that this ordin~~.nce is necessary
since it could disrupt the governir_g capability of our Tovm Cormmission
as cited in the exa~lple which I gave earlier. Furthermore, if the down
Commission decided to take the initiative in pursuing a settlement of
a pending litigation, the Flaintiff might .got be willing to do so
between April 2 and October 31 wherein vre could moose the possibilitTl of
making a deal vihich could be to our benefit.
In a recent Tovrn2 .Yieeting, Commissioner ;~alaman rnwde the folluw__=
remarks anG while trley did not specifically pertain to this proposed
ofdina~~ce, I believa they are ~_;uite perti~ient.
QUOTE- I would say this that I don't think that this Commission should be
swayed by the c~r~m~~ts of very few representatives of tie Tovm.
• as i;ommissione~r~ as said, we hG.ve been elected by the people to
speak for them and to act for them; any, to be swayed by(we've got
tvvo, four, six, ei~~~~ maybe ten, twelve people out of approxima.tel;r
6,000. If we don't know vvhut we're doing, then we don't belong up
here and vve shouldn't be representing the whole Tov°,m. And, I don' -~
II11nCi tSle tiE'O"~.le S"_•6~a.lilr~ ~;;her~ {,l~e~r have tnelr oppor~u:~r. ~~r i,:: ~-,:Ft~,:
:%~--t :- -=:.1ni<- .:~e ~1ve t~_er -:,pie opportunity-five minutes is enough- a_~
if ~;1e're going to hold a meeting that's going; to be productive, Y°re
have got to proceed according to Roberts pules of Orders or we're
never going to accomplish anything. 13ut, that's hovv I feel. I feel
they had the opportunity to speak -this is a continuation of the
last meeting-and anything that the public should say at this meeti=
should not have any bearing on how we feel. There's not enough of
them: out there to affect us. ,fie should ~~noyv what we're doing up her.
or else vve don't belong up here. If we're goi no to proceed vvitil
this meeting, we shoula go ahead. ri lot of people get up and say
things that maybe they a.re perfectly sincere •in what they say, but
b~ I don't think maybe they're not as informed as they should be
~ on the subject matter, or as infor~aed as vre should be up here. So,
if we're going to get this meeting on the road, we should go ahead
and not listen to crhat the public hws to say. ~Je should listen to
the engineers anct make up our ovrn mind, and, if we're not informed
enough to do it, then vve don't belong u-o here . UNvZUO TE
~.~("~' I rest my case and tharii you for your attention.
i