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1964.06.02_TC_Minutes MINUTES HIGHLAND BEACH TOWN COMMISSION June 2, 1964 The regular monthly meeting was called to order at 7:25 PM by Mayor Hackman, also present were Commissioners - Bunn, Johnson, Jones and Noble and Town Manager Dailey. Commissioner Bunn led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Minutes of the regular monthly meeting of May 5th and recessed meeting of May 6 were read. They had been approved by Comm. Eypel, Turner, ~ Noble, Jones and Beekman. ~ j Minutes of. a special meeting May 6th, 1964 at 12:15 PM, attended by commission- ers of both administrations, were read and approved by Commissioners Hackman Bunn, Johnson, Noble & Jones. Minutes of a special meeting May 7, 1964, 2:00 PM were read and approved by Commissioners, Haclunan, Bunn, Johnson, Noble and Jones. Mayor Haclgr~an opened the meeting with a resume of some of the happenings and finding,~ro lems arising from such a quick changeover, with a new or green ' (as he rmed it) group taking over. He also stressed that all meetings should be conducted to conform with procedure as outlined in the Charter which had not been done in this manner before. He praised the efforts of the new commission and particularly Town Manager, Dr. H. T. Dailey, who is volunteering his ser- and has workedlong hours every day including Sunday. vices ~ ~' He then gave aerie-f outline of various items on the agenda that would war- E rant audiance participation and be sub3ect to council a~=proval. After assur- ing the group that the news report about buying the town hall was in errort He asked for approval of',°verbal agreement with owner Geo. Rekolt to rent the 00 per month plus utilities. at a rental of 80 1~6l til D 1 i . ~ ec. , prem ses un Qn motion of Gonnnissioner Johnson, seconded by Commissioner Noble and the { affirmative vote of all five commissioners this approval was given. 1 Reporting on the cost of auditing the books, he advised that the final cost would be about X900.00 due to e~tra_ o k that had to be done prior to the audit the certified public account# "Stockwell - Eaton - Peed & Schott) hired to audit the books for 1963 to May 1964. It was agreed at the special meet- ing of May 7, 1964~that this audit be made at a maximum cost of 500.D0. When the ~'bove mentioned accountant asked for the books to conduct their audit it was found that the bookkeeping company of Howard W. Smith was dust '! starting to post the books for 8963. No posting had been done for 1963 or 1964 to date. In or er to expedite the auditing~it was decided to have the ~ ake over the books at once and do the posting necessary authorized account~~° to bring them up to date. The Howard W. Smith Bookkeeping Service were paid X300.00 to x.00.00 for their bookkeeping Service in past years so with the X500.00 audit fee and the X400.00 which would have been paid to Howard Smith Bookkeeping Service the final amount to be paid will be about the same. After considerable discussion by commissionf=members, with audience participation~Commissioner Bunn moved that audit charge be approved and paid. Commissioner Johnson seconded the motion and it was ap r~red by the affirmative votes of Commissioners Hactunan, Bunn and Johnson; ones and Noble cast dissenting votes. Mayor Haclunan explained the necessity of he~1p in the office of the Town Hall and that Janet Arnold had been hired to work full t3.me, or as many hours as needed until such time as take over details and a new bookkeeping system is established. She will be paid X2.00 per hour. When it is decided that the PAGE 2 ,- "' ~ office routine is in order, she will work 3 hours a dayrfive days a week, at X2.00 per hour. Any extra hours shall be paid at the same rate. On motion of commissioner Jones, seconded by Commissioner Bunn and the affirmative vote of all five co~maissioners, the above arrangement was approved. The condition of the code and ordinances had been discussed at various informal meetings. Due to years of handling, they were in poor condition and it was suggested that new copies be made Mr. Frederick Hahn of Goodbody R. Company volunteered to make xerox copies of the code and ordinances at now expense ~ffiher than t the cost of paper. A motion by Commissioner Jones, seconded by Commissioner Bunn,thanking Mr. Hahn for his co-operation and offer, was approved by unanamous affirmative vote of all commissioners. A motion to mail a summary report of the monthly meeting to all persons who might be interested in Town a~'fairs was approved by the unanimous affirmatil6~ vote of all commissioners. Mayor Hackman reported on the almost total lack of office equipment. In order to start working it was necessary to buy two desks, an adding machine and rent a typewriter. On the motion of commissioner Jones, seconded by Commissioner Nobles and the affirmative~fote of all commissioners these invoices were ap- proved for payment. By general agreement it was decided new stationery should be ordered. Mayor Hackman questioned whether all office equipment had been delivered on moving day. The book value of office equipment is shown as ].9.9lt but not 'itemized. In the minutes of the monthly commission meeting of November 6, 1962 he noted that purchase of a typewriter was approved and that it was purchased November 8, 1962 from Hands Office Supply by voucher #930 in the amount of X80.00. He contended that the typewriter was town property and should have been in- cluded with the equipment delivered. Commissioner Jones & Noble dis6ented with the explanation that Mr. Hertwig had worn out his typewriter on town business and the new one should be considered a gratuity. After further dis- cussion it was decided that no action be taken. Mayor Hackman then introduced Mr. Stephen Longo. to the audience and after presenting Mr. Longo~s police background which revealed 7 years of experience as a detective and 2 years of homicide and finger printing plus numerous police school diplomas and other testimonials he appo_nted him the first town marshall. Commissioner Jones questioned the authority of this procedure quoting from Ordinance #115 enacted in 195? giving the authority of appoint- ment to the Town Manager. New town attorney Kenneth Dix was asked for an opinion and he ruled that the city charter is the prime authority and Mayor Haclunan was within his rights in making the appointment. As.~ir-..-ben-1 se~xe--the__town _without_~s3y=_ ~.he-audi.exece_di_ci--r~c~t-s`~--disturbed as~ appoint- ed him. " Wlt o Mayor Hackman reported that he as Town Treasurer and Dr. Harold Dailey as Town h'~anager had arranged to deposit $10,000.00 each as bond for protection of town funds at a saving of $600.00 a year which would be the fee of a bonding company. In accordance with regulations in the town charter Mayor Hackman announced ~. P A G E 3 the creation of the following departments; Ij ~ EXECUTI9E DEPT. in charge of, Mayor C. F. Hackman DEPT. OF TAXES " " " Harold E. Johnson DEPT. OF FINANCES " " " Fred H. Bunn DEPT OF PUBLIC HEALTH-ZONING n n n Mildred S. Noble DEPT. OF PUBLIC WORKS~aTATER " " " G. A. Jones Town Clerk Johnson reported that he had talked with the auditors relative to getting a statement on income from taxes, water, licenses and permits and the amounts still due on these items. The auditor was reluctant to give estimated figures and said that a correct accounting would be available within ten days. Vice~fayor Bunn gave a summary of the town finances, monies on deposit and . where, and other items relative to the town financial condition, but his fig- ores were also subject to final audit figures. The commissioners may appoint suitable persons to assist them f.n performing the duties of their respective departments. With this in mind a tentative list of persons to be asked to volunteer their assistance had been made up. Joseph Schober and La.~ence Germain agreed to serve on the department of tax- es. Howard Slagle and Frederic Hahn on the Dept. of Finance. Confirmation of others asked or to be asked to serve had not been made. Town Manager Dailey advised that he had an inquiry from a representative of Public Gas Company relative to renting a space 35 ft by 35 feet on the water plant property for propane gas tank storage. Their rental offer was X30.00 per month. Town attorney Dix ruled that the renting would be legal. After audience & commission discussion Commissioner Bunn moved, in the interest of safety, not to accept the Gas Co. proposal, Eommissioner Johnson seconded the motion, which was approved by the affirmative vote of all commissioners. Town Manager Dailey reported that the records on water meters show 8!~ meters Qf-these water customers, or buyersr39 have deposits ranging from X10.00 to X50.00, and ~t5 of them have paid no deposit. After a short discussion, it was decided this was an unfair practice and a motion by Commissioner Bunn, and seconded by Commissioner Noble to refund all water meter deposits was approved by the affirmative vote of all commissioners. N'x. Milton F. Stienhardt, representing the Delray Beach White House Apts., attended the meeting but had to leave prior to its ending. On leaving he re- quested that any contemplated action relative to the apts. be deffered until .the next meeting. Town Manager Dailey gave a detailed report of moms in the bank with suggestions on; transferring some of these funds to local banks to eliminate the trips to Palm Beach; verifying that all funds were protected by deposit insurance; ex- ploring the possibilities of additional interest income; merging some of the accounts. Commissioner Jones moved that the matter of finance be referred to the Dept. of Finance, Commissioner Johnson seconded the motion and the affirm- ative vote was unanamous. Mayor Hackman, in accord with the thinking of the new commission that some changes should be made in the charter~~t appointed a special committee to study the current charter and make suggestions and recommendations particular- ly on absentee ballots and the staggering of term of office of the commission.. PAGE !~ Howard Slagle was appointed chairman; H. Clay Calhoun, Lawrence A. Wingle, G. A. Jones, and Sylvia C~ Weyl as committee members. Attorney Gavin Letts, representing the residence owners who are contest- ing the easement to the ocean given to the Delray Beach White House Apts. addressed the group. In explaining the owners actions, he stated that this basement was in violation of the zoning ordinance and deeds restrictions. A motion by Commissioner Noble, seconded by Commissioner Bunn and approved by all commissioners, authorized Town Attorney Kenneth Dix to notify the owners of the Delray Beach White House Apts. by letter of the pos tion of the Commission. ~ On motion of Mayor Hackman, seconded by Commissioner Johnson and the affirma- tive votes of all commissioners the meeting was ad3ourned. APPROVEn T~dRT CLERK, HAR OHN v' COMNIISSIO , MIL NOB I , G. TH ATTEST: 1