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2020.05.05_TC_Minutes_Regular _ TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH TOWN COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Town Hall / Commission Chambers Date: May 5, 2020 3614 South Ocean Boulevard Time: 1:30 P.M. Highland Beach, Florida 33487 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hillman called the meeting to order at 1:34 P.M. 2. PRESENT UPON ROLL CALL Commissioner John Shoemaker Commissioner Evalyn David Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman Vice Mayor Greg Babij Mayor Douglas Hillman Town Attorney Glen Torcivia Town Manager Marshall Labadie Town Clerk Lanelda Gaskins 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Town Commission led the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. ADDITIONS, DELETIONS, AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Mayor Hillman added the below listed items to the agenda. Discussion on Town Attorney Torcivia to Speak on Private Beaches as Item 5A under Presentation/ Proclamation, and Discussion on Town Employee Hiring Freeze, as Item 11 G under New Business. The agenda was accepted as amended, which passed (5 to 0) unanimously. 5. PRESENTATIONS /PROCLAMATIONS A. Discussion of the Town Attorney to Speak on Private Beaches. (THIS ITEM WAS ADDED TO THE AGENDA) Town Attorney Torcivia introduced this item and spoke about the public and private beach closures in Palm Beach County. He explained that Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties had been working together to coordinate their reopening efforts because they were concerned with the influx of individuals from Broward and Miami-Dade. Jacksonville Beach and Martin County were gradually reopening their beaches on a limited basis. Although certain beaches were reopening, Palm Beach County remained closed under the Governor's Executive Order. Town Attorney Torcivia then indicated that he and Town Manager Labadie contacted Palm Beach County to Virtual Town Commission Meeting Minutes Date: May 05, 2020 Page 2 of 9 inquire about private beaches versus public beaches. They were both told that the executive order applied to all beaches in the county. Lastly,he talked about a federal court lawsuit involving Fort Walton Beach and their beaches, a state court case involving private beach issues and the judge's rulings on these cases. Town Manager Labadie commented that the state statutes obligated the Town to follow and enforce executive orders. He participated in a telephone call and understood that the Town of Juno Beach was wavering with similar concerns about their beaches. Juno Beach Commissioners approved a letter asking Palm Beach County to accelerate the consideration of reopening the beaches. He also spoke about County Commissioner Baker implementing a Beaches Task Force to look at reopening the beaches with restrictions. Commission discussion ensued about writing a letter to Palm Beach County in regards to opening the beach in Highland Beach with restrictions. Further discussion continued about what the residents would and would not be allowed to do on the beaches if they were to open the private portion of the beaches that extended to the high-water mark, allowing ocean front residents to use their properties up to the high-water mark; allowing residents to use the beach for exercise purposes (fishing, kayaking, and not necessarily for sunbathing, no umbrellas, etc.); allowing private access to the beach for parking; and allowing private property owners and condominium residents a chance to enjoy at least restricted use of the beaches and the pool areas in the condominiums. Town Attorney Torcivia provided insight about opening the beaches and then a citizen complaint arising about the town jeopardizing their health because the beaches were opened in contravention to the county and state. Lastly,there was discussion about the importance of a good relationship with Palm Beach County, and sending a letter to Palm Beach County about opening the beaches for activities, which would only include walking,jogging, swimming, etc., and to prohibit sunbathing on the beaches. MOTION: Commissioner Shoemaker moved that we write the letter to Palm Beach County in support of trying to make the beaches available to our community. Commissioner David seconded the motion, which passed (5 to 0) unanimously. 6. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS NON-AGENDA ITEMS ONLY Mr. John Ross of Casuarina spoke about the beaches, the concerns he had with the firm that Commission chose to do the emergency repairs on the pipes, and the lack of a financial limit from the town on those repairs. Mr. Jack Halpern commented on the beach restoration project in Boca Raton. He stated that he provided Commissioner Gossett-Seidman with a memo from 2004 about the beaches. He hoped that Highland Beach got involved in stopping Boca Raton from taking resources and sand off of the beaches in Highland Beach. There being no further comments, the public comments were closed. Virtual Town Commission Meeting Minutes Date: May 0.5, 2020 Page 3 of 9 7. ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Board Vacancies Mayor Hillman read the following announcements into the record. 1. Board of Adjustment& Appeals Board- Three vacancies for a three-year term. (pending one future interview/appointment) 2. Financial Advisory Board - One vacancy for an unexpired term ending April 30, 2022 (pending future interview/appointment)and one reappointment for a three-year term B. Meetings and Events 1. Town Commission Meeting - May 19, 2020 - 1:30 PM (Tentative) C. Board Action Report None. 8. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. There were no Ordinances and Resolutions. 9. CONSENT AGENDA A. There were no Consent Agenda items. 10. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. There was no Unfinished Business. 11. NEW BUSINESS A. Discussion of The North Palm Beach Ordinance. Mayor Hillman read the title of Item 11 A into the record. Vice Mayor Babij presented this item and spoke about the North Palm Beach ordinance stating that he would like to incorporate the entire ordinance in Highland Beach. Discussion ensued about how a homeowner could irrigate their sod without an electric battery- operated sprinkler, a possible exemption related to watering being dealt with separately and no electricity going to a dock. The discussion continued about page 19 of the North Palm Beach ordinance as it related to allowing the use of the dock, one vessel at the dock, dock rental not allowed, living on the boat not allowed, no electricity at the dock, limitation of boat size at the dock, and parking on the street and driveway aprons. Town Manager Labadie commented about the process to move the ordinance forward for a first reading. He also explained the due process related to advertising the ordinance between first and second readings and public input. Virtual Town Commission Meeting Minutes Date: May 05, 2020 Page 4 of 9 MOTION: Vice Mayor Babij moved to convert the North Palm Beach ordinance into the Highland Beach format for the purposes of a first reading at the next Commission meeting. Commissioner David seconded the motion, which passed (5 to 0) unanimously. B. Discussion of the Crosswalk Enhancement Project (RFP No. 20-002). Mayor Hillman read the title for Item 11 B into the record and referred the item to Town Manager Labadie. Town Manager Labadie introduced the item. He explained that there was a design,the town went out for bid,the bid prices came in high, and that the town was waiting for some state appropriation funding. He then explained that the bids were too high to consider moving forward with a contract on a reduced scope,which would be beyond the town's charter spending limitation. Therefore,he cancelled RFP No. 20-002. He said that the Commission needed to define that final scope because even if the prices come in better, it would still be teetering beyond the spending limits. He discussed the possibility of a referendum. He also mentioned coming up with an amended scope and a new cost limit for the project. He was looking for guidance from the Commission. Mayor Hillman opened the item for discussion and Vice Mayor Babij inquired about when the town would receive the appropriation funds from the State. Commissioner Gossett-Seidman said July 1St was the legislator budget process,the Governor's approval of the funds,and advised about funding for the swale repairs not making it through the final appropriation because it was a large amount without matching funds and without an exact plan. The discussion continued about the adequate time for a referendum if approval for state funding was denied and about the latest potential dates for the Resurfacing, Restoration and Rehabilitation(RRR) project. Vice Mayor Babij made a suggestion to find out if the town would get the state funding first. He would be more open to a referendum if the town did not get any state funding. He was more bias to a project that gets done and not destroyed when the state came through with the RRR project. He would rather do a moderately scaled project with the items that could be kept, then do an add- on when the RRR project came through. He explained that the first step would be to figure out if the town was getting state funding, and if nothing could be done within the $350,000 spending limit,to leave it up to the voters. Town Manager Labadie spoke about the scheduled timelines for the RRR project, with construction beginning in 2024, savaging the items in the right-of-way, a two-phase project not being linked and separated according to the charter amount and receiving state funding for the project. Vice Mayor Babij suggested to get the state funding to do the project to the fullest extent plus the town's $350,000 and to do the add-ons of the lights on the street after the RRR project came through, so that the good components were not destroyed. Discussion continued about the possibility of passing a resolution committing funds to do some in-road-work as part of the project, Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) tying the project to their project and for bidding the project on a larger scale for better pricing. Commissioner Shoemaker expressed concerns about asking for a referendum. He was more interested in not doing a bid project, not going to a referendum, and keeping the project simple that addressed pedestrian safety issues in eight spots. Virtual Town Commission Meeting Minutes Date: May 05, 2020 Page 5 of 9 Commissioner Gossett-Seidman concurred with Vice Mayor Babij and Commissioner Shoemaker with regards to a referendum. She noted that the president of Byrd Beach Estates expressed concerns about the eight crosswalks that serve only a portion of the community. She mapped out the distance between the crosswalks and provided the mileage between the properties along A IA. She said six of the eight crosswalks were within 1.5 miles of each other, in a three-mile town. She spoke about how the crosswalks were established and required on the east side of A 1 A, the eight failing crosswalks that needed to be repaired, and the potential for two additional crosswalks to make up the disparity on the north end of the town at Byrd Beach and at the south end of town between Boca Highlands and Regency Highland. There was further discussion about the crosswalks, and Commissioner Gossett-Seidman clarifying that FDOT determined the locations of the crosswalks. Commissioner David commented about separating out the embedded lights from other aspects of the project, seeing what the town could do for $350,00 plus the state funding, pricing the project out, having a separate plan, and doing the project in stages based on the $350,000 along with and without state funding. She was not supportive of a referendum. Town Manager Labadie explained as part of the town's current project, FDOT was not contemplating adding any digital crosswalks. If the town requested crosswalks,FDOT may along with its RRR project develop a warrant (a manual for uniform traffic control devices) to evaluate the number of people crossing and how much traffic was traveling along AIA by engineering standards. Mayor Hillman voiced that Commission had to be fiscally responsible and that their roles were to govern the town. Anything that was done for the town must be done properly and at a Highland Beach standard. When looking at the crosswalks, they had to fulfill a higher end safety standard. The idea of doing the project in phases made sense. Since they were looking at a$350,000 project, he asked how did that fit within the town's charter, could the project be broken into segments, or was it apart of one project? He asked if the project was spread out over two to three years, could they actually do that?Because if the project ended up costing $600,000,was it still defined as one project? He asked could the embedded lights be added at a later date? He said he was not afraid of a referendum at all; if what they were talking about doing, was the right thing for the town. He did not think that now was the time to be spending $700,000 on crosswalks. Question No. 1,was, it one project or was it not one project? Town Attorney Torcivia explained that it would depend on the facts once the town gets to the point of bidding and scheduling. If the Commission's direction was to try and structure project in a way where they could legitimately not go through a referendum,then they would do everything they could to do that, unless it was not possible. With regards to elections,he stated that he spoke with the Supervisor of Elections and at this point,they were not planning to have any municipal issues on a ballot until next March. There was additional discussion about embedded lights and the lights being considered as a separate project in the near future. Town Attorney Torcivia then spoke about embedded lights being a stand project. Commissioner Shoemaker commented that over the next two years, the town should avoid a referendum at all cost. He spoke about salvaging the lights for later use, having a good plan with the project being in phases such as lights and paint the first year, then later on down the road doing the embedded lights and pavement.He suggested in the future,maybe doing the four major crosswalks and then adding on as they go forward. Lastly, he expressed that there had to be a way to keep the project under$350,000. Virtual Town Commission Meeting Minutes Date: May 05, 2020 Page 6 of 9 Town Manager Labadie stated the project could be within the town's charter spending limit, if the project was scaled back. The embedded road elements and red paint was the largest scope of the project,which added$350,000 to the project cost.If this component was removed from the project, then the cost would be back at the $350,000 and with the state funding, they were looking at a lessor amount and still reaching their goal. He explained that the dollars of the scaled back project had already been allocated from the discretionary sales tax dollars. Therefore, no future budget dollars would be used for the scaled down project and neither would the ad valorem tax dollars be used. The infrastructure dollars would be used for this project. Town Manager Labadie then spoke about the scaled down project begin done over a span of four fiscal years separations and afterward do the embedded light component. Commissioner David asked if the project was scaled back, did it affect the money that the town would get from the state since it was based on information that was no longer accurate. Town Manager Labadie explained that he would have to take a look at the pedestrian activated signal element to see if it had an impact. He mentioned that he would come back with some more details. C. Discussion of the Town Commission Meeting Schedule (Ordinance 19-007 R). Mayor Hillman read the title for Item 11 C into the record. Town Manager Labadie introduced this item. He spoke about the language in Sec. 2.28,Rule No. 1 of the ordinance as it related to the second Commission meetings being held each month and the Commission's obligation to have meetings on the first Tuesday of each month. He explained that during the time the town was under the State of Emergency Executive Order, two Commission meetings were cancelled by the Town Manager's office and there was a concern whether the Town Manager could cancel a meeting for a lack of agenda items when the current ordinance required action by the Commission to cancel such meetings. Town Attorney Torcivia provided clarification on the language in Ordinance 19-007 O as it pertained to the words "shall" or "may", and when a Commission meeting should be held each month. If a meeting is not scheduled, then there is no reason to cancel the meeting. The desire was whether the Commission wanted to regularly schedule second meetings each month. Town Manager Labadie further clarified the issue that the meeting dates were approved by Commission and then some meetings were cancelled. In the future, the meeting schedule will be revised to make the second meetings optional. There was further discussion about changing the language in the ordinance to provide more flexibility for the Commission meeting schedule. All the Commissioners were in support of modifying the ordinance. Town Attorney Torcivia advised that he would draft the modification, get it to Town Manager Labadie, and bring the ordinance back at the next Commission meeting. D. Discussion of Commission Meeting Minutes —Mayor Doug Hillman Mayor Hillman introduced this item and spoke about his concerns with the amount of time and expense it took to develop verbatim meeting minutes. He received research on about 10 municipalities meeting minutes and explained that some of the meeting minutes were extremely brief with the actions and votes,most of the meeting minutes were brief summaries,and there were a few meeting minutes that were detailed summaries, but not as detailed as Highland Beach's verbatim meeting minutes. He expressed that there was no need for verbatim minutes because there were audio/video recordings for each meeting, which could be kept forever. He suggested Virtual Town Commission Meeting Minutes Date: May 05, 2020 Page 7 of 9 to stop with the lengthy meeting minutes and prepare very brief summary minutes. Should someone want more details about the meetings, they could review the videos. There was discussion held about shortening the meeting minutes and maintaining the audio/video recordings beyond the State of Florida retention and destruction guidelines. The Commissioners were in support of changing the meeting minutes format to brief summary meeting minutes with the actions and also retaining the audio/video recordings for 10 years. Town Manager Labadie will bring this item back as a resolution at the next Commission meeting. E. Discussion of Recent Beach Restoration Projects and Permitting. Commissioner Gossett- Seidman Commissioner Gossett-Seidman introduced this item and provided a very detailed report on the Beach Restoration projects and permitting (Consolidated Joint Coastal Permit Nourishment projects), which involved dredging and removal of beach sand from Highland Beach by the Cities of Boca Raton and Delray Beach. The City of Boca Raton has permits with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for the removal of beach sand until 2028, and the City of Delray Beach has permits with the FDEP for removal of beach sand for two more years. She talked about the limited off-shore sand known as beach compatible sand,the amount of beach compatible sand removed by Boca Raton and Delray Beach in 2004 and possibly 2016,the varied sand sources, the loss sand by the Towns of Briny Breeze, Gulfstream and Ocean Ridge beaches, the State of Florida owning and controlling the submerged lands,the possibility for recourse in the permitting process, the original permit filed by the City of Boca Raton's Engineering Consultant showing an area of sand removal off Boca Raton beaches only, the City of Boca Raton's permit for minor modification filed on May 14, 2018, the Town of Highland Beach not listed on any permit documents and was removed from the maps, the first reference listed Highland Beach as north Boca Raton,Palm Beach County DEP website referred to Boca Raton,Boynton Beach,Briny Breeze,Delray Beach, Gulf Stream, and Hypoluxo through to Tequesta as coastal cities excluding the Town of Highland Beach. She could not locate any other municipality in the state where a neighboring town removed sand from another municipal beach front submerged land. Commissioner Gossett-Seidman expressed that the town should act now, and talk to authorities to discuss the future removal of the beach sand by the City of Boca Raton until 2028. She then indicated the permits needed to be challenged based on the misleading/mistaken information. She wanted to discuss what the town could do about this matter and did not want to spend the funds unnecessarily. She spoke about some information that she received from Mr. Jack Halpern. She suggested hiring an environmental attorney to look at this matter before November. There was discussion as it related to a process for challenging the permitting, whether the town had received notification about the dredging, possible Mayor to Mayor conversations about this matter, and the potential reasons why the sands was taken from Highland Beach. To hire an environmental lawyer to find out what their options were to figure out how to move forward. Town Attorney Torcivia commented that according to the County's Environmental Resource Manager's response, it suggested the steps were followed. He had not looked into this matter to find out whether Boca or the County dropped the ball at any point. He explained that Attorney Carol Ansay,a partner with his firm for about five years,practice in environmental law and waters Virtual Town Commission Meeting Minutes Date: May 05, 2020 Page 8 of 9 law and indicated he could have Ms. Ansay take a look at this matter. Mayor Hillman suggested that Attorney Ansay look into this matter. Discussion ensued about Highland Beach's name not being included on the computer-generated map, the possibility that there might be a permitting issue based on false information, and about the map with the name Boca Raton shown on the mainland area. Mayor Hillman advised Town Attorney Torcivia to put this matter as a priority for Ms. Ansay and to get the information back to the Commission within a week. F. Approval of Meeting Minutes January 7, 2020 - Minutes January 21, 2020—Minutes Mayor Hillman read the title for Item 11 F into the record and asked if there were any corrections to the meeting minutes. Hearing none, he called for a motion to adopt the minutes as presented. MOTION: Commissioner David moved to accept the January 7, 2020 and January 21, 2020 Meeting Minutes as presented. Commissioner Gossett-Seidman seconded the motion, which passed(5 to 0)unanimously. G. Discussion on Town Employee Hiring Freeze (TIERS ITEM WAS ADDED TO THE AGENDA) Mayor Hillman introduced Item 11 G and explained this was a discussion about hiring freeze for the entire town employee population, including the Police Department. He suggested a hiring freeze with the option to allow Town Manager Labadie to replace a direct report or someone he deemed was critical to the needs of the town. The Commission would revisit this matter in October. He spoke about the financial impact that the COVID-19 pandemic may have on the town, putting the hiring freeze in place immediately by a resolution,the impact as it related to real estate, and maintaining and taking care of the workforce. Discussion followed about the hiring freeze and the option to allow the Town Manager to hire in the event there was a critical need. All the Commissioners were in support of a hiring freeze. Town Manager Labadie will put a resolution together memorializing the hiring freeze and will place it on the next Commission meeting consent agenda. 12. TOWN COMMISSION REPORTS A. Commissioner John Shoemaker inquired about the plans to open the Library and the Post Office. Town Manager Labadie spoke about the building upgrades to secure public spaces in preparation to reopen the Library and the Post Office. Commissioner Shoemaker then spoke about issues with the opening of the beaches, sand in the burrows being done by Boca, beach restoration as it related to providing some town initiative to support the owners plant vegetation to preserve the sand and Milani Park. Discussion followed about Milani Park and beach study as it related to preserving the beaches and protecting the dunes. B. Commissioner Evalyn David commented that when dealing with private property there was a limited number of things, they were able to do. They could encourage the people to plant grasses and things with a root system. Virtual Town Commission Meeting Minutes Date: May 05, 2020 Page 9 of 9 C. Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman thanked the people of Highland Beach, the Commission and the staff for trying to do the right thing. D. Vice Mayor Greg Babij noted that at the last meeting the Mayor asked him to look into the current debt for the town. He mentioned that he was still working on obtaining the information and that he would get together with the Finance Director to pull the information collectively. E. Mayor Douglas Hillman had nothing to report. 13. TOWN ATTORNEY'S REPORT Town Attorney Torcivia provided information about the COVID-19 pandemic and the phase in which the town would reopen the Commission meetings to the public. 14. TOWN MANAGER'S REPORT Town Manager Labadie spoke about the bid process for the Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 20- 003 Underground Contractor Services. He mentioned that there were no authorizations, projects, or emergencies at the moment. He explained that the town had to have a task order, and it could not exceed the charter. He announced the commencement of the collective bargaining process as well as the start of the budget season. He also spoke about the emergency operations, the limitations to the Post Office, the Library reopening, and the efforts to allow residents to access the beach. 15. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Hillman adjourned the meeting at 4:02 P.M. APPROVED at the October 6, 2020 Virtual Town CommissianMeeting. ATTEST: Doug s Hillman, Mayor Transcribed by Ganelle Thompson Administrative Support Specialist T 0" ea -ld-a- -13askins*,' MC yfate Town Clerk Ig: 09.18.2020 baw: 09.22.2020