Loading...
2010.11.02_TC_Minutes_RegularTOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION MEETING REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, November 02, 2010 1:30 PM Mayor Jim Newill, CPA, called the Regular Meeting to order in Commission Chambers at 1:30 PM. 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; Deputy Town Clerk Valerie Oakes; Chief of Police Craig Hartmann; Lieutenant Eric Lundberg; Utility Maintenance Supervisor Bill Moore; Utility Forman Pat Roman; Deputy Finance Director Cale Curtis; Assistant to the Town Manager Zoie Burgess; 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 Deputy Town Clerk. 1. ADDITIONS, DELETIONS OR ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA Manor Newill asked for any additions or deletions. Receiving none, the agenda was accepted as presented. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS None. 3. PRESENTATIONS A) Introduction of Officer Jon Alvarez, Highland Beach Police Department Chief Craig Hartmann Chief Hartmann introduced Jon Alvarez as the newest member of the Police Department. Mr. Alvarez was sworn in last month and has successfully completed the field-training program with Officer Wentz. Officer Alvarez is currently on solo patrol and you may have seen him on the bicycle over the weekend in which the Department has received positive feedback. Officer Alvarez was born in the Dominican Republic then moved to New York but grew up in Florida and graduated from Lake Worth High School. He is a graduate of Palm Beach State College Law Enforcement Academy. Officer Alvarez has prior police experience with the City of Town Commission Regular Minutes November 02 2010 Paae 2 of 7 Tequesta and the City of Riviera Beach. His prior experience in the private sector was working at the Breakers Hotel and Resort. He understands the level of service provided by the Police Department, and comes highly recommended. He will be a great fit building a great department and team. Officer Alvarez thanked the Town Commission for allowing him to be apart of this organization. Mayor Newill was happy to see Mr. Alvarez on the bicycle over the weekend and on behalf of the Town Commission, welcomed Officer Alvarez to the Town of Highland Beach. B) Thanking Town Staff for their Teamwork in Helping to Successfully Complete the SR AlA Water Transmission Main Project. Town Mana eg r Su eg rman -The State Route AlA Water Transmission Main Replacement construction project has now been completed. I am very pleased to advise the Commission and the community that the project has come in on time and it has come in under budget. Not bad for government work! I don't know just yet exactly how much under budget the project will be, in that we are still paying some invoices and we still have some final accounting to complete. I would imagine that I will have final project costs, and our overall cost savings from the project before the end of December. From everything that I have heard from the Town Commission and from our residents, while this project was a bit bothersome during the height of the construction, everyone was generally pleased with the overall work, the efforts of the contractor, and the finished product. That is all well and good, and I am pleased as well. To the casual observer, everything went well and everyone seems to be very happy with the project. But there is a slightly different story behind the scenes. There were a lot of members of our Town staff who worked very hard to insure the success of this project. There were unexpected service outages, customers upset that their driveway was blocked, there were times when the contractor installed the wrong fitting in the wrong location, there were lots and lots of phone calls about one problem or another that may have impacted a resident or a group of residents for a few days at a time. But the good news is that everything was handled, every complaint was responded to quickly, and every single problem was resolved. While on the outside it may have looked like this project was smooth sailing throughout, it only looked that way because of the very hard work and dedication of your Town staff. Because of the teamwork demonstrated by a lot of folks on our staff, we made this look easy. Trust me; it was anything but easy for the staff. So I want to take just a few moments to single out all of those members of our Town Hall team who helped to make this project the tremendous success that it was. I would like to thank members of the Public Works staff including Jack Lee, Public Works Director, Bill Moore, Utility/Maintenance Supervisor (and our project manager), Pat Roman, Utility Foreman, and Jesse Alexander, Utility Mechanic. Town Commission Regular Minutes November 02 2010 Page 3 of 7 These are the guys who were right on the line just about every day. They kept a close eye on the contractor and they were our direct contact with our customers; keeping them informed about what was going on, what to expect next, and just how much of a bother we would be as the pipeline passed in front of their property. Particular thanks go to Jack Lee because Jack was the front line complaint taker. He was responsible for making sure that all of our customers were satisfied with each of their individual problems. Additional thanks go out to Bill Moore for making sure that the contractor followed the plans, modified the construction when we ran into unknown underground conditions, and also kept all of our customers advised of what was going on. Further, Bill, Pat and Jesse are to be thanked for helping this project insure that the new water lines, new meters, and new remote reading devices were in the right place and working were properly. They also made sure that all service line breaks were repaired quickly and all customers had a minimum of interruptions in their water service. I would also like to thank members of the Water Plant staff including Joe Sterlicchi, Water Plant Superintendent, and Water Plant Operators Dan Ergueta, Butch Harpel, Kevin Tribby who's birthday is today), and John Stober. These are the guys who had to answer all of the afterhour calls when customers were out of water. They had to provide the notice to customers that they had to boil their water when the new connections took place. And these are the guys who ran all of the bacteriological tests to make sure that the water stayed pure and healthy for all of our customers. I would like to thank members of the Finance Department staff including Cale Curtis, Deputy Finance Director and Deidre McCarty, Administrative Assistant. Cale helped with all of the reconciliations of the monthly pay requests by the contractor and helped with the grant forms so that we could get reimbursement for project costs as quickly as possible. Deidre did an unbelievable job of working with all of our customers to help them get their water bills straightened out when the contractor cut a line and the customer's bill showed high usage. There was also one point in time during the project when the new meters and the new meter registers were installed by the contractor in the wrong locations. Deidre worked tirelessly to get this mix up straightened out and to figure out what meter went where and which customer needed to get the proper credit. Cale helped her on this effort as well; as did Bill Moore and Pat Roman. I would like to thank members of the Town Hall staff including Beverly Brown, Town Clerk, Valerie Oakes, Deputy Town Clerk, Sue Autenrieth, Administrative Assistant, and Zoie Burgess, Assistant to the Town Manager. These are the folks who handled all of the telephone calls and all of the complaints. They kept all of our customers fully informed of what they could expect and when they could expect it. Quite often a customer would call to complain about the burden that this project put on their personal lives and typically Beverly, Valerie, Town Commission Regular Minutes November 02 2010 Pa eg 4 of 7 Sue, and Zoie would help them to understand what was going on and what they could expect. They were our front line for providing customer service satisfaction. Zoie was also very helpful in publishing our Pipe Line newsletter which was hand delivered to customers where the work was actually taking place and e-mailed to condominium dwellers so that folks knew what was going on with the project at all times. I would like to thank members of the Police Department. As everyone will remember, we had quite a few traffic issues with one-way, alternating traffic for the better part of the project. We also had some early, as well as late, evenings when the contractor was making significant noise after 6:00 pm. All of the members of our Police Department were very responsive throughout the project and they helped to keep things in order. If it is not evident by now, this project would not have been the tremendous success that it was if it were not for the teamwork displayed by the entire Town Hall staff. I want to personally thank all of them as well and to let you know how proud I am to be associated with such a fine group of individuals who are so dedicated to the residents of the Town of Highland Beach. Mayor Newill on behalf of the Town Commission thanked the Town Hall staff for their hard work. Additionally, the Mayor thanked the Commission for taking in complaints and answering questions. BOARDS AND COMMITTEES: A) Board Correspondence: • None B) Board Action Report: • Attached -All meetings were cancelled; there is no report. C) Board Vacancies: • Beaches & Shores Advisory -Two -three-year terms • Planning Board -One -two-year unexpired term (8/12) D) Monthly Board Meetings • Special Magistrate -November 4th - 2:00 PM -Cancelled • Beaches & Shores Advisory -November 9th -Regular - 9:30 AM • Planning Board November 10th - Regular - 9:30 AM • Bd. of Adjustment -November 16th -Regular - 9:30 AM 5. PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS None. 6. NEW BUSINESS None. 7. MISCELLANEOUS -ITEMS LEFT OVER Town Commission Regular Minutes November 02 2010 Page 5 of 7 None. S. REPORTS -TOWN COMMISSION Commissioner John Pa lg_iaro -Requested that an item be placed on the next meeting agenda regarding creating a committee of citizens to design an evaluation process to reflect what we are all trying to achieve in terms of the evaluation of the employees. Commissioner John Sorrelli -Invited Craig Hartman, Chief of Police, to the podium. Chief, I received a few complaints concerning vehicles that are not stopping and going around the bus. Where are our police officers? Please explain. Chief Hartmann - I was sur~rised to hear that complaint. We were apart of a statewide campaign during October 18-22" ,and our officers alone have over 20 logged hours at the bus stops during that week. That is a priority for the Department; we know the exact times of arrival at all of the stops. There is high visibility, so I am surprised to hear that a police officer was not seen at the bus stop. If this happened on more than one occasion, I would be absolutely shocked. As you have heard from the community, there is more visibility now than there has ever been. If someone witnessed an officer not present at the bus stop, I would like to know the date and time. Ask the parents and children; the officers are present for their safety. Could it have happened? Of course, but it would be an anomaly. Comm. Sorrelli - Is there a state law regarding passing a school bus? Chief Hartmann -Yes. Just this week of over 20 hours of high visibility and enforcement efforts there was not one vehicle that passed the bus. Commissioner Trinley -Each member of the Commission has been contacted by the Miami Dolphins regarding their philanthropic efforts in the areas of education and health in the youth through athletics and volunteer activities. I am not sure if the public knows that there will be a bike ride through the town. As understood from the Town Manager's memorandum the police are very much involved, but again I am not sure if the public knows this and I would like them to be aware. Vice Mayor Zwick - No report. Manor Newill - No report. 9. REPORTS -TOWN ATTORNEY None. 10. REPORTS -TOWN MANAGER This is a follow-up to Commissioner Trinley's announcement. So that the public is aware, the Miami Dolphins fundraiser will be coming through Highland Beach on Saturday, November 20~' from approximately 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Comm. Pa lg_iaro -What will happen with property owners trying to enter and exit their driveway? Chief Hartmann -From what we understand, there will be an escort for the bulk of the pact. Extra personnel will be on staff to Town Commission Regular Minutes November 02 2010 Page 6 of 7 deal with the ride and the traffic. It should be a quick ride, and not much of a distraction. Comm. Sorrelli - Do the residents know about this? Have we sent any notices out? Town Mana eg_r Su e~ - We have not. Manor Newill -Are we going to advertise on the television? Town Mana eg r Superman - We can do that. Vice Manor Zwick -Could we take a copy of the schedule and send it to the homeowners association so more people can be advised. Town Mana e~ r Su eg rman - We send all notices electronically to the association, so we can do that as well. 11. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Newill asked if any item needed to be removed from the Consent Agenda. MOTION: Vice Manor Zwick moved to accept the Consent Agenda as presented; seconded by Commissioner Pa lg iaro. Town Mana eg r Su eg rman explained that the motion is to approve the Consent Agenda not to accept the Consent Agenda. Vice Mayor Zwick amended her motion to remove the word "accept" and substitute with the word "approve". Commissioner Pa 1~ iaro accepted the amendment. AMENDED MOTION: Vice Mayor Zwick moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented; seconded by Commissioner Pa lg iaro. Voice vote with all in favor. Consent Agenda Items: A) Authorizing the Mayor to Sign an Addendum to the Stipulated Settlement Agreement with Palm Beach County -Milani Park B) Minutes September 16, 2010 -Budget Public Hearing September 27, 2010 -Budget Public Hearing September 28, 2010 -Workshop Meeting October 5, 2010 -Regular Meeting C) Cancelling the December 28, 2010 Commission Workshop Meeting 12. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS RELATED TO ITEMS DISCUSSED AT MF.F.TiN~ None. 13. ADJOURNMENT Town Commission Regular Minutes November 02 2010 Page 7 of 7 There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Newill adjourned the Regular Meeting at 1:56 PM upon a MOTION by Commissioner Pa lg iaro; seconded by Commissioner Sorrelli. AYPRU V ~L J. JJ. ATTEST: ~ ~ -~~~ Beverly . Br , MMC ~~ ~ Date Miri S. Zwick, ce Mayor Doris M. Trinley, Commissioner