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2011.03.01_TC_Minutes_Regular TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF TOWN COMMISSION MEETING REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, March 1, 2011 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; Interim Town Manager Kathleen D. Weiser; Town Clerk Beverly M. Brown; Chief of Police Craig Hartmann; Public Works Director Jack Lee; 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 Town Clerk. 1. ADDITIONS, DELETIONS OR ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA Mayor Newill asked for any additions or deletions. Receiving none, the agenda was accepted as presented. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS Mayor Newill — I would like to remind everybody that there are not to be any campaign speeches made during the public comment portion of the agenda. It is against Highland Beach policy and Florida statutes to campaign on the site of any municipal, state or federal government property. Bernard Featherman — Villa Costa Who is going to be responsible for supplying information to an impartial Magistrate on the Town Clerk? If the Town Clerk is found guilty will an apology be given to the Town Manager? Why is it that we never have answers before or during presentations at the Commissioner's monthly meeting? Is it possible to get some answers? Can I have an answer now? Mayor Newill — Sir, this Commission has a policy. If you would have been here in the past you would know the policy, the policy is if you submit the questions in writing, we will then attempt to address them. Mr. Featherman — So another words, I won't get an answer on this at all, is that correct? Mayor Newill - I think you must have trouble understanding me. Mr. Featherman — I understand Mayor, and I am just saying will I get an answer on it and you said no. Mayor Newill — No, I didn't say that sir. Town Commission Regular Minutes March 1, 2011 Page 2 of 9 Mr.Featherman — Well you said that I couldn't get an answer. Mayor Newill — I didn't say that. I said you had to submit it in writing and then it would be addressed. Wallace Feldman — Penthouse Towers I would like to address the Commission on manager and supervisory responsibilities. In addition to managing my own business, I have both a Master's Degree and a PhD, and taught in several universities. I know no one sitting on the dais. Supervisory Boards should not micromanage. The Town Clerk's offense of forwarding jokes on the Town's computer system was grounds for firing. Three of you instead voted to suspend the Town Manager. The lame excuse of one of the three was that his wife had accompanied her during her cancer treatments. This ranks of cronyism, which is totally improper in government. I was appalled when I read these stories in the newspaper and will remember them when it comes time to vote. Mayor Newill — Under the Town's Charter, the Town Manager cannot fire the Town Clerk. Mike Ferrara — Boca Highlands I respect the academic credentials of the man who spoke before me, but he really needs to know all the facts. I suggest as a lawyer for 60 years, that before one speaks, they should know the facts. The facts are not necessarily what they read in the papers. I do insist, as a lawyer, to not immediately take the clients position until you have time to investigate and make a judgment. All my experience as a lawyer and a legislator for sixty years, not once did I think I could tell this Commission how to handle that problem. I learned quickly to keep my mouth shut until I found the full facts. I suggest that the gentleman who only read and believed the newspaper, that he find out the true facts and give some weight to this Commissions judgment. William Svenstrup — 3310 S. Ocean Blvd. I would like to take this opportunity to praise the Commission for their decision with the former Town Manager. I believe you took the proper action with this important matter. The Commission made the right decision in asking Mr. Sugerman to simply modify this harsh disciplinary action. Between the medical issues involved and the fact that this was the only incident in her work history, he chose not to follow the directive given by the Town Commission. He was then therefore insubordinate. This was his decision and his actions proved he knew exactly what he was doing. Thank you Mayor for all the time you have given over the past eight years. Joe Asselta — Casuarina I previously served at the Vice Mayor for two terms. My background is in the military and as a managing partner in a large international law firm, and I have participated in several hundred trials. I previously addressed the situation with the Town Manager, but my time ran out. Now, the subject has been raised again. One of the subjects most people do not know is the history behind the Town Manager. This occurrence between the Town Manager and the Town Clerk is no surprise. It fits in with his character of his two previous positions — Boynton Beach and Sunrise. He has made false statements to the Commission; created situations that did not exist; as a matter of fact in numerous situations. For the better of the Town, we kept quiet. The facts are important and a lot of people are commenting in the blind, but not surprising with the news media. I could pose the question — was it a surprise that something appeared in the Town Clerk's computer? Did she put it there? No she didn't. How come her computer was the only one investigated by the Town Manager? Who went to the press? Who made it public? The Town Manager. After raising all sorts of elusory allegations he said Town Commission Regular Minutes March 1, 2011 Page 3 of 9 I cannot comment. What was in that computer was not put in there by the Town Clerk, nor was it shocking, nor would it hurt anybody. Even 12 year olds today have seen and heard the same stuff and ignore it as it is on television on a regular basis. On the subject of advisory boards, people are commenting without knowing the facts. I was the person who made the motion to dissolve the Financial Advisory Board. After Mr. Newill left as chairman, they said they had nothing to do. We gave them three projects to investigate, and their response was to hire an outside consultant. The Cultural Board self - destructed themselves. Harold Hagelmann — (Former Mayor) - Boca Highlands I would like to thank the Board for the job that they have done. The decisions that are being made are outstanding. We have a wonderful Town and want to keep it that way. There are changes that have to be made. Some have been unpleasant, but you have done it. I see the project of planting trees along A1A next to Milani Park is an item on the agenda. Thank you for following through. It will only beautify Highland Beach more. Charles Scarzy I live on the west side of Al A, and was wondering if the Commission would allow open house signs to be put in the swales on weekends? My house is up for sale, and if you put "open house" signs in the swale, the police will remove them. Last year the Commission allowed these signs for a short time. Would you consider it again? Mayor Newill — Make an appointment to talk to the Town Manager about this request. 3. PRESENTATIONS None 4. BOARDS AND COMMITTEES A) Board Correspondence: • None B) Board Action Report: • Attached C) Board Vacancies: • Planning Board — One unexpired two -year term D) Monthly Board Meetings • Special Magistrate — March 3 — Cancelled • Beaches & Shores Advisory — March 8 — changed to March 22 " — Regular - 9:30 AM • Planning Board — March 9 - Canceled • Bd. of Adjustment — March 15 - Canceled 5. PROPOSED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A) RESOLUTION NO. 11 -002 R A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA, APPOINTING PALM BEACH COUNTY SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS Town Commission Regular Minutes March 1, 2011 Page 4 of 9 SUSAN BUCHER AND ONE HIGHLAND BEACH REPRESENTATIVE TO THE TOWNS' CANVASSING BOARD AND AUTHORIZING SUSAN BUCHER AND ONE HIGHLAND BEACH REPRESENTATIVE TO REPRESENT THE TOWNS' CANVASSING BOARD FOR THE GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION OF MARCH 8, 2011. Town Clerk Brown read Resolution No. 11 -002 R, title only, into the record. MOTION: Comm. Trinley moved to adopt Resolution No. 11 -002 R; motion seconded by Comm. Sorrelli. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Trinley - Yes Commissioner Sorrelli - Yes Commissioner Pagliaro - Yes Vice Mayor Zwick - Yes Mayor Newill - Yes Motion passed with a 5 -0 vote. Town Attorney Sliney — The Commission needs to appoint the Highland Beach Representative on the Canvassing Board whom will be working with the Supervisor of Elections. Commissioner Trinley — Since the Town Clerk is the Town's Supervisor of Elections, it should be the Town Clerk. MOTION: Comm. Trinley moved to appoint Town Clerk Beverly Brown as the Town's Representative on the Canvassing Board; motion seconded by Comm. Sorrelli. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Trinley - Yes Commissioner Sorrelli - Yes Commissioner Pagliaro - Yes Vice Mayor Zwick - Yes Mayor Newill - Yes Motion passed with a 5 -0 vote. B) RESOLUTION NO. 11 -004 R A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN COMMISSION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, AUTHORIZING A SALARY ADJUSTMENT FOR THE TOWN MANAGER. Town Clerk Brown read Resolution No. 11 -003 R, title only, into the record. Town Commission Regular Minutes March 1, 2011 Page 5 of 9 MOTION: Comm. Trinley moved to adopt Resolution No. 11 -004 R with a 0% increase in the Town Manager's base salary; seconded by Comm. Sorrelli. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Trinley - Yes Commissioner Sorrelli - Yes Commissioner Pagliaro - Yes Vice Mayor Zwick - Yes Mayor Newill - Yes Motion passed with a 5 -0 vote. 6. NEW BUSINESS A) Additional Tree Planting on A1A in the vicinity of Milani Park. Interim Town Manager Weiser — At their workshop of February 22, 2011, the Commission was asked to consider planting Royal Palms in the ROW area of the Milani Park property along Al A. The property has a long history including it being deeded to Palm Beach County by the Milani family. This area was not part of the tree planting project that took place in 2007 -2009 along A1A using FDOT matching funds. Initial review of the project estimates planting eight (8) Royal Palms at a cost of $1,000.00 each. Design and permitting of the project, which would be necessary since FDOT approval would be required, is estimated at approximately $6,000.00. County authorization would not be required; however, their consideration of the project is highly welcomed. Town staff has measured the property and the required setback to 21 feet from the white line of Al A would place the trees midway between the walking path and the fencing that runs along the County park. As this is an unbudgeted project, funding would need to be authorized from the Town's Unfunded Contingency account. This will be a fairly quick project and should take about 90 days to complete. Commissioner Sorrelli — Does the $14,000.00 cover the drawings and permitting? Manager Weiser — Purchasing the trees will be $8,000.00 plus $6,000.00 for design and permitting. Comm. Sorrelli - Do you need permission from the County? Manager Weiser — We need a permit from FDOT. We will run it by the County as it is their park, but we do not necessarily have to do that. Mayor Newill — Have discussed this proposal with Commissioner Abrams and he does not have a problem with us planting additional trees adjacent to the county park. I then asked him for County financial participation. He made a commitment to discuss this with Audrey Wolfe to see if any funds are left over from the original Milani Park project that can be contributed to the cost of this project. He will have Audrey Wolfe contact the Town Manager to discuss it further. He gave no guarantee, but will have Audrey Wolfe look into it. MOTION: Vice Mayor Zwick moved to approve the planting of eight (8) Palm Trees at the edge of Milani Park in alignment with the trees that have already been planted in the rest of the Town; seconded by Comm. Pagliaro. Town Commission Regular Minutes March 1, 2011 Page 6 of 9 DISCUSSION: Vice Mayor Zwick — The Commission had made assurances to the residents of Boca Highlands that trees would be planted after the Milani Park litigation was completed. If the County does not contribute any money, then we can transfer funds from the Contingency Account if necessary. Comm. Trinley — Question the positioning of the trees. Is there 50 feet from the center line to plant these trees? Manager Weiser - Staff went out and measured last week. Measuring 21 feet from the white line, would place the trees in the middle of the grass between the walking path and the split rail fence. Comm. Trinley —Do we need a permit from FDOT? Manager Weiser — We would need a permit from FDOT and that is included in the total price. ROLL CALL: Vice Mayor Zwick - Yes Commissioner Pagliaro - Yes Commissioner Sorrelli - Yes Commissioner Trinley - Yes Mayor Newill - Yes Motion passed with a 5 -0 vote. B) Schedule Date for a Special Meeting for Oath of Office of Elected Officials. Town Clerk Brown stated that the Commission needed to set a date for the official swearing -in ceremony. Consensus was to schedule this Special Meeting on Friday, March 11, 2011 at 10:00 AM. 7. MISCELLANEOUS — ITEMS LEFT OVER: None 8. REPORTS — TOWN COMMISSION A) Commissioner John Pagliaro — No Report. B) Commissioner John Sorrelli — After nine years, this is my last official meeting. I would like to thank the Commissioner's and you Mayor for doing a splendid job. A special thank you to Tom Sliney. Whenever I needed him, he was always there. He has been with the Town twenty seven years. Tom you have always been there for us and have done a good honest job. Thank you to all the residents for all the help they have been. It has been a pleasure. Mayor Newill — Thank you John, I might add it has been a pleasure knowing you and serving with you. Best Wishes. Comm. Trinley — I would like to tell Commissioner Sorrelli that I to will miss him and will always admire his courage of conviction. He has never been afraid to speak his mind and that is what government needs. Thank you so much. Comm. Pagliaro — John, we do not always agree, but I have a high regard for you. I also Town Commission Regular Minutes March 1, 2011 Page 7 of 9 would like to thank Mayor Newill. I do not know when he started it, but I think he has done a great job in reminding us to keep civility. There have been some heated issues. You win some, you lose some. I still respect you even though we have had some disagreements. Thank you for all the work you have done for this Town. C) Commissioner Doris M. Trinley —No Report. D) Vice Mayor Miriam S. Zwick — No Report. D) Mayor Jim Newill, CPA — The only thing that I would like to bring up to the Commission, and want you to put this on your thinking cap as we will discuss it at the next workshop and then the regular meetings. We currently still have a contract with GSG (Government Services Group) for a $1,000.00 a month retainer fee; then if we use their services, there are additional specific rates that we pay. If you go back a year ago, we had them on a monthly rate. I have talked to Cale Curtis about this. We have not used them, so we are spending a $1,000.00 for something I question whether we need to continue or not. Cale is comfortable in his position and is doing a wonderful job, and can handle it. I question whether we need to be paying this $1,000.00 a month for them to be sitting out there somewhere. If anything got so big that we could not handle internally, we could hire someone on an hourly basis. I think this is something we could eliminate. I gave a copy to the Town Attorney to see if he agrees. It says either party may terminate upon a 60 day notice. Basically, if we could discuss it at the Workshop, and vote on it at the next Commission Meeting, that would give us April and May for the 60 days' notice, so we would save $4,000.00. Town Clerk please put it on the March Workshop Agenda. 9. REPORTS — TOWN ATTORNEY I would like to thank Commissioner Sorrelli for his kind comments, and to thank you John for being a friend to me for many, many years. I wish you the best in the future. 10. REPORTS — TOWN MANAGER No Report 11. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Newill asked if any item needed to be removed from the Consent Agenda. MOTION: Vice Mayor Zwick moved to accept the Consent Agenda as presented; seconded by Comm. Sorrelli. Voice vote with all in favor. A) RESOLUTION NO. 11 -003 R A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH, FLORIDA, Town Commission Regular Minutes March 1, 2011 Page 8 of 9 DECLARING THE ELECTION FOR ONE (1) COMMISSION SEAT TO HAVE BEEN HELD ON THE 8th DAY OF MARCH, 2011 TO BE UNNECESSARY SINCE THE ONLY CANDIDATE WHO QUALIFIED WAS UNOPPOSED. B) Appointment of Nancy Beaumont to the Planning Board for a three -year term (03/01/14) C) Minutes January 25, 2011 - Workshop Meeting February 1, 2011 — Regular Meeting 12. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS RELATED TO ITEMS DISCUSSED AT MEETING Mike Ferrara — Boca Highlands I first want to thank this Commission for the way you conduct these meetings, allowing a public portion before and after each meeting. As most of you know, I have lived my life in government. Too often citizens do not get an opportunity to speak except at the end of the meeting, after everything has been done. The procedure here has been tremendous. My opportunity today becomes a little chauvinistic. I am the father of three daughters. I know the Commission selected this woman as the Interim Manager, and want to say it is a pleasure having a beautiful lady in that position. I congratulate you. My good friend Dennis Sheridan was elected Commission, and he will be an asset to the citizens of this Town. Harold Hagelmann — Boca Highlands As we saluted our flag today, and put our hands over our hearts, a thought came to my mind. Our country is in need, the whole world is in need, but I am thinking specifically about our flag. I remember that flag. I know what it stands for. I know what WWII meant to me, and how I sacrificed part of my body to represent that flag, and I am honored to do so. I am also a Chaplain with the US Navy. I am asking that we all remember our country with a special prayer that our God protect our servicemen, honor them, and bring them home safely. 13. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Newill adjourned the Regular Meeting at 2:13 PM upon a MOTION by Commissioner Sorrelli; seconded by Commissioner Pagliaro. APPROVED: � i errs x� Jim Newill, CPA, Mayor i t Miriam S. ice ayor Town Commission Regular Minutes March 1, 2011 Page 9 of 9 /2 4;- in Doris M. Trinley, Commission Se John J. Sorrelli, Cissioner o ' J. P.61= o, C issioner ATTE ` : ASA. Beverly ■ . Brown, MMC Dat / /