HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-01-25 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP
MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2016
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Harry Dressler called the Workshop of the City Commission
to order at 9:44 a.m. on Monday, January 25, 2016 in Conference Room 105, City Hall,
7525 NW 88th Avenue, Tamarac, FL 33321.
ROLL CALL: Mayor Harry Dressler, Vice Mayor Diane Glasser, Commissioner Pamela
Bushnell, Commissioner Michelle J. Gomez, and Commissioner Debra Placko were in
attendance.
Also in attendance were City Manager Michael C. Cernech, Assistant City Manager
Diane Phillips, City Attorney Samuel Goren and City Clerk Patricia Teufel.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Vice Mayor Glasser led the Pledge of Allegiance.
1. Presentation and Discussion - Broward County Cannabis Ordinance - Assistant
County Administrator, Alphonso Jefferson, Jr. and Human Services Director Kimm
Campbell — There was no presentation regarding the Broward County Cannabis
Ordinance.
2. TO2337 - Redistricting Ordinance: Item No, 8 (c) on Ordinances First Reading.
(TO2337) An Ordinance of the City of Tamarac, Florida, providing for the re-creation
and re-establishment of the geographic boundaries for four (4) Election Districts in the
City of Tamarac in accordance with Section 6.03 of the City Charter; providing for the
implementation of revised Election Districts to be effective for the elections to be held in
the City of Tamarac, Florida, commencing at the General Municipal Election in
November, 2016, and thereafter; providing a form of request to the Supervisor of
Elections of Broward County, Florida, to implement the revised plan established
pursuant to this Re -districting Ordinance and to create functional districts consistent
with the identification of geographic boundaries for Election Districts; providing for the
attachment of Election District Maps, Charts and street address descriptions, which are
attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and incorporated herein by reference; providing for
authorization and direction to the City Manager to implement the terms, conditions and
provisions of this Ordinance to be effective for the next ensuing General Municipal
Election of November 2016; providing for conflicts; providing for severability and
providing for an effective date. City Attorney Samuel S. Goren, FAU Adjunct Professor
and Project Manager Michael D. Stamm, Jr. and Center for Urban & Environmental
Solutions Computer Systems Analyst Asher Soldwedel appeared. Mr. Soldwedel
provided information on the CUES redistricting team and went over what would be
covered in the presentation, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. Mr.
Soldwedel discussed the districting concepts, established redistricting criteria and the
City Charter. City Attorney Goren explained that the Charter Board is addressing the
current way redistricting is written in Section 6.03 of the Charter to make it consistent
with federal law. Mr. Stamm discussed the District Analysis for the current districts;
talked about new and future developments and went over the three new redistricting
options in great detail. City Attorney Goren said Tamarac is following federal law
regarding redistricting based on population and not based on registered voters as stated
Page 1 of 3 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING January 25, 2016
in the Charter. City Attorney Goren reminded the Commission that Section 6.03 of
Tamarac's Charter is not consistent with what the voters passed by referendum in
March of 2000 which takes precedence over Municipal Code Corporation's publication.
City Attorney Goren said the City hired FAU to do the redistricting based on their
expertise and did not have staff attempt to do the redistricting because it could be
challenged as being biased. City Attorney Goren noted that the Charter Board will be
taking care of the glitch in the Charter. Commissioner Gomez asked if the redistricting
could be deferred until after the November 2016 elections and City Attorney Goren
responded that the time to do this is now and deferring this to a later date could be
challenged. Mr. Stamm said another challenge they would face if this was delayed
would be that it would be harder to get the data to accurately make recommendations.
Commissioner Gomez pointed out that Option A and Option C split up the Spyglass
community into two different districts and she was not comfortable with that.
City Attorney Goren said this Commission has not seen the need to redistrict before and
interestingly the Charter has some unique and antiquated parameter deviations for
redistricting. Mr. Stamm said the redistricting team does not know politics and they look
at this matter purely criteria driven; they also look at numbers and create a district that is
easy to describe. Mayor Dressler said the purpose of today's meeting is to discuss the
options that have been calculated based on population and we need to ponder what is
in the best interest of Tamarac. Vice Mayor Glasser also noted that she was not
comfortable with splitting up a community in two different districts. There was a
discussion regarding how the redistricting would affect voting precincts and it was noted
that the City Clerk has already notified the Broward County Supervisor of Elections of
the pending redistricting. Commissioner Placko also agreed that she was not
comfortable with splitting up Spyglass. Mr. Stamm, City Manager Cernech and City
Attorney Goren responded to a few more questions from the Commission. Mayor
Dressler asked the Commission if they had any preference for the Options presented.
Vice Mayor Glasser, said Option B, but would like to see if Option A could be changed
to keep Spyglass intact and, if so, she would go for Option A. Commissioners Bushnell
and Placko said Option A with the change to keep Spyglass intact. Commissioner
Gomez said she wasn't sure. Mayor Dressler asked the Redistricting team to tweak
Option A and bring that back to the Commission for further consideration at a future
meeting. City Attorney Goren said this Ordinance could be deferred from the January
27, 2016 meeting to the February 10, 2016 meeting and discussed at the February 8,
2016 workshop. All agreed that this item be deferred to the February 10, 2016 meeting.
Mayor Dressler recessed the meeting at 11:31 a.m. and reconvened the meeting at
11:43 a.m. with all present as before.
3. Update Regarding E911 System: Fire Chief Mike Burton appeared. Fire Chief Burton
said Dr. Nabil El Sanadi, who was Tamarac's Medical Director, passed away this
weekend and at this time Tamarac is fine as far as medical direction for our Fire/Rescue
Department. Drs. Brook and Nelson have offered to help get us through this period
while we work to replace Dr. El Sanadi and hire a new medical director for the City's
Fire/Rescue Department.
Fire Chief Burton gave a presentation regarding the E911 System, a copy of which is on
file in the City Clerk's Office. Fire Chief Burton said the technology side is strong;
Page 2 of 3 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING January 25, 2016
however, there is limited police/fire/EMS experience to run the system. Fire Chief
Burton noted that there is a disconnect between the Office of Regional Communication
and Technology and BSO. Fire Chief Burton talked about the three Public Safety
Answering Points; the number of calls received in November 2015 and the time to
answer and process calls. Fire Chief Burton talked about the concerns of the Police and
Fire Chiefs and their recommendations. Fire Chief Burton responded to a few questions
from the Commission.
4. TO 2336 - Fire Pension Plan Amendment: Item 8 (a) on Ordinances First Reading.
(T02336) An Ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida;
amending Chapter 16, Pensions and Retirement, Article VI, Pension Plan; amending
Section 16-493 Optional Benefits, providing for modification of DROP eligibility;
amending Section 16-515 Retirement Subsidy, providing for modification of retirement
subsidy; amending Section 16-516 Supplemental Pension Benefit, providing for
modification of supplemental pension; providing for a savings clause; providing for
severability; providing for codification and providing for an effective date. Human
Resources Director Maria Swanson appeared and said this ordinance amendment is
the result of the Agreement between the IAFF and Tamarac which was approved by the
Mayor and Commission in December 2015. Human Resources Director Swanson went
over the three changes to the ordinance and noted that the Fire Pension Board has
reviewed and accepted the proposed changes.
5. T02335 - Ordinance Creating a Planned Development (PD) District: Item No. 8 (b) on
Ordinances First Reading. (T02335) An Ordinance of the City Commission of the City
of Tamarac, Florida amending Chapter 24, entitled "Zoning", Article III entitled "District
Regulations" of the City of Tamarac Code of Ordinances, specifically creating Division
27 entitled "PD Planned Development District", providing for a new zoning designation
to allow for flexibility in development standards on Master Planned Developments within
the City to include the following Sections: 24-542 "Purpose, Applicability and Creation of
PD District", 24-543 "Rezoning to the Commissioner Placko District", 24-544 "General
Standards for Planned Development District", and 24-545 "Minor Deviations and
Amendments to Approved PD Plan/Agreement"; providing for codification; providing for
conflicts; providing for severability; and providing for an effective date. Community
Development Director Maxine Calloway appeared and gave a presentation, a copy of
which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. Commissioner Gomez said she felt that
Section 2 on page 7 of the Ordinance was vague and needed tightening up. City
Manager Cernech and City Attorney Goren responded to questions from the
Commission. Commissioner Placko agreed with Commissioner Gomez about tightening
up Section 2 on page 7 of the Ordinance.
There being no further business to come before the City Commission for consideration,
Mayor Dressler adjourned the meeting at 12:57 p.m.
`0op`RA(;���'s.,
Patricia Teufel, CMT 0... FAO
City Clerk
LL
Page 3 of 3 COMMISSION WOkk#,, l��lI ING January 26, 2016
�Jll,lll���`