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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-06-09 - City Commission Workshop Meeting Minutes5811 N0WT' iVVEST 881'Fi AVENUE TAMARAC, F L0R11)A :33:321 TE.I_.EPHONE (305) 722-5900 June 5, 1981 NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Workshop Meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, June 9, 1981, at 10:30 A.M., in the West Con— ference Room at City Hall, 5811 N.W. 88 Avenue, Tamarac. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss a report by Mrs. Shirley Blumfield concerning her visit to Kiryat Tivon, Tamarac's sister —city in Israel. The City Council may consider such other items as may come before it. The public is invited to attend. Carol A. Evans Assistant City Clerk pursuant to Chapter 80-105 of Florida Law, Senate Bill No. 368. if a person decides to appeal any decision made by the City atter considered at such meeting or Council with respect to any m hearing, he will need a record the proceedings and for such purpose, he may need to ensure that a verbatim record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. CALL TO ORDER: ROLL CALL: CITY OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING June 9, 1981 VISIT TO KIRYAT TIVON TAMARAC'S SISTER -CITY IN ISRAEL Mayor Falck called the Meeting to order at 10:30 A.M. in the West Conference Room at City Hall. PRESENT ABSENT AT.gn PRFSE TT Mayor Walter W. Falck Vice Mayor Irving M. Disraelly Councilman Philip B. Kravitz Councilman Irving Zemel Councilwoman Helen Massaro Carol A. Evans, Asst. City Clerk Mayor Falck read the official notice of the Meeting which was held for the purpose to discuss a report by Mrs. Shirley Blumfield concern- ing her visit to Kiryat Tivon, Tamarac's sister -city in Israel. Mayor Falck corrected the wording to indicate it is Tamarac's possible sister -city in Israel. Mrs. Shirley Blumfield addressed the Council. She explained Kiryat Tivon is seven miles outside of Haifa. She said she was taken to a home in Kiryat,'where most of the homes are single-family homes. They are spread out similar to the homes in Tamarac and look out over the Valley and to the right is Nazareth. Mrs. Blumfield described the view as breathtaking. The people have single-family homes, and they work a great deal as we do. The height of the buildings is restricted and any apartments that are built are restricted to three stories. There are a few six story building which were placed there by the State. In the homes there are two kinds of elderly citizens. They are placed in these homes by the State. The State of Israel is thirty-three years old and they now have for the first time an elderly population and they do not really know what to do with their elderly, and they could not believe when they were told 60% of our population is elderly, and what happens here. Mrs. Blumfield said the problem in Kiryat is that the people are used to working hard all of their lives and suddenly they have retirement on a small pension and they do not know what to do with themselves. Shortly after retirement many of them die of heart attacks. There is new housing as one enters the town, there are three generations of development in that area of Pakistans and Persians and eveyone owns their own home, and there are very few rental areas in the apartment section. There is a new industrial area that is being constructed for light industry, and they want no noise in the factories because the people object to factories there. They do not have much employment in Kiryat Tivon, the people have to travel into Haifa by bus. At the extreme tip of Tivon there are shops, for example carpentry. They call it a Craftsman's Area because they want to make certain the area where they live is kept for living quarters. The only businesses in town are the department stores, and the population is 13,000 as compared to Tamarac's 35,000 population. The City has a Mayor and twelve Council - people. The people in Kiryat found it difficult to believe Tamarac is run by a Mayor and four Councilpeople. They also could not believe the salary of Tamarac's Mayor, their Mayor receives $800. a month. The twelve Council people do not receive any payment, they are hard-working, conscientious people. Mrs. Blumfield said one of the gentlemen who sat next to her, a leading agronomist, told her that politics does not play too much in every day municipal affairs. Once elected, members work together for the benefit of the entire community. Differences of opinion are always valued, for in the settlement of the solution is progress. Mrs. Blumfield said she wrote that down verbatim. Mrs. Blumfield noted that the people have strong feelings about their City, just as we have about Tamarac. She said it is a very clean place and all of the streets are named for plants or trees and they are very conscious of beautification just as we are. They have an area which is a rememberance area and they have built a light and are building a a living memorial to the seventy-seven young men who fell in the Yom Kippur War. A library is being built as a living memorial to these people. Gradually all of the money has been put together. -1- 6/9/81 /1c L Every public building in Israel has a bomb shelter. The City is a long City, and there is a problem with maintenance. There is a National Police Department and Israel provides Kiryat-with-police. There is a union of cities which provides fire protection, however it takes a long time for them to get to Kiryat Tivon in the event of a fire, which is one of their problems. Mrs. Blumfield described the home for children. She said there are 300 culturally retarded children, twelve to fourteen years of age. She said children are a very important item in Israel and they have taken these children and are teaching them. They are kept for two years, and there is a 70% success rate and after two years they go into the regular school system, depending upon their age level. On the first Saturday evening of her visit, Mrs. Blumfield met with the Mayor and other people and she was on a social basis with the people and they were a marvelous, warm group and they could not conceive what we have here could possibly be. Mrs. Blumfield explained when these people buy a home they are not given the advantage of a mortgage. They are given land and allowed to build for themselves. The municipality helps by providing sewerage and all other amenities needed in order for people to build their own homes. Another way people obtain a home is to have the full amount of the home. The prices of homes equivalent to the kind of living she would be used to in America cost $250,000., Mrs. Blumfield said. She noted that this is a big problem for the young people in Israel. Kiryat Tivon is not interested so much in What Tamarac can offer them as what Tivon can offer Tamarac. Mrs. Blumfield read what she had written down that Tivon can offer Tamarac. First, a direct contact with Israel. Any Tamarac citizen would be hosted by the Israelies and would get to know what Israel is really like. It would not be an abstract feeling, there would be direct contact. Also, they could send youth here to help in Tamarac summer camps which would give the children of Israel a chance to know Americans and our children here, and to teach them folk dancing, music, language, and create an interest in Israel. The Jewish Agency sends children from Israel to Summer Camps in America and Kiryat Tivon could ask for Tamarac. Mrs. Blumfield said a different program and different culture could be offered the children of Tamarc. Mrs. Blumfield then discussed what Tamarac could offer Tivon. She said they are terribly worried about their elderly population and not too much is being done in Israel for their elderly population. They are interested in Tamarac helping with their elderly population because they are already a twin -city with Braunschweig Germany, and mostly there it is youth they are interested in. One percent of the population is elderly. In Kiryat Tivon they have three percent of their population as elderly. They don't have centers and they could not fathom what we have. Mrs. Blumfield told them of Tamarac's program for adult education and they couldn't believe elderly could participate in anything such as that. They want to know how to plan for the elderly population, especially in retirement. They are hoping Tamarac would show the State of.�Israel how to go about planning for the elderly. Delegations are needed to teach recreational programs and to teach life after retirement. The local Senior Citizens do not know how to become involved in community affairs and to remain active after retirement and they would appreciate Tamarac showing them how to accomplish this. The change involves no expenditure of funds by Kiryat Tivon or Tamarac. It involves love, care and attention, and it would be an interchange. Kiryat Tivon will not be Tamarac's Sister City unless they contribute as much as Tamarac is contributing. They will not ask for funds, however if children come here they will ask that they be housed with Tamarac residents. Mrs.Blumfi.eld.stated she came away from Kiryat Tivon with the feeling that the City of Tamarac should take Kiryat Tivon as a Sister City. Mayor Falck inquired if there are any newsletters or a way of keeping in touch with their people. Mr. Blumfield said there are. She commented while she was there she noticed there are the same problems and the City is run with the same amount of feeling for the City that we have. There are Boards and Committees which work very hard and are very active. The only thing, Mrs. Blumfield said, is that the older people are not involved. -2- 6/9/81 /lc Councilman Kravitz commented he noted they are active with the Rotarians and they have an Exchange Group of Rotarians and he was sure if they contacted the Rotarians they could get the Israeli students to come here, and our students to go there as exchange students. As a project from Tamarac that could be looked into. Housing would be given through the Rotarians. Mrs. Blumfield suggested that point be made if a letter is written to Kiryat. Also, she commented that if the children come here they will be making a contribution just as our children would by going there. Most of all, Mrs. Blumfield stated, Kiryat Tivon is not looking for financial help of any kind and they insisted that be made clear to Tamarac, since it is necessary there not be that kind of relationship between the two cities. With regard to living conditions in Kiryat, the homes are not like ours. Any home in Tamarac is far superior, however the homes are adequate. Further, they are beautifying the area constantly. Councilman Zemel said perhaps they are wiser than we are, he noted that he has useless rooms and space in his house and perhaps these people are wiser to build what they need. Mrs. Blumfield said they have the rooms, but they are small but the people do not have the need that our people feel they must have. Theyli.ve with the bare necessities. Mrs. Blumfield said it was surprising how much the people knew about Tamarac before she arrived, and the questions they asked were most relevant with regard to their own problems with the elderly. Mayor Falck commented as feeble as the effort to get people ready for retire- ment is in this Country, it still has been productive. He noted that many companies have taken on a project to acclimate an employee to things he will have to contend with after he has retired, before the employee is ready to retire. The Mayor suggested since there is already a group. of people who have retired, somehow Tamarac can assist them to get programs organized that could bring the people together. There could be adult education, for example. Mayor Falck said he thought there are many possibilities. Councilman Zemel expressed concern that the desire for intellectual stimulation would be at a person's own initiative and sources of in- formation would not be coming to these people for the first time from the United States. Information about how to pursue a fruitful retire- ment can't be new to these people at this time and he is not sure what they are interested in pursuing. He noted that educational or adult courses have been natural with this country from the time the country was created. He pointed out all school systems have adult educational programs that permit adults to pursue a course for which they now have found time. Councilman Zemel questioned what Tamarac can recommend to a Sister City. Mrs. Blumfield replied that Councilman Zemel is gauging a Country that is 33 years old against a Country that is 200 years old. She said she doubted if there are nine adult courses in the State of Israel. Israel is not prepared for an elderly population and she pointed out the present generation in our Country is the first generation to have as many retirees as there are right now. Mrs. Blumfield said these people in Kiryat really have to be educated to retirement. Mayor Falck commented that the early sections in Tamarac really had a big job of providing for themselves. He described how the earlier residents kept occupied and busy and they contributed to the growth and development and created a sophisticated interest in the Club House and each one in his own way made a significant contribution to the area and community in which he lived, and on into the City. Mayor Falck stated that he can visualize the people in Kiryat Tivon are where the people of Tamarac were a number of years ago when the City did not have a lot of things and had to work to get those things put together to ultimately have something better for themselves and those who came in after they did. People who come in to the City now are reaping the benefits of those who worked from the first day up to now. Mrs. Blumfield said that is what the people of Israel want to do. She said the people are organized, but they need direction. Mayor Falck described the activity directors and publishers of the Newsletters, and those who wrote articles for the old Tamarac Topics which had a great deal to do with the growth and development of the City, even though it was a developers newspaper. He said there is an opportunity with Kiryat Tivon and he would like to pursue it. WIN 6/9/Sl /lc W Councilman Kravitz indicated he believed the concept of having a Sister City is gratifying both for Tamarac and the United States, as well as Kiryat Tivon, Israel. He said all of the little lines and details did not have to be worked out at the present time. The pure gesture of proclaiming it as such would be helpful. Councilman Kravitz said he learned many things during the discussion. Councilman Kravitz pointed out that Tamarac did not start with a finished diagram, but worked step by step and he felt the same would apply to Tivon. He commented the people of Tivon have demonstrated a will and ability that we may not be giving them full credit for. The people of Kiryat Tivon have made the overture, not Tamarac, he said. Further, they know where they are going. Councilman Kravitz said he would question how acceptable the notion of spending money would be.. However,since there is no real money involved and it is a mutual exchange of knowledge, he thought it would be beneficial to everyone concerned. Mayor Falck stated that if an atmosphere where people to people relation- ships can be maintained, it would be an expanded concept of life where a totally peaceful existence would flourish throughout the world. The Meeting adjourned at 11:30 A.M. CITY CLERK This ublic document was promulgated at a cost of $ ;5ko, or $ ,06 _per copy to inform the general public and public offlicers and employees about recent opinions and considerations by the City Council of the City of Tamarac. -4- 6/9/81 /lc