Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-03-21 - City Commission Special Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP COMMISSION UPDATE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2018 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Harry Dressler called the Workshop of the City Commission to order at 12.45 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21, 2018 in the Mango Room at the Tamarac Recreation Center, 7501 N. University Drive, Tamarac, FL 33321. ROLL CALL: Mayor Harry Dressler, Vice Mayor Michelle J. Gomez, Commissioner Julie Fishman and Commissioner Debra Placko were in attendance. ABSENT: Commissioner Marlon Bolton, Also in attendance were City Manager Michael Cernech, City Attorney Samuel Goren, Assistant City Manager Kathleen Gunn, City Clerk Patricia Teufel, Information Technology Director Levent Sucuoglu, Assistant Public Services Director John Doherty, Human Resources Director Lerenzo Calhoun, Financial Services Director Mark Mason, Parks & Recreation Director Greg Warner, Fire Chief Percy Sayles, Chief Building Official Claudio Grande, Community Development Director Maxine Calloway, BSO Chief Neal Glassman and Public Information & Media Specialist Elise Boston. City Attorney Goren said pursuant to F.S. 286.011(8) he is requesting a Shade Session as he is seeking the Commission's advice and direction regarding the following two cases.. Prestige Homes of Tamarac Inc., v. City of Tamarac, Broward County Case No.: CACE 10-45101 and Prestige Homes of Tamarac Inc., v. City of Tamarac, Broward County Case No.: CACE 11- 12611. City Attorney Goren said he is looking to have the Shade Session sometime in April. There was a consensus to have the Shade Session in April. City Manager Cernech noted that we will not be here as long today as we have been in the past. City Manager Cernech said the Commission may have noticed that we are having one of these meetings monthly and the purpose is to get more information to you in a proactive and timely way regarding some of the things that are coming up in the next few months. Staff will be talking about Tamarac Fire Rescue and response times and how we are proposing to resolve some issues. Staff will also be updating the Commission on some of the things that are happening with the Landscape Master Plan; Infrastructure Improvements and Scheduling. City Manager Cernech said the Commission has been great and staff appreciates your flexibility in trying to make time to provide more opportunities to share information and update you and get your feedback. City Manager Cernech said these meetings are providing staff with good feedback. City Manager Cernech said he understands that it can be frustrating for elected officials because we ask you to approve CIP's and it takes a long time to go through all of the steps and it is easy to lose track of things that are going on. City Manager Cernech said we have in the past discussed the concept of trying to add another meeting to the calendar to give you an opportunity to talk with each other in the Sunshine and we have been able to work them in with the next one scheduled for April 16, 2018. We are asking you to allow for a third regular scheduled meeting a month that would last approximately 2 hours to provide you the opportunity to have a discussion and provide you with updates. City Manager Cernech said these public meetings, they are agendized and properly noticed and they provide us with an opportunity for you to be candid with the staff. Page 1 of 4 SPECIAL COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING March 21, 2018 COMMISSION UPDATE City Manager Cernech said it is unfortunate that Commissioner Bolton was not able to attend as we need to have a conversation with all five of the Commission members relative to the importance of scheduling these meetings. City Manager Cernech said Fire Chief Sayles has a great presentation about Tamarac Fire Rescue staff, about challenges we are having and solutions and their impact. The information is very detailed and if you don't understand something, stop and ask questions as this is an important conversation. City Manager Cernech said Fire Chief Sayles has worked very hard on this presentation and this will have a fiscal impact. City Manager Cernech said there are a lot of things going on in Tamarac and it is important that the Commission stays informed and able to answer any questions from your constituents. Fire Chief Sayles gave a presentation, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. Fire Chief Sayles gave an overview of the presentation; talked about Response Zones; Response Data from 2015, 2016 and 201 T Station 78 challenges; Fire Station Deployment; Aid Types; Regional Partners; Automatic Aid tracking statistics for 2015 to 2017; Automatic Aid Received; Call Type & Volume; Summary and Planned Approach. Fire Chief Sayles responded to questions from the Commission throughout the presentation. Finance Director Mason and City Manager Cernech responded to a few questions from the Commission at the conclusion of the presentation regarding the fiscal impact and the millage rate. Mayor Dressler said it is important that staff understands that the Commission would like to reduce the millage rate rather than maintain a stable millage rate. City Manager Cernech talked about a conversation he had with a Ft. Lauderdale resident and how the resident was dissatisfied with the way Ft. Lauderdale has dealt with infrastructure issues. City Manager Cernech said we don't get those complaints in Tamarac and when we do get complaints, we fix it. Tamarac has been proactive, we need to address the issues that Fire Chief Sayles presented to the Commission and with costs rising constantly, we need to take a more regional approach to providing fire rescue services. Mayor Dressler said the Planned Approach that was presented to the Commission makes sense. Assistant City Attorney Julie Klahr joined the meeting at 1:55 p.m. and City Attorney Goren left the meeting at 1:58 p.m. Mayor Dressler said this is a conversation that the City Manager should be having with our neighbors and City Manager Cernech said this should also be done by the Commission members as well. Finance Director Mason explained the financial aspects of the additional unit and Firefighters and the millage rate. Finance Director Mason said it would cost Tamarac $1.2 million for 12 Firefighters and staff has evaluated this and at the current millage rate this is doable and sustainable. Finance Director Mason said our call volume has not changes that much over the last 10 years and what has really changed is the calls are generated more from residents than commercial. There will be a financial impact, but staff is planning for that. Mayor Dressler recessed the meeting at 2:07 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 2:29 p.m. with all present as before. Community Development Director Calloway gave a presentation on the Landscape Master Plan, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. Community Development Director Calloway went over the 7 segments of the Tamarac Landscape Enhancement Project and Page 2 of 4 SPECIAL COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING March 21, 2018 COMMISSION UPDATE the Implementation Schedule over a 5-year period. Community Development Director Calloway responded to a few questions and concerns from the Commission. Assistant Director/ Capital Project Manager Doherty gave an Infrastructure Update presentation, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. Assistant Director/ Capital Project Manager Doherty talked about the I & I Program, Wastewater Cured -In -Place Lining; Citywide Pavement Management Program; Annual Citywide Sidewalk Improvements; Citywide Bike Paths, Guardrail Improvement Program; Culvert & Headway Program and Signage Program. Commissioner Placko said she would like a schedule for the Woodmont Signage Program. City Manager Cernech said the signs have come in more expansive than we thought, and staff will deal with this internally. The cost is now $62,000 a sign, we are still moving along with the program and will get back to the Commission with a revised cost. Assistant Director/ Capital Project Manager Doherty continued with his presentation and talked about the Buffer -wall Program and its various phases. Mayor Dressler talked about the buffer -wall on Southgate Blvd. and the developer's non-compliance with the Developer's Agreement. Assistant Director/ Capital Project Manager Doherty, Finance Director Mason and City Manager Cernech responded to questions from the Commission throughout the presentation. City Manager Cernech reiterated that we have some concerns about the signs at this time and we will address that internally. City Manager Cernech said he is sorry Commissioner Bolton is not here as he raised a question at the last meeting regarding Shaker Village. City Manager Cernech said the City has done some infrastructure work in Shaker Village, i.e. pipe bursting and the work that was done was on private property. City Manager Cernech said everything in Shaker Village is privately owned and maintained by Shaker Village. When we finish with our projects, we leave the place in better shape than when we got there. There are still some issues with repaving; however, we found that was because of the lack of maintenance and any repaving we would do would be compromised by the lack of drainage. It has been estimated that it would cost $1.5 to fix the problem and we would be happy to contribute to the repaving but we cannot justify paying for the whole thing. City Manager Cernech said we are in a catch 22 and he will talk about levying an assessment with Commissioner Bolton. City Manager Cernech spoke about the condition of the Shaker Village Clubhouse. There was a discussion about spending tax dollars on private property. The work we did in Shaker Village did not cause the damage; however, the lack of maintenance did. City Manager Cernech said we need a commitment from the people in Shaker Village that they will contribute, and the City will do our part. Assistant Director/ Capital Project Manager Doherty reported the Public Services Director Strain met with the property manager and discovering the significant drainage problems. Vice Mayor Gomez commented that they may not have the resources to do the repairs and Finance Director Mason said they have 358 units in Shaker Village and one way for them to fix this would be to level an assessment. Mayor Dressler asked staff to let the Commission know if someone from Shaker Village approaches the City to perform the repairs. City Manager Cernech reported that we finally received all of the costs for the Colony West Clubhouse, Cart Barn, etc. and it is no surprise that it came in over budget. City Manager Cernech said staff will work with the construction company and subcontract to bring this under budget. City Manager Cernech said they are working with Marker Construction and are optimistic that we can get to be where we need to be. Mayor Dressler asked what the current value of the property is and Finance Director Mason responded that he would have to Page 3 of 4 SPECIAL COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING March 21, 2018 COMMISSION UPDATE look it up based on the use of the property. City Manager Cernech said the Glades Course is worth $15 million. We have done a lot of renovating on that course and have received a lot of good feedback. Commissioner Placko asked when we would be closing the Clubhouse and Finance Director Mason said sometime in September and it is schedule for the new Clubhouse to be completed in September 2019. City Manager Cernech said he wants to have a discussion about scheduling but it will wait until all are present. Vice Mayor Gomez said she thinks the conversation needs to take place now as we need to move on with the business of the City. City Manager Cernech said we have always scheduled meetings when all 5 members were available. If we are going to change that at the direction of the Commission that is fine. City Manager Cernech said he wants to have a conversation about changing the way we schedule as this has become a challenge. City Manager Cernech said other cities schedule things and if someone is not there they still conduct the meeting. It has become very frustrating for other Commission members to change their schedules because of one person, and this is not working for us. Mayor Dressler said physical quorums of three clearly do not work; four or five is reasonable. Commissioner Fishman said she agreed with Vice Mayor Gomez and she too has been frustrated by all the rescheduling. We need to change how we schedule because this is not working now. Mayor Dressler said scheduling for 4 is viable. City Manager Cernech said staff is trying to be respectful of everyone's calendar and if we can't find when all five are available, we will look for a date when four are available as we want to do the business of the City in a timely manner. City Manager Cernech said staff needs to have a conversation and get clear direction on how to proceed. Commissioner Placko said Workshops and Commission meetings are scheduled very far in advance. This is a very different Commission and we are all busy and to have holds on calendars is just not acceptable, and if there are four or three available we should just move forward. Vice Mayor Gomez said when she first joined the Commission she had to readjust her schedule to accommodate meetings. Vice Mayor Gomez said we need to have a minimum of four for important items and Quasi -Judicial items. Assistant Director/ Capital Project Manager Doherty commented that QJ's need a super -majority presence. Mayor Dressler said there seems to be a consensus that you don't have to schedule for five that staff can schedule for four or three unless it is something important. Vice Mayor Gomez talked about trying to schedule a Town Hall meeting after the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School and being unable to accomplish that. Commissioner Placko said if there is something important to a Commissioner they have to take the responsibility to be there. City Manager Cernech said we will be scheduling an update meeting in April and we will try to keep it short. We have some more things that we need to get back with you on and other things we need to talk about in advance of the budget discussion in June. City Manager Cernech commented that these meetings seem to be working well with the Commission. There being no further business to come before the City Commission, Mayor Dressler adjourned ffie "eftlirj% at 3:47 p.m. ® C - Q.' a Yke® = Patricia Teufel, C C b3 : a ` City Cle k Page of 4 SPE '41 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING March 21, 2018 %Q ..... COMMISSION UPDATE COO 1/111111W