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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-03-22 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING MONDAY MARCH 22, 2010 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Talabisco called the workshop meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, March 22, 2010, in Room 105, Tamarac City Hall, 7525 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac, FL 33321. PRESENT: Mayor Beth Talabisco, Vice -Mayor Harry Dressler, Commissioner Pamela Bushnell, Commissioner Patricia Atkins -Grad, and Commissioner Diane Glasser. ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Jeffrey L. Miller, Assistant City Attorney Jacob Horowitz, Deputy City Manager Michael C. Cernech, and City Clerk Marion Swenson. Mayor Talabisco led the pledge of allegiance. 1. Discussion/Update re: Pain Clinics. BSO Chief Duguay, Assistant City Attorney Horowitz and BSO Detective Pat Keegan appeared. Assistant City Attorney Horowitz gave a presentation on the draft Ordinance and said this would impose a 6-month business tax receipt moratorium on pain clinics and businesses that dispense pain medications, and would give the State of Florida the opportunity to act on pending Bills. The draft Resolution supports efforts on a statewide level. BSO Chief Duguay said there are currently no pain clinics in Tamarac but there are pharmacies that dispense such pain medications indiscriminately. Commissioner Bushnell asked if the legislation would affect Urgent Care Centers and Assistant City Attorney Horowitz defined pain clinics and pain management clinics and said Urgent Care Centers are not included in that definition. Commissioner Glasser questioned monitoring of the facilities and BSO Chief Duguay explained BSO's procedures. Vice -Mayor Dressler questioned the generic opioids description of Oxycodone and BSO Chief Duguay said Oxycodone is a brand name. Mayor Talabisco added there is federal legislation in the works regarding this matter that would help us. Mayor Talabisco asked for an expression of interest to add the draft Ordinance and Resolution to Wednesday's Commission meeting agenda. All were in agreement. 2. Presentation of FY09 CAFR. Financial Services Director Mason and Pablo Llerena, GLSC & Co., PLLC appeared. Financial Services Director Mason gave a presentation and spoke of material weaknesses found by the auditors, which, he said, would not recur; there will be a change in timing as to when the auditors come to Tamarac in the future. Vice -Mayor Dressler spoke of the debt service millage and said when inflation hits it is to our advantage to be more highly leveraged; looking down the road 5-10 years there could come a point where we would want to change that. Vice -Mayor Dressler commended Financial Services Director Mason on his work for the City of Tamarac. Commissioner Bushnell questioned a fixed one-time expenditure, and Financial Services Director Mason said perhaps the purchase of land or hurricane repairs that are not refundable from the federal or state governments. Commissioner Atkins -Grad complemented the auditors and Financial Services Director Mason on their work, and Financial Services Director Mason commended Controller Cajuste. Mayor Talabisco asked if the Charter recommendations will impact what was discussed today and Financial Services Director Mason said it will impact, in the future, how we designate fund balance. Page 1 of 4 City Commission Workshop March 22, 2010 3. Item No. 6 (b) on the Consent Agenda. AUTHORIZING FOUR -WEEK VACATION FOR MAYOR AND COMMISSION: (TR11765) Authorizing a four -week consecutive period (July 18, 2010 — August 15, 2010) during which time the City Commission will not schedule any regular meetings pursuant to Section 4.06 of the City Charter. City Clerk Swenson presented the item. Vice -Mayor Dressler left the room at 10:20 a.m. and returned at 10:25 a.m. 4. Item No. 6 (c) on the Consent Agenda. SKATE PARK AMENITIES: (TR11776) Approving the purchase and installation of skate park amenities from American Ramp Company at a cost not to exceed $180,220.15, utilizing the Texas Association of School Boards "Buyboard" Consortium. Parks & Recreation Director Warner, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Probert, and Purchasing/Contracts Manager Glatz appeared. Director of Parks and Recreation Warner and Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Probert gave presentations. Commissioner Bushnell expressed concern over the fact that there would be no staffing at the Skate Park. Director of Parks and Recreation Warner spoke of the Skate Board Immunity Statute in the Florida Statutes and said there will be security cameras installed and BSO will have the ability to pull the information up on their laptops; additionally maintenance staff will be at the sports complex throughout the day. Commissioner Bushnell questioned the number of people allowed in the Skate Park at one time, and questioned the City's liability. Director of Parks and Recreation Warner explained there will be signage and we will work with the Fire Department as to capacity. Additionally, part of the Skate Board Immunity Statute will require parents to sign a waiver, and there will be periodic checks to make sure waivers have been signed. Mayor Talabisco questioned the mechanism for staff to hand out waivers and stickers for the helmets and Director of Parks and Recreation Warner said when the park first opens staff will be available and we will publicize the matter. There was discussion regarding the City's level of liability if there is full time staff available. Commissioner Bushnell questioned the hours of use and if there will be a fee to use the facility. Director of Parks and Recreation Warner said the facility will be open during park hours (8:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. weekdays and until 10:00 p.m. weekends.) Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Probert said staff would look into a fee. Assistant City Attorney Horowitz explained the waiver is only applicable to participants under the age of 18. Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Probert added there are a minimal amount of injuries reported from skate park use. Director of Parks and Recreation Warner said in case of emergencies, there will be a phone number posted to call. Mayor Talabisco questioned the use of volunteers and Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Probert said while it is difficult to get volunteers to monitor facilities, staff would keep trying. Deputy City Manager Cernech said per capita there are more injuries associated with basketball than skate boarding. Mayor Talabisco expressed concern regarding the liability to the City should someone get hurt and Assistant City Attorney Horowitz discussed sovereign immunity protection to the City, and said there is the same level of liability as with other sports activities. Commissioner Glasser questioned the location of the cameras and who would have access to the information. Director of Parks and Recreation Warner replied BSO and Parks and Recreation Staff can watch the film on laptops — the information will be networked. Commissioner Glasser said she was still not comfortable with this. Commissioner Bushnell questioned cameras at other venues and Director of Parks and Recreation Warner said there are none at this time. Assistant City Manager Phillips spoke of a submission for State funding. Vice -Mayor Dressler said he is also uncomfortable with the liability matter and suggested removing the item from the consent agenda for further discussion and asked Director of Parks and Recreation Warner to get information regarding liability from other cities that have Skate Page 2 of 4 City Commission Workshop March 22, 2010 Board Parks. Assistant City Attorney Horowitz and Director of Parks and Recreation Warner said they could get information for the Mayor and City Commission for Wednesday's meeting. Commissioner Atkins -Grad said she would like to see this move forward with no liability to the City. Commissioner Bushnell questioned an age limit to use the park and Director of Parks and Recreation Warner said up to a certain age, a parent will need to accompany a child. There was discussion regarding a fee to use the facility. Mayor Talabisco moved out of the regular order of business on the agenda to take up Item No. 7 on the workshop agenda. 7. Update Re: Dog Park Operations. Parks and Recreation Director Warner gave a presentation and spoke of the use of the dog park, operations, items that need attention as identified by users as well as BSO and staff observations, scheduling, drive-throughs, contact with registered volunteers about working at the dog park, signs moved away from the gate area that were blocking view of the parking lot, sign boards, BSO surveillance and additional patrols by BSO and signage. Staff will continue recruitment of volunteers, more frequent trips to the park to speak with `regulars' to solicit input and ask that they help with monitoring, review of current signage to insure most important messages are highlighted to all users, placement of signs with instructions on what to do if you witness an aggressive dog or unregistered Pit Bull, BSO efforts, and seeking funding for security camera systems. Director of Parks and Recreation Warner proposed working with the City Clerk's office to issue tags to be displayed on dog collars to make sure Pit Bulls or Pit Bull like dogs are registered in Tamarac. Commissioner Atkins -Grad said she is happy to see the City is looking into obtaining security cameras. Commissioner Bushnell questioned the cost of the mitts for animal waste pickup and Director of Parks and Recreation Warner said he would get back with her. Commissioner Bushnell said she had suggested mobile dog groomers come to the park which would provide a good service as well as another set of eyes in the park. Director of Parks and Recreation Warner said he had made contact with them to get involved in some of our events. Commissioner Glasser said she has heard great things about the dog park and we are heading in the right direction for solutions to problems. Vice -Mayor Dressler said increased awareness of vehicle break-ins is important; people should not be leaving valuables in their cars. Mayor Talabisco returned to the regular order of business on the agenda. 5. Item No. 6 (d) on the Consent Agenda. AMENDMENT #2 - RENEWAL WITH FRANKLIN COMMUNICATIONS, LLC: (TR11778) Authorizing the appropriate City Officials to renew an agreement for "printing & distribution of City of Tamarac publications" to and execute and agreement with Franklin Communications, LLC for printing services for a one (1) year period, providing for one (1) additional one (1) year renewal option at the discretion of the city; authorizing the City Manager to approve expenditures for printing. Public & Economic Affairs Officer Berns and Purchasing/Contracts Manager Glatz appeared. Public and Economic Affairs Officer Berns gave a presentation. Mayor Talabisco said she spoke with Ben Chicofsky and he was very happy to have received the proclamation. 6. Item No. 6 (e) on the Consent Agenda. SUNRISE TRAFFIC SAFETY DEVICES GRANT: (TR11782) A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida authorizing the appropriate City officials to execute an Agreement between the City of Tamarac, a sub -grant Page 3 of 4 City Commission Workshop March 22, 2010 participant, and Sunrise Fire Rescue, the sub -grantee project coordinator, for the receipt of Traffic Safety Devices under a Broward County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Grant, as part of the State EMS County Grant funds. EMS Division Chief Sheridan gave a presentation and said at this time we hope to be able to outfit all our apparatus since other cities are backing out of the grant due to the paperwork involved. 8. Discussion/report re: Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Vice Mayor Dressler reported on the status of the MPO and said the westernmost cities do not receive much of the benefit of the funds spent by the MPO. The MPO discussed going independent and having its own staff, thus enabling the MPO to make decisions with a new focus — Mass Transit. A special task force was created and three motions were passed: 1) form an independent organization and terminate the 1977 agreement with Broward County with five months' written notice; 2) approve an Interlocal Agreement between the MPO and Broward County to transfer or offer 17 positions to employees from Broward County to the MPO; 3) instruct the MPO Executive Director to negotiate for administrative services with a third party agency. The vote on each of the motions was favorable, 15-4. Commissioner Glasser asked if the MPO appointments were County Commission appointments and if the 25 people working for the MPO, who are County employees would be willing to give up their amenities with the County. Vice -Mayor Dressler responded of the 19 delegates, four are appointed by the County Commissioners. Vice -Mayor Dressler said the amenities was one of the issues discussed. Commissioner Atkins -Grad left the room at 11:47 a.m. and returned at 11:50 a.m. Commissioner Glasser asked if Vice -Mayor Dressler thought this would be successful and if a vote from the MPO was enough to accomplish the above. Vice -Mayor Dressler said yes to both. Commissioner Bushnell asked if the MPO would then absorb other agencies, such as the State Road 7 Collaborative and Vice -Mayor Dressler said he believes once the MPO gets established as an independent organization it will then be able to address different organizations that need to be plugged in as part of the implementation. Commissioner Glasser asked where most of the funding comes from and Vice -Mayor Dressler said it is federal. 9. Discussion/report re: Amendment 4. Vice Mayor Dressler spoke in opposition to Amendment 4 and discussed the City of Denver's bad experiences with Amendment 4. Vice - Mayor Dressler added 700,000 signatures were collected to place the item on the ballot in November, without going through the legislature. Developers and realtors have spent all they can to fight this referendum. Cities cannot spend taxpayers' money to advocate any position. Vice -Mayor Dressler said it is his belief this will be approved in November and the impact on Tamarac and other cities will be extremely severe, due to tax regulations already in place, and the fact that there will be no impact or user fees coming to the cities because there will be no development. Vice -Mayor Dressler said his forecast is that cities in Florida will go bankrupt. There being no further business to come before the Mayor and City Commission, Mayor Talabisco adjourned the workshop meeting at 12:05 p.m. WJ Marion Sweh.§on, CMC . City Clerk Page 4 of 4 City Commission Workshop March 22, 2010