HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-02-12 - City Commission Regular Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC
REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Harry Dressler called the Regular Commission Meeting of the City
Commission to order at 7:07 p.m. on Wednesday, February 12, 2014 in City Commission
Chambers Tamarac CityHall 7525 NW 88th Avenue Tamarac FL 33321.
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ROLL CALL: Mayor Harry Dressler, Vice Mayor Michelle J. Gomez, Commissioner Pamela
Bushnell and Commissioner Diane Glasser were in attendance.
Also in attendance were City Manager Michael Cernech, City Attorney Samuel Goren and
City Clerk Patricia Teufel.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Dressler led the Pledge of Allegiance.
1. PROCLAMATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS:
Presentation of a proclamation by Mayor Harry Dressler proclaiming February 12, 2014 as
"Dominique Williams Day". (Requested by Mayor Harry Dressler). Ms. Williams is a Tamarac
resident and tenth grader and the winner of The City For Your Life video contest. She wrote,
produced, edited and co-starred in a 3-minute look at the City's parks. The video was
previewed.
2. CITY COMMISSION REPORTS:
a. Commissioner Bushnell: Reported that she had lunch with Dominique Williams, her sister
Devanee and their father the other day and was very impressed with the girls as they are
very well mannered and articulate. Commissioner Bushnell said the Tamarac Farmer's
Market reopened on Sunday and it will be held at Veteran's Park every Sunday from 9 a.m. to
2:00 p.m. and invited everyone to attend. Commissioner Bushnell said she received a letter
from a resident admonishing the Commission for patting themselves on the back when it was
previously reported that members of the Commission attended the Employee Appreciation
Luncheon. Commissioner Bushnell clarified that she was talking about the hard work the
employees do and not the Commission. Commissioner Bushnell said she also received a
letter from a resident who expressed delight with some trees being trimmed and said it is nice
to receive a letter from a resident about the good things staff does. Commissioner Bushnell
reported that she attended a ribbon cutting last evening for a Photo Studio in Sunshine Plaza.
b. Vice Mayor Gomez: Reported that she also attended the Farmers Market, the Health Expo
at the Community Center, the ribbon cutting for the Photo Studio, visited the Charter School
of Excellence in Tamarac and was very impressed with the children; attended various
community meetings and the Food Truck event on Wednesday. Vice Mayor Gomez said the
Commission is always available to listen to resident's concerns and they are happy to help.
Vice Mayor Gomez invited everyone in attendance to attend her Coffee with the Vice Mayor
event tomorrow from 10:00 to 12:00 at Orange Tree. Vice Mayor Gomez wished everyone a
Happy Valentine's Day.
Page 1 of 5 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING February 12, 2014
c. Commissioner Glasser: Spoke about attending a Seminar held by Dr. Brenda Snipes of the
Supervisor or Elections Office addressing the recent re -districting that was done in all the
Cities in Broward County and added that Tamarac used to have 32 precincts and now it has
been consolidated into 24. This should make voting easier and eliminate problems as there
will be more new equipment at each precinct and the SOE will also have more people out
and about during the election. Commissioner Glasser urged everyone to check their new
registration cards to make sure they know where they vote.
d. Mayor Dressler: Said he attended the Broward League of Cities (BLC) Board of Directors
meeting on February 6t" where several issues were discussed with the key issue being
Ethics, an Ethics Commission and the Inspector General (IG). Commissioner Bushnell sits on
the Ethics Task Force which has made the following recommendation to the BLC Board of
Directors: that the BLC not take a position on proposals by the IG until a report is provided
and the BLC Ethics Task Force has the opportunity to review and make recommendations to
the BLC Board of Directors. Mayor Dressler asked Commissioner Bushnell to elaborate on
the recommendation. Commissioner Bushnell said she is now in receipt of the report, is in the
process of reviewing it, will provide a report on that after the Task Force meets on February
14th and commented that not one single word in the 21 page report is about ethics. The report
is all about the IG's role and the mechanics of Ethics Ordinance. It speaks to municipal
officials not being able to trust their lawyers as they are paid by the cities and the opinions
they would render would be to the elected official's advantage. None of the municipalities
think that way and we all feel that our lawyers will give us the opinion that is correct according
to the Ethics Ordinance. Commissioner Bushnell spoke of a recent issue for which she asked
for a Safe Harbor Opinion. Commissioner Bushnell said the IG is trying to form a Commission
and they would provide a person that they would go to for all opinions. They would not
receive anything instantly, as they do now, they would have to wait for a meeting with that
particular person, who would not know us, would not know our city and -would not have
access to any of the information that our City Attorney has. The Task Force will be evaluating
the report on Friday after which she will get back to the Commission with what transpired.
City Attorney Goren spoke of the turn -around time of the Safe Harbor Opinion that was
rendered for Commissioner Bushnell and how the City Attorneys Office provides services to
the City's elected officials.
Mayor Dressler commented that the issue is a question of anyone outside the City having a
right to interfere between the City Attorney and the Commission over any issue that comes
up. This is the concern of the BLC Board of Directors and most individuals believe there is a
consensus from the greater majority of participants who believe that the attorney client
privilege is a classic fiduciary relationship. Mayor Dressler said there are other ways that
there can be intrusions into the operation of a city, the relationships among its professionals
that we as elected officials pick and this is an issue that will be discussed in the future as this
is a real concern.
3. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT: City Attorney Goren said Tamarac as well as other cities are
engaged in a litigation matter against Broward County with regard to the Resource Recovery
Board (RRB). That litigation is in a good place under Chapter 164 F.S. which governs
intergovernmental litigations and explained the litigation process. A Mediation has now been
scheduled for March 20th at the EOC in Plantation at 2:00 p.m. It has been requested by
outside counsel Jamie Cole that a member of the Commission be at that mediation who will
Page 2 of 5 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING February 12, 2014
have the authority to speak on behalf of the Commission subject to the Commission's final
approval of any settlement- that might accrue from that discussion. City Manager Cernech will
be in attendance at the meeting to render assistance. City Attorney Goren said he has great
hopes that this exchange will be beneficial. City Attorney Goren said it would be appropriate
at some point in this meeting to, by Motion, designate a member of the Commission to attend
the meeting. Vice Mayor Gomez, seconded by Commissioner Bushnell, moved to have
Mayor Dressler attend the meeting as Tamarac's delegate and Mayor Dressler accepted.
Motion passed unanimously (4-0).
City Attorney Goren said that his law firm represents three cities in this litigation, North
Lauderdale, Lighthouse Point and Tamarac all of which have similar interests. In the interest
of cost avoidance Mike Cirullo has attended all these meetings and he has divided his time
equally among the three cities. City Attorney Goren wanted to make it clear that the time is
being divided between all three cities.
City Attorney Goren said the Ethics Task Force will be meeting on Friday, February 14th and
they are making inroads with the County Attorneys Office. City Attorney Goren commented
that the County itself may have interests which are not dissimilar from Tamarac's because
the Ethics Code is not perfect even though the Ethics Commission made every effort to
create a document which would be fair. The County Commission accepted the
recommendations but ultimately there are some tweaks that the BLC and County agree upon.
It is hopeful that we can move in a positive direction before the meeting on Friday.
4. CITY MANAGER REPORT: City Manager Cernech thanked Dominique Williams and her
family for the wonderful video she did and said we will use the video in our marketing and
branding.
City Manager Cernech reported that Community Development is continuing the success of
the NIP -IT Program by concluding Phase 1 in the Mainlands 9 Community. Staff will be
meeting with the residents of the Mainlands HOA on February 24th to introduce the program
to the Community. Roll out will formally occur about one week after the meeting.
Upcoming Events: The 2014 Teen Summit will take place on Saturday, February 22"d from
9:00 a.m. to noon at the Community Center. The Cost is $5 per person and the summit will
focus on improving Leadership skills, overcoming obstacles such as peer pressure and cyber
bullying. City Manager Cernech said the past events were covered in the Commission's
reports.
5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Mayor Dressler opened Public Participation and with no one
wishing to speak, closed Public Participation.
6. CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Dressler asked if there were any changes/additions to the
Consent Agenda and City Manager Cernech responded that there were no changes/additions
to the Consent Agenda. Commissioner Bushnell seconded by Commissioner Glasser moved
approval of the Consent Agenda as presented. Motion passed unanimously (4-0).
a. Approval of the January 21, 2014 Special Commission Meeting Minutes - APPROVED
b. Approval of the January 22, 2014 Regular Commission Meeting Minutes - APPROVED
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c. TR12449 - Approval of 1st Amendment to HOME FY 11/12 ILA: A Resolution of the City
Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida, approving the first amendment to Interlocal
Agreement between the City of Tamarac and Broward County to provide for an amendment
to the term of the agreement to reflect a termination date of February 13, 2015 for FY
2011 /2012 HOME program funds; providing for conflict; providing for severability; and
providing for an effective date.
RESOLUTION R-2014-14
d. TR12443 - Award of RFP 13-17R to Safe Air Corporation for the Tamarac Vehicle Exhaust
System Project: A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida,
awarding RFP 13-17R to and approving an Agreement with Safe Air Corporation for the
Tamarac Vehicle Exhaust System Project in accordance with RFP 13-17R for a contract
amount $120,389.59; a contingency in the amount of $18,058.00 will be added to the project
account, for a total project budget of $138,447-59; authorizing an expenditure from the
appropriate accounts; authorizing budget amendments for proper accounting purposes;
providing for conflicts; providing for severability; and providing for an effective date.
RESOLUTION R-2014-15
e. TR12451 - Purchase of New and Replacement Vehicles: A Resolution of the City
Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida, authorizing the- appropriate City Officials to
select, approve and award the purchase of replacement vehicles to Contractors utilizing
competitive procurement methods and current agreements available for cooperative
purchase at the time of purchase in the best interest of the city; authorizing an expenditure in
an amount not to exceed $1,309,700 from the appropriate accounts; authorizing an
appropriation of $122,200; providing for severability; and providing an effective date.
RESOLUTION R-2014-16
f. TR12446 - Award of Bid 13-24B for the Parks & Recreation Administration Building Roof
Improvement: A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida, awarding
Bid No. 13-2413- to and approving an Agreement with Therma Seal Roof Systems, LLC. for
the replacement of the roofing system at the Parks and Recreation Administration Building
located at 6001 Nob Hill Road, in accordance with Bid No. 13-24B for a contract amount of
$120,010, a contingency in an amount of $18,001, will be added to the project for a total
project budget of $138,011; authorizing an expenditure from the appropriate accounts;
authorizing budget amendments as needed for proper accounting purposes; providing for
conflicts; providing for severability; and providing for an effective date.
RESOLUTION R-2014-17
7. REGULAR AGENDA: There were no Regular Agenda items scheduled for the meeting.
8. ORDINANCE(S) -FIRST READING: There were no Ordinance(s) —First Reading items
scheduled for this meeting.
9. PUBLIC HEARING(S): There were no Public Hearing items scheduled for this meeting.
10. ORDINANCE(S) -SECOND READING: There were no Ordinance(s) —Second Reading
items scheduled for this meeting.
Page 4 of 5 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING February 12, 2014
11. QUASI-JUDICIAL HEARING(S): There were no Quasi -Judicial Hearing(s) items
scheduled for this meeting.
12. OTHER BUSINESS:
There being
no further
business to
come bef e the
City Commission, Mayor Dressler
adjourned
the
meeting
at
7:48 p.m.
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1 -
Harry Dressler, Mayor
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