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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-01-21 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2014 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Harry Dressler called the Workshop of the City Commission to order at 9:34 a.m. on Tuesday, January 21, 2014 in Conference Room 105, Tamarac City Hall, 7525 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac, FL 33321. 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 C. Cernech, City Attorney Samuel S. Goren and City Clerk Patricia Teufel. Mayor Dressler said that he will have personal comments to make at tomorrow's meeting about the situation that led to his being appointed to serve as Mayor and he will give his colleagues that opportunity tomorrow as well. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Vice Mayor Gomez led the Pledge of Allegiance. 1. Federal Legislative Update — Val Gelnovatch, Ferguson Group: Ms. Gelnovatch thanked the Commission for the opportunity to be here and walk the Commission through the Federal Program for the upcoming year. Ms. Gelnovatch said the Ferguson Group got together with the Executive Team to go through everything we did last year and assess where we are on various projects and to get a sense from each department what the priorities are. We then match what the Federal resources are for various projects that we are trying to do in Tamarac. We then come up with the Draft Federal Agenda which is currently before the Commission (a copy of the draft federal agenda is on file in the City Clerk's office). Ms. Gelnovatch talked about Tamarac's Vision for the Future, Tamarac Village, the Corridor Study, citywide bike paths, replacement of a fire station and related issues, improved technology relating to security, parks, city department technology upgrades, water plant hardening, veterans, code re -write and Brownfields. Ms. Gelnovatch then went over the Federal Agencies/ Federal and Private Grants programs that they will be following on Tamarac's behalf. Ms. Gelnovatch responded to a few questions from the Commission. Mayor Dressler said all the items are consistent with Tamarac's strategic goals and priorities and urged her to be diligent in pursuing these funds. 2. TR12442 - Relay for Life 2014 - In -kind Support and Waiver of Fees: Item No. 6 (c) on the Consent Agenda: A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida, approving a request on behalf of the American Cancer Society for in -kind support for the Tamarac Relay for Life event benefitting the American Cancer Society to be held at Millennium Middle School May 16-17, 2014; providing for permits, proper insurance and execution of lease agreement for in -kind equipment; providing for conflicts; providing for severability; and providing for an effective date. Parks & Recreation Director Greg Warner, Relay for Life Chair Julie Fishman and Co -Chair Tara Piatek appeared. Parks & Recreation Director Warner provided the Commission with a detailed list of the in -kind support that was being requested. All were in agreement that Relay for Life is a meaningful organization. Vice Mayor Gomez said that prior to coming back on the Commission she was appointed as the Entertainment Chair for the Relay for Life and has been advised by -- counsel that this is not a conflict of interest. Page 1 of 3 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING January 21, 2014 3. Waste Management Year End Update - Budget/Contract Manager Troy Gies and Luigi Pace, Manager, Government Affairs for Waste Management appeared. Mr. Pace gave a presentation, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. Mr. Pace spoke about the number of solid waste and recycling services they provide the City, the new technologies they use in vehicles, compressed natural gas fleet of trucks, Tamarac's green footprint and Recyclebank. Mr. Pace responded to some questions from the Commission. 4. Corridor Improvements Update - Community Development Director Maxine Calloway and Planning & Zoning Manager Frank Zickar appeared. Planning & Zoning Manager Frank Zickar gave a presentation on the buffer walls, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. Mr. Zickar gave a brief background of the study, spoke about the scope and purpose of the study and went over the methodology for the priority ranking. Mr. Zickar went over the rankings, the different types of walls and then went into detail on the 12 locations selected for walls, the different types of walls and the associated costs. Mayor Dressler said that when there is a presentation such as this he would like staff to identify which district the walls would be in as it would be helpful. City Manager Cernech said the goal today was to provide the Commission with a package that had some options as far as how the wall treatments would be used throughout the City. City Manager Cernech said each location is unique and a solid six foot wall does lend itself to every location for a number of reasons. This will allow us to get much more specific about the locations that we are looking at. If the Commission likes the package then we can proceed to the next step which is identifying some hard locations to get started with. Staff's position is that we should work with the busiest locations first and the locations where people are most impacted by traffic which is more prominent in East Tamarac. City Manager Cernech said some funding has been provided to pay for the start of this project but it is not enough for the whole project. Staff's next step will be to identify those things for the Commission and in conjunction with that, if the Commission so desires, we need to begin to talk to the neighborhoods and HOA's that are impacted by this project. City Manager Cernech said he did not think we would get any significant objections to these proposals but we could and this is important. Mr. Zickar and City Manager Cernech responded to questions and concerns of the Commission. Mayor Dressler said if there is a consensus from the Commission to move forward what is the next step. City Manager Cernech responded the next step is to determine a plan, both short term and long term, recognizing the amount of money that we do have to begin this project and then recommending what the balance of the project would be and bring that back to the Commission, not just the financial aspects, but the physical construction. City Manager Cernech said the next question is if the Commission wants us to start talking to some of the HOA's about this work or wait until the plan goes back to the Commission. Mayor Dressler asked the Commission for their perspective and Commissioner Glasser said we will be starting the Neighborhood Meetings and could use those meetings to inform the residents; Commissioner Bushnell and Vice Mayor Gomez both felt it was better to go to the individual HOA's. There was an expression of interest to move forward and suggest to staff that they proceed, based upon the conversation today and City Manager Cernech's recommendation, and then bring it back to the Commission at a later date. All were in agreement. 5. TR12418 - Authorize Execution of JPA/MMOA with FDOT for Highway Beautification Grant: Item No. 6 (d) on the Consent Agenda: A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida accepting a Broward Highway Beautification Grant Program award through the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT); authorizing the appropriate City Officials to execute a Joint Participation Agreement and a Maintenance Memorandum of Agreement pending legal review between FDOT and the City of Tamarac for grant funding in the amount of $150,000 for median enhancements located on State Road 870 (Commercial Boulevard) from east of NW -- 49th Avenue to Florida's Turnpike Interchange; providing for conflicts; providing for severability; Page 2 of 3 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING January 21, 2014 and providing for an effective date. Assistant Public Works Director John Doherty appeared and gave a presentation, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. -- 6. TR12418 - 75th Street Sidewalk Improvement Project: Item No. 6 (h) on the Consent Agenda. A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida, authorizing the utilization of the existing 2012 — 2013 Annual Concrete and Paver Brick Contract No. 223-11030 awarded to Straightline Engineering Group, LLC, by the City of Fort Lauderdale to construct the NW 75th Street Sidewalk Improvements Project, for an amount not to exceed $229,861; with a contingency in the amount of $10,000, for a total project budget of $239,861; authorizing an expenditure from. the appropriate accounts; authorizing budget amendments as needed for proper accounting purposes; providing for conflicts; providing for severability; and providing an effective date. Assistant Public Works Director John Doherty and Purchasing/Contracts Manager Keith Glatz appeared and gave a presentation, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. Mayor Dressler asked if there was any other business and City Manager Cernech said that over the last 30 years the City has desired to improve educational opportunities within the City. City Manager Cernech said we have three public schools in Tamarac; Tamarac Elementary, Challenger Elementary and Millennium Middle School and there has long been a desire to have a High School in Tamarac. City Manager Cernech said the last high school to be built was Coral Ridge High School in Coral Springs and it will probably be the last high school to be built by the School Board in the foreseeable future. City Manager Cernech said there are five charter school companies that are actively seeking high school or middle/high school locations throughout Broward County. Two of the companies Charter Schools USA and Renaissance are already doing business in Tamarac. Attracting a high school is difficult and what he would like to do is to add a Resolution to tomorrow's Consent Agenda authorizing staff to put an RFP out on the street to seek proposals from these companies to locate a school within Tamarac. The reason for the RFP is because it allows anyone who is interested to submit a proposal which is a transparent way to do business. It is also the best way for Tamarac to see if there is any interest in placing a school in Tamarac. If there is interest it would be good to know and we can have some discussions about whether or not to move forward. City Manager Cernech is asking for an expression of interest to put a resolution on tomorrow's agenda requesting authority to put that RFP out. Mayor Dressler asked for an expression of interest to add the resolution to tomorrow's agenda giving staff the authority to put an RFP out to seek proposals to locate a school in Tamarac. All were in agreement. There being no further business to come before the City Commission, Mayor Dressler adjourned the meeting at 11:20 a.m. 0F..TA.44 Z w , ESTABLISHED I a 1963 �i�• SEAL :oQ- y �. O� F C 17 Patricia Teufel, C C City Clerk Page 3 of 3 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING January 21, 2014