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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-05-26 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP TU ESDAY, MAY 267 2015 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Harry Dressler called the Workshop of the City Commission to order at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, May 26, 2015 in Conference Room 105, Tamarac City Hall, 7525 NW 88th Avenue, Tamarac, FL 33321. ROLL CALL: Mayor Harry Dressler, Vice Mayor Pamela Bushnell, Commissioner Michelle J. Gomez, Commissioner Diane Glasser and Commissioner Debra Placko were in attendance. Also in attendance were City Manager Michael C. Cernech, Assistant City Attorney David Tolces, Assistant City Manager Diane Phillips and Assistant City Clerk Lillian Pabon. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Vice Mayor Bushnell led the Pledge of Allegiance. 1. TR12643 - Public Art Administration Services: Item No. 6 (f) on the Consent Agenda. A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida, approving the award of request for Proposal #15-14R, and execution of an agreement to provide Public Art Program Administrator Services for a contract term of two years to Gadson and Ravitz, LLC., in the amount of $61,900, authorizing an appropriation of $61,900 from the Public Art Fund; providing for conflicts; providing for severability; and providing an effective date. Community Development Director Maxine Calloway, Public Art Administrators, George Gadson and Beth Ravitz and Purchasing/Contract Manager Keith Glatz appeared. Community Development Director Maxine Calloway- introduced presenters and discussed the contract requirements. Mrs. Calloway reiterated that the contract cost is to be funded using Public Art Program Funds and made a recommendation for approval. Mr. George Gadson and Ms. Beth Ravitz made a presentation, a copy of which is on file at the City Clerk's Office. Mr. Gadson and Ms. Ravitz showed pictures of art pieces made for City of Lauderhill and provided ideas for consideration by the City of Tamarac. They also suggested opportunities for sculptures in the avenue, where pieces are rotated on an annual basis from one community to another. Mayor Harry Dressler opened the floor for questions by the City Commission. Vice Mayor Pamela Bushnell asked if the contract price was a total contract price or on a per year basis. Ms. Calloway responded it is the total contract price. Vice Mayor Bushnell expressed her interest for the Public Arts Committee to be involved in the process. Vice Mayor Bushnell referred to the "Dusk and Dawn" sculpture as a fabulous piece of art and stated that pieces like this should be placed in visible areas where the people can enjoy them. Mr. Gadson responded that once the Public Art Brochure is developed, it will bring the element of surprise while having the community aware of the art in the City. Commissioner Debra Placko asked if the change of administrators impacted the City and Ms. Calloway responded that Mr. Weiss's apprentice continued the work Page 1 of 5 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING May 26, 2015 immediately after the contract was terminated. Commissioner Placko said the brochure is an excellent idea. Commissioner Michelle Gomez looks forward to working agreed with her co-workers' comments that City events wil the audience the Commission approved the April 2016 Arts the Chamber of Commerce. with Mr. Gadson and also go very well and reminded Festival event to be held by Commissioner Diane Glasser expressed several concerns related to getting the public aware of where the art is located. Mr. Gadson and Ms. Ravitz offered ideas such as sculpture on the avenue, working with Home Owners Associations and the July 4tn Celebration as opportunities to inform the public about art and also commended the Public Information Office for a good job done for the Veterans Memorial Wall. Mayor Harry Dressler asked questions about some of the pictures of art work presented and Ms. Ravitz. Mayor Dressler stated that someone who has a contract with the City must be qualified and avoid potential conflicts of interest due to the pressures they face as City Officials with a fiduciary duty. City Manager Michael Cernech responded to the Mayor's concerns stating those issues are already prohibited by the Ordinance. There was additional discussion by Mayor Dressler regarding visibility of art pieces and Mr. Gadson and Ms. Ravitz responded with additional ideas. Community Development Director Maxine Calloway reported part of the plan is to budget a little less than two million dollars. Mayor Dressler added ideas such as theater art as an example of visual art. Public Art Committee Vice Chair Susan Buzzi joined the discussion and said the committee has done most of the work on the brochure already. Mayor Dressler liked the idea and asked City Staff the methodology for updating the City Commission on the Public Art processes. City Manager Cernech said the staff will look into that and get back to the Commission. Mayor Dressler with a consensus from the City Commission agreed in receiving these updates. 2. Zoning In Progress Update: City Manager's Update and Recommendations related to the Zoning in Progress Instituted Pursuant to Administrative Order Effective April 7, 2015 and Ratified by Resolution Number 2015-29 In Accordance with the City of Tamarac Code of Ordinances Section 24-91. City Manager Michael Cernech, Community Development Director Maxine .Calloway and Planning and Zoning Manager Frank Zicker appeared. Community Development Director Maxine Calloway made a presentation, a copy of which is on file at the City Clerk's Office, regarding the Zoning in Progress per the City Manager Administrative Order dated April 7, 2015. There was discussion on approving Broward County B-3 and the mechanisms available to the City if issues arise in the future. City Manager Cernech responded there are no real issues with hotels on that property. The issue is for the size and the product being presented. Community Development Director Calloway reiterated that the City Commission will be looking at the applications through the Site Plan approval process. Page 2 of 5 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING May 26, 2015 Vice Mayor Bushnell asked if property owners were notified and Community Development Director Maxine Calloway responded they were notified once and then again when the item is scheduled for a hearing for a total of 500 property owners in the surrounding areas. Mayor Dressler recessed the meeting at 11:09 a.m. and reconvened the meeting at 11:22 a.m. with all present as before. Mayor Dressler moved out of the order of the agenda to take up item No. 7 - Red Light Camera Update. 7. Red Light Camera Update: Assistant City Attorney Mike Cirullo appeared. Assistant City Attorney Mike Cirullo initiated the update by explaining the court decision for City of Hollywood v. Arem case and how it has adversely affected every City in the State of Florida that has a Red Light Camera Program. The City of Tamarac's program is distinguishable from what the records showed Hollywood's Program was. The City of Tamarac has always had a second review at the UTC staae. Since that time litigation has taken place in the State at County court levels where cities attempted to show "yes, we can distinguish ourselves from the records", but the courts have not been receptive to those arguments. There are two adverse rulings affecting the City of Tamarac. One by our Special Magistrate here in town, at the Notice of Violations stage where she found Arem controlled our program not -withstanding the records we put on before her dismissed the NOVs. Traffic Magistrate Donald Wich dismissed all the cities pending the files from traffic citations through a blanket order without providing us an opportunity to at least put it on record at our hearings. The practical impact of those two rulings is that we are hard pressed to say we can prevail in any hearings. Our office has filed a Notice of Appeal of the decision by Donald Wich with the Broward County Circuit Court. Assistant City Attorney Cirullo provided examples of violations that says why the City has done what it has with the Red Light Tamarac Violations and presented three different videos captured by the Red Light Cameras that were dismissed or will be dismissed under the current legal proceedings. Those no longer withstand court scrutiny under the ways the courts are looking at it.. Discussion followed the videos with feedback from the City Commission. Mayor Dressler would like for. City viewers to see these videos. Assistant City Attorney Cirullo reported over 20,000 clear violations have been issued by the City. There are judges that say those are not enforceable violations. ATS contract is in effect for about 12 to 13 months. We are still paying ATS for the cameras and the payment levels have dropped significantly since the public awareness on the court decision and the bulk dismissals. Under our contract with ATS there is a provision that allows the City to provide notice to them if there has been a court decision that renders Our program to be impracticable. Assistant City Attorney Cirullo continued to report that ATS is the largest vendor by far. There may be modifications to the contract that may impact cost for additional services to staff and to the Broward Sheriff's Office contract. Assistant City Attorney Cirullo asked the Commission to propose to stop the issuance of Notice of Violations due to not being able to resolve in court under the current program. ATS will pay for the appeal as long as a contract is in place, saving the City money for the appeal. Assistant Attorney Cirullo explained the City is program has a 2-step Page 3 of 5 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING ' May 26, 2015 process: 1) Pay the citation under the Uniform Traffic Citation and 2) An officer reviews and authorizes the next step to take. Commissioner Gomez stated she had plenty of conversations regarding this issue and will be fine with the decisions to be made. Vice Mayor Bushnell asked if the City of Davie and City of Sunrise have contracts with Broward Sheriff's Office and Attorney Cirullo responded no. Vice Mayor Bushnell said a large number of pictures were expected to be taken 'at the beginning of the Red Light Camera program and asked if there was any feedback from the Broward Sheriff's Office. Assistant City Attorney Cirullo said "Learned Behavior" and asked Broward Sheriff's Office Captain Neal Glassman to join the discussion to provide further feedback. Captain Glassman stated Citations have decreased. Mayor Dressler recommended one solution would be to post photos of accidents occurring while running a red light on the City's website, possibly saving one life a year. Commissioner Placko asked Assistant City Attorney Cirullo if his firm will be involved and if it is possible to negotiate additional cost from BSO with ATS. Assistant City Attorney Cirullo responded his firm will be involved and noted the City 's contract with ATS is up in April 2016. Mayor Dressler returned to the original order of items on the Agenda. 3. TR12638 -Third Amendment to the Restrictive Covenant: Sabal Palm - Central Parc: A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida, approving the request of Dunay, Miskel and Backman, LLP on behalf of SPL Holdings, LLC and SPL South Holdings, LLC of a Third Amendment to the Declaration of Restrictive Covenants for Sabal Palm as recorded in Official Record Book 44460, Page 1653 as amended; providing for conflicts; providing for severability; and providing for an effective date. Community Development Director Maxine Calloway and Planning/Zoning Manager Frank Zicker appeared. Community Development Director Calloway reported that the amendment was primarily to increase the density and made a presentation, copy of which is on file at the City Clerk's Office. Community Development Director Calloway answered questions from the City Commission regarding the difference between the second amendment and the third amendment. The Mayor thanked City staff and Mr. Backman for the work presented. 4. TR12646 - Fourth Amendment to Broward Sheriff's Office Agreement - 5 Year Renewal A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida approving the Fourth Amendment to the Agreement for Police Services between the City of Tamarac and the Broward Sheriff's Office, renewing the agreement under the existing terms and conditions for a five year period effective October 1, 2015 through September 301 2020; authorizing the appropriate City Officials to execute the Fourth Amendment to the Agreement for Police Services; providing for conflicts; providing for severability; and providing for an effective date. Assistant City Manager Diane Phillips, Financial Services Director Mark Mason and Broward Sheriff's Office Captain Neal Glassman appeared. Assistant City Manager Diane Phillips made a presentation, a copy which is on file at the City Clerk's Office. Assistant City Manager Phillips highlighted comparative statistics regarding crime rates from 2009 to 2014 and noted the City has been judicious in educating the community on what steps to take. Broward Sheriff's Office Captain Neal Glassman reported crime rate has decreased by 19%. The City of Tamarac ranks Page 4 of 5 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING May 26, 2015 No. 10 in Broward County. This is the lowest rate since 2003. Assistant City Manager Phillips, Financial Services Director Mark Mason and Broward Sheriff's Office Captain Neal Glassman answered questions from the City Commission. 5. TR12639 - Sammet Pools, Inc., Expenditures: A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida, authorizing the appropriate City Officials to approve expenditures to Sammet Pools, Inc., for pool repairs at the Caporella Aquatic Center in the amount of $81,873.00 for FY15 nunc pro tunc, including a contingency in the amount of $5,772.50 added to the project budget for unforeseen circumstances; providing for severability; and providing an effective date. Parks & Recreation Director Greg Warner and Purchasing/Contracts Manager Keith Glatz appeared. Parks & Recreation Director Warner made a presentation, a copy of which is on file at the City Clerk's Office. Parks and Recreation Director Warner answered questions from the City Commission and reported that the repairs were scheduled for next year's budget but due to the urgent need of repairs had to be moved to the current year. 6. TR12642 - Citywide Culvert Headwall Improvement Project Phase IV: Item No. 6 (d) on the Consent Agenda. (TR12642) A Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Tamarac, Florida, awarding Bid No. 15-17B to and approving an Agreement with Ray Qualmann Marine Construction, Inc. For the construction of Phase IV of the Citywide Culvert Headwall Installation Project, in accordance with Bid no. 15-17B for a contract amount of $559,810.00; a contingency in an amount of $55,981.00 will be added to the project account, for a total project budget of $615,791.00; authorizing an expenditure from the appropriate accounts; providing for conflicts; providing for severability; and providing for an effective date. Public Services Director Jack Strain and Purchasing/Contracts Manager Keith Glatz appeared. Public Services Director Jack Strain made a presentation, a copy of which is on file at the City Clerk's Office. Public Services Director Strain answered questions from the City Commission. OTHER BUSINESS: Commissioner Glasser asked what the process for the streets' rejuvenation program is. Public Services Director Jack Strain responded it is a process that can take from three to four weeks to complete depending on the traffic. Commissioner Glasser reported a complaint regarding Westwood 21 and Public Services Director Strain recommended that she provides his telephone number to the residents to contact him so he can explain the process. There being no further business to come before the City Commission for consideration, Mayor Dressler adjourned the meeting at 12:42 p.m. Lillian Pabon, CMC Assistant City Clerk Page 5 of 5 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING May 26, 2015