HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-02-20 - City Commission Special Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COMMISSION
SPECIAL WORKSHOP MEETING
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Schreiber called the Special Workshop Meeting of the City
Commission to order on Friday, February 20, 2004, at 9:30 a.m. at Satellite City Hall,
4267 W Commercial Boulevard, Tamarac, FL 33319.
PRESENT: Mayor Joe Schreiber, Vice Mayor Karen L. Roberts, Commissioner Edward
C. Portner, Commissioner Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco, and Commissioner Marc L.
Sultanof.
ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Jeffrey L. Miller, City Attorney Mitchell S. Kraft,
Assistant City Manager Michael C. Cernech, Assistant City Attorney Vanessa T.
Steinerts, Assistant to the City Manager Diane Phillips, Management Intern Bernadette
Hughes, and City Clerk Marion Swenson.
City Manager Miller welcomed everyone to the Special Workshop meeting, and
introduced Assistant City Manager Cernech, who gave a presentation on Charter
Schools.
Assistant City Manager Cernech said at the workshop held on November 24, 2003
Commissioner Portner brought forward the idea of Charter Schools, and staff has
focused on Charter Schools in North Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines and Coral Springs.
Each city has different approaches, philosophies and success rates. Tamarac Staff met
with the City Manager, Educational Administrator and Human Resources Administrator
in North Lauderdale to discuss their Charter High School, North Lauderdale Academy.
North Lauderdale felt a Charter High School would provide a better academic
experience, and serve as an alternative to Taravella and Piper High Schools, which are
both overcrowded. North Lauderdale has struggled with this school. Assistant City
Manager Cernech discussed the City's $9.5 million investment to open the school, and
the fact that over the past five years there has been a $2 million cost to the taxpayers to
keep the school running. It has taken until year 6 to break even. Additionally there are
hidden costs in that the City Manager, as well as Finance Department, Human
Resources Department and I.T. Department all must devote about 1/3 of their time to
school issues. The benefits to the community are a sense of community pride and
identity; the City uses students as interns, City owned buses are available for municipal
programs, and the purchase of a summer program facility provided jobs for North
Lauderdale residents.
Tamarac Staff met with the Assistant City Manager of Coral Springs who said the Coral
Springs Charter School, which covers grades 6-12, has provided more focused
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academic achievements, smaller classrooms, smaller class size, and more
individualized instruction. The City of Coral Springs issued $10 million indebtedness,
being repaid by the Charter District. Commissioner Sultanof asked if vouchers apply to
Charter Schools, and Assistant City Manager Cernech said vouchers do not apply. Vice
Mayor Roberts said the company North Lauderdale chose to run the school promised a
public/private partnership which never came to fruition, which is why North Lauderdale
did not get funding from the state. Assistant City Manager Cernech added that Charter
Schools U.S.A. was hired to run the North Lauderdale School and the Coral Springs
School. The company did not succeed in North Lauderdale but did succeed in Coral
Springs.
Mayor Schreiber said he does not believe Tamarac belongs in the school business; as
time goes on funding sources will diminish, but the City must still provide services to its
residents and citizens. Educating children is the responsibility of the County school
system; the City will try to help where it can. Commissioner Sultanof said the
Commission has a duty to know all the facts.
Assistant City Manager Cernech continued discussing the Coral Springs Charter School
and said with regard to hidden costs, the Assistant City Manager devotes 25% of her
time to charter school issues; however, the charter school system does pay Coral
Springs for the expense of administration. The Coral Springs City Manager, Mayor and
Commission spend about 5-10% of their time on charter school issues. Benefits are
that the charter school is a viable local alternative to the Broward County Schools,
smaller classrooms, smaller class size, and more individualized instruction.
Tamarac staff met with City Manager Dodge to discuss Pembroke Pines Charter
School. The school was created to alleviate overcrowding in surrounding schools due
to extremely rapid development in Pembroke Pines; Broward County School District
was unable to meet the community's demand for quality education and facilities; the
City felt responsible for creating the problem and decided to solve it; and the City felt it
could do better. There was no investment on the City's behalf, as the school district
issued its own debt. There is no cost to the City as the Charter School System pays the
City $600,000 per year for administrative charges.
Assistant City Manager Cernech said facts consistent in each city interviewed are that
the municipality must be 100% sure that it wants to provide a charter school and 100%
committed — the Tamarac City Commission would need a 5-0 vote to do this. There
must also be a 100% commitment from staff. Enrollment is a critical element, because
without the enrollment there will not be money to run the school, and enrollment is not
guaranteed. Elected and appointed officials will spend a significant amount of time
dealing with charter school issues. Elected officials must commit via the charter school
district to stay out of school affairs. Elected officials must commit not to spend
taxpayers' money in the charter district system.
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Assistant City Manager Cernech explained the best way to establish the system is to
start with PreK - 1st grade in year one; then move on to PreK — 2nd grade in year two,
etc. Beginning with a high school is a losing proposition, as it is better to start with a
feeder system that will guarantee enrollment, finances, and assure success.
Land acquisition issues faced by the School District will be faced by Tamarac and
hidden costs are significant. Overcrowding in Tamarac schools may be resolved by
boundary changes via the school board and charter schools are not the solution to
overcrowding. To be successful, Tamarac must build a community consensus as to the
necessity of a Charter School.
Assistant City Manager Cernech said it is not financially viable for Tamarac to open a
charter school at this time. There is no place to build a facility; if land was available the
school board would have used it for a school. Vice Mayor Roberts said the City
discussed General Obligation bonds for other matters, and discussed a public/private
partnership for a performing arts center for the Main Street Project. Perhaps the
community and Commission would want to issue bonds for a charter school. Assistant
City Manager Cernech said Pembroke Pines and Coral Springs were successful
because they were able to get funding from the state. Commissioner Sultanof said it is
important to explore every avenue, and questioned whether funding would be taken
away from the public schools for the charter schools. There was discussion regarding
the area needed for a school, and whether schools buildings could be three stories high.
Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco said the commission is actually exploring opening
a new business, and she, for one, needs to find out how to go about starting this new
business. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco said there is not enough information for
the commission to make any decision now, and a professional team needs to be put
together to bring information to the commission. Assistant City Manager Cernech said
no decision is needed today, but he asked the commission to think whether,
philosophically, this is something they want to do. There was discussion about cutting
budget funding and Assistant City Manager Cernech said a charter school must be
approached in a strictly business manner, keeping totally separate funds.
Commissioner Sultanof agreed with Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco that the
proper way to address this matter is with a professional team providing information to
the Commission so the Commission can make an educated decision. Commissioner
Portner asked if money is available from the school board, and City Attorney Kraft said
there are no capital funds available for charter schools. Mayor Schreiber said
overcrowding would not continue forever; due to attrition, students move through the
system and new ones take their place. Vice Mayor Roberts said over 100 more
students would enter the system from the new St. Andrews development alone.
Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco suggested the Commission put together a list of
suggestions for the school board to look into for the next school year. Commissioner
Sultanof suggested looking to Sunrise to come up with land for a school, and Vice
Mayor Roberts said Sunrise does not want more schools in their city. City Manager
Miller commended the Commissioners on their suggestions, and commended Assistant
City Manager Cernech on his presentation. City Manager Miller said the City of
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Tamarac can not afford to support a Charter School. This does not mean we cannot
have a charter school system in Tamarac; perhaps a policy statement can be made that
no tax money will go into this, it will be a private enterprise. The City needs to see if the
school board will give Tamarac a charter for a charter school. Tamarac worked with
school board staff, North Lauderdale and Sunrise, with no success, trying to find a
location for a high school. We have concrete proposals for eliminating overcrowding in
Tamarac Elementary, Challenger Elementary and Millennium Middle School, but the
school board staff is unresponsive. Portables can be placed on Challenger and
Millennium property but the principals of those schools do not want them. There was
discussion about the number of portables that could be placed on the properties.
Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco said the Commissioners are basically all saying
the same thing; we want to help the education system, not necessarily by implementing
charter schools in Tamarac. There was discussion regarding the School Board's
method of calculating the number of children generated from each development. City
Manager Miller said perhaps the Commission should not let the school board use any of
our land or recreational facilities until they work out their problems. City Manager Miller
suggested a letter from the Mayor to the school board and school board administration.
City Manager Miller said from what we know there is not overcrowding at Tamarac
Elementary at this time that could not be addressed on the existing facility. They can
use space in the multi purpose center as they have in the past, which will be a
temporary resolution for Tamarac Elementary School. For Challenger and Millennium,
portables are the answer. Mayor Schreiber said if the new law on class size reduction
were reversed many problems would be eliminated. Vice Mayor Roberts said class size
reduction was a partially funded mandate. Commissioner Portner said he would like to
look at modules and talk to the school board about a charter school in Tamarac. City
Manager Miller confirmed the commission's expression of interest for staff to: (1) sit with
school board staff to resolve the two most pressing issues; (2) continue to work with
school board staff to identify possible public school sites; and (3) continue to explore the
charter school issue with no commitment to anybody — look at all options. City Manager
Miller said he would draft a letter for the Mayor's signature so we can get the school
board to sit with us, and we can also prepare a resolution. Commissioner Portner said
he would like the City Manager to draft a letter for the entire commission's signature
regarding today's discussion, and send the letter to every school board member
expressing Tamarac's deep concern about what is happening with the school situation
in Tamarac and if the Commissioners wish to add a resolution in addition to the letter,
that is fine. The school board should be made to understand how deeply committed all
the commissioners are to Tamarac schools. City Manager Miller said he would draft the
letter and get together with the City Attorney regarding the resolution.
Mayor Schreiber recessed the meeting at 11:35 a.m. and reconvened at 11:55 a.m.
Vice Mayor Roberts said at the last meeting the school board was interested in putting a
school in Tamarac if we had the land, and the school board said there was land
available in the industrial park. There was discussion about the Ferguson property.
Vice Mayor Roberts said with regard to the property at Nob Hill and Commercial it is her
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understanding the land is going to be used for a church, and she would rather see it
used for a school. City Manager Miller explained the church has an option for the
property if they can secure the development permits needed from this Board. Denying
the permits may put us into the legal arena, as a church is a permitted use in this area.
Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco asked about the commission's vulnerability, and
City Attorney Kraft explained that the Commission must base its decision on competent
substantial evidence. City Manager Miller said the new owners of the Ferguson
property paid over $6 million for the 19 acres and offered it to Sam Butters for $6.2
million when Challenger Elementary School was being built. The School Board said no.
Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco suggested the City Manager Miller revisit the
Ferguson property in a few months. All were in agreement.
City Manager Miller spoke about the 1.7 acres adjoining the 5 acres donated by Mr.
Caporella. The owner asked $1.5 million for the property and continues to stand firm.
City Manager Miller said other property in the area has gone for $10.00 per sq. ft.; this
property is $13.00 per sq. ft. Should we apply through the County bond program, we
may not be able to meet the appraisal test, and the City would be out of pocket for the
difference. Mayor Schreiber said we need to purchase the property in order to
accomplish what we want to do, and he recommends paying the $1.5 million for the
property. All were in agreement to proceed with negotiations for the purchase at $1.5
million.
Mayor Schreiber spoke about promotions and said he believed the city should promote
from within and give current employees a chance to move up in the system. City
Manager Miller responded it is the City's policy to promote from within when there are
qualified candidates.
Mayor Schreiber said Tamarac should take control of tree permitting away from
Broward County. City Manager Miller responded that we could pass a more restrictive
ordinance than the County's ordinance, but would then have to hire an arborist to
implement the ordinance. This would be expensive, and while permit fees could be
used to defray salaries, the fees may not be enough to cover the costs. Tree cutting is
very controversial; the residents currently take their complaints to Broward County, and
if the process were changed, they would be coming to the City Commission instead.
Mayor Schreiber said while we must weigh the pros and cons, we would have a better
measure of control. Commissioner Sultanof spoke about funding for landscaping
funneled through the County, and said the City would have problems if we took over this
matter. Vice Mayor Roberts agreed with Mayor Schreiber and said we should be able
to handle our own trees in our City, and asked that City Manager Miller look into the
cost and whether it can be done. Mayor Schreiber asked City Manager Miller to survey
the cost to the County to operate their department and revenues derived. City Manager
Miller said he would look into it and bring information back to the commission during
budget time.
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Mayor Schreiber asked City Manager Miller to look into why dues to Broward League of
Cities, which are approximately $6,000 per year, are so high. City Manager Miller said
he would look into it.
Mayor Schreiber recessed the meeting at 12:35 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at
1:00 p.m. with all present as before.
Mayor Schreiber spoke about allowing an open dialogue between employees and
elected officials, and said he feels employees should be able to discuss problems and
complaints with the Commission. Mayor Schreiber said this is not part of the charter
now. Vice Mayor Roberts said High Performance Organization (HPO) talks about staff
and Commission working together, but how can they if the employees cannot talk to the
Commission. City Manager Miller said there is a process for grievances for all
employees, both union and non -union. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco said she
does not want to take on managing employees or hiring issues; it is not the role of the
elected officials. Commissioner Sultanof said the commission would be second-
guessing the City Manager, and this is a City Manager government and for the Mayor
and Commission to interfere would be wrong. The commission should not be involved
in the every day operation of the City.
Mayor Schreiber spoke about turnover in the City. Commissioner Portner said that is
the purview of the City Manager. City Manager Miller explained exit interviews are
reviewed and if there is a problem with a particular supervisor or a department, it is
investigated and dealt with; people leave for many reasons, for example: they move,
illness, family issues, or changes in careers. Mayor Schreiber said he is only concerned
if they are leaving for other reasons. He has no complaint with management.
Mayor Schreiber said he would like to see the police work to reduce speeding in
Tamarac. City Manager Miller said speeding is a problem everywhere in Broward
County and he has directed Chief Dugger to bring forward a plan to reduce speeding in
the City.
Mayor Schreiber asked about revenues and expenses for the Community Center.
Commissioner Portner said there was some talk about raising fees. City Manager Miller
explained that Parks and Recreation Director Margoles would bring forth a proposal to
raise fees for the Tamarac Community Center during the budget sessions.
Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco said she would also like an explanation as to why
there has been a drop in membership.
Mayor Schreiber asked if the proposed salaries and expenses for the Commission
would be considered during the budget process and City Manager Miller said they
would.
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Mayor Schreiber asked why the Woodlands Overlay Zone Code would prevail if there is
a conflict between the Woodlands Overlay Code and the City Code, and City Attorney
Kraft said because the overlay zone is more stringent than the City Code. Mayor
Schreiber said legislation is being proposed in Tallahassee regarding a reversal of the
deed restrictions law, which Senator Campbell said would pass. Mayor Schreiber
asked if the City should wait to move forward with the overlay zone to see if this passes.
City Attorney Kraft said the City would still be addressing the needs of the community,
and Mayor Schreiber asked if the legislature reinstated deed restrictions, how this would
affect our overlay zoning district. City Attorney Kraft said once approved by the
Commission it becomes Tamarac City law until it is replaced by something else. Vice
Mayor Roberts asked if City enforcement of the overlay zone would cost the City
money, and City Attorney Kraft said it becomes part of the City function and any
associated cost that goes with it. Vice Mayor Roberts said the Woodlands residents
might need their own code officer, as there are only four in the City now. Commissioner
Flansbaum-Talabisco said she met with Senator Campbell and it is not sure that the bill
will pass; additionally, she does not know how it will affect the Woodlands' problem. If it
does pass it could be a while down the road before any affects reach the Woodlands
and the community needs help how. City Attorney Kraft said at the executive board
meeting and the community meeting, the overlay zone was very well received.
Commissioner Partner asked if the homeowners would vote on this and City Attorney
Kraft explained it would be a Commission vote. City Manager Miller said there will be a
public hearing and an ordinance would be brought before the Commission.
Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco said the Woodlands board voted unanimously to
move forward with the overlay zone.
Vice Mayor Roberts said some members of the commission did not get a chance to
discuss their issues at today's meeting and asked if this could be continued at a
workshop or in the same venue as this meeting. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco
spoke about civility and said the last two meetings have been very productive. It is
important to keep the spirit of teamwork for the Commission itself and for the public's
perception of the Commission. It shows who we are and how we represent the city.
Mayor Schreiber said there is a postal store on the SW corner of Hiatus Road and
Commercial Boulevard in the gas station.
City Manager Miller asked if the Commission would like to schedule another retreat, and
Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco said she would prefer another retreat as the
Commission seems to make a lot of progress in this venue. Vice Mayor Roberts
suggested a follow up when the City Manager researches some of the information
requested in this meeting. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco suggested a retreat
such as this one either once a quarter or every two months.
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City Manager Miller said the Commission would regroup in this type of setting within the
next 60 days.
Mayor Schreiber adjourned the special workshop meeting at 1:45 p.m.
Marion Swenson, CIVIC
City Clerk
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