HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-06-23 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING
MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2008
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco called the Workshop Meeting of the
City Commission to order on Monday, June 23, 2008, at 9:35 a.m. in Room 105 of
Tamarac City Hall, 7525 NW 88th Avenue, Tamarac, Florida.
PRESENT: Mayor Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco, Vice Mayor Marc L. Sultanof,
Commissioner Edward C. Portner, Commissioner Patte Atkins -Grad, and Commissioner
Harry Dressler.
ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Jeffrey L. Miller, City Attorney Samuel S. Goren,
Deputy City Manager Michael C. Cernech, and Acting Assistant City Clerk Pat Teufel
Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco led the pledge of allegiance.
JUNE 25, 2008 AGENDA ITEMS
a. Item No. 6(b) on the consent agenda. HOME FY 05/06 1ST AMENDMENT -
ONE -YEAR EXTENSION: (TR11415) Approving an Amendment to the Interlocal
Agreement ("ILA") between Broward County and the City of Tamarac to provide for a
one year extension for the administration of the HOME Funding Program for Fiscal Year
2005/2006 (Case No. 09-MI-08).
b. Item No. 6(c) on the consent agenda. HOME FY 06/07 1ST AMENDMENT -
ONE -YEAR EXTENSION: (TR11416) Approving an amendment to the Interlocal
Agreement ("ILA") between Broward County and the City of Tamarac to provide for a
one year extension for the Administration of the HOME Funding Program for Fiscal Year
2006/2007 (Case No. 10-MI-08).
C. Item No. 6(i) on the consent agenda. APPOINTMENT OF THE AFFORDABLE
HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE: (TR11417) Appointing members to the City's
Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. Community Development Director Bramley
and Housing Administrator Bauldree appeared. Housing Administrator Bauldree gave a
presentation encompassing all three items as they are all related to housing.
Commissioner Portner asked if elected officials were precluded from serving on the
Committee and what the consequences would be if a Resolution appointing members to
the Committee was not passed by June 30tt'. City Attorney Goren said elected officials
were not precluded and if a Resolution appointing Committee members was not passed
by June 30, 2008, Tamarac would lose money. Vice Mayor Sultanof recommended
Realtor Alan Oshins to serve on the Committee.
d. Item No. 6(e) on the consent agenda. PURCHASE OF RECYCLING BINS:
(TR11408) Awarding Bid No. 08-09B to SCL A-1 Plastics, Ltd. for the purchase of 18
gallon curbside recycling bins. Public Works Director Strain and Purchasing/Contracts
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Manager Glatz appeared. Public Works Director Strain gave a presentation. Vice
Mayor Sultanof spoke of the different bins for recycling at Kings Point. Commissioner
Portner asked for a definition of "junk mail", if there were any additional costs associated
with the bins and how would they be distributed. Public Works Director Strain said
catalogues, magazines, flyers, etc. were considered "junk mail", other than the actual
cost of the containers there would be no other costs and that notices would be put in the
utility bills and Tam -A -Gram and the bins could be picked up at Customer Service.
Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco asked if there was any grant money for this program.
Assistant City Manager Phillips said they looked for grant funds at the State level but
there were none at this time, however, they will continue to look. Mayor Flansbaum-
Talabisco asked if this comes under the Florida Green Coalition Program and
Community Development Director Bramley said yes.
e. Item No. 66) on the consent agenda. RENEWAL OF BUS BENCH CONTRACT
WITH MARTIN MEDIA OUTDOOR MEDIA: (TR11426) Exercising the option to renew
the agreement for an additional five (5) year period between the City of Tamarac and
Martin Outdoor Media, Inc. to furnish bus benches for the City of Tamarac beginning
July 16, 2008. Chief Structural Inspector Pat Richardson and Purchasing/Contracts
Manager Glatz appeared. Chief Structural Inspector Richardson gave a presentation.
Vice Mayor Sultanof and Commissioner Atkins -Grad were in agreement that Martin
Media has done an exemplary job. Vice Mayor Sultanof spoke of an article that
appeared in today's Sun -Sentinel regarding missing bus benches in Tamarac. Chief
Structural Inspector Richardson said that he will go out with Martin Media and look into
the situation. Commissioner Dressier asked City Manager Miller if we know if there
were bus benches there during the past five years. City Manager Miller said no but that
will be one of the things that will be looked into. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco asked if
there was anything the Commission needed to do to add more benches. City Attorney
Goren said the Contract provides for the addition of benches.
f. Item No. 6(g) on the consent agenda. AMENDING THE SERVICE FEES FOR
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES: (TR11379) Approving an amendment to the
service fees for Emergency Medical Services. Fire Chief Budzinski and Division Chief
Sheridan appeared. Fire Chief Budzinski gave a presentation. Vice Mayor Sultanof
asked how we are going to educate the public regarding the fee changes and let them
know that other cities are doing the same thing. Fire Chief Budzinski said this
information is included in their outreach programs and they will also place information in
the Tam -A -Gram. Commissioner Atkins -Grad said once people understand that
insurance companies will be reimbursing them, the fear will go away. Commissioner
Dressler said that people do not realize that 50% of the cost is subsidized by the City's
general fund. Fire Chief Budzinski said the current transport fee is one-half of the total
cost and if we charged the full fee it would be $1,400.00. There was a general
discussion regarding Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. Mayor Flansbaum-
Talabisco said this information should be put on the web site and included with the utility
bills. Assistant City Manager Phillips said they will look at how to better educate the
public. Vice Mayor Sultanof said the public also needs to be educated about the
difference between Emergency Medical Services and Fire Rescue Services. City
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Attorney Goren said it is important for people to understand that the transport fee is not
the assessment for fire that they are separate and distinct items and spoke briefly about
the Britt issue.
g. Item No. 7 on the regular agenda. AMENDING CHAPTER 12 OF THE
TAMARAC CODE - LICENSE AND BUSINESS REGULATIONS: (T02161) Motion to
adopt Ordinance on first reading amending Chapter 12, " Local Business Tax
Regulations", of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Tamarac, Florida, by amending
Article II, " Local Business Taxes", by amending Section 12-39, "Amount of Fee" of the
City of Tamarac Code of Ordinances to conform with Chapter 205, Florida Statutes;
modifying Local Business Tax Fees and Classifications and establishing equity
between Local Business Tax Fees and establishing additional Business Revenue Tax
Receipt Classifications and Fees (Case No. 12-MI-08). Community Development
Director Bramley and Senior Revenue Specialist Yacobellis appeared. Community
Development Director Bramley gave a presentation. Vice Mayor Sultanof said the fees
are adequate and commended staff on a job well done. Commissioner Portner said he
is not in favor of this 5% increase. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco asked if these are user
fees and Commissioner Dressler asked if the fees were reasonable and customary;
Community Development Director Bramley replied yes. Commissioner Dressler
commented that if this increase does not pass the City will bear the burden and it will be
subsidized out of the General Fund.
h. Item No. 8 on the regular agenda. AMENDING CHAPTER 16 OF THE
TAMARAC CODE: (T02162) Motion to adopt Ordinance on first reading amending
Chapter 16 entitled "Pensions and Retirement", by specifically amending Section 16-56
entitled, "Members"; reducing the number of alternates on the Board of Trustees from
four (4) to three (3); providing that the Mayor need only to appoint one (1) Trustee to
serve on the Board of Trustees and providing for codification. City Attorney Goren and
Human Resources Director Swanson appeared. City Attorney Goren gave a
presentation and said that the Pension attorney reviewed and approved the
amendment. Commissioner Dressler confirmed that this reduced the number of
alternates from 4 to 3 and one Mayor appointed trustee.
2. DISCUSSION REGARDING SELECTION OF VOTING DELEGATE FOR
FLORIDA LEAGUE OF CITIES: Assistant City Manager Phillips gave a presentation.
Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco and Commissioner Atkins -Grad said they will be attending
the Conference in August. Commissioner Dressler nominated Mayor Flansbaum-
Talabisco. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco accepted and suggested that Commissioner
Atkins -Grad be named as an alternate voting delegate. After discussion there was an
expression of interest wherein all agreed to the following: Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco
was designated as the voting delegate and Commissioner Atkins -Grad was designated
as the alternate voting delegate.
3. DISCUSSION REGARDING OF RADIO SYSTEM REPLACEMENT: Information
Technology Director Sucuoglu said this system is an essential piece of the City's daily
operations and in a state of disrepair. Motorola has done an evaluation and two of the
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four sites are not operating and there are no spare parts to do repairs. The proposal
from Motorola, sole source provider, to replace the system is for $554,000, which
includes 5 year maintenance and replacement as well as support. Information
Technology Director Sucuoglu said that Assistant City Manager Phillips worked with
state and federal agencies and has secured a state grant for $200,000 for this project,
with pending grant requests for additional dollars on the federal level. The
recommendation is to move ahead with the lease purchase of the system as we already
have the $200,000 grant. Vice Mayor Sultanof asked if we are part of a cooperative and
Purchasing/Contracts Manager Glatz said this contract is actually through the Broward
Sheriffs Office and the South East Florida Governmental Purchasing Cooperative.
Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco confirmed that we had the $200,000 grant and asked how
soon the new system would be implemented. Information Technology Director
Sucuoglu said approximately 60 days.
City Attorney Goren left the room at 10:45 a.m. and returned at 10:47 a.m. There was a
discussion regarding the various grants available.
4. DISCUSSION REGARDING PURCHASE BY CITY OF HOMES IN
FORECLOSURE: Commissioner Portner said that this commission has discussed this
issue before and asked how and can we purchase homes, mow lawns, etc. in Tamarac
in order to avoid slum and blight. City Manager Miller said a detailed memo was
prepared by Community Development Director Bramley and they will be glad to preface
this conversation with that memo, if Commissioner Portner desired. Community
Development Director Bramley gave a presentation and said that there are 641 homes
in Tamarac that are in pre -foreclosure. Community Development Director Bramley also
spoke of affordable housing, programs that Tamarac has in place, and programs that
we are proposing to give assistance, homebuyer education, foreclosure workshops and
future foreclosure prevention activities. Community Development Director Bramley said
that on August 23, 2008 we are joining with Coral Springs and Sunrise and the Broward
County Housing Task Force in a foreclosure prevention seminar. These seminars have
been very helpful and well attended. Essentially these seminars bring the banks to the
table to sit with residents to discuss how to get out of adjustable rate mortgage and get
into a fixed mortgage, and give them strategies on to how to prevent foreclosure. There
are programs in place where cities do purchase properties in pre -foreclosure, rehab
them and re -sell. Staff is not recommending that option for Tamarac as it does not help
the homeowner since we would be rehabilitating a home and putting it back on the
market with the thousands of other units already up for sale. We need to be proactive
and reach out to residents in pre -foreclosure and keep them in their homes. Community
Development Director Bramley said the conditions of the homes in pre -foreclosure is a
huge issue and we are addressing part of that with our Community Revitalization
Strategy. Another strategy is an ordinance which would require a home in foreclosure
to post the number of a property management company so that we can avoid the
Special Magistrate process and provide for the ability to remove personal property from
abandoned property if it is a nuisance. Commissioner Portner asked how many homes
had been foreclosed, how many remained vacant, if the City has stepped in with upkeep
on the property, and who covers the cost. Community Development Director Bramley
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said she was not sure how many homes remain vacant and yes, the City has stepped in
and done some upkeep on property and has placed liens on the homes to cover the
cost to the City. Commissioner Portner said we need to get people into foreclosed
homes and if we don't do something now Tamarac will become an heir to slum and
blight. Tamarac should be a leader in this effort. Community Development Director
Bramley said our best efforts would be served by ensuring that those in pre -foreclosure
stay in their units. There was a general discussion about the programs offered to assist
homeowners. Community Development Director Bramley spoke of the ordinances that
will be coming before the Commission in the future. Commissioner Portner asked if
there is a way for Tamarac to advertise for prospective buyers of homes together with
the banks owning the foreclosed property. Community Development Director Bramley
said we will be working with our PIO to advertise the August 23, 2008 Seminars and get
our residents there. City Attorney Goren said there about 5 lenders nationally that are
involved with the massive foreclosures in Broward County and these 5 lenders will be
coming to these seminars to try to renegotiate their loans, terms of debt and find ways
to help people and find new property owners. Commissioner Portner confirmed that on
August 23, 2008 there would be a Seminar involving citizens, banks and cities and
asked if we would be advertising that Seminar and Community Development Director
Bramley said we would. Community Development Director Bramley said we will also get
the addresses of every home in pre -foreclosure in Tamarac and direct mail an invitation
to them. Community Development Director Bramley said Housing Administrator
Bauldree is on the Broward County Housing Task Force and has attended 3 seminars
and is counseling our residents as they come in. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco said we
are conducting seminars in conjunction with the Chamber. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco
said she recognized Commissioner Portner's frustration. There was a discussion about
advertising the event and what takes place during the Seminar. Mayor Flansbaum-
Talabisco said she would like an update after the August 23rd event and is very
interested in the Ordinance that was discussed because it will address the visuals that
everyone is seeing. Community Development Director Bramley said it will come before
the Commission in 3 phases; amendments to landscaping, housing codes and
abandoned property.
Commissioner Portner left the meeting at 11:20 a.m.
Commissioner Dressler said Tamarac has done all that it can at this point to address all
of our concerns about the issues of property depreciation and people being foreclosed
upon and are doing everything we can to educate and subsidize residents. Tamarac
cannot get involved in buying, rehabilitating and reselling properties and cannot get
involved in land speculation. It is not an appropriate use of tax payer's money and it is
not the purpose of government to compete in the private sector. Vice Mayor Sultanof
spoke of Tamarac spending money to help people whose homes were destroyed by
Wilma, foreclosures in Kings Point and West Palm Beach blight. Vice Mayor Sultanof
said Tamarac does have a heart but we are not a brokerage house.
City Attorney Goren said he had quick item to discuss as he will not be at Wednesday's
meeting. City Attorney Goren said the State of Florida actually funded traffic
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magistrates for those counties that have traffic magistrates. However, the Commission
known as the Trial Court Budget Commission's Executive Committee has placed all
funds in reserve which cannot be used by the court system effective July 1, 2008. This
essentially ends the special magistrate program. A letter went out this morning from
Judge Zeller, the Chief Judge, which indicates to the League of Cities that the program
will be ending effective July 1st the consequence of which is all traffic matters, including
parking tickets and traffic infractions, will no longer be heard by magistrates but will be
heard by county court judges at the central court house, creating a number of significant
challenges. City Attorney Goren said the numbers for Tamarac may be on the low side;
they have a report that was published in April and they will look at the numbers carefully
to see what impacts might occur. City Attorney Goren said there will still be pretrial
conferences at the satellite courthouses, which means that you can go to the satellite
courthouse plead not guilty, guilty or no contest. If you plead not guilty or not in
violation the case gets bound over to the central courthouse in Ft. Lauderdale at which
point a date will be set for a hearing. Commissioner Dressler asked about the fiscal
impact on Tamarac. City Manager Miller said he would research and report back.
Commissioner Dressler asked if tickets issued for overweight trucks would be affected
and asked if we could take the parking/traffic infractions, etc in house. City Attorney
Goren said the overweight citations are handled by Tamarac's Special Magistrate and
we would not be able to take the parking/traffic infractions in house as dictated by state
law. Commissioner Dressler asked about the impact of this on drunk drivers and City
Attorney Goren responded a drunk driving charge is criminal in nature and will still be
heard by a county court judge. Mayor Flansbaum-Talabisco asked about the red light
camera violations and City Attorney Goren responded that the red light camera
infractions will actually be reviewed by a city appointed magistrate.
There being no further business to come before the Mayor and City Commission, Mayor
Flansbaum-Talabisco adjourned the workshop meeting at 11:50 a.m.
Patricia A. Teufel
Acting Assistant City Clerk
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