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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-01-06 - City Commission Special Meeting MinutesP-i RECORD OF COUNCIL ACTIONS/DISCUSSIONS NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Special Meeting of the City Council on Monday, January 6, 1992 at 8:30 A.M. in Conference Room #1 of City Hall, 7525 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. The City Council will consider the following: 1. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION regarding the agreement between the City of Tamarac and Medics Ambulance Service. FINAL ACTION: TABLED for more information. 2. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION regarding the City Attorney position. FINAL ACTION: Interviews will be scheduled with the following candi- dates for the City Attorney position: David Feldheim Richard Craddock Esteban Miranda Mitchell Kraft 3. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION regarding the proposed bus depot by the Broward County School Board. FINAL ACTION: Discussion was held and direction was given to the City Manager to draft a notice for the newspaper regarding this issue urging people to attend the Town Meeting to be held on Wednesday, January 15, 1992 at 7:00 P.M. in the Chambers of City Hall. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - Any member of the public may speak to any issue which is not agendized for public hearing at this meeting. Speakers will be limited to three minutes during this item and at public hearings. There will be a thirty (30) minute aggregate time limit for this item, and speakers are encouraged to sign up in advance with the City Clerk prior to their participation. The City Council may consider and act upon such other busi- ness as may come before it. All meetings are open to the public. In the event this agenda must be revised, such revised copies will be available to the public at the City Council meeting. Carol A. Evans CAE/pm City Clerk --- CITY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 1992 Tape 1 C'kLL TO ORDER : Mayor Abramowitz called the Special meeting to order at 8-M a.m. in Conference Room #1, City Hall. PRESENT : - Mayor Norman Abramowitz Vice -Mayor Dr. H. Larry Bender Councilman Henry Schumann Councilman Irving Katz Councilwoman Diane Glasser ALSO PRESENT : John P. Kelly, City Manager Dina McDermott, Assistant City Manager Alan F. Ruf, City Attorney Mary Blasi, Finance Director Patricia Marcurio, Office Manager, City Clerk's Office Phyllis Polikoff, Secretary Mayor Abramowitz said the purpose of the meeting was to consider the following items: 1.) DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION regarding the agreement between the City of Tamarac and Me ics Ambulance Service. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION TABLED for more City Manager Kelly said at the November 25, 1991 meeting he was asked by Council to get something which confirmed that Medics Ambulance could not require payment prior to a person being transported. He said he spoke to two people who stated that Medics Ambulance could not require payment prior to anyone being transported. City Manager Kelly said he received a copy of Broward County's five year contract with Medics Ambulance but the contract did not mention payment. He called Broward County and was advised it was in the Ambulance Rules and Procedures and would be sent to him. City Manager Kelly said the provision was a combination of the contract and Section 5.09 of the Ambulance Rules and Procedures. He said he felt uncomfortable with Section 5.09 and Broward County advised that it established set fees for the types of services rendered. City Manager Kelly said Section 10.2 of the City's contract with the ambulance service stated that Medics Ambulance "shall not refuse... ability to pay for such service". City Manager Kelly said in his opinion that the language in Broward County's contract and the City's contract were not specific enough. He said Medics Ambulance accepted Broward County's interpretation that the ambulance services were not allowed to ask for monies, etc., prior to transporting someone on an emergency call. C/W Glasser asked if Medics Ambulance was required to apply for insurance or Medicare and City Manager Kelly said, yes, but they could also refer it to the person who was transported. He said Medics had the right to refuse assignment or the person's insurance and the person could send the bill to their insurance company. J City Council Special Meeting 1/6/92/PP Page 2 Mayor Abramowitz said the last caveat was in the City's contract with Medics Ambulance. He asked if it was also in Broward County's contract with Medics Ambulance and City Manager Kelly said it was but the wording was not specific. Mayor Abramowitz said the language was moot if the City dropped the contract with Medics Ambulance and City Manager Kelly said, yes. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the contract between Broward County and Medics Ambulance stated that Medics Ambulance could not demand payment before transporting and City Manager Kelly said, yes. V/M Bender said a law made it mandatory that all doctors had to complete forms whether or not they accepted assignments. He thought this also applied to ambulance services and asked that it be checked out. City Manager Kelly said this was discussed and Broward County and Medics Ambulance said there was a misunderstanding on the City's part and Medics Ambulance did not complete the forms. V/M Bender said the State and Federal Governments should be contacted to definitely find out. Mayor Abramowitz said many years ago people complained because the ambulance services demanded payment before the people were transported. He said Malcolm Cohen of Medics Ambulance indicated that the bills would be dismissed when there were non -collectibles because he had an approximate 70% collection rate. He said Mr. Cohen stated he would go after the people who did not pay. Mayor Abramowitz said Mr. Cohen could not deny services to anyone on an emergency basis without violating his contract with Broward County. He said an ambulance company could not arbitrarily not transport someone because they were not paid. V/M Bender asked for up -dated documents because the documents he had from Broward County were dated 1984 and 1988 and City Manager Kelly said the up -dated document did not mention it at all but the rules and procedures were in effect. City Manager Kelly said Broward County sent him a copy of the amended agreement between Medics Ambulance and themselves for the next five years. He said the document did not contain anything pertaining to the question asked by Council. V/M Bender said there was nothing in the new document which indicated that the rules and procedures were still in effect and City Manager Kelly said they were not changed. City Manager Kelly said Broward County's contract with Medics Ambulance did not state anything pertaining to prohibition against payment and Broward County advised it was in the rules and procedures. V/M Bender said there should be something in the new document which indicated the rules and procedures were still in effect and Mayor Abramowitz said a dated Fax was sent. C/W Glasser asked why the City could not get a current dated statement and Mayor Abramowitz said a dated Fax was sent. City Manager Kelly said he did not know if this answered Council's question and he wanted to make sure that it did. V/M Bender asked how this tied into the current contract. and City Attorney Ruf said more work had to be done. C/M Katz asked if the documents were addendums to the original contract or supplements which superseded that contract. City Council Special Meeting 1/6/92/PP Page 3 C/M Schumann said he interpreted Section 5.09 of the Ambulance Rules and Procedures to mean that Medics Ambulance could demand payment if it was the prescribed rate. He said Medics could not refuse to take someone to a hospital but they could demand payment. Mayor Abramowitz said the document received by the City on Friday was much clearer. City Manager Kelly said he would contact the people to tie all the documents together so there would be one document. V/M Bender said the last date he had on a document was 1988. C/W Glasser said she did not want to get complaints that people were stranded because they were unable to pay and Mayor Abramowitz said any ambulance service that did this would be violating Broward County's contract. C/'M Katz said Council's responsibility was to the citizens of Tamarac and not the ambulance service and Mayor Abramowitz said he agreed and that was why he demanded written documentation from Broward County. C/W Glasser said this would be the contract. Joseph Schreiber, resident, said the current standard operating procedures from Broward County indicated an amendment to the contract dated May of 1991 and continued the terms of the contract, which existed for four years. He said Section 2.1 of Broward County's Scope of Services stated the contract was obligated to comply with the rules and regulations of the State and Federal Governments, Ordinances, etc. He said this applied to Section 5.09 of Broward County's contract with Medics Ambulance and Section 10.02 stated that Medics Ambulance could not require payment. Mayor Abramowitz reiterated to get written and clear pertaining to the ambulance due to inability to pay. * C/M Katz MOVED to TABLE SECONDED by C/M Schumann. his request of City Manager Kelly documentation from Broward County service refusing to pick up someone Item 1 pending further information, V/M Bender asked about the coverage of the present contract and Mayor Abramowitz said it was on a month -to -month basis. VOTE ALL VOTED AYE 3. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION regarding the proposed bus depot y the Broward County Sc ool Board. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION : Discussion was heFd and direction was given to the City Manager to draft a notice for the newspaper regarding this issue urging people to attend the Town Meeting to be held on Wednesday January 15, 1992 at 7:00 P.M. in the Chambers of City Hall. Mayor Abramowitz said he contacted the President's Council to alert every section by sending out postcards and/or making telephone calls to attend the Town Hall meeting. He said the citizens had to be made aware that the bus depot affected the entire City. City Manager Kelly said the Broward County School Board proposed the- building of a maintenance building/bus depot on Land Section 7. He said the project would be tax exempt, would generate.a minimum of 2,000 trips daily, would have a negative impact on the neighboring properties with regard to concurrency and would have a negative impact on the type of development for the future. He said it would be illegal for the City to stop a City Council Special Meeting 1/6/92/PP Page 4 plat and Broward County had Eminent Domain authority. He said this area was zoned LI-1 and the City would have site plan Control. C/W Glasser asked approximately how many buses would be housed at the depot and City Manager Kelly said between 125 to 300. She said the City had to consider the people who worked at the depot and V/M Bender said this would mean approximately 400 cars driving in and out twice daily. Mayor Abramowitz said he wrote the School Board advising there were sound financial reasons that the bus depot was detrimental to the City. Mayor Abramowitz said Broward County could save money to purchase the land but they would lose because the City paid school taxes. V/M Bender asked if the Comprehensive Plan indicated that wells would be built in Land Section 7 and C/M Katz said two wells would service that area. City Manager Kelly said he was not sure it was on that property. C/W Glasser asked regarding concurrency if future development would be affected and City Manager Kelly said it would affect the unplatted land by the twice daily trips generated by the cars and buses. Mayor Abramowitz said the City would be affected more when the bridge was built over Nob Hill Road. C/W Glasser said a Town Hall Meeting would get the various groups together to organize with a plan of action. C/M Katz said he was sure Broward County's Engineers researched the number of cars, trucks and building size for the depot. He said his main concern was the facility on Andrews Avenue would close and would wind up on Land Section 7 which would mean a vast number of daily trips and many employees. City Attorney Ruf asked about the industrial area in the City of Sunrise and Mayor Abramowitz said Sunrise endeavored to determine the land owner who objected to the Selection Process. Mayor Abramowitz said he contacted the majority of the School Board members and indicated the City's objections. He said he also spoke to a member of the House of Representatives and Senator Weinstein who indicated they supported the City's objections. He suggested every Council member do the same thing. City Manager Kelly the purpose of today's meeting was to develop a strategy and the facts for the January 15 meeting to present to the citizens. He asked for suggestions on how to notify the citizens and Mayor Abramowitz said to put the notice on television. C/W Glasser said to send out a flyer and Mayor Abramowitz said the President's Council was alerted to do this. V/M Bender said a large notice should be put in the newspaper. C/W Glasser said she was advised that another group was meeting on January 15 to discuss the same subject and Mayor Abramowitz said he heard three groups would be doing likewise. C/M Katz said in his opinion, this would detract from the City's Town Hall Meeting and City Manager Kelly said those groups should be invited to participate at the Town Hall Meeting. Mayor, a Abramowitz said three groups voiced their objections to the School Board. C/M Katz suggested the television notice should be put on the Kings Point channel. C/M Katz suggested contacting the groups who scheduled their meetings for January 15 to come to the Town Hall Meeting and reschedule their meeting because it could detract from the City's meeting. City Council Special Meeting 1/6/92/PP Page 5 Tape 2 C/M Katz asked how long it would take to prepare a flyer on the Town. Hall Meeting and Ms. McDermott recommended doing a very inexpensive special mailing. She also recommended doing a large press release or possibly buying an ad and Mayor Abramowitz suggested putting the notice in the newspaper. V/M Bender said he agreed. Ms. McDermott said a very inexpensive flyer could be prepared but the major problem was distribution and Mayor Abramowitz asked Ms. McDermott to contact Herb Hayes to find out how he alerted the various sections. C/W Glasser said the television notice should be a Special Bulletin and not part of the calendar. City Manager Kelly asked the City's position at the Town Hall Meeting and C/W Glasser said there should be a sign -in sheet in order to contact these people for the meeting with the School Board. He asked if a petition could suffice and C/W Glasser said it was a good idea. C/W Glasser suggested making blank petitions for the people to take back to their communities. Mayor Abramowitz said members of the School Board told him they were not in favor of the bus depot. C/W Glasser said she also heard from the School Board that someone within their ranks was backing off because of adverse publicity. C/W Glasser said the School Board might possibly not go forward if they received petitions from the citizens objecting to the project. Mayor Abramowitz said there was a sound, financial and sensible way to present the City's objections and C/W Glasser said this should be on the petition. Mayor Abramowitz asked City Manager Kelly to draft a notice and transmit it to Council as `soon as possible. V/M Bender said an agenda should be prepared with an item specifically addressing the adverse affect on Broward County, the City of Tamarac and depreciation of property surrounding the depot. Mayor Abramowitz said he knew of someone wishing to build a hotel on Land Section 7 but had not done so because some of the rooms would face the bus depot. City Attorney Ruf said another key was that the environment would suffer and Mayor Abramowitz said it would always be an environmental issue no matter where the bus depot was built. City Attorney Ruf said he would look at the Well -field Code. V/M Bender said he wanted research done on how much contamination would affect the environment and at what distance would it become detrimental. V/M Bender asked why one huge depot would be built when smaller satellites could suffice and City Manager Kelly said the proposed project was a satellite. C/M Katz said in his opinion if the maintenance building/bus depot was built in Tamarac, it would not remain a satellite. Mayor Abramowitz said the City needed a definitive reason for saying Broward County's Selection Committee made a poor choice of locations. Mayor Abramowitz said the petitions should be given to members of the President's Council for distribution in their communities. 2. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION regarding the City Attorney L, City Council 1/6/92/PP Page 6 Special Meeting position. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION Interviews will be - candidates for the David Feldheim Esteban Miranda Richard Graddock Mitchell Kraft scheduled with the following City Attorney Position: Mayor Abramowitz said Council interviewed five candidates and all agreed on one candidate. He said Council indicated they wanted to review the applications for more candidates, if possible, to interview. C/M Schumann indicated: #20 David Feldheim #33 Richard Graddock V/M Bender indicated: #20 David Feldheim #25 Susan Glant #33 Richard Graddock C/M Katz indicated: #12 David A. Slavin #15 Esteban Miranda #21 Mitchell Kraft #27 Gerry Clark C/W Glasser indicated: #20 David Feldheim #15 Esteban Miranda #21 Mitchell Kraft Mayor Abramowitz indicated: #33 Richard Graddock #13 William Capeto #21 Mitchell Kraft #15 Esteban Miranda Mayor Abramowitz said it appeared there were four candidates to interview rather than having a short-list prepared. Ms. McDermott said David Feldheim, Richard Graddock, Esteban Miranda and Mitchell Kraft each received three votes. She said Susan Glant, David Slavin, Gerry Clark and William Capeto each received a single vote. C/M Katz asked if all four candidates were available and City Manager Kelly said they would be contacted today. He said if the candidates and Council were available, the candidates would be scheduled for interviews on two mornings. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - Any member of the public may speak to any issue which is not agendized for public hearing at this meeting. Speakers will be limited to three minutes during this item and at public hearings. There will be a thirty (30) minute aggregate time limit for this item, and speakers are encoura9ed to sign up in advance with the City Clerk prior to their participation. Nathan Peretzman, resident, expressed his concerns about the ambulance service. Joseph Schreiber, resident, expressed his concerns about hiring a new City Attorney, the proposed maintenance building/bus depot and the ambulance service. Mayor Abramowitz said at the time of the transfer, Council was aware of many violations of the contract made by the ambulance City Council Special Meeting 1/6/92/PP Page 7 company. He said at that time the Council decided to give the subsidy and determined it was necessary to have the service even if the ambulance service violated its contract. Mayor Abramowitz said since he came into office, the number of complaints dropped dramatically. Tape 3 V/M Bender said he did not have a copy of the April 1988 amendment which Mr. Schreiber mentioned regarding the ambulance service. He said he was looking for one document which encompassed all the changes and Mr. Schreiber said each amendment represented something different and did not change the basic concept of the contract. V/M Bender said the last document dated May, 1991 should have encompassed all the amendments but it did not. Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted proof positive from Broward County which indicated that Medics Ambulance was violating its contract or Broward County's Rules and Regulations because Medics demanded payment on pick-ups. City Manager Kelly asked if Council wanted a compilation of everything interpreted to mean something or a letter from Broward County and Mayor Abramowitz said anything which stated that Medics Ambulance could not demand payment at time of pick-- up. Mayor Abramowitz said he did not know if the Federal law instructed the ambulance service to do the paperwork regarding the pick-up and City Manager Kelly said he would research this. Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED the CAROL A." EVANS CITY CLERK rI CITY OF TAMARAC YED AT MEETING OF / City Clerk