HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-01-22 - City Commission Special Meeting Minutes1
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City Council Special Meeting
1/22/93/KJ
Page 1
CITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 1993
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Bender called this meeting to order on
Friday, January 22, 1993 at 10:00 a.m. in the Conference Room #1 of
City Hall.
Mayor H. Larry Bender
Vice Mayor Henry Schumann
Councilman Norman Abramowitz
Councilman Irving Katz
Councilman:- Joseph Schreiber
John P. Kelly, City Manager
Mitchell S. Kraft, City Attorney
Karen Jackson, Secretary
1. -- Any member of the public may speak
to any issue which is on this meeting notice. Speakers will
be limited to three minutes during this item. 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.
Mayor Bender OPENED and CLOSED the Public Participation with no
response.
2, regarding the Charter
Board lawsuit.
The agreement presented to City Council regarding the Charter
Board lawsuit was not approved.
Mr. Kraft said as of January 20, 1993, he received a copy of a
letter and attachment from Michael Burke, special counsel for the
City of Tamarac. He said Mr. Burke had received a proposed
settlement agreement from Paul Novack, attorney for the Charter
Board.
Mayor Bender asked if Mr. Kraft had responded to this proposal and
Mr. Kraft said this is pending Council's review and direction.
C/M Schreiber said this is a proposal created by Mr. Novack which
indicates that both sides should dismiss with prejudice and each
one should pay their own fee; however, in a separate paragraph,
Mr. Novack talks about the City agreeing to commit to reimbursing
the Charter Board for reasonable attorney's fees in the amount of
$2,000 and costs expended in the amount of $295.25.
C/M Schreiber said the City has no business paying these fees. He
said this is a lawsuit which was initiated by the Charter Board
despite the recommendations of their attorney. He said this should
be considered as a frivolous lawsuit and the City should not pay
their attorney's fees or expenses with the residents' money.
C/M Abramowitz said he is opposed to this litigation. He said
there were two portions of this litigation, one in which the City
was sued on behalf of the individuals and the other was on behalf
of the City. He said there was previous language involved, whereby
the City should debate the merits of the Charter Board. He said it
makes no sense to continue this litigation. He asked if there is
any indication as to the cost of the litigation to date.
City Council Special Meeting
1/22/93/KJ
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Mr. Kraft said Mr. Burke sent him an interim bill which indicated
through January 15, 1993, the special counsel fees would be
$1,294.80.
C/M Abramowitz said it is in the best interest of the City to
settle this litigation, paying court costs.
V/M Schumann said the litigation was instituted by the Charter
Board and the attorney was retained by the Charter Board. He said
the City does not owe their attorney any fees and the City has its
own defense costs in the event that this is litigated. He said the
City should not pay the Charter Board's attorney fees with
taxpayers' funds.
C/M Katz said there was an interoffice memo sent to the Charter
Board members from City Manager Kelly dated November 17, 1992
advising them that the Charter Board has no authority to maintain
lawsuits against the City or incur costs for legal services and
that the City is not financially obligated for expenses incurred
in contravention of the Charter.
V/M Schumann said to settle this suit on their demands would take
away from the residents.
Mr. Kraft said he is looking for direction from Council to either
discuss further with Mr. Novack the settlement of this lawsuit on
the terms of this agreement or to continue the litigation.
V/M Schumann said he is not in favor of this stipulation.
C/M Schreiber said if they want to settle or withdraw with no cost
to the City, then the City can settle.
C/M Katz said there was an article in the Miami Herald stating
that the Charter Board had voted to withdraw their suit.
C/M Katz MOVED to NOT ACCEPT the proposed settlement agreement
and that the City has no legal responsibility to pay Mr. Novack's
bill or their costs, SECONDED by V/M Schumann.
VOTE: C/M Abramowitz
- NAY
C/M Katz
- AYE
V/M Schumann
- AYE
C/M Schreiber
- AYE
Mayor Bender
- AYE
3. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE &CTiON on MAS (Municipal
Administrative Services) audit of Florida Power & Light.
SYNOPSIS Off" ACTION:
APPROVED directing the City Attorney to make additional provisions
to the agreement with MAS, subject to Council approval at the next
Council meeting.
C/M Abramowitz said the City received some notification from
Continental Cablevision disputing some facts from the report by
MAS. He said Mr. Kelly was instructed to send a letter to MAS
requesting them to comment on the remarks made by Continental
Cablevision. He asked if the City has received a response back
from MAS.
Mr. Kelly said MAS stands by their report. He said MAS reported
that Continental Cablevision owes the City $600,000 plus other
monies. He said it was not expected that Continental would accept
this without a dispute.
1
Mayor Bender said MAS had stated that the City is supposed to
receive a certain percentage of the gross revenue. He said
Continental Cablevision responded that there was a third party
revenue and the City's franchise does not cover third party. He
City Council Special Meeting
1/22/93/KJ
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said some attorney needs to review this to determine the validity
of what the City claims versus Continental's claims.
Mayor Bender said MAS stated that they feel they can do better on
the Florida Power & Light audit than they could do with
Continental Cablevision. He said this proposal was forwarded for
review to the City Manager, the City Attorney and the Finance
Director for recommendations.
Mr. Kraft said this agreement includes revisions suggested by
Staff. He said there has been input from Assistant City Manager
Dina McDermott, City Manager Kelly, Finance Director Mary Blasi
and everything sent to MAS has been incorporated, such as a work
plan and an hourly rate schedule.
Mr. Kraft said there are provisions whereby if there is a failure
to collect or certain contingencies take place, MAS would be under
an hourly rate, which is included on Page 5, Section 11, last
paragraph. He said this means that if the City does not collect
the money due to the City, the City does not delegate MAS the
authority to collect the money that is due them and then the City
would have to pay them on an hourly basis.
C/M Abramowitz said if the City hired MAS before and MAS has
handled certain items in which a difference of opinion had arisen,
he would expect them to react to the letters sent to them
regarding Continental Cablevision prior to giving them more
business.
Mr. Kelly said Continental Cablevision is contesting the report by
MAS and MAS is rechecking their calculations and at this point,
nothing else can be done. Discussion was held regarding MAS and
the Continental Cablevision settlement.
C/M Abramowitz requested that MAS be contacted to have them send
written verification regarding the cable situation.
Mr. Kelly said Ms. McDermott is bringing the letter received from
MAS on January 6, 1993, which states that they are standing by
their figures and they want to find out what Council wants to do
at this time.
C/M Abramowitz asked how the City stands at present with the cable
survey.
C/M Katz asked what will be the cost to the City if MAS assists
the City with proceedings regarding the cable survey.
Ms. McDermott said there are several options, but her first
concern was to get Council direction as to how this should
proceed. She said Continental Cablevision has requested a Council
workshop to discuss their rebuttal. She said the City contracted
with MAS to provide an audit of Continental and they did the
audit. She said she sent MAS the rebuttal and they responded to
her at no charge. She said if MAS were to come back to Florida to
help the City in the negotiations with Continental Cablevision,
they will charge the City for time and expenses.
Mayor Bender said prior to Council making any decisions on this
matter, all of the facts should be gathered and then it can be
voted upon. Discussion was held regarding the amount of money
being contested by Continental Cablevision.
Mayor Bender said the City contracted with David M. Griffith and
asked what David M. Griffith has to say about all of this.
Ms. McDermott said David M. Griffith used the auditing firm of MAS
to do the physical audit and when the rebuttal by Continental
Cablevision was received, she contacted the Chief Auditor and
Project Manager for them to review and provide the City with a
response.
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1/22/93/KJ
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Mayor Bender said he is uncomfortable with David M. Griffith being
bypassed through this procedure.
Ms. McDermott said the City should be prepared prior to discussing
this with Continental Cablevision.
TAPE 2
C/M Abramowitz suggested that Mr. Kelly or his designee meet with
Continental Cablevision and David M. Griffith to attempt to get
some answers prior to Council continuing with this.
CONSENSUS OF OPINION: ALL AGREED
C/M Katz referred back to the proposal by MAS to handle Florida
Power & Light and the possibility of MAS charging the City an
hourly rate for their work.
Mr. Kraft read from the proposal, "The City may elect to pursue
collection or may delegate collection authority to MAS or its
assigns as agents of the City for no additional fees or costs."
C/M Katz said this will cover the City on the item where it states
that they are entitled to an hourly rate.
C/M Abramowitz asked if this means that for a maximum expense of
$2,500, MAS will conduct this survey and after the survey, if it
is found that FP&L has not paid the amount of money that the City
is due, the City can either sue FP&L or delegate that authority to
MAS and there would be no further expense to the City.
Mr. Kraft said that is the intent. He said he will write an
additional provision which makes it clearer. He said the language
will generally read, "The maximum expense to the City for the
performance of the duties under this agreement... For the maximum
expense of $2,500, MAS will conduct an audit and after the audit,
pursuant to the work plan contained in this agreement, it is found
that FP&L owes money to the City, FP&L will either delegate
authority to MAS, in which case, no other further expense, other
than the 33-1/3% will be paid to MAS, in the event of recovery."
He said this is draft language that will be perfected prior to
being submitted.
C/M Abramowitz MOVED to APPROVE giving direction to the City
Attorney to make provisions to this agreement regarding FP&L
subject to Council approval at the next meeting, SECONDED by
C/M Katz.
VOTE:
tA.I)An"# *. A 91W.V
4. DISCUSSION AND PACJJQX1 regarding a delegation
request for Kings Point plats.
+AXKQPSIS Or ACTION4
Agendized by Consent.
Discussion was held.
C/M Katz MOVED to AGENDIZE Item 4, SECONDED by C/M Abramowitz.
VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE
Mr. Kraft suggested that no action be taken on this item until
Lennar is present, but it may be discussed.
Mr. Kelly asked if there is an urgency for this item at present.
Kelly Carpenter, Director of Community Development, said there is
a concern that Pine Island Road will be tipping into concurrency
and tying up these plats. She said there is no reason of
expedience to discuss this at present, therefore, Lennar may be
present.
City Council Special Meeting
1/22/93/KJ
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Mayor Bender requested that Council discuss this at present in
order to receive whatever information is available without taking
action.
Ms. Carpenter said Stipulation 26 authorizes the City Manager on
Page 9 to sign off on delegation requests that Lennar puts through
to change the notes on the face of the plat. She said the reason
for this was that Lennar did not want to take minor changes in the
number of units on individual plats back to the Council, wait and
then proceed to the County.
C/M Katz said this was introduced so that they would not have to
come before Council for plat changes which referred to senior
dwellings which would change the impact fee that had to be paid to
the schools. He said this was one of the prime reasons Council
approved the latitude to make delegation requests.
Ms. Carpenter said the settlement allows Mr. Kelly to do this, but
it does not require him to sign off on delegation requests. She
said this request was received from the attorney for Kings Point
and it was discovered that they had increased the unit count by
169 units over what is in the Settlement Agreement. She said Staff
is very uncomfortable having either the City Manager or the
Council sign off on that delegation request because it is believed
that the City would be vesting them for a number of units which
exceeds the density of the Land Use Plan and exceeds the number of
units that are in the Settlement Agreement.
Ms. Carpenter said their attorney has provided language with which
Staff is uncomfortable. She said Lennar is proposing language
which states that the City's response to the County should be
conditioned stating that nothing in this letter authorizes the
applicant, which means Lennar, to exceed the total number of
residential dwelling units permitted by the Stipulation and
Settlement Agreement entered into Lennar Homes, Inc. v. City of
Tamarac, Case No. 9113696-14. She said Lennar is saying that they
will not exceed the 5,471 that is in the Stipulation Settlement
Agreement.
C/M Schreiber questioned whether Lennar is violating the contract
of the residents in Kings Point. He said they are attempting to
crowd into an area that is no bigger than the prior area and it
makes it difficult for parking. He said they are exceeding above
and beyond in Granville with the four-story buildings. He said
there is no more room in Granville than there is in Fairfax and
yet the parking is going to be a horror.
Ms. Carpenter said her recommendation is for Council to formally
consider this at the next Regular Council meeting.
Mayor Bender asked for Ms. Carpenter's recommendation and Ms.
Carpenter said her recommendation will be for denial of anything
that would vest Lennar for more units than what is in the
Settlement Agreement.
Discussion was held regarding the number of units specified in the
Settlement Agreement.
C/M Abramowitz asked if the City can deny Lennar from building
5,471 units and Mr. Kraft said if it is in the Stipulation, then,
no.
C/M Abramowitz asked if they have the right under the Stipulation
to build over what is specified and Ms. Carpenter said this is the
switching around.
Ms. Carpenter said once this happens, all Lennar would have to do
is bring in site plans in accordance with the plats.
C/M Abramowitz asked if they have the right to switch and Ms.
Carpenter said under the Stipulation, they do, as long as the City
City Council Special Meeting
1/22/93/KJ
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signs off on the delegation request, which is the reason for this
discussion.
C/M Abramowitz said when Lennar came before Council previously,
they said emphatically that they would not build one more unit
other than what the Stipulation says. He asked how does Lennar
come to 5,640 if the Settlement Agreement states 5,471.
Ms. Carpenter said Lennar needs to present their case to Council.
She said it is her understanding that Lennar is trying to vest a
maximum number of units on each site, but not build to the 5,640.
She said Lennar is stating that they have not decided where all of
the four-story buildings are going to go.
C/M Abramowitz said the legal number of units Lennar is permitted
to build is 5,471 and Ms. Carpenter agreed.
C/M Abramowitz said they would have to come to the City for
permission for any more units than the 5,471 and Ms. Carpenter
said that is correct, unless the Council approves this delegation
request.
Discussion was held regarding the four-story buildings.
Ms. Carpenter said with this delegation request, Lennar would vest
for the 5,640 rather than the 5,471 and then they would have some
basis to come back to the City requesting that the City amend the
Stipulation Settlement Agreement because they would be vested.
Mayor Bender said Lennar is preparing themselves for sometime in
the future to have something to use. He said he is uncomfortable
with this.
Ms. Carpenter said if Council fails to comment on this, Lennar can
take that comment to the County and state that the City failed to
comment, therefore, it would be okay. She said Council needs to
comment on this item.
C/M Schreiber asked what the time element is and Ms. Carpenter
said they cannot take it to the County until they hear from the
City and they are in a hurry.
C/M Katz suggested that a workshop meeting be held with Lennar for
discussion regarding this.
Mr. Kelly requested a Council workshop to discuss the prioritizing
of the beautification projects throughout the City.
Mr. Kelly said he will meet with the Council members individually
regarding the Sea Coast negotiations following his meeting with
that company.
5• regarding the appointment
of three legislative aides to Mayor Bender for the purpose of
cable franchise investigations.
SYNOPSIS OF ACITON,
Agendized by Consent.
APPROVED the appointment of Leo Platz, Marc Sultanof, and Ben
Sonkin as legislative aides to the Mayor.
C/M Katz MOVED to AGENDIZE Item 5, SECONDED by C/M Abramowitz.
VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE
Mayor Bender said there is a need to establish either a group of
individuals identified as legislative aides or a committee to
review the cable television franchise. He said he has chosen to
select legislative aides in order to explore this prior to
proceeding with the establishment of a board or committee. He said
he has selected the following; Leo Platz, District 1, Marc
City Council Special Meeting
1/22/93/KJ
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Sultanof, District 3 and Ben Sonkin, District 4. He said these
individuals have knowledge of the subject and have been involved
with the franchise within the community.
C/M Schreiber objected to one of these individuals, based on that
person running for Council.
C/M Abramowitz MOVED to APPROVE the Mayor's recommendations,
SECONDED by C/M Katz.
VOTE: C/M Abramowitz - AYE
V/M Schumann - AYE
C/M Schreiber - NAY, due to
Mr. Sultanof running for Council and has no objection to the other
two recommendations.
C/M Katz - AYE
Mayor Bender - AYE
Mr. Kelly said Staff has extended the Request for Proposal for the
golf driving range. He said the one holdup that the City had was
that the City was unable to reach the golfing community. He said
action is pending advertising time from a magazine which will
assist the City. Discussion was held regarding the rumors about
the golf driving facility.
C/M Abramowitz said in the Interlocal Agreement with Broward
County that 24 of the 28 cities signed, the stipulation is that it
ends at a certain period of time, as long as there is no
indebtedness due. He said this was a 79 million dollar bond issue
to build the incinerators. He said the stipulation states
specifically that at the end of that period of time, the
Interlocal Agreement falls away and the cities will no longer have
any responsibility.
C/M Abramowitz said the basis for placing the loan was the income
from resource recovery, solid waste, from the 24 cities who signed
the Interlocal Agreement. He said Broward County has, under the
guides for looking for a lower interest rate, refinanced and
extended the term of the indebtedness beyond the original date. He
said this means they can do this forever.
C/M Abramowitz said the
attorney to take action
TAPE 3
C/M Abramowitz referred
Broward League has instructed their
immediately to protect the cities.
to the Interlocal Agreement.
With no further business, Mayor Bender ADJOURNED this meeting at
11:30 a.m.
WH L. BEND R
MAYOR
CAROL A. EVANS
CITY CLERK -
CITY Ole TAM.ARAC
APPROVED AT MEETING OF