HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-02-18 - City Commission Special Meeting MinutesCity Coi.ncil Special Meeting
2/18/9VKJ
Page 1.
CITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1993
Mayor Bender called this meeting to order on
Thursday, February 18, 1993 at 10:07 a.m. in the Council Chambers
of City Hall.
PLLDGE OF ALLEGIANCE!, Mayor Bender called for the Pledge of
Allegiance.
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
Carol A. Evans, City Clerk
Karen Jackson, Secretary
1. gt3MylC PARTICIPATION - 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 single-
family residential sanitation services contract.
APPROVED rejection of all bids for single-family residential
sanitation services and APPROVED preparation of a new Request for
Proposal for this service.
Mr. Kelly said during the meeting of February 10, 1993, Council
directed him to continue negotiations with Seacoast Sanitation and
bring it back to Council for consideration. He said the conversion
factor on the tipping fee was a major stumbling block. He had
recommended that the increase on the tipping not increase more
than two cents on the dollar and Seacoast's counteroffer was seven
cents on the dollar.
Mr. Kelly said there was some concern by Council regarding whether
or not tree limbs and branches had to be attached by one of the
bags. He said the price per bag is $1.10 and Seacoast is
requesting seven cents on every dollar that the tipping fee
increased, plus a consumer price index increase.
Mr. Kelly said the final proposal for the Council to consider at
present, that Seacoast be given a fixed increase of a minimum
eight cents in each year of the contract for every bag and after
that, two cents on every dollar. He said next year, at a minimum,
the price would go from $1.10 to $1.18, plus the CPT, which will
probably be 2%, making it $1.20, plus two cents for every dollar
that the tipping fee might be raised. He said Council needs to
make a determination as to whether or not this is acceptable.
Mr. Kelly said the Finance Department has supplied Council with an
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2/18/93/KJ
Page 2
analysis, which does not include what the tipping fee would
escalate to, due to not knowing this.
Mr. Kelly said he has been asked by most of the haulers not to
make a recommendation or at least not to recommend them;
therefore, he is not going to.
C/M Abramowitz asked if there was any other proposal from any of
the vendors which indicated a yearly escalation contractually and
Mr. Kelly said All Service Refuse proposed specific prices in each
of the five years as follows:
First year
- $1.68
Second year
- $1.74
Third year
- $1.80
Fourth year
- $1.86
Fifth year
- $1.93
Harold Carter, representative for All Service Refuse, said the
proposal also stated that they would delete the CPI clause so
there was not an increase per bag or anything else, but was
instead of the CPI, which is approximately 5% per year, and if the
CPI is 10%, they would still be at 5%.
C/M Abramowitz said the newspaper reflected the County's opinion
regarding the tipping fees. He said the County is talking about a
$5.00 tipping fee increase, which could be a potential problem. He
said he can understand an increase in the COLA, but is not in
favor of an automatic increase every year and then not being in
the position to know what the tipping fee is going to be. He said
he is in favor .of -putting in .a cap on ,a tipping fee increase. lie
said he is not in favor of an automatic increase in the bags and
asked if the costs for the bags will be decreased if the costs go
down.
V/M Schumann said the reason Council created a resolution for the
bag system was based on the $1.10 proposal. He suggested that
Council rescind the resolution for the bag system and consider
unlimited garbage pickup.
C/M Schreiber said at present the bag system appears to be the
lowest cost trash pickup system. He said if the City were to go
back to the cans, it will not save the residents anything. He said
the advantage of the bag system is if you don't use it, you don't
pay for it. He said if it works in other cities, it could work in
Tamarac, but it must be given a chance. He said the problem he
sees is a five year contract and any time a new system is being
tried, a shorter time period is utilized. He said it may be
worthwhile to rescind the agreement with Seacoast Sanitation and
consider discussing it with the next bidder.
C/M Katz MOVED to REJECT the bid of Seacoast Sanitation.
C/M Abramowitz requested that a timeframe be stipulated in any
upcoming negotiations.
C/M Katz suggested that Council hold another Special meeting on
Monday, February 22, 1993 and a report be given to Council as to
the results of any other negotiations, as to not delay this any
longer.
C/M Schreiber SECONDED the Motion.
VOTE:
ALL VOTED AYE
Sal Coniglio, representative for County Waste, asked if Council is
requesting that the City Manager is to negotiate with All Service
Refuse for $1.68 per bag. He stated his calculation differences
between cans and bags.
C/M Abramowitz said there are certain legalities tied to a
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2/18/93/KJ
Page 3
negotiation after receipt of an Request for Proposal. He said the
trend in the world today is a user fee.
Mr. Coniglio said that County Waste can begin service within a
week and the trucks are ready to go.
Mr. Kelly asked if County Waste would accept the two cent
conversion factor on the tipping fee and Mr. Coniglio said that is
the way it works out in calculations. Discussion was held
regarding the price breakdown by County Waste.
Dick Marant, representative of Seacoast Sanitation, said he
understood at the previous meeting that Council gave direction to
the City Manager to negotiate with Seacoast Sanitation and if the
negotiations were not satisfactory, then the City Manager was to
parallel the negotiations with a new bid spec package. He asked if
he misunderstood something.
Mayor Bender said the intent was to save time in case a new bid
spec was created.
Mr. Marant referred to the All Service bid and asked if, during
the negotiation process, it is possible to lower the original bid
and Mr. Kelly said that is incorrect.
Mr. Kelly said the City has the right to reject all of the bids
and anything that was on the table would be off the table and the
City has the right to negotiate for whatever terms it wants.
Mr. Marant asked if the City would be able to negotiate with
anyone if the bids are rejected and Mr. Kelly said, yes.
Mr. Marant said the City would have to reject all bids in order to
negotiate a lower price with any vendor and Mr. Kelly agreed.
C/M Katz MOVED to REJECT all bids received for single family
garbage service, SECONDED by C/M Abramowitz.
Mr. Marant asked if Seacoast would be eligible to reenter into
negotiations with the City if this Motion passes and Mr. Kelly
said, yes.
Marie Horenburger, representative of Browning Ferris Industries,
expressed her dissatisfaction in the actions of Council. She said
she understood that if the negotiations were not successful, that
the bids would all be denied and that the probably would be to
begin a new bid process. She said it would be in the best interest
of the City that accepting new bid specs would be the most
reasonable thing to do by preparing a tight bid, addressing all of
the issues that the City has a concern with.
Harold Carter, representative for All Service Refuse, asked if the
City Manager would have the right to negotiate a smaller bag at a
lesser fee in order to provide a request by the residents for that
service and still remain within the confines of the Request for
Proposal.
Mr. Kraft said the basis of the Request for Proposal cannot be
changed, but once the bids have been rejected, anything can be
negotiated upon.
C/M Abramowitz said Council needs to express to the City Manager
what is wanted for single family garbage service. He said if the
Council rejects all bids, then the City Manager can negotiate with
any company. He said he wants the City to get the best deal
available and it is time for this situation to be resolved.
Mr. Carter urged Council to consider staying within the Request
for Proposal process and to give direction to the City Manager to
negotiate a bag system with All Service Refuse, giving a very
short timeframe to provide the proposal.
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C/M Schreiber said the City has made a commitment to the bag
system for single family homes.
V/M Schumann said user fee is good as long as it is not overpaid.
He said the initial $1.10 proposal has been nonexistent since the
beginning and the closest bid to that was $1.68. He said the bag
system may not be the way to go.
C/M Schreiber suggested that the City continue in the negotiation
process prior to making any further changes.
VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE
C/M Abramowitz requested that Council give direction to the City
Manager to make this a number one priority to negotiate for the
single family garbage service.
TAPE 2
V/M Schumann said Council gave direction to the City Manager at
the previous Council meeting to prepare a new Request for Proposal
and the Council is giving the City Manager input as to what to put
in the Request for Proposal.
Mayor Bender said he had requested that all Council members submit
their recommendations to the City Manager in writing and as of a
couple days ago, he was the only one to have submitted anything in
writing.
Mr. Coniglio said Council needs to specify exactly what is wanted
for the bads.
C/M Katz asked the timeframe for advertising and if the process
must begin again.
Mr. Kelly said the minimum is ten days from the advertising date
to the bid opening.
Mr. Marant requested that Council give the City Manager the
parameters of terms to negotiate with in order to help with the
complexity of this type of document.
Mayor Bender said the City Manager will be given the parameters to
work with.
C/M Katz asked if the City can collect proposals from all of the
vendors without going out to bid again and Mr. Kelly said he would
be uncomfortable negotiating in the manner.
C/M Katz asked if it is possible to utilize the text that Council
requests and the current bids without going out to bid again.
Mr. Kraft said C/M Katz is referring to an informal form of
Request for Proposal procedure. He suggested that the best way is
to either authorize the bid procedure as formally as it is
normally done or to negotiate with one particular vendor.
C/M Abramowitz said Mr. Kelly has discussed the procedures with
each of the Council members. He said Council should make a
decision regarding the following: 1) whether or not the City wants
to go with bags, 2) number of times garbage is to be picked up per
week, 3) the utilization of one or two sizes of bags, 4) yard
trash and how it is to be handled, and 5) bulk pickup throughout
the year.
C/M Katz asked if this can be completed within a week or ten days,
including the negotiations. He said if the City needs to
advertise, and it takes more than ten days or two weeks, Council
will be on vacation prior to it being resolved.
11
1
C/M Abramowitz asked if it is possible to have Staff negotiate
with two vendors per day and Mr. Kelly said it is a possibility,
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but it is not a good idea.
Mr. Kelly said Council is aware that there is a timeframe involved
with this and Council is to submit in writing each of their
recommendations for this. He requested that these recommendations
be received in his office by Friday in order for Council to meet
again on Monday for discussion to authorize a specific bid to be
put out. If it is advertised for ten days and all of the other
timeframed procedures take place, the Council is looking at
approximately a 1-1/2 months minimum to this being resolved.
Mr. Kelly said other than this, he would recommend that if Council
directs him to negotiate with a vendor, then they should pick one
with whom he can negotiate. He said he is uncomfortable
negotiating with two vendors at the same time.
C/M Katz asked the timeframe and Mr. Kelly said if Council
authorizes him to meet with any one vendor, they can meet this
afternoon and he would make Friday available for meetings and a
basis for a meeting would be ready for Monday. He said if that
criteria is not acceptable, then he would meet with the next
vendor and so on.
C/M Katz asked if the City would need a timeframe within the two
hearings and Mr. Kelly said there needs to be ten days with a
three day lead time.
C/M Schreiber asked if it is possible to request two sizes of
bags, a 20 gallon and a 30 gallon bag and whether it is within the
parameters of the Request for Proposal.
Mr. Kraft said the previous action taken by Council rejected all
of the Requests for Proposal.
Mayor Bender said he had suggested the two sizes for the sole
purpose that he had received numerous calls stating that the 30
gallon bag is difficult for the elderly to carry when it is full.
C/M Schreiber MOVED that the City Manager negotiate with All
Service Refuse.
C/M Abramowitz said he would SECOND the Motion, if the timeframe
element is inserted in the Motion.
Mayor Bender RECESSED the meeting at 11:12 a.m. and RECONVENED
at 11:20 a.m. with ALL PRESENT.
C/M Schreiber repeated the Motion as being to direct the City
Manager to negotiate with All Service Refuse based on additions
regarding a timeframe by C/M Abramowitz,
C/M Abramowitz WITHDREW his SECOND to the Motion.
C/M Katz SECONDED the Motion by C/M Schreiber.
Mayor Bender handed the gavel to V/M Schumann and requested that
the Motion be modified to direct the City Manager to negotiate
with All Service Refuse and be completed no later than Monday,
February 22, 1993 and on Tuesday, February 23, 1993 to proceed
with Southern Sanitation.
C/M Katz disagreed with this modification. He said his Second
would not restrict it to two bidders.
C/M Abramowitz said at present, if this Motion passes, the only
direction that the Council has given the City Manager is for Mr.
Kelly to negotiate with All Service Refuse. He said Mr. Kelly
would negotiate with All Service and on Monday, February 22, 1993,
he would come back to Council with the outcome of the
negotiations. He suggested that Council direct the City Manager to
make this a process, naming the order in which to negotiate with
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2/18/93/KJ
Page 6
the various companies and if the proposals are rejected by
Council, then move on to the next one.
Mayor Bender asked if there would be less time involved if Council
proceeded with C/M Abramowitz's suggestion rather than going for a
new Request for Proposal.
Mr. Kelly said it is really up to Council as to the length of time
it would take.
Mayor Bender said he feels that the City should go for a new
Request for Proposal.
Mr. Marant asked how the Council would be able to decipher what
would be considered the lowest and best bid.
Mary Blasi, Finance Director, said she would be uncomfortable
going directly to each vendor and attempting to negotiate with
them. She said under the current garbage contract with Southern
Sanitation, there is a renegotiating clause and they would be the
only company with which the City could renegotiate at present.
Ms. Horenburger said Browning Ferris Industries had a previous
franchise agreement with the City and asked if that agreement had
stated that there had to be a notification of a time certain in
order to negotiate.
Mr. Kraft said the City currently has a contractual relationship
with Southern Sanitation and one of the legal bases is that there
is this relationship and the City can negotiate with them as to
the terms of the agreement.
Ms. Horenburger said that is a month -to -month contract and it is
not the original agreement.
Mr. Kraft said the City can negotiate on the month -to -month
contract and it is part of the original. Discussion was held
regarding the original contract.
Ms. Horenburger said she is in agreement that this should be rebid
and all of the issues that were raised by Council are addressed in
the bid package.
Mr. Carter expressed his appreciation to Council for considering
the negotiations with All Service, but requested that Council not
negotiate at all. He suggested that a bid document be done with
specifications. He said All Service received a legal opinion as to
the Request for Proposal process and the rejection of bids. He
said it is their legal opinion that in the Request for Proposal
process, if all bids are rejected, all bids for single and multi-
family would have to be rejected. He said there was one Request
for Proposal document and all bids would have to be rejected.
Mayor Bender said there are several different opinions regarding
this document.
Bill Laystrom, attorney for Southern Sanitation, objected to Mr.
Carter's interpretation of the bid documents. He said Southern
Sanitation will negotiate with Mr. Kelly if requested. He said it
is Waste Management's belief that they are the only one with which
the City is able to negotiate.
Mayor Bender handed the gavel to V/M Schumann and MOVED to
APPROVE going out with a new Request for Proposal and have all of
the issues presented by Council to be included in the document for
single-family service, SECONDED by C/M Abramowitz.
11
C/M Abramowitz asked if this will expedite the timeframe.
TAPE 3
C/M Abramowitz asked if it would be more appropriate to go out
with a Request for Proposal and Mr. Kelly suggested that Council
City Council Special Meeting
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Page 7
reject all bids, authorize him to negotiate with Southern
Sanitation and bring it before Council on Monday, February 22,
1993 for consideration.
C/M Abramowitz asked if a bid process can be done legally rather
than a formal Request for Proposal and Mr. Kraft said the City has
a procedure which is followed referred to as Standard Operating
Procedure, and this would be a Request for Proposal in this case.
Mr. Kelly said he needs to receive the Council's input prior to
preparing a new bid document.
VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE
C/M Schreiber asked what is holding up the multi -family service
and Mr. Kelly said the $.95 penalty.
Mr. Kelly said it is on the February 24, 1993 agenda for
discussion.
3. DISCUSSION AND _POSSIBLE ACTION regarding the job
description of the Risk Manager.
SYNOPSIS OF ACT;QN*
APPROVED amending the job description that the Risk Manager report
to the City Manager and not the Personnel Director.
Mayor Bender MOVED to AGENDIZE Item 3, SECONDED by C/M Katz.
VOTE: C/M Abramowitz
- ABSENT
C/M Schreiber
- AYE
V/M Schumann
- AYE
C/M Katz
- AYE
Mayor Bender
- AYE
Mayor Bender said this is to discuss the clarification of the job
description of the Risk Manager. He said in a letter dated
December 30, 1992, he had made some recommendations that the Risk
Manager be a full-time position and be responsible to report
directly to the City Manager. He said in the current Code, this is
a position of a Director. He said the proposed job description
indicates that the Director would be under the general supervision
of the Personnel Director and ultimately responsible to the City
Manager.
Mayor Bender said he is uncomfortable with this statement because
he does not believe that there should be one Director responsible
to another Director. He said Directors should be responsible to
the City Manager. He requested opinions from Council regarding
this in order to give the City Manager direction for the hiring of
a new Risk Manager.
C/M Schreiber said the City has had two Risk Managers in the last
couple of years and there seems to be a problem or a lack of
communication between the City Manager and the Risk Manager. He
suggested that Council consider hiring a Risk Manager who would
report to the Mayor and Council as opposed to anyone else.
C/M Schreiber said Council should be aware and in control of what
the Risk Manager is going to do.
Mayor Bender said Article 8 of the Code describes the duties of
the Risk Manager, but the City hires a City Manager who is in
charge of administration for the City and the Directors should be
directly accountable to the City Manager. He said he does not feel
that the Personnel Director should be involved at all with the
Risk Manager.
C/M Katz said there is not a need for more middle people. He said
the Code states that the Risk Manager is a Director and as a
Director, this person is as much a Department Head as any other
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2/18/93/KJ
Page 8
Director and should be directly responsible to the City Manager.
He said it also states in the Code that the Director shall by
March 1 of each year submit to the City Council a formal report
covering the prior fiscal year.
C/M Schreiber asked if the other Councilmembers have received
these reports.
C/M Katz said he does not agree with the way this has been handled
in the past.
C/M Schreiber said Council should make some recommendations to
change the Charter if problems exist as it currently is.
Mayor Bender suggested that if a Council member disagrees with the
Charter or amendments, then Motions should be made to change it.
He said at present, the City has violated the Code where the Risk
Manager was accountable to the Personnel Director instead of the
City Manager. He said this position should be physically located
in an office next to the City Attorney and should work closely
with the City Attorney. He said this person should be well
qualified to handle Risk Management, claims review and
adjustments.
C/M Katz asked if the City has advertised for a Risk Manager at
present and Mayor Bender said that is why this is being discussed
in order to derive an appropriate job description.
Discussion was held regarding the details of the job description.
Mr. Kelly said a Director means a Department Head and Council has
not created a department called Risk Management in the City and
there is not one. He said when the risk management position was
first created, it was filled with a consultant, in order not to go
full-time, in which Susan Tillman reported to the Personnel
Department as a consultant.
Mr. Kelly said in the Code, at present, the Risk Manager is a
Department Director, which creates another layer of bureaucracy
which he was attempting to avoid. He said in his position as
administrator, he is supposed to make recommendations to Council
based on the personnel he has in the structure that exists. He
said Mr. Dupre, the new Personnel Director, has extensive
background, has been involved in risk management and has some
wonderful ideas on that, and is an appropriate person to oversee
it. He said if it does not work out, it can be changed later, but
to interject that he be automatically excluded from this, does not
take advantage of the resources the City has available. He said he
is trying to maximize the available resources.
Mr. Kelly said he does not see how shifting the direct
responsibility to him would be efficient with Mr. DuPre's
expertise.
V/M Schumann said he sees it as being another layer by going
through the Personnel Director. He asked how many other Department
Heads do this and Mr. Kelly said the Risk Manager is not a
Department Head.
Mr. Kelly said Council would be creating a Risk Management
Department with a secretary.
V/M Schumann said he has not seen the background Mr. Kelly claims
Mr. Dupre has. He said he has not seen a risk management
background in Mr. DuPre's personnel file.
Mayor Bender said there does not have to be a department to have a
Director. He said a Department Head or a Director does not have to
have a secretary or typist or anything else. He said at present,
there is clerical help, secretarial help and all other help that a
Risk Manager would need in the City Manager's office. He said in
LJ
City Council Special Meeting
2/18/93/KJ
Page 9
reviewing other cities, the Risk Manager is a very important
position which could save a lot of money and he does not want to
have it be the Risk Manager's responsibility to have his work
contaminated as a result of having to work through the Personnel
Department.
Mayor Bender said this was attempted previously with Peter Mack,
previous Personnel Director, and Susan Tillman, previous Risk
Manager, in which this was not successful. He said he wants to
make sure that the Risk Manager is hired and does the job to
protect the City.
C/M Katz referred to the Code, Section 2-344 regarding the duties
of the Director.
Mayor Bender recommended that the paragraph in the job description
where it refers to the major function and the responsibilities be
modified to be directly responsible to the City Manager instead of
the Personnel Director.
C/M Schreiber MOVED to APPROVE that the major function of the
Risk Manager's work is to be performed under the supervision of
the City Manager, SECONDED by C/M Katz.
VOTE: C/M Katz
- AYE
V/M Schumann
- AYE
C/M Schreiber
- AYE
C/M Abramowitz
- ASSENT
Mayor Bender
- AYE
With no further business, Mayor Bender ADJOURNED this meeting at
12:00 p.m.
CAROL A. EVANS
CITY CLERK
WY OF TAMARAC
APMVED AT AtMNQ OF
lBENDER
MAYOR