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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-03-31 - City Commission Special Meeting Minutes1 1 City Council Special Meeting 3/31/93/KJ Page 1 CITY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1993 C. Mayor Bender called this meeting to order on Wednesday, March 31, 1993 at 3:00 p.m. in the Conference Room #1 of City Hall. Mayor H. Larry Bender Vice Mayor Irving Katz Councilman Norman Abramowitz Councilman Henry Schumann Councilman Joseph Schreiber John P. Kelly, City Manager Dina McDermott, Assistant City Manager Mike Couzzo, Assistant City Manager/Director of Public Services Mitchell S. Kraft, City Attorney Karen Jackson, Secretary 1. PUBLIC 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. C/M Abramowitz requested that Item 4 be heard prior to the rest of the agenda. 4. MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Reso_ #6453 authorizing the Tamarac Athletic Federation to sell beer at the "Tournament for Tommy" on a portion of Tamarac Park, 7501 N. University Drive, on Friday, April 30 through Sunday, May 2, 1993. RESOLUTION R-93-34-PASSED Mr. Kraft read Temp. Reso. #6453 by title. V/M Katz MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Reso. #6453, SECONDED by C/M Abramowitz. C/M Schumann said this is a fund-raiser for one of the City's Little League ball players who had a brain tumor removed. He requested that Council permit the Tamarac Athletic Federation to sell beer during this tournament. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE 2. MOTION TO ADOPT To it._, Reso. #6452 1 approving a sign waiver requested by St. Malachy's Church to permit a sign which does not comply with the provisions of the Sign Code. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: RESOLUTION R-93-33-PASSED APPROVED AS AMENDED for only the use of two types of lettering to be utilized on the sign. Mr. Kraft read Temp. Reso. #6452 by title. City Council Special Meeting 3/31/93/KJ Page 2 C/M Schreiber MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Reso. #6452, SECONDED by C/M Abramowitz. Dan Wood, Chief Building official, said an application for a wall sign on the west side of St. Malachy's Church has been denied due to not meeting the requirements of the Sign Code, Article 2, Chapter 18. He said the application was denied for the following reasons: 1) Section 18-51(b), Sub --paragraph 1(b)(3), Lettering shall be uniform. Mr. Wood said the applicant has selected two styles of lettering, "Times -bold" for the first line and "Helvetica-medium" for the changeable copy portion of this sign. 2) Section 18-51, Sub -paragraph (b)(2), Lettering shall be one color with Section 18--53, Sub -paragraph 11, allowing a second color for the background. Mr. Wood said the applicant is requesting the first line to have a black background and the changeable copy portion to have a blue background or two background colors. 3) Section 18-62, Sub -paragraph (e), The picture and circled logo is not registered or a copyrighted trademark and must be considered a sign and therefore, shall contain no more than one color with one background color. Mr. Wood said on the plans submitted, there is no described logo, but there is a blank circle which needs to be identified. C/M Abramowitz asked if St. Malachy's would be allowed to put the sign up if they adhered to all of the objections and Mr. Wood said, yes. Mr. Wood said St. Malachy's would have to revise their plan regarding background colors and the style of the lettering. C/M Abramowitz asked if St. Malachy's Church would be willing to comply with the Code. Matt Lyons, St. Malachy's Parish Manager, said the parish would prefer that the sign remain as is, but if they are forced to change, it can be done. C/M Abramowitz said at present the sign does not meet Code. He asked if St. Malachy's would be willing to change to meet the Code requirements. He said if they are willing to adhere to the Code, he suggested they resubmit their application and provide everything the City requires. He said Council occasionally makes exceptions and grants variances, but this is not a normality. The representative from Sign Craft said at present, St. Malachy's existing sign has two fonts and they would like the new sign to match it. Mr. Wood said if St. Malachy's chooses to agree to conform with the Code, they would have to change their criteria application also. C/M Abramowitz said there is certain criteria set for wall signs. Mr. Lyons asked if this would be approved if St. Malachy's agreed to use the same style lettering on the entire sign and Mr. Wood said they would also have the same background with one color and the picture would need to be one color, with one single background. Mr. Wood said it is not a logo because it is not registered. City Council Special Meeting 3/31/93/KJ Page 3 Mr. Kraft asked if the sign meets the Code in size and Mr. Wood said, yes. Mr. Kraft said the purpose of this waiver request is for the additional color and additional letter style and Mr. Wood agreed. V/M Katz asked if the picture will remain the same and Mr. Lyons said it would remain the same. Discussion was held regarding the background, copy, color and picture changes. Mr. Wood said the Code states that the background has to remain the same and the lettering style has to remain the same. V/M Katz suggested a compromise be made regarding this situation. He suggested that the picture be left the same color as the top of the sign and if they are going to change the copy and different colors and styles are desired, this may not be as objectionable. Mr. Wood said at present, the letters are the same color on the top and bottom. Discussion was held to have a dark blue background on the top and bottom of the sign. V/M Katz MOVED to APPROVE the waiver for the sign to be one color with two type styles, SECONDED by C/M Schreiber. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE 3. a. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION regarding single- family residential garbage service. b. DISCUSSION —AND _POSSIBLE ACTION regarding the parameters of negotiations. SYNOPSIS Qr ACTION 3.a. APPROVED the rejection of all bids. 3.b. Agendized by Consent on Page 6. 3.a. Mr. Kelly said Council has received the tabulation on the bidding process for the bag system. He said Council is in receipt of intent by Industrial Waste Service to protest an award of the contract to Seacoast Sanitation and All Service Refuse. Mr. Kelly said he had previously recommended that all bids be rejected and at that time, Council did not exercise that option because there were no other alternatives presented, but it is at Council's discretion at present. C/M Schreiber asked if the Council legally has the right to reject bids, even with the protest by Industrial Waste. Mr. Kraft said he indicated in his memo dated March 23, 1993 that the Council has the right, pursuant to the language in the Request for Proposal, to waive defects and there is always the possibility that anyone who is on the opposite end of the Council's decision could file a protest or bring a lawsuit. C/M Schreiber said Council has discussed the bids from the second Request for Proposal and Seacoast Sanitation and All Service Refuse have supplied their financial reports. He said Seacoast Sanitation remains the lowest bidder and their financial report seems to be adequate. C/M Schreiber MOVED to APPROVE awarding the bid to Seacoast Sanitation for a 3--1/2 year term on 20 and 30 gallon bags. V/M Katz asked if Ms. Blasi reviewed the financial statements and Mr. Kelly said they are acceptable. City Council Special Meeting 3/31/93/KJ Page 4 V/M Katz said he has spoken to many people who are not in favor of the bag system. He said if he were to Second the Motion, it would be for a trial basis rather than for a 3-1/2 year contract. C/M Schreiber asked if Council can change the specifications of the Request for Proposal and Mr. Kelly said Council must remain with these specifications. C/M Abramowitz said he was originally against the bag system, but then there were many things that made the bag system desirable. He said there have been a number of concerns and complaints from the residents. He said he would like to have a six or nine month trial period. He said he does have concerns with placing a contract with Seacoast Sanitation and then finding out later that there is a problem. Dick Marant, representative of Seacoast Sanitation, said Mr. Kelly received favorable recommendations from the City Manager of Dania regarding Seacoast Sanitation's service and Seacoast also services Lauderdale -By -The --Sea. Mr. Marant said he is not aware of how long Plantation has been using the bag system, but they would not have renewed their contract with Waste Management if the bag service was not favorable. He said all of the haulers spent a lot of time and money creating these bids twice and requested that Council do something with this contract. V/M Katz said he is looking for what best serves the residents of Tamarac. He said there were certain things in a previous contract which were not done in the best interest of the residents. He said Council is trying to be careful and not make the same mistakes as previously made. Mr. Marant said he cannot believe that anything could have been left out after going through this process twice. C/M Abramowitz said there is a problem in the area regarding yard waste disposal. He said change is very frightening. He recommended that negotiations be held individually with the haulers. Mr. Kelly said the prices in the past contract were good prices. He said Council will hear complaints about the rates no matter what. C/M Abramowitz said Council may be going in the wrong direction. He said it may be necessary to use generic bags or other such possibilities. C/M Schumann said the financial statements received have not been reviewed by any auditors and the management has elected to omit all of the disclosures and statements of cash flow required by generally accepted accounting principles. Mr. Marant said Seacoast complied with the request by Ms. Blasi. C/M Schumann said normally a financial statement contains cash flow. He said the other companies submitted cash flows. Mr. Kelly said Ms. Blasi is not in the position to do an audit or an in depth analysis. C/M Abramowitz asked why Mr. Kelly's recommendation was to reject all bids. Mr. Kelly said he had made this recommendation previously and had requested that he be permitted to negotiate with Southern Sanitation, because they have the existing contract on a month -to -- month basis. He said he did not want to pursue the bid on bags only, which at present, may have placed the City in an 1 1 G City Council Special Meeting 3/31/93/KJ Page 5 uncomfortable position with a protest. TAPE 2 Mr. Kelly recommended that Council reject all bids and it would be in the best interest of the City to do so. C/M Abramowitz asked what happens if Council rejects all bids and agrees to negotiate with Southern Sanitation and the prices quoted by Southern Sanitation are not acceptable and Mr. Kelly said it would be at the Council's discretion to accept or reject price and to direct him to negotiate with another company. V/M Katz asked if Council can go with a trial basis if Council rejects all bids and Mr. Kelly said the Council can go with any proposals after all of the bids are rejected. Harold Carter, representative of All Service Refuse, said it is felt that All Service did comply with the Request for Proposal and submitted further documentation for the City's analysis and All Service would be able to establish a 9-month trial basis option period within their contract. V/M Katz said in order to go on a trial basis, all of the bids must be rejected. Mayor Bender said there was no Second on the previous Motion; therefore, the Motion died due to lack of a Second. V/M Katz MOVED to APPROVE rejecting all the bids, SECONDED by C/M Abramowitz. C/M Schreiber said the Council has been going through this for the past six months. He said if it is necessary, he is going to contact the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate this procedure. He said the City put out a Request for Proposal, received a response from a low bidder and Council does not want to accept it. He said the Council rejected those bids, put out another Request for Proposal and the same low bidder responds, which Council does not want to accept. He said he feels that Council is trying to give the contract to the company who is currently providing the service to the City. C/M Schreiber said if this was desired, Council could have negotiated with waste Management instead of going through the bid process. He said these haulers went through a lot of expense and time to produce these proposals. He said by rejecting these bids, the Council may be putting the City in jeopardy of lawsuits from the low bidder and ex -low bidder. He said if he were in this position, he would seek legal recourse. C/M Schreiber said Council is in the position to make a decision and to be concerned as to what is in the best interest of the residents of the City. He said the majority of the residents indicated that they wanted a bag system due to being the lowest form of service available at the lowest cost. He said it is necessary to try something in order to move forward and if it does not work, at least it was tested. C/M Abramowitz said at the beginning of this meeting, C/M Schreiber asked the City Attorney if the Council has the right to reject any or all of the bids. He asked the City Attorney if the Council has a right to reject any or all of the bids. Mr. Kraft said pursuant to Section 1.1(b) of the Request for Proposal provides that the City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and Section 1.2(c) states that the City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals with or without cause. V/M Katz asked how long would the negotiation process take with any given company prior to coming back to Council if the bids were rejected. City Council Special Meeting 3/31/93/KJ Page 6 Mr. Kelly said he would like Council to set a meeting to allow him to give a status report. He requested that Council set some parameters for the negotiating process. C/M Abramowitz suggested that the parameters be set during this meeting. VOTE: C/M Schreiber - NAY C/M Abramowitz - AYE V/M Katz - AYE C/M Schumann - AYE Mayor Bender - AYE 5. MOTIQX 10 APPROVE, a hold harmless agreement between the City and property owner, Melvin Reinow, regarding the removal of trees that pose a threat to Well #16. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: Agendized by Consent. See Page 7 for final action. C/M Abramowitz MOVED to AGENDIZE Item 5, SECONDED by C/M Schumann. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE 3. b. SCUSSTQN AND POSSIBLE ACTION regarding the parameters of negotiations. SYNORSIS OF ACTIONr 3.b. Agendized by Consent. Discussion was held regarding the negotiation process and then TABLED to a Reconvened meeting on Thursday, April 1, 1993 at 3:00 p.m. 3.b. V/M Katz MOVED to AGENDIZE Item 3.b., SECONDED by C/M Abramowitz. VOTE: C/M Schreiber - NAY C/M Schumann - AYE V/M Katz - AYE C/M Abramowitz - AYE Mayor Bender - AYE Mr. Marant said there may be haulers that are not present at this meeting and have no idea that these bids were rejected and parameters are being set for individual negotiations. Mayor Bender said this would be a matter of record and Mr. Kelly said all of the haulers will be notified. Mr. Kelly said he would like Council to instruct him to negotiate with a single company. He said he would like the opportunity to negotiate for the best deal, whether it is bags only, unlimited or a combination of the two situations. V/M Katz suggested this be done for a short-term trial basis and Mr. Kelly said that would be another option for consideration. Discussion was held regarding considerations for negotiations. C/M Abramowitz asked if the City is mandated by the present contract as to whom can be negotiated with and Mr. Kraft said, no. V/M Katz MOVED to APPROVE beginning negotiations with the lowest bidder on this past Request for Proposal, Seacoast Sanitation, on a short-term basis. C/M Schumann said there is no longer a low bidder because all of the bids were rejected. Mayor Bender RECESSED this meeting at 4:15 p.m. to allow for the City Attorney to review documentation regarding this and City Council Special Meeting 3/31/93/KJ Page 7 RECONVENED at 4:40 p.m. with ALL PRESENT. Mr. Kraft said he had a concern regarding the on -going contract the City has with Waste Management/Southern Sanitation for month - to -month single family service. He said he would need to do more research to come to a final conclusion as to whether or not the City would be limited to negotiate with anyone but Southern Sanitation based on the current month -to -month contract. Mr. Kelly suggested that this item be recessed and reconvened on Thursday, April 1, 1993 at 3:00 p.m. Mayor Bender CONTINUED this item to Thursday, April 1, 1993 at 3:00 p.m. Marie Horenberger, representative of Browning Ferris Industries, asked what documentation was going to be researched and Mr. Kraft said he would be reviewing all documentation regarding this matter. 5. MQ=M, TO APPEM, a hold harmless agreement between the Ciwy'And property owner, Melvin Reinow, regarding the removal of tries that pose a threat to Well #16. SYNOPSIS-._O� F_ ACTION: Agendiz�d by Consent on Page 6. APPROVED Mike Couzzo, Assistant City Manager/Director of Public Services, said this is regarding Water Well #16 and a hold harmless between the City and Melvin Reinow, a City resident. He said currently the Raw Water Well #16 is in a utility easement and adjacent to the well is Mr. Reinow's home and on his property or property line, there are approximately half a dozen Australian Pine trees that are almost full grown. He said Mr. Reinow is requesting the Council's consideration for removal of these trees due to potential problems that may exist during a storm or hurricane, which may cause damage to the well. He said the removal of these trees would be mutually beneficial to both parties involved. He said Mr. Reinow has agreed to sign a hold harmless agreement with the City so that the City may remove the trees to eliminate any possibility of the trees falling on the well. C/M Abramowitz MOVED to APPROVE Item 5, SECONDED by C/M Schumann. V/M Katz asked where the City stands with Mr. Egan. He said the Code Enforcement Department has constantly cited this property for the growth and maintenance of the property. He said this is contiguous property and does not want further problems with Mr. Egan. Mr. Couzzo referred to the Interoffice Memo 93-145 regarding this. C/M Schreiber asked if the well really is in jeopardy from these trees and why the City has to pay for this. He asked if this is something Mr. Reinow wants for removal of his trees and Mr. Couzzo said this would be a benefit to both parties. C/M Schreiber asked if the City can have these removed at the property owner's expense. Mayor Bender said it would be protecting the City's equipment by removing these trees. Discussion was held regarding this. Mr. Kraft said with this agreement, only the trees that are totally on Reinow's property can be removed. He said there would need to be two agreements and two property owners if more than one owner was involved. C/M Abramowitz asked what happens if the City does not get an City Council Special Meeting 3/31/93/KJ Page S agreement with Mr. Egan and Mr. Couzzo said if this does not happen, there is the potential for the tree to fall on the utility improvement and if this happens, there may be disrupted service for a potentially extended time period. Mr. Couzzo said unless the agreement is received from the property owner to remove these trees, the City cannot go on their property. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE C/M Abramowitz requested that an item be agendized for discussion at the Thursday, April 1, 1993 meeting. With no further business, Mayor Bender RECESSED this meeting at 4:55 p.m. to be RECONVENED on Thursday, April 1, 1993 at 3:00 p.m. BENDER -` MAYOR CAROL A. EVANS CITY CLERK CITY OF TAMARAC APPROVED AT MEETING OF 4] . a 8-94�