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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-09-29 - City Commission Special Meeting Minutes1­1 City Council Special Meeting 09/29/93 Page I CITY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1993 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Bender called this meeting to order on Wednesday, September 29, 1993 at 11:15 a.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 Dina McDermott, Acting City Manager Mike Couzzo, Assistant City Manager/Director of Public Services Mitchell Kraft, City Attorney Thelma Fagelbaum, Acting Finance Director Jim Budzinski, Fire Chief Patricia Marcurio, Acting City Clerk 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. Nathan Peretzman, resident, expressed his objections to the monthly rate increase on single-family solid waste service and the lack of an increase to multi -family homes. C/M Abramowitz said multi --family service will be discussed at a future meeting. He said there will be an extra charge to condos. He said the current increase involves All Service Refuse, which only picks up for single-family homes. He said Southern Sanitation Service handles the multi -family units. He said their rates have also increased and the cost will be a pass -through to those residents at a later time. Sy Bauer, resident, deferred his comments until Item #4 is discussed. 2. MOTION TO ADOPT T&Mg- Rasa_ #6558 increasing the monthly rate for single --family solid waste service by $.52 per month from $9.30 to $9.82 and the cost of bags will increase by $.06 from $.63 to $.69 effective 10/l/93. F-Vi,Te- • •, ftlywWo"T RESOLUTION R-93-123-PASSED Mr. Kraft read Temp. Reso. #6558 by title. V/M Katz MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Reso. #6558, SECONDED by C/M Schreiber. Ms. McDermott said in accordance to Article 8.1 of the Contract for single-family service, the tipping fee has increased at the Broward County Landfill from $63.40 to $66.27 per ton per month. She said this equates to the fact that the garbage fee will be increasing $.52 making single-family $9.82 per month and the bags City Council Special Meeting 09/29/93 Page 2 will have a $.06 increase to $.69. C/M Abramowitz said there is nothing that All Service Refuse can do about this increase. He said when the tipping fee is increased, the hauler has to raise his fee. He said contractually, the City is subsidizing the two burners to the tune of multi -million dollars. C/M Abramowitz said he has the figures to show that the south burners earned a profit of over six million dollars last year and the north burners had a deficit of several millions of dollars. He said there is nowhere else to go. He said Waste Management owns the dump and the burners. He said Resource Recovery has been fighting them to no avail. V/M Katz said the surplus was derived due to the fact that Waste Management imported garbage from other municipalities at a reduced rate. He said if Broward's tipping fee was $63.40, Dade County was paying $35.00 for a tipping fee. He said the City was subsidizing Wheelabrator to the tune of $30+ per ton. He said if they can bring it in from Miami at $35.00, Broward should be able to do the same for a shorter haul. V/M Katz said the contract that is written needs to be expanded to state, "any garbage". C/M Abramowitz said the City has a "put or pay" provision. He said the same installation made a six million dollar profit south of the City. He said the difference is that the contract that the City has tells the City that if the City does not provide enough garbage, the haulers have to make up the difference. He said the cities are getting ripped off. Mayor Bender said the Broward League of Cities is supposed to help all 28 cities involved. He asked what their position is in this matter. C/M Abramowitz said the Broward League of Cities appoints five members to the Resource Recovery Board and the Broward County Commission appoints four, which appointments are reversed annually. He said the Broward League's Resource Recovery has been fighting Waste Management continuously. He said every time this is discussed, Waste Management states that the cities have to adhere to the contract. He said there was no need for two burners, but the contract was signed many years ago. He further described the history of Wheelabrator and the garbage contract. C/M Abramowitz said the tipping fee projections for the Year 1997 or 1998 is going to be in the 90 dollar range and there is nothing that can be done. Mayor Bender asked if there are any violations with this and C/M Abramowitz said there are investigations currently in progress. Mayor Bender said there should be a unified effort to bring in the Federal Government to investigate this. C/M Abramowitz said the Broward League of Cities, through its attorneys, have charged Waste Management with this over a period of years. Mayor Bender said this needs to be fought at a higher level and the public should know that the City is not sitting around without doing something. He said this is being fought as much as possible and it will have to be done as a united effort between cities. C/M Schreiber asked why the south burner made a profit and the north burner lost money and C/M Abramowitz said the south made a profit due to the debris from Hurricane Andrew. f' !1 City Council Special Meeting 09/29/93 Page 3 C/M Abramowitz said Waste Management has the right to solicit business from anywhere. He said at one time, they were trying to contractually buy garbage from New York and the Resource Recovery stopped this from happening. Mayor Bender said the County built two facilities when one would have been enough. C/M Abramowitz said the people voted in a Referendum for the two to be built. Further discussion was held regarding the history of the garbage service. C/M Abramowitz said this was done many years ago. He said the current County Commissioners are approached daily regarding this and they are trying to alleviate the problem. He said the contract is the problem. Mayor Bender asked if there is any provision in the contract for the County to get money back on the profits being made and C/M Abramowitz said, no. V/M Katz said there can be a reduction in the tipping fee instead of a refund, but there is no reduction. Further discussion was held on the Waste Management property. VOTE: C/M Schumann - AYE C/M Schreiber -- AYE C/M Abramowitz - NAY V/M Katz - AYE Mayor Bender - NAY V/M Katz said there is something coming up in the State Legislature that they are trying to push through that any municipally -owned land that is leased to private money -making enterprises can be taxed on an ad valorem basis. He said the contract that was written precluded them from paying tax. Discussion was held regarding the contents of the contract. 3. MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Reso. #6546 amending the rates and charges applicable to TAMARAC UTILITIES EAST.(Tabled 9/22/93) SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: RESOLUTION R-93-124-PASSED APPROVED Mr. Kraft read Temp. Reso. #6546 by title. V/M Katz MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Reso. #6546, SECONDED by C/M Schreiber. Ms. McDermott said Council passed bond issues last year for capital improvements and future rate structure for the 93/94 and 94/95 Fiscal Years. She said these items are to satisfy the bond requirements that were passed last year. Mr. Kraft said the bond issues were passed to set the rates, subject to approval. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE 4. MQJ1ON TQ ADOPT TeM . Rgag #6545 amending the rates and charges applicable to TAMARAC UTILITIES WEST. (Tabled 9/22/93) RESOLUTION R-93-125-PASSED Mr. Kraft read Temp. Reso. #6545 by title. City Council Special Meeting 09/29/93 Page 4 V/M Katz MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Reso. #6545, SECONDED by C/M Schreiber. Ms. McDermott said this report is exactly the same on the ratification of the rates that were in the bond covenants of last year. Sy Bauer, resident, said he understands that nothing can be done to change these rates and charges due to Council's approval of last year. V/M Katz said this can be changed if needed. Mr. Bauer reviewed the history of utility billings over the past few years. He recommended that the City take a closer review annually of the utility billings to determine whether the City is losing money and possibly increase the percentage rates every couple of years rather than to have the City find itself in debt and make a large increase. Mayor Bender said there was an audit made by an outside consulting firm. He said it was found that there were many repairs required to the sewer pipes to be done. Ms. McDermott said a comprehensive study was completed last year by Hartmann and Associates. She said a Comprehensive Physical Needs Plan was created which includes all of the City's capital and infrastructure and also looking at infiltration and how to address it, along with the financial needs. She said this was based on a five-year plan. Ms. McDermott said this five-year plan is to add additional capital improvements for water and sewer, which includes the water pipes, pumping stations, treatment plant and also dealing with the 201 Program with Broward County. She said the County handles the City's sewage treatment. She said every year there are fees that are assessed by the County. Ms. McDermott said last year, the City identified specific targeted projects that the City needs to do to bring the City intc compliance for its drinking water, expand the capacity for drinking water, which means building and drilling for new wells. She said the City is actively and aggressively pursuing those improvements. She said the City is also pursuing an infiltration program where the City is rehabbing existing water and sewer lines within the City boundaries with City employees. Mayor Bender asked what was recommended by Hartmann and Associates. Ms. McDermott said they recommended to do the improvements, implement them over a five-year plan, which means every year, the City will have different projects and complete them at an increased cost for the next two years. Mayor Bender said these increases are a little lower than what was recommended. He said this came as a result of change in the sewage and the growth of the City. V/M Katz said there are a lot of things that are mandated over which the City has no control. C/M Schreiber asked if the reason the rates were increased was because the City is in a possible position of default on the bonds. He asked what the required amount is by the bonding counsel as far as the City meeting the requirements. Ms. McDermott said the City needs revenues to help balance. She said last year the City was partially at default. u 1 City Council Special Meeting 09/29/93 Page 5 Ms. Fagelbaum explained the rate percentage formula. She said the City needs to maintain 120% of what the largest amount of debt service is over the lifetime of the bond. She said the bonds are currently $2,509,680.00, which is the largest amount for one year for a period of deficits. C/M Schreiber said the reason Council is raising the rate is due to the bonding counsel requirement. V/M Katz said the City has 1.25 million dollars in CIAC funds available in the City five years ago and last year it was $40,000.00, which is a reduction of over $1,200,000 in CIAC funds which make up part of the additional 10%. C/M Schreiber said he opposed the increase last year and will most likely oppose it this year. He said it is his belief that the City is overcharging on its charges against TUW. He said the auditor is recommending figures without any evidence. Discussion was held regarding Tamarac's revenues. Ms. Fagelbaum said the figure derived for TUW for services was not an arbitrary figure. She said this was derived by using cost - accounting methods by Hartmann and Associates. She said the In - lieu of Tax Fund is required by the bond covenants. She said the City is supposed to have an amount equal to 4% of the revenues of the system derived solely from water and sewer revenues, which is required by the bond covenants. C/M Schreiber said no one can show him or anyone that this City utilized $685,000.00 for administrative charges for TUW. He said these are just cost -accounting figures. C/M Abramowitz said Mr. Couzzo has been questioned every time he requests funds for the water system, but this is why Tamarac has one of the best water systems in the County. He said it costs the City one million dollars to put the infrastructure and the new water lines under University Drive. He said the pipes under Rock Island Road are old and the City is mandated to replace them. C/M Abramowitz said there is a tremendous expense that goes into maintaining the level of service and the quality of water in the City. He said the County, State and the Federal Government require many tests on a weekly basis and these things cost money. VOTE: C/M Abramowitz - AYE V/M Katz - ABSENT C/M Schumann - AYE C/M Schreiber - NAY Mayor Bender - AYE 5. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION regarding the canal clean- up project. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: Removed from Agenda. C/M Abramowitz MOVED to REMOVE Item 3 from the agenda due to being discussed during a Council Workshop on Monday, September 27, 1993, SECONDED by C/M Schreiber. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE City Council Special Meeting 09/29/93 Page 6 6. DISCUSSION AND_20, IBLE ACTION regarding permit fees and monitoring costs for Pulte Homes forced air burning pursuant to Section 7-54 of the Code. _SYNOPSIS OF ACTION_ TABLED Ms. McDermott said during the Regular City Council meeting held on September 22, 1993, Pulte Homes Corporation requested permission to have a forced air burning process on their land in Land Section 8. She said Council received a Letter of Request prior to the meeting. She said Fire Chief Jim Budzinski has researched this matter for requirements and there are some changes which need to be done to the Code if Council chooses to do so. Mr. Budzinski said Pulte Homes is requesting the ability to use a forced air burning style in Land Section 8, which allows them to burn on -site only the vegetation which is removed from this site. He said there are State, County and Local requirements that Pulte Homes must comply with in order to be able to burn on this site. Mr. Budzinski said there are several items which the City needs to address before burning will be permitted. He said the City must amend the City Code, Section 7-54, which currently permits burning only in Land Section 7. He said without changing this, burning is prohibited in any form throughout the rest of the City. Mr. Budzinski suggested that if burning is to be permitted, a fee structure be established that will allow for the monitoring and suppression activities if any are necessary associated with that burning. He said this has not been accounted for in the past. He said the third item would be to establish this fee schedule. Mr. Budzinski said a resolution would be needed by Council authorizing the Fire Chief to permit burning in that area. Mayor Bender asked how the requests by the Fire Chief would alter the agreement that the City currently has with Pulte Homes. Mr. Kraft said before Pulte Homes starts burning, the City needs to modify the Code. He said this can be done as an emergency ordinance and do two readings as advertised as such prior to the burning taking place. He said the City needs to make sure that the Code allows for it. Mayor Bender asked if the ordinances need to be changed on this. Mr. Kraft said the better way would be to make revisions to the Code, which would be to eliminate the language in Section 7-54, Sub -section B, which says, "shall only be authorized in an area in the City known as Land Section 7." He said this would be eliminated and a provision would be added under Sub -section C, which states, "The City Council shall, by resolution, establish a fee schedule to cover costs in permitting, inspections, monitoring and suppression of activities related to open burning." He said these would be the two revisions to Section 7-54. Mr. Kraft said he has also prepared a draft resolution regarding establishing a fee schedule which includes the Fire Chief's suggested fee schedule. He said the City can do this and have it in place in a timely way, and the Council's wishes can be acted upon as expressed at the last Council meeting. Mayor Bender asked what the Council is to act on at this time. Mr. Kraft requested direction from Council to prepare the ordinance and resolutions for the next Council meeting, as long as it takes place prior to Pulte plans for burning. City Council Special Meeting 09/29/93 Page 7 V/M Katz said he is uncomfortable with changing the Code which will allow for open burning. He said if this is going to be restricted to the type of high heat, high pressure burning, he would have less of a problem. He said if this is going to state that anybody has carte blanche anywhere in the City, excluding cooking and burning wood for cooking, he has a problem. Mr. Kraft said the ordinance would not be changed where it requires City Council to authorize the Fire Chief, by resolution submitted to his office, to approve the permits. He said that language would remain. V/M Katz said he has a problem with allowing this to happen. He said if this is going to be restricted to open pit burning, he does not have a problem with it because there are certain safety factors which are built in by nature of the type of burning. He said if this were just to say that the City is going to change it to allow burning in any part of the City, he has a problem with it. Mr. Budzinski said that is not his recommendation. He said his recommendation is strictly the pit with forced air, which is the most clean burning technique that is available. V/M Katz MOVED to APPROVE Item 6. C/M Abramowitz said he would like to see a change in the ordinance. TAPE 2 C/M Abramowitz asked if there is a big financial interest in Pulte Homes burning rather than carting and Mr. Budzinski said, absolutely. C/M Abramowitz said the City should not allow this. He said it has nothing to do with safety, but has to do with the fact that they would be burning leaves and grass in an area that is a residential area and there is a very good possibility that the result of doing this will have smoke. He said it may be the safest way to burn, but he objects to any burning in the City whatsoever. C/M Abramowitz said if the Council decides to allow this, the City is not charging enough money for it. He said the request is for $150.00 per hour and a $150.00 permit. He said he would make it so that if they are going to save a lot of money by burning rather than carting, he would like the City to be a partner in the savings. Ms. McDermott said the fee would be $150.00 per day. V/M Katz said there is an alternative. He said there are limits to the landfill and there are limits to what can be delivered to Resource Recovery. He said if this is not burned, it has to be removed and if it is removed, it will be taken to a landfill. He said for the amount of cubic yards of what will be taken from Land Section 8 versus the possible amount of pollution, which would be minimal, in weighing the alternatives there would be no other way to go but to burn. C/M Abramowitz said they cannot take this to the landfill. He said one of the reasons the City has a big problem with the canals is due to implementation of the law last year, where grass or tree clippings cannot be taken to the landfill, but to the special place on Powerline Road, where the cost is very expensive. He said the rates should be increased if the City is going to allow this. Mr. Budzinski said his involvement in this is a reaction to the Council meeting where Pulte Homes requested burning. He said he is trying to clarify how the City can do this. He said if Council chooses not to permit burning, he would be happy. He said he calculated the rates, which are the minimum rates of the cost of City Council Special Meeting 09/29/93 Page 8 covering and providing the service. He said it is not a profit - making attempt on his part, but the cost of monitoring or suppressing a fire due to this activity. Mayor Bender said the burning process is only limited to areas that have not been developed, which includes Land Section 7 and some areas in Land Section 8. He said he is uncomfortable with the burning and asked if there is any other way of doing this so the City does not have to change the Code. Mr. Kraft said his concern is that Council has taken action where it gave Pulte Homes permission to do this. He said following Council's action, the City needs to look at the Code, the ordinances, fees and everything that goes with it. He said he foresees a potential problem if Council changes its mind at this time. He suggested that if Council does make a change, to do it in an adequate time before Pulte Homes expends anything. He said this would be relying on a duly authorized act of Council. C/M Schreiber asked if that Resolution is in effect. He said the City cannot implement that Resolution because the Code prohibits it. Mr. Kraft said there is a potential problem. He said Pulte Homes had a right to rely on the previous action of Council. C/M Schreiber said Council should have been informed that the Resolution could not be passed unless the Code was amended. He said the Council should have been notified. He said Council should not have arbitrarily passed a resolution until Council found out that in order to pass the resolution, the Code would need to be amended. Mr. Kraft said regardless of what the Ordinance said, Council had the right to reject the request. C/M Schreiber said Council has the right and is normally entitled to get all of the information, legally, that is necessary, so that Council can make a proper decision. He said if he knew that he had to amend the Code, he would not have voted for it. He said the City is in a precarious position legally and could be involved in a lawsuit. Mr. Kraft said there is always a potential for that. He said the Council took its action last week and with the action that the Council has taken, this is what should be done. He said nothing would be changed in this Ordinance regarding the Fire Chief s involvement and his giving input and the Council having to authorize it on a case -by -case basis. He said there is no legal distinction between Land Section 7 and Land Section 8. He said by removing the Land Section 7 distinction, it would make the City's Ordinance more defendable than less. C/M Abramowitz asked if the question came up at the last meeting regarding changing the Ordinance. Mr. Kraft said he did not recall the details of the meeting. He said it was approved subject to the Fire Chief's input. He said Pulte was put on record as knowing that they were not going to be able to go out and burn without input from the Fire Chief. C/M Abramowitz asked how long is the burning process going to take and Mr. Budzinski said he is not an expert in land clearing, but Pulte Homes has projected that it would take approximately 60 days burning three days per week. C/M Abramowitz said this is not enough information. C/M Abramowitz MOVED to TABLE Xtem 6, SECONDED by C/M Schreiber. City Council Special Meeting< 09/29/93 Page 9 Mr. Budzinski said Pulte Homes is asking for a 60-day period in which to burn. Mr. Kraft said that was not made clear to Council at the last meeting. Mr. Budzinski said he does not believe that it was because he just received this information from Pulte Homes. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE C/M Abramowitz suggested that the Fire Chief get a schedule from Pulte Homes as to how long they intend to do this and what they intend to do. He requested that Ms. McDermott find out from Broward County the cost of dumping land clearing material and then begin calculating the acreage versus what generally can fit into a truck versus what it costs to dump. 7. MQXIQN I ADOPT Temp. Reso. #6559 approving the lease agreement between the City of Tamarac and the School Board of Broward County for use of the Tamarac Multi -Purpose Center. $YN4PSIs OF ACTION: RESOLUTION R-93-126-PASSED APPROVED Mr. Kraft read Temp. Reso. #6559 by title. C/M Schreiber MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Reso. #6559, SECONDED by C/M Abramowitz. Ms. McDermott said this is the final lease agreement between the City and the Broward County School Board for using the Tamarac Multi -Purpose Center. She said Bill Bell, Principal of Tamarac Elementary School, is present and made a presentation to Council several weeks ago. Ms. McDermott said the terms and conditions have been worked out through the City Attorney and the School Board Attorney. She said this is the final lease agreement being presented for Council's review and action if desired. She said Assistant City Manager Couzzo is also present to speak on this issue. Mr. Couzzo said this is the issue presented by Mr. Bell requesting the ability to lease some space due to the restrictions he has with the overcrowding of the school. Mayor Bender asked if all the questions Council had previously have been addressed and Ms. McDermott said, yes. Ms. McDermott said this is a lease, commencing upon Council approval, which would be completed by June 17, 1994, the hours would be school hours, the days would be five days per week and the nature and purpose would be for art, music and science classes. She said the rental would be $1.00 per year and the school would be paying $2,000.00 per year for utilities. C/M.AbrsixlC6 itz said he was asked by the parents at Tamarac Elementary to express their thanks to Council because without this, them would have been three programs which would have not taken pkaci in the school. He said there is hope that at the end of this.9 hoof year this will not be a necessity. He said it is great that the City can work with the School Board. V/M Katz said the only problem he had with this initially was under Item 9 of the Agreement regarding the liability to the City. He said if the only recourse of liability to the City on an accident relative to the rental of the facility is by negligence of the City, then he has no problem with it. He said if the School City Council Special Meeting 09/29/93 Page 10 Board, or whoever is suing the City, can prove negligence on the part of the City in causing the accident, he has no problem with it. Mr. Kraft said this is a revised copy of the agreement. Mayor Bender said he is on the Technologies and Facilities sub- committee of the School Board. He said he had a group of ten individuals from the committee visit the school, showed them the problems and the rooms that were being made available and indicated the urgency of them doing something about getting the elementary school retrofitted for the overcrowding. C/M Schumann asked if there have been any arrangements made for the people and organizations who lease these rooms during these time periods. Mr. Couzzo said there have been a variety of arrangements made including utilizing the Recreation Center to offset their hours so that the City can accommodate them at different times. He said there were only 4 or 5 that were in conflict and they have been accommodated. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE Mr. Couzzo read a statement into the record regarding his job offer by the Village of Miami Shores. He expressed his appreciation to the Council and the City for his opportunities in Tamarac. V/M Katz said City Manager Kelly has not officially stated that he is leaving the City in November. He suggested that consideration be made regarding what the City is going to do about an Interim City Manager. Mayor Bender said the appropriate time to do this is when he receives some resignations. C/M Abramowitz said there have been articles in the newspapers regarding the gasoline tax going into effect. He said the difference in the City will be dramatic. He said originally, Broward County offered 37-1/2% of one penny which equated last year to about $68,000.00. He said there has been a big fight with the Broward League of Cities and the final resolution of this is that the City will get 37-1/2% of all three pennies, which will mean the difference between $68,000.00 last year and approximately $240,000.00 this year. He said the cities got what they are entitled to and what was needed. With no further business, Mayor Bender ADJOURNED this meeting at 12:25 p.m. /OBEN4DER - r MAYOR CAROL A. EVANS CITY CLERK CITY OF TAMARAC APPROVED AT MEETING OF / o 7 /93 1 I