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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-11-25 - City Commission Special Meeting MinutesE RECORD OF COUNCIL ACTIONS/DISCUSSIONS November 22, 1991 NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Special Meeting of the City Council on Monday, November 25, 1991, at 1:00 P.M. in Conference Room #1, Tamarac City Hall, 7525 N.W. 88 Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. The purpose of this meeting is: 1. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACJION regarding City Attorney selection shortlisting. FINAL ACTIONu The City Council shortlisted applicants to the following five: Rafael E. Suarez -Rivas William J. Gray Saul Smolar Alan Fallik Jeffrey D. Olson for City Attorney position 2. 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 and at public hearings. There will be a thirty (30) minute aggregate time limit for this item, and speakers are encouraged to sign up in advance with the City Clerk prior to their participation. The City Council may consider and act upon such other business as may come before it. In the event this agenda must be revised, such revised copies will be available to the public at the City Council meeting. Pursuant to Chapter 286.0105, Florida Statutes, if a person decides to appeal any decision made by the City Council with respect to any matter considered at such meeting or hearing, he may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is based. CAE/nr Carol A. Evans City Clerk CITY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1991 Tape 1 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Abramowitz called the Special Council Meeting to order at 1:00 P.M. in Conference Room #1, City Hall. PRESENT : Mayor Norman Abramowitz Vice Mayor Dr. H. Larry Bender Councilman Henry Schumann Councilwoman Diane Glasser Councilman Irving Katz ALSO PRESENT : Jahn P. Kelly, City Manager Carol A. Evans, City Clerk Dina McDermott, Assistant City Manager Phyllis Polikoff, Secretary 1. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION regarding City Attorney selection s ort fisting. City Manager Kelly said he provided documentation pertaining to the City Attorney applicants to each Councilmember. Mayor Abramowitz asked each Councilmember to give a shortlist of no more than five applicants. C/M Schumann indicated: #30 William J. Gray #28 Saul Smolar #24 Allan Fallick #20 David Feldheim #33 Richard Craddock V/M Bender indicated: #5 Raphael Suarez -Rivas #11 Jeffrey Olsen #30 William J. Gray C/M Katz indicated: #5 Raphael Suarez -Rivas #11 Jeffrey Olsen #24 Allan Fallick #28 Saul Smolar #27 Gerry Clark C/W Glasser indicated: #30 William J. Gray #24 Allan Fallick #28 Saul Smolar #5 Raphael Suarez -Rivas #16 James Swetz Mayor Abramowitz indicated: #5 Raphael Suarez -Rivas #11 Jeffrey Olsen #24 Allan Fallick Mayor Abramowitz said Raphael Suarez -Rivas and Allan Fallick received four votes each for the preliminary shortlist. He said Jeffrey Olsen, Saul Smolar and William ,7. Gray each received three votes for the preliminary shortlist. He said the four remaining applicants only received one vote and did not make the preliminary shortlist. City Manager Kelly said an application was received on Friday and C/W Glasser said it came in too late. Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted to schedule another meeting to re-examine the applications of the four remaining applicants who did not make the preliminary shortlist to be sure that nothing City Council Special Meeting 11/25/91/PP Page 2 was overlooked. C/M Katz asked how many applicants the Council intended to interview and Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted to have another meeting to reaffirm the candidates selected and the top five candiates would be interviewed. C/W Glasser suggested two meetings should be held and all nine candidates should be interviewed and then the Council would make their decision. Mayor Abramowitz said interviewing nine candidates would be awkward. City Manager Kelly said the four remaining applicants each received one vote. Mayor Abramowitz asked how many candidates the Council wanted to interview and after a brief discussion, the Council decided on five. Mayor Abramowitz said the interviews would have to be more than five or 10 minutes each. C/M Katz said two candidates received four votes and three candidates received three votes and Council should interview all nine candidates and C/W Glasser said she agreed. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the top five candidates should be interviewed and C/W Glasser said, yes. C/M Schumann said the candidates who received only one vote should be discussed and C/W Glasser said this was correct. Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted the applications of the four who received only one vote to be reviewed again in case something was overlooked. C/M Schumann said Attorney Feldheim has been the Assistant City Attorney for the City of Fort Lauderdale for the past five years. He said he previously served as a Law Clerk here in Tamarac from 1984 to 1985. He said Attorney Craddock had City experience until 1989 when he went into his own practice. Mayor Abramowitz said the candidates he selected were either City Attorneys or Assistant City Attorneys. C/M Schumann said he was advised that Attorney Suarez -Rivas was no longer with the City of Miramar and City Manager Kelly said he was in private practice. City Manager Kelly said the City of Miramar had a full-time City Attorney and wanted to look at the possibility of having a part time City Attorney like Tamarac. Mayor Abramowitz said he would like to know if any Councilmember had any experiences with the five candidates and C/W Glasser said Attorney Fallick did not stay with any entity more than one or two years. She said City Attorneys did not last too long because they endeavored to improve themselves and she had no problem with him. C/M Schumann said Attorney Fallick has been with the City of Lake Worth for the past six years as their City Attorney. C/W Glasser suggested interviewing the five candidates and Mayor Abramowitz said, yes. He asked if anyone objected and the Council said, no. Mayor Abramowitz asked that the interviews be set up and City Manager Kelly said he would take care of this. Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted to get a critique in depth on the five candidates and although C/M Schumann was an Attorney, it did not mean Mayor Abramowitz would take C/M Schumann or some other Attorney's recommendation. City Manager Kelly said it would be unfair to get a critique from a resume and C/M Katz said the candidates should be critiqued after they were interviewed. City Council Special Meeting 11/25/91/PP Page 3 Mayor Abramowitz said he asked City Manager Kelly to contact the City of Miramar to ask about Attorney Suarez -Rivas. V/M Bender said the interviews should clarify qualifications and experience, and a benefit option package such as salary. He said there could be a problem if the candidate was qualified but the salary expected was too high. Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted to know what the candidate wanted and expected. Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted Council to ask the candidates every possible question and C/W Glasser said whatever was asked had to be negotiable. City Manager Kelly said the Council first had to look for the most attractive and the best qualified applicant and then Council could negotiate. He said the applicant could be worth more than what he asked for. Mayor Abramowitz said he was not as qualified as C/M Schumann in making a selection. He said one applicant was from the City of Sunrise and he would ask as many questions as he could about this candidate from people he knew at the City of Sunrise. He asked that questions be asked and information obtained about every candidate. City Manager Kelly said these questions should be asked after the candidates were interviewed. C/M Schumann said if the choice of five candidates was narrowed down to two, this was the time to talk about salary and Mayor Abramowitz said he was not discussing salary. C/W Glasser asked if the candiates could be requested to bring in recommendations and detailed information of what they did and City Manager Kelly said, yes. Ms. McDermott said they could be asked to bring in a sample of a product of their work. V/M Bender said he wanted to interview the candidates on their qualifications but he did not want to go into depth with negotiations until all of the candidates were interviewed. V/M Bender said once Council narrowed down the choice of candidates, they could contact the candidates' place of employment, etc., and ask all their questions. Mayor Abramowitz said he did not want to narrow the list to two candidates and disregard the other three and then find out that the two candidates did not fit the parameters set by the City or was suspect in their work habits. C/W Glasser said in the past when a candidate did not agree at the negotiating table, Council disregarded that candidate and went on to the next one. C/M Katz said candidates also interviewed the Council at the same time they were being interviewed and if they felt uncomfortable, they did not leave their present employer. C/W Glasser said if someone applied to become a City Attorney, sometimes it was a stepping stone and Council should try to find out if the Attorney was looking to become a Judge, etc. Ms. McDermott said a list of questions pertaining to Council's concerns could be prepared.. She said the same questions would be asked of each candidate and at the same time, Council would get the answers to their concerns. C/M Katz said a list of questions should be prepared and then Council could expound on them. Mayor Abramowitz said at the interviews, he would want to know what the candidate expected from the City in terms of salary. Ms. McDermott said one option could be to hire the City Attorney under a contract and not as an employee. City Council Special Meeting 11/25/91/PP Page 4 C/W Glasser said she believed the candidates knew how much money City Attorney Ruf earned and the City was looking for less expenses with a full-time Attorney. Mayor Abramowitz asked that Council speak to everyone they could about the candidates and C/W Glasser said a meeting should be scheduled because the Council would have their own questions after the interviews. C/M Katz said Council should not disregard the remaining four candidates and Mayor Abramowitz said Council should interview the first five candidates and then they could decide. Zeke Feldman, resident, said a list of questions was prepared by the Charter Board when they hired an Attorney. He said one person conducted the interview and each Charter Board member asked their questions and made their notes. He said after all the interviews were held, the Charter Board discussed each candidate and made their decision. Mayor Abramowitz asked Ms. McDermott to prepare a list of the top five candidates and the four remaining candidates. City Manager Kelly asked the timeframe for each interview. He said when an Architect or Engineer was interviewed, 20 minutes was provided for a presentation and 10 to 15 minutes was provided for questions and answers with a break afterwards. Mayor Abramowitz said an hour should be the maximum time provided. Mayor Abramowitz asked Council to check their calendars to schedule a meeting on Tuesday at 1:00 P.M. because the meeting had to be announced as soon as possible. C/M Glasser said a Workshop was scheduled for Tuesday at 1:00 P.M. to discuss Amendments to the Charter which are in the possession of City Attorney Ruf. C/M Katz said today's meeting could not be extended and Mayor Abramowitz said he agreed due to the fact that the meeting was not noticed. Ms. McDermott said City Attorney Ruf would have to be notified of Tuesday afternoon's meeting. Mayor Abramowitz said he could schedule the meeting later in the week and C/M Katz said the maximum amount of work should be done on any given day. Mayor Abramowitz said one meeting was a Special Meeting and the other was a Workshop. C/W Glasser said one meeting could be held today at 1:00 P.M. and the other meeting today at 3:00 P.M. Mayor Abramowitz said Council could disregard Tuesday's meeting and schedule it for another day. He said he had another item to discuss today. C/W Glasser said past discussions pertained to a Senior Center and she thought that the construction of the Multi Purpose Center would encompass some of what was planned. She said there was a great need for a Senior Center and Council should start thinking about it. C/W Glasser said she and Ms. McDermott looked at plans previously prepared. She suggested that Ms. McDermott look for funds from the organizations which funded these projects. She said if Council agreed, than Ms. McDermott should be given some direction in going for some foundation money. Mayor Abramowitz asked if C/W Glasser meant an Alzheimer Center and she said, no. She said the hearing, eye, and skin cancer screening tests, etc., could be moved to a Senior Center and Social Services could be moved there as well. C/W Glasser said it would be helpful if the Senior Center could City Council Special Meeting 11/25/91/PP Page 5 have peer counseling to assist the elderly with their problems and a nutritionist should also be considered. She said that possibly Medi-Van could assist in some direction. Tape 2 C/W Glasser she would try to get funding from the State or the Federal Government. Ms. McDermott said she was able to get $150 last year for the Social Services van from the State. Mayor Abramowitz said when Council came up with a dollar figure, they had to figure on the project being built and who would maintain and service the building. He said as a member of the Alzheimer's Foundation, he endeavored to arrange for a facility for respite care and the problem was the money to maintain the facility. C/W Glasser said many foundations would assist the City in maintaining the facility and she hoped Ms. McDermott would research this. C/M Katz said the Union Local he belonged to built five buildings for the Linda Ray Center with no cost to the Center. He said all labor and materials were donated by the Union. He said he would make a presentation to the same people if Council put everything on paper. V/M Bender said some items mentioned by C/W Glasser were available and a list should be prepared to see if this could be coordinated with Social Services. Ms. McDermott said her concern was working on a project last year and not getting the State funds. She said Social Services was run by a very dedicated group of volunteers but the residents had other needs which the City could not provide. She said the City of Sunrise had a full-time Social Worker, Case Worker, and complete division which serviced the elderly and the City of Hallandale had the Hepburn Center which provided counselling, assistance, hot meals and medical assistance. Ms. McDermott said there should be one facility within the City which would provide all services. She said last year Meals -On Wheels provided 338 meals to the residents and Mayor Abramowitz said there was not enough money in the world to take care of all the needs and there were many facilities which could be addressed. Mayor Abramowitz said manpower was available for Social Services and the City had the best Social Services Department. C/W Glasser said the City had to go beyond what they offered in Social Services and she hoped the City would get the dollars. C/M Katz said people were intimidated by the City Hall and were afraid to come in for help and a Senior Center would be easier for them to accept. He said a clinical psychologist on Board would be a favorable aspect which people did not get because they did not know where to look for it. Mayor Abramowitz said the Alzheimer Family Center went from State Road 84 to the Palm Beach County line and was funded with Agency dollars and Tamarac had the most patients. Ms. McDermott said her research was not confined to the State of Florida and she would do additional research for national foundation funding. Mayor Abramowitz said he was able to offer Thanksgiving dinners, donated by a restaurant in Miami, to 500 children in Fort Lauderdale but parents were not invited. He said it was difficult because the parents went with their children and he was trying to work something out with an orphanage in Miami. City Council Special Meeting 11/25/91/PP Page 6 C/M Katz mentioned the Linda Ray Center and Ms. McDermott mentioned Kids in Distress and Child Care Connection. Mayor Abramowitz said he spoke with these facilities. Ms. McDermott mentioned S.O.S. in the City of Coconut Creek which still had a foundation and she would give him the information he needed. C/M Katz said he also had places in Dade County. Mayor Abramowitz said the problem was that one or two parents would accompany the children by automobile and the restaurant did not want to feed the parents. C/M Katz asked if the dinners could come to the children and Mayor Abramowitz said the restaurant was not equipped to do this. Mayor Abramowitz asked C/M Katz to check into the places in Dade County. Mayor Abramowitz said Woodmont Country Club was preparing five baskets and he asked Ms. McDermott to get the names of five needy families. Mayor Abramowitz said he had a major problem with the Water Board about Broward Water Wells #16 and #17 and this was on the agenda again. He asked City Manager Kelly to contact the City of Miramar and City Manager Kelly said everyone was contacted and he was ready to discuss this issue. Mayor Abramowitz said Broward County should give Tamarac its share of the water. City Manager Kelly said Mayor Abramowitz's conception was incorrect and he would meet with Mayor Abramowitz to discuss it. C/M Katz said the City should try to get the six wells drilled before 1994 because the City would not have any water after 1994. Mayor Abramowitz said there was litigation which stopped the South Florida Water Board from doing what they wanted to do. He said the City had more water than they could use but C/M Katz said Tamarac was not built -out yet. Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted to get what he needed and wanted without it costing anything. C/M Katz said Code changes were Tabled relating to commercial vehicles and the definition of automobiles pertaining to "for sale". He asked if the Code changes could now be agendized. Mayor Abramowitz said this was a priority item and he wanted to schedule this Workshop so City Attorney Ruf would have the proper wording. C/M Schumann said some issues were agendized and then were Tabled and he suggested getting the input of three or four Councilmembers before any item was agendized. C/M Schumann mentioned a Parking Ordinance pertaining to "for sale" signs and also refusing to park certain things on private property and Mayor Abramowitz said there was an expression of interest when this item came.up before and no one objected to the "for sale" signs. Mayor Abramowitz said he implemented the Consensus of Interest because things were agendized and then knocked off and if Council was not interested in a particular item, the item should not be worked on. V/M Bender suggested having, Pre -Agenda meetings and Mayor Abramowitz said before anything was agendized, City Manager City Council Special Meeting 11/25/91/PP Page 7 Kelly touched base with everyone involved. V/M Bender said Council could discuss everything'at a Pre -Agenda meeting. City Manager Kelly said this was done at the Workshops. Mayor Abramowitz said he was not in favor of having Council put everything on the agenda and V/M Bender said the Pre -Agenda meeting would be to put everything on the table for discussion. He said it would then to be agendized and City Manager Kelly said this was being done at the Council meetings and V/M Bender said this was an Expression of Interest because Council did not go into detail. City Manager Kelly said a meeting would have to be scheduled regarding Medics Ambulance because Mr. Cohen called. He said Mr. Cohen did not want to continue providing service into the month of December. Mayor Abramowitz wanted to know what Broward County's position was and City Manager Kelly said he had already discussed this with Mayor Abramowitz. Mayor Abramowitz asked what would happen if the City did not sign the contract with Mr. Cohen and City Manager Kelly said that Mr. Cohen, by law, had to continue to pick-up and City Manager Kelly said that payment could not be asked for before anyone was transported but Mr. Cohen could send a bill afterwards. Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted that statement documented. City Manager Kelly said Mr. Cohen recognized Broward County's position and accepted it. Ms. McDermott said Medics Ambulance was assigned to the zone where Tamarac was. C/M Schumann asked about getting another ambulance service and City Manager Kelly said this could not be done. V/M Bender said Tamarac paid money over and above what was paid by Broward County and Medicare and other insurances paid Medics Ambulance about 75% to 80%. He said in some cases, the individual did not have insurance and had to be paid for and the City spent over $100,000. Mayor Abramowitz said this was incorrect. Mayor Abramowitz said at one time, Medics Ambulance had to be paid by the individual before they did any transporting. He said the City contracted with them with the stipulation that under no circumstances could they ask for any monies before the individual was transported. C/M Schumann asked what the neighboring municipalities did regarding ambulance services. He said if Mr. Cohen adhered to the contract, they could continue to bill. V/M Bender asked City Manager Kelly to find out if the City suddenly stopped its contract with Mr. Cohen, what would happen. He said they were obligated to come in even if there was no insurance and they were still obligated to pick up individuals. He said the City was presently under a contract with Mr. Cohen and the question was whether to extend their contract or not. C/M Katz asked if the $104,600 which was being paid was being used as a subsidy and Mayor Abramowitz said it subsidized the residents. City Manager Kelly said Medics Ambulance was being subsidized. C/M Katz asked what would happen if the City did not pay the $104,600 and just subsidized the individuals who had no insurance and who did not qualify for Medicare. C/M Schumann said it was illegal because it was class legislation and City Manager Kelly said he agreed. City Council Special Meeting 11/25/91/PP Page 8 City Manager Kelly said the City was presently under a contract which was based on an assignment of a zone by Broward County. He said Broward County recently signed a five-year contract with a one-year option to renew with all the ambulance companies. C/M Katz said if the City did not renew the contract, Mr. Cohen would continue to bill but would not be able to collect and Mayor Abramowitz said Mr. Cohen could sue. C/W Glasser asked if Broward County set the rates and City Manager Kelly said, yes. C/W Glasser asked if Mr. Cohen could fully recover the money from Medicare and City Manager Kelly said, no, but Broward County subsidized each transport $10. City Manager Kelly said Mr. Cohen could collect from the insurance companies if the City did not have a contract. City Manager Kelly said Mr. Cohen communicated that he wanted the following: (1) To provide non -emergency service at a cost of $75,000 in add addition to the emergency service. (2) The cap of $142,000 be raised to $215,000 and anything over that would be split with the City or there could be no cap. (3) A long-term contract of three to five years with an escalation clause based on the C.P.I. City Manager Kelly said the cap of $215,000 would only be on the emergency service and Broward County just signed the five-year contract. City Manager Kelly said a zone assignment was based on an ambulance services' advanced life support capability and Mr. Cohen had that capability. He said Broward County advised that emergency service was not lucrative and non -emergency service was. City Manager Kelly said if anyone from the City had a friend who was referred to him, Mr. Cohen took care of the bill. He said Medics Ambulance could not require payment for emergency services and they had to pick-up because Broward County monitored them. He said the average cost of basic life support was less than $200. City Manager Kelly said it was a policy decision by the City to subsidize because it wanted to provide this convenience to its residents. Mayor Abramowitz said the reason for the contract was due to complaints made to the City Council about abuses by the ambulance companies. He said that Mr. Cohen must pick-up people in Tamarac and they would get the same service as before. .City Manager Kelly said he recommended that the subsidy be dropped and the ambulance service should be continued. He said the Council wanted to assure that the ambulance company could not require payment for the emergency transport but Broward County stated they could not make this requirement. V/M Bender said everyone on the Council should rethink their position on this matter and Mayor Abramowitz said this is why he wanted a guarantee from Broward County. V/M Bender said he wanted the City to have everything they had before and the City could even benefit from the $104,600 which could then be given as additional services to the residents. C/W Glasser asked if the individual, the insurance company or Medicare would be billed when there was a pick-up and City E I City Council Special Meeting 11/25/91/PP Page 9 F Tape 3 Manager Kelly said the bill would go directly to the insurance company for reimbursement. She said very frequently Medics Ambulance billed for the entire amount. C/W Glasser suggested a document be given to the ambulance driver and then given to the parson requiring transport and this would advise the individual of his rights. Mayor Abramowitz said it was not possible to make sure that the ambulance driver complied and City Manager Kelly asked why the City should get involved when Broward County had this responsibility. Mayor Abramowitz said if Mr. Cohen billed $200 and only received $110 from the insurance company, he had a right to go after the balance. C/M Schumann said Mr. Cohen had exceeded the cap and, in accordance with the contract, did not remit what was due to the City and Mayor Abramowitz said Mr. Cohen billed that amount but did not collect that amount. City Manager Kelly said the audit pertaining to Medics Ambulance was through September 30 and the Council would have to wait an additional 90 days for the follow --up of the payments. He said in March, Mr. Cohen said that payment of between $7,000 to $8,000 would be made to the City and,the Finance Department said the amount could be closer to $25,000 by the first quarter of 1992. V/M Bender said there probably was some documentation if Broward County had a contract with the ambulance service and he asked City Manager Kelly to get it. C/M Schumann questioned why the ambulance service charged $200 per trip and City Manager Kelly said the basic trip was $144 and it could escalate to $200. C/W Glasser asked if it was a requirement that BSO or a Fire vehicle came out when there was an emergency and C/M Schumann said, yes. She asked if BSO could provide this information and Mayor Abramowitz said C/W Glasser was really asking for a process that would educate the residents. City Manager Kelly said not all emergency victims were from Tamarac. C/W Glasser said at the time the person was asked about his insurance was the time to give him the information and Mayor Abramowitz suggested putting a message on the water bill. C/M Schumann said it should be repeated every month. C/M Katz said some condos did not get water bills and Mayor Abramowitz said it was the responsibility of the condo to inform its residents and this was not difficult to do. C/M Katz said putting a notice into the Tam -A -Gram was useless because many people did not read it. City Manager Kelly asked the Council when they wanted to meet with Mr. Cohen and Mayor Abramowitz said he first wanted to get the documentation from Broward County that the residents would be picked up as before. V/M Bender suggested putting and C/W Glasser said the only they really needed something. be presented by the ambulance there. the notice with the telephone bill time people read inserts was when She said the information should service when the ambulance was V/M Bender reiterated that Broward County probably had a publication and City Manager Kelly should look into acquiring it to be mailed to the residents a few times a year. City Manager Kelly said he could communicate with Broward County and request that their contract be amended or insert a provision administratively that the ambulance companies would hand out the brochures. C/M Katz said the onus would be on City Council Special Meeting 11/25/91/PP Page 10 the ambulance driver. C'ity'Manager Kelly said. Mr. Cohen wanted a meeting with Mayor Abramowitz and the Council and Mayor Abramowitz asked if Mr. Cohen presented his requests to the City and City Manager Kelly said he wrote down what Mr. Cohen wanted. Mayor Abramowitz asked if Mr. Cohen presented a proposal and City Manager Kelly said, no. Mayor Abramowitz said he would give Mr. Cohen the courtesy of making a presentation to the Council. City Manager Kelly said he told Mr. Cohen to advise the Council that he was not interested and the City would not support the proposal. Mayor Abramowitz said Council wanted a proposal from Mr. Cohen in writing and then it would be addressed. He said he also wanted City Manager Kelly to get documentation from Broward County. C/W Glasser asked when the interviews would begin and City Manager Kelly said he would check the dates and the candidates would probably not all be coming in on the same date. He said it was not fair to do all five on the same day. Ms. McDermott said she was applying to the State of Florida for the Emergency Medical Services Program for three matching Grants which was a 50/50 cash match and if approved, the City would have up to 15 months to fund the program. Ms. McDermott said the first Grant was for a Continuing Education and Skills Upgrading Program for Fire Department personnel. She said the Grant was $10,150 Match or a total of $20,300. Ms. McDermott said the second Grant was a Community Safety and Injury Prevention Program for Public Education on Hurricane Preparedness and Survival, Fire Safety and 911 Awareness and other topics and this Grant was for $10,150. Ms. McDermott said the third Grant was for Quality Assurance Equipment for System Evaluation Computerization of Run Reports in the amount of a $7,500 Match or a total of $15,000. C/M Katz asked if this was part of what the City applied for last year for EMS Grants and Ms. McDermott said funding was received for radios and defibrillators. Ms. McDermott said these were new Grants with the exception of the Community Safety and Injury Prevention Program. She said she applied to Broward County for that Grant but Broward County funded mostly Broward County projects. She said the computerization item was already in the budget but the equipment would be new. C/M Katz asked about the City having its own EMS program and Ms. McDermott said she had applied for two ambulances but it was difficult to get ALS Certification. She said the State would not give the vehicles unless the City had ALS Certification. She said she would go directly to Tallahassee and not to Broward County. C/M Katz asked for advisement on the pros and cons of the City having its own EMS and Ms. McDermott said additional personnel would have to be hired, the personnel would have to �J City Council Special Meeting 11/25/91/PP Page 11 be trained and the Fire Department would need additional liability, property and general insurance. Major Abramowitz Adjourned the meets. g at 2:45 P.M. NORMAN ABRAMOWITZ NM MAYOR M <" CAROL A. EVANS = CITY CLERK "This public document ras promulgated at a cost of $254.39 or $5.65 per copy to inform the general public, public officers and employees of recent opinions and considerations of the City Council of the City of Tamarac". CITY OF TAMARAC APP VED AT MEETING OF 9a City Clerk