Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-12-18 - City Commission Special Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC 7525 Northwest 88 Avenue Tamarac, Florida 33321-2401 RECORD OF COUNCIL ACTIONS/DISCUSSIONS NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA Phone (305) 722-5900 Fax (305) 722-4509 There will be a Special Meeting of the City Council on Wednesday, December 18, 1991, at 9:00 A.M. in Conference Room #1, Tamarac City Hall, 7525 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. The City Council will consider the following: 1. MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Reso. #6198 providing for compensation for the Assistant City Manager, Dina M. McDermott. FINAL ACTION: RESOLUTION R-91-226-PASSED APPROVED as amended to show an increase from $45,429.93 to $55,429.93. 2. MOTION TO AUTHORIZE the appropriate City staff to seek proposals for managing underwriters for the refinancing of outstanding City bonds. FINAL ACTION: APPROVED Expression of Interest No. 92-01 to seek proposals for managing underwriters for the refinancing of outstanding City bonds. The City Council may consider and act upon such other busi- ness as may come before it. All meetings are open to the public. In the event this agenda must be revised, such revised copies will be available to the public at the City Council meeting. Pursuant tc at I Carol A. Evans City Clerk THE CITY OF TAMARAC IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER AND DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS CLTY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1991 Tape 1 CALL TO ORDER : Mayor Abramowitz called the Special Meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 18, 1991 in Conference Room #1, City Hall. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND MOMENT OF SILENT MEDITATION : Mayor Abramowitz called for the Pledge of Allegiance and a Moment of Silent Meditation. PRESENT Mayor Norman Abramowitz Vice -Mayor Dr. H. Larry Bender Councilman Irving Katz Councilwoman Diane Glasser Councilman Henry Schumann f�Yei_! J7*3M1k�4y John P. Kelly, City Manager Dina M. McDermott, Assistant City Manager Carol A. Evans, City Clerk Alan F. Ruf, City Attorney Mary Blasi, Finance Director Ellen Wood, Secretary Mayor Abramowitz asked for a moment of silence in memory of Rick Rednor, an Attorney who worked for the City. 1. MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Reso. #6198 providing for compensation for the Assistant City Manager, Dina M. McDermott. slIPSIS OF ACTION : RESOLUTION R-91-226-PASSED APPROVED as amended to show an increase from $45,429.93 to $55,429.93 City Manager Kelly read Temp. Reso. #6198 by title and said Ms. McDermott will be with the City three years as of January, 1992. He said she demonstrated her worth but her salary was less than other department heads and it should be adjusted. City Manager Kelly said Ms. McDermott's main accomplishment was securing grants for the City and far exceeded the salary paid to her, including benefits. He said she was an excellent and dedicated employee who worked well with the staff, department. heads and the public. He said she made many contacts at the State level on behalf of the City. City Manager Kelly said he recommended that an additional $15,000 per year be granted to Ms. McDermott and he asked that Council review Temp. Reso. #6198 and make their determination. City Manager Kelly said Ms. McDermott was presently receiving $45,429.93 and other department heads such as the Finance Director and Director of Community Development were receiving $54,000+. He said the Assistant City Manager should rank second on the list. Mayor Abramowitz asked for comments and V/M Bender said City Manager Kelly's recommendation of $15,000 was too high and he recommended a $10,000 increase be considered. C/M Katz said he was comfortable with Ms. McDermott's worth and position but he was not comfortable with the timing and the increase should have been proposed at budget time in August. He said he would give his answer after the other Council members gave their thoughts. C/W Glasser said this recommendation should have been proposed at budget time in August and $15,000 was excessive although Ms. McDermott's worth was noted. She said Council should look at how long Ms. McDermott was J City Council Special Meeting 12/18/91/elo Page 2 employed and the length of time other department heads served. C/W Glasser said her suggestion was to review the salaries at the time the Public Services Department was reviewed. She suggested having a Workshop to discuss these issues. Mayor Abramowitz said Ms. McDermott was told to wait when she asked for an increase last year. He said he would agree to pay any amount of money to someone who would make money for the City and this was true for Ms. McDermott. Mayor Abramowitz said many dollars were saved when Public Works and the Utilities were combined into the Public Services Department. He said the decision should be based on whether the person could make money for the City. C/M Katz said many things he did in the City were because of Ms. McDermott and he agreed with Mayor Abramowitz on her worth. He said he would agree to give her an increase and if the City wanted to keep good people, they had to pay. V/M Bender said Council recently reviewed the incentive program for the employees which would give them compensation for outstanding performance and City Manager Kelly said the incentive program was just for Union employees. V/M Bender said in his opinion Ms. McDermott proved her worth and would have gotten more money if she worked on a commission basis. He said he had no objection giving her the increase because she warranted and deserved it. C/M Schumann said timing and criticism did not bother him. He said he did not want to equate giving her an increase as compared to other peop:Le. He said Council had to look, at an individual doing individual work and competence and her title and work output deserved an increase and warranted her coming up to the same level as the other Assistant City Manager as a basic minimum. Mayor Abramowitz said he agreed with most of what C/M Schumann said but the other Assistant City Manager had longevity. Ms. McDermott said she had been in government more than 13 years and although she did not have enough government experience with Tamarac, she came with experience from the City of Sunrise. Ms. McDermott said she temporarily ran the City of Sunrise's Public Works Department until they hired someone else. She said she started in government in 1979 and came to Tamarac with a double Master's Degree in 1988. She said the other Assistant City Manager had different duties and responsibilities and she received her, Master's Degrees before the other Assistant City Manager. Ms. McDermott said when she left the larger City, she was told it would hurt her career to go to a smaller City. She came to Tamarac to be creative and her accomplishments spoke for themselves. Ms. McDermott said since she was hired, the City received over $2,500,000 in funding which translated into 1.7 mills over a two-year period. She said without the Grant Fund, the millage rate would have been 5.3546 mills. Ms. McDermott said some of her other accomplishments were additional funding for the Multi -Purpose Center, over $150,000 of Grant Funding for the Fire Department and $150,000 was pending for other Grant projects. She said the Fire Department was decreased because of her grant efforts. She said in January, the City would break ground for the Outdoor Learning Center. She said the City received $70,000 for Tri-City Commercial Recycling and the City received almost $1,000,000 for the North Cities Group. Ms. McDermott said her accomplishments also included the reorganization of the City's departments. She said although she had only been with the City Council Special Meeting 12/18/91/elo Page 3 City for three years, her track record spoke for itself. Mayor Abramowitz said he was not comparing Ms. McDermott to the other Assistant City Manager. He said he considered the dollars and did not consider length of service but asked her to look at the entire picture. He said there was no doubt that she was an asset to the City. Ms. McDermott said she requested a salary review this past April and at that time was told she had to wait. She said she was instrumental in budget preparation with City Manager Kelly and Finance Director Blasi and again was told to wait. She said she negotiated a salary and benefit package when she was hired but she did not receive all that she requested. She was told she would be reviewed after six months but she waited 18 months. C/W Glasser said Ms. McDermott should not be faulted on the times when she requested additional compensation. She said during the budget process she was more comfortable if everyone's salary was reviewed at the same time but this did not happen. She said she did not concern herself with Ms. McDermott's length of service but Council had to look at other people in the City. She said it would bring about discontent. City Manager Kelly said several Department Heads have volunteered that Ms. McDermott is worth an increase. He said her work in the Fire Department and Public Works have been greatly appreciated by those departments. C/M Katz said from the conception of Ms. McDermott's request for an increase in July, 1991, he was in agreement with it. Mayor Abramowitz said he feels that Council is in agreement that Ms. McDermott should receive a change in her salary structure and the amount needed to be agreed upon. C/M Schumann suggested $8,611.88 to bring her salary up to the other Assistant City Manager and C/W Glasser agreed. V/M Bender suggested $10,000.00 and C/M Katz agreed. Mayor Abramowitz said the six month review it coming up for the other Assistant City Manager. C/W Glasser said under those circumstances she agrees with the $10,000.00. V/M Bender said the coming review is on the reorganization of Public Services along with the salary of Mr. Couzzo, Assistant City Manager. V/M Bender MOVED to approve Temp. Reso. # 6198 as amended to show a $10,000.00 increase from $45,429.93 to $55,429.93, SECONDED by C/M Katz. Melanie Reynolds, resident, expressed her concerns over Council's priorities. Helen Rosen, resident of Section 22, questioned who is getting the grants, is it Ms. McDermott or State Legislators. Joe Schreiber, resident of Kings Point, expressed his concerns on the priorities of Council and said he was in agreement with Ms. Reynolds. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE Mayor Abramowitz called for a two minute break and reconvened with all Council members present. Tape 2 2. MOTION TO AUTHORIZE the appropriate City staff to seek proposals for managing underwriters for the refinancing of outstanding City bonds. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: APPROVED Mayor Abramowitz told Council he wanted to know how much the City could save and the difference it would make. J, City Council Special Meeting 12/18/91/elo Page 4 Ms. McDermott said they had initial presentation given to staff by different companies and the Investment Advisory Board looked at them and suggested that it was something to look into. Ms. Blasi said the City currently has 4 bonds outstanding, 2 are general obligation bonds and 2 water and Newer revenue bonds. She said with current low interest rates it. is to the City's advantage to find a management underwriter to look at the bonds and see exactly how much the City can save. Ms. Blasi said through a preliminary study, there are 2 bonds that would be to the City's advantage to refinance. Upon questioning by the Mayor, Ms. Blasi said the 2 bonds the City can save money on are: a Water and Sewer Bond, Series 1986, for $12.7 million bond with interest rates that currently range from 6.5% to 8.25% with maturity in October 1, 2011. She said the General Obligation Bond, Series 1986, is for $5.5 million with interest rates that currently range from 7% to 8.125% with final maturity in the year 2006. Ms. Blasi said the other 2 bonds are a General Obligation Bond of $2.5 million for the Police Station Project with interest rates of 8% to 9% but due to the smallness of the bond the underwriting costs and bond costs would not be cost effective. She said this is callable in 1997 with a premium price of 102%. Ms. Blasi said the City has a Water and Sewer Bond, Series 1985 for $12.6 million with large interest rates but this bond is a refinancing of a 1980 and the Federal tax law has a penalty call, a transfer proceeds penalty, on this type of refinancing. She said anything the City would save would go back to them. She said the interest rate is 7.4% to 9.1% with maturity in 2010. Mayor Abramowitz asked if any companies have given suggestions of what can be done. Ms. Blasi said a large firm, William R. Hough, who helped with the refinancing of the 1985 Bond, put together an analysis in October and December, 1991 and she feels that the City will even save more than what the firm has stated because rates have declined and the underwriting costs they included are high. She said this was a voluntary submittal. Ms. Blasi said the Water and Sewer Bond at $12.7 million shows an annual savings of over $51,000.00 for 20 years with no hidden costs with a net of about $575,000.00 and over the Life of the bond would be over a million dollars. She said the market is very good now for these types of bonds. Ms. Blasi said by going out in the competitive market the net costs to the City will hopefully be lower. Ms. Blasi said with the utility revenue bonds the City generally gets insurance and is rated AAA. She said it is different with the general obligation bonds. Mayor Abramowitz asked if there was a fee involved for competitive bidding and City Manager Kelly said the City is looking for competitive bidding to see what can be done for the City. Ms. Blasi said this includes the reserve, the insurance premium and the underwriters counsel. She said there is one cost that will run about $30,000.00 for the 2 bond issues for the City's Bond Counsel. Ms. Blasi said the General Obligation Bond for $5.5 million is for the construction of City Hall. She said the savings would be about $15,000.00 per year or $229,000.00 over the next: 15 years. She said this was done in October, 1991 so the savings should be more. C/W Glasser asked if the $30,000.00 mentioned would take care of this as well and Ms. Blasi said, yes. City Council Special Meeting 12/18/91/elo Page 5 Mayor Abramowitz said they are looking for an expression of interest and a vote by Council to go out on the open market and get the necessary information and then bring it back to Council for a final decision. C/M Katz MOVED to authorize City staff to seek proposals for managing underwriters for the refinancing of outstanding City bonds, SECONDED by C/M Schumann. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE Mayor Abramowitz said he would like the input of the Investment Advisory Board and V/M Bender agreed. Mayor Abramowitz opened the meeting to the public and there was no response. With no further business, Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED the meeting at 10:00 a.m. CAROL A. EVANS CITY CLERK 11 IORMAN ABR MAYOR CITY of TAMARAC APPROVED AT MEETINci OF C City Clerk