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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-12-30 - City Commission Special Meeting Minutes1-1 7525 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE • TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321-2401 TELEPHONE(305)722-5900 December 27, 1991 NOTICE OF 3PNCIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Special Meeting of the City Council on Monday, December 30, 1991, at 10:00 a.m., in Conference Room #1 of City Hall, 7525 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. The City Council will consider the following: 1. Discussion and possible action on Charter amendment proposals. FINAL ACTION Discussion was held. A Joint Special Meeting of the City Council and Charter Board was scheduled for Tuesday, December 31, 1991 at 9:00 a.m. 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. 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 to5ection 286.0105, Florida Statutes If a person decides to appeal any decision made by the city Council with respect to any matter considerK) at such meeting or hearing, he will need a record cf the proceedings and for such purpose, he may need to ensa.zre that a ve.'bLtim record includ3s the testimony and evidence, upon which the appeal is to be based PM/nr -GpwrEz� Patricia Marcurio Acting City Clerk I AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS CITY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1991 Tape 1 CALL TO ORDER : Mayor Abramowitz called the City Council Special meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. in Conference Room #1, City Hall. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND MOMENT OF MEDITATION : Mayor Abramowitz asked foZ the Pledge o A legiance and a Moment of Meditation. PRESENT : Mayor Norman Abramowitz Vice -Mayor Dr. H. Larry Bender Councilwoman Diane Glasser Councilman Henry Schumann Councilman Irving Katz ALSO PRESENT : John P. Kelly, City Manager (arrived at 10:48 a.m.) Dina McDermott, Assistant City Manager Christine Carsky, City Attorney Mary Blasi, Finance Director Patricia Marcurio, Office Manager, City Clerk's Office Phyllis Polikoff, Secretary * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 1. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION on Charter amendment proposals. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION 0escussion was held. Joint Special Meeting of the City Council and arter Board was scheduled for Tuesday, cember 31, 1991 at 9:00 a.m. Mayor Abramowitz said the last meeting was a Workshop and no final action was taken. He said the Council members went through their prioritized list and had questions resulting from the recommendations made by City Clerk Evans about what should go on the proposed amendments. Mayor Abramowitz said the Charter Board said Sections 7.04, 7.05 and 7.06 were priorities because the budget was affected and Council should have all the facts before the budget was prepared. He said these Sections were barely mentioned at the meetings attended by Council and/or the Charter Board. Dina McDermott distributed copies of the October 4, 1991 memo from City Clerk Evans to City Manager Kelly regarding proposed Charter amendments. Mayor Abramowitz said he did not care what went on the March ballot. Mayor Abramowitz said $244.55 was the most that could be saved under Section 7.04 and $250.00 was the most that could be saved under Section 7.05 and money was not involved under Sections 7.06, 12.03 and 12.09. Mayor Abramowitz said at a designated time the Finance Director had to send documentation regarding a possible tax increase to the regulatory agency. He directed Ms. McDermott to have Finance Director Blasi attend today's meeting to discuss the ramifications of Section 7.06. Mayor Abramowitz said Council needed to instruct Staff on language for the amendments being placed on the March ballot. He said as a result of discussions at the last meeting, City Attorney Ruf U City Council Special Meeting 12/30/91/PP Page 2 prepared the language. C/M Katz said he and C/M Schumann were in favor of Section 7.13 but he did not remember discussing Sections 12.03 and 12.09 and Mayor Abramowitz said Council had agreed to put Section 7.13 on the ballot, C/M Katz said Sections 7.04, 7.05 and 7.06 had budgetary ramifications and should be clarified prior to the budget being approved. He said these amendments would initially be identified on the March ballot. C/M Katz said Finance Director Blasi and City Clerk Evans requested putting Sections 7.04, 7.051 7.06 and 7.13 on the ballot. Mayor Abramowitz said he asked each Council member to prepare a priority list of amendments for the ballot but he had no objections to placing Finance Director Blasi's recommendations on the ballot. C/W Glasser said Council members agreed to prepare the priority list for 1992 but she did not remember discussing or prioritizing which election they would go on. She said there were too many amendments for one election and Mayor Abramowitz said he agreed. Mayor Abramowitz said Section 7.13 was the only amendment agreed upon because Sections 7.04, 7.05 and 7.06 were never previously discussed. C/M Katz said he discussed Sections 7.03, 7.04 and 7.05 on November 18, 1991 but he never received a response because other things were brought up. Mayor Abramowitz said anything could be discussed but the majority of the Council members determined what was a priority. Ms. Blasi said the City had to comply with the State laws regarding advertising and changing the Capital Improvement Program with the City. She said Section 7.06 referred to advertising the Program and the resolution for the Program. City Attorney Carsky said every time the State law changed, the Charter had to be changed and the City would be in compliance with the State law if Section 7.06 was implemented. City Attorney Carsky said currently there was specific language and if it was contrary to State law, theoretically, it should be changed every time there was a change in the State law. Mayor Abramowitz asked City Attorney Carsky for specific language and C/M Schumann said "in accordance with" would cover everything. City Attorney Carsky said the language that City Clerk Evans' recommended was sufficient and Ms. McDermott said Section 163.346 of the State Statutes was also subject to change and revision. City Attorney Carsky said the October 4, 1991 memo from City Clerk Evans was composed of housekeeping factors. Mayor Abramowitz said he would call another Joint meeting with the Charter Board for Tuesday, December 31, 1991 if it was needed. He said Staff would be instructed on what to put on the March ballot. C/M Schumann said he wanted Section 7.13 put on the ballot and V/M Bender said he agreed with C/M Schumann. C/M Katz said on December 27, 1991, the Charter Board reviewed Sections 7.13, 7.04, 7.05 and 7.06 and suggested having another Joint meeting with Council. C/M Katz said Sections 7.13, 7.04, 7.05 and 7.06 should be put on the March ballot for referendum and C/W Glasser said she agreed with C/M Katz. She said the City should be in compliance with State law because if there were budgetary problems, they would come up before the September election. She said referendums could be put on the ballot at that time. J / City Council Special Meeting 12/30/91/PP Page 3 Mayor Abramowitz said this had no bearing on the City's compliance with the State. Mayor Abramowitz said he wished to put Section 7.13 on the March ballot. He said Council had agreed to the: 1) length of term for the Council. 2) amount of terms which could be served by Council. 3) length of term for the Charter Board. 4) amount of terms which could be served by the Charter Board. 5) $100 compensation per month for the Charter Board. Mayor Abramowitz said someone had asked City Manager Kelly to prepare a document indicating the cost if Charter Board received the same benefits as the City Council. He said City Manager Kelly stated that language could be prepared giving the Charter Board $100 per month with no additional benefits. Mayor Abramowitz said he thought it was a good idea to schedule another meeting. Mayor Abramowitz asked what should be put on the March ballot and C/M Schumann said Council had agreed on Section 7.13 and he asked the status of Sections 7.04, 7.05 and 7.06. Mayor Abramowitz said in his opinion, they were housekeeping factors and were not as important as the other issues. Mayor Abramowitz said the other issues did not affect any present Council member and would not take effect until the next election. C/M Schumann said he favored the following being put on the March ballot: 1) Proposal B amending Article VIII - Section 8.01(a) which provided for a three-year term instead of two years for Charter Board members. 2) Proposal D amending Article VIII - Section 8.01(d) which eliminated the limitation on the number of consecutive terms the Charter Board members could serve. 3) Proposal B amending Article VIII - Chapter 8 by adding a new Section 8.04 which provided for compensation to Charter Board members. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the proposals pertaining to City Council should be considered for the March ballot and C/M Schumann said, no. C/W Glasser asked C/M Schumann if he went along with Charter Board's proposal of limited terms or Council's proposal of unlimited terms and C/M Schumann said Section 8.01(d) eliminated the limitation on the number of consecutive terms the Charter Board members could serve. Mayor Abramowitz said the language for Proposal D should be clarified and C/M Schumann said he agreed to unlimited terms for the Charter Board. C/M Schumann said he wanted to put the following on the March ballot. 1) Article VII - new Section 7.13. 2) Article VIII - Section 8.01(a) - Length of terms for the Charter Board from two years to three years. 3) Article VIII - Section 8.01(d) - Unlimited terms for Charter Board members. 4) Article VIII -- New Section 8.04 - $100 per month compensation with no additional benefits. V/M Bender said another Joint meeting should be scheduled with the Charter Board to clarify the amendments originally agreed upon and Mayor Abramowitz agreed. Mayor Abramowitz said the Special Meeting on Tuesday, December 31, City Council Special Meeting 12/30/91/PP Page 4 1991 should definitely determine what Council wanted on the March ballot. Mayor Abramowitz said the Charter Board had no idea Sections 7.04, 7.05 and 7.06 would be discussed because these Sections were never discussed by the Charter Board. V/M Bender said the Charter Board should be made aware of them. Mayor Abramowitz said the Charter Board met at a Special Meeting and discussed Sections 7.04, 7.05 and 7.06. He said Council did not have to decide today what to put on the March ballot. V/M Bender said he wanted to put the Sections that Council and the Charter Board agreed upon on the March ballot. C/M Katz said Section 7.13 was never discussed by the Charter Board and Mayor Abramowitz said at the last meeting, Council agreed to put this on the March ballot. C/M Katz asked V/M Bender for clarification on what he felt should be put on the ballot and V/M Bender said: 1) Article VII - new Section 7.13. 2) The term of office for Mayor and Council would be three years. 3) Mayor and Council could run for office an unlimited amount of times without an intervening term. 4) Charter Board members could run for office an unlimited amount of times without an intervening term. 5) The term of office for the Charter Board would be three years. 6) Article VIII - new Section 8.04 C/M Katz said he wanted to put the following on the ballot: 1) Article VII - new Section 7.13 2) Article VII - Section 7.04 3) Article VII - Section 7.05 4) Article VII - Section 7.06 5) Article VIII - new Section 8.04 C/W Glasser said the original proposal regarding monies for Charter Board members was an Expense Account but it cost more to monitor than it was worth. She asked if the $100 would have to be monitored and Mayor Abramowitz said, no. Mayor Abramowitz said City Manager Kelly said $100 per month would be salary and FICA would have to be deducted with no additional benefits. Ms. Blasi said the City would deduct $7.65 for FICA and Ms. McDermott said the Charter Board would not be entitled to the other benefits indicated on the December 20, 1991 memo from City Manager Kelly. Mayor Abramowitz said he was under the impression that the Charter Board would get $100 per month with FICA deducted and this would be discussed further at the December 31, 1991 meeting. C/W Glasser said the average voter was confused by referendums and the fewer the referendums, the easier it was for them to understand. She said there were other elections that referendums could be put on. C/W Glasser said she wanted to put ballot: 1) Article VII - Section 7.04. 2) Article VII - Section 7.05. 3) Article VII - Section 7.06. 4) Article VII - new Section 7.13 5) Article VIII - new Section 8.04 the following on the March Mayor Abramowitz said his selections did not change. V' City Council 12/30/91/PP Page 5 Special Meeting Mayor Abramowitz said every year there was an election in the City and it was unnecessary. He said he was not afraid to have the voters make the decision because if they did not want it, they could just vote against it. Mayor Abramowitz said Council had no problem giving the $100 compensation to the Charter Board. Mayor Abramowitz said he would call for another Joint meeting with the Charter Board for Tuesday, December 31, 1991 and Council could express their opinions again because decisions had to be made. C/M Katz said he was concerned about the timing and the amendments he selected should be put on the referendum prior to July. He said it would not make any difference if the amendment pertaining to terms of office for Council members was put on the September ballot and the amendments pertaining to Sections 7.04, 7.05 and 7.06 went on the March ballot since they directly affected this years' budget. C/M Katz said it would not matter if terms of office or compensation went on a later ballot and Mayor Abramowitz said Council was looking at $490 versus an election every year at a cost of $13,000 to $15,000. C/M Katz said he wanted the voters to see length of terms of office and amount of terms in office for the Mayor, Council and Charter Board on the referendum. He said Council had to decide what were priorities because priorities had to be looked at before they went to referendum in September. C/M Katz asked what the difference was in putting the amendments on the September referendum and not March and Mayor Abramowitz said the voters came out for a Mayoral election and very few came out in September. C/M Katz said more voters came out in November for Presidential elections than for Mayoral elections. C/M Katz asked why certain amendments were priorities now but would not be addressed now and Mayor Abramowitz said more voters would come out in March. Mayor Abramowitz asked when the amendments would take effect and C/M Katz said, March, 1992. C/W Glasser said the amendments previously went on the referendum because they affected that election and there was no reason to rush to put the amendments on now. She said there would be an election the following year and it would not make any difference as far as money was concerned. Tape 2 Mayor Abramowitz said the Sections in Article VII were only housekeeping factors and Council members decided they were priorities. He said the items indicated in the memo from City Clerk Evans were more important. Mayor Abramowitz asked why Section 7.13, which involved increasing 2-r1/2% to 7-1/2% of the current budget, was not being put on the referendum and C/M Katz said it was. Mayor Abramowitz said Section 7.13 only addressed the combining of budgets and what determined a budget. C/M Katz said the 7-1/2% as discussed was based on a single general budget and had nothing to do with combining the budgets. He said if the two budgets were separated, Finance Director Blasi indicated the City could go with 7-1/2% of the General Fund budget. Mayor Abramowitz said in his opinion, it was a waste to put anything other than Section 7.13 on the referendum. Mayor Abramowitz said the Joint meeting on December 31, 1991 will be at 9:00 a.m. and he will notify the Charter Board. City Council Special Meeting 12/30/91/PP Page 6 Mayor. Abramowitz said the. Broward County School Board proposed to build a bus depot/maintenance building in the City. He said he and City Manager Kelly sent letters to the School Board and a meeting should be scheduled to advise the residents. Mayor Abramowitz suggested inviting all interested elected officials and members of the School Board and staff to the meeting. C/W Glasser said she did not know what would be gained by this. Mayor Abramowitz said the Council objected because it was a financial matter and not the "nimby" theory. He said he was not afraid to have the School Board attend the meeting because they would see that officials and the public were both opposed. C/W Glasser said she asked City Manager Kelly to schedule a Town Hall Meeting for the various groups which opposed the project and she contacted the School Board as well. She said she hoped the meeting would organize the groups into one and this would be more effective. Mayor Abramowitz said just because the City did not want the depot was not a strong enough argument and it would not work. Mayor Abramowitz said the bus depot would affect concurrency and this is not what the City planned for Land Section 7. He said there were alternatives. Mayor Abramowitz said he was approached by people who said they would be happy to have the bus depot and he instructed City Manager Kelly to contact these people to make a presentation to the School Board. Mayor Abramowitz said the City of Sunrise protested the recommendation but he would try to get them to change their minds. C/M Katz said the City of Sunrise should go after the depot instead of Tamarac. Mayor Abramowitz said in his opinion, the City of Sunrise should get the depot. C/M Schumann asked if the School Board had the right of Eminent Domain and City Attorney Carsky said, yes. V/M Bender said a meeting should be held because the information received to -date was not completely accurate and it could be interpreted differently. V/M Bender said the depot would house approximately 325 buses and employ approximately 400 people with 400 vehicles. He said 325 buses and 400 vehicles coming and going twice daily equalled a major pollution problem and real estate would depreciate. V/M Bender said the law stated that the elected official served to protect the health, welfare and safety of the residents and the reasons he stated took precedence. Mayor Abramowitz said in order for the School Board to rethink their proposal, the City must have valid reasons for not wanting the depot and one reason was that the environment would be affected. C/W Glasser said the public did not know the complete story and the meeting would convey the reasons for the City not wanting the depot. She said the presentation should be made without the School Board. She said the School Board could be contacted after the City was organized. Mayor Abramowitz said a decision will be made on Tuesday, December 31, 1991 about scheduling a special meeting to discuss the bus depot with the residents. Isaac Feldman, resident, asked if the two amendments agreed upon by �l 11 11 11 :City Council Special Meeting 12/30/91/PP: the Charter Board or the amendments go on the referendum. agreed upon by the Council would Melanie Reynolds, resident, asked if Council could answer Mr. Feldman's question. She also asked what the Charter Board's expenses were and why they should get $100 per month compensation. C/W Glasser said the amendment on the $100 compensation was only approved to put on the referendum and the voters would decide if the Charter Board should get it. C/M Schumann said it was up to the electorate to pay the Charter Board and not up to the Council and Ms. Reynolds asked why the amendment should be put on the ballot in the first place. Bob Weinberg, resident, asked if it was prudent to take the matter of the bus depot to Governor Chiles. He said Tamarac had only one school and Mayor Abramowitz said the bus depot was a Broward County issue. Mayor Abramowitz said Tamarac had to make the School Board feel it was not in their best interest. Harold H. Newman, resident, said this was a "nimby" situation because the r"idents were not aware of what was taking place. He said he agreed with C/W Glasser's recommendation to have one meeting with the various opposition groups throughout the City. C/W Glasser said Tamarac Elementary was a Broward County School and, if a request was made for another school in Tamarac, the School Board advised there were not enough children to build another school. She said it all depended on who the person was speaking to. Mayor Abramowitz asked if another school should be built in Tamarac and C/W Glasser said, yes. Mayor Abramowitz said the parents association and the advisory board of Tamarac Elementary School stated three years ago they would be extremely angry if another school was built in the City. C/W Glasser said it was due to the proposed location of the school at that time. Mayor Abramowitz said children went from Tamarac Elementary to Silver Lakes Middle or another middle school to Taravella High School or Piper High School. He said the parents wanted their children to go to Taravella and, therefore, nothing was done. City Manager Kelly said no middle or other school would ever be built in Tamarac because a minimum of 20 acres of land was needed and the City did not have it. He said in his opinion if there was no reason to build another school, there was no reason for the School Board to justify building a bus depot. Mayor Abramowitz said the School Board could justify their proposal because building in Tamarac was 400% cheaper than anywhere else. Bernie Hart, resident, said a few years ago, parents wanted a middle school for their children to go to from Tamarac Elementary. He said the School Board turned it down and the land was available in the area of Kings Point where there were no children. Mr. Hart said there was a lack of knowledge in the City and the residents, in addition to Council, should be alerted to oppose the depot. Mayor Abramowitz asked City Manager Kelly to advise the Charter Board of the Joint Meeting with Council at 9:00 a.m. in Conference Room #1. Mayor Abramowitz Adjourned the Special Meeting at 11:06 a.m. City Council Special Meeting 12/30/91/PP Page 8 4L CAROL A. E ANS CITY CLERK "This public document was promulgated at a cost of $220.58 or $4.90 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 APPROVED AT MEETING � 7� City Clerk 11 11 C I TY OF TAMA RAC -_ -- INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM 9110-1502 Revised 10/9/91 TO:. John P. Kelly, City Manager FROM: Carol A. Evans, City Clerk SUBJECT: Proposed Charter Amendments, DATE: October 4, 1991 A. c /Ye. ec/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - -r r r r r r - r - - - - - - r wr rr - r r r - - -r .. - r r -- r - r - r - - - r - r - The following are some suggestions I am making for proposed Charter Amendments: Section 7.04 - Capital Program The Community Development State.Statute gives the publication and adoption requirements of the capital program and we have to abide by the State Statutes. ..,This section should state, "The Capital Plan shall be adopted in conformance with State Law" or deleted entirely from ',the Charter. For the past few years I have been advertising to comply with the Statutes and also with the Charter. This ye r the d to comply with the Charter cost $244.55. s� /-tr•!.',,� �.,5 Section 7.05 - Council Action on the Budget The first paragraph gives the advertising requirements prior to the first public hearing of the budget and, under the TRIM Bill, there is no advertising needed because all municipal residents get the date, time and place of the first public hearing on their tax notice. This year this advertisement cost almost $250.00. This Section ishould state, "All advertising and adoption requirements for the budget shall be in accordance with State Law -rD-a 6 Section 7.06 - Council Action on Capital Program This section should state, "All advertising requirements and adoption of the Capital;Program shall.be in accordance with State Law". (see 7.04 above) Section 12.03 -.Removal Along with Carla Coleman, I;iquestion who is covered under this Section and suggest this be eliminated since everyone is under the jurisdictio of he Cit natger and/or the Mayor and Council. Section 12.09 - Si , hecks, Contracts, etc. These same duties are listed under Section 5.04(e), Powers and Duties of the City Manager. Section 12.09 should. be eliminated And the duties contained therein listed under Section 4 P, Mayor4s Duties, and Section 5.04(3), City Manager's Duties (as it is already). CAE/pm lam-. R Ur1 C! r L ,gyp . CITY OF TAMARAC City Monager INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM TO: MAYOR ABRAMOWITZ AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS CITY MANe,H.AORTER FROM: JOHN P. KELLY, RE: $100 PER MONTH SALARY BOARD/OTHR COSTS DATE: DECEMBER 20, 1991 •... rw.r w....-*.... r.w.r... rNrw..rw... r0.-.----w... ... a... r...... Insurance Department provides the following cost analysis: The Personnel and The costs are based on the circumstances of the present members of the Board but the overall input would not be changed significantly by new members. WINTERS DAVIS FELDMAN KITOGRAD KRANTZ SALARY 100.00 100.00 100.00, 100.00 100.00 FICA 7.65 7.65 7.65 7.65 7.65 6,700 LIFE INS. 2.88 2.15 2.15' 4.30 2.15 1,300 BENEFIT OPTION 108.33 108.33 108.30 108.33 108.33 ASSUME WAIVER/ HEALTH 326.12 326.12 167.26 326.12 326.12 PER MONTH 544.25 544.25 385.39 546.40 544.24 PER 6,539.76 6,531.00 4,624.68 6,566.80 6,631.00 YEAR TOTAL MONTHLY $2,565.27 TOTAL YEARLY $30,531.00 L�