HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-04-05 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP
TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 1994
CALL TO ORDER_ Vice Mayor Irvi.n.g Katz called this meeting to
order on Tuesday, April 5, 1994, at 1:30 P.M. in Conference Room
#1 of Tamarac City Hall, 7525 Northwest 88th Avenue, Tamarac,
Florida.
PRESENT:
Vice Mayor Irving Katz
Councilwoman Sharon Machek
Councilman Larry Mishkin
Councilman Joseph. Schreiber
Mayor Norman Abramowitz
ALSO PRESENT:
Robert S. Noe, Jr., City Manager
Mitchell S. Kraft, City Attorney
Jim Budzinski, Fire Chief
Stanley Hawthorne, Finance Director
Vernon Hargray, Public Services Director
Karen Jackson, Secretary
Lillian Devereux, Secretary
The purpose of this meeting is discussion on the following:
1. CABLE TELEVISION
V/M Katz opened the meeting and turned the discussion over to
Robert S. Noe, Jr., City Manager. Mr. Noe said the first item,
Cable Television will be discussed by Mitchell. Kraft, City
Attorney.
Mr. Kraft said there are two issues at the moment, one being rate
regulation and the other being competitive franchises. He said the
situation with rate regulation under the Federal Communications
Commission (F.C.C.) regulations, Cable Act of 1992, states there
are three steps to become a Franchise Authority. He said the City
is now a Franchise Authority. He said the City filed F.C.C. Form
328 which is the City's Certification of Franchising Authority.
Mr.. Kraft said the next step was to pass an Ordinance implementing
the F.C.C.'s regulations, which was done on the second reading on
October 25, 1993, Ordinance # 0-93-25. He said the final step
involved giving notice to the cable company stating that if they
want a rate process they would have to send the City whatever is
required in keeping with the F.C.C. regulations; this notice was
sent out on March 29, 1994 and Continental Cable has 30 days to
respond.
Mr. Kraft said this matter has been discussed with Plantation,
Sunrise and Lauderhill to consider doing this as a group. He said
Lauderhill and Plantation have sent out their notices for rate
regulations. He said on the April 13, 1.994 Council Agenda there
will be a Resolution authorizing the City to retain Mr. Leibowitz
as the City's Telecommunications Counsel..
V/M Katz asked if, everything prior to this authorization has
been pro bona.
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Page 2
Mr. Kraft stated Mr. Leibowitz will attend the meeting on April
13, and will be answering all relevant questions.
Mr. Kraft said the City had to file a Form 329 on February 25,
1994, which is a form protesting the Upper Tier regulations and
rates. The City has received some interest from other cable
companies, namely NBF. The City is currently working on
developing a model Cable TV franchise ordinance, which is
something the City needs to consider due to Continental. Cable's
franchise expiring .in 1999„
V/M Katz said Municipal Administrative Services (MAS) documented
some changes in Continental Cable's franchise agreement. He
requested copies of these recommendations.
C/W Machek asked for clarification on Lower and Upper Tier.
Mr. Kraft stated that there is a basic service, an extended basic,
and a super-duper basic, Upper Tier, being in effect, the Premium
channels, etc.
C/M Mishkin asked if the City granted them an exclusive franchise
until 1999, can the City terminate this before 1999.
Mr. Kraft said there are no exclusive franchises and there are
certain requirements and procedures governing the renewal of
franchises.
Mr. Noe said in order for a second franchisee to come in, they
would have to make a commitment to provide the same level of
service now provided by Continental. Discussion was held.
C/M Schreiber asked how long would it take for Mr. Leibowitz to
draw up these guidelines in order for the City to move forward and
Mr. Kraft said as quickly as possible.
C/M Schreiber asked why the City filed Form 329 and Mr. Kraft said
this was filed in order to ask the F.C.C. to use its regulatory
powers to look at the Upper Tier.
C/M Mishkin asked what the City is looking for in the 30 day
response required from Continental.
V/M Katz said the City is looking for a disclaimer stating that
there are no legitimate complaints.
Mr. Kraft said a letter dated March 29, 1994 was sent to
Continental Cable, asking them to submit a formal rate request no
later than 30 days from receipt of letter.
C/W Machek asked what the franchise agreement says in connection
with promotional contracts for pricing in different areas.
Mr. Kraft said the franchise agreement states that they are
allowed to have promotional rates to attract business. Discussion
was held.
C/W Machek asked if there will be equal pricing as these contracts
are coming up. She said woodlands challenged the prices and their
channels were reduced; she asked how the FCC rule affects the
community.
Mr. Kraft said he could not answer this directly but he would
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Page 3
research the answer.
V/M Katz said there was some tabling of bulk rate agreements.
C/M Schreiber stated that Woodlands had a bulk rate agreement and
Continental offered them less channels. He said rates are set by
the cable company. He asked if the City is obligated to have the
cable companies file their rates and he questioned the process of
how they calculated them, in order for a fair system to be
established.
Mr. Kraft said this was part of the formal rate request and the
City would be getting a response.
V/M Katz said Continental Cable has a different formula for
arriving at the cost for individual cities.
Mr. Kraft said there are two ways; cost of service and a bench-
mark system.
Mr. Noe said the City expects to have a model franchise within 90
days. lie said there was a misconception in the community with
regard to bulk rates. He said the Government is often Criticized
for those things that have to be done. He said cable television
is extremely complex and the City of Tamarac should hire its own
full-time staff person which will be proposed at the April 1.3
meeting for Mr. Leibowitz to serve in this capacity.
C/M Mishkin asked if the present franchise agreement or the
proposed franchised agreement gives the City the right to control
pricing.
Mr. Kraft said the 1992 Cable Act allows the local franchising
authorities, such as the City of Tamarac, into the pricing
regulatory scheme.
C/M Mishkin asked if the City has the right to control their
rates.
V/M Katz said only if the City finds and proves an overcharge.
Discussion was held regarding rate regulation and Upper/Lower tier
channels.
C/M Mishkin asked if the end user has the option of providing
their own dish and serving their own areas.
Mr. Kraft said the general answer would be if a group of
individuals were to provide cable television, they would have to
comply with the Federal and State regulations.
C/M Mishkin asked if the F.C.C. was asking for more regulations.
Mr. Kraft said there is always the possibility of more
regulations.
V/M Katz said he does not believe so, but Mr. Leibowitz is very
well versed on all F.C.C. regulations and requirements. He
suggested that the City invite Mr. Leibowitz to come back to
another workshop to discuss this matter.
Mr. Noe said this would be very appropriate.
C/M Mishkin asked if the City is in a position to audit Cable TV
or any other companies and said the City would probably incur
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problems and more costs.
V/M Katz said in order for the City to perform audits, they would
have to be placed in the budgets. He said it would not be done on
a contingency basis but would have to be a flat rage.
Mr. Kraft said this would be a traditional audit, and he would
characterize it as an auditing --type service.
C/M Schreiber asked about the status of the telephone company who
intends to enter into cable television.
Mr. Kraft said this would be one reason why the City would have to
be very careful when developing a model franchise ordinance and
must take into account possible changes in technology that did not
exist previously.
V/M Katz said the fact that Cable companies may not have to pay a
franchise fee should concern us and if they are allowed to proceed
they will not have to pay any municipality fees. He said the only
way to counteract this would be to put a utility tax on this
service to prevent loss of revenue.
C/M Mishkin asked for the amount that the franchise fee has been
generating over the past couple of years.
Mr. Kraft said the Finance Department would have this information
and Mr. Hawthorne, Finance Director, said he would provide these
figures.
C/W Machek asked if the retainer agreement is in conjunction with
the joint cities.
Mr. Kraft said it is only for services provided specifically for
the City of Tamarac.
Mr. Noe said the City needs what it needs, but has the ability to
go to other cities and sell whatever it is doing.
TAPE 2
Vernon Hargray, Public Services Director, made a presentation
regarding recycling.
Mr. Hargray said the issue before the City currently is whether
the City wants to go into a recycling program or stay in the
Interlocal Agreement with the five cities. He said the recycling
bid will be going out in May for all recyclable items.
Mr. Hargray said Coconut Creek and Lauderhill indicated that they
may get out of the Group Cities Agreement and contract with their
existing hauler. He said after researching the City's contract
with Waste Management, he suggested that some time in the future
when the City's contract is renewed, a provision be added for
recycling.
Mr. Hargray said if Lauderhill and Coconut Creek leave the
Interlocal Agreement, the other cities would have to decide
whether they would remain in the Agreement.
7
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City Council Workshop
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Mr. Hargray
said each City had to evaluate the conditions of the
trucks last
week. He said Alan Levine had the Equipment
Maintenance
Superintendent inspect the vehicles. He said the
vehicles are
not in good condition. He said the City cannot sell
the vehicles
but could use the vehicles when going out to bid for
a contractor
and let them use the vehicles.
Mr. Hargray
said when Lauderhill and Coconut Creek remove
themselves out
of the Agreement, the vehicles will have to be
transferred
to other cities, depending on population the higher
the population
the better the vehicle.
Mr. Hargray said this is an issue for Tamarac because Waste
Management has only one phase - newspapers. He said the County in
1989 indicated that 300 of the waste stream, recyclable items had
to be removed.
Mr. Hargray said with 1994 as a deadline, all cities had to have a
viable recycling program. He said the five cities thought that by
having one recycling coordinator., all administration would be
looked after by this person. He said this situation does not work
and if the City considers getting into recycling, the costs would
not be worth it. He said the City would have to hire 7 to 8 people
just to maintain the recycling administration and statistics.
V/M Katz asked why the City would have to do this, if the
Materials Recovery Facility is available. Discussion was held.
Mr. Noe
said there seems to be a misunderstanding. He
said the
City is
going to continue with the recycling program,
be it alone
or with
remaining cities. Discussions took place.
Mr. Hargray
said if the City decided to get into the
recycling
program,
the City would have to consider negotiating
with the
present
hauler to provide a service. He said the best
alternative
would be
to remain with the remaining cities.
V/M Katz asked why the City does not remain with the other cities
based on the fact that when unified, better agreements can be
secured.
Mr. Noe said the City intends to go this way. He said Coconut
Creek wanted a higher level of service and was prepared to pay for
it, thus raising the costs. He said the three cities will remain
and perhaps the other two, and the City could then join together
for both trash and recycling programs.
Mr. Hargray said as a consideration the City should look at the
rates when going out to bid and talk to the current hauler to see
what kind of rates they could give in comparison.
V/M Katz suggested that when preparing a report for proposal,
there should be three different concepts, l)garbage removal only,
2)recyclables removal only and, 3) both of them. Discussion was
he ]. d. .
C/M Schreiber said if the City is going to remain with the three
cities the Penalty Clause should be eliminated. He also suggested
'that the City do a study to see if it would be an advantage to the
City to provide its own service.
V/M Katz said after speaking to the Mayor in Hallandale and Hal
Gilstein they asked him to suggest an outside service. He
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suggested perhaps they were having problems internally.
C/W Machek asked if there is a County or a State Mandate.
Mr. Noe said it is a State Mandate to the County.
C/W Machek asked if the City has reached the 30o and what is the
percentage of the City's recycling within Tamarac's area.
Mr. Hargray said there is a problem with keeping up with
statistics and in order for him to answer this question he would
need the total tonnage that was collected from the haulers.
C/W Machek said it states on Page 2 of the Joint Recycling Program
bid that a meeting will be held on April 14, 1994, and she asked
who would be representing Tamarac at this meeting.
Mr. Noe said Ms. Dina McDermott, Assistant City Manager, would be
attending and this would be a permanent assignment for her.
C/W Machek asked if Tamarac is recycling more than Lauderhill or
Coconut Creek. Discussion was held.
C/W Machek said in the bid process they now have cardboard
included and plastic bags and asked if that included plastic
newspapers bags and cereal boxes. She said if so, this would
reduce the resident trash bags from two to one. She said she would
like these things discussed at the April 14 meeting and with
regard to the trucks that were inspected, she would like to know
who maintains these trucks.
Mr. Hargray said the contractor does the majority of maintenance,
and one truck would not be sufficient for Tamarac. He said the
City would probably need 1 to 3 trucks to do recycling and the
price of a truck is approximately $90,000.
C/M Mishkin said with regard to going into recycling, the
ambulance and the cable business, maybe the City should get a
consensus from Council and Staff as to whether the City should be
careful and look a little harder at the privatization of these
services. He said the City has very efficient operations in effect
now and perhaps all the City has to do is re -negotiate contracts.
Mr. Noe said in his opinion everything changes but initially when
the City makes a commitment the City should stand by it. He said
just because the contracts are up for renewal does not mean they
should change and maybe discontinue with recycling 1000. He said
this would not be a wise decision, the City should stay in the
business on a limited basis and contract, in order to always have
a cost comparison. Discussion was held.
Mr. Hargray said that the Public Services Department has to supply
three people to pick up newspapers and the City is currently
bearing a cost. He said he would check on the percentage of all
recyclables and compare revenue received.
TAPE 3
3. ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT (ALS)
Jim Budzinski, Fire Chief, passed out an ALS report, detailing the
annual budget and a presentation made to the Systems Planning
Committee of Broward County.
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Mr. Budzinski said the history of the ALS presentation is as
follows : in April 1993, the City Council passed a Resolution
authorizing the City Manager to make an application to Broward
County to provide an Advanced Life Support service, including
transportation. He said a budget exists at this time for the ALS
service. He said in December 8, 1993, the City submitted the
application to Broward County and on January 20, 1994 the EMS
Review Committee formally reviewed the application. He said they
referred it to the Systems Planning Committee and on March 23,
1994 they voted to send the application forward with a
recommendation that it be approved.
Mr. Budzinski said it now reverts to the Broward County EMS Review
Committee once again for their recommendation of approval. He
said this is a seven member committee and they will review the
application on April 21, 1994. This was discussed.
Mr. Budzinski said the next step is the most difficult step
because of the system.
V/M Katz said it may be in the City's interest if a protest is
filed prior to this so that they are on notice. He said the City
should use the Advisory Committee as the Council and the
Administration would look favorably on what the Advisory Committee
suggests. He said the City must use whatever leverage is
available.
Mr. Budzinski said another thing the City would have to be aware
of is the other municipalities that are intending to provide ALS
services have submitted their applications. He said these
applications will have to be considered at the next Council Review
Committee meeting. He said the best service the City could receive
would be the single tier ALS provider. He said throughout the
County this is the most efficient service which has been proposed.
V/M Katz said the City should look to consider doing its own
transporting for the future.
Mr. Budzinski said he agreed only if necessary, as expenses are in
the ALS service.
C/M Mishkin asked if the Council's approval is needed for the
transport.
Mr. Budzinski said no, it is not, as the Council directed that
they apply and secure the license. He said once this license is
received, they then have a choice of how or if this program can be
administered.
C/MSchreiber asked if are the City is going to get the Minnet
money and, if not, can Mr. Budzinski provide documentation to
establish that the City can still run the service, transport and
ALS.
Mr. Budzinski said if the City receives the Minnet reimbursement
from the County it would be approximately $550,000 per year, - $12
per head. This was discussed.
C/M Mishkin asked if upon receiving the certificate there would
be an expiration period.
Mr. Budzinski said initially there is a five year period and then
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Page 8
the renewal is automatic if the City is in compliance with State
laws.
C/w Machek asked. Mr. Budzinski to explain the cost per ALS units
with regard to Sunrise. She said their population is about 20,000
higher than Tamarac, but their cost per unit is $38,000 less.
Mr. Budzinski said the cost depended on how each municipality
manned their units and what level of medical care is permitted by
the Medical Director.
C/W Machek asked what the proposed $136,000 for Tamarac includes.
Mr. Budzinski said the City is proposing to put two ALS ambulances
on the road, one at each fire station being staffed with two
licensed paramedics. He said in total there would be four units.
He said the other two are the existing fire engines that are in
use right now and a paramedic could be included on these engines
also. He said the City would have four ALS certified units in
service, two of them would be transport capable. He said the City
currently has six paramedics in the Fire Department. He said of
the forty-one members, thirty-two are EMT and six are paramedics.
Mr. Noe asked if Tamarac is going to transport.
Mr. Budzinski said
yes, at present
in Tamarac, the average
response time for
an ALS is 6.9 minutes.
He said
the current
response time runs
approximately 4
- 4.5 minutes.
He said the
current proposal would
still allow
us a response
in 4 minutes with
paramedics capable
of transporting.
V/M Katz asked if
200 of Tamarac's
facilities are
used for fire
suppression.
Mr. Budzinski said this is correct and approximately 800 of the
activity of the Fire Department is emergency medical treatment.
V/M Katz asked if the City requires an additional nine people to
provide the same level of service. He said if we have fifteen or
twenty people to provide ALS and three men to an engine, we should
look at this and maybe this could be an offsetting cost.
C/W Machek asked if residents would have a choice of
transportation.
Mr. Budzinski said no, the State guidelines maintain that in an
emergency the patient be transported to the nearest appropriate
medical facility. Discussion took place.
C/W Machek asked if the City publishes notices in any other
language. Mr. Noe said he is not aware of this.
Mr. Kraft said he does not believe there is any requirement other
than English.
C/W Machek asked why the City of Tamarac does not have direct
telephone lines to departments.
Mr. Noe said City Hall has a switchboard and the Council prefers
it this way. He said he has requested the City Clerk to explore
the cost of making the transition to direct dial. This was
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discussed.
Mr. Noe said he intends to present some budget issues before the
Council at the second meeting in April and, if all the information
regarding costs, etc., are correct, the telephone system will be
presented mid -year.
C/W Machek asked if the City could establish a recording service
to give information regarding meeting dates, trash collections
over holiday periods, etc. Discussion was held.
V/M Katz requested that the September 14, 1994 Council meeting be
canceled as it comes on the eve of a Jewish holiday.
V/M Katz said he would be absent during the week of April 25.
With no further discussion V/M Katz ADJOURNED the MEETING at
3.45 P.M.
CAROL A. EVANS, CMC
CITY CLERK