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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. City Council Workshop 04/05/94LD 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 City Council Workshop 04/05/94LD 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 City Council Workshop 04/05/94LD Page 4 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 L City Council Workshop 04/05/94LD Page 5 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 City Council Workshop 04/05/94LD Page 6 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. City Council Workshop 04/05/94LD Page 7 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 City Council Workshop 04/05/94LD 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 City Council Workshop 04/05/94LD Page 9 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