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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-04-30 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 30, 1990 CALL TO ORDER- Mayor Abramowitz called this meeting to order on Monday, April 30, 1990 at 10 00 A M in Conference Room #1 (City Hall) PRESENT Mayor Norman Abramowitz Vise Mayor Bruce Hoffman Councilman Henry Schumann Councilman Dr H Larry Bender Councilman Henry Rohr ALSO PRESENT John P Kelly, City Manager Carol A Evans City Clerk Pauline Walaszek Secretary The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the Independent Charter Review Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council reviewed the Independent Charter Review submitted by Carla Coleman Consultant He said the priorities were set for specific items and he would like the City Council to continue with their review Mayor Abramowitz said he would like the City Council to schedule a Joint Workshop Meeting with the Charter Board on May 10 or 11 1990 Mayor Abramowitz asked C/M Bender if he reviewed Article VII and C/M Bender said he met with the Finance Director on Friday April 27, 1990 He said the Finance Director asked that the City Council allow him to review this matter He said he would contact the Finance Director in the near future SECTION 7 11 Requirements for public bidding Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council discussed an amendment increasing the existing $2,000 00 minimum and $5 000 00 maximum to $5,000 00 minimum and $10,000 00 maximum Mayor Abramowitz said this Section was classified as a priority 1 item and V/M Hoffman said he felt this Section should remain a priority 1 item C/M Schumann said the City Code presently required the City have a mandate of sixty days for bid acceptance; however, the Charter required a mandate of thirty days Mayor Abramowitz asked City Manager Kelly what would be beneficial for the City City Manager Kelly said there were two separate concerns which were tied together He said thirty days was not fair to the vendors' however, he did not feel that this was a priority 1 He said he felt Section 7 11 was a priority and he did not feel the time should be tied into this Section Mayor Abramowitz said the voters should not be given too many things to vote on and he asked how detrimental the provision for the bid acceptance was C/M Schumann said these concerns should be combined into one ballot item as opposed to being separated Page 1 4/30/90-pw Carol Evans, City Clerk said sometimes thirty days d-d pot give staff enough time to do the research on the items ,She said there were some items which had to be determined and contractors that had to be contacted She said references were checked, etc Mayor Abramowitz asked if there was a way to amend the language to include both the dollar and time provisions V/M Hoffman asked if the sixty day amendment would mandate i every contract to have a sixty day period before acceptance I Ms Evans said the purpose of the sixty day provision in the Code was to allow sixty days, if needed City Manager Kelly said the minimum was sixty days Mayor Abramowitz said V/M Hoffman asked if staff could b given sixty days, if needed as opposed to thirty days V/M Hoffman said there may be an item that the City needed in thirty days and City Manager Kelly said sometimes there were bid acceptances in one or two weeks C/M Bender said he would like to see a provision in Section 7 11 that read "a minimum of thirty days and no more than sixty days" He said this would give staff more flexibility V/M Hoffman suggested the Section provide a ninety day provision and C/M Bender said the Charter presently indicated thirty days: however, the City Code indicated sixty days, He said he was not changing the existing provisions C/M Rohr said the Charter should indicate a bid to be accepted up to sixty days V/M Hoffman said he wanted to give the City the right toBet the term He said if the City was ordering something of importance but it was not an emergency, staff may want to take ninety days to consider the matter He said if there was an urgent matter staff may want an acceptance in thirty days Mayor Abramowitz asked if the provision should state, "At the City's option" He asked if there was a State Ordinance which indicated that a bid could not be accepted within a specific amount of time Ms Evans said the day the bid was opened, the time began and the City was required to accept or reject a bid Mayor Abramowitz asked if there was an Ordinance whicr indicated that a bid could not be accepted by the City immediately and Ms Evans replied, no Mayor Abramowitz asked if the time limit could be at thel discretion of the administration He said there may to something needed in 4 days and, if not accepted, the City may not be able to get the same thing at a later date Mayor Abramowitz said he would like the language to indicate that the acceptance of bids was up to the discretion of the administration C/M Schumann said the Charter provided for a minimum cf thirty days to accept, however, a maximum time was not given He said staff was able to accept a bid with a minimum of thirty days Page 2 4/30/90-pw Mayor Abramowitz asked C/M Schumann to explain why the language should not be changed and C/M Schumann said the existing Charter was not providing a maximum amount of time to accept a bid V/M Hoffman asked what would occur if staff wanted to take ninety days to accept a bid and C/M Schumann said they could do this because there was no maximum indicated in the Charter Mayor Abramowitz asked what language was needed and C/M Schumann said the City Council wanted to consolidate one or the other provision in Section 7 11 Mayor Abramowitz said he was proposing that all limitations indicating minimum and maximum be removed so the administration had the discretion to decide the time required to accept a bid Mayor Abramowitz asked if the City Council disagreed with this suggested language V/M Hoffman said he felt that the bidder should have a reasonable amount of time indicated to allow him to know when the bid would be approved V/M Hoffman said the bidder may not want to submit a bid that would be open for six months City Manager Kelly said this was correct and C/M Schumann said the bidder should have the right to withdraw has bid if it was not approved at a reasonable time City Manager Kelly said the bidders wanted the City to take action within a reasonable time or the bids could not be approved Mayor Abramowitz asked what City Manager Kelly recommended and City Manager Kelly said he would suggest the sixty day minimum V/M Hoffman asked if a maximum could be set on each bid and City Manager Kelly said when the specifications were done it was determined how much time the approval process would take He said if the bid procedures would take longer than 30 days, the City usually asked the bidders if they would be willing to hold their proposed bids V/M Hoffman asked what would occur if all the limitations of time were eliminated City Manager Kelly suggested he report to the City Council at their next meeting concerning the language that provided the greatest amount of flexibility Mayor Abramowitz said if the time limitations were eliminated from the Charter the staff could put stipulations in the specifications regarding the time limitations City Manager Kelly said staff would review this matter and report back to the City Council with a recommendation C/M Schumann said this may cause the bidders to inform the City how they would operate He said bidders may indicate that they would allow a 40 day bid and it the City did not take it, they would withdraw their bid V/M Hoffman said when the City went out to bid the specifications could indicate what the time frame would be He suggested the City Manager report to the City Council on the matter Page 3 v 4/30/90-pw C/M Schumann said whatever was done should be consistent and V/M Hoffman asked if the City Council agreed that the amount to be spent before City Council, approval was required should be changed The City Council AGREED that the threshold for compet_tive bids be increased from $2,000 00 minimum and $5 000 00 maximum to $5,000 00 minimum to $10 000 00 maximum SECTION 7 13 Requirements for referendum Mayor Abramowitz said Ms Coleman indicated that this was another priority Section for revision He said the City had a lot of problems with this provision because it was ambiguous and he would like to define the language Mayor Abramowitz said he felt this was a priority 1 item r.nd he asked City Manager Kelly to address this matter City Manager Kelly said he read Ms Coleman's recommendations and he felt the recommendations should be considered He said this matter caused too many problems in the past Mayor Abramowitz asked City Manager Kelly to inform the City Council of the importance in changing this provision City Manager Kelly said there were interpretations that the City was only dealing with the General Fund budget, which could be more restrictive if specific accounts were moved out of that budget He said a greater amount of money was available if the enterprise funds were combined He said the limitations could range from approximately $400 000 Oa at 2--1/2% of the General Fund and more if the Utilities budget was included He said the City had more latitude in its determination of whether or not a Referendum was required if both funds were combined as one fund City Manager Kelly said a few years ago the limit was raised from 1-1/2% to 2--1/2% He said this change was needed however many Cities have no caps on their spending ability because it was not feasible to have a cap He said if tte City needed to replace a fire truck, a referendum was needed to replace it He said this was not appropriate because a fire truck had to be available in the City City Manager Kelly said it would be better to combine th� two budgetst however, Ms Coleman recommended that this matter be addressed He said it was recommended that the City and Utility budgets be separate; however, he did not agree with this because the City was very large He said the City needed the broadest interpretation they could get in crder to run the operations of the City efficiently C/M Rohr asked if the Utility Budget was under a cap and City Manager Kelly replied, no V/M Hoffman said it was determined that the City could ute a combination of both budgets He said the previous administrations separated the budgets and decided they could only use one of the budgets He said on the advice of tide City Attorney, this City Council combined the two budget$ and used that total times 2-1/2% V/M Hoffman said the language in the Charter was very vague and either interpretation may be acceptable He said Ms, Coleman was recommending that the language be clearer soit.hat present and future administrations knew exactly what they could do C/M Rohr asked what type of cap the City would need if the City Council decided to separate the two funds He asked if 5% would be reasonable 1 1 1 Page 4 4/30/90-pw Mayor Abramowitz asked why the funds should be separated and a higher cap applied C/M Rohr said he did not know why the Utilities Budget should be involved with the City's Budget He said the Utilities Department spent their funds based on bonds and income and they should not be involved with a cap City Manager Kelly said in the Town of Davie, Florida, they wanted to have a rodeo which would be over 5 million dollars He said that City was able to go to local banks, receive bids and negotiate a price that was far more efficient in a cost savings for the City He said a bond issue would have been more because of the various costs involved City Manager Kelly said the cap was created because the people felt that this would protect them from City Funds being spent needlessly He said this City would be considering a bond issue for street lighting and sidewalks He said the City was aware that the cost would be more than $400,000 00 which was the cap on the General Fund He said the City would have to go out for a bond issue for the protect which would be costly and timely He said the City may be able to find local banks that would be in the position to assist the City with the funding City Manager Kelly said he felt this type of contract would be in the City's best interest and the City Council was elected to make these decisions He said if the City Council made a wrong decision to spend this type of money, they would not be reelected Mayor Abramowitz said he did not agree with City Manager Kelly or C/M Rohr He said he would object to raising the cap from 2-1/2% to 5% because based on Fiscal responsibility, the Utility Department was a part and parcel of the City He said he felt that this matter was very important and the cap was placed on the funds to protect the residents He said he did not object to the existing percentage providing both budgets were used Mayor Abramowitz said if the residents did not want the projects they would make this decisions however, he wanted the City to be able to make a decision and do a project if it would benefit the City He said he was not pleased with the cap being increased; however, he would like to see both budgets combined Mayor Abramowitz said since he became Mayor, he has constantly been asked to see that the sidewalks and street lighting protects were implemented He said the reason this matter was not taken to a Referendum in the past was because the City was hoping that the additional $ 01 sales tax would be approved He said since the tax was not approved, the City had to implement another program to get the protects moving forward Mayor Abramowitz said because the sales tax was not available the City would be asking the residents to vote on the implementation of the projects He said if the residents voted against the protects he did not want to hear complaints about the street lighting Mayor Abramowitz said a cap of $400,000 00 was not appropriate for this day and age He said he wanted the City to be able to do the needed projects without having to ask for the money He said the difference between a bond issue and a loan was several costs He said the City Council needed the opportunity to be business people C/M Rohr said on Page 18, second paragraph of the Independent Charter Review, indicated that, "if limits are retained, self-supporting funds such as water and sewer operations should be exempt for such requirements, since these Page 5 4/30/90-pw operations undertake construction projects which are rot dependent on tax dollars instead utilizing user fee backed bonds " C/M Rohr said he understood the combination of the fundso however, language had to be implemented that would permit the City Council to expend money for good projects without hawing to go to Referendum V/M Hoffman said he did not know who should determine wh4Lt the good projects would be He said a rodeo for 5 millior dollars was not a good projects therefore, the residents should have the right to decide this type of project He said buying a fire truck for $500,000 00 was a necessityO He said he felt the City Council should have the flexibility to do what is neededs however if the City Council put the City in debt for several years, the residents had a right to voice an opinion V/M Hoffman said he did not think there was anything which did not permit the City Council from taking a matter to Referendum for permission to borrow from a bank He said if the City could get a better deal by borrowing from a bank, the City Council can ask the people to permit the City Council to borrow the needed money at an agreed rate of interest V/M Hoffman said he did not feel that the caps should be removed or remain He said the City Council received a legal opinion indicating that both budgets were part of the City"s operations therefore he felt this was what should be done Mayor Abramowitz said he agreed with this and the lancuale could indicate, "at the most advantageous rates" Mayor Abramowitz said he likes to consider himself a student of history and he wanted to know what the City needed lie said the Charter amendments would be a concern for some residents however he wanted to see the Charter brouchtiinto today's needs He said he felt that the Charter should specify the actions and the ambiguous language should be eliminated Mayor Abramowitz said the legal interpretation the City Council received indicated that the figures should be ba0ed on the total budget of the City and he would like to see the cap remain He said he may have confidence in the existing City Councils however, he did not know how the future administrations would handle matters C/M Schumann asked if the 2-1/2% meant for the money in the funds or for borrowing the money He said regardless of low the money was received, the City was still limited to 2-1/2% He asked how the City was able to purchase a fire truck which cost $500,000 00 when 2-1/2% only allowed the expenditure of $350,000 00 Mayor Abramowitz said the City would have to fake the project to Referendum He said the concern was not how much to spend but how the City could spend the required funds C/M Schumann said Mayor Abramowitz indicated that the cap should not be removed and Mayor Abramowitz said one portion of the Charter indicated that 2--1/2% of the General Fund Budget could be spent, which limited the expenditure to approximately $400,000 00 C/M Schumann said the recommendation indicated that, 'th6 language did not clearly define what funds would be considered as part of the City Budget " Page 6 4/30/90--pw Mayor Abramowitz said this was what the City Council was trying to establish He said he would like the Charter to indicate 2-1/2% of the combined budget, which would be 30 million dollars He said this was considerably more than 2-1/2% of the General Fund Budget C/M Schumann said this would save the City from going to Referendum He said there should be enough in the entire budget to use for certain pro3ects V/M Hoffman said if the City wanted to do a 5 million dollar pro3ect the matter should be placed on Referendum C/M Schumann said suppose something occurred with the existing fire trucks He said a Referendum was not needed to purchase fire trucks and Mayor Abramowitz said if the two budgets were combined, a Referendum was not needed Mayor Abramowitz said the matter could be revisted in the future He suggested the recommendations be included in the minutes City Manager Kelly read the Section of the existing Charter pertaining to requirements for referendum He suggested the City Council concentrate on the last part of the Charter which referred to grant fundings which may be secured Mayor Abramowitz said he did not want to touch the existing provisionsi however, he would like the provision amended to allow the City to operate in the proper fashion He said he would prefer a cap on the amount to be spent V/M Hoffman said he did not feel that this matter should be addressed at this time He said the City Council was presently using the entire City Budget He said this matter could be addressed at a later time Mayor Abramowitz said he was tired of paying legal fees He said he was tired of people suing the City over things that were not feasible He said if anyone understood the City Attorney's Budget they would know what the legal costs were He said he was going by the legal opinion and this provision should be addressed in the future to eliminate the legal costs C/M Rohr said the City Manager read what was in the existing Charter and he asked how this provision compared to the surrounding Cities City Manager Kelly said the comparison varied He said some Cities had no provisions and some did C/M Rohr said he would be interested in comparisons of the surrounding Cities He said he would like to know how the other Cities handled this matter City Manager Kelly asked if the City Council felt that the bidding cap should be increased Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council to address any other matters they felt were priority He said when the City Council and Charter Board met and discussed the amendments there may be changes He said he did not want to come to a final decision until a joint meeting with the Charter Board occurred V/M Hoffman said the City Council may decide to change their minds after the Public Hearings were held Page 7 4/30/90-pw C/M Rohr said the City Council discussed several matters; however, the priorities were not indicated He said he did not feel that a meeting with the Charter Board would cauae him to change his mind regarding priority matters He said he would like the City Council to select their priorities and discuss their priorities with the Charter Board SECTION 7 14 Expenditures forprofessional services SECTION 7 18 ut-ilities and -other sLpeciai services The City Council AGREED that Section 7 14 should be a priority 3 item and Section 7 18, a priority 2 item ARTICLE VIII CHARTER BOARD Mayor Abramowitz said this matter was a very sensitive subject He said his opinion of the Charter Board was known V/M Hoffman said he did not want to abolish the Charter Board and he would like the Charter Board to have the power to investigate He said he felt that the people would be comfortable with an elected Charter Boardi therefore, the City should not disturb it He said he did not feel that. the Charter Board had the right to do anything that was contrary to State Statutes TAPE 2 V/M Hoffman said he felt the Charter Board did not have legal right to subpoena He said the City Council did not have a right to subpoena and any Body that could not grant immunity should not have subpoena power V/M Hoffman said he did not think the Court would entertain the right He said he did not believe that any Body Board or Committee that did not have the right to levy taxes should have the right to set salaries He said the Charter Board should not have the right to set a salary for an attorney He said the Charter Board could not levy taxes to cover 4n attorney's salary He said if the City Council chose not to levy taxes to pay for the legal services for the Charter Board, there would be litigation C/M Rohr said he did not ob3ect to having a Charter Board, however, he did not know if this City needed a Charter Board He said if all the Cities in Florida could manage without a Charter Board, the City of Tamarac should not be any different than the 127 Cities in Florida C/M Rohr said if the City Council did not want to deal with problems by eliminating the Charter Board then restricticns should be set He said he did not understand what the Charter Board would do He said the Charter Board had not accomplished much in the past few years He said the Charter Board has spent the City's money in the past without accomplishing anything C/M Rohr said personally he felt the Charter Board should be an Advisory Board for the Mayor and City Council He said the authority of the Charter Board should be no more tha# any other Board in the City C/M Schumann said the problems of the City Council shcul4 be accountable to the voters and not any watch dog agency H.e said the Charter Board should not have any powers to investigate because the State Attorney was able to investigate any problems the City may have He said he did not feel the Charter Board 3ointly or individually was qualified to conduct a criminal investigation He said without the proper rights advisement there would be no case He said the Charter Board did not have qualified people to make investigation decisions; therefore, the Charter Board should not be authorized to handle investigations Page 8 4/30/90-pw C/M Bender said Ms Coleman indicated that two elected Bodies existed and it created conflict to the two groups of elected officials He said most of the time the two Bodies spent their energies dealing with the conflict C/M Bender said he felt there was room for a Charter Board; however, he questioned the need for the Charter Board members being elected officials He said the Attorney General recently indicated that a City could not have two elected groups fighting with each other regarding who had the authority to do certain things C/M Bender said he felt the Charter Board had to be revisted to see how they would function Mayor Abramowitz said all of the comments made by the City Council were correct He said he tried very hard to be practical and the things he felt were incorrect were things that were not born with the City He said the things that did not occur in approximately 25 years were not historical He said most of the problems with the Charter Board were for things that were placed in the Charter recently He said he felt the provisions were placed in the Charter for political expediency Mayor Abramowitz said he had concerns with the Charter Board having subpoena problems He said he asked the Charter Board what they would do if he did not respond to a subpoena that was issued by the Charter Board He said the Charter Board could only refer the matter to the States Attorney, which was what any citizen of the City could do Mayor Abramowitz said he felt that the Charter Board was not the group who kept the City Council and Mayor honest He said he received several comments concerning a Charter Board being in the City He said the problems with the continuity of the City Council was also true with the Charter Board He said the Charter Board should be appointed for a number of years so there was continuity Mayor Abramowitz said he has not received a lot of telephone calls concerning the Charter Board; however, the interested residents of the City have informed him of their thoughts concerning the Charter Board He said he did not know if it was right to continue the Charter Board because it was a difficult situation to consider He said there could not be two Bodies running the City therefore, the City Council would have to make a decision on this matter for the benefit of the City City Manager Kelly said he was impacted more by the existence of the Charter Board than anyone else in the City because the Charter referred to two elected Bodies that had called for accountability and recorded their charges and challenges City Manager Kelly said the Charter Board existed as an institutionalized harassment He said this was not because of the individuals on the Charter Board; however, they served the political hacks and malcontents of people who were opposed to the City Council He said these people will make charges against the City Council and come to him for the backup support and documentation to justify their claim He said he was caught in the position of trying to account for both the City Council and Charter Board City Manager Kelly said during the budget process the Charter Board presented their budget for legal fees He said when he asked why the legal fees increased, he was informed that the Charter Board intended to sue the City He said he was placed in a very awkward position of informing his boss, the City Council and Mayor, that he was increasing the budget for legal fees for the group that was going to sue his boss Page 9 4/30/90--pw City Manager Kelly said he was not comfortable having to take these positions; however, he never wanted the Charter Board to be abolished He said he was opposed to the concept of the elected Charter Board; he did not object to an appointed Charter Board that would make recommended changes of thel Charter to the City Council City Manager Kelly said he felt that this was the appropriate course of action and the Charter Board tried to work with him in the past He said the Charter Board tried not to embarrass him or the City Council however, they were catght by virtue of the way they were recognized in the Charter, which was to challenge what the City Council and administration did He said this was very expensive for the City and he felt this matter should be changed C/M Schumann said the City Council was placed in their positions by the electorate not the Charter Board He said the City Council was responsible to the electorate and not the Charter Board Mayor Abramowitz said the only problem the City had was living by what was available He said he did not have anything against the Charter Board; however, he felt that some actions of the past did not serve the City Mayor Abramowitz said he was not going to ask the voters to abolish the Charter Board because they would not agree with it He said if the City Council and Charter Board worked together concerning their powers, this would be great= however, the City Council was obligated to try and allevic-te the problems At 11 05 A M , C/M Schumann WITHDREW from the meeting V/M Hoffman said the art of government was the art of doing what was possible He said if the City Council was to attempt the elimination of the investigatory powers of t]e Charter Board they would be accused of being afraid and, trying to hide something He said this was not true andihe did not object to the Charter Board having the investigatory powers because it did not affect the City Council V/M Hoffman said the Charter Board had no more power tha� any citizen of the City; however if it made the public comfortable to have a government body looking after theit interest, he did not object to this He said the City Council should not make an issue of things that would not be approved by the voters V/M Hoffman said his concerns had to be addressed because if the City Council did curtail the Charter Board's right tO do something, they would have it settled in Court He said the Charter Board's powers were contrary to State Law and the Attorney General submitted his opinion on certain mattero He said the City Council should live by this V/M Hoffman said it was absurd for the Charter Board to 01-aim subpoena power because it did not exist He said it was ridiculous for the Charter Board to go out and hire an attorney for a cost they chose He said he did not feel that the City would be able to accomplish having the Charter toard abolished as an elected Board Mayor Abramowitz said everything stated today may be correct however, there were several different opinions He said if he could, he would make specific changes; however, the City Council had to be practical and reasonable He said the history of the changes in the Charter indicated that many of the things were placed in the Charter for political expediency V/M Hoffman said he was a member of the Charter Board when the matter concerning the hiring of an attorney was creat¢ed. He said this was discussed at that time because the City 1 "" 1 1.1 Page 10 4/30/90-pw Attorney did not want to involve himself with the Charter Board He said there was no way for the Charter Board to get a legal opinion except to go out and hire an Attorney V/M Hoffman said even though he was in favor as a member of the Charter Board to having an attorney, he opposed the portion that gave the Charter Board the right to set the fees for the attorney He said he was out voted on this matter and it was taken to Referendum He said he informed the Charter Board at that time that they could not spend the money if they did not tax the residents Mayor Abramowitz said the Interim City Attorney was recently asked by the Charter Board for an opinion He said the Interim City Attorney did not object to giving the Charter Board his legal opinion He said the first concern would be how the Interim City Attorney could serve the City Council and Mayor as well as the Charter Board V/M Hoffman said this would be asked assuming the Charter Board were adversaries of the City Council He said he did not feel that the Charter Board and City Council could not work with each other At this time, C/M Rohr read Page 21 of the Independent Charter Review into the record V/M Hoffman said Ms Coleman gave recommendations to the City Council, however, she was not aware of the City of Tamarac He said the City Council had to decide what they could or could not do Mayor Abramowitz said there were several problems concerning the City having two elected Bodies He said he felt this Section was a concern; however, it should be addressed by the City Council in the future ARTICLE X City Clerk The City Council AGREED that this Article could be classified as a priority 3 item ARTICLE XI City Attorney Mayor Abramowitz said he felt the Charter should be changed because he felt the City Council could inform the public that there was a savings of approximately $100,000 00 per year by using a contractual Attorney for the City's legal concerns Mayor Abramowitz said when the matter concerning a contractual Attorney was discussed he was against it because he wanted the City Council to have a City Attorney available to answer their concerns He said having a contractual Attorney has worked very welly therefore, he felt the mandate in the Charter should be eliminated The City Council AGREED with the elimination of the mandate for an In-house Attorney from the Charter City Manager Kelly said he felt that this Item should be included in the next Referendum ARTICLE XII Miscellaneous Provisions The City Council AGREED that this Article should be a priority 3 item At 11.15 A M Mayor Abramowitz RECESSED this meeting and RECONVENED at 11:25 A M , with ALL PRESENT , except C/M Schumann Referring to Page 23, Additional Articles/Sections, Mayor Abramowitz said he did not agree with this recommendation He said he felt that this recommendation would lead to Page 11 4/30/90--pw problems in the future between the administration and legislative Bodies Mayor Abramowitz said he tried to believe that the amendments of the Charter would be for future members of the City Council and Charter Board He said the City Council recently had a relationship with the Cray Manager and staff that did not have problems V/M Hoffman said Tamarac was not the usual City in South Florida He said there were things in this City that took a different turn than many Cities He said he knew that there were Cities where the elected officials received their instructions from their City Manager and voted accordingll He said this has never occurred in Tamarac and he did not think it would in the future He said he did not see an( reason for an elected official being prohibited from talking to the employees of the City City Manager Kelly said he agreed with this; however, Ms4 Coleman's recommendation indicated that the City Council was prohibited from interfering with the performance or the duties of the staff V/M Hoffman said his question may be construed as interference and he would not give up his right to ask questions or express an opinion He said he did not feel that he should or would give orders Mayor Abramowitz said he could understand the reason why Ms Coleman placed this matter in the independent Charter Review He said there are ways to address this problem if it occurred City Manager Kelly asked Mayor Abramowitz what those ways were and Mayor Abramowitz said the law indicated that the City Council and Mayor could not go to a Department Headland interfere with the administrative matters of the City Mayor Abramowitz said if the City Council and Mayor did his, they were sub3ect to penalties and could be brought up on charges He asked who was to make a determination of the matters being interference or information gathering City Manager Kelly said asking a question was a lot different than telling staff not to do something Mayor Abramowitz said if the City Council informed a staff member to do or not to do something was against the law I He said there were means and methods to address this matter C/M Rohr said he agreed with this however, he was concerned about the idea that the City was different than the other Cities He said he felt that it was time for leadershipiby the City Council to bring the City out of the past and into the present C/M Rohr said when he became a Councilmember there were several developers that would not come into the City, however, this has changed V/M Hoffman said Tamarac was not like many of the other Cities C/M Bender said Tamarac was different because 75% of the people over age 55 were registered voters He said the City of Tamarac had more people participating in politics than any other City in Florida He said this was documented and he would share this information with C/M Rohr if he would like Mayor Abramowitz said the City Council was trying to remove potential problems in the Charters however, the recommendations on Page 23 seemed to be creating problems I I 1 Page 12 4/30/90--pw The City Council was AGAINST this recommendation P Mayor Abramowitz asked the City Council to review this Page He said he was very impressed with the bottom paragraph He said Ms Coleman provided her opinions on this Page; however, it may not be the City Council's opinion He said the purpose of the workshop meetings was for the City Council to review and decide on the amendments C/M Rohr said he would like to hold the next workshop meeting on May 4, 1990 as opposed to May 3, 1990 because he could not attend a meeting on May 3 Mayor Abramowitz said he felt that the City has changed a lot in the past years He said he felt this was because the City Council had the ability to discuss their concerns and come to an agreement He said the entire concern by this City Council was to make changes that brought the City up to date and eliminate any of the past problems Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted the City Council to meet with the Charter Board and come to an agreement, however, the City Council had to be aware of what they felt was in the best interest of the City He said he would like the City Council to inform the Charter Board what they determined to be important Page 24 Summary C/M Bender said he would like to insert "legislative" in the last paragraph third line after "framework for" V/M Hoffman said the Charter should tell more of what can not be done as opposed to what must be done He said the Constitution of the United States only had 28 amendments in 200 years He said the Charter should not be the legislative decision of the City �z- Mayor Abramowitz said before a judgement was made by the people regarding the amendments to the Charter, they should ` review the situation to see why the provisions were put in the Charter He said there were amendments made for political expediency as opposed to what would occur to the City in the future V/M Hoffman said the Charter was used to legislate in the past and it should be like this in the future City Manager Kelly said the next meeting was scheduled for Thursday, May 3, 1990 at 10 30 A M He asked what would be discussed at this meeting Mayor Abramowitz said at the next meeting he hoped to finalize the City Council's concern regarding what should be placed on the Referendum He said the City Council should go into the meeting with the Charter Board informing them what they would like to be placed on Referendum -------------------------------------------------- City Manager Kelly said he needed the City Council to call a Special meeting to approve an Addendum to the existing engineering agreement with Hazen & Sawyer for an environmental audit at the existing Public Works Site City Manager Kelly said the initial proposal required 21 days for the specifications however, he did not agree with this He said he would provide this information to the City Council if an audit was available by Friday He said it was agreed providing the City Council met and agreed to authorize the Addendum Mayor Abramowitz asked the City Clerk to prepare a meeting notice concerning a Special meeting being held before the Page 13 4/30/90-pw Workshop meeting He said he would inform the City Clerk of the meeting being held on May 3 1990 or May 4, 1990 Ms Evans said the Charter Board would be holding a meeting in Conference Room #1 at 9 30 A M and V/M Hoffman said the City Council chose to hold their Workshop on Thursday, may 3, 1990 C/M Rohr said he would not be able to attend the Workshop meeting on May 3 1990 Mayor Abramowitz suggested the City Council review their calendars when they returned to their office City Manager Kelly said on May 1, 1990, Broward Counts h6s agreed to do a landscaping pro3ect on the outside median north of 82 Street He said the County was looking at XOr,i- Scape landscaping Mayor Abramowitz said on 64 Avenue a developer would be putting landscaping in the City including the irrigat,ioo system at no cost by the City He said he felt this are4 has improved greatly City Manager Kelly said Fire Chief Briant indicated thatl' sometime this morning there would be an announcement regarding a moratorium on the implementation of the Fire Safety Code Mayor Abramowitz said this moratorium would pertain to buildings that were built before July, 1988 With no further business Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED this meeting at 11 45 A M r- CAROL A L iANS&Y "This public document was promulgated at a cost of $80 13 or $10 02 per copy to inform the general public, public efficers and employees of recent opinions and considerations of the City Council of the City oP Tamarac " 1 1 Page 14 4/30/90--pw