HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-05-22 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC
7525 Northwest 88 Avenue �P Phone (305) 722-5900
Tamarac, Florida 33321-2401 R� Fax (305) 722-4509
May 18, 1992
NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING
CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA
There will be a Workshop Meeting of the City Council on Friday,
May 22, 1992, at 9:00 A.M. in the Conference Room #1, Tamarac City
Hall, 7525 N.W. 88 Avenue, Tamarac, Florida.
The purpose of this meeting is as follows:
1. Discussion regarding Cable Television.
2. Discussion regarding Fire Services with Broward County.
The City Council may consider such other business as may come
before it.
All meetings are open to the public.
Carol A. Evans
City Clerk
CAE/kj
THE CITY OF TAMARAC IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER AND DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS
CITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP
FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1992
Tape 1
CALL TO ORDER Mayor Bender called the City Council Workshop meeting
to order at 9:05 a.m. in Council Chambers, City Hall.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND A MOMENT OF MEDITATION : Mayor Bender asked
for the Pledge of Allegiance and a Moment of Meditation to wish a
speedy recovery to Councilman Irving Katz.
PRESENT :
Mayor H. L.
Vice Mayor
Councilman
Councilman
Bender
Henry Schumann
Norman Abramowitz
Joseph Schreiber
ABSENT AND EXCUSED :
Councilman Irving Katz
ALSO PRESENT :
John P. Kelly, City Manager
Dina McDermott, Assistant City Manager
Mitchell S. Kraft, City Attorney
Phyllis Polikoff, Secretary
1. DISCUSSION regarding Fire Services with Broward County
John Kelly, City Manager, said the City communicated with Broward County
in 1991 to find out if they were in a position to provide Fire Services
to the City. He said Broward County did not provide anything
advantageous and the City did not do anything. He said a letter was
sent to the Broward County Administrator asking how much money could be
saved if services could be provided.
Mr. Kelly said the City had a very good Fire Department and the level of
service was excellent. He said the question related to the costs
involved and this would be addressed at a Budget Workshop.
Mr. Kelly said nothing would be done until Broward County guaranteed
that the City would get the same level of service or a much better level
of service.
Mr. Kelly said a letter with attachments was sent to him and to Council
from the Fire Union representative. He said the letter indicated that
the Firefighters wanted to remain with the City. He said any
information received from Broward County would be shared with the
Firefighters because he wanted them to be a part of the decision making
process.
Mr. Kelly said many cities in the United States consolidated their Fire
services. He said the City could probably merge with other neighboring
cities and not with Broward County and this would also have to be
factored into the decision. He said any change with Broward County
would not be made during this fiscal year.
C/M Abramowitz read a portion of the May 13, 1992 letter into the record
(see letter and attachments). He said the Council and Mr. Kelly should
look at alternatives. He said several years ago, the City considered
merging with the Cities of Lauderhill and Sunrise with -the intention of
saving money and improving Fire services. He said the Cities of Tamarac
and Lauderhill were compatible but the City of Sunrise was not.
C/M Abramowitz said on many occasions he spoke with members of the Fire
Department. He said they provided a very important service and the City
had to be shown that they could save a great deal of money. He said in
his opinion if the latter did not occur, there would be no reason to
change.
City Council Workshop Meeting
5/22/92/PP
Page 2
Mayor Bender said he spoke to Randy Correll and assured him that the
City would do whatever was best and beneficial for the City. He said
the City would consider a change if they could save a substantial amount
of money.
C/M Schreiber said he thought it was very premature at this time to make
a decision. He said Fire Department personnel wanted to remain in the
City and their loyalty, experience and service should be taken into
account.
C/M Abramowitz asked if the Firefighters were permitted to speak to
members of Council under the new Jennings Law and City Attorney Kraft
said, yes.
V/M Schumann said in 1989, the, Police Department wanted to merge with
the Broward Sheriff's Office. He reiterated C/M Abramowitz's remark
that the Firefighters must be protected and asked if the City would not
be protected if the Firefighters merged with Broward County.
C/M Abramowitz answered that in the case of the Broward Sheriff's Office
takeover there was a stipulation that if Police Officer passed the
physical examination, he would be absorbed by the Broward Sheriff's
Office. He said he would want the same stipulation if Broward County
wanted to take over the Fire Department but at this time, nothing was
happening. He said that is what he meant by protected'.
Randy Correll, said the letter from the Metro Broward Professional
Firefighters (attached) was signed by 100% of the bargaini g unit
members of the Department. He said in the past the City did not save
any money and in his opinion, there still were no savings. He said his
co-workers wanted to remain City of Tamarac Firefighters.
Mayor Bender said nothing would be done until Broward County sent
something in writing to the City.
2. DISCUSSION regarding Cable Television
Mayor Bender said he received many complaints regarding the contracts
offered by Continental Cable. He said individuals had problems with
Continental Cable on the weekends and there were different rates for
different areas in the City.
Mayor Bender said the City was limited on how it could raise revenue in
the future and he asked if the City should explore the possibility of
starting its own cable company. He said a private cable company would
be an asset in the future and the City could compete with regard to
rates it would charge.
C/M Schreiber asked if Mayor Bender knew what the cost was to start a
cable company and that most people would be happy if they were able to
make a choice of cable companies. He said he did not want the City to
spend any money.
Mayor Bender said he was working on this project with Dina McDermott,
Assistant City Manager.
Ms. McDermott said that according to the 'Cable T.V. Act of 1984, the
franchising authority could award one or more franchises within its
jurisdiction and the City was allowed to have more than one cable
franchise. She said the present agreement with Continental Cable was a
non-exclusive agreement.
Ms. McDermott said the Charter precluded the City from having exclusive
agreements with any company for any type of service. She said
competition could control the abuse the City presently endured and which
would continue without an alternative.
Ms. McDermott said a competitor could provide better rates but she had
data from other cities which indicated the existing company could lower
their rates after the new company came in and set their rates.
f]
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City Council Workshop Meeting
5/22/92/PP
Page 3
Ms. McDermott said over 177 miles of cable was in the City. She said
many States were providing alternative competition and passing bond
issues. She said this was called 'over build' whereby the existing
company was allowed to continue and a new company was permitted to come
in.
C/M Abramowitz said the City sent inquiries to over 50 cable companies
in the Country. Ms. McDermott said affirmative responses came in from a
few companies who would provide turnkey' operation but they needed
information as to what the City would do, what the customer base was,
what was already in the City and what the City would fund, etc. She
said the important question was what was the City looking for.
C/M Abramowitz said several years ago, he and Mr. Kelly met with a cable
company representative who was ready to compete with American Cable, He
said the representative said he would only provide service to a small
community but he was told this was against the law.
C/M Abramowitz said he agreed with C/M Schreiber that there has to be a
plan.
Mayor Bender reiterated Ms. McDermott's statement that the City had a
non-exclusive franchise agreement with Continental Cable. He said in
his opinion Continental Cable violated many provisions in the agreement
and the City would be able to cancel the agreement if they took legal
action.
Mayor Bender said City Attorney Kraft was investigating legal
ramifications and alternatives. He rhetorically asked what the City's
rights were with regard to cable which was laid in the rights -of -way and
easements.
Mayor Bender said he was unhappy that the rates varied greatly and the
cable company imposed a participation requirement. He said Council was
were working very hard to satisfy the citizens and to rectify the
situation in an economical way.
V/M Schumann said in his opinion the rate and services which Continental
Cable offered to one community should be offered to the other
communities. He said this was not being done.
C/M Abramowitz said representatives from Continental Cable came to City
Hall and advised that when they purchased American Cable, they were in
violation of the franchise agreement. He said at that point, they were
ready to advise that contracts would cease and service to the residents
would be terminated because of the City. He said this would not be
permitted.
Mayor Bender OPENED the public participation portion of the Workshop.
David Krantz, resident, expressed his concerns and stated that
Continental Cable was not regulated by State, Federal or County
Governments and they did not have any competition.
Carl Alper, resident, expressed his concerns and said they were the
third largest cable company in the Country. He said the previous cable
company, American Video, contracted with American Cablesystems to sell
its assets. He said at that time, the City received 3% of the gross
earnings and they are still continuing to receive 3%.
Mr. Alper said the Charter stated that a franchise company could not
assign its rights without Council passing an Ordinance indicating its
consent. He said Council also had to prepare a formal consent which
would be recorded in the Public Records of Broward County and these did
not occur.
Mr. Alper said if Continental Cable left the City, other cable companies
would be happy to come in.
Tape 2
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City Council Workshop Meeting
5/22/92/PP
Page 4
Abe Garr, resident, expressed his concerns and said a meeting wag held
several months ago with representatives of Continental Cable and they
were asked to designate a certain termination date. He reiterated that
the residents requested a designated termination date on all contracts,
rates and services and the ability to make a choice.
Sam Schwartz, resident, said he agreed with the previous speakers and
expressed his concerns regarding the cable company. He said services
were being disconnected because contracts had expired and were not being
renewed. He said although his contract expired February 1, his s rvices
would continue and asked if he would be protected from havi g his
service disconnected until the matter was settled.
Milt Siegel, resident, expressed his concerns and said the cable company
affected almost all the residents in the City. He said they wan ed to
increase their rates in addition to getting 100% participation. He
asked if the first years' rate could be guaranteed for more than one
year and Ellen Filipiak, representing Continental Cable, said, no. He
said the company was offered $13.70 for the first year and a 15%
increase for each succeeding year and the company turned it down. He
asked Council to communicate with the company and request t em to
accept what was offered.
Joe Padwa, resident, asked about the City installing satellit T.V.
dishes and it would not be necessary to install any wires.
Florence Bochenek, resident, expressed her concerns and asked that
Continental Cable give everyone the same rates.
C/M Abramowitz said before the new Federal Law was passed, a franchise
cable company had to come before a municipality to ask permission to
increase rates. He said after the law was passed, the City no longer
had the right to be involved with rates and by the end of 19921r a new
Federal Law will be passed regarding cable companies.
C/M Abramowitz said at one time, American Cable was able to make deals
with regard to rates.
C/M Schreiber said he believed different rates being given to di ferent
communities violated the franchise agreement. He said people wanted
cable T.V. but it was very costly. He asked if the City could p tition
the State Legislature to declare Continental Cable a public utili y and
they would be regulated by the Public Service Commission.
V/M Schumann said communications were controlled by the Federal
Government under the F.C.C.
Mayor Bender reiterated his statement that Continental Cable violated
the franchise agreement with regard to the rates that were charged. He
said if they conformed to the agreement, everyone would be treated
equally. He said last year they generated $5,500,000 in revenue.
C/M Abramowitz said he was the City/County Commission Liaison to',Broward
County and two years ago, they passed an Ordinance regarding cable
companies. He said in his opinion, the Ordinance did not improve the
situation and the only relief would come from the Federal Government.
Leo Platz, resident, expressed his concerns and suggested that Council
should determine the legal status of the franchise agreement. He said
once this was done, Council could negotiate and advise a new company
that the City could reserve the right to regulate the rates and this was
not in opposition to the Federal Government.
Ellen Filipiak, Vice President and District Manager of Continental
Cablevision of Broward County, Florida, said she had a letter from a
previous City Attorney regarding the franchise agreement at the time
they purchased American Video and American Cablesystems throughout the
Country. She said the legal franchise owner is still American
Cablesystems of Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental
Cablesystems which is a registered trade name.
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City Council Workshop Meeting
5/22/92/PP
Page 5
Ms. Filipiak said the letter she referred to indicated that since the
owner of the franchise was the same, no Council action was required and
Continental Cable took the proper steps. She said Continental Cable was
the legal franchise holder for the cable system in Tamarac.
Mayor Bender said he had documentation which indicated a merger' took
place and Ms. Filipiak said it was an acquisition'.
Ms. Filipiak said most of the contracts for service were inherited when
Continental Cable purchased American Cablesystems. She said the
contracts were designed to increase the number of subscribers and the
franchise allowed different promotions to do this. She said not every
promotion was the same.
Ms. Filipiak said Continental Cable honored contracts which were
inherited from American Cablesystems but when the contracts expired,
service and rates would change. She said as the contracts expired, the
rates revert to the regular rate of $27.40. She said some services were
disconnected at the individual's request and Continental Cable did not
arbitrarily disconnect anyone's service. She said some contracts
expired but the service continued on a month -to -month basis as long as
negotiations proceeded.
Ms. Filipiak said bulk -service agreements were offered based on 100%
participation. She said there were options which she hoped to soon make
available to the City.
Ms. Filipiak said many communities were paying only 30% of the regular
retail rate. She said Continental Cable proposed that during the first
year, the discount would be 50% of the prevailing rate; during the
second year, the discount would be 40% of the prevailing rate and during
the third year and thereafter, the discount would be 20% of the
prevailing rate.
Ms. Filipiak said Continental Cable offered a cooperative marketing
arrangement with Homeowner Associations to increase subscribers and if
this happened, the Company would offer a fixed cost for three years.
She said if the number of subscribers dropped during this arrangement,
the Homeowner Association would have to correct the situation within 60
days and if this was not done, the cost would revert back to the
prevailing retail rate.
Ms. Filipiak said she would continue to work with the Council and the
Administration to resolve the situation and offer alternatives. She
said Continental Cable would offer consistent options but everyone in
the City would be offered the same options.
Mayor Bender asked why the letter he received indicated a rate of $23.85
and Ms. Filipiak said the old rate was $21.90 which would increase as of
July 1.
C/M Abramowitz asked if there was a possibility that Continental Cable
could offer a choice of channels and rates to the residents. He said
the individual could be given the option to choose the number of
channels and the cost would depend on what those channels were. Ms.
Filipiak said this option was not workable.
C/M Abramowitz said he was angry because the residents of the City did
not have a choice.
Ms. Filipiak said Continental Cable offered two levels of service. She
said one level of service cost $7.50 and included Channels 2 through 22,
CSPAN out of Washington, D.C., stations out of Atlanta and New York and
a local channel. She said the next level of service included all the
satellite services, excluding the premium channels. She said it was
difficult to have different selections of channels for different
communities.
C/M Abramowitz suggested that Continental Cable should offer choices
composed of different channels and different costs. Ms. Filipiak said
this was not workable because everyone should be offered the same level
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City Council Workshop Meeting
5/22/92/PP
Page 6
of service. She said Continental Cable was investigating the
possibility of making the satellite services into two tiers with two
rates. She said there were tiering penalties with the programming
contracts and if enough advertising was not sold, rates for all other
services would increase. She said she would look at several options and
would advise the City.
Sam Schwartz, resident, expressed his concerns and said the rates were
based on 100% participation. He asked what would happen if Continental
Cable did not receive 100% participation from each building and Ms.
Filipiak said she was investigating the possibility of requiring a
lesser percentage of participation. She said Council had made numerous
requests for Continental Cable to do that.
Mr. Siegel said he agreed with C/M Abramowitz's comments that the
proposals that Continental Cable made would not benefit the City. He
said a community in Plantation was given a separate package and a
different package was given to a community in Tamarac. He asked
Continental Cable to offer a package and in return the residents would
pay $13.70 as requested for the first year. He asked that the residents
should be given a contract for one year with an option to renew for
another year with a 10% to 15% increase.
Tape 3
Ms. Filipiak said the systems mentioned by Mr. Siegel in Tamarac and
Plantation were acquisitions. She said the community in Tamarac had a
contract with Telesat which was purchased by Continental Cable and it
was a condo and it did not receive the channels the rest of the City and
Broward County received. She said the community in Plantation was
acquired from a private cable company in 1987 and they had a different
agreement.
Ms. Filipiak said Continental Cable was fulfilling contractual
obligations that they inherited.
Mr. Alper read a portion of a letter dated 1988 from form r City
Attorney Doody which pertained to the fact that rates, ser ice or
operation would not change. He said the City based itsi legal
understanding on what Continental Cable stated and there were changes.
Sam Garber, resident, expressed his concerns and agreed with C/M
Abramowitz that the City should get information from other' cable
companies to come into the City. He also suggested that the City should
find out what the cost would be to have its own T.V. station because it
could be more economical for the City in the upcoming years and the City
would not need Continental Cable.
Mayor Bender responded that the City had to look to the future when the
City was not collecting revenue from construction and when the tax base
leveled off. He said the cable industry calculated that each subscriber
was valued at approximately $2,000 to $3,000 per year and there were
approximately 19,000 subscribers in the City. He said if the City had
its own cable T.V. station, it could raise revenue by selling off a
percentage of the company or it could go public.
Mr. Garber asked if the City could generate bonds to raise revenue if it
decided to have its own cable station. Mayor Bender said the City would
investigate this as well. He said Council and the City Administration
would explore every option and avenue before a decision was made.
Ben Chicofsky, resident, expressed his concerns and asked if Ms.
Filipiak could arrive at a percentage lower than 100% and one rate for
everyone. C/M Abramowitz said Ms. Filipiak was investigating this
suggestion.
Maxwell Ingram, resident, expressed his concerns and said he wrote
letters to President Bush and to other members of the State and Federal
Government asking them to deregulate the cable industry. He said to -
date, the responses he received were very favorable. He said as a
courtesy to Continental Cablesystems, other cable companies were
reluctant to come into the City. He said free cable T.V. was furnished
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City Council Workshop Meeting
5/22/92/PP
Page 7
to the cable companies by CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS. He said Continental
Cable did not generate any programs and they only paid a fee to the
sources.
Mr. Ingram said he requested representatives of CBS to provide free T.V.
equipment to his community and they complied. He said additionally,
they provided a one-year contract if anything happened to the equipment.
Mayor Bender CLOSED the public portion of the meeting with no further
response.
Mayor Bender said in summarizing this matter that Council and the City
Administration would investigate all legal and financial ramifications
before they bring this matter to the public.
C/M Abramowitz urged Mayor Bender to provide concrete data and
suggestions in order for Council to make an appropriate decision. He
advised Mayor Bender to be wary of a cable company whose past history
was going into business with the express purpose of being bought.
Mr. Kelly asked what direction should Staff take and Mayor Bender
answered that he would speak further with Mr. Kelly and the financial
direction would hinge on,the legal ramifications. He said he would take
it step-by-step.
Mr. Kelly said he needed more direction from Council and C/M Abramowitz
said an Expression of Interest was needed.
C/M Abramowitz suggested that City Attorney Kraft should research the
franchise agreement and if the City, under they Charter, was allowed to
go into the cable business.
Mayor Bender asked for an Expression of Interest to go forward.
C/M Abramowitz AYE
C/M Schreiber AYE
Mayor Bender AYE
C/M Schreiber asked Council to direct City Attorney Kraft to ascertain
if the City was legally permitted to go into the cable business and what
the cost would be. Mayor Bender said it cost many dollars for the City
of Pembroke Pines to find this out.
C/M Abramowitz said the City had find out:
1. If they could go into the cable business.
2. How to go into the cable business.
3. If the City wanted to go into the cable business.
C/M Abramowitz suggested that Council should direct City Attorney Kraft
to provide Council with a legal opinion as to whether the City could
have a cable company in the City.
i
V/M Schumann also Expressed his Interest to have Council go forward and
direct City Attorney Kraft do to research and provide a legal opinion
regarding this matter.
Mayor Bender ADJOURNED the Workshop at
10:50 a.m.
CAROL A. EVANS
City Clerk
J
LOCAL 3080
FLORIDA
PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS
May 13, 1992
METRO BaROWARD PROFESSIONAL FIRE nGIHTERS
1501 South Andrews Avenue • Ft. Lauderdale, Florlda 33314q
(305) 768-0959
BROWARD COUNTY COUNCIL
OF PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS BROWARD COUNTY AFL-0l0
Mr. John Kelly
Tamarac City Manager
Dear Mr. Kelly the renbers of the Tamarac Fire Dept. would lake to
express our feelings toward the proposal requested from Broward County
for fire suppression services in the City of Tamarac. Looking at alter-
natives for all aspects of city services is healthy and prudent. The
Tamarac Firefighters provide an efficient and effective service for the
City of Tamarac. We feel this requested proposal as well as the discussions]
between the City of Tamarac and Browaxd County, which have been ongoing fo
over a year now, will show the Tamarac Fire Dept. is one of the more effi
of all the fire depts. in the county.
we the undersigned would like to take this opportunity to inform you
of our collective hopes of remaining City of Tamarac employees for the
remainder of our careers. Thank you for your time.
cc peter Mack. Personnel Director
Jim Budzinski Fire Chief
Larry Bender Mayor
Norman Abramowitz City Council
Henry Sdhuurenn City Council
Irving Katz City Council
Joe Schreiber City Council
Member of the International Association of Fire Fighters
Representing Over 95% of Paid Fire Fighters in the United States and Canada
C
METRO BROWARD PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS
1301 South Andrews Avenue • Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33316
(303) 768-0959
LOCAL 3080
FLORIDA BROWARD COUNTY COUNCIL
PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS OF PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS BROWARD COUNTY AFL-10
NAME " 'POSITION YEARS IN TAMARAC
Member of the International Association of Fire Fighters
Representing Over 95% of Paid Fire Fighters in the United States and Canada
LOCAL 3080
FLORIDA
PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS
METRO BROWARD PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS
1501 South Andrews Avenue • Ft. Lauderdale. Florida 33316
(305) 768-0959
BROWARD COUNTY COUNCIL.
OF PROFESSIONAL. FIRE FIGHTERS
BROWARD CO NTY AFL-0l0
POSITION iTA'2S xz, ZAJtARAC
i< LA .
X-
A . r E&A r'r ec �i6 c S
Member of the International Association of Fire Fighters
Representing Over 95% of Paid Fire Fighters in the United States and Canada
F-1