HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-06-20 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCity Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 1
CITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP
MONDAY, JUNE 20, 1994
CALL TO ORDE Mayor Norman Abramowitz called this meeting to order
on Monday, June 20, 1994, at 9:00 a.m. in Conference Room #1 of Tamarac
City Hall, 7525 Northwest 88th Avenue, Tamarac, Florida.
PRESENT:
Mayor Norman Abramowitz
Vice Mayor Irving Katz
Councilwoman Sharon Machek
Councilman Larry Mishkin
Councilman Joseph Schreiber
ALSO PRESENT:
Robert S. Noe, Jr., City Manager
Dina M. McDermott, Assistant City Manager
Mitchell S. Kraft, City Attorney
Carol A. Evans, CIVIC, City Clerk
Kimberly Roth, Secretary
**********************************************************
Mayor Abramowitz thanked the public for coming and said he was going to
try to hold the meeting in the Conference Room because it is far more
conducive to the general workshop than it would be in the Council
Chambers.
Mayor Abramowitz said City Attorney, Mitch Kraft, is going to take a lead
role in the discussion because of the legal aspects.
Mr. Kraft said the model franchise Ordinance was on the agenda and he was
going to give a brief history starting with the 1994 events. He distributed
a "Chronological List of Draft Cable Television Model Franchises Action
and Council Discussions" and discussed it with the Council (Attachment
#1).
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 2
Mr. Kraft said the revised Draft Model Cable Television Ordinance he
received from Liebowitz & Associates is currently under further staff
review. He said the application that was developed concurrently by City
staff with input from his office and Dina McDermott and from the
Telecommunication Council is basically finished. He said the discussion
held earlier by Council was that before the applications are sent out the
rules must be in place.
C/M Schreiber asked what the next step is and Mr. Kraft said further staff
review and revisions from the Council. C/M Schreiber asked how many
reviews would be needed and Mr. Kraft said he anticipated having this on
the first meeting in August.
C/M Schreiber asked if there would still be a public hearing and Mr. Kraft
said the City hopes to have two public hearings as any other Ordinance
requires. He said he hopes to have the first reading at the first meeting in
August and the public hearing and final adoption at the second meeting in
August.
Mayor Abramowitz said he hoped everyone had reviewed the revised model
Ordinance and the purpose of this workshop was to have the Council ask
questions and give comments and suggestions so they can be determined
by the time they return from their vacation. He said Mr. Kraft had
indicated this Ordinance will come up for public hearing at the first
meeting in August, the second meeting will be the second reading, and by
the end of August this should be in place.
Mayor Abramowitz said he would like Mr. Kraft to send out copies of the
franchise agreement to all members of Council if he feels it is finished so
Council may look at it and ask questions if needed.
Mayor Abramowitz said he would like City Council to ask their questions
and then he will entertain questions from the public.
V/M Katz asked how close the package dated May 20th, which was the
draft of the franchise agreement, was to the final draft and Mr. Kraft said
the latest version of the Ordinance is dated June 13th. V/M Katz asked the
same question of the June 13th package and Mr. Kraft replied the package
was fairly close because it has had a lot of input from staff but is still in
draft form because a final review by staff was not completed.
I-i
1
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 3
Mayor Abramowitz told V/M Katz that whatever comments were made by
the Council and staff are in the latest package. He said what was
important was that once the meeting was over today the comments made
by staff would be researched by Mr. Kraft and Mr. Kraft would make
comments and suggestions to Liebowitz. He said he has to have staff
comments on the Ordinance and he wants this topic on the agenda for the
first meeting in August.
C/M Schreiber referred to a memorandum from Mr. Kraft on June 15, 1994
with a complete analysis of the proposed Ordinance and said if Council
went over the items in the memorandum then the Ordinance would be
covered. Mayor Abramowitz said there are specifics in the Ordinance that
he is not clear on that need further explanation.
C/W Machek said she wanted to point out that the word "Commission" is
still used on page 2 and there was another grammatical error. She
referred to pages 21 and 24 in section 2.09 and said she is finding
inconsistencies on the amount of public hearings and how they have to be
held and whether or not the Ordinance is referencing a specific area or the
whole City. She said she thought in the past workshops the Council was
discussing, if a franchise came in, within a certain number of years they
would have to cover the whole City and now she is seeing inconsistencies
with that discussion and they just might cover a specified area.
Mr. Kraft said it is important to remember that this is an Ordinance and is
not necessarily the agreement with the cable company that would be
coming in. He said the Ordinance is written in sufficiently broad language
and allows for some flexibility in case there was a situation where they
had to be in a specified area. C/W Machek said she considers that to be
double-talk and said either the City is allowing a specified area or not.
Mr. Kraft said under the Ordinance, even though it may be saying the City
is allowing a specified area, because there is an existing franchise with
Continental Cable and because State law exists requiring a level playing
field, everyone must be treated the same it would make it difficult for the
City to grant a specific part of the Ordinance. He said in the adoption of a
City Ordinance he hopes will last a long time, it is added in case the
contingency was to arise.
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 4
C/M Schreiber said it was not very clear and Mayor Abramowitz said when
the Federal Government instituted the new cable act it did not do anything
for the consumer but did a lot for the people who currently hold
franchises. He said the law says specifically that better conditions
cannot be given to any person coming in for a franchise than the present
franchise owner has. He said presently in the City anyone with a cable
franchise must build out 10% in the first year, 20% in the second year, and
the whole City in the third year.
C/W Machek asked why the Ordinance cannot just say it and Mayor
Abramowitz said because the law may change at any time. He said,
hopefully, the franchise will last 50 years and the Council is trying hard
not to make the same mistake as the people did 20 years ago when they
just sat down and made a deal without a franchise.
Mayor Abramowitz said the problem the City has is that it has been given
notice by Continental Cable that if it does not follow the Federal Law,
they will sue the City. He said on the other hand, the City does not want
to make it more difficult for anyone else to come into the City than
necessary. He said that is the fine line the City must walk because they
want to encourage people to come in and create competition but they
cannot give any better conditions to anyone than was given to Continental.
V/M Katz said there are areas in the City such as Shaker Village that do
not subscribe to Continental Cable because they have their own satellite
dishes. He said at some future time there may be one or more areas,
either Homeowner Association or Condo Association, who may look to do
the same thing. He said if Continental does not serve a particular area
than no other franchisee will serve that area unless they are required. He
said an area may decide they want to put in a satellite dish and that would
exempt that area from the new franchisee because Continental does not
serve it.
Mr. Kraft said the Ordinance is basically trying to give the City sufficient
flexibility to deal with possible contingencies in the future. He said this
way if something comes up the City does not have to go back and reamend
the Ordinance but instead can just do business based on this Ordinance
because it is like a shell.
ti
U
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 5
C/W Machek said the language on pages 21 and 24 does not seem to be
consistent and Mr. Kraft said he would take a close look at it after the
meeting.
C/W Machek asked, in regard to page 13, Section 2.05, concerning the
granting of rights of way, what if she does not want a new franchisee to
come in and dig up her yard to place cables underground, etc. Mayor
Abramowitz said she can stay with the existing cable company because
nothing mandates that she go to the new franchisee. C/W Machek asked if
the new franchisee would have to worry about the roadway area going into
the residents' home and Mayor Abramowitz said her statement was not
true and if C/W Machek has a utility easement they have a right.
C/W Machek asked it anyone in Tamarac, other than those in a
condominium, does not have a utility easement and Mayor Abramowitz said
everyone has a utility easement. V/M Katz said cable is not a utility as of
yet and they cannot put it in a utility easement if they are not a utility.
Mayor Abramowitz agreed.
Mr. Kraft said in the worst case scenario, if there is an easement in
someone's backyard and, based on the terms of the easement, it is possible
that other cable companies could come in and dig it up but they would have
to fix it back up.
C/W Machek asked Mr. Kraft to explain page 6.Q. to page 7 and Mayor
Abramowitz said that section was one of his questions, too. C/W Machek
said she got lost trying to read this section and Mr. Kraft said this is a key
to the whole franchise world because how gross revenue is defined
decides from what the City gets their franchise fee. He said this was an
attempt by the Telecommunications Council to define it as broadly and
comprehensibly possible.
Mr. Kraft said the City went through this with Continental when the City
would say gross revenue Continental would say advertising revenues so
gross revenues have to be defined as broadly as possible so later when it
becomes an issue again the City can refer to the Ordinance. Mayor
Abramowitz said any income from any source derived from a cable
company is gross revenue for which the City gets paid.
L
j
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 6
Mayor Abramowitz said the airwaves are loaded with buying clubs and
Continental sells time and makes money; the issue was whether it was
gross revenue or not. He said it is to the City's betterment to make sure
that every place that the City should be paid they get paid or the
franchisee gets the revenue and the City does not get the income. Mr.
Kraft said as defined in the Ordinance, wherever the franchisee gets
money the City should receive a franchise fee.
C/W Machek asked what was on page 25 and Mr. Kraft replied it was AV1
and said this was what the Risk Manager wanted as the level needed for
insurance. C/W Machek made the following suggested revisions: spacing
inconsistencies throughout the document; take out Commission on page 32.
C/W Machek referred to number 10 on page 40 and said rate discounts,
number of multiple dwellings and unit discounts have caused a lot of
conversation on the cable issue. She said she thought the new law said
the Council had equity throughout the City and she is reading it as
Continental Cable and any other franchise can have group discounts. She
said if they can have group discounts than what the City has been telling
the homeowners associations and Presidents Council is that it is not
allowed. Mayor Abramowitz said what C/W Machek said is not factual.
C/W Machek asked if the franchisers can have a group discount and Mayor
Abramowitz said the key is the City has to go by what the present
franchise holder has. He said the City has gone after Continental fifteen
times on this subject and Continental's franchise says they are allowed to
have promotional prices. Mr. Kraft said the section C/W Machek was
discussing refers to reporting requirements of the cable company and does
not necessarily say they can or cannot do it. He said this is essentially
saying that if the cable company is doing it the City wants to know about
it.
V/M Katz said the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has allowed
bulk rate contracts that are consistent. He said the promotional prices
were something that Continental came up with so they could have a
diversity of prices and charge anybody anything they felt and Mayor
Abramowitz agreed. V/M Katz said the FCC has changed it so the City is
not looking at promotional prices but rather bulk rate agreements which
should be consistent throughout.
J
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 7
Mayor Abramowitz said he wants a full explanation regarding bulk rates
from Liebowitz. He said the bulk contract provision is very important and
is one of the prime things that is bothering people within the City.
C/M Schreiber said according to the existing franchise the cable provider
has to be consistent and be equitable in their charging to everyone on an
equal basis. Mayor Abramowitz disagreed and said that is what the
gimmick is on the promotional prices.
C/M Schreiber said if Continental provides bulk rate agreements with
different associations (condominiums, homeowners, etc.) and they charge
different prices they are inconsistent with the original franchise but they
have never been challenged on it. He said it is a question that has to be
established and determined and if under the new FCC regulations
everything has to be level they are not acting properly.
C/M Schreiber asked Mr. Kraft what was meant by providing service to the
entire City. He said currently in the third year a cable provider must
provide service to the whole City and asked if it means if the cable
company has to offer it or do they have to put in the lines. Mr. Kraft asked
for a few minutes to look for the answer.
C/M Schreiber said recently an article in the paper said that in California
the Supreme Court ruled that the electric utility company that has the
lines and is providing the service to all the consumers within the area has
to allow outside providers to use their own lines. He said the theory is
that the lines were put in under the agreements that they are there to
serve the public.
C/M Schreiber said that is an area that can be explored and if it is
submissable than a competitor's cable company can use Continental's lines
for service. Mayor Abramowitz said the City has asked Liebowitz that
question from the beginning because one of the two companies that
expressed a desire to franchise in the City had asked Continental to buy
time on their lines and Continental said no.
C/W Machek said on page 42 letter C records have to be available for
inspection for Broward and Dade. She asked why records did not have to be
available for Palm Beach and Collier. Mayor Abramowitz said the City has
enough trouble in Broward County without Dade and Palm Beach Counties.
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 8
C/W Machek said she was asking because Dade County was in the model
franchise agreement and Mr. Kraft said his guess was that it was probably
put in because the Telecommunications Council is in Dade County.
C/W Machek referred to page 66, letter C, the number 18 was at the end of
one of the lines and Mr. Kraft said it looks like a typo. C/W Machek also
noted that Commission was used twice on page 67.
C/W Machek said the other questions she had pertaining to the rest of the
model would come under the materials received from Ms. McDermott.
Mayor Abramowitz said Council needs to make two decisions promptly if
they want to get it done in August. He said the big point is to not make it
exclusive. He said the law says the City can make it as severe as the
Council wants but that is not the aim of the Council.
Mayor Abramowitz said two things bother him, the first on page 21,
section 2.09A, which says the City may grant a franchise for a period not
to exceed ten years to serve all or a specified area of the City. He said it
should be all of the City and not parts of it and the people who have spoken
to him in the last month have indicated that ten years was not enough and
he thinks their points are valid. He said he thinks it will present a
difficult problem for anyone looking to come into the City. C/M Schreiber
said they will have trouble getting their money back.
Mayor Abramowitz said he has never heard of a ten year franchise
agreement because generally they run thirty years with a minimum of
twenty years. He said he is not making a recommendation but he wants
the Council to think about it.
V/M Katz said the technology is changing so quickly and radically that by
the time an installation is put in it is outdated. He said if a company was
to put in ten years with an option the City would be allowing something
different than what Continental has anyway. He said Continental's
franchise agreement says that they put cable in the ground and activate it.
He said the Council is not requiring it because it may not be the way a new
franchisee will go and if someone comes up with a better plan and he can
afford the same level of service to every resident of the City, why should
the Council inhibit him by saying he must put cable in the ground and
activate it. Mayor Abramowitz said he was not discussing that but rather
0
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 9
the term of a franchise in order to make it attractive enough for someone
to want to come into the City because if the Council does not they will be
just playing Continental's game.
V/M Katz said he would like to see a ten year franchise and options at the
end of the ten years because there are so many things that will happen. He
said if Southern Bell is allowed to produce cable in the City and Mayor
Abramowitz said they would not need a franchise, the City would be losing
the franchise fees and Mayor Abramowitz said that is not the problem
right now. V/M Katz said it is a problem if the Council is going to tell the
franchisee they have twenty years and not allow them to do something
else to compete with Southern Bell, then the franchisee has a problem.
V/M Katz said he would like to have a ten year franchise with options
following. He said he would like the franchisee to come back to the
Council and tell them the new requirements that are needed because of the
new laws and the technology. Mayor Abramowitz asked if V/M Katz
wanted to throw the franchisee at the mercy of the politicians of that
time.
C/M Schreiber said the word "may" in the section being discussed confused
the whole thing because "may" is not mandatory but is optional.
Mayor Abramowitz said the cable subject has torn the City apart over the
last few years because of incorrect and terrible information
disseminating within the City and it is the Council's obligation to
straighten it out and let the people know what the Council is doing.
C/M Schreiber suggested the word "may" be eliminated and replaced by
"shall".
Mayor Abramowitz said he does not want to come here in August and go
through the same nonsense again and postpone it for another two months.
Mr. Kraft said changing all the "may's" to "shall's" will limit this Council
and future Councils to what they can do. He said basically this is an
Ordinance but at some point, if other cable companies come in, franchise
agreements will have to be made. He said by leaving it as "shall" instead
of "may" a big area of negotiation is eliminated. C/M Schreiber said if the
Council changes the conditions from one to the other there may be an
I
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 10
advantage given to one over the other and, therefore, the Council will be
violating the equal treatment to all principle.
C/M Schreiber said "may" is a very sticky word and the City is talking
about a longer period of time. He said the perspective franchisers are
probably looking for at least twenty years. Mayor Abramowitz said
perspective franchisers are looking for thirty years and he personally is
only interested in not making it so that everyone walks away from the
City. He said the Cable Act helped the existing franchisee and if he had
his way he would make it comfortable for someone to come in and provide
but that cannot be done.
Mayor Abramowitz said he has spoken to both people who have indicated an
interest in coming in and both told him as of last week they were still
interested and they are waiting. He said his problem is that when the
Council discussed distinguishing the real ones from the phony ones they
had indicated they would have a franchise application. He said the
franchise application will be refundable to anyone who gets a franchise
with the City. He said if the franchise application is $3500 they will get
it all credited to their franchise fee if they get the franchise. He said the
application is not a franchise fee.
Mayor Abramowitz said the Council is talking about a mega -million dollar
operation in the City and $3500 is very little. He said he thinks the
franchise application fee should be $5000 because if they are legitimate
they will come up with the money. He said the money is non-refundable if
they do not get the franchise. He said he wants the public to understand
what the City will be receiving is $10,000 and it takes a tremendous
amount of time and is very costly.
Mayor Abramowitz said he wants Council to make a decision on the length
of term because both firms are looking for thirty years and he thinks ten
years will be very difficult to get. V/M Katz said he thinks somewhere in
the future the City will have to have an alternative means. He said a
problem will arise if Southern Bell can provide telephone and cable on the
same line and the City has a thirty year franchise restricting a new cable
franchisee to a specific type of service which will not allow them to
compete with Southern Bell.
j
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 1 1
Mayor Abramowitz said he does not want to say to a perspective
franchisee that they must put the cable lines in the ground and V/M Katz
said he did not say it should be put in the ground. Mayor Abramowitz said
he is talking about the length of time it takes for a person to recoup their
money. V/M Katz said they may not need a franchise and Mayor
Abramowitz said then it is moot.
Mayor Abramowitz said he guarantees that Continental Cable is delighted
with ten years because who will come in and spend mega -millions of
dollars and look to get their money back. He asked how much a franchisee
would have to charge in order for them to recoup their money in a ten year
period. He said the whole secret is for them to come in and provide
competition for Continental.
V/M Katz said it depends on the percentage of cable subscribers they can
walk away from and Mayor Abramowitz said if they are more expensive
than Continental they will walk away with no one but if they are cheaper
than Continental than they have a market.
V/M Katz said it is not so much the length of time but the amount of
subscribers they will have and Mayor Abramowitz said he has given his
opinion.
C/M Mishkin thanked his colleagues and said they have all posed his
questions and concerns so he has very little to say. He said V/M Katz has
an important point that the Council should entertain very carefully and the
technology today is such that tomorrow's technology is already obsolete
before the ink is dry on the plans.
C/M Mishkin said the Council cannot envision what will happen in the
future and ten years is an eternity in cable T.V. He said the Council has to
be a little more realistic by saying ten years is not a very long time but
the company that comes in and puts something in will be out of business
ten years from now with their technology. He said the technology is quite
different than it was twenty years ago and the Council should look very
carefully at the concern V/M Katz raised.
C/M Mishkin said someone said the Ordinance will be for the next fifty
years and that is not true. Discussion took place regarding when
perspective franchisees come in.
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 12
1
TAPE 2
Mayor Abramowitz said when companies come in the number one sticking
point will be the amount of time. He said hard decisions have to be made
and his decision is to get people in to provide competition for Continental.
He said if he legally could he would suggest to everyone that the City give
companies whatever they can to get them in.
Mayor Abramowitz said Aventura told him that the City is expecting him
to come in and invest six to eight million dollars in putting in a cable
franchise and when they tell the people their rate is $17 per month,
Continental Cable will charge less. He said he told him it was a business
decision that he has to make.
Mayor Abramowitz said this goes farther than business and it is a healing
process in the City.
V/M Katz said all the points are valid and this is a process of negotiation
where the City would ask for whatever they feel they are looking for and
take a compromise somewhere down the line. He said just because
Aventura says they cannot get their money back in thirty years he does not
agree. He said if Aventura can provide the service and give a price that
the people are willing to take he can sign an agreement with them and
they will not go back to Continental.
V/M Katz said if Aventura can provide a service on a long-term basis and
give the people a price they are willing to pay he will walk away with the
bulk of the agreements. He said it is the amount of subscribers and not
the initial cost and Mayor Abramowitz said the only way he will be able to
get subscribers is if he is able to come in at a reasonable cost. He said it
is a responsibility of the City to allow and provide for people to come in
that will be able to charge less.
V/M Katz said he has no problem with what Mayor Abramowitz is saying.
He said before he would say to increase the length of time he would have
to have cost projection and an analysis from the provider to justify that
he cannot get his money back in this amount of time. He said if the
provider can prove it to him he will extend it but why would he do it
without that information in front of him.
1
City Council Workshop Meeting
5/20/94/KR
Page 13
C/M Mishkin said the language now states that the City may grant a
franchise not to exceed ten years and asked Mr. Kraft if it says that they
cannot extend a franchise not to exceed eleven years and Mr. Kraft said in
the current language the franchise can have renewal periods as well.
Mayor Abramowitz said according to what it says it cannot be longer than
ten years. C/M Mishkin asked if the Council can grant a franchise longer
than eleven years and Mr. Kraft said, no, and read from the proposed
franchise agreement
Mayor Abramowitz said he hoped C/M Mishkin was not suggesting that the
Council negotiate with each person coming in on the length of time.
Discussion took place regarding the language and time length.
Mayor Abramowitz said he had received a call from Continental cable in
which he told them that the City would do everything in their power to
bring people in to the City to provide competition and Continental replied
they had deep pockets. He said the federal law helps Continental and it
does not help the Council or the people. He said Continental said they have
the financial capabilities to rewire the whole City if the need arose.
Mayor Abramowitz said the Council is trying to bring franchisees into the
City but are being held by the federal law. He said he had asked Mr. Kraft
numerous questions regarding what the City can and cannot do and he had
been stymied in every direction he tried by the federal law. He said he did
not want this to go on for another six months.
V/M Katz said the City could ask for a cost projection so the Council can
justify the time limit it would take for someone to recoup their
investment. C/M Schreiber asked how a person could do that if he does not
know how many customers he will have. Mayor Abramowitz said he would
be embarrassed to ask perspective franchisers for a cost analysis on a ten
year franchise and V/M Katz said he would not be embarrassed.
C/M Schreiber said the item being discussed could be handled if an
amendment clause is included in the Ordinance which gives, at the option
of the City only, the right to amend the Ordinance as new technological
conditions arise to encounter, handle and incorporate them into this
Ordinance.
J
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 14
C/M Schreiber said he keeps hearing that Mayor Abramowitz wants to
encourage competition and he thinks everyone else does too. He said if
this is really wanted no obstacles should be put in the path of the
applicants. He said Mayor Abramowitz wants to change the $3500 to
$5000 to separate the legitimate ones from the phony ones but he is
saying they will receive the money back. He asked what the difference
was between $3500 and $500 if the money was going to be given back and
Mayor Abramowitz said the person who is not legitimate will not come for
a refundable deposit.
C/M Schreiber said he did not think $1500 would make a big difference. He
said the Council should try to have a lower fee to make it easier for an
applicant. He said if a term of ten years is insufficient then give them
twenty years and give them an opportunity to come into the City. He said
V/M Katz is asking for a cost analysis and what will happen is that the
Council will still be discussing it in November.
Mayor Abramowitz said it does not matter what the application fee is if it
is applied to the franchise fee but if someone comes in and gets an
application, by the time the City gets through with it the time and cost
element will run into the thousands of dollars. Discussion took place
regarding the cost element.
Mayor Abramowitz said six years ago someone wanted to franchise cable
T.V. and ended up being bought by Continental. He said when someone
comes in with a non-refundable fee he wants to make sure they are truly
interested in getting the franchise.
C/W Machek said the cost of doing steps four through six is providing
different modifications if they have a modification to make. She asked if
the steps are about being able to make the changes if need be and Mr. Kraft
said, yes. Discussion took place regarding the process that would take
place when an application is turned in.
Mayor Abramowitz said the franchise is worth millions of dollars so this
is very small in the scheme of things. He said he is not trying to
discourage anyone. He said the only thing he hopes does not happen is that
a phony person apply for the cable franchise.
1
J
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 15
Mayor Abramowitz said the City will advertise in both newspapers and in
the trade papers that the City encourages, welcomes and looks forward to
helping cable franchise people interested in servicing Tamarac. He said
anyone who can come in and provide the service will be considered and any
application has to go to Liebowitz and be researched. He said it will take
a long time.
Mayor Abramowitz said the Council has to get the Ordinance on track and
get it going to start the healing process of the City.
C/W Machek asked if the Council was going to go through the analysis
because she is nervous about the cost to the City other than just legal
advice or review.
Mayor Abramowitz said he received a call from Continental Cable who had
evidently read his remark in the newspaper. He said the law says when
the City passes a new franchise agreement the specifics in the new
franchise agreement regarding customer service can be insisted on from
Continental Cable after ninety days. He said this is one of the things he
thought would be a problem for Continental but they have told him they do
have an office but that is for them to prove.
C/W Machek said the office does not meet the requirements in the new
Ordinance and Mayor Abramowitz said whatever is in the new Ordinance
Continental will have to meet. C/W Machek said she was not 100% sure
whether it is necessary to meet the requirements of page two of Ms.
McDermott's memo when there is the ability to call at no charge to the
parent company. She said if Aventura is based in Dade County and the
customer can call them between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. she feels it is
equal and it would not be necessary for them to be open until 7:00 p.m.
Mayor Abramowitz said there are people in the City who have tried to
make calls to them and have gotten three hours of busy signals. C/W
Machek said when she became a Council member she received a book which
gave them the length of calls and this weekend she made three calls to
Continental Cable and spoke to someone within the two minute period.
C/M Schreiber said it is not only the calls because if a person wants to
bring in a converter or a piece of equipment and exchange it or get a
refund they must go to the office. Mayor Abramowitz said in an office
J
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 16
they have the ability to make corrections. C/W Machek said she is
questioning if the hours stated are required.
Mayor Abramowitz asked C/W Machek if she was suggesting that if a new
franchise holder comes in they do not have to have an office in Tamarac
and C/W Machek said, no, she was wondering if it is necessary that the
office be open from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Mayor Abramowitz said he did
not care about the hours but the difference was that someone would get
served the minute Continental has to have an office in the City and a new
franchiser does not need one.
Mayor Abramowitz said Continental has close to 200,000 subscribers and,
if they have everyone calling in if a problem occurs, he does not want to
wait on the phone for an hour and a half waiting for a service call. He said
he did not think there was anything wrong with the City being serviced by
an office in City Hall.
Mayor Abramowitz asked for C/W Machek's questions on the Customer
Review and C/W Machek said she questioned the cost of time for the City
Manager or his designeer to do the things on pages 14 and 15. Mayor
Abramowitz said the City Manager is very unhappy and does not have the
technical ability to complete the tasks and he agrees with C/W Machek.
C/W Machek asked if the City is going to be required to hire someone to
work with cable companies. Mayor Abramowitz said this process is very,
very expensive and generally the City may go for $50,000 to $70,000 per
year on some aspects. He said this was the reason Tamarac joined forces
with Lauderhill and Plantation to hire Mr. Liebowitz in order to do this. He
said the other two cities have not done anything because there was not an
upheaval in those cities regarding cable T.V. as there was in Tamarac. He
said Tamarac was torn apart by this particular item because of a lot of
misinformation was given out. He said there was one item that may cost
the City $80,000 per year to monitor.
V/M Katz said if the other cities use any part of what the City is currently
paying for the City will get a pro -rated share back and Mayor Abramowitz
said that was not the deal with Liebowitz. He said Liebowitz's deal was
that once this study is done any City can come in and get the document,
reprint it and change the name without paying anything. He said if the
cities did not help pay where Tamarac would get some money back,
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 17
Liebowitz has promised that he would not represent that City. Discussion
took place regarding the agreement with Liebowitz.
Mr. Kraft said another City can call at any time and request public records
and Tamarac will have to give them the document. He said all that will
happen with Liebowitz is if the other city wants to involve Liebowitz then
the City can get a pro -rated share but if the City just takes the document
then nothing will happen.
Mayor Abramowitz said Tamarac's City Council had enough concern about
what is happening in this City to start the project. He said this kind of
document does not prevail in any other City in Broward County. C/M
Schreiber said the other cities are waiting for Tamarac for the free ride.
C/W Machek said the Council needs to understand that when discussing the
contents of 19.n, 19.0, 19.r, 19.s, and 19.t they will end up as a cost to the
City. She said the City is saying it will be designated to handle
complaints and she does not know if dealing with every day cable
complaints is the requirement of the City Manager and Mayor Abramowitz
said the City Manager cannot do that.
C/W Machek said it looks like the City will have to hire someone to do that
and from what she understands from the 1992 FCC rules the City will also
have to use part of their Finance Department to go over some of the cost
analysis. C/M Schreiber said that is why the City is here, to provide
service to the public no matter what the cost is because they are paying
for it anyway. C/W Machek said it will come out of the budget and the
Council should understand that the City Manager's job is not to listen to
cable complaints every day.
Mr. Noe said if the City were to pursue the Ordinance exactly as it is
currently proposed a substantial bureaucracy would be established. He
said he sees a minimum of two people to complete this task. He said he
thinks the City may be looking at an increase in the franchise tax because
if people want the service it will have to be paid for and it will be a fee -
type situation where the people who subscribe to cable will support the
administration of the Ordinance. He said it will be expensive.
Mayor Abramowitz said this process is all consumer driven and he
understands the problems that exist. He said he is not interested in
punishing anyone but rather in just providing the service. He said Mr.
J
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 18
Liebowitz drew up a franchise which indicated every eventuality because
he is the number one expert in the country on cable. He said he agrees
there are certain things he does not want the City Manager to be involved
with and he does not want to add $70,000 to $90,000 to the payroll.
Mayor Abramowitz said Continental Cable services a few other cities and
if they give their financial figures to the other cities as far as cost is
concerned, they must give it to Tamarac. He said there is no different
cost in servicing Lauderhill than in servicing Tamarac so if the cities
cannot get together to share the cost he will fight to spend the $70,000 to
$80,000 per year to be able to hire people to document their figures.
Mayor Abramowitz said the Council members had received a letter today
from Continental Cable telling them that the law said Continental has to
provide by sometime in July some figures but it was changed so another
set of figures have to be provided late in August. He asked if the Council
would pay someone to go over the first set of figures and then pay them
again to do the same thing three weeks later.
Mayor Abramowitz said the Federal Government has changed this four or
five times in the last six or seven months. He asked Mr. Kraft if the
Council would move forward with the Ordinance and the franchise would
the City then have the opportunity between the first and second readings
to go over the Customer Service Review because there are things in there
that he does not agree with. He said he does not believe in putting an
unfair burden on the City because the City is not equipped to do something
like this. Mr. Kraft said, yes, modifications could be made to the
Ordinance between the first and second readings.
Mr. Noe said more Customer Service requirements that are put on any cable
vendor will be reflected in higher rates. He said everything the City
requires any cable vendor to provide in Customer Service will be reflected
in cable rates because cable rates or advertising are the only places they
have to make money.
Mayor Abramowitz said he is not interested in punishing anyone. He asked
how this process should be done without holding up the Ordinance another
three months. V/M Katz said the City of Valparaiso has their own
television system and they subsidize the rates to the consumer in the
City. He said basically the City will be put in the same position where the
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 19
City will subsidize the difference between the actual cost. He said if it
will cost $100,000 and the City only receives $50,000 from the franchise
fee it will cost the City $50,000. Mayor Abramowitz asked how the City
would get the $50,000 and V/M Katz said if the City is willing to
subsidize it that is the way the proposed level of service will provided
and not increase the franchise fee from to 5%.
Mayor Abramowitz asked V/M Katz again how the City will get the
$50,000 and V/M Katz said there are two options. He said either the City
subsidizes the cost and it comes out of general revenue or the City
increases the 3% franchise fee to 5%. Mayor Abramowitz said both things
that V/M Katz suggested costs the public.
V/M Katz said if the City wants the proposed level of service someone
will pay for it. Mayor Abramowitz said he agrees with C/W Machek that
there is a lot of language in the proposed Ordinance that could be removed
without giving up anything and the City's liability would be limited. WM
Katz said he was not arguing that there is a lot to remove but if nothing is
removed there are only two options.
Mayor Abramowitz said the argument made years ago and very recently is
that the City should sue Continental Cable because the City did not receive
a 5% franchise fee but the City Council at the time of the agreement said
the franchise fee should be 3%. He said Continental said to make it 5%
because they did not care. V/M Katz said if the proposed level of service
is allowed to be part of the agreement someone will have to pay. He said
if the City does not want anyone to pay for it then the level of service
will have to be reduced.
Mr. Noe said he would like to say to the citizens present at the meeting
that if policemen were free the City would probably have one on every
corner. He said Cable T.V. is not free and it is important that the
community decide through the Council what level of service they want.
Mayor Abramowitz said for the people in the room Mr. Noe's statement is
marvelous but there are 48,780 people who are not in the room and V/M
Katz said only five make the decision. Mayor Abramowitz asked how the
City can address the Ordinance and make changes as Council indicates
without delaying it. He said there are some things in the model Ordinance
J
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 20
that he does not agree with but nothing is startling. He said he believes
the model is the blueprint for the future.
Mr. Kraft said this is classic because the City wants everything but it also
must decide how it will be paid for. Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted to
know how the Council will proceed as expeditiously as possible. He said
the guideline was set for the first meeting in August and he asked how the
City could proceed. Mr. Kraft said the City could consider eliminating the
whole Customer Service provision but that is a big reason why the City
probably wants to pass this Ordinance. Mr. Kraft said if the Customer
Service provision is left in the Council must think about modifying it to
deal with the expense.
Mayor Abramowitz asked Ms. McDermott when the first meeting in August
was and Ms. McDermott replied it was August 10. Mayor Abramowitz said
he is going to ask Council not to defer this topic but to go ahead and V/M
Katz said the Council was back on August 2 so there was no reason why a
workshop could not be called. Mayor Abramowitz said he will call a
workshop meeting before the end of this meeting.
Mayor Abramowitz said he does not want to hold this up but rather to
move forward with it and Mr. Noe suggested the Council appoint a Blue
Ribbon Commission created from citizens of Tamarac to work with City
staff for the next thirty days. He said the citizens are concerned about
cable rates and they think that the City is all-powerful. He said he has
seen citizen Committees work very effectively and each person of Council
could appoint someone that they felt was a leader in the community who
would have some expertise and be a responsible person so the community
would agree with some of the Customer Service levels and other
regulatory things in the Ordinance.
Mayor Abramowitz said he had no objection to Mr. Noe's suggestion except
that politics would be brought into the process and he does not want that.
He said the problem is that many people who are equipped to serve on such
a Committee are gone during this time of the year.
Mayor Abramowitz said he suggests between the first and second hearing
a minimum of one Town House meeting be held regarding Cable where a
presentation for as many people as possible can be made so they can
understand what is being done.
J
�J
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 21
Mayor Abramowitz said the best thing about the July recess is that the
elected officials get out of City Hall and allow staff to do some work. He
said staff accomplishes more in that month than they do in six months.
Mr. Noe said the latter part of June and July will be the most intense
budget months that the staff has.
Mayor Abramowitz said he needs Mr. Noe to take the Ordinance home and
pencil in what is improbable, impossible or terrible. He said the Council
has done their homework on the Ordinance for the past two months and he
wants Mr. Noe to take it home. He said Mr. Noe did not have to rewrite it
but at a workshop should be able to indicate to the Council what is wrong
with the Ordinance.
Mr. Noe said the City Manager will not be performing the tasks that are
currently designated as City Manager responsibilities. He said someone
will be hired to take care of it and he said he can do what Mayor
Abramowitz asked him to.
Mayor Abramowitz said he wants every Council person to respond to the
Ordinance if they have any questions or suggestions they should write
them down and they will be given to the right people. He said the Council
has looked at the Ordinance and discussed it and the City Manager will be
able to do something with it.
TAPE 3
C/M Mishkin said he would like to caution Mr. Noe to understand that most
of the comments given were from the public and Mayor Abramowitz said
he disagrees. Mayor Abramowitz said he has listened to complaints from
the public on this subject for years and the proposed franchise agreement
addressed alot of the public's concerns. Discussion took place.
C/M Mishkin said the flaws in the agreement itself are minimal except for
the technical verbiage. He said the document was pretty good and the
questions address what the public is outraged about and Mayor
Abramowitz disagreed.
Mr. Noe said C/M Mishkin had a good point but the public thinks the
Ordinance can be administered free and to some extent it is the cable
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 22
company that is administering the Ordinance. He said the cable company
takes the complaints and are absorbing the costs currently but the new
Ordinance is discussing transferring the costs to the City. Mayor
Abramowitz said he has not had a complaint from the public because there
was no office in the City.
Mr. Kraft said the City Manager's Office completed an analysis of the
Ordinance which was given to Council and Mr. Liebowitz had developed the
Ordinance by putting in what was possible under FCC regulations. He said
if the Ordinance deals with how the people are feeling about Customer
Service it meets their concerns but the reason it was developed was
because it was legally possible under law. He said when this is developed
as a legal document it will be up to the administration to decide if the
City can afford it.
Mayor Abramowitz said there are certain things in the Ordinance that are
important and some of those were transferred from the responsibility of
the cable company to the City and the City will have to pay for it. He said
the City can mandate what is required in order to be a franchise holder in
the City and can also mandate who provides that particular service. WM
Katz said he thinks the Council will find that the residents of Tamarac
would want an agreement for ten or twelve dollars a month and be willing
to wait ten minutes longer for someone to answer the telephone. He said
someone will have to pay the cost.
Mayor Abramowitz RECESSED for five minutes at 10:40 a.m. and
RECONVENED at 10:48 a.m. with ALL PRESENT.
Mayor Abramowitz OPENED the meeting TO THE PUBLIC for questions.
A Resident thanked the Council for the work they have done on the cable
topic. He said for two years he has paid more than twice as much as his
next door neighbor and Mayor Abramowitz said he was too. The resident
asked when it was going to be corrected and Mayor Abramowitz said there
are only two ways to lower the price, the first is to not have Cable Vision
and the second is to bring competition into the City.
Another resident asked if the City had been responsible for any fees in the
past. Mayor Abramowitz said no, the City did not do the work, Continental
did. The resident asked why it could not be passed on to a future franchise
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 23
holder and Mayor Abramowitz said the reason it was made this way is that
the person who prepared the franchise tried to give absolute control to the
City. He said the consensus he hears is that there are a lot of things that
the City should not be involved in because it is costly.
C/M Schreiber said the City is put in the situation where they have to
spend the money because of the new FCC regulations.
Mat King, resident, said with respect to the franchise, chances are the
City is going to give a franchise to Continental Cable and Mayor
Abramowitz said Continental has a franchise which is not up for another
six years. Mr. King asked if a franchise can be given to another company
that is not a monopoly and Mayor Abramowitz said anyone can come in to
the City if they are able to show financial responsibility and they are
equipped to provide the service to the City.
Anthony Silvestri, resident of Lime Bay, said Continental is currently in
Lime Bay and they are requesting Lime Bay to sign a contract with them
for five years. He said there are four different ranges of prices for the
different buildings in Lime Bay and he asked if Continental has to have the
same price for everyone. Mayor Abramowitz said the Council has asked
the Cable attorney that question and was told they do not have to have the
same price for everyone.
Mr. Silvestri said he wants to stop the word coming into Tamarac that
anyone can come into the City without a franchise. He said there are
people saying they do not need a City franchise and they can come in
whenever they want. Mayor Abramowitz said he received a call from
someone saying he had nerve to hold up the cable franchise work. He said
Mr. Liebowitz has two jobs, to create and write a white paper which
indicated who did or did not need a franchise and why. He said the reason
it was not given to the public is because Mr. Liebowitz writes in legal
terms and he has been asked to write it so everyone can understand it.
Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted Mr. Kraft to send Mr. Liebowitz's last
document on the white paper to the City Clerk so copies can be made for
distribution. He said Mr. Liebowitz's contention is that a franchise is
needed. Discussion took place regarding who needs a franchise.
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/2Q/94/KR
Page 24
C/W Machek said one of the concerns she would have for Lime Bay is that
if they are signing a contract with Continental Cable for four years, how
bound will they be if a competitor comes in. Mayor Abramowitz said he
cannot give a guarantee but it will be a long time before a new franchisee
will actually be able to provide cable service to the public. He said this
is a business decision Lime Bay will have to make.
V/M Katz said he does not see it as a benefit to Lime Bay, Carriage Hills or
the Bermuda Club to go ahead with the monthly situation offered by
Continental Cable. He said if the Council is going to look at this in August,
by the beginning of September a number of people interested in becoming
franchisees should be available. He said the first question he would ask
the new franchisees is what date they can provide the ten percent service
and where will it be.
Mayor Abramowitz said he has worked with a lot of communities in trying
to solve problems and of all the things he has been involved with as an
elected official in the City nothing has been as bad as cable. He said the
problem is that everyone is misinformed. Discussion took place regarding
service.
Fanny Agin, resident of Lime Bay, asked if it is intended that more than
one franchisee will be permitted to come into the City and Mayor
Abramowitz said as many franchisees will be permitted as are willing to
come because Tamarac does not provide an exclusive franchise.
Ms. Agin asked if the City would be responsible for screening the different
companies and Mayor Abramowitz said the City would but the problem that
the City has is making sure a phony company does not come in. He said
green mail is when a company comes in and makes their presence known so
a major company buys them out as has happened twice in the City.
Ms. Agin asked if there was a provision in the Ordinance that in the event a
very sophisticated technology is brought in that the company is mandated
to provide that service and if the cost basis change by how much would it
change. Mayor Abramowitz said that is a business decision a company will
have to make. He said if eight months from now a tremendous
breakthrough occurs so wires do not have to be put in the ground and they
could sell the customers something that could be placed on the window
sill that person could not wait to come into the City.
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 25
Mayor Abramowitz said he was shocked when he found out what this
franchise means in dollars and statistically, 85% of the people who do not
like Continental and give up cable television are back within ninety days.
He said Cable television is not a luxury anymore.
Hal Licker, resident of Lakes of Carriage Hills (LOCH), said LOCH could sign
a contract with Continental at any time for a five year period starting at
$16 per month whereas a subscription basis is $28 per month.
V/M Katz said he has been paying the maximum retail rate for the past
eleven years that he has lived in Carriage Hills so anything that happens
there affects him as well. He said he would tell people to wait before
signing a contract because there may be things that are not taken into
consideration. He said LOCH should look at all the numbers because if they
have waited this long they might as well wait until after the first and
second hearings in August. He said a judgment decision should be made
after they have received the information from those two meetings.
Mayor Abramowitz said one thing he has found out by going to all the
major condominiums is that one of them has five phases. He said when the
time came to sign a bulk contract for $10 per month four phases went
with the deal and one phase opted not to. He said the one phase has been
paying over $20 per month for the last five years and are very angry. He
said it was a business decision and he tries not to get involved at all with
the negotiations with Continental Cable. Discussion took place regarding
negotiations.
Mayor Abramowitz said he wants Continental to get a run for their money
but the Council must understand that the Federal government suddenly put
the City in charge of taking a role in this and that is wrong because what
is good for Lime Bay may be terrible for Carriage Hills.
Jo Wright, resident, asked when the Council is going to decide to wait
until all the information is received concerning Cable Vision and get on to
the rest of the City business and Mayor Abramowitz said he hopes this
Ordinance comes up for first reading at the first meeting in August. He
said there will be two public hearings and there will be a Town Hall
meeting and he will have the experts there. He said, hopefully, whatever
is needed to be done will be. Ms. Wright said she was referring to today's
J
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 26
meeting and Mayor Abramowitz said two minutes. V/M Katz said the
Council does not get this many people to come to Budget hearings as for
cable.
C/M Mishkin said he would like staff, Council, and the public to keep in
the back of their minds that regardless of what is adopted everyone should
not get excited and think there will be ten cable companies competing for
the franchise. He said people's problems will not be solved completely
with the adoption of a new cable franchise Ordinance. He said he thinks
the City's problems will only be beginning when the cable franchise is
adopted.
Vera Weller, resident of Lakes of Carriage Hills, asked about the duties
that Continental Cable has assumed which are now being turned over to
the City and Mayor Abramowitz said that is the proposal for the new
franchise and it has not been done yet. Ms. Weller asked if the City does
this will there be a cost involved and will it be worth the cost for the
City to accept it and Mayor Abramowitz said he had questioned V/M Katz
where the money would be produced. V/M Katz said the people will have to
pay for it if they want it and Mayor Abramowitz said there are two
alternatives that both indicate it will come out of the public's pockets.
Ms. Weller asked if, aside from the cost, is there a value to having the City
assume these responsibilities and Mayor Abramowitz said other than
politics, no.
Mayor Abramowitz CLOSED the meeting TO THE PUBLIC.
I
Mayor Abramowitz said Mr. Kraft has some comments for Council and Mr.
Kraft said on June 13 there was a joint workshop between the Council and
the Charter Board at which time suggested revisions were made to
Temporary Ordinance #1654, which is the Ordinance regarding
compensation for the offices of Mayor and Council.
Mayor Abramowitz asked if an extra copy was available. Mr. Kraft said he
has a couple extra copies and Mayor Abramowitz asked if he had new
copies of his presentation. Mr. Kraft answered, yes.
J
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 27
Mayor Abramowitz asked Mr. Kraft to update the Council and Mr. Kraft said
at the joint meeting, input suggested revisions be made to the ballot
explanation. He said the changes were made and valid figures were put in
from the amounts that the salary was to what it will be. He said he had
also provided the Council with the June 15 memo which contains the
suggested revisions to Temporary Ordinance #1654.
Mayor Abramowitz said the Council held a joint meeting with the Charter
Board and the Charter Amendments were brought up to the Charter Board.
He asked Mr. Kraft if he was suggesting some changes and Mr. Kraft asked
if a recess could be arranged so he could obtain his papers.
Mayor Abramowitz CALLED FOR A RECESS and RECONVENED at
approximately 1 1:10 a.m. with ALL PRESENT.
Mr. Kraft distributed Interoffice Memorandum #94-293 regarding
Revisions to Temporary Ordinance #1654. He said after the joint
workshop meeting he made changes based on the input from the Charter
Board and the City Council. He said the only real changes were made to the
ballot question wherein he put the increases from $3,600 to $8,753 and
from $4,800 to $11,153 for the various offices where the basic salaries
were set in 1981. He said these increases were based on the formula
which Council was considering.
Mr. Kraft said as an alternative he also provided the Council with a
revision #4 which eliminates the formula way of computing the increase
and just puts the amounts in as straight increases with no formulas
involved. He said this was something for the Council to consider in
interest of expediency or so other alternatives may be available in case
they are of interest.
Mayor Abramowitz said he was still waiting for word from Jane Carroll's
office on whether the Council will be allowed to put the Ordinances on the
election ballot. He asked Mr. Kraft if he had heard anything and Mr. Kraft
answered that he has heard nothing as of yet. Mr. Kraft said there is a
cutoff date in July and they probably will not know anything until then.
Mayor Abramowitz said at a recent workshop C/M Schreiber made a
statement that got him thinking and he quoted C/M Schreiber as saying he
had no problem with the salary raise but he felt that the Council was
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 28
taking away the right of the people to make a determination by tying it to
a formula. He said he agrees with C/M Schreiber and had asked City
Attorney Kraft to prepare two sets of documents for Council's approval so
Council will have a choice. He said the first is as it was before where it
is tied to the formula and the second is not tied to the formula and the
voters are given a referendum question about an increase in the salary of
Council and Mayor.
Mr. Kraft said another thing to consider was that there was some
discussion last week about the number of questions that can be on the
ballot and also the number of words each question contains will probably
affect the number of items that can be put on the ballot. He said normally
a sufficient amount of explanation needs to be attached so people know
what they are voting on but he does not want to put too many words that
would make it confusing or too long.
V/M Katz said he would rather put more words in the questions and have a
challenge than to put fewer words in and worry that someone will sue to
overturn the result. He said if there is only room for three items and
there are three that are defensible he would rather do it that way. Mayor
Abramowitz said he did not want to put words in just to meet the
maximum 75 words. He said the City has to make the wording as clear and
concise as possible for the electorate so they understand what they are
doing, what they are voting on, and what the situation is.
V/M Katz said the Council has approved payment of additional legal fees in
hundreds of thousands of dollars which he feels is unnecessary for the
sake of a couple of words. He said the maximum 75 words may be needed
to make sure that the people know what they are voting on and Mayor
Abramowitz said the law states no more than 75 words can be used but all
75 do not need to be used. He said as long as the City makes it explanatory
to the point where it is understandable to the public. He said he has seen
litigation in the City with no basis of fact.
V/M Katz said he has no problem with the last revision which excludes the
formula if Mayor Abramowitz was looking for a consensus. C/M Mishkin
said he is in favor of the fourth revision and asked V/M Katz what he
would like to add to the proposed amendment wording. V/M Katz said he is
not the attorney and he will not comment. He said a City Attorney and
staffarepaid to do this. C/M Mishkin said he thinks the wording is as
V
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 29
simple and concise as the Council would want and if any more terminology
or verbiage is added it will just confuse the issue.
Mayor Abramowitz said he shares V/M Katz's trepidation and C/M Mishkin
is using common sense and logic but unfortunately that is not always good
enough. He said the Council needs to request the City Attorney to research
any other verbiage that he feels will strengthen the understanding of the
public when they vote.
C/M Schreiber said he is in favor of revision #4 but wanted to give the
Council something to think about. He said the Council is all interested in
receiving an increase in salary but the question they currently face is how
successful will the Council be as far as the public is concerned based on
what is currently being asked. He said the increase is 143% over the
existing salary and he asked if the Council should consider reducing the
increase to 100% and to get a better result. Mayor Abramowitz said he
believes that if the public will not approve it as it is they will not
approve it for $50 a month more.
TAPE 4
Mayor Abramowitz said a person walking into the polls is either for the
increase or not for it. He said in the City of Lauderdale Lakes within
thirteen years they had eleven requests for more money because they kept
requesting $200 at a time. He said if they are going to turn it down they
will turn it down.
C/M Mishkin said the Council should remember that the turnout for this
particular referendum in Tamarac will be minimal because there is no City
election involved and V/M Katz said Judges and School Board elections
will occur at this time. Mayor Abramowitz said this is a big election and
C/M Mishkin said it is a big election but not for City concerns. Mayor
Abramowitz said the busier the election the better chance there is of
passing the issue.
Mr. Kraft said the numbers put into Revision #4 are not numbers that came
from anywhere other than from the Objective Formula based on the Florida
Non -Charter County Commissioners and Mayor Abramowitz agreed.
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 30
C/W Machek said she has been quiet because she is a new member of the
Council and she is looking at those who have wisdom and experience on the
Council. She said C/M Schreiber spoke at the last Council meeting and at
the Workshop and said the Council was taking it out of the hands of the
public. She said the reason she has been in support of the formula issue is
because she does not believe the Council is taking it out of the hands of
the public but rather out of the hands of the Council. She said by putting
the salary in the formula it seems it is put into the hands of the public so
it is no longer a campaign issue.
C/W Machek said she feels it is time for an increase because it has not
been addressed for over ten years and it is up to the public to decide if
they will allow it or not and it is up to the Council to put it on the ballot
in an appropriate way. She said if the City was to go with the new
proposed way she would wonder how the Council came up with the
numbers for the new salaries. She said the Council knows it came from
the formula but the people do not and Mayor Abramowitz said C/W Machek
is asking how the number was arrived at. C/W Machek said it is not in the
ballot explanation how the number was arrived at even though the Council
knows where it came from.
C/W Machek said she has consistently supported the formula because it is
not being taken out of the hands of the public but rather out of the hands
of the Council and it no longer is a campaign issue. Mayor Abramowitz
said C/W Machek raised a very important point. He said the only thing he
has ever said in a campaign rhetoric was never pertaining to a raise but to
Mr. Bender's desire to give up a life -time pension to the members of City
Council who served two terms which is four years. He said he has never
voted for a raise in salary but the difference now is that he has been
questioned about whether the only way to become a member of City
Council is to be over seventy years old and retired.
Mayor Abramowitz said a younger person is now on the Council and he
would love to see more younger people involved. He has spoken to elected
officials in other cities and found out that no one will give up a full-time
job supporting a family to work for $8,000 or $12,000 a year. He said
they do have the time that is needed in order to vote in the governmental
process but in doing that they do not want to be penalized because alot of
them do something on the outside and if they are going to give up their
time they want to be compensated for it.
1
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 31
Mayor Abramowitz said the majority of the Council has expressed an
interest in going with Revision #4 and he quoted V/M Katz as asking if
more verbiage could be put in to make it more understanding. He asked Mr.
Kraft if it would be more confusing or misleading to put in more verbiage
saying that the salaries in Revision #4 were based on the County formula.
He agreed with C/W Machek's question of where the $8,433 came from and
C/M Mishkin said it is a nice round figure. Mayor Abramowitz said it is a
silly figure but it is based on the formula. He said it could say
"Councilmembers' salary increased from $3,600 to $8,753, based on a
County formula, per year paid monthly."
V/M Katz said it could not say it unless the formula was going to be
included and Mayor Abramowitz asked why. V/M Katz asked if would be
just as simple to make the new salaries in the revision $8,750 and
$1 1,000 for the Council and Mayor, respectively, to round them off more
and Mayor Abramowitz said he has no problem with that. Mayor
Abramowitz said now V/M Katz is opening up an avenue of thought because
he agrees with C/W Machek when she said the voters will wonder where
the number came from.
Mr. Kraft said he understands what Mayor Abramowitz is saying and
wanted to respond to what was addressed to him. He said the City could
add more language to the ballot question but if they start talking about
formulas it will confuse the issue more. Mayor Abramowitz said Mr. Kraft
should change the new salaries in Revision #4 from $8,753 to $8,750 and
from $1 1,153 to $1 1,000 as V/M Katz suggested.
C/M Schreiber said he has no problem with the change but this matter is
not a secret because it has been publicized and a majority of the people
have heard or read about it. He said the number came from a formula and
more than half the population is familiar with where it came from and
making the changes so it reads better is the Council's job.
Mayor Abramowitz said the Council should forget about the fact that they
would want anyone walking in to vote yes and he thinks it makes it more
sensible and does not harm anyone. C/M Schreiber said he does not see any
problem with it because like Mr. Kraft said when they start discussing
formulas the issue will be confused.
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 32
Mayor Abramowitz asked for an EXPRESSION OF OPINION to change the
salaries as he had indicated.
CONSENSUS OF OPINION: ALL AGREED
Mayor Abramowitz said Mr. Noe has worked hard on his financial summary
and asked the Council's indulgence to stay and listen to his report.
Mr. Noe said it seemed to himself and the Finance staff, in particular with
himself and Mr. Hawthorne being new, that they should at least talk a
little bit about philosophies and fundamental content. He said this has
been an evolutionary process and he will not mention any numbers today
because he has not seen the budget yet. He said the budget is still in
analysis and review in the Finance Department.
Mr. Noe said the people who have come in from Finance have done a
considerable amount of work already and he thought it would be
appropriate in discussing philosophical and process issues that they hear
the same thing that the Council will hear. He said the Budget document is
the single most important piece of work produced by the government in
the course of the year. He said that is where fundamental and key
decisions are made that will guide the City for the whole year.
Mr. Noe said the budget letter he will present to the Council and the
Budget document from the staff perspective will be the most important
documents. He said once the Council has acted on it then the new one will
become the most important document because what the staff recommends
and presents to the Council will not necessarily be what they approve and
he recognizes that.
Mr. Noe said he has had a number of discussions with Department Directors
as well as employees and probably the biggest word in his mind as he
presents the 1995 Budget will be comprehensive. He said it is the staff's
responsibility to tell the elected officials of the City everything they
know about the finances and the needs of the City. He said he has told the
Department Directors that it is their responsibility to tell him and then
together they will tell the Council what the needs of the City are so
comprehensive is something that is very important.
1
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 33
Mr. Noe said he has informed the Department Directors that their
responsibility is to list the full range of their needs. He said one of the
worst things about being City Manager is that about 99% of what he knows
is from what other people have told him so he has tried to stress the
importance of developing a reporting system in the City.
Mr. Noe said it is the Department Directors' first responsibility to list
what their needs are and he can guarantee that any staff will produce a
list of needs that will exceed the financial resources of whatever
jurisdiction in which they work. He said it is up to the staff to set some
priorities and ultimately the Council will set their own priorities but he
maintains that if the Council does not know what the priorities are then
the decision they make will not be as intelligent as it would be if they
knew.
Mr. Noe said he has stressed to the Department Directors the importance
of involving every employee because he feels the budget process should
include every level of employee because they know what the needs of the
City are and in some instances better than staff does. He said involving
all the employees does two things: it gives them a sense of participation
and an opportunity to speak about the things that they really know best
and it also helps the City to build an organization. He said he would
encourage the Council as they make their decision to think about the
organizational impact of the things they say and decisions they make.
Mr. Noe said he has seen governing bodies make public comments about
programs, processes, employees and staff that absolutely devastated the
staff and in the end did what was originally recommended but in the
process they lost so much because of the words used in evaluating had
such a devastating effect. He said he does not suggest the Council muzzle
themselves in any way but to be mindful of the comments they make about
the budget and the impact they will have on the entire government as well
as the people.
Mr. Noe said once the budget has been presented to Finance it starts to
undergo analysis and mid -year the Council approved two additional
positions for assistants to existing staff. He said Mr. Abraham has now
come on as the Budget Officer and the budget is being analyzed.
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 34
Mr. Noe said he likes to think of the budget as two terms with the first
being the base budget which is what it will cost the government to do
what it did last year. He said with President Carter and perhaps other
Presidents there have had a variety of budgetary techniques that have been
attempted to be implemented such as zero -based budgeting which makes
everyone go back to ground zero every year and that makes no sense to
him. He said a certain number of office supplies and fuel are used every
year so from some perspective it makes no sense to him to totally
reanalyze the base budget every year.
Mr. Noe said he separates the budget into two categories, the first is the
base budget and the second category is everything that is new. He said
some analysis will be given to the base budget but it certainly will not be
as thorough as it will be for the new items. He said the new items will be
listed in the Department Directors' priority and in some cases he will
impose his priority on a Department Director but for the most part he will
try to support the budget that the departments recommend and submit. He
said the question is how much money does the City have on a City-wide
basis and how far will that money go. He said it is a matter of how far
down each departmental priority list he can proceed.
Mr. Noe said he uses the Budget Committee and does not make the budget
decisions by himself. He said the Finance Director, Assistant City
Manager and probably two other people will serve on the Budget
Committee with himself and consensus decisions will be made. He said if
there is something that he feels very strongly about and he is in the
minority than he will make that decision because in the ultimate sense
the Budget becomes the City Manager's budget to defend. He said he uses
as many people in the process of making the decisions as he can.
Mr. Noe said the Budget will obviously be balanced and the staff will also
be examining fees to the most possible extent. He said there are special
kinds of services, with Cable Television as a perfect example, where the
people who use the service pay for the service. He said fees have an
application across the City and there are many programs that are partially
or exclusively supported by fees.
Mr. Noe said he feels it is important to present a meaningful and realistic
capital improvement program. He said the City may not have a lot of on -
hand money to support capital projects and it may be that when staff
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 35
looks at the five year needs of capital in the City they may have to look at
other financing alternatives but it is important that the Council know
what the capital needs of the City are.
Mr. Noe said another very important thing in every government is a Fund
Balance and for the two new members of the City Council he would say the
Fund Balance is somewhat analogous to a personal savings account. He
said from his perspective the Fund Balance should be funded first and not
last. He said some governments have the practice that whatever is left
over is put into the Fund Balance and he does not think that is appropriate.
He said the Fund Balance needs to be taken care of first and has the
opportunity to affect the City's bond rating. He said if the City were to be
hit by bad times and a number of things had to be funded out of the Fund
Balance it would be important that the money be there. He said he thinks
5% of the General Fund is a fairly well recognized standard so the staff
will be pursuing that. He said it is important that the Council thinks of
the Fund Balance as something that needs to be funded at the beginning of
the budget process and not with whatever is left over.
Mr. Noe said the primary support of the General Fund Budget is the
advalorem tax rate or the millage rate. He said in terms of the Water and
Sewer Budget which is an enterprise fund and is funded from water and
sewer rates, no one wants to pay any more than they have to. He said a
study was done by the Hartman Company some years ago and they had
recommended rate increases over a period of time.
Mr. Noe said something analogous to the Fund Balance in the General Fund
is Renewal and Replacement (R&R) which needs to be funded at the
beginning of the process and not at the end. He said a debt service
payment obviously has to be made and that has to be another item that
comes off the top of the budget.
Mr. Noe said Tamarac has a number of special funds and he thinks some
consternation has been expressed to him by Councilmembers and he
intends to present a budget in Fiscal Year 1995 that contemplates a
program for every special fund. He said there are Parks & Recreation
impact fees, Traffic -Ways Improvements for roads, the gas tax, Storm
Water Management & Drainage fees, and probably others. He said whatever
the Council may know of that has been somewhat ignored in past years the
staff intends to present as a comprehensive program on each one of them.
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 3 6
Mr. Noe said he thinks everything that can be legitimately funded from the
special funds should be so the City will be focusing on the special needs
of the City in terms of recreation, roads, drainage, etc. He said the City
will be funding those things that can be funded from the special funds as
opposed to the General Fund. He said the General Fund usually takes the
largest hit and everyone is always sensitive about the property tax. He
asked if there were any questions or comments from the Council.
V/M Katz said he would like to see a list of the funds, the available
balance, and what necessitated the need for the fund in the beginning. He
wants to know why it was introduced and established so he can understand
if it is still needed. Mr. Noe said in his presentation of the 1995 Budget he
wants to give the Council the legal authority because he has had a lot of
questions about what can be funded out of the funds. He said the law
requires when the special funds are established that they be spent for
specified reasons and the staff wants to tell Council what they are.
C/M Mishkin said Mr. Noe referred to Fund Balances and asked if he was
talking about contingency funds and Mr. Noe said, no, contingency is
something that should be budgeted for the City Council because they are
unanticipated needs during the course of the year. Mr. Noe said these
needs should be funded out of the contingency fund so the fund should be
relatively healthy. Mr. Noe said the Fund Balance is something that is set
aside like an investment and is not spent. He said it is only there for an
absolute emergency and if one occurred the City would attempt to fund
whatever needs we had out of the regular Budget but the cushion would be
set aside theoretically never to be spent. He said if it is spent in any one
year because of an emergency that would be the absolute requirement the
following year to fund that first. He said the reserve has to be set aside
otherwise the City and its bond rating is endangered.
Mr. Noe said he does not know when the City will go to the Bond Market
next but whenever the City does, its Bond rating will be a very key thing
to it and it is the Council and staff's responsibility to maintain the
highest bond rating that they can. He said maintaining the bond rating that
the City currently has requires that the Fund Balance is kept at a prudent
level so it is different from surplus or contingency.
t%
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 37
Mayor Abramowitz said when the City had the fight about eight months ago
with the Broward County Commission about sharing the revenue of the gas
tax which brought into the City about one quarter of a million dollars, one
of the things that the County Commission warned him on is that he better
make sure that the dollars that they receive are spent in a manner which
the law prescribes. He said he just got a letter last week saying that the
money the City received from the tax is to be allocated for transportation
and roads and the City does not do that here. V/M Katz said the City has
not done that here and Mayor Abramowitz said the money has historically
gone into the general fund and if Mr. Noe is going to refine and define he
wants to make sure the City does not get into a hassle.
Mayor Abramowitz said there was something that had been motivated and
generated in the Council that he would like to see. He said there are alot
of things that the Council hears and gets complaints about because the
closest thing to the public is not the City Manager and staff but the
Council. He said the City had a murderous thing with the canals which was
not an isolated item but throughout the City. He said any of the problems
that are generated throughout the City, Mr. Noe and the staff must be made
aware of the problem that it has to be addressed.
Mayor Abramowitz said in the future, before Mr. Noe goes into the
budgetary workings he should ask the Council if there are some things that
are coming up that he should be made aware of that seem to be City-wide
and problematic to the point that he should know about. He said the cable
situation that the City is presently in was generated by the amount of
complaints that the Council received City-wide.
V/M Katz said Mayor Abramowitz's first remark about the gas tax and the
uses for it is one of the things that probably will be addressed if Mr. Noe
responds to his request to know the nature of account and what
necessitated the account to be established in the beginning. He said one of
the things that would necessitate this particular account to be
established was the reason the money is coming to the City in the first
place. Mayor Abramowitz said he thinks they are just watching the City
very carefully because of the fight that had taken place.
Mr. Noe said he assumes that in the informal process of his trying to meet
with each member of the Council periodically they would be telling him of
any needs that they are aware of in the community. He said he is not
J
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 38
adverse to having a workshop where the Council would bring in their list
and it could be translated to the staff. Mayor Abramowitz said generally
if it affects District 1 it will affect District 4. He said this is not
something that is isolated. He said each Councilmember may have a
particular problem that affects their district but he is talking about a
City-wide problem. Mr. Noe said he would be discussing all of those and
thinks it is important that he hears the constituent complaints that each
member would have.
Mr. Noe said one key thing he left out of the process is the budget
workshop with the Council. He said as each Department Head presents the
budget to himself and staff they will give a presentation first in an
overall view and then he hopes to have budget workshops where each
department would discuss with the Council what they need.
Mayor Abramowitz said when Mr. Noe was first hired he was surprised
that the City did an on-line budget and asked if this is what was going to
be done this year. Mr. Noe said the Council will get the Budget and Mayor
Abramowitz has made it clear that a line item budget is something key to
the Council. He said over time he hopes to wean the Council from a line
item Budget because little amounts of money can be cut in different
places and the Budget will not have changed. He said he hopes to be able
to present the Budget in a way where the Council has to focus on where
the big decisions are and where the big ticket items are.
Mayor Abramowitz said change, even for the better, is a frightening thing
and up until this point, including presently, he is delighted to work with
Mr. Noe. He said it was very difficult for him the first two months
because Mr. Noe is the exact opposite of the person he has worked with for
seven years. He said he is delighted with the fact that both of them have
been able to give and take a little and right now the Council has always
been presented a line item budget which means that the Council has been
involved in every dollar that was spent in every department. He said that
does not preclude the Department Heads from coming in and justifying the
items they have on the budget.
V/M Katz said it will take at least three years to wean him from doing the
budget the way he has been doing it and he has no problem in gradually
tapering off but the shock syndrome is not acceptable. Mayor Abramowitz
said maybe Mr. Noe's way is better than the current way.
1
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 39
Mr. Noe said he hopes over time the Council can be persuaded that a better
way exists than the line item budget but he is aware that he serves at the
pleasure of the Council.
Mr. Noe said the staff needs to talk to the Council about the Public Hearing
and setting the tax rate.
Mr. Hawthorne, Finance Director, distributed an interoffice memorandum
discussing the Truth In Millage (TRIM) Requirements. He said TRIM, Truth
In Millage, which is a Florida State Statute that governs the property
taxes that municipalities have the right to levy and the City will find
throughout the process that there are an extensive amount of
requirements that have to be met. He said there are three areas in
particular that he has to review on which the Council will be taking action
on Wednesday that are applicable now. He said the Council's action is
needed only because they are going on recess for the month of July and the
Property Appraiser has to be informed of the proposed millage rate,
rolled -back rate, and the date, time and place of the tentative Budget
Hearing.
Mr. Hawthorne said the Florida Statutes provide that unless the Council
expressly takes action for the new budget year coming up the City cannot
access a tax levy that generates any additional revenue. He said a number
of things are taken into account including, probably most importantly, the
new valuation for the 1994 tax year. He said the City has received a
preliminary estimate as of June 1 st of what Tamarac's valuation is and it
shows a modest increase. Mayor Abramowitz said the increase was 2.3 or
2.5.
Mr. Hawthorne said what would happen is that an automatic adjustment
would be made in the tax rate that is currently levied which is 4.9 for
operating purposes. He said based on the increase in valuation it would
automatically decrease and he has calculated it to be about 4.7 so the City
will have an automatic reduction in the tax rate if that value stays as it
is. He said around July 1 st the City will get the certified valuation from
the Property Appraiser but until that number has been determined and the
Council goes through Budget deliberations the Council has to set a
maximum not to exceed tax levy amount in anticipation of what actually
may be. He said normally cities anticipate a percentage increase or
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 40
estimate of what Budgetary requirements will be and the Administration
is recommending the Council set it at a level of 5.9999 mills and the
maximum that a Council can levy is 10 mills.
Mr. Hawthorne said the City is currently at 4.9 and the staff is asking for
room until the Council can make Budgetary decisions and in September the
Council will have the absolute option of adjusting down but they will not
be able to exceed the 5.9999 mills. Mayor Abramowitz said the City has
been caught in this trap before and this does not mean that 5.9999 is the
tax rate it only means that this rate is what the Council is sending down
to Mr. Markham, the Property Appraiser. He said last year the City had a
$27 million decrease in the assessed valuation of the City and at the
beginning the Council did not have a representative increase but was told
it was basically the same things. He said the Council has to be sure when
they send down the millage rate because they never know what the
Property Appraiser will come back with in July. He said every City
artificially escalates the first figure they send down with the full
knowledge that it can be lowered but not raised. He said when Mr.
Hawthorne discusses the increase that is what will be in the paper and
V/M Katz said tomorrow the Council will get all the calls and Mayor
Abramowitz said it does not mean anything.
Mr. Hawthorne said the final item that needs to be discussed with the
Council is the date, time and place of the first public hearing and he had
distributed a calendar for the month of September with a schedule of
events as they are currently known. He said the first public hearing has to
be held within the time period of September 3 and September 18 and those
dates could change by a couple of days. He said days that have to be
avoided are Sundays, weekdays before 5:00 p.m. and dates that have been
set by the School Board and County Commission. Discussion took place
regarding the date.
Mayor Abramowitz asked for an agreement from the Council on the 5.9999
millage rate.
V/M Katz asked why not make the rate 6.0 for a round number and Mayor
Abramowitz said he wanted to do it like the commercials do.
CONSENSUS OF OPINION: ALL AGREED
I
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 41
V/M Katz suggested the Council have the first public hearing on Thursday,
September 8 and C/M Schreiber said it is election day.
TAPE 5
Further discussion took place regarding the date. C/M Schreiber said the
best time for the meeting would be Monday, September 12 and Mayor
Abramowitz said unless there is a change in plans, 5.9999 mills and
September 12 at 5.05 p.m. for the public hearing is acceptable to the
Council.
Discussion took place regarding the time of the meeting.
C/W Machek asked why not have one meeting at 5:05 p.m. and one at 7:00
p.m. and Mayor Abramowitz said the second meeting can be held at 7:00
p.m. Further discussion took place.
Mr. Noe said it is the Council's practice to approve the Budget after the
second public hearing or adjourn to another meeting so the Council may
want to reverse the hours and have the first public hearing at 7:00 p.m.
and the second one at 5:05 p.m. Mayor Abramowitz said his problem with
7:00 p.m. is that it is too dark and people resent that. Mr. Noe asked if any
meetings were going to be held at 7:00 p.m. and Mayor Abramowitz said he
did not think so.
V/M Katz said, historically, the first public hearing is where the Council
gets the most opposition and the second one will go rather quick.
C/M Mishkin asked if the Council was going to discuss the regular Council
meeting and Mayor Abramowitz said they will discuss it Wednesday night.
C/M Mishkin asked why they could not talk about it presently and Mayor
Abramowitz said the Council will make the decision Wednesday night in
front of the public and he understands that the Council meeting can not
take place on September 14th. Mr. Noe said it could be done in the morning
and Mayor Abramowitz said there is a Council meeting on Wednesday.
Mayor Abramowitz asked the Council to recommend what to do about the
meeting on the 14th because it is the eve of the holiest day of the Jewish
people and V/M Katz said a morning meeting could be arranged.
J
City Council Workshop Meeting
6/20/94/KR
Page 42
With no further business, Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED the meeting at
12:20 p.m.
Carol A. Evans, CIVIC
City Clerk
1
I