HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-10-25 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCity Council Workshop Meeting
10/25/93/KJ
Page 1
CALL TO ORDER!
Monday, October
City Hall.
CITY OF TAMARAC
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING
MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1993
Mayor Bender called this meeting to order on
25, 1993 at 9:30 a.m. in the Conference Room #1 of
Mayor H. Larry Bender
Vice Mayor Irving Katz
Councilman Norman Abramowitz
Councilman Henry Schumann
Councilman Joseph Schreiber
Dina McDermott, Acting City Manager (entered 9:35 a.m.)
Mitchell Kraft, City Attorney
Thelma Fagelbaum, Deputy Finance Director
Mike Vonder Meulen, Senior Planner
Karen Jackson, Secretary
Mr. Vonder Meulen introduced Joaquin Vargas of Kimley Horn, who is
the City's representative as traffic engineer.
1. 2L%M8ION regarding a request by 7710 University
Development Corp. for a 4,745 square foot addition to the
existing University Medical Center, 7710 NW 71 Court,
(located south of NW 71 Ct., west of University Drive).
Mr. Vonder Meulen said the City had previously discussed the
concept of concurrency, action plans and traffic management and
all of the different systems that are set up through Broward
County and the City of Tamarac. He said the City is now
experiencing potential growth which would impact roads that are
Service Level F. He said these are action plans that need to be
approved either prior to or concurrent with the site plans to
allow that construction.
Mr. Vander Meulen said the different analysis by Broward County
and the City states that this particular growth would impact
traffic on particular roads in Tamarac.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said the City had previously approved some
action plans on two minor projects --the Vestibules at the Sunshine
Plaza Publix and at St. Malachy's Church.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said this project is a 4,745 square foot
addition to an existing medical building. He said there is another
medical building currently under construction in front of this
existing building. He said the applicant has had success in
leasing the office and wishes to expand and lease additional
space. He said this addition would be considered fairly minor and
generates six trips on a road that is at a Service Level F, which
is University Drive from McNab Road to Commercial Boulevard.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said the applicant retained their own traffic
engineer, Keith and Schnars, to analyze the traffic. He said their
analysis was to take the approach of adopting the definitions that
are found in FDOT standards. He said Broward County has a
different definition from FDOT, which is where this action plan is
involved. He said if the City recommends or accepts this
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10/25/93/KJ
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particular definition about a two mile road segment versus the
road segment of .61 miles that was actually used by Broward
County, there would be additional trips permitted to be placed on
the road.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said by doing so, the applicant would be allowed
to take credit for any of the trips that would be left over. He
said there are trips that are actually on the road, committed
trips from platted parcels of land and with the combination of
these, the applicant would be able to take credit for the left
over trips.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said by accepting this definition, there were
six or seven trips available and the applicant would like to take
advantage of these trips. He said Staff received a letter from the
City's Traffic Engineer, Wakeem Vargas, discussing the validity of
the applicant's request and analysis.
Mr. Vargas said this project is only adding six trips onto the
deficient segment of University Drive, which is insignificant from
a traffic engineering standpoint. He said when looking at
concurrency and one car is added, a problem exists. He said Keith
and Schnars has looked at the roadway section and have
reclassified the section of University Drive and found a higher
capacity than that accepted by Broward County.
Mr. Vargas said it has been found their analysis has been found to
be acceptable but he recommended that prior to accepting their
analysis Broward County be contacted to make sure that they do not
have a problem with Keith and Schnars' study and that the County
adopts the capacity.
Mr. Vargas said there is also something else that can be done for
this project. He said there is another development that is being
proposed in the City which is known as the McNab Road Subdivision
and they also have a problem on the same deficient link that this
project is faced with, and they are looking at the possibility of
adding a separate right turn lane on University Drive.
Mr. Vargas said it is believed that if they are successful in
coming up with that improvement, this would provide capacity to
mitigate the impacts of the McNab Road Subdivision as well as this
development.
C/M Schumann said University Drive is at capacity at present and
Mr. Vargas said it is deficient.
C/M Schumann asked how adding more would alleviate the existing
problem.
Mr. Vargas said there are two things to keep in mind, one of which
is that improvements are made, and by providing the separate right
turn lane, the problem will not be resolved but additional
capacity will be provided to mitigate the additional traffic that
will be generated by the project.
C/M Schreiber asked how this is derived.
Mr. Vargas said there are studies which need to be done in
conjunction with the improvements and the study will be able to
determine the additional capacity gain by providing such
improvements. He said there are techniques that can be applied to
determine what the improvements are.
C/M Abramowitz said this is happening all over the County. He said
there is a move to make drastic changes. He said the capacity is
not going to diminish unless cars are physically removed from the
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road. He said there are studies that show that putting in right
lanes and making traffic changes does speed up traffic, which is
the basis for concurrency.
C/M Abramowitz said there is a lot of raw land on University
Drive, which has not been developed but should be and be added to
the City's tax rolls. He said these six trips are not
catastrophic.
V/M Katz said he sits on the Broward County Planning Council and
the Land Use and Trafficways Committee and, at their last meeting,
he discussed this with the Executive Director of the Planning
Council. He said the only thing that he obtained from him was that
this is very creative design. He said the impact of the additional
six trips on the immediate area would be nil. He said he has more
concerns regarding the McNab Road Subdivision project than with
this office building.
V/M Katz said Bailey Road from 81 Street to 64 Street has heavier
traffic for the number of lanes currently existing than on
University Drive. He said no one in County Traffic is upset over
the additional six trips impacted on this location.
C/M Schreiber asked if Mr. Vargas recommends that the City check
with the County on this.
Mr. Vargas said the reason he recommends this is because the Keith
and Schnars is coming up with a capacity that is different than
the capacity that the County has adopted. He said the City should
not accept a different capacity if the County is not going to
recognize the new capacity.
C/M Schreiber asked what the City should do if the County does not
recognize it.
Mr. Vargas said the City would not meet concurrency, which is the
reason he had recommended another option.
Mayor Bender asked if Mr. Vargas had coordinated any of his
recommendations with anyone at the County.
Mr. Vargas said he has not had any discussion with the County.
Mayor Bender asked why he did not, prior to making recommendations
to the City.
Mr. Vargas said the issue is whether or not the City should accept
a different capacity other than the capacity that the County has
for this section. He said he does not see the need to coordinate
with the County if they are going to have the final decision on
accepting the new capacity or maintaining the current capacity.
Mayor Bender said it is a matter of finding out what objections
they may have and also the State needs to be conferred with
because it is a State roadway.
Mayor Bender asked if Mr. Vargas contacted the State regarding
this and Mr. Vargas said, no.
Mr. Vargas said he did not have enough time to do the
coordinations with the County and the State, but agreed that this
should have been done. He said if the City does coordinate with
the County, they may have an opinion as to what the reaction is
going to be regarding this analysis, but unless the City goes
through the process and holds formal meetings with them, the
County's reaction to this is not known.
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C/M Abramowitz asked what the cost would be for Mr. Vargas' time
for this and Mr. Vargas said it depends on the number of hours it
takes to do the coordination.
Mayor Bender said he needs all of the facts in order to make a
decision. He said he is not comfortable with this as is.
C/M Abramowitz said there is a lot of raw land on University Drive
and asked if this land is platted.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said there will be a study done by the end of
November, which will identify the vested and unvested vacant
parcels, and which ones are affected by concurrency or compact
deferral areas and which are not.
C/M Abramowitz asked if there is a possibility that the developer
can borrow six trips from another piece of land if there is a
vested piece of property and is vested with 1,400 trips.
Mr. Vargas said the transfer of trips from one development to
another is not acceptable, based on the County Code.
C/M Abramowitz asked where the County becomes involved in this and
Mr. Vonder Meulen said the City adopted the County's system of
analyzing traffic as its own and the City is bound by certain
rules of Broward County regarding this.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said the Comprehensive Plans have to be
consistent with each other.
C/M Abramowitz said University Drive is a State road and the
City's Comprehensive Land Plan is a State document.
Mr. Vonder Meulen explained the County and State analyses of the
trafficways. He said action plans are creative solutions.
Ms. McDermott said Mr. Vonder Meulen had contacted the County
regarding this.
Mayor Bender said he would like to receive some documentation from
the County supporting the fact that they have no problem with this
action plan.
Kathy Sweetapple, representative of Keith and Schnars, said she
had prepared this study. She said Broward County does use the
FDOT's capacity to roadways. She said the capacity assigned to the
deficient roadway segment is a FDOT capacity; however, Keith and
Schnars believes that Broward County made a mistake in which
capacity should have been assigned to this roadway. She said this
is done on a large basis and is not realized that there may have
been oversights until someone takes a closer look.
Ms. Sweetapple said this has occurred in many areas of the County
and the County is usually very receptive to listening to this
approach and to modify the capacity when they agree. She said
sometimes it is a matter of semantics in terms of the length of
the segment or other situations.
Mayor Bender asked if Broward County has admitted the oversight
and Ms. Sweetapple said no one has pointed it out to them to date.
Mayor Bender said more information is needed and the City needs
something in writing from the County.
C/M Schreiber said documentation needs to be provided as proof. He
asked for further explanation on the study and Mr. Vonder Meulen
explained the various road segments and the meanings of numbered
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10/25/93/KJ
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capacities on the backup.
C/M Abramowitz said the City had a similar situation on McNab Road
and the developer went to the County and mitigated the
circumstances and there was no problem with achieving their goal
by installing a turn lane in the City of Sunrise for $48,000.00.
He said Tamarac got the traffic and Sunrise got the turn lane. He
said the County has a right at any time, to take the mitigation
referred to in the City and require that a turn lane be built
elsewhere. Further discussion was held regarding this.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said Council had tabled this item approximately
10 days ago. He said he then contacted the County and Mr. Vargas
to gather information regarding this. He said Mr. Vargas has
provided his analysis but Broward County has not. He said it is
not required for the County to give the City any comments;
however, due to the fact that the City requested the information,
the County will be providing some comments.
C/M Schumann asked if the County has to accept this or can they
reject the information provided. Mr. Vonder Meulen said the trips
run came from the County but they can reject the analysis results.
C/M Schreiber asked if the City would have any legal problems by
allowing the analysis to be done based on the concurrency and the
limitation of trips.
Mr.
Vargas recommended that the
City rely
on the County accepting
the
capacity prior to the City
using this
capacity to apply to
this
C/M
project.
Abramowitz asked if this is
something
that the City would need
his
office to do and Mr. Vargas
said this
is something that the
City
Staff can do or have Keith
and Schnars handle.
Mayor Bender recommended giving direction to Mr. Vonder Meulen to
contact the County and followup on the information and to possibly
access something in writing from the County stating their opinion.
2. DISCUSSION regarding a request by Thomas Bennett, Trustee,
for the NCNab Road Subdivision for sixty (60) single
family homes zero lot line development (located north of
McNab Road, east of NW 70 Avenue near John Vince Bulk Foods).
Mr. Vonder Meulen said there is a project being proposed at this
location and this project will also generate trips on roads that
are at Service Level F. He said one is the same road segment
previously discussed and seven trips along a road segment of
Bailey Road from NW 81 Street to the Commons.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said to mitigate the 16 trips, the applicant's
engineer was proposing the City construct a turn lane with FDOT
approval, on University Drive, somewhere between McNab Road and
Commercial Boulevard. He said this turn lane would create 20
additional trips. He said Staff has no objection to doing this.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said the applicant provided an action plan
called de minimis, which has been processed through Elms III
Legislation to allow development in particular areas to help the
smaller developers. He said there are no procedures adopted for
this at present. He said Broward County has to change their
Comprehensive Plan to adopt the de minimis standard and so does
the City.
V/M Katz said this was proposed to help some of the infill so that
the cities would not have the urban sprawl in any of the areas
City Council Workshop Meeting
10/25/93/KJ
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within some designated downtown areas of the City.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said de minimis also allows projects in the
suburban areas that would be considered minor. Further explanation
was given regarding de minimis standards.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said the developer had suggested utilizing the
de minimis standards, but the City has no justifiable way to
accept it.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said there are 13 individually platted lots in
this project. He said Broward County states to the developers and
the municipalities that they can develop single-family or duplexes
on an individually platted lot which will be exempt from
concurrency. He said this applicant could have developed 26 units
without an action plan, however, they are proposing 60 to make
this project feasible, which will also mitigate traffic on
University Drive.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said Staff is recommending to adopt the 26 unit
credit, which the applicant has not done at all and apply them to
Bailey Road only. He said the City's traffic engineer is
recommending that an analysis be done at the intersection of
Bailey Road and NW 64 Street.
TAPE 2
V/M Katz asked if the City had some credits on the trips in the
situation with Walgreens and the furniture store that was and then
disappeared at Commercial Boulevard and NW 64 Street.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said that was over two years ago and the
leftover trips go as a first -come, first -serve basis.
C/M Abramowitz asked who mandates this and Mr. Vonder Meulen said
no one has mandated it as yet. He said Council can mandate it if
this project is approved.
C/M Abramowitz said there is a potentially dangerous situation
that exists on NW 76 Street and University Drive, which cannot be
resolved. He said the City was again denied a traffic light at
this location. He said he was told by the FDOT that they realize
there is a problem at this location and they would like to
reconfigurate the exits leaving the Multi -Purpose Center.
C/M Abramowitz asked why the City cannot take the $45,000.00
needed to create a turn lane and combine it with the money needed
for NW 76 Street and correct the problem on NW 76 Street where the
change is really needed. Discussion was held regarding this.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said one of the issues regarding the NW 76
Street situation is the fact that it is north of McNab Road and
the solutions that need to be provided for the McNab Road
Subdivision project are south of McNab Road.
C/M Abramowitz questioned the turn lane that was built in Sunrise
and Mr. Vonder Meulen said that was because the compact deferral
area that was encroaching into Tamarac was actually in Sunrise;
therefore, the solution was created in Sunrise.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said the Broward County School Board is
proposing over 43,000 square feet of additional classrooms and
they will most likely be bringing an action plan to the City for
approval, which will provide a solution to the existing problem on
NW 76 Street.
C/M Schreiber said his concerns are with the zero lot line of
these homes. He requested an explanation of the definition of zero
lot line.
City Council Workshop Meetingr G.
10/25/93/KJ
Page 7
Mr. Vonder Meulen said a zero lot line development is where one
side of the house is right on the property line and the other side
is where the yard is and where the separation between the
buildings is located.
Ms. McDermott asked the distance of the setback and Mr. Vonder
Meulen said the setback between the buildings is 10 feet and the
rear yards are a minimum of 15 or 20 feet and the front yards are
a minimum of 20 feet.
Further discussion was held regarding zero lot line developments.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said on this project, the mitigation is the turn
lane, but the problem is with Bailey Road. He said Staff is
looking for direction on the item of Bailey Road.
Joe Colt, representative of CCL Consultants, said if the City
accepts the credit for the 23 units, they are over -capacity by
about 9 trips on University Drive and approximately 3 trips on
Bailey Road. He said the County agrees to giving credit for 20
trips if a bus bay or a right turn lane are built. He said by
building a bus bay or a right turn lane, the developer is
mitigating well beyond the trips being generated.
C/M Schreiber asked if this is in writing from the County and Mr.
Colt said this is a policy of the County.
Mr. Vargas said the County has a manual that they have published
called, "Action Plans" and on Page 17, they have a Table which
allows receiving credits for providing a separate right turn lane.
He said on a road like University Drive, where the speed is more
than 40 miles per hour, they allow a credit of up to 20 trips per
day if a separate right turn lane is provided. He said if the
proposed improvement of the right turn lane is at a signal light
intersection, a different number would apply.
Mr. Vargas said the developer has not identified the location that
they are proposing to construct the right turn lane, but they are
investigating the possibilities.
Mayor Bender said with the answers Council has received, the City
may proceed.
3. DISCUSSION regarding a Council request for a traffic
modification to Southgate Boulevard (near Westwood 6).
Mr. Vonder Meulen said this analysis is in reference to the impact
of the Pulte Home project on the surrounding roadway systems and
the surrounding neighborhoods. He said at one time, the City Staff
and the Planning Commission had recommended that portions of
Southgate Boulevard be vacated to NW 103 Avenue. He said during
subsequent workshops with Council, it was the understanding that
the City did not want to proceed in that capacity.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said neighbors and property owners in the area
have expressed their concern about the additional traffic that
would be placed on Southgate Boulevard as it currently exists. He
said there are several different proposals being presented. He
said Pulte Homes is vacating a portion of the right-of-way up to
the entrance of their project on Southgate Boulevard.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said these plans are currently under review with
the City's Staff and will be brought before the Planning
Commission and Council for approval. He said Pulte Homes chose to
discuss what other options may be available to make sure that none
City Council Workshop Meeting
10/25/93/KJ
Page 8
of these options would harm the neighborhoods or affect traffic in
the area.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said Mr. Vargas analyzed the various options
completely, such as abandoning the road to NW 103 Avenue. He said
to address some of the concerns of the neighborhood, the City had
requested an analysis be done by the traffic engineer to possibly
reduce Southgate Boulevard to a two-lane highway from a four -lane
road and possibly using the north two lanes, by removing the
asphalt and putting additional landscaping for approximately 16
homes.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said another option which Pulte Homes is
requesting is that Southgate Boulevard be left as it is. He said
by looking at the analysis of traffic, any of the options are
available to Council.
C/M Abramowitz said when Pulte Homes first approached the City
with this land section, their plans indicated that there would be
ingress and egress on Southgate Boulevard. He said Southgate
Boulevard, going into the Everglades, used to be utilized for
various types of disturbances, and the City placed barricades to
eliminate this situation which did work.
C/M Abramowitz asked why the City told Pulte Homes that instead of
having an ingress and egress on Southgate Boulevard, all of the
traffic out of the new development could be put onto NW 108
Avenue. He said this would make the total number of ingresses and
egresses on NW 108 Avenue seventeen. He said Lennar Homes is
having 2,000 families entering onto NW 108 Avenue and Pulte Homes
is having its entire development going onto NW 108 Avenue. He said
there is no reason for this.
C/M Abramowitz said he understands the concerns of the
neighborhood. He said there is a way to satisfy the developers and
the residents. Discussion was held regarding the options.
C/M Abramowitz suggested that two lanes on Southgate Boulevard be
blocked off with one lane as an ingress and one lane as an egress,
as long as it can be done safely. He said this would permit the
residents in Pulte's new development to go east and they will not
have to go to NW 108 Avenue. He said this would allow the traffic
to flow in a steady manner without overcrowding the entire street.
C/M Schreiber asked what happens to the south lanes.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said at present vacation is not being
recommended. Further discussion was held regarding this proposal.
C/M Abramowitz said the only objection from Mainlands 6 is the
concern of the nuisances restarting if the barricades are removed.
Mr. Vonder Meulen said there are other locations which have taken
a four -lane highway and reduced it to two -lanes. He said there are
standards provided by Kimley-Horn. He said due to the fact that
there is a boulevard there, the City would have to take some of
it, remove it, pave it and then reduce it to two lanes for
approximately 1,200 feet. He said there is adequate length to
reduce it to 1,200 feet, however, the City would be removing a lot
of the existing median to create the reduction lanes.
V/M Katz asked if it would be just as easy to go back to the
trafficways for the reduction.
Ms. McDermott said this is a City roadway and Mr. Vonder Meulen
agreed that it is not a County roadway.
City Council Workshop Meetihq;
10/25/93/KJ
Page 9
C/M Abramowitz asked what the least expensive option is.
Mr. Vargas said the suggestion C/M Abramowitz made can be
reviewed.
Mr. Colt said the proposal is to take the two westbound lanes and
the road would terminate at Pulte's entrance, therefore, a radius
will be placed which will channel the traffic into the radius. He
said there would be sufficient signage and guardrails, which would
signify to everyone that this would be a low to almost zero speed
condition and a lake will be constructed beyond the guard rail,
which would be added to the City's Storm Water Management System.
He said this would be clearly identified to any driver that this
would be an entrance to a project and no longer a roadway or a
thoroughfare.
Further discussion was held regarding the proposal and other
options. Mr. Vander Meulen explained the design of the development
proposed by Pulte Homes.
V/M Katz asked if the radius is going to be greater than 50 feet
for fire engine access and Mr. Vander Meulen said it was.
C/M Schreiber recommended that the four lanes be maintained with a
barrier at the entrance and Mayor Bender agreed.
C/M Abramowitz said he is pleased that Pulte Homes is going to
beautify the end of that road.
4. DISCUSSION on review of trial balance sheets specifically in
the General Fund and Treasurer's Fund.
Mayor Bender provided. Council with a copy of the trial balance
sheet dated April, 1991. He RECESSED the meeting for two minutes
and RECONVENED with ALL PRESENT.
Mayor Bender said he agendized this item to show that there has
been a pattern in the City concerning funds that are actually
available, but not surfaced as such. He said he has reviewed the
records back to 1988, where he found a number of onerous comments
on similar situations.
Mayor Bender referred to the Management Information Service Fund
(MIS), with an account totaling $402,669.62 and the Fleet Service
Fund. He said the monies in the MIS Fund were established by Ken
Burroughs, former Finance Director, without Council approval and
John Kelly, former City Manager, had indicated that he had no
knowledge of this.
Mayor Bender said the Fleet Service Fund had $164,432.85 in its
account. He said it was found that $100,000.00 of this money could
be removed. He said this is a total of $500,000.00 from these
accounts which was purged and placed into the General Fund for the
City to utilize towards the budget.
Mayor Bender said in 1993, the MIS Fund has $199,703.00. He said
he had requested that Mr. Kelly research the MIS and Fleet Service
Funds. He said a memo was returned to him which showed that after
the benchmark is removed and money is maintained for safety
factors, the Fleet Service Fund has a surplus of $82,378.00, which
is able to be removed from this account.
C/M Abramowitz asked if the purchase of a Vapor Recovery System
for gasoline is a requirement through a Federal Mandate. He said
there is also a Five Year Vehicle Replacement Plan.
City Council Workshop Meeting
10/25/93/KJ.
Page 10
Mayor Bender said the notice states that a Federal Mandate may
require the City to purchase a Vapor Recovery System, but they do
not know. He asked why the City should keep money available
indefinitely if it is not known. Discussion was held regarding
this.
C/M Schreiber asked what the Vapor Recovery System is and C/M
Abramowitz said it is not known.
Ms. McDermott said in 1991, Broward County had passed an Ordinance
regarding the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and copies of this
Ordinance will be provided to Council. She explained the contents
of the Ordinance. Discussion was held regarding this.
TAPE 3
C/M Schreiber asked how many gasoline pumps the City has and Ms.
McDermott said there is hope that the City will receive a grant
for two converted natural gas pumps.
Ms. McDermott said the City has two gasoline pumps, one behind the
Police Facility and one located at the Public Services Complex.
C/M Schreiber asked how two pumps can cost $100,000.00.
V/M Katz said the fumes have to go back to the underground
storage. He explained the filtration system for the gas tanks.
C/M Abramowitz asked if the City is complying with the five year
replacement program.
Mayor Bender said he is not purging the account. He said there is
$178,000.00 in that account and $82,000.00 was removed. He said if
money is needed, there is a balance in the account to be utilized.
Mayor Bender referred to the MIS Fund. He said there was a balance
of $199,703.00, which was reduced to $153,396.00 after accounting
for all deductions. He said when the budget is created and prior
to Council getting involved in it, the City Manager should have an
accountability of all the cash that will be made available to the
City.
Mayor Bender referred to the trial balance to the General Fund. He
said there are two sets of figures, one called "Undesignated" and
the other, "Designated", one takes care of payments that were
legitimately made and the other is an amount of money being held
in abeyance pending receipt of contemplated bills. Discussion was
held regarding this.
Ms. Fagelbaum said the trial balance is a tool used by accounting
professionals, which changes daily and is not a balance sheet. She
said the balance sheet occurs at the end of the fiscal year when
all of the accounts are closed and audited. She said the trial
balance is a running balance which is adjusted continuously. She
said there is $105,607.00 unappropriated to -date.
Mayor Bender asked what the cutoff date is when this is wiped out
and Ms. Fagelbaum said when all of the revenues are paid.
Mayor Bender asked how long this remains in effect after the new
budget begins and Ms. Fagelbaum said Staff tries to cut it off as
soon as possible in order to close the books.
Ms. Fagelbaum said the City is going to cut off the expenditures
at the end of October. She said there are invoices that do not
come in until after the new budget begins. She said the City is
still paying for invoices that apply to purchases made prior to
September 30 which need to be paid out of the funds from the last
fiscal year. She said the City must account for revenues from the
City Council Workshop Meeting ..:�
10/25/93/KJ
Page 11
period in which they occur and expenditures from the period in
which they are spent. She said this is the accrual basis of
accounting.
C/M Schreiber asked how long this will continue
and Ms. Fagelbaum
said Staff will attempt
to cut off at the end of
October and then
the auditors will come in. She said the auditors
have certain
criteria that they
must meet. She said if there
are certain very
large expenditures
which are applicable to last
fiscal year, they
will have to apply
it against last year. Further
discussion was
'held regarding the
trial balance.
C/1f_Schreiber said
he has made objections to the
fact that he has
now been r6cceiving
all the information he needs
to make a proper
decision.. '�
Mayor Bender asked why the books cannot be closed on September 30
with the balance on September 30 being placed in the General Fund
or the Utilities Fund. He suggested that when the bills are paid
that they be noted it are being paid from the previous fiscal
year. He asked why two sets of books have to be maintained. He
said the remaining money should be brought forward and not have
balances lagging for several months after the books are closed.
C/M Abramowitz asked if there are certain accounts that have items
which are only permitted to be paid from those accounts. He asked
if there would be a problem if the money is placed in the General
Fund and then paid from the General Fund. Further discussion was
held regarding using separate accounts.
C/M Schreiber said the money is encumbered for certain
expenditures throughout the course of the year and the records
will show that it would be From that fiscal year. He said anyone
looking at the records should be able to tell how much will or has
been expended by the end of the year or shortly afterwards.
Further discussion was held regarding this.
C/M Schreiber said the City has overbudgeted for several years
instead of going into a Capital Improvement Program. He said the
MIS Fund has a surplus of $199,703.13, which is approximately 50%
of the budget for that year.
C/M Abramowitz said it is not up to the Finance Director to
provide the information but to the City Manager. He suggested that
Council be careful in correcting a problem which may exist without
making other problems.
Mayor Bender said the City pays professionals to do an annual
audit and make recommendations. He said the City received a
recommendation stating that the City should investigate and
ascertain the validity of these liabilities. He said this means
that the auditors have found overestimates. He said he wants to
know what is going on in the City when it comes to the budget
process. He said Council needs to have all the information
provided to them in order to make proper decisions.
V/M Katz said in the past, Council approved hiring an Internal
Auditor and he maintains that the City needs to have an Internal
Auditor. He said the City pays professionals to give advice to
Council. He recommended that the City looks to hire an Internal
Auditor from an independent firm which may solve these problems.
Discussion was held regarding the Internal Auditor position.
Mayor Bender said if an independent Internal Auditor is wanted
then he should be made independent. He said if the Auditor is
placed under the City Manager, the Council will only receive the
City Council Workshop Meeting
10/25/93/KJ
Page 12
information that the City Manager wants them to know. Further
discussion was held regarding the Internal Auditor who was hired
and left the City.
With no further business, Mayor Bender ADJOURNED this meeting at
11:40 a.m.
CAROL A. EVANS, CMC
CITY CLERK
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