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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-05-18 - City Commission Special Meeting Minutes• Ll" 7525 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321.2401 TELEPHONE (305) 722.5900 RECORD OF COUNCIL ACTIONS/DISCUSSIONS SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Special Meeting of the City Council on Thursday, May 18, 1989 at 9:00 a.m. in the City Council Conference Room, Tamarac City Hall, 7525 N.W. 88th Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. The purpose of this meeting is to schedule public hearings for the Broward Sheriff's Office issue, formulate a time frame and authorize a letter to registered voters in Tamarac. FINAL ACTION: The City Council reviewed a draft of to registered voters in Tamarac and to make corrections and return t amended letter. The following dates Hearings on the BSO matter: 1. Monday, June 5, 1989, 10:00 Chambers, City Hall. 2. Monday, June 12, 1989, 7:30 Chambers, City Hall. a letter to be sent the City Manager is o Council with an were set for Public A.M. in Council P.M. in Council The City Council also scheduled a Special City Council Meeting for Tuesday, June 20, 1989, at 10:00 A.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall for the purpose of appointing members to the various Boards and Committees. 4a"ro, A. Evans City Clerk Pursuant to Section 286.0105, PIorida Statutes If a person decides to appeal any decision made by the city Counc.1 with respect to any matter considered at such meeting or hearing, he w0l n? d a record of the proceedings and for sj.,c. j he naY need to ensure that a verbatim record and evi Zi'Zc upon which tide; 8opeal is to be b . AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS CITY OF TAMARAC r CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1989 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Abramowitz called this meeting to Order on Thursday, May 18, 1989 at 9:13 A.M. in the City Council Conference Room. PRESENT: ALSO PRESENT: Mayor Norman Abramowitz Vice Mayor Dr. H. Larry Bender Councilman Bruce Hoffman Councilman Henry Rohr Councilman Jack Stelzer John P. Kelly, City Manager Pauline Walaszek, Special Services Secretary The purpose of this meeting was to schedule public hearings for the Broward Sheriff's Office issue, formulate a time frame and authorize a letter to registered voters in Tamarac. City Manager Kelly requested that the proposed letter to the registered voters be distributed to the four members of the Public present. He said the print type of letter could be changed and the letter would be placed on the City's letterhead paper. The City Council AGREED to the type lettering in the proposed letter. Mayor Abramowitz said that the letterhead for the letter could be placed on the top as opposed to using regular letterhead paper. City Manager Kelly said the beginning of the letter indicated the purpose of the letter. He said the information related the problem and informed the residents that they were being asked to share their opinions. (SEE ATTACHMENT) City Manager Kelly said the letter indicated there were financial problems and three options were available to remedy the problems. He said he indicated in the letter that the third option had the most merit; however, he felt that option three was the only option feasible. C/M Stelzer suggested that the option regarding a Utility Tax be eliminated because of the problems that occurred previously. C/M Hoffman suggested that Page 1, Paragraph 2, "help" be inserted in "to remedy this problem.". Mayor Abramowitz said he did not feel the Utility Tax option should be eliminated because it was an option. Page 1 5/18/89 C/M Stelzer said the Ad Valorem could be increased and Mayor Abramowitz asked C/M Stelzer ifs he was positive increasing the Ad Valorem would remedy the problems. Mayor Abramowitz said a Utility Tax could assist in resolving the problems and C/M Stelzer said the City Council experienced the outcome last year when the Utility Tax increase was proposed. C/M Hoffman suggested that Page 1, Option 2, "which may include" be changed to, "which may have to include". City Manager Kelly said when he proposed the Utility Tax increase last year he felt it was a feasible option; however, this year there was room in the existing low tax structure for an increase. Mayor Abramowitz said he was not aware of the future; however, there may be things in the future that require additional money which was not budgeted for. He said he did not want anything going into the letter which was not factual and placing a dollar amount in the letter would not be factual information. C/M Hoffman said he did not object to the City informing the residents that there may have to be a Utility Tax. He said the City was not imposing a Utility Tax; however, it was an option to resolve the existing problems. C/M Rohr said the City Council should consider a Utility Tax as the last option. He said Page 1, Option 2 should state, "Drastically increase taxes". Mayor Abramowitz said stating that increasing taxes would resolve the problems, when in fact it may not, was not an appropriate statement. He said he was not afraid to indicate the facts. C/M Rohr asked if the Ad Valorem taxes would cover the contingencies if the City did go to the Broward Sheriff's Office and City Manager Kelly replied, yes. C/M Stelzer said the letter seemed to threaten the residents by stating "may have to include a Utility Tax.". He said last year there was a lot of objection to a Utility Tax. Mayor Abramowitz said he did not change his mind about the Utility Tax because of the residents cries. He said he changed his mind because there were other feasible options available which were recommended by staff. City Manager Kelly asked if the City Council agreed to the amendments of, "help remedy" and "may have to include". The City Council AGREED with these changes. City Manager Kelly said the next paragraph indicated the Budget increase to be 51.8%; however, the Budget was 61% and the actual was 51.8%. C/M Stelzer said his figures indicated the Budget to be 69.41%. He said the Budget increases should not be indicated because the expenditures were more important. He said the letter indicated the Budget increase for 4 years and this year was not included. He said the figure for this year should be included which would bring the Budget increase up to 69.41%. Page 2 5/18/89 C/M Hoffman asked if the letter could indicate, " that to date, over the past 5-1/2 years". He said this statement would allow C/M Stelzer's figures to be indicated. Mayor Abramowitz said he did not feel that indicating 5-1/2 years was factual., He said he did not disagree with C/M Stelzer; however, he wanted the facts placed in the letter. C/M Stelzer said there was an increase of 18% for Fiscal Year 1989 and this should be indicated in the letter. He said the City seldom spent less than what was Budgeted. Mayor Abramowitz asked C/M Stelzer if he indicated the recent cut in the Police Department's Budget and C/M Stelzer asked what was cut. City Manager Kelly said he cut the Budget back and, because of shortfall recently being experienced by the City, he cut back on all of the Departments. C/M Stelzer asked if City Manager Kelly considered the decrease when figuring the Broward Sheriff's Office Contract and City Manager Kelly replied, no. C/M Stelzer said the cost of Police protection increased over the past 5 years and it should be indicated in the letter. The City Council agreed that "Over the past 5 years, the cost of Tamarac's Police protection has increased..." be placed in the letter. C/M Stelzer said he could not understand why the letter should not indicate that there would be an 18% increase in the Police Department. He said the Broward Sheriff's Office would be receiving a flat figure for three months and the letter should indicate that figure plus what was spent until this time. City Manager Kelly suggested that the letter indicate, "to date, over the past 5 years..." and the City Council agreed with this amendment. Mayor Abramowitz asked if this information would be the absolute fact and City Manager Kelly said he would get the facts from the Finance Department. City Manager Kelly said C/M Stelzer was correct in his concerns and he would discuss this matter with the Finance Department and get the correct amount. C/M Rohr said the patrol units should be specified because a unit was considered a man. He said the definition of a patrol unit should be given as one Police Officer. C/M Hoffman said the shifts should indicate 116 daily patrol units" and City Manager Kelly said this would be incorrect. City Manager Kelly said 6 patrol units were used per shift per day. Mayor Abramowitz asked City Manager Kelly to address C/M Rohr and C/M Hoffman's concerns in a small sentence. He said he did not want the residents to become uninterested in the letter because it was too lengthy. He said there would be two Public Hearings held and the concerns could be discussed. Page 3 5/18/89 At 9:30 A.M., Joseph McIntosh, Police Chief, ENTERED the meeting. C/M Stelzer had concerns with the figures in the letter being correct. He said he calculated the figure to be 4.786 million which amount to 4.922%. City Manager Kelly said a Debt Service should be added in the amount of $264,000.00 and C/M Stelzer asked if there was a Debt Service. City Manager Kelly said there were 27 years left on the 30 year Debt Service. C/M Stelzer said his figures indicated that next year, with the increases, the percentage would be 6.8475% TAPE 2 After discussing this matter further, the City Council DIRECTED the City Manager and C/M Stelzer to review this matter and implement the correct figures. The City Council asked that the City Manager submit a memorandum to the City Council regarding the correct figures and .proceed with sending out the letters to the registered voters. Referring to Page 2, Paragraph 1, C/M Hoffman said "including the appointment of a District Commander" should be added to, "all personnel transfers in and out of the Department.". Joseph McIntosh, Police Chief, said "Department" should be changed to "District". The City Council AGREED with C/M Hoffman and Chief McIntosh's amendments. C/M Stelzer said Page 2, Paragraph 2, should indicate, "the entire personnel" and City Manager Kelly said the letter indicated that the Personnel was appropriately indicated. C/M Rohr had concerns that this statement may create a lawsuit involving the City if a person was not accepted by the Broward Sheriff's Office. C/M Stelzer asked how much more was over the Bond Debt Service and City Manager Kelly said that there were negotiations expected with the Broward Sheriff's Office regarding the City keeping the new Police Building. City Manager Kelly said if the City kept the building, the annual cost for the Bond Debt for operations such as, Data Processing, personnel and maintenance would be over $500,000.00 dollars. The City Council agreed Page 2, Paragraph 3, "Regarding" be deleted and "if we do not go BSO" be added at the end of the first sentence. Referring to Page 2, Paragraph 4, Mayor Abramowitz asked if the credit for the Police vehicles and equipment would be kept in Escrow. He said he did not want to make the funds available to the City for use on something else. He said he wanted the funds available in case the City decided not to use the services of the Broward Sheriff's Office in the future. City Manager Kelly said the City would be hiring an appraiser for the existing vehicles and equipment and the Page 4 5/18/89 appraised amount would be credited to the City in case the City wanted to go back to their own Police Department. C/M Hoffman said that he would like the funds submitted to the City after a specific time in a separate account. He asked if this matter was discussed during the negotiations. City Manager Kelly said this matter was discussed; however, the Broward Sheriff's Office wanted to discuss this matter during the Public Hearings. He said the Broward Sheriff's Office was not comfortable with this request; however, they were willing to negotiate it further. C/M Rohr asked if interest would be obtained with the credit and City Manager Kelly said the valuation of the vehicles and equipment would continue to increase. C/M Rohr had concerns with the credit not allowing interest accumulation for the City and Mayor Abramowitz said he did not want the funds placed in an account in which the City could use the funds for something different. C/M Stelzer asked if the Broward Sheriff's Office would have to purchase vehicles and charge the City if the City did turn over the vehicles to them. City Manager Kelly said the Broward Sheriff's Office was not pleased with the existing vehicles and equipment; however, they agreed to take the equipment and vehicles. He said the Broward Sheriff's Office would be purchasing equipment and vehicles in the future to insure the services for the City and the proposed cap would not be exceeded. C/M Hoffman said it was not important that the Broward Sheriff's Office was providing vehicles to the Police Officers to take home. He said the important issue was that the funds should be turned over to the City after a specific time. He said if the City did not decide to eliminate the Broward Sheriff's Office services within 5 years, the City may never eliminate the services. City Manager Kelly said at the time of Contract renewal this matter could be discussed. Mayor Abramowitz said after reviewing the Contracts with the Cities of Lauderdale Lakes and Lauderhill, he found that the City of Tamarac was the only City that had more than a two year Contract and less than a 5% increase. He commended the City Manager for negotiating such a good contract. City Manager Kelly said there were three Cities who contacted him regarding reviewing the proposed Contract. C/M Hoffman said he did not want anyone to think that he did not feel that the City Manager did not do a great job in negotiating the Contract. He said City Manager Kelly did an outstanding job in negotiating the Contract with the Broward Sheriff's Office. Referring to Page 2, Paragraph 5, C/M Stelzer said "Charter" was not appropriate because there was nothing in the Charter indicating the exercise of the City Page 5 5/18/89 TAPE 3 Council's responsibility of whether or not to approve anything regarding the Police or Fire Deaartments. C/M Hoffman suggested that "Statutory" be used as opposed to "Charter". Mayor Abramowitz suggested that the City Manager research this matter and place the appropriate language in the letter. He suggested that the City Attorney be consulted regarding the legal language. Referring to Page 2, bottom asterisk (*), Mayor Abramowitz asked that this sentence indicate that unaddressed responses as well as unsigned responses would not be considered. The City Council agreed that the sentence should read, "To be considered, responses MUST BE signed and addressed.". C/M Rohr suggested that a Paragraph be included in the letter indicating that the City Council and City Manager were attempting to give the residents the best possible Police protection with the least cost to the taxpayers. C/M Hoffman suggested that City Manager Kelly indicate "I" as opposed to "The City Council and City Manager". The City Council AGREED with C/M Rohr's suggestion. The City Council AGREED that Public Hearings would be held on the following dates: Monday, June 5, 1989 - 10:00 A.M. (Council Chambers) Monday, June 12, 1989 - 7:30 P.M. (Council Chambers) Mayor Abramowitz asked if the City Council was opposed to holding a Special Meeting to appoint the members of the Hoards and Committees instead of during a City Council meeting. The City Council AGREED that the Special Meeting to make the appointments would be held on: Tuesday, June 20, 1989 - 10:00 A.M. (Council Chambers) C/M Rohr said there was a recent Article written in the newspaper that the City of Fort Lauderdale recently subscribed to an energy saving service that could save the City approximately $30,000.00 per year. He said the service was provided by Teletimer International of Boca Raton and the service reduced energy consumption through signals transmitted by telephone, cable television and radio systems. He said Teletimer International would supply all the equipment to be installed at the City Hall. Y C/M Rohr suggested that the City Manager look into this matter because the City Hall Complex was using a lot of energy. The City Council AGREED with this suggestion. Page 6 5/18/89 1 F 1 With no further business, Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED this meeting at 10:45 A.M. t NO .AN ABRAMOWITZ, MAYOR 1,2 CAROL A. EVAN , CITY CLERK "This public document was promulgated at a cost of $50.60 or $6.33 per copy to inform the general public, public officers and employees of recent opinions and considerations of the City Council of the City of Tamarac. APPROVED AT MEETING OF � !n / City Clerk Page 7 V, ,,-�77;q aflMINT The purpose of this letter is twofold: (1) To help you to understand the facts concerning our financial condition and our police service, and (2) To provide an opportunity for you to express your opinion about the options that will be offered. TAMARAC HAS A FINANCIAL DILEMMA: There are 3 options Wremedy this problem: (1) Drastically decrease and/or eliminate various City services. �c TV, (2) Drastically increase taxes which mayainclude a utility tax. (3) Consider a contract with the Broward Sheriffs Office. �v D o M-C T-7v1J Over the past 5 yearsth olice'has increased 51.8 o n spite of that increase, the department has been unable provide an acceptable level of service for more than 2 years. The police Chief has advised me 1 t often that we are unable to staff EVEN six patrol units nns; e�d of the scheduled 10 or 12. The proposed contract with the Broward Sheriffs office GAIJARANICEES 2 shifts of 10 patrol units, and 1 shift of 12 patrol units. This year, our minimal cost for our police is $5.3 million. ,Next year, withgut cigunting anj salaryincreasesthat cost will be G. pillion A,rJ12 STILL WILL SERVICE THE BKOWARD SHERIFF'S OFFICE WOULD EROVIDE, The proposed cost of the Broward Sheriff's Office contract for the first year is under $5 million, which would result in a SAVING 014 In fact, the cost of the Broward Sheriffs Office contract in the FIFT$XEAR will be less than our Police Department's budget for NEXT XEAR. I the City will have the unconditional right to terminate the contract, without cause, at anytime and have final authority over all personnel, transfers in and out of the EQs gp G A 0 ►S-W 1CTCOMcl 2 , Basically, our existing personnel will simply change uniforms and be supported by the considerable resources of a larger and Professionally accredited police organization. Regarding the new Police Building, our annual costs for the bond debt, operations, personnel, and m�inten nce will be over �klE�� pT�o half -million dollars a yeai�r Since we wou c lease, the facilities and equipment to the Broward Sheriffs Office, they will pay Public Works to maintain it and pay all utility and other costs THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE OUR RESPONSIBILITY. The result is NO COST TO THE CITY! To secure our options, city vehicles and equipment will be transferred, NOT SOLD, to BSO and, in the event we terminate the contract, the same number and valuation of vehicles and equipment will be returned to us. The City Council earnestly seeks your hod hts and comments. The Council soon will exercise its sponsibility to decide whether or not to approve the proposed BSO contract. for reading this important information! Public Hearing dates: Your comments: Signature: PRINT NAME: City Manager ADDRESS ***Return by unsigned_ responses will IIal be considered! P,6s/00us6s nAuSr