Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-09-05 - City Commission Special Meeting MinutesMAIL REPLY TO: P.O. BOX 25010 TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33320 5811 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE 0 TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321 TELEPHONE (305) 722-5900 NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL TAMARAC, FLORTUA August 27, 1984 There will be a Special Meeting of the City Council on Wednesday, September 5, 1984, at 9:30 a.m., in the West Conference Room of City Hall, 5811 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac. The purpose of the meeting is to affirm the employment of a Utility Director/City Engineer by the Acting City Manager. The Council may consider and act upon such other business as may come before it. The public is invited to attend. Carol A. Evans Assistant City Clerk Pursuant to Section 286.0105, Florida Statutes If a person decides to appeal any decision made by the city Council with respect to any matter considered at such meeting or hearing, he will need a record of the proceedings and for such purpose, he may need to ensure that a verbatim record includes fhe testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. rQ.= OF NW-D1SCR1KD1hTMN ON BASIS OF HANDICAPPM STAnZ AN 1-W . M PDIt U4M RVLC1Yi"R CITY OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING September 5, 1984 Tape 1 CALL TO ORDER: V/M Stein called the meeting to order on Wednes- day, September 51 1984, at 10:30 A.M. in the West Conference Room of City Hall. He read the Notice of the Special Meeting into the re- cord which stated the purpose is to affirm the employment of a Util- ity Director/City Engineer by the Acting City Manager. ROLL -CALL: PM.SBM: Vice Mayor Sydney M. Stein Councilman Raymond J. Munitz Councilman John J. Dunne ABSENT AND EXCUSED: Mayor Philip B. Kravitz Councilman Jack Stelzer ALSO E E : Steve Wood, Acting City Manager Jon M. Henning, City Attorney Patricia Marcurio, Secretary 2. Salary o ecu_ ie A9916tant is it BAD -a - Dis- cussion and possible action. : Agendized by Consent. (See Pages 2, 3 & 4). C/M Munitz MOVED to Agendize by Consent discussion and possible action concerning the salary of the Executive Assistant to the City Manager, SECONDED by C/M Dunne. 1. affirm the Emp o me t of a Uti tty DigpptorZCjtyE e the-A,ctin.ga e - Discussion and possible action. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: APPROVED employment of William Greenwood as Utility Director/ City Engineer as recommended by the Acting City Manager with a starting salary of $45,128.35 with a 6 month probationary period, a $200 per month car allowance, and other normal employee benefits. Steve Wood, Acting City Manager, introduced William Greenwood to the Council. He said Mr. Greenwood was interviewed by a committee that was formed which included Utility Directors from other cities as well as representatives from the consulting engineering firms of Williams, Hatfield & Stoner and Montgomery Engineering. He said the committee formed the unanimous decision that Mr. Greenwood should be appointed to the position and he recommended approval by the Council. He said the starting salary would be $45,128.35, he will be on a 6 month probationary period at which time, on satisfactory completion, he will be given a 4% increase. He said he will receive a $200 per month car allowance as received by many of the Department Heads. Mr. Wood said the City will pick up Mr. Greenwood's personal health insurance coverage after 90 days of employment and after one year he will be able to participate in the City's Pension Plan. He said he will receive the normal benefits which are one day per month vacation leave, one day per month sick leave, and three days per year personal leave. He said other benefits available are dental and optical coverage which are available at the expense of the employee. l 9/5/84 /pm NO M C/M Dunne said he has spoken with Mr. Greenwood and reviewed his resume and feels he is quite competent for the job. He MOVED that Mr. Greenwood be employed for the position of Utility Director/City Engineer, SECONDED by C/M Munitz. C/M Munitz asked Steve Wood how the salary figure was arrived at and Mr. Wood said the salary is within the pay range and is agreeable to Mr. Greenwood. Mr. Henning said in the near future Council may want to address procedures in the Personnel Department concerning job classifica- tions. He asked Mr. Wood if there was a reclassification of the duties for the Utility Director vs. the City Engineer and Mr. Wood said formerly the City had a City Engineer who was performing the function of Utility Director. He said since most of the work re- lates to the Utility Department, they felt the position should more properly be entitled Utility Director/City Engineer. Mr. Henning asked if the car allowance was part of the job description and Mr. Wood said this is the same car allowance that was received by the previous City Engineer. V/M Stein said for the record Mr. Greenwood is a P.E., a Pro- fessional Sanitary Engineer, a Professional Civil Engineer, has a Water Work Operator's License, a Sewage Treatment Operator's Li- cense, and is a Conservationist Forest Ranger. He said he will be covering both functions since the Utilities concerns a 6 million dollar operation. Melanie Reynolds, Charter Board member, asked if there will have to be changes to the Code concerning the function of the City Engineer and Mr. Henning said those City Code obligations will fall within this job description. C/M Munitz said the position of Utility Director must be created and Mr. Wood said there is one in the proposed budget for Utility West and there is a City Engineer position in the now -existing General Fund under which Mr. Greenwood will be paid until 10/1/84 or the the adoption of the Utility West budget, at which time he will be paid out of the Utility West budget. He said there is currently a job description and position budgeted for City Engineer but not for Utility Director. Mr. Wood said there is no Operations Division of the Utility East Fund and the only thing that remains in the proposed budget for Utilities East is Administration which is basically the billing function. He said all repairs of items in the Utility East system will be performed by the Utility West people and backbilled to the Utility East system. VOTE: ALL—V TID AY E 2. Aa a of -the Bzjegutive.Assistant to the City Mangoer- Dis- cussion and possible action. M'SIS QF ACTTON: Agendized by Consent. (See Page 1). It was decided that Leroy Browne will retain this position with no change in salary until 9/30/84. V/M Stein said on 8/30/84 he prepared a memo to Steve Wood, Acting City Manager (See Attachment 1). V/M Stein said in answer to this memo, he received a memo from Leroy Browne dated 8/30/84 (See Attachment 2). V/M Stein said no request was made in his memo to the Acting City Manager that Mr. Browne should resign but only re- ferred to his pay scale. He said it was Mr. Browne's suggestion that he resign as of 12/31/84. Steve Wood said for clarification of the original memo, the statement on the budgetary line amount for the position was incorrect. V/M Stein said he was incorrect in stating that this was a line item, it was an understanding that the position would be in that bracket as was proposed to Council. 2 9/5/84 /pm i C/M Munitz asked if the previous City Manager had the right to create a position which did not exist before. Mr. Henning said this morning a Department Head was hired to a job that did not exist before. He said Council reclassified a present position to a different position and created a position for a new employee. He said the reason it came to Council is because it is a Department Head. He said the question is whether the City Manager, Personnel Director and the Finance Director, working in concert, can arrange for a reclassification of a lower position without Council action and he said yes, they can, based on past practice. He said he has discussed with Council previously how much involvement they want to have in the pay plan and job descriptions. He asked if Council wants to be advised of the classifications immediately after the fact or brought before them for approval before the fact. He said the status quo would be that the City Manager handles reclassifica- tions of the lower positions. V/M Stein said when a new position is created which involves a per- son in this type of category, Council should be notified. He said any dramatic salary increase of this type should be brought to Council's attention. Mr. Wood asked if Council would want to be notified before or after a reclassification takes place and V/M Stein said Council should be notified before this takes place. Mr. Henning said this could be done in two ways, either by Resolu- tion amending the personnel manual or by amending the City Code by Ordinance stating that all reclassifications come before Council. C/M Munitz said there is an easier way which has been accomplished by notifying the Acting City Managerr the Personnel Director and the City Attorney that the members of Council will be advised monthly on any salary changes other than a merit increase, etc. He said this situation has opened the door to something and Council does not want to interfere with any member of staff in the performance of their duties; howeverr on a need -to -know basis, there is certain informa- tion which should come to Council before the fact so that they can have some input. He said the City Manager would have the ultimate decision. Mr. Henning said this is an important point. V/M Stein said any reclassification outside of the normal merit classification should be by advice and consent of Council. Mr. Henning said anything that is not a merit or cost of living increase or a contractual obligation. V/M Stein said there are 3 ways of handling this situation: first, is a letter which he wrote to the Acting City Manager, second, is Mr. Browne's counter -proposal and, third, is that Council not budget a higher amount than the amount that the original position stipulated, which was $24,000 plus 8%. Mr. wood said at the budget public hearing, Council could, by Motion, state that they want the title changed from Executive Assistant to the City Manager to Assistant to the City Manager. C/M Munitz asked if that would affect the total amount of money for Regular Salaries in the City Manager's budget and Mr. Wood said he would not suggest that Council change that number because he does not know what salary Council plans on offering the new City Manager. He said what is currently projected is the salary that Laura Stuurmans was receiving plus the salaries of Leroy Browne and Mimi Reiter, Secretary. C/M Munitz said he objects to the Vice Mayor's reference in his memo of 8/30/84 concerning a refund of any excess salary from Leroy Browne. C/M Dunne said he was under the impression that Mr. Browne's duties were that of a Public Relations man. V/M Stein said no one is discussing Mr. Browne's ability or work but rather, the right of a City Manager to act on her own to add $15,000 to the budget without notifying the Council. Melanie Reynolds, Charter Board member, asked Mr. Wood if the revised budget of the City Man- ager allocated $13,000 for salaries from the City Clerk and $13,000 for salaries from the Finance Department. 3 9/5/84 0 /pm Mr. Wood said this is correct, there was no need to increase the City Manager's line item called Regular Salaries for Mr. Browne's pay because she had lapsed savings in there. He said the position was budgeted last year assuming that the City Manager would come before the Council and request an increase, which she did not. He said there were some savings in her own budget to compensate for what Mr. Browne would be paid. Mr. Wood asked if the new City Manager would have the option of bringing Mr. Browne's salary back if he feels Mr. Browne deserves it and V/M Stein said anyone has the right to come before Council and request an increase if they feel they deserve it. V/M Stein said the consensus of Council is that they are notifying Mr. wood as Acting City Manager that Council would request this position be put back to where it was. He said it is uncertain as to whether the new City Manager would need an Executive Assistant. V/M Stein said Council's only restriction would be that in the new budget Mr. Browne have the original position with the original salary. He said if Mr. Browne accepts it or resigns, it is his decision. C/M Munitz asked Mr. Perretti, Personnel Director, if there was a job description included in the employee personnel manual for this new title and Mr. Perretti said there was a job description that was given to him by the previous City Manager. C/M Munitz MOVED that the status of Leroy Browne remain as it is until 9/30/84, SECONDED by C/M Dunne. lil6 +I T Mr. Henning said up to this point in time, Council has not had official action on the salary ranges of personnel, except possibly Department Heads. He suggested that if Council wants to be advised of impending increases, there be an Ordinance in the Code or a Reso- lution in the personnel manual that the Council approve the reclass- ifications and the job descriptions. Mr. Henning said if this is significant he will prepare an Ordinance for first reading for the next regular Council meeting. V/M Stein said yes, this is most important. C/M Munitz suggested Mr. Henning define "extraordinary conditions" for this Ordinance and Mr. Henning said if Council had approval of the salary range there would be adequate control. C/M Munitz said it seems that a revision of the personnel manual is long overdue. V/M Stein adjourned the meeting at 11;15 A.M. MAYOR ATTEST: ASSISTANT CITY CLERK This public document was promulgated $2.60 per copy to inform the general employees about recent opinions and the City of Tamarac. N at a cost of $93.60 or public and public officers and considerations by the Council of 9/5/84 /pm I ATTACHMENT 1 Item 2 9/5/84 City Council Special Meeting CITY OF TAMARAC INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM: �• �^ t MEMO TO: Steve Wood, Acting City Manager<'• .• Vice Mayor Sydney M. Stein FROM: ;�,• - DATE: 7Leroy 984 REF E CEs wne �. After due investigation, I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Browne was hired as Administrative Aide to the City Manager. When this position was created by Council action, the budget line for this position was from $18,000. to $25,000. annually. I therefore find that the reclassification of 5/28/84 to Executive Assistant to the City Manager is not within the City.Charter. There is no such position as Executive Assistant to the City Manager, nor was one created by the City Council, nor has there been a budgetary line amount for this position approved. I would, therefore, ask you to please issue Mr. Browne's reclassification, based upon his original position at $24, 094.39 per annum, plus any merit increases he is tentitled to; and ask that you bill him for a refund to 'the City of any excess he received from 5/28/84 to date. Most important, now that this has come to my attention, is that no further funds be paid to Mr. Browne under the so-called reclassification. Sydney�M. Stein Vice Mayor /lc Cc: Larry Perretti City Council c F--A ATTACHMENT 2 Item 2 9/5/84 City Council Special Meeting 'TEPHEN A. WOOD, ACTING CITY MANAGER ,EROY BROWNE, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE CITY MANAGER SUBJECT: RESIGNATION DATE: AUGUST 30, 1984 I have had discussions with the Vice Mayor concerning my reclassification by the former City Manager and related pay increase. The Vice Mayor has stated that the consensus of the City Council is that they do not believe that the reclassification was handled in a manner which is acceptable to the City Council. Although I have reviewed the personnel manual and the reclassification procedure seems to have been followed, I will, as a counter proposal, offer my resignation effective December 31, 1984 at 5:00 P.M. with the following terms: 1. I remain at my current salary and title through December 31, 1984.' 2. I continue receiving my normal accruals of vacation, sick leave, personal days through December 311 1984. 3. I waive my rights to any cost of living increases which may occur prior to December 31, 1984. 4. As a responsible family man, I would ask that the City not challenge my right to unemployment compensation if unable to find employment.' As a resident and professional administrator, I will offer my continued interest and suggestions as they may be beneficial to the citizens of Tamarac. If the aforementioned terms are agreeable to the City, please consider this memorandum as my resignation to become effective December 31, 1984.