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Home My WebLink About1991-03-20 - City Commission Special Meeting Minutes@x- ۥWC h� T� f R f R R fR fR fR fR f �- ) f� fA �g �g �` f` f` f` f` fp f �f hh h h h h h h h h h h h h 4 C hC hC hC ITY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 1991 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Abramowitz called this meeting to order on Wednesday, March 20, 1991 at 10:00 a.m. in the Conference Room #1 of City Hall. MEDITATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Abramowitz called for the Pledge of Allegiance followed by Moment of Silent Meditation. PRESENT: Mayor Norman Abramowitz Vice Mayor Dr. H. Larry Bender Councilman Irving Katz Councilman Henry Schumann Councilwoman Diane Glasser ALSO PRESENT: John P. Kelly, City Manager Alan F. Ruf, City Attorney Carol A. Evans, City Clerk Karen Jackson, Secretary ***************************************************************** PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - Any member of the public may speak to any issue which is not agendized for public hearing at this meeting. Speakers will be limited to three minutes during this item and at public hearings. There will be a thirty (30) minute aggregate time limit for this item, and speakers are encouraged to sign up in advance with the City Clerk prior to their participation. Joe Schreiber, resident of Kings Point, said approximately six months ago, he made a request in writing to the City Manager regarding the Waste Management contract with the City of Tamarac. He said the purpose of the request was regarding the increase in rates effective June, 1991. He said the contract runs from October 1 to September 30 of each year. He said he requested a legal opinion as to whether an increase can be made during the course of a contract year. He requested that Council review this matter for some response. Mr. Schreiber said approximately three months ago, he visited the Finance Department to review the financial records regarding the Police Department activities and other items. He said he was informed that he cannot get this information unless it is approved by the City Manager. He said he feels that public records should be open to all. He said he made a written request for the information and at present, has not received a response. Mayor Abramowitz said this applies to the Council as well as the public. He said it was found that the City employees were being inundated with requests for information by the residents. He said the information should be channeled through the City Manager. 1. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION regarding legal matters and other related subjects. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: APPROVED termination of the Appeal covering the Referendum concerning three 3-year terms of office for Council and Charter Board positions. City Attorney Ruf said this is to discuss the Appeal of the pending Referendum law suit. He said in the summer of 1990, the City passed an Ordinance putting to the vote of the people of Tamarac, several Referendum questions. He said two specific questions regarding the term of the Charter Board members and the term of the Council members were challenged in a law suit and as part of that law suit, the vote in September, 1990 was attempted to be enjoined. He said Judge Ward heard the case and refused to enjoin the election, but left open the question of the challenge as to the validity of those ballot questions to a later time. City Attorney Ruf said the election went forward and all but one spending question were passed by the electorate of the City. He said the challenge to the ballot questions was raised by a Motion for some rejudgement. He said the City has a cross-Motion for some rejudgement and that Motion was heard by Judge Streitfeld. He said he found that the ballot questions did not meet the test that was set out in the Wadhams' case. He said Judge Streitfeld allowed the election to go forward, which it did, and the incumbents whose offices would have been affected, were defeated. He said the Special Counsel for the City, Holland and Knight, were told to put everything on hold until a meeting of the new Council could be held to give them authority to either proceed with the Appeal or to terminate the Appeal. City Attorney Ruf said he has spoken to Holland and Knight who believe that an Appeal would take at least three to six months for a decision from the Fourth District Court of Appeal. He said the outside cost for special legal Counsel would be approximately $5,000.00. C/W Glasser read her statement as follows: "I am the injured party for this law suit. I was advised by my attorneys that I had standing to join in the law suit once I qualified for the District 3 race. It was my feeling that the Referendum that the voters voted on, contained a misleading ballot summary which could lead the voters to believe that they were limiting the terms of office of the Council and Mayor, when in fact, they were being asked to extend them. I requested that the Ordinance extending the Council and Mayor terms be declared void and that my opponents, who if the new Ordinance were declared invalid, would have served the maximum amount of time allowed under the old Ordinance to be ruled unqualified to run. The Circuit Court agreed with my position and ruled the Ordinance extending Council and Mayor terms invalid. Further, the Court agreed that the effect of its ruling was to render the incumbent District 3 Councilman unqualified to run for office. Nevertheless, the Court stayed its ruling and allowed the election to proceed, stating that if his decision was upheld by the Appeals Court, even if I lost the election, I would take the seat anyway. I have won the election which means that I hold the District 3 seat for at least the next two years, no matter what the Appeals Court rules. The only way I can personally gain from the Appeal, is if the Appellate Court reverses the lower court ruling, which would then result in my having won a three year term and not a two year term. Before the election, some suggested that I would change my position if I won the Appeal since it would be in my best interest. As a Councilperson, I must decide what is in the best interest of the City of Tamarac, not in my own best interest. The ballot summary for the Referendum was flawed and clearly confusing. Additional fees and costs to be expended to fight to support a Referendum that was misleading, is a waste of the taxpayers money. This suit was not about what should be the appropriate terms of office for Council and Mayor, this should be addressed again at the appropriate time in the future, when the Council so decides. Hopefully, if and when the voters are presented with such a question, they will be able to make their decision on clear and unambiguous language. I believe the Appeal should be dropped and the Council should proceed with more important business." C/M Schumann said he did not vote for it in the beginning and will not change his vote at present. Mayor Abramowitz said he agrees that the proposed litigation was not about people, but about a City. He said he feels it would be ludicrous to go forward with this law suit. He said he feels that a $5,000.00 expenditure is not necessary. C/M Katz said he feels that this matter has received enough press coverage and, if it comes up for Referendum again, the public will be most knowledgeable. He said he feels it would serve no purpose to continue with the Appeal. V/M Bender said he had voted against the three 3-year terms previously. V/M Bender MOVED to TERMINATE the Appeal covering the Referendum for the three 3-year terms of office for Council and Charter Board positions, SECONDED by C/W Glasser. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE City Attorney Ruf said he has received inquiries regarding whether or not the newly elected Charter Board members could serve simultaneously on the Planning Commission. He said it had been his initial opinion that there was not a dual office holding problem because the Planning Commission was purely an advisory board. He said he had been speaking with the State Attorney's office regarding some complaints that had been filed in his office and the powers and duties of the Charter Board were discussed. He said there may be a concern in the dual office holding issue; therefore, he must seek an immediate decision from the Attorney General regarding this matter with the Council's approval. Mayor Abramowitz requested that City Attorney Ruf bring the Attorney General's opinion to Council as soon as it is acquired. Melanie Reynolds, resident, said it is under 99.012 of the Florida State Statutes that a Board member is to resign ten days prior to filing for another position. She said in as much as these people are not compensated, they do not have to put it in writing; however, it is understood that prior to running for another office, resignation is required from the current position being held. She said she feels the people on the Planning Commission automatically resigned. City Attorney Ruf said he is seeking the opinion of the Attorney General due to this inquiry and Mayor Abramowitz agreed. Mayor Abramowitz said Council has been deluged with requests from organizations in the City from the inception of the plans to build the Multi-Purpose Center for a meeting place. He said the Multi-Purpose Center has opened and is working out beautifully. He said in the past, anybody who was requesting a meeting place was asked to send a written request to the Parks and Recreation Department. Mayor Abramowitz said most of the condos that have meeting spaces available do not allow any organization with a National Chapter to meet in their meeting halls. He said many of these organizations meet at the Italian-American Club, which is very expensive. He said the Parks and Recreation Department has an extensive list of requests for these meeting spaces. Mayor Abramowitz said a suggestion was made by ex-Vice Mayor Hoffman to not charge anything for the use of the facility. Mayor Abramowitz said he is opposed to not charging anything due to the lay out of the building and the demand. He said the old Recreation Building has a partition which enables it to be separated into two rooms with the front portion having a kitchen. He said he feels that the City needs to be very specific when presenting something to the public. Mayor Abramowitz said every organization will want to use the entire room, whether there are 20 people or more. He said he feels that a moderate fee schedule should be set to compensate for the different sections. He said he feels that the City should not profit at all in this fee schedule due to this being a service the City provides to the people of the City. He said the City has received a great deal of criticism that the City is spending a lot of money on the youngsters. Mayor Abramowitz said two meetings can be held simultaneously in the Recreation Center if an organization has up to 60 people in order to better service the people of the City. He said he feels the front portion with the kitchen privileges should be slightly higher than the back portion and the full room which accommodates approximately 200 people will be higher. He said an example would be $25.00, $35.00 and $65.00. He said the Parks and Recreation Department has a full list and it should be run on a first come, first serve basis. He said the Parks and Recreation Department will handle the scheduling to the best of their ability to service the people of the City. Mayor Abramowitz said there are two rooms in the Multi-Purpose Center that are open from the outside and do not interfere with the activities of the Center. Mayor Abramowitz said it seems that everything gets put on hold during election time. He said he feels it is time that Council handles these situations. C/W Glasser asked the total capacity of the Recreation Center. Mayor Abramowitz said half of the room can hold 60 people and the whole room holds 200. C/W Glasser said in most cases when organizations meet, they usually serve coffee and such and would not need a kitchen. She suggested that the meetings not be allowed the kitchen facility, unless the entire room is rented for a function needing a kitchen. She said this would still allow the organizations to meet and serve coffee and such. Mayor Abramowitz said there are two meeting rooms in the new Multi-Purpose Center. Discussion was held regarding the layout of the Multi-Purpose Center and the location of the meeting rooms. Mayor Abramowitz said there are certain events that will always be held in the Recreation Center, such as the Junior Orange Bowl Queen, the Halloween Party, and other functions. He said the Parks and Recreation Staff will be able to schedule their activities appropriately. C/W Glasser requested the cost figures to operate the club meetings and Mayor Abramowitz said that is an administrative function. C/W Glasser said she would like to know what the cost would be for a four hour meeting period. She said there are many cities that have these types of facilities which are rented out. Mayor Abramowitz said Tamarac has this information already. V/M Bender asked how this will affect the city's liability insurance. City Manager Kelly said the City is completely insured. He said this was discussed at a previous Council meeting where Mike Couzzo, Director of Parks and Recreation, was directed to present a report by April 1, 1991 which determines how many people had applied, a possible schedule and other situations. He said this report will not be ready until after April 1, 1991. V/M Bender requested that Susan Tillman, Risk Manager, be contacted to examine the current policies for clarification and to be sure that there will not be any problems in the future. City Attorney Ruf said the City is self-insured. Mayor Abramowitz said these facilities will be rented to charitable, non-profit organizations. Discussion was held regarding the commercial aspects of renting these facilities. C/W Glasser said the schools require the organizations renting their facility to carry a floater policy which is not very expensive. Joe Schreiber, resident, said the current policy may not cover these organizations using the facilities and should be researched. Mayor Abramowitz requested the information for the next meeting for Council's decision. He said these organizations have been very patient and it is time for the decisions. City Manager Kelly said Council will have a special meeting regarding the recycling agreement on Thursday, March 28, 1991 at 9:00 a.m. He said the agreement must be approved by April 1, 1991. He said Steve Magee of Coconut Creek met with Waste Management and their attorneys for discussion. He said the report on that meeting is there is still some disagreement and the Coconut Creek Council deferred action at their meeting of March 19, 1991 and will be discussing it further prior to April 1, 1991. City Manager Kelly said there will be other Council workshop meetings scheduled in the near future to discuss the street lighting proposal, fire district discussions, action on a natural gas franchise with the City of Sunrise, a cable TV proposal and other subjects. C/M Katz said he spoke with Chris Carsky regarding the Code Enforcement Board being self-sustaining when reviewing ways to get money. Discussion was held regarding Code Enforcement. Mayor Abramowitz said he has received many phone calls regarding the Code Enforcement of the City. C/M Katz said there are buildings within the City who have not been in conformity for seven or eight months. Mayor Abramowitz said this will be discussed in the workshop meeting that will be held in the near future. TAPE 2 Stan Bernard, resident, asked if Chris Carsky being counsel to the Code Enforcement Board is different than the City Attorney's office. Mayor Abramowitz said if Mr. Bernard means whether or not she gets paid and she does. C/M Katz said Ms. Carsky was the Prosecutor for the City in the past. He said when Dick Doody, previous City Attorney, left the City and Steve Oxenhandler came on board, Chris Carsky became City Attorney. Discussion was held regarding this. Mayor Abramowitz said the Code demands that two attorneys be present for the City. He said there was always a prosecuting attorney and a City Attorney present. He said at present the Code states that an attorney must be present. City Manager Kelly said a philosophy is to be established by Council regarding funding, costs, and services for extreme positions of the Multi-Purpose Center and the Code Enforcement Board. He said in the upcoming budget year, Council may reconsider the position of recouping the cost a little more carefully as other cities have done in raising their rates on recreation fees and code enforcement fees. Mayor Abramowitz said he can provide proof of provided services that are not self-sustaining and cost the City a lot of money. City Manager Kelly said all of this will have to be evaluated. Mayor Abramowitz said the City could save $104,000 by not supplying the ambulance service which is not mandated. He said there is a difference between raising the cost to a builder coming in for developing and the Social Services taking the residents to the doctor or shopping. C/M Katz said this discussion is about administrative decisions that are left to a head of a department and Mayor Abramowitz said this will be discussed at an upcoming Council workshop meeting. C/M Katz said the City has a budget of approximately $130,000 with nearly zero revenue and the department heads wait until the last day for handling. Mayor Abramowitz said there is a distinct difference between Social Services and business. C/M Katz said at the last Council meeting that C/M Rohr and V/M Hoffman attended, the City Attorney was questioned as to whether the City had any legal right to pay legal expenses when the Councilmen were represented in Judge Streitfeld's court. He asked if this had been resolved. City Attorney Ruf said he had indicated that he felt it was not appropriate for the City to pay for it. C/M Katz asked if anyone serving on an appointed Board, serve on more than one Board. He said he recalls being told to resign from Code Enforcement to serve on the Planning Commission. Mayor Abramowitz said that was something that was done within the City. He said it was the practice set by the City. He said it will be changed if the City Attorney states that it is illegal. He said Council made this decision in order to involve more people in the City due to the same people serving on several Boards. V/M Bender said Maury Kramer is on the Board of Adjustment and the Insurance Advisory Committee. He said Maury Kramer has a letter from the City Clerk's office stating he can remain on both Boards. Mayor Abramowitz said the policy was that a person cannot serve on two committees simultaneously and remains that way. City Manager Kelly said he would investigate this situation. V/M Bender said he received a memo from City Manager Kelly regarding the new budget. He said he feels strongly that in view of the City's diminishing revenues, administrative costs should be reviewed carefully and Mayor Abramowitz agreed. C/W Glasser said the new Council people need backup for discussing the Recycling Agreement at the upcoming Special meeting and City Manager Kelly said it would be supplied. C/M Katz said someone will need to be appointed to the Code Enforcement Board to replace him. Mayor Abramowitz said this will be handled. He said it takes a couple weeks for all situations to be handled after an election. City Manager Kelly said the Budget to date is at the halfway mark which is projected through March 31, 1991 and the expenditures are as follows: Council 44% Veterans 21.9% City Manager 41.2% Consumer Affairs 40% Charter Board 34% Police Services 49.7% Public Information 47% Social Services 70% Economic Development 35% City Manager Kelly said the bulk of the Social Services budget is the $10,000 given to the Area Agency on Aging. Mayor Abramowitz said this City is one of the lowest in participation in the Area Agency on Aging. He said for every dollar the City gives the Area Agency on Aging, Tamarac receives $8.00 in services. He said he is on the Board of Director's of the Alzheimer's Foundation and Tamarac has the most patients in the Alzheimer's Foundation. He suggested more money be donated to these foundations. City Manager Kelly said Tamarac has never given its fair share. V/M Bender asked what additional funds ESN has to return to the City. City Attorney Ruf said he understands there is not a lot of money. He said there are some contingent things going on. He said he will contact the attorney handling that case for information. Dr. Alfred Wald, resident, said the condos allow different organizations use of the recreation buildings. He said they do not charge rent but they pay a clean up and maintenance fee. He said their insurance company stated that since they are not getting paid for anything, they are not responsible. He said this may be a simple way for the City to handle recreational facilities. With no further business, Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED this meeting at 11:00 a.m. NORMAN ABRAMOWITZ MAYOR CAROL A. EVANS CITY CLERK "This public document was promulgated at a cost of $95.28 or $2.12 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." 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