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Home My WebLink About1991-04-10 - City Commission Workshop Meeting Minutes@x- ۥcC tD a� r R r R R rR rR rR rR r\ � - ) r �rA �s� s� ` r` r` r` r` rp r �r tt t t t t t t t t t t t t 4 C tC tC tC ITY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 1991 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Abramowitz called this meeting to order on Wednesday, April 10, 1991 at 9:30 p.m. in the Conference Room #1 of City Hall. 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 Chris Carsky, City Attorney Steve Oxenhandler, Director of Developmental Services Karen Jackson, Secretary ******************************************************************** 1. Code Enforcement Mayor Abramowitz said C/M Katz has been very active on the Code Enforcement Board. C/M Katz commended Chris Carsky, Steve Oxenhandler, and City Manager Kelly for the attention he has received regarding the Code Enforcement Board. He said there were cases that were taking six to eight months to comply during his term on the Code Enforcement Board. He said the City's compliance rate was very high; however, he was not happy with the amount of money the City had to expend in order to get compliance, the delay factor in getting the compliance in certain cases, and there were repeat violators who were never brought to the Code Enforcement Board and were never named as repeat violators. C/M Katz said if they came into compliance, Steve Oxenhandler and the Code Enforcement Board did not feel there was a need for these violators to come before the Board. He said he had insisted that there was reason due to the State Statute 162, as it was changed in 1989, allows for up to $250.00 per day if a violator does not come into compliance. He said they can be notified by the Board and then are subject to up to $500.00 per day if the same violation is repeated within five years. He said a person cannot be named as a repeat violator if they have not appeared before the Board. C/M Katz said there were violators who did not come into compliance which caused a time delay. He said there were violators who came into compliance a couple hours prior to the Code Enforcement meeting and flaunting before the City. He said the City had expenses of the inspectors going out three, four, and even six times. He said he would like to see the money spent come back to the City. He said a citation process has been discussed, and is going to be initiated. He said a courtesy notice of up to 30 days will be issued and on the 31 day, a citation will be issued if not in compliance with set fees. He said the cost increases the more it is prolonged and then will go to County Court. C/M Katz said the City will be able to recover most of the budget that it takes to run the Code Enforcement Department. He said compliance is still an issue. He said Chris Carsky will be writing a new Ordinance relative to commercial vehicles parking on commercial property without the permission of or being an owner of record of the property. He said parking overnight on commercial property is allowed at present; however, with the new Ordinance, the person will be cited immediately and their defense must show that they have approval of the owner or they are one of the owners of record. Mayor Abramowitz said the problem of time delay for compliance has been prevalent in the past. C/M Katz said the Attorney General's Office states that these violators can be brought before the Board, even if they come into compliance. Mayor Abramowitz asked why not issue a citation rather than a 30-day courtesy notice. C/M Katz said he feels the time basis for a courtesy notice should depend on the severity of the violation. City Attorney Carsky said discussion will be held regarding Chapter 162 of the Code Enforcement Statute. She said Part 1 is the section which creates the Code Enforcement Board and Part 2 is the new section that allows the City and County to use a supplemental Code Enforcement procedure by which a citation is used as opposed to the Board. City Attorney Carsky said the Code Enforcement officers have the option to allow as much time as they want prior to bringing a case before the Board which is the policy set by the Department. She said the Statute gives the Code Enforcement officer the ability to set a reasonable time under circumstances. She said even if the violator has corrected the violation by the date of the hearing, the Board can get a final order which means that if they fail to comply by the date or if they come out of compliance, a fine is then applied for each day of violation. City Attorney Carsky said the second hearing is held in event that they did not come into compliance by that date or if the repeat violator has come into non-compliance since they can come into compliance before the meeting. Mayor Abramowitz asked what is legally permissible if they come into compliance before the second meeting. City Attorney Carsky said a fine can be assessed for each day that they are in non-compliance when there is a final order at the first meeting which applies to the repeat violators. She said the first time offender gets the additional time to comply. Steve Oxenhandler, Director of Developmental Services, expressed his appreciated to C/M Katz for initiating this meeting for discussion. He said Part 2 of the Statute was added in 1989 which allows Code officers to issue a ticket similar to a parking ticket that gives the offender an exact fine and goes to County Court. He said he feels the new citation process only allows a maximum of 30 days to come into compliance. He said a monetary fine citation will be issued if compliance is not met within the pre-stated time period. C/M Katz said there are certain restrictions in the Florida Statutes which take precedence over the Local Code. He said the City is initiating a citation procedure based on Part 2 of the Florida Statutes. Discussion was held regarding this. Mr. Oxenhandler said it was his decision as to whether or not to bring these offenders before the Board. He said the City has over 95% compliance at present. He said there are a few repeat offenders. He said the Code officers report to him on any case that does not comply. He said the Code Enforcement Department cannot fine anyone, the Code Enforcement Board sets the fines. He said the hours of one of the officers is being changed for the spring and summer from 11:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. to stop the different types of violations that occur in the evenings. City Attorney Carsky said she would review the Supplement Procedure, Part 2 of Chapter 162 Florida Statutes. She said she would like to discuss the Parking Fines Ordinance. City Attorney Carsky said the City's parking tickets are $5.00 which is out of line with most of Broward County and parking tickets are a money-maker for the City. She said the Ordinance decreases the amount of the fine for handicapped. She said the current Tamarac Code requires a fine of $250.00 for handicapped parking. She said she spends a lot of time reviewing files that have been received from the City in which the offender wants to go to court. She said she feels that as supportive as the Judge is of Code Enforcement efforts, that he is not going to be inclined to the fine. City Attorney Carsky said this Ordinance has been structured as follows: Initial fine $150.00 After 10 days $200.00 Arraignment & trial $250.00 City Attorney Carsky said this reflects that there will probably be a 75% to 80% compliance after a demand letter is received. She recommended the reduction of the fine to $150.00. Further discussion was held regarding this. City Attorney Carsky said the Ordinance also removes from the current Code, the Section that increases the amount of the fine. She said she feels that by raising the fine and treating each ticket as a separate offense would be appropriate. C/W Glasser expressed her concern in the reduction of the handicap fine. She said there are many elderly handicapped people in the City. She said she feels that those who will fight a $250.00 ticket will also fight a $150.00 ticket. She said she feels that someone who parks in a handicapped zone who is not handicapped should pay the price. Discussion was held regarding the fine change. C/M Schumann asked if the police are ticketing these vehicles. Mayor Abramowitz said the City has a group of volunteers who have the power granted to them to ticket vehicles. C/M Schumann said the prosecution has the sworn testimony of the ticketing officer when a summons is issued to the offender. Discussion was held regarding this. City Attorney Carsky said the City needs to consider who will handle the paperwork and issue the subpoena. C/W Glasser asked if the marking on the ground of a handicapped parking space is valid. Mr. Oxenhandler said a fine cannot be issued without a sign and the ground marking. C/M Schumann asked why the City handles the paperwork if the Broward Sheriff's Office issues the citation. City Attorney Carsky said the paperwork always comes to her office, a demand letter is sent and payment is usually received. She said a Tamarac case goes to court once every three to four months. Mayor Abramowitz said he has been told that the parking tickets are a huge administrative problem for $5.00. City Attorney Carsky recommended Council pass the Ordinance and change the handicapped fees on first reading. She said she feels it is important to handle these fines. City Attorney Carsky said Part 2 of the Ordinance adopts Part 1 of Chapter 162, which is the Code Enforcement Board Statute and it repeals approximately six pages of the Code that recite all of the old Chapter 162. She said the Ordinance also adopts Part 2 of Chapter 162, which is the Supplemental Procedure Ordinance. She said the Tamarac Code does not provide a specific penalty for the land use violations. She said she feels the escalator clause is beneficial for all of the fines due to having a minimum amount in the Ordinance and the Judge cannot lower it beyond that minimum. City Attorney Carsky suggested the Schedule of Penalties be changed to $100.00 to allow more leverage. She said Council can make the decisions on the various policy fees. She said the Supplemental Procedure Ordinance allows unsworn officers to issue citations. She said the violator has up to 30 days to pay, depending on the health, safety and welfare situation. She said this states that it is compliance oriented rather than penal. Discussion was held on judgment procedures. City Attorney Carsky said the citation indicates that if the amount on the back is not paid, the case is taken directly to a final hearing. She said there is no arraignment and there is not a lot of paperwork involved. She said she feels that Mr. Oxenhandler can prepare the Code Enforcement people for trial. She said North Lauderdale has implemented this procedure and has worked for approximately one month. C/M Katz suggested the City not restrict the lien to real estate, but to go after personal property if judgment is issued and it becomes a lien. City Attorney Carsky said this does use a lot of administrative time and money to collect personal property. Mayor Abramowitz said he felt the Code Enforcement Board was more interested in disagreeing with the Code than pursuing the violator. He said at that time the City had a Prosecuting Attorney, a City Attorney and a Code Enforcement officer present. Discussion was held regarding past cases. C/M Katz said no one can dispute this Ordinance. He said the violator is cited and then goes to Court. City Attorney Carsky said she feels that there will be a lot fewer cases being presented to the Code Enforcement Board if this works. C/M Schumann asked how many people have come before the Board in the past two years and Mr. Oxenhandler said, fifteen. C/M Schumann asked if the City is following the letter of Statute. He said in the past, the Board would have 15 to 20 cases per meeting to review. Mr. Oxenhandler said the City began a program of helping people to get them to comply. He said courtesy notices are hung on the doors and the City has received approximately 85% compliance. He said after the people comply, they are sent thank you postcards. He said they are given 30 days to comply and then a notice of violation is issued. He said he feels the new citation process is beneficial. TAPE 2 City Attorney Carsky said the Board can make the decision as to how many days are allowed for compliance. Discussion was held regarding this. Mr. Oxenhandler said the Code Enforcement Department has investigated over 3,900 new complaints since October, 1989. He invited Council to visit the Department to look at the computer system which is used by the City. Mayor Abramowitz said he would like to know what kind of revenue was generated in the past compared to the present. He said he is in favor for a system that will eliminate violators who flaunt the system. C/M Katz said this Ordinance allows for leverage. Violators are subject to a review before the Board and can be subject to a $500.00 fine per day. He said he feels a higher compliance rate and the additional revenue will benefit the City with more leverage allowed to the Code Enforcement Department. Mr. Oxenhandler said the officers are presently working on comp time rather than overtime and a vacant Code Inspector position was eliminated, which saved the City money in the past couple years. Mayor Abramowitz said he feels that the City is losing large amounts of revenue because the City does not have the ability to monitor the occupational licenses procedure. He commended Judy Yacobellis for a job well done; however, a single person cannot handle this alone. He suggested Code Enforcement sweep the City for people who do not have occupational licenses. He suggested a task force be established and to allow the building inspectors to check occupational licenses throughout the City. Mr. Oxenhandler said anybody can request to see the occupational license of a business at any time. He said the Code Enforcement Department is doing this at present. He said the Department has brought in approximately $306,000.00 and it is expected to bring in an extra $340,000.00 from these investigations. Discussion was held regarding the occupational licenses. Mayor Abramowitz said many of these offenders have a County occupational license and feel a City license is not necessary. He said he feels it may be difficult for the Code Enforcement people to do this themselves due to there being backup work and license issuances to do. Mr. Oxenhandler said the Building inspectors can check for licenses and then notify the Code Enforcement Department of the violators, who would then issue the citations. Mayor Abramowitz said revenue to the City is very important, as well as the ability to utilize the Staff in the City as revenue inducing personnel. V/M Bender said the County has a listing of all the licenses that are issued. He said there have been many cases where the County issued licenses; however, the businesses did not have City licenses. He suggested the Department access a list from the County of occupational licenses issued in the City and compare to the list of City licenses issued which would supply the leads necessary to locate the violators. Mayor Abramowitz said the Broward League of Cities is trying to introduce a bill in Tallahassee which allows the City to collect the money for the County and the City, and then charge the County a fee for making the collection to make sure the people having businesses have occupational licenses. Mr. Oxenhandler said the Department has begun collecting delinquent fire fees and is receiving 100% compliance and has had a revenue of over $4,000.00 from this. He said on April 19, 1991, the City will be having 30 second commercials to be aired on ESPN and CNN by Continental Cablevision. He said one of the topics that will be discussed will be the requirement of occupational licenses. He said a different commercial will be aired monthly which will help in education. Mayor Abramowitz said he feels there is a big problem with parking improper vehicles in the driveway. He said the Broward Sheriff's Office has an obligation to enforce the Ordinances of the City; however, every time a complaint is registered, the homeowners associations want the City to go after the party. Discussion was held regarding this. C/M Katz said a lot of these violations occur after 5:00 p.m. which is the reason for his suggestion to have one Code Enforcement officer on duty from 12:00 noon until 8:00 p.m. He said he feels the City will get the compliance being sought, if an officer is on duty during these hours. City Attorney Carsky said the definition of commercial vehicle needs to be clarified. She said the Code needs to specify how the vehicle can comply such as a fitted tarp or a magnetic sign. Mayor Abramowitz said people will complain that their livelihood is being taken from them. Discussion was held regarding commercial vehicles. C/M Schumann asked if the City has restrictions on construction on the weekends and Mr. Oxenhandler said there are no restriction for daytime work on the weekends with the hours being between 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. C/W Glasser asked how the Code addresses homes that have two or more vehicles. City Manager Kelly said they park on the lawns and swales. Mr. Oxenhandler said there is nothing in the Ordinance that addresses this type of parking. Discussion was held regarding parking and ground pollution. City Attorney Carsky said the City can only cite all of the illegally parked vehicles. Mayor Abramowitz said the City has developments that do not have guest parking facilities. Discussion was held regarding the parking problems throughout the City. 2. Report on Cable Television V/M Bender read a memo sent to City Manager Kelly in March, 1991, regarding the feasibility of the City establishing a cable television service which would be owned and operated by the City for the residents of Tamarac. V/M Bender said there are other cities that have this type of operation such as in Valpariso, Florida. He expressed his concerns regarding the renegotiations with Continental Cablevision. He said he researched the FCC requirements for a permit for this. He said FCC will cooperate with the City if the City ties a security system in the cable company which would cost nothing due to the same cables being used. He said every resident in Tamarac can have a security system service for a nominal fee. He said he feels there have been many complaints from condo associations regarding the service. Discussion was held regarding the companies that provide this service. V/M Bender said Valpariso, Florida has 1,523 cable customers with 3,000 homes. Mayor Abramowitz said Tamarac has 26,000 units in the City with 14,000 cable customers. V/M Bender said the equipment requirement of transmitters and earth stations is approximately the same for any number of customers. He said there are private homes that must use still wires; however, there are many condos that microwave can be used. He suggested the City go into competition with Continental Cablevision. He said he feels this needs to be explored and pursued. City Manager Kelly said he has been discussing this with Pembroke Pines and Hollywood regarding their review of this. He said the cable companies have been frequently challenged to be bought out. He said it is less expensive to buy out the competitor. He said bulk rates are over sold and then there is nothing to keep the rates down. He said deregulation has made a small improvement for the municipalities. He said the complaints have increased 43% in the past couple years. He said the rates have increased 43%; however, the programming has not changed. V/M Bender said from 1984 to 1990 cable costs have doubled. He said the cost of living was raised 6.1% in 1990 and the cable was raised 13.1%. He said the City can give better service, less expensive, increasing revenue and supply a security system. He said one of the cities charges $3.00 or $4.00 per month for their security service. C/W Glasser asked if Continental Cablevision is in compliance with their franchise agreement. C/M Schumann said the City can cancel their services if they are in violation of the franchise agreement. Discussion was held regarding the cable franchise agreement. Mayor Abramowitz said there is one passage in the franchise agreement that states that everyone in the City is to be treated the same; however, they do not, which means they are not in compliance. C/M Schumann said if Continental Cablevision breaches their franchise agreement, they have no legal ground to stand on. He said Continental Cablevision bought their contract from American Cable and must hold the clauses in the contract. Discussion was held regarding the possible breach of contract. TAPE 3 C/M Schumann said the installation is state of the art equipment and there is no need to dig tunnels and plant wires underground. He said the same job can be done by using six or eight satellite dishes. Mayor Abramowitz said he feels the City should actively get someone else to accomplish this. V/M Bender said Continental Cablevision does not have an exclusive franchise. Mayor Abramowitz said he is in favor of the City seeking proposals for cable service. 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. Nathan Peretzman, resident, expressed his concern regarding the administrative comparisons of records. Joe Schreiber, resident, said it is apparent that Council feels Continental Cablevision is in violation with their contract. He suggested that Council authorize City Manager Kelly to research what companies in the United States offer a different system and are willing to come into the City. Mr. Schreiber suggested the City use volunteers to check on occupational licenses. He asked if the traffic light on Nob Hill Road and NW 71 Place is going to be a flashing light or a regular traffic light and the status of the installation. Mayor Abramowitz said he understands it to be a regular light. He said the Engineer Department of Broward County and the Engineering Department of Tamarac have worked jointly and have made radical changes due to the widening of NW 71 Place. He said the light will be installed as soon as FP&L completes their work. Mr. Schreiber asked if the developers coming into the City are required to install curbing in a lot of areas on public or private roads. Mayor Abramowitz said the median law was changed. Mr. Schreiber said the Planning Commission should require curbing to be installed. Zeke Feldman, President of Section 10 Homeowners Association, said direction has been given that all signs and media are to be removed. He said when Section 10 received the notice to take down the signs, it was immediately taken down. He expressed his concern regarding why Vanguard Village's sign has not been removed and why it is being repainted and repaired. Mayor Abramowitz said Vanguard Village has been cited from Broward County and no signs are to be in the median right-of-way. He said Tamarac requested from Broward County the opportunity to work with the associations to have these signs moved. He said the Public Works Department has helped in Sections 15, 16 and 20 to move the signs. He said Vanguard Village's sign cost the residents over $5,000.00 and they are aware the sign must be removed and have been cited by Code Enforcement. He said they repainted and resurfaced that sign prior to being cited. He said that sign is imbedded in approximately 8 feet of concrete and they are trying to locate a company that will not charge a lot of money to remove it. He said this sign will be removed. With no further business, Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED this meeting at 11:30 a.m. CAROL A. EVANS CITY CLERK "This public document was promulgated at a cost of $131.67 or $2.93 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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