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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 022703CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING February 27, 2003 The February 27, 2003 Public Hearing of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex, located at 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. ROLL CALL: The City Clerk called the roll and the following elected officials were found to be in attendance: Mayor Jablin, Councilmember Clark, Councilmember Russo, and Councilmember Delgado. Vice Mayor Sabatello was absent due to illness. PUBLIC HEARINGS Resolution 32, 2003 — Storm Water Restoration. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, electing to use the uniform method of collecting non -ad valorem assessments levied within the incorporated area of the City for storm water restoration; stating a need for such levy; providing for the mailing of this resolution; providing for the repeal of resolution 154, 1999; providing for conflicts; providing for severability; and providing for an effective date. and Resolution 33, 2003 — Storm water Maintenance and Operation. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, electing to use the unifonn method of collecting non -ad valorem assessments levied within the incorporated area of the City for storm water maintenance and operation; stating a need for such levy; providing for the mailing of this resolution; providing for the repeal of resolution 154, 1999; providing for conflicts; providing for severability; and providing for an effective date. Mayor Jablin explained that these resolutions, one for restoration and the other for maintenance of the canals, did not commit the City to actually collect any assessments or define any assessment rates. The Mayor explained that these resolutions were being considered to satisfy the legal requirements to reserve the City's right to consider placing a non -ad valorem assessment on the Palm Beach County tax rolls for next year. Mayor Jablin recognized members of the Blue Ribbon Panel who were present. Cheryl Stewart of the City Manager's office provided a presentation, explaining that on January 16, 2003, the City Council had adopted the report of the Blue Ribbon Panel for restoration and maintenance of the canals, and had directed staff to verify its findings. The report recommended creation of two special assessment districts to collect non -ad valorem assessments - -one to restore the City's central stormwater system, and the other to provide a source of funds for its perpetual maintenance. Staff had also been directed to verify the legal and financial issues in the report and to move forward with procedural administrative requirements mandated by State law. Ms. Stewart reported no rates had been set and no new information was being presented tonight; and that the purpose of this public hearing was to make arrangements with the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser and Palm Beach County Tax Collector as mandated by State law in the event that the City Council decided to move forward with collecting assessments for restoration and maintenance of the canals, starting in fiscal year 2003 -2004. Ms. Stewart explained that adoption of the two proposed resolutions would reserve space on the Palm Beach County Tax Collector's tax statement should the City Council decide after future public hearings and public meetings to go forward with assessments starting in fiscal year 2003 -2004. The deadline for adoption of these resolutions was March 1, 2003 in order CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS PUBLIC HEARING, 2/27/03 2 to place assessments on the tax statement for fiscal year 2003 -2004. Ms. Stewart explained that once all the financial and legal information had been collected, public meetings would be held, and if the City Council decided to go forward, a notice of future public hearings would be sent by first -class mail to every property owner within the City before any assessments were placed on the tax roll for collection. Ms. Stewart described the time line for the process which had been established, and advised that copies were available at this meeting for the residents. The process had already begun to collect information and establish the legalities, and would continue with meetings during April and May to advise residents. June 5 would be the target date to present the assessment report to City Council and for consideration to adopt the assessment ordinance and initial rate resolution. June 27 would be the date for mailing the first -class notices to property owners and publication of the notice of the public hearing for final rate resolution, and September 15 was the due date for sending the certified assessment roll to the tax collector. Councilmember Russo questioned why a presentation was not being made tonight to the residents who had come to this meeting of the basic theory of what was intended to be accomplished. Mayor Jablin announced that the City Council would make themselves available after the meeting to provide that information, but this public hearing was only to meet the legal procedural requirements for the City to establish intent for the City to place assessments on the Palm Beach County Tax Collector's bill. Mayor Jablin announced there would be two public hearings which would be publicized and at which residents could present all their questions, and that all of the information was not yet available. Councilmember Russo commented that he thought what the residents wanted to hear was how the City planned to fix the drainage problem, and that although all the information was not known the City Council did know what the Blue Ribbon Committee had presented, which the residents did not know, but if it would be presented following the meeting that would be fine but it did need to be done. Mayor Jablin declared the public hearing open, held on the intent of Resolution 32, 2003 and Resolution 33, 2003. Bruce Smith, 3210 Meridian Way South, indicated he opposed the proposed method of taxing only the residents in the core of the City and not the other residents. Mayor Jablin commented that was a misconception; that there were two levels proposed —one to repair the City's drainage system to correct what had happened over the past 30 -40 years, for which the estimate for repairs was $10 million. The Blue Ribbon Panel had decided the fairest way to fund that $10 million was for the entire City to pay for the restoration, by assessing all property owners the same amount, spending $1 million annually for ten years. The Resolution that had been passed when the City Council accepted the recommendation of the Blue Ribbon Panel was to collect no more than $15.00 per unit each year from each property owner, but at this point it was unknown exactly how many property owners there were so an exact figure could not be given at this point. Mayor Jablin explained that after restoration had been completed, the maintenance phase would begin, and those people benefiting from the restored drainage system would pay for the maintenance on a yearly basis on their tax bill each year. Mayor Jablin commented that the core of the City had not paid anything for stormwater maintenance over the years but residents living in newer developments and developments west of Military Trail all paid assessments annually to Northern Palm Beach County Improvement District. Mayor Jablin commented that the intent was to establish a fair and equitable system. Carol Estrada, 309 Riverside Drive, expressed her opinion that the residents of the core of the City would probably have no CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS REGULAR MEETING, 2/27/03 3 problem with the assessments if it could be proved to them exactly where the water was coming from and how it was drained off. Ms. Estrada stated she would have no problem if it could be proved to her that water from the western and northern areas was not coming through the C -17 canal, and she would like to see where all the water came from and the catchment areas, because a few years ago work was done on Oak Street to allow more bleed off to the western areas, which she believed was still in place. Ms. Estrada expressed her opinion that the City Council's decision to hire the engineering firm of Terry Lewis for $35,000 to provide information on this issue was a conflict of interest according to what had been previously decided by the City Council, because he had served on the Blue Ribbon Panel. Iris Lambert, 396 Lighthouse Drive, commented regarding the Mayor's comment that the core of the City had not paid anything for stormwater drainage and expressed her opinion that the older, core section had paid taxes for the past 40 years and those residents felt the City had been built on their backs, and asked what had been done with that tax money. The City Manager indicated that figures since 1997 were available and could be provided after this meeting. Mayor Jablin indicated that all of this could be discussed at the next public hearing. Robert Sullivan, 3909 Buttercup Circle North, expressed concern that if information was provided after this meeting was closed, comments of the residents would not be on the public record. Councilmember Clark explained that this meeting had been convened for a specific purpose and not to get the merits of the proposal, since it was recognized that in order for that to be voted on later everyone would have to be fully educated and their input received, and tonight staff had come prepared to discuss only the resolutions on tonight's agenda. Councilmember Clark indicated that in retrospect it might have been better to provide a full presentation, but that did not relate to what was under consideration tonight, and the City Council was proposing to stay after tonight's meeting to educate everyone present on whatever they wanted to learn so they could come back to the next meeting to comment with full knowledge and there would be additional public hearings before a vote. Councilmember Clark recalled this same process had taken place during the stormwater fees issue, and in the end the Council had considered alternatives. Councilmember Russo clarified that after this meeting ended then what was said would not be on the public record, but that comments being made now would be on the record, and that two more public hearings would be held with facts on dollars, etc., and a decision could not be made until the numbers were known. Mr. Sullivan commented the residents were being advised that any opinions of the residents concerning the overall problem would not be on the record until next time. Mayor Jablin invited everyone to say what they wanted to during this meeting. Deborah Harding, 271 Riverside Drive, requested she not be interrupted during her comments, commented she was proud to live in her neighborhood, that she understood restoration was needed and everyone should pay a fair share, and asked how a unit paying up to $15.00 was determined— whether it was by square footage, and indicated that she did not agree with having to pay an assessment in perpetuity, asked who on the Blue Ribbon Panel represented the core neighborhood of Plat 1, commented she had believed the drainage had been fixed years ago and that it worked perfectly well, but her neighborhood had lost their palm trees and ended up with dead oak trees, and at that time the Mayor, Mayor Russo, had indicated flooding had occurred because the canal gate was not opened. Ms. Harding commented she did not think it was right that the core was being punished for new growth in the City. Ms. Harding requested that she be called for any future committees. Lauren CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS PUBLIC HEARING, 2/27/03 4 Furtado, 4318 Crestdale Street, indicated she was not against the improvements and knew it would cost money and was not concerned with what had to be done, but was concerned with what residents had been told would be done when she was serving on the City Council; and asked how to explain why the money allocated for a 5 -year drainage plan in the 1995 -1996 budget had not been used for drainage. Ms. Furtado read from the 1995 -1996 budget, in which $257,000 was appropriated for MacArthur Boulevard, and she remembered that $185,000 had been used for Holly Drive drainage. Lake Catherine improvements of $250,000 were also appropriated. Ms. Furtado quoted the 1996 -1997 mission statement which stated that the proposed budget provided funding for drainage, swale, and canal maintenance to minimize the impact another 100 -year storm would have on the City. Ms. Furtado reported three studies had been done on this issue which cost $50,000, $50,000, and $51,750 respectively. Ms. Furtado quoted from the 1997 -1998 budget: drainage $100,000, canal maintenance $50,000, from the 1998 -1999 budget: canal maintenance $200,000, drainage improvements $150,000, and another stormwater study $50,000. Ms. Furtado pointed out the budget books stated gas tax was for roads and drainage, and announced the amounts of gas tax collected for 1995 through 2000. Ms. Furtado questioned what had happened to the monies appropriated, which she estimated at almost $2 million, excluding the gas tax fund. Ms. Furtado clarified the definitions of the words "appropriated" and "dedicated ", and requested that in future budgets the word "dedicated" be used for items this serious. Ms. Furtado requested the doors to City Hall open automatically for people in wheelchairs or walkers. Ms. Furtado also pointed out that in City Line, it had stated Mr. Downey was Council liaison for the Parks and Recreation Board, and he was not an elected official. Mayor Jablin stated the intent was to dedicate this money to the restoration and maintenance to the canals in the core of the City in perpetuity so that it could never be spent for anything else, which he believed the Blue Ribbon Panel had achieved. Tom Souse, 129 Bent Tree, indicated he had obtained the Blue Ribbon report, which was excellent, but disagreed with the timing and felt the Council was placing the cart before the horse, that education of the public should have been done before the funding mechanism was considered, and asked that the Resolutions not be approved tonight until the public had been educated. Mr. Souse stated he felt other residents also held this view, and the City Council should make taxpayers first, not taxes first. Mayor Jablin clarified all that was being done was reserving space on the tax roll, and the time line showed when educating the taxpayers would take place. Vicki Brihn, 3220 Meridian Way South, reported none of the residents in Meridian Park, a 168 -unit condominium complex, had known about this meeting since many did not get a newspaper or have the internet. Ms. Brihn agreed canal work was needed but opposed two resolutions, and expressed her opinion that there should be one tax for everybody in the City because the hospital, library, office buildings, gas stations, and Gardens Mall were all in the core area and if the roads were flooded no one from the western portion of the City could get to these facilities. With one fair and equitable tax for restoration and maintenance as needed, only one resolution would be needed. Ms. Brihn pointed out that according to the time line, the assessments would be on the tax bill this November, and she would like the assessments to be a part of ad- valorem taxes. Ms. Brihn commented the Council had indicated canal maintenance was being done; however, she had been in contact with Dave Reyes for the past five months, asking that a piece of equipment be brought in just to dump enough dirt to keep the tree behind her condo unit building from falling into the canal. Mr. Reyes had agreed the situation was critical and the tree was being CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS REGULAR MEETING, 2/27/03 undermined, but nothing had been done and the situation had now deteriorated to the point that approximately five feet of the yard was gone and the canal could not even be restored without a survey. Mayor Jablin indicated that surveys were being done on all the canals that were being restored. Ms. Brihn commented she did not believe in a core area, because everyone used the roads all over the City. Ms. Brihn commented that the $15 plus the $63 mentioned in the newspaper for annual maintenance, plus if the parks bond issue passed, would mean residents with even small units or small houses would be paying over $100 more annually in taxes, which was scary for elderly and those economically disadvantaged. Mayor Jablin commented the Blue Ribbon Panel had taken fair and equitable into consideration at every meeting and explained that this method had been chosen to be fair and equitable, and that a good portion of the city residents already paid separately for their drainage and those payments were not tax deductible. Linda Hughey, Reed Drive, reported she came to all the meetings, and asked since Northern controlled so much of the water if had anyone done a feasibility study on Northern taking over the canals in the core sections so that everyone would pay only one bill, and the City would not have to be responsible. Ms. Hughey commented last week the Council voted to take $100,000 from the reserves to pay for legal fees, consultant, and engineering fees, and expressed her opinion there had already been so many engineering studies she did not think more should be spent for engineering, and agreed there was a conflict of interest. Ms. Hughey commented that people who were paying fees to Northern knew when they bought their property that those fees would be required. Ms. Hughey commented that the restoration was being spread out and the hang -up was with the maintenance, and there were several new developments with 100+ homes in each, and spreading the maintenance over the whole city would mean a much lower amount for everyone, plus the hospital, City Hall, etc., were in the core and if the roads were flooded no one could get to them. Ms. Hughey noted that separating the core would never unify the City. Ms. Hughey commented the Blue Ribbon Panel did a good job but representation on that panel had not been fair and equitable because there was not a representative from every neighborhood in the City. Mayor Jablin commented Sanford Pearl of 9968 Dahlia Avenue had been on the panel, and Mayor Jablin indicated he had chosen as many from every section of the City that he could. Ms. Hughey commented a parks bond issue was coming up and in her neighborhood there was no park, but she believed it was best for the whole body to vote for those bonds; and she believed it was not best to separate people to pay for the maintenance. Mayor Jablin reported $850,000 had been spent for canal restoration last year, and invited everyone to see a presentation of what had been done following this meeting. Mayor Jablin stated he did not understand the mistrust of the City Council, which was why he had called for the Blue Ribbon Panel to address this issue. Marjorie Manganione 547 Ivy Avenue, asked what would be done physically to correct the problems, to which Mayor Jablin responded a lot of money had been spent on studies and those studies would not be duplicated, and there was a list of priorities. Now being restored was the Thompson River between Holly and Lighthouse Drive. Areas would continue to be prioritized and taken care of each year, and as more taxpayers came on the tax rolls the amount would drop since there would be more taxpayers to help pay for the restoration. Mary Jo Roddy, 460 Autumn Trail, reported she lived on Sunset Drive for 30+ years and still owned a lot there, and had given 15 feet of her property for a canal behind her property; and explained how the drainage came from Horseshoe Acres through the canals into the river and then into the ocean, and there CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS PUBLIC HEARING, 2/27/03 6 was definitely drainage from the west. Ms. Roddy commented since the road had been fixed and the canal put in, there were no more problems with drainage with the county cleaning out the canal twice a year. Ms. Roddy was assured that the City would continue to clean it out twice a year if that was what was necessary for drainage. Marilyn Lou Jacob, 16 Bermuda Lake Drive, a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel, explained she lived in Ballenisles and paid approximately $1,200 for debt service and maintenance for the entire infrastructure of Ballenisles, which was not tax deductible. Ms. Jacob commented many of the comments had been disrespectful to the City Council, noted that she would be paying $15 for her house and $15 for each 5,000 square feet of common area and golf course area in Ballenisles, which would total to approximately $100 a year for residents in Ballenisles, PGA National, Mirasol, etc., —not just $15. Ms. Jacob expressed her opinion that the community should come together to resolve the problem and to find the most equitable way to solve the problem and not look to the past but go forward. Mayor Jablin commented Ms. Jacob served on the Blue Ribbon Panel and was right that people in the western communities would pay a lot more for the restoration than people in the core area. Robert Sullivan, 3909 Buttercup Circle, commented he appreciated the people living in the western gated communities, but asked if Ballenisles' water drained through the canals to Lake Catherine, which was confirmed. Mr. Sullivan asked if the associations of those communities were going to contribute to the City for use of those runways. Mayor Jablin confirmed that those systems that partially drained through the canals would pay their fair and equitable portion of the maintenance as well as the restoration, and that also included commercial buildings. Mr. Sullivan asked if Jupiter and West Palm Beach would pay since their water drained through Lake Catherine out to the ocean, to which the City Engineer responded assessments could only be made legally within the City. Julia Byrd, Daffodil Circle, asked if the Blue Ribbon Panel had been given the opportunity to consider the operating budget and 5 -year projection and the line item for canal maintenance and drainage, to see how those funds could be used for this. Ms. Byrd commented she believed the people here felt just as the Council felt when they tried to get the attention of the turnpike officials and no one would listen. Ms. Byrd agreed it seemed the cart was before the horse. Carol Estrada, Riverside Drive, commented Mayor Jablin had made a comment he felt there was mistrust, and noted he could not answer some questions but was deferring providing some information until after this meeting, and asked how he could vote on these resolutions since she felt he was not completely educated. Ms. Estrada recommended delaying approval of these resolutions so that each member of the Council could become more educated, which she believed would help establish trust. Mayor Jablin commented he had consulted the City Engineer only once during this meeting. Councilmember Russo commented the Blue Ribbon Panel had been appointed to bring the City together and after a lot of hard work it seemed only to be dividing it further; that the resolutions must be passed tonight in order to reserve the space in case the decision was made later to make the assessments; that his suggestion to place this on a referendum had received criticism because that would have caused six months delay and the problem needed to be fixed, and the Mayor had tried to solve the problem and bring the City together. Councilmember Russo commented that communication with the residents needed to begin next month, and he felt the money could be borrowed and it would be cheaper to borrow now at low rates and fix everything than to pay cost of living increases. Councilmember Russo indicated he was sorry that the Mayor's intent to unify the City did not seem to have worked but he did not think he should be criticized for it, and spoke about further educating the CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS REGULAR MEETING, 2/27/03 7 residents when the numbers were known. Carol Estrada summarized Councilmember Russo's comments, that if the Council passed the resolutions tonight they would do everything possible to educate the residents before it went forth, holding neighborhood meetings and public forums, which Councilmember Russo confirmed, but clarified that he believed the Council should go out to talk to the residents rather than the staff. Ms. Estrada commented three schools in the City were now Title I which meant lunches were not supplied, and that would affect people's budgets. Mayor Jablin responded a lot of those children were bussed in, explained that he would be going out to educate people, that public meetings would be held, and the Council would continue to listen to the residents as they had regarding the stormwater assessment issue, and asked for the trust of the residents. Linda Monroe, 619 Hudson Bay Drive, applauded the Council for reserving the space in case it was needed in the future, and expressed her opinion that Terry Lewis had a tremendous reputation for integrity was highly qualified. Mayor Jablin declared the public hearing closed. Councilmember Clark made a motion to approve Resolution 32, 2003. Councilmember Delgado seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 4 -0 vote. Councilmember Clark made a motion to approve Resolution 33, 2003. Councilmember Delgado seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 4 -0 vote. Mayor Jablin thanked everyone for their patience and indicated that his promise had been to bring the City together and apologized if he had further divided it, and pledged that in the future the City Council would continue to educate the residents and answer their questions and hoped to go forward on this or any other proposal together. CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS PUBLIC HEARING, 2/27/03 8 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:50 p.m. APPROVAL: ATTEST: PATRI_C4A SNIDER CITY-CLERK. %'