Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CESM 050205CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS SPECIAL MASTERS HEARING May 2, 2005 The May 2, 2005, City of Palm Beach Gardens Code Enforcement Special Master's Hearing was called to order at 5:30 PM in the City Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex located at 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The roll was called by the secretary. In attendance were Special Master Kevin Wagner and Code Enforcement, Supervisor Kelvin Wise. Code Enforcement Officers Joseph Madden, Robert Creston, Perry Davis and Louis Zeitinger were not present, having no cases on the agenda. City Attorney Christine Tatum was not present. I. SWEARING IN The Special Master swore in those present who wished to speak. II. REPORT FROM CODE ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATOR: Next scheduled Code Enforcement Special Master Hearing: June 6, 2005 The Special Master's new contract will be brought before City Council on May 19, 2005. III. COMPLIED CASES: A. Case No. 05 -054 Respondent(s) / Defendant(s) Sun Spectrum Property Owner: Danlen, Inc. C/O Paul Thibadeau, Registered Agent 205 Worth Avenue Palm Beach, Florida 33480 Violation Location: 2401 PGA Boulevard, Suite 136 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Code Section Violated- 30-36 A& B Excessive False Alarm Signals Limited i Violation Description: Excessive False Alarm Activity Code Enforcement Supervisor: Kelvin L. Wise B. Case No. 05 -188 Respondent(s) / Defendant(s) Anspach W E JR TR Property Owner: Anspach W E JR TR 4500 Riverside Drive Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Violation Location: 4500 Riverside Drive Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Code Section Violated: 30 -36 A& B Excessive False Alarm Signals Limited Violation Description: Excessive False Alarm Activity Code Enforcement Supervisor: Kelvin L. Wise C. Case No. 05 -105 Respondent(s) / Defendant(s) Alta Pines Associates LLC Property Owner: Fiore at the Gardens, LLC Corporation Service Company, Registered Agent 1201 Hays Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301 -2525 Violation Location: 4500 Riverside Drive Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Code Section Violated: 30 -36 A& B Excessive False Alarm Signals Limited Violation Description: Excessive False Alarm Activity Code Enforcement Supervisor: Kelvin L. Wise 2 D. Case No. 05 -187 Respondent(s) / Defendant(s) Adelphia Cable Property Owner: John C. Bills Enterprises LTD John W. Gary III, Registered Agent 3950 RCA Boulevard, Suite 500 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Violation Location: 3950 RCA Boulevard Code Section Violated: 30 -36 A& B Excessive False Alarm Signals Limited Violation Description: Excessive False Alarm Activity Code Enforcement Supervisor: Kelvin L. Wise E. Case No. 05 -114 Respondent(s) / Defendant(s) Carmine's Deli Property Owner: Danlen, Inc. C/O Paul Thibadeau, Registered Agent 205 Worth Avenue Palm Beach, Florida 33480 Violation Location: 2401 PGA Boulevard, Suite 172 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Code Section Violated: 30 -36 A& B Excessive False Alarm Signals Limited Violation Description: Excessive False Alarm Activity Code Enforcement Supervisor: Kelvin L. Wise F. Case No. 05 -045 Respondent(s) / Defendant(s) RBC Centura Financial Bank Property Owner: Joseph S. Karp, Registered Agent Chatzky LLC 553 Greenway Drive North Palm Beach, Florida 33408 -3737 Violation Location: 2875 PGA Boulevard Code Section Violated: 30 -36 A & B Excessive False Alarm Signals Limited Violation Description: Excessive False Alarm Activity Code Enforcement Supervisor: Kelvin L. Wise G. Case No. 05 -056 Respondent(s) / Defendant(s) Carmine's Flower Property Owner: Danlen, Inc. C/O Paul Thibadeau, Registered Agent 205 Worth Avenue Palm Beach, Florida 33480 Violation Location: 2401 PGA Boulevard, Suite 166 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Code Section Violated: 30 -36 A& B Excessive False Alarm Signals Limited Violation Description: Excessive False Alarm Activity Code Enforcement Supervisor: Kelvin L. Wise Code Enforcement Supervisor, Kelvin Wise reported that all of the above cases have complied and paid their fines; therefore, they will not be heard at this hearing. Kelvin Wise added an additional update on case number 05 -117- Old Palm Golf Club. Mr. Wise met with the new management team and they have been brought up to date on the nature of the violations and payment of the $325.00 fine is expected within 10 days of this hearing. IV. VIOLATION CASES: A. Case No. 05 -053 Respondent(s) / Defendant(s) Bryan Hass, MD 4 Property Owner: Danlen, Inc. CIO Paul Thibadeau, Registered Agent 205 Worth Avenue Palm Beach, Florida 33480 Violation Location: 2401 PGA Boulevard, Suite 150 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Code Section Violated: 30 -36 A& B Excessive False Alarm Signals Limited Violation Description: Excessive False Alarm Activity Code Enforcement Supervisor: Kelvin L. Wise The case file was submitted and accepted into evidence. Police Officer Julius Barone was present to give testimony on this case. Officer Barone stated that Dr. Hass' office had more than three violations throughout the year and therefore was subject to pay a service fee of any calls over three. Dr. Hass received warnings for the excessive alarms. There were a total of ten false alarms. Since the code states they are allowed three, Dr. Hass was cited for seven excessive alarms between the months of September and October 2004. Officer Barone submitted the warning notice to Code Enforcement and a notice of violation was issued to the property owner and the tenant by U.S.P.S. certified mail. It was then discovered there were errors in the property appraiser's records and all notices had to be reissued. This is why this case has taken so long to come to hearing. Dr. Bryan Hass presented his case to the Special Master. Dr. Hass stated that the issue is not financial but it is principal based. Dr. Hass said he was shocked to see that there were so many false alarms. The security company will call him at home when the alarm goes off and he stated he did not receive ten calls. He went over the list of the false alarms with Officer Barone and found that six alarms took place in less than a 24 hour period. Dr. Hass stated that this was right after the hurricanes and his office was without power for many days. He stated the alarms system was damaged from the storms and so was the back -up battery system. The alarm was sending off signals without the alarms actually going off. As soon as he found out about the problem he had it repaired and it was verified that it was damaged due to the storms. Kelvin Wise went over the record and stated that the first three violations where in June and July, 2004. He stated that it does look like Dr. Hass is correct and the alarms were from mechanical failure of the alarm due to the storms. Kelvin Wise stated that the code does not make provisions for mechanical problems or acts of God. 5 Special Master stated that he does not have the authority waive the fine. His job is enforcing the fine that is in place. Kelvin Wise stated that it is not actually a fine that is due but a service fee for each alarm that was answered. The Special Master stated that according to the code the service fee is due and he is bound by the law to order the fees to be paid. Dr. Hass said he was confused because he thought this process was to hear his case and decide whether or not he was in violation. He said he made up to ten calls to the City to get this straightened out and had no response. He said that there has to be some due process for a citizen who feels he was wrongly assessed. Special Master explained to him that the code states that if the officer has to respond after the three allowed false alarms there is a service fee. He explained that his position is to determine whether or not there was a violation of code and the violation of code alleged by the City is the doctor's failure to pay the service fee. The doctor stated that they have been trying to contact the City with no return calls. The doctor's office manager, Jennifer was in the audience and she stated that she called 799 -4245 on 2/7/05, 2/10/05, 2/17/05, 4/7/05, 4/11/05, and 4/25/05 and left messages for Rossalind and she received one return call and Rossalind stated that they needed to file an appeal. She stated she was told that anything over three calls there was a service fee and that was all the information she could get. Kelvin Wise addressed the appeal process and said that first there has to be a determination that a violation actually occurred then the respondent can file an appeal with the City Manger. The Special Master took time to read the code and stated that the Police Department has to enforce the service fee and that the respondent has 30 days to appeal from the date the decision was made. Kelvin Wise suggested that the Special Master issue a Finding of Fact and give Dr. Hass the opportunity to file an appeal with the City Manger based on electronic /mechanical failure to the alarm due to the hurricanes. Dr. Hass stated at this point he will pay the fine because he really doesn't want to start the entire process over again. He feels the small amount of money is not the issue but he could have been told during the past four months of trying to get this resolved and he doesn't want to waste anymore time in this matter. Kelvin Wise stated there was a breakdown in communication but he feels that Dr. Hass did receive the information and did keep asking the same question over and over. He apologized to Dr. Hass for the miscommunication. Special Master, Kevin Wagner issued a Finding of Fact that the alarms did in fact go off but he is going to stay the service fees allowing Dr. Hass to no appeal to the City Manager. The Special Master stated that he felt the City Manager should give the Special Master the power to resolve these cases without the appeal process. Kelvin Wise stated that part of his job is to determine parts of the code that need to be re- evaluated. Kelvin said he will discuss this with the Police Chief and get back with the Special Master. Ardele Stoller, Property Manager for the Harbor Financial Center asked to speak. She stated that she gets a lot of violations from the residents at Harbor Financial and she wanted to make a suggestion to the City that the violation notice be more explicit and give the phone number of someone who will respond and return the phone calls or a back -up phone number. Also, she suggested giving the tenant the option to appeal on the violation notice. Kevin Wagner stated that since he has been in this position he very rarely comes across a case like this. He stated the Police Department is inundated with false alarms and this is the way to handle the situation. He feels Dr. Hass got caught in this situation and shouldn't have. B. Case No. 05 -185 Respondent(s) / Defendant(s) Garden East Apartments Bunny Palmer, Property Manager 2750 Rio Vista Boulevard Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Property Owner: Town and Country Harrisburg Company 100 South Charles Street, Suite 1700 Baltimore, Maryland 21201 -2777 Violation Location: 2750 Rio Vista Boulevard- Leasing Office Code Section Violated: 30 -36 A &B Excessive Flase Alarm Signals Limited Violation Description: Excessive False Alarm Activity Code Enforcement Supervisor: Kelvin L. Wise C. Case No. 05 -186 7 Respondents) / Defendant(s) Garden East Apartments Bunny Palmer, Property Manager 2750 Rio Vista Boulevard Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Property Owner: Town and Country Harrisburg Company 100 South Charles Street, Suite 1700 Baltimore, Maryland 21201 -2777 Violation Location: 2750 Rio Vista Boulevard- Leasing Office Code Section Violated: 30 -36 A &B Excessive False Alarm Signals Limited Violation Description: Excessive False Alarm Activity Code Enforcement Supervisor: Kelvin L. Wise Code Enforcement Supervisor, Kelvin Wise presented cases 05 -185 and 05 -186. Both cases are for the same Respondent and Property Owner. The Respondent was not present at the hearing. There were twelve excessive false alarms between September 2004 and February 2005. Warning Notices were issued and payment was not received and the matter was referred to Code Enforcement. Notice of Violation was issued to the property owner and tenant via U.S.P.S. mail and service was confirmed via return receipt. The property manager did inform staff that she was unable to attend the hearing and that she disagreed with the response to pay the fee. Kelvin Wise had another conversation with the property manager on this date and she stated that she will be paying the service fee and she needed an actual invoice from the City to present to her principals in Maryland. The invoice was provided and they expect payment to be received within 30 days. The Special Master issued an order stating the Respondent will cease all false alarm activity and pay the service fee of $300.00 for excessive false alarms within 30 days or be fined at a rate of $100.00 per day for each day the service fee is not paid for case number 05 -185. The same ordered will be issued for 05 -186 in the amount of $375.00 for a total of $675.00 for both cases. N. VII. ADMINISTRATIVE FINE /LIEN CERTIFICATION - Case file not available for review A. Case No. 96 -261 Release of Lien Respondent(s) / Defendant(s) William G. Lassiter Jr. 505 South Flagler Drive, Suite 1300 West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 Property Owner: MDC PGA Plaza 3501 PGA Boulevard, Suite 210 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Violation Location: 2566 PGA Boulevard Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Code Section Violated: 110 -71 Temporary Signs Allowed Code Enforcement Supervisor: Kelvin L. Wise B. Case No. 96 -261 Release of Final Order Respondent(s) / Defendant(s) William G. Lassiter Jr. 505 South Flagler Drive, Suite 1300 West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 Property Owner: MDC PGA Plaza 3501 PGA Boulevard, Suite 210 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Violation Location: 2566 PGA Boulevard Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 Book 9681/ Page 123 Book 9929/ Page 1777 The above cases are presented for release of lien and release of final order. Kelvin Wise stated that the record keeping years ago was not up to par and the final orders are not in the files. Therefore, they are requesting the Special Master issue the final orders on the above cases. The properties are either being sold or refinanced and need the final order in order to close on the property. There is no record as to whether the fines have been paid but since there is no record, staff is requesting release of the liens. The Special Master issued the final order for Case Numbers 96 -261 and released the liens. E VII. VIII. 1 DISCUSSION Reschedule the Special Masters July 4t" Hearing. The first Monday in July is Independence Day. The next meeting will take place in August. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:18 PM. M. Wagner Special Master's Secretary 10 Date