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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 031606CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING March 16, 2006 The March 16, 2006 Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order at 7:05 P.M. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex, located at 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, by Mayor Russo, and opened with the pledge of allegiance. ROLL CALL: The City Clerk called the roll and the following elected officials were found to be in attendance: Mayor Russo, Vice Mayor Jablin, Councilmember Levy, Councilmember Valeche, and Councilmember Barnett. ADDITIONS, DELETIONS, MODIFICATIONS: Mayor Russo announced that sadly the presentation for retired police K -9 Cash — transferring ownership to Officer Zakian, would be cancelled, since Cash had become ill and had had to be euthanized last Tuesday night. It was also learned that K -9 Kabal who had been retired last year had also had to be put down. Mayor Russo suggested the K -9 dogs be retired a little earlier so they could enjoy their retirement. Addition of comments from the public regarding the reorganization was also announced. Vice Mayor Jablin made a motion to accept the addition and deletion as announced by Mayor Russo. Councilmember Levy seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5 -0 vote. REORGANIZATION: Comments from the Public — Joan Altwater commented continuity and long -term relationships were good, particularly with regard to Scripps and the County, and asked that the members serving as Mayor and Vice Mayor remain. Don Bottaro, Rainwood Circle, commented development had been done very well and Scripps would enhance that development, and expressed his opinion the Mayor and Vice Mayor not change at least for another year. Mr. Bottaro requested a vote at the next election to elect the Mayor and Vice Mayor. Joan Elias echoed Joan Altwater's comments and expressed support for keeping the Mayor and Vice Mayor the same. Raymond Katz, Sun Terrace Court, also expressed support for keeping the Mayor and Vice Mayor the same. Eleanor Schweitzer, Dunbar Road, commented the procedure to select the Mayor and Vice Mayor should be changed, and expressed support for not changing the Mayor or Vice Mayor. Paul Auerbach, Curry Drive, noted results of development and commented leaders were needed who protected the residents. Marilyn Jacobs, Bermuda Lake Drive, recalled that the Council had tried to lessen the impact of development and there had been responsible planning, and she was against a change in leadership. Pat Hughey expressed her opinion there needed to be rotation while others with experience were still in office. Mayor Russo commented on projects the Council had made better. Tim Frohling, Euphrates Circle, asked the Council to do what was right. Appointment of a Temporary Chairman to appoint Mayor - Vice Mayor Jablin asked to proceed without appointing a temporary chairman since that was not in the code or charter, which was confirmed by the City Attorney. Appointment of Mayor - Vice Mayor Jablin commented on accomplishments during the past year and before that, and expressed his opinion that the leadership that accomplished that should remain, and placed the name of Joe Russo into nomination as Mayor. Motion was seconded by Councilmember Barnett. Councilmember Valeche indicated the Mayor had no more authority than any other member of the Council and each member worked equally CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS REGULAR MEETING, 3/16/06 2 hard, and he did not want anyone to think two members had more authority than the other three. There were no other nominations for Mayor. Nominations for Mayor were closed. Joe Russo commented he did not disagree with Councilmember Valeche, but that the Mayor was involved in everything. The vote to appoint Joe Russo as Mayor passed 5 -0. Appointment of Vice Mayor — Mayor Russo passed the gavel to Councilmember Levy, commented he would like to see new people be involved but also believed there should be continuity, and nominated Eric Jablin as Vice Mayor for the job he had done. Mr. Jablin seconded the nomination. Councilmember Levy called the question. The motion for Councilmember Jablin failed with only two votes. Mayor Russo also nominated Councilmember Barnett. Councilmember Barnett seconded. Councilmember Levy called the question. The motion for Councilmember Barnett passed 5 -0. Therefore, Councilmember Barnett was elected as Vice Mayor. Resolution 21, 2006 — Appointment of Mayor and Vice May. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida appointing the Mayor and Vice Mayor for the City; and providing an effective date. Councilmember Jablin moved approval of Resolution 21, 2006 with the names of Joe Russo as Mayor and Jody Barnett as Vice Mayor inserted. Councilmember Levy seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5 -0 vote. Mayor Russo commented the coming year there would be a lot to get done and he felt that in the future the Council should not take comments before the reorganization, since that made it too emotional. Councilmember Jablin indicated he would support a recommendation from the Charter committee to have a referendum to find out whether the residents would like to elect the Mayor. Mayor Russo commented this had happened two years in a row and was not enjoyable for any of the Council. Mayor Russo announced the town hall meeting would be March 30, stated he felt a lot had been accomplished by having a town hall meeting, and asked everyone to come together and at the next meeting to discuss things that needed to be accomplished in the coming year, and noted there were a lot of items they must focus on, including Scripps. Appointment of Council to External Boards — Councilmember Jablin indicated he would like to continue on the MPO and the Northlake task force; Vice Mayor Barnett indicated she would like to continue on the IPARC committee; Councilmember Valeche indicated he would like to continue on the League of Cities, Councilmember Levy indicated he would like to continue on the Loxahatchee River Management Coordinating Committee. Mayor Russo asked that the position for the Bio Science Land Protection Advisory Board be kept open to see what the County wanted to do; Councilmember Levy asked that his name be considered since he was very qualified because he was familiar with the industrial lands, as he worked with them every day, and his only concern was he represented some of the land owners. Mayor Russo indicated he would continue on the workforce housing and Councilmember Valeche also volunteered to serve on that board. Vice Mayor Barnett asked to continue meeting with the transportation group of the Chamber of Commerce. Mayor Russo indicated he would continue to meet with North County Mayors; North County Intergovernmental; and the Scripps meetings with the north county cities. Councilmember Jablin asked that Dan Clark also be appointed to the Northlake Task Force and as alternate for the MPO. Vice Mayor Barnett volunteered as alternate for Northlake Task Force. Councilmember Jablin moved the liaisons to the external boards as stated. Councilmember Levy seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5 -0 vote. CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS REGULAR MEETING, 3/16/06 3 Appointment of Council to Internal Boards - Councilmember Jablin volunteered to continue on the Art in Public Places; Councilmember Levy for the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, Mayor Russo for the Economic Advisory Board, Councilmember Valeche for the Budget Oversight Committee; Vice Mayor Barnett for Community Aesthetics Board. Councilmember Jablin moved the liaisons to internal boards as read into the record. Councilmember Levy seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5 -0 vote. ANNOUNCEMENTS / PRESENTATIONS: Fire Rescue Accreditation - Fire Chief Bergel introduced Deputy Chief C R. Brown and Captain Bill Schneen, Accreditation Manager, and announced that on March 2, 2006 the Fire Department had been awarded accreditation by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International, a very prestigious award for the Fire Department and those who support it. A plaque was presented to the City Council which stated the Fire Department was now internationally accredited. ITEMS OF RESIDENT INTEREST: Vice Mayor Barnett reported she, Councilmember Valeche, and Councilmember Levy had attended Palm Beach County Days in Tallahassee the previous week and met with elected officials, members of the Governor's staff, and with the Governor. Positive feedback had been received. Councilmember Levy reported they had also met with the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Florida State University and discussed future scientific ventures, and suggested reaching out to other State Universities. Councilmember Levy also reported attending a meeting for Florida Atlantic University, which planned to relocate an engineering department here. Councilmember Valeche reported he attended a workforce housing task force meeting with Commissioner Marcus and other officials and staff, and the County Commission was going to consider a moratorium on any further development on county lands on March 21 while inclusionary zoning was being considered, and reported that Commissioner Marcus had urged that anyone interested in that issue attend the meeting. Councilmember Valeche reported the Northern Palm Beaches Chamber of Commerce had a task force that voluntarily disbanded since they could not reach a solution, emphasizing the difficulty of this problem. Councilmember Valeche reported a Council Manager workshop had been held regarding the resolution he had proposed on the budget for the coming year, and advised staff they had talked about perhaps capping the budget at an 8% to 10% increase over the prior fiscal year. Since that percentage was higher than staff had proposed last year, Councilmember Valeche noted he found it difficult to see how that would engender any cuts in any staff or programs. No solution had been reached, but Councilmember Valeche recommended if someone quit maybe they would not be replaced, or to look closely at any additional hires, and advised no salary cuts or lay -offs were proposed, and reminded everyone that the Council was working for the taxpayers and was responsible for their money. Councilmember Valeche clarified the Chamber task force had reorganized and was looking at FIU gathering data on housing here. Councilmember Jablin reported he also was elected by a large majority to oversee the budget, and his vote counted as much as Councilmember Valeche's vote. Councilmember Jablin reported a status report on the quiet zone had been on the MPO agenda, and asked Council's permission to write a letter requesting they include four more crossings into the quiet zone that were not on the list. Councilmember Jablin announced that Larry Casey, Congressman Shaw's representative, was present, and he and the Congressman had helped get $365,000 for the quiet zone. CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS REGULAR MEETING, 3/16/06 4 Councilmember Levy reported he had received an e-mail from Linda Monroe and asked if increased train traffic with new tracks would increase more noise from the train's passage, and suggested trying to get funding for mitigation of that noise. Councilmember Jablin responded he did not think the City want to get involved in another noise abatement wall, which could be a very slippery slope, but at least the whistle blowing would be gone with institution of the quiet zone. Mayor Russo reported an agreement had been reached to locate the Honda Classic at PGA for the next six years, which was a win -win situation for the City businesses. Mayor Russo reported he and the Vice Mayor attended the opening of Nordstrom's. He also attended a Jupiter Chamber of Commerce round table event where Scripps had been discussed, and suggested that the City host a meeting with the business community and leaders of Jupiter Chamber and the local Chamber to get a game plan to compete with other parts of the country in biotechnology and to show this was the best place for those companies to locate. Mayor Russo reported he spoke to Attorney General Charlie Crist who would be voting on a cabinet member, President Frank Brogan from FAU reported his trustees were supporting Scripps, and went to the affordable housing meeting but did not go in because Councilmember Valeche was there and both could not attend under the Sunshine Law. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: Larry Casey commented although every member of the Council was equal in participation, the Mayor and Vice Mayor were the face of the City, and he thought the City should look at electing the Mayor. Mr. Casey led applause in thanks to Councilmember Jablin for everything he had done for the City over the years. Mr. Casey also reported more FEMA funds were to come. Mayor Russo asked Mr. Casey to let Congressman Shaw know the City appreciated everything he had done. Tom Sosey, 149 Bent Tree, advised he had a card in to speak on Resolution 21, which was ignored, and his position was he believed the historical method of having the City Council appoint the Mayor and Vice Mayor should continue. Mr. Sosey commented Vito DeFrancesco had requested 9 pieces of information regarding Midtown/Borland that had not been provided and gave a list to the City Clerk, and requested a response as to why and a date when that would be provided. Vito DeFrancesco commented he had asked for public information and thought the reason it had not been provided was that meetings had not taken place. Mr. DeFrancesco commented a fence in lieu of landscaping had been approved and 5 signs had gone up that day; and discussed that there were 12 different types of temporary signs that could go up at a development. Mr. DeFrancesco reported The Commons still had their holiday lights up. Councilmember Jablin expressed his opinion the spirit of the law was being upheld; he felt the law should be changed in order to be business friendly rather than making someone take the lights down at a large expense; and he did not want other businesses drawn into this. Consensus of Council was look at changing the law. The City Manager reported there were 12 types of temporary signs in the code, but three were relative to sites under development, the others were regarding homes, garage sales, etc. The City Manager commented The Commons was not in violation since they had not had their lights up 90 days, but staff would look into the ordinance regarding holiday lights. The City Manager stated the records request for Mr. DeFrancesco would be ready to go the next day, and also the next day staff would look at whether the signs at the Midland/Borland project met code. Amir Kanel thanked the Council for excellent service to the City, and for the work on the quiet zone. Mr. Kanel reported a fatal accident where a CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS REGULAR MEETING, 3/16/06 5 teenager had been killed, that it took a long time for the coroner to come, that he thought this was the 5th death at that intersection, and asked that a permanent red light be installed at that intersection on Northlake into BallenIsles. Mr. Kanel reported he had made this request of Karen Marcus' office and asked for the Council's support. Discussion ensued. City Engineer Dan Clark reported he and Chief Stepp had been in contact with the County regarding this light, and he believed a red light could be tied to sensors in the road. Chief Stepp discussed the situation, and reported two fatalities at that intersection in the past year and three in that area. Elana Kanel also spoke and requested action so that no one else would be killed at that intersection. Richard Orman, Oak Street, congratulated the Mayor and Vice Mayor, and read Ed Heselton's notes into the record inviting the Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council, and City Manager to the Garden Isles annual spring fling block party on April 29. Mr. Heselton also commented canal work had now begun on their canal and lake with no communication from the City to the residents as had been promised, ficus trees had been promised to be trimmed but were ripped down by the crane, the canal was not being dredged and the lake was being filled in, and there was no response to the request for aeration, and there was no communication regarding the sprinkler systems or choice of grass as had been promised. Mr. Orman also requested the City communicate and that their waterway be a quality water body with aeration, equal to other areas in the City. Mr. Orman commented last year's town hall meeting was good but the requests were not honored in the budget. Mr. Orman disagreed with the 8% cap with all the money coming in from the new developments. Mr. Orman commented the Vavrus project should have no more units than allowed in the comprehensive plan. Mayor Russo and Councilmember Jablin indicated they did not want more western development than was allowed. Engineer Todd Engle reported the canal restoration in the area discussed had been delayed and was only in the initial stages, and that the City met with any resident who called for an appointment. Mayor Russo asked that Mr. Heselton be told he and Councilmember Valeche would attend the Garden Isles spring fling. Carolyn Chaplik, Hudson Bay Drive, asked the time and place for the town hall meeting on March 30, to which the Mayor responded it would be at City Hall at 7 p.m. Ms. Chaplik asked the location of the March 21 County Commission meeting, and was asked to call after staff had confirmed the location. Ms. Chaplik reported the developer for the Vavrus project was trying to place more units than allowed by code. CONSENT AGENDA: Councilmember Jablin moved approval of the consent agenda. Councilmember Levy seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5 -0 vote. Therefore, the following items were approved on the consent agenda: a. Approve Minutes from the February 13, 2006 Special City Council meeting. b. Approve Minutes from the February 16, 2006 Regular City Council meeting. C. Resolution 28, 2006 - First Amendment and Extension to Memorandum of Agreement. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida approving the First Amendment and Extension to Memorandum of Agreement for participating agencies by and between the City of Miami and the City of Palm Beach Gardens; authorizing the Mayor and the City Clerk to execute the Agreement; and providing an effective date. d. Resolution 31, 2006 - Approving a purchase award to Wesco Turf Supply. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida awarding a contract to Wesco Turf Supply, Inc. for the purchase of various Sports Turf CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS REGULAR MEETING, 3/16/06 6 Maintenance Equipment in an amount not to exceed $91,456.53 via an existing contract with the State of Florida No. 515- 630 -03 -1; and providing an effective date. e. Resolution 33, 2006 — Agreement with Advanced Data Processing. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida awarding a contract to Advanced Data Processing, Inc. for Emergency Transport Third -Party Billing Services; authorizing the Mayor and the City Clerk to execute the agreement; and providing an effective date. RESOLUTIONS: Resolution 32, 2006 — Contract Award to Sports Turf One. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida awarding a contract to Sports Turf One, Inc. for Golf Course Greens and Master Irrigation Pump Station Improvements; and providing an effective date. Dan Reedy, Public Facilities Director, presented the request and answered questions from the City Council. Councilmember Jablin moved approval of Resolution 32, 2006. Councilmember Levy seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5 -0 vote. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT: The City Attorney reported regarding Mr. Frohling's request that the Budget Oversight Committee had asked for an extension to June 15, and advised staff was waiting for information from the Supervisor of Elections as to whether that would work in order to have items for the next election. Mayor Russo announced this would be looked into and placed on the next agenda. CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS REGULAR MEETING, 3/16/06 7 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, th meeting w s ad' ed at 8:58 p.m. APPROVAL: ATTEST: 7 PATRICIA SNIDER, CMC CITY CLERK