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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 041097CITY COUNCIL CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS WORKSHOP MEETING APRIL 10, 1997 The April 10, 1997, Workshop Meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens was called to order by Mayor Russo at 7:45 P.M. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex located at 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; and began with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. ROLL CALL The roll was called by the Deputy City Clerk and the following elected officials were found to be in attendance: Mayor Joseph R. Russo, Vice Mayor Lauren Furtado and Councilman Eric Jablin. Councilwoman Monroe and Councilman David Clark were not in attendance due to prior commitments. PRESENTATIONS Education Advisory Board Councilman Jablin stated that there are a number of important issues coming up in the next few weeks before the School Board. The Education Advisory Board wanted to ask the City Council for some formal action on some of the issues and wished to present some facts to the Council. Councilman Jablin introduced members of the Education Advisory Board that were in attendance: Alan Adams, Monika Adams, Stasia Datchko and Wayne Anderson. 2 Councilman Jablin stated the Board also wanted to ask the City Council for some assistance in making the Board more effective. Alan Adams, Chairman of the Education Advisory Board, gave the Council a run down of what the board has done in the last year. Mr. Adams felt that since education was such a broad subject, a number of standing committees tried to address the issues required, however, it was felt that they had not been as effective as they could have been. Mr. Adams stated that the Board wanted to increase the number of members to 18 and asked that the ordinance be revised. The current make up of the board was 14 regular members and one student member. The number of standing committees were recently reduced to three and included the following: Boundaries and Facilities, Curriculum and Instruction, and Public Liaison. Mr. Adams outlined the function of each standing committee. Mr. Adams stated that the Board had been meeting in the Council Chambers but recently began meeting in the various schools in the City to enhance public awareness. Mr. Adams asked that the Council amend the ordinance to allow the board to meet outside the Council Chambers. Mr. Adams detailed the various guest speakers the board had in attendance during the last year. Mr. Adams detailed the various meetings of the School Board and County Commission that were attended by the members 3 during the last year. The Board discussed the need for more tech/prep programs to assist those students that were not going on to college, that would afford them the ability to be qualified for employment upon graduation from high school. It was felt that these programs would also help the dropout problem experienced by most of the schools in Florida, and would prepare the students for success instead of failure. Mayor Russo stated that he has pledged the City's support in getting a possible charter school in the City or north County area. Mayor Russo pointed out that the Abacoa development will increase the overcrowding of the schools in the area. Mayor Russo suggested the City Manager send a letter to the School Board stating the City would like to have the information regarding proposed boundary changes sent to the City Council so that the City can express comments before the changes are proposed publicly. Mayor Russo stated that changing the amount of members of the Education Advisory Board and the meeting places should not be a problem. Mr. Adams stated that the population of Allamanda Elementary and Palm Beach Gardens Elementary are decreasing and could present problems in the future. Those schools are getting past the critical point. Mr. Adams stated that as the local population goes down the schools continue to bring in 4 children from other SAC areas, making the percentage of black students higher. Currently Allamanda Elementary has a black population of 48.5% and it was discovered that once a school reaches 50% black population there would be "gross white flight" from the schools. Stasia Datchko stated that this problem would also result in the loss of support personnel and the children who are left are those coming from situations where parents cannot afford to send them to private schools or tutors. Mayor Russo did not feel the City Council should get involved in this particular issue, and felt this was the School Board's job. Mayo Russo felt that the City's job was to help and to aid and to serve in an advisory capacity. Mayor Russo felt that the School Board should run the schools and felt that they were elected for that purpose. The only option the City had was to express their concerns with certain issues. Mayor Russo stated he wished the City could get that involved in the schools, however, stressed that the School Board members were elected to run the schools. Mayor Russo stated he had hoped that people had progressed much further than to react to "white flight ". Mr. Anderson pointed out that the problem with the decrease in population was a real problem because that the gifted program was pulled at Allamanda Elementary and those gifted students were I sent to either Timber Trace or Palm Beach Gardens elementary which caused the scores to drop and the population to drop. This required students being bused in from Riviera Beach, which were students in the low 2% quartile. The population that was replaced were in the high quartile. There were also greater discipline problems, which resulted in parents taking their children out of these schools because the scores were dropping and because of the discipline problems. This resulted in even lower schools and lower population, cause further busing of students from Riviera Beach. Mr. Anderson stated that Allamanda has projected loosing 1 -2 teachers every year because of the problems, and pointed out that last year the school lost 9 teachers. Vice Mayor Furtado pointed out that the students from Riviera Beach didn't want to be bused either. Mayor Russo felt that until the district got back to neighborhood schools the problems would never be solved. Mayor Russo felt that the schools in the minority sections needed to have more money invested in them so that they could be successful. City Manager Herakovich stated that there was a life cycle in cities, resulting in the numbers being lowered not because of "white flight ", but because a lot of children are away at college. As those people sell there homes and start downsizing, families with 6 children move in and regenerate the schools again. Monika Adams spoke about charter schools, pointing out that the legislature passed a bill last year that would allow charter schools. Monika Adams stated that no applications have been submitted to date for approval of a charter school. Mrs. Adams handed out two articles regarding charter schools. Mrs. Adams felt the district needed to be broken up into smaller districts. Mrs. Adams stated that a charter school received the same dollar per child as any public school and added that the school had to pay for the transportation of students. Mayor Russo stated that the City has looked for a building, a site and a sponsor for a charter school, however, the problem in finding a sponsor is that they want to be in charge of the school. Mayor Russo discussed the issue of whether religious schools could be a charter school with religion as an elective. Vice Mayor Furtado stated she would like to see the City reaffirm the resolution they passed last year that supported Tom Warner's bill regarding school districts. The Council agreed to pass a resolution to this effect at their next regular meeting. Councilman Jablin stated there was a two prong effort - the legislative initiative and the public initiative. Councilman Jablin stated that Students First was working with the school board, the 7 Municipal League and the County Commission to try to make an interlocal agreement work. Councilman Jablin stated that if this failed, then Students First will try routing a petition to have the issues placed on a ballot. Councilman Jablin stated that there are other organizations such as Students First that could operate as a PAC. Mayor Russo stated that there is a part of the interlocal agreement that states that every city in Palm Beach County had to sign and the Mayor felt this was something that would never happen. Palm Beach County has asked the legislature to change that language to include some other criteria. It was suggested that 50% or 70% of the cities would be required to sign the interlocal agreement. Mayor Russo felt that more positive criteria needed to be found so that the interlocal agreement could be successful. Mayor Russo felt that the bond issue could only gain support from the public if the school board had a more positive image and concurrency. Councilman Jablin stated the County Commission has signed a version of the interlocal agreement, a copy of which was given to the Council. The Students First organization has reviewed the interlocal agreement and felt that it was insufficient. The alternate to this would be to amend the interlocal agreement to make it stronger and a statement was included in the Council package from 8 Students First which has been supplied to the School Board and County Commission. Students First is a neutral organization that has no agenda and is not a political organization. Their position statement mentions seven areas of concerns. Councilman Jablin stated that he was a member of Students First as a private citizen. Councilman Jablin asked that this Council take action to show support of Students First initiative and to give it the recognition that it needed. Mayor Russo stated he would rather discuss this when there was a full council in attendance and pointed out that the City is on record as supporting concurrency, Mayor Russo stated he would not have a problem to encourage the governmental bodies to sit and listen and to work with Students First, however, Mayor Russo felt that there was already too many people telling others what to do. Mayor Russo felt that the County Commission and the School Board needed to work out the concurrency issue and that the cities needed to take a passive approach to the issue. Mayor Russo felt that the Municipal League should not have an active role in the concurrency issue. Mayor Russo stated that he had a problem supporting the mission of another organization. Vice Mayor Furtado felt that the City could pass a resolution endorsing the concept of Students First. Mayor Russo stated he would not have a problem adopting a resolution that mentioned 9 "concept ". Mayor Russo asked that this item be put on the next agenda for the City Council to consider and discuss. Mayor Russo also suggested that the Municipal League, the County Commission and the School Board should be notified that this item will be on the next agenda of the City Council for their discussion and consideration of approval. City Manager Herakovich stated that the next meeting of the City Council begins at 6:30 P.M. as the Council would be having a joint meeting with the Code Enforcement Board prior to their regular meeting. Vice Mayor Furtado stated that the City Council would only be adopting the concept of the seven criteria set forth in the Students First mission statement. Mayor Russo stated that a resolution should be drafted for the next meeting supporting the seven criteria and not mention Students First. Mayor Russo asked that a paragraph be included at the end of the resolution that would state that the City knows there is an organization called Students First that are supporting similar type issues, if not all the issues, and the City urged people to sit with them and incorporate their thoughts in the interlocal agreement. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION City Centre Marty Minor, Principal Planner, addressed the Council stating that 10 since the last discussion on this issue, the petitioner has proposed that 8,000 square feet of the office tower be used for a bank. Initially staff had a concern with the bank generating more traffic and parking. The use will generate more parking, however, within the overall project there are 12 spaces over what was required by Code. The bank would generate the need for 5 additional parking spaces, and therefore staff had no concerns with the parking issue. It was pointed out that the bank in question did not have a drive - through and was located in the tower. City Engineer Lindahl stated that his office has received the plans for the drive through for the other bank to be located on this site and are presently reviewing same. The Building Official stated that the signage proposed was not in conformance with the City's Codes. According to Code, four ground signs would be permitted, however, the petitioner was proposing seven ground signs. The sign setbacks do not meet Code. Vice Mayor Furtado stated that she understood the reason for the additional signs and would not have a problem with the additional signs except for sign "Y'. Mr. Minor explained the setbacks for the signage, and Vice Mayor Furtado stated that she did not have a problem with the proposed setbacks. 11 Ed Oliver, architect, stated that this was a large project and in working with the City Council a lot of landscaping was added. Mr. Oliver pointed out that because the project was a Planned Unit Development there was some leeway in waivers from the City Code. Mayor Russo stated he agreed with Vice Mayor Furtado regarding the signage and felt that six signs would not be a problem. The petitioner suggested to setback the number "3" sign and not include one of the other signs in the package. Mayor Russo stated that he was not in favor of the proposed setback for sign number "T', and Councilman Jablin agreed. Mr. Oliver stated that he would rework the setbacks for the signage and bring that back to the City Council for their consideration at the next regular meeting during the public hearing for this project. Mr. Oliver stated that the petitioner has set aside an area for the placement of a City sign. Mayor Russo asked that the petitioner contact those Council members that were not in attendance regarding the proposed signage so the subject would not have to be discussed at length at the public hearing. City Manager Herakovich stated that she would inform those members of the City Council on the discussions regarding this project. Mr. Minor stated that in reference to Parcel "E ", 116 parking 12 spaces would be required by Code, however, only 89 spaces were provided. Mr. Minor stated that the various buildings could be sold to different owners and could prevent shared parking. City Attorney David Acton stated that legal staff reviewed the Unity of Control that was approved in 1989, however, stated the only concern he had with the original was the term could be abrogated and asked that the Council amend that term. Mr. Minor referenced the size of the parking spaces in the parking garage, however, Vice Mayor Furtado and Councilman Jablin stated they did not have a problem with the size of the spaces. It was pointed out that Councilwoman Monroe has expressed her problems with the size of the spaces. Mr. Minor stated one of the remaining issues was the landscaping along U.S. Highway One. During previous workshops it was recommended that the landscaping along U.S. 1 be made to resemble, as much as possible, the landscaping along PGA Boulevard. The City Forester has issued his recommendation regarding this landscaping, however, the petitioner has only submitted plans for ground plantings in the right-of-way. The City Forester noted that the two palms on the original plan are no longer proposed. Mr. Minor stated staff recommended 18 additional trees along the U.S. One portion of the project. 13 Vice Mayor Furtado stated that she would like to see the two palm trees back in the plan, and would like to see some plants that only grow to about 4 feet and flower all year. Mr. Minor stated that staff would be willing to review any proposal if the applicant would submit one for the U.S. Highway side of the project. Attorney Larry Smith, representing the petitioner, stated that Urban Design has proposed to use the ground cover type materials in an effort to tie the project all together. Mayor Russo stated that he would like to wait until the next meeting to hear the City Forester's logic for requiring 18 trees along the U.S. Highway One portion of the project. Attorney Smith stated that part of the property along U.S. Highway One belonged to Hancock and while the relationship is good with the petitioner, they feel the landscaping for their site is sufficient. City Attorney Acton pointed out that Hancock was a co- applicant for this petition and the City Council had the right to insist that their landscaping be modified. Mayor Russo asked that Attorney Smith discuss the landscaping issues with Hancock himself to determine if they were receptive to additional landscaping. Mr. Minor stated that the City received a letter this week from Attorney Rosso representing Panama Hatties who expressed his concerns regarding ingress /egress. 14 Attorney Larry Smith stated that he and the City Engineer have worked out Condition 44 (U.S. Highway One issue) and had drafted new language for the development order. Attorney Larry Smith stated that a hearing was scheduled for 5/9/97 and he had some concerns because part of the applicant for that proposed permit has now decided they were not going to build. Since that applicant was the proposed permittee, Attorney Smith was not sure what the status of the current litigation was. All information submitted to get DOT to issue the permit was based on the Target store being built. Attorney Smith stated that he has not reached a final conclusion as to whether the permit had to be reapplied for by the petitioner for the City Centre. Attorney Smith stated that in an effort for this project not to be caught in limbo, he and the City Engineer have rewritten the condition. Attorney Smith stated that the following is a summary of the proposed condition: "So long as the DOT has issued a permit in accordance with the Access Management Plan which shows the median cut where it is proposed to be located, then the petitioner will build the new median cut and the private road either before the existing median cut closes or simultaneously with building out with the understanding that before the permit for building out all of the plans for the private road and the new 15 median cut have to be approved by DOT and the City Engineer." If for some reason the petitioner cannot get the permit issued, then reciprocal access over a portion of their road would be granted. Mr. Smith stated that the petitioner has made a deal with Mr. DiVosta and now has a recorded easement on the north side of the proj ect. City Engineer Lindahl stated he was in agreement, however, would like to review the final language for the amended condition. Mr. Lindahl stated the City needed to hold the DOT to their commitment of their Access Management Plan because it does have the median cut located in the most favorable location. If that median and the Access Management Plan is preserved, there would not be a reason why the petitioner could not get a permit. Mayor Russo stated that the City Council would conduct a Public Hearing at the April 17, 1997, Regular Meeting of the City Council, CITY MANAGER REPORT City Manager Herakovich informed the City Council that Northern Palm Beach County Water Improvement District was conducting a traffic study regarding the PGA National gate issue and the impact that it may have on surrounding roadways. The report is due back to Northern on 4/21/97 and after that it would go to the City Engineer for his review. 16 City Manager Herakovich stated she met yesterday with the County Commissioner re: RCA Boulevard drainage needs and today with a representative of Palm Beach Community College and funding has been requested on a cost sharing basis. As soon as a verbal commitment is received from the County, the City Manager would come back to the City Council for funding to go forward with this proj ect. City Manager Herakovich reminded the Council that the 4/17/97 meeting started at 6:30 P.M. for a joint meeting with the Code Enforcement Board and requested the City Council reserve some time, beginning at 5:30 P.M. to have pictures taken of the City Council members. The Council members were to call the City Manager for their times. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 P.M. 17 CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/10/97 APPROVAL 1�� I�Russo (._l Vice Mayor Lauren Ke do U Cou=ilwoman -Panda Monroe oyncilman Eric Jablinl Councilman David Clark Attest: Cindy Harvey, Deputy City Clel