HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 031397CITY COUNCIL
WORKSHOP MEETING
MARCH 13, 1997
The March 13, 1997, Workshop Meeting of the City Council of the
City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order at 7:30
P.M. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex located
at 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; and
opened 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, Councilwoman Linda Monroe, and Councilman David
Clark. Vice Mayor Lauren Furtado arrived at 8:05 p.m. and
Councilman Eric Jablin arrived at 8:35 p.m.
PRESENTATIONS City Manager Bobbie Herakovich stated that staff met all day with
the architects regarding the new municipal complex. Architects
Design Group made a presentation to the City Council regarding
the latest plans for the new municipal complex. Mr. Reeves of
ADG stated that the architects also met with Mr. Jeff Ornstein and
Ed Oliver and reviewed the site plans. Mr. Reeves pointed out
differences in the proposed site plan from the last time the Council
reviewed them, showing that the building layout was different and
was not set out as suggested by the City Council. Mr. Reeves
detailed the creation of a town square and the Council Chambers
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 3/13/97 2
being aligned with the rest of the main building. Mr. Reeve stated
there were areas to provide for future parking spaces that would be
grassed in the beginning until these spaces were needed. The
buildings have been cut back to reflect the function of the Council
assembly space and also opening up the site as opposed to squaring
off the buildings. Covered walkways extend along the entire
elevation of the building and are carried around the other side of
the building. Mr. Reeves showed samples of materials that they
were considering. The entrance for the fire station has been shifted
back to the original plan whereby the fire engines would enter the
fire station site from Burns Road instead of Military Trail.
Councilman Clark stated that the Council was looking for a more
traditional look with the buildings, and Councilwoman Monroe
referenced the new Juno Beach Town Hall as an example. A
discussion ensued on the materials for the roof, clay tile versus
barrel tile. Mr. Reeves pointed out that barrel tile and concrete tile
roofs are more expensive.
Mr. Reeves stated the next step for ADG would be to develop
renderings of both sides of the building. Mr. Reeves stated that the
floor plans have been updated and staff's input would be
incorporated into the final plans.
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 3/13/97 3
Councilwoman Monroe stated that she would rather see the
architects come back before the Council with several different
elevation designs for the Council to consider. Mr. Reeves stated
that they would be ready for another presentation to the City
Council at their meeting of April 3, 1997.
ORGANIZATION STUDY City Manager Herakovich stated that the Council had a time line in
their package regarding the organizational changes proposed by
Griffith and Associates. Mrs. Herakovich stated that the time line
has been done so that any job changes, other than Growth
Management Director, be accomplished in budget years in an effort
to give certain employees adequate notice that their jobs were
changing. Mrs. Herakovich stated that she has included her
response to some issues such as the positions of the Assistant
Finance Director and Risk Manager. The Risk Manager position
was one that the City would need at some point. Parks Projects
Coordinator was one that needed to be kept. City Manager
Herakovich stated that her response also included the costs
associated with the time line for the next 3 years, including
benefits. City Manager Herakovich stated that the City Council
would have to implement this through a budget amendment and
determine what funds were available.
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 3/13/97
Councilwoman Monroe questioned what it meant to "cause" a
position to report to someone. City Manager Herakovich stated
that was the language used by the consultant and it meant that it
would create a position and have it report to someone such as the
City Manager. Councilwoman Monroe questioned why the
Management Analyst position had to be created in 1997. City
Manager Herakovich stated that the position was one of the job
descriptions included in the packet and showed the person to be a
project type position that could provide support to all departments,
and in the past has been titled administrative assistant to the City
Manager. Councilwoman Monroe stated that retitling the position
of Compliance Officer to Human Resource Analyst II made it
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sound like the City was not getting rid of a position that was said to
only be a 5 year position. City Manager Herakovich explained that
the title of Compliance Officer was a more politically correct term
since the City was facing a Consent Decree. Griffith and
Associates felt that changing the title would allow for better cross
training of the person in that position. City Manager Herakovich
stated that the workload in the Human Resources Department
continued to grow, however, it was the decision of the City
Council at the last meeting regarding this issue that no new
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 3/13/97 5
secretarial positions would be added to this department.
Mayor Russo asked if the time line was realistic, and City Manager
Herakovich pointed out that some of the items listed in the time
line were recommended by Griffith and Associates to be done
immediately.
Councilwoman Monroe questioned whether the budget to fund the
engineering division would be sufficient. City Manager
Herakovich pointed out that half the work the engineering division
would do was development and plans review, which function could
be brought in house. City Manager Herakovich stated that she felt
the budget was good and assured the Council that the cost of
engineering will go down from what the City was presently paying.
Councilwoman Monroe asked for further information regarding the
suggestion regarding the exploration of sick leave usage and
explore alternative solutions in the Public Works Department,
BUSINESS SURVEY City Manager Herakovich reported that 1820 surveys were mailed
out to the business community and approximately 13% of those
surveys were returned. The survey showed that over 52% of those
responding were anywhere from somewhat to very satisfied with
City services; 16.3 were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. City
Manager Herakovich reviewed answers to each question on the
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 3/13/97 6
survey.
Vice Mayor Furtado stated that there was enough responses in the
dissatisfied and very dissatisfied with occupational license fees to
warrant research as to what the problems were for these businesses.
Vice Mayor Furtado stated that if the numbers were high enough
on any question with dissatisfied or very dissatisfied answers then
the City should look into the reason why the business answered
that way.
City Manager Herakovich stated that the last two pages of the
report concerned the demographics of the types of businesses that
responded.
Vice Mayor Furtado stated that the survey did not cover in -house
services and suggested that the new Growth Manager do a survey
to research how those that deal with the City on a regular basis felt
about in -house services. Vice Mayor Furtado referenced the Golf
Digest project and the different services they would use as they
proceeded through the approval process.
Mayor Russo stated that if the Golf Digest project was not started
by July it probably would not become a reality. Mayor Russo
stated that if the problems are solvable and the City takes too long
to solve them, that was a big mistake. Mayor Russo stated that the
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 3/13/97
ITEMS BY MAYOR
AND COUNCIL
7
Golf Digest people have been told that the City would work as hard
as it could and as fast as it could. Vice Mayor Furtado stated she
remembered the luncheon that the Council attended with Golf
Digest when they were considering Palm Beach Gardens as its
location and that it was such a long time ago she was surprised that
the project hasn't come through the process faster. Vice Mayor
Furtado stated that for projects such as this she would like to see a
process that the developer could be walked through to facilitate the
approval process. Councilman Clark stated that Golf Digest made
a premature announcement and did not bring anything (plans, etc)
to the City for over a year.
Vice Mayor Furtado Vice Mayor Furtado thanked Councilman Jablin for all his work
towards improving education and pointed out that The Post is
getting more diffinitive in their reporting. Vice Mayor Furtado
reported that more municipalities were getting involved in
opposing the high speed rail project, as well as Martin County.
Most of these entities wanted Tri -Rail finished and run more
efficiently.
Mayor Russo Mayor Russo stated he brought this item before the Municipal
League, stating that he felt this should be a Municipal League
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 3/13/97
8
issue. Mr. Horniman would be getting all the information. Mayor
Russo stated he also told the Municipal League that he would like
to see the League get out of the position of directing what was
going on, but to accept what was going on with the concurrency
issue. Mayor Russo felt the Municipal League should be more of a
player than a leader in the concurrency issue, because the decision
was that of the School Board and the County. Mayor Russo stated
that there was a petition drive for "Students First" and the position
of the Municipal League is that the petition did not have to be
signed by every city. Presently there is something in the
Legislature that would amend that requirement so that a petition
would have to be signed by every city. The County Commission
has sent to the State asking them to have them consider approval of
a item that was petitioned by 66% of the population. The
Municipal League was not in favor of this proposal because they
would no longer be protecting every city because the 8 largest
cities could control any issue. The Municipal League wanted 66%
of all the cities, however, Mayor Russo did not agree.
Mayor Russo stated that he thought Students First was a great
movement, however, felt the time was right for charter schools.
Councilman Clark stated there was an article in the newspaper
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 3113197
recently that reported that the areas that have a large number of
smaller school districts do better because there was more ability to
be mobile between the school districts and still live in the same
area.
Vice Mayor Furtado Vice Mayor Furtado reported that the Neighborhood Task Force
met with residents of Town Hall Homes twice on Saturday and
Sunday. The Town Hall Homes section really got involved and a
lot of input is being received from the residents.
ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was
adjourned at 9:00 P.M.
APPROVAL
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 3/13/97
recently that reported that the areas that have a large number of
smaller school districts do better because there was more ability to
be mobile between the school districts and still live in the same
area, forcing the school districts to compete to attract and retain
students..
Vice Mayor Furtado Vice Mayor Furtado reported that the Neighborhood Task Force
met with residents of Town Hall Homes twice on Saturday and
Sunday. The Town Hall Homes section really got involved and a
lot of input is being received from the residents.
ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was
adjourned at 9:00 P.M.
CITY COUNCIL, WORKSHOP MEETING, ,1'3`,97 / 10
CI` seph R. kusso
I � _ . iI i F t., i_ I...
Vice Mayor Lauren Furtado
Councilwoman Linda Monroe
Councilman Eric Jablin
Councilman David Clark
Attest:
A
Cindy Har'Jlly, Deputy City Cgrk