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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 062796CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL REGULAR MEETING CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS JUNE 27, 1996 The Special Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order by Vice Mayor Furtado at 6:30 P.M. in the Assembly Room of the Municipal Complex, 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. ROLL CALL The City Clerk called the roll and present were Vice Mayor Furtado, Councilman Jablin and Councilman Clark. Mayor Russo arrived at 7:20 P.M., and Councilwoman Monroe arrived at 6:45 P.M. Vice Mayor Furtado requested that a moment of silence be observed in honor of Tom Bergel, and employee of the Public Works Department who had passed away, and also in honor of the servicemen who had been killed in Saudia Arabia. PRFSFNTATTONS ARCHITECTS DESIGN GROUP New information included in the booklet provided were space needs standards, cost breakdowns of all items discussed the previous week, and recommendations. A brief review of the items discussed at the previous meeting was provided. Recommendations were to adopt City Council Special Regular Meeting 6/27/96 PAGE 2 a total master plan for the site including recreation facilities and outparcel additions to provide for current needs to the year 2010; and to adopt Option C which would provide for a separate Police building, a separate City Hall, and improvements and expansion to the existing Fire Station No. 1. It was also recommended that the municipal center become a true community focus by the inclusion of additional outparcels so that cultural activities, a senior center or municipal library could be developed. The importance of forming Community Citizen Advisory groups who would work with the City staff and take voter referendum information to their special interest groups within the community, as well as the importance of a proactive campaign was emphasized. The importance of grant funding was discussed, with recommendation for immediate application to the State program which provided assistance to cities and counties with emergency operation complexes. The revised Master plan was reviewed. During ensuing discussion, the City Manager explained that in this design square footage needs had been considered and that parking could be shared between the municipal complex and the northern ball field, however other City Council Special Regular Meeting 6/27/96 PAGE 3 issues still existed. Keith Reeves reviewed the five options available, and explained that the cost to renovate the present building would be so high that there would not be significant savings as opposed to constructing a new Police station and City Hall. Options for a possible new Fire station were discussed. The most expensive option was to construct all new buildings. Option C. which was recommended, would renovate the existing Fire Station and construct a new City Hall and a new Police Station. Option D would provide a joint City Hall and Police Station, however, savings would not be significant. Option E would construct a new City Hall and a new Police building which would be shared by Fire administration, which also would not provide significant savings. Costs of the different options were reviewed. Councilman Clark questioned whether remodeling the existing Fire Station would serve the City's needs into the future, to which the architect responded that site considerations were more important than the building. The City Manager commented that ideally the Fire Station would be located elsewhere with Fire administration on this site, and that the level of service was being challenged. The Fire Chief City Council Special Regular Meeting 6/27/96 PAGE 4 commented that he believed the renovation would accommodate Fire service needs, and if other stations were installed there would still be a need for some fire protection at this site. The City Manger distributed a second handout which included additional costs, what the total cost would translate to in a millage rate, and comparisons with tax rates of surrounding municipalities. The City Manager explained that the millage rate for the current year was 4.04, that there was a millage rate ceiling of 10, and that other municipalities had sources of income with the City did not have. In response to Vice Mayor Furtado's concern, it was explained that there would he sufficient space in the remodeled Fire Station. Mayor Russo expressed concern that the increased taxes might be phased in during a poor economic cycle, to which the response was that staff's intention would be to issue bonds in five million dollar segments which would translate into approximately 15� in increased tax rate. The grant available through DCA was discussed, during which Mr. Reeves explained that awards made the past year ranged from $12,000 to $300,000. The City Manager explained that staff had committed to meet with Tallahassee officials to learn City Council Special Regular Meeting 6/27/96 PAGE 5 as much as possible about the grant application process, and that a benefit of this particular grant was that the Fire Station could be designed to also be the City's emergency operations center, currently housed at the Riverside Drive Community Center. In response to Councilwoman Monroe's request at the previous meeting, Mr. Reeves explained that the Palm Beach County Court House had cost $142 per S.F., which in 1997 dollars would be approximately $159 per S.F.; the Palm Beach County School Board building had cost $91 per S.F., which in 1997 dollars would be approximately $107 per S.F.; the Juno Beach Municipal Comple had cost $85 per S.F., which in 1997 dollars would be approximately $102 per S.F. Councilwoman Monroe questioned whether the proposed $110 per S.F. for City Hall was too high compared to the Juno Beach facility and the School Board facility. Discussion ensued regarding contingency, and a cushion for the cost of future construction dollars. A poll of the City Council was unanimously in favor of Option C. Mayor Russo and Councilwoman Monroe expressed concern that $110 per square foot might be too high. Mr. Reeves explained that built -in furniture and costs to meet new hurricane standards were items which City Council Special Regular Meeting 6/27/96 PAGE 6 increased the square footage cost. Councilwoman Monroe questioned whether the level of quality proposed was the level expected by the City Council. Further discussion ensued regarding items where costs could be reduced. The City Council discussed whether to include the church property in the bond issue, and the decision was to include it and accept Option C as presented. RE -ORDER OF AGENDA Councilman Clark made a motion to re -order the agenda to consider Resolution 96, 1996 next on the agenda. Councilman Jablin seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous vote of 5 -0. RESOLUTIONS RESOLUTION 96, 1996 Vice Mayor Furtado made a motion to approve Resolution 96, 1996 - Calling a Referendum to decide whether a majority of the electors participating in said referendum are in favor of the City's proposal to issue bonds; providing for a referendum to be held on September 3, 1996; providing for the borrowing of a principal sum of money for the payment of the cost of demolition of the existing city hall and police station, construction and furnishing of a new city hall, new police station, an addition to the central fire station and City Municipal Complex recreational City Council Special Regular Meeting 6/27/96 PAGE 7 facilities and all costs necessary and incidental thereto, adding that the amount shall not exceed $19.1 million. Councilman Clark seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous vote of 5 -0. The ballot wording was briefly discussed. The City Manager explained that certain laws must be followed regarding the language. Councilwoman Monroe made a motion to reconsider Resolution 96, 1996. Councilman Jablin seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5 -0 vote. Vice Mayor Furtado made a motion to approve Resolution 96, 1996 in the amount of $19,100,000 with the word improving changed to improvement of in Section B. Councilman Clark seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous vote of 5 -0. PUBLIC H ,ARTNGS ORDINANCE 9, 1996 Mayor Russo declared the Public Hearing open for consideration of Second Reading and Adoption, which was duly advertised 6/12/96 for Ordinance 9, 1996 - Providing for Amendments to the City Charter, if approved by Referendum Vote on 9/3/96; Providing for a Ballot Title with captions not exceeding 15 words in length by which the proposed Charter Amendments are commonly referred to; Providing for summaries set forth an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75 City Council Special Regular Meeting 6/27/96 PAGE 8 words, which describes the purpose of the proposed Charter Amendments; Providing for the repeal of certain provisions of the City Charter which are obsolete, have been superseded by other State Statutes and /or which were otherwise nullified or relegated to the stature of an ordinance pursuant to Chapter 166, Florida Statutes, The Municipal Home Rule Powers Act. There being no comments from the public, Mayor Russo declared the Public Hearing closed. City Attorney Baird explained that previously discussed changes had been incorporated into the Ordinance and in addition, on page 4 of the Ordinance under Section 3 related to changes to Section 6(1), 6(2), 6(3) and 6(4) of the Charter, in the second line of the ballot language shall section (1), 6(2), 6(3), the word establish following amended had been changed to revise. Under Section 6 -1 on the same page in Section A, a suggestion had been made that the model charter language be used to allow the City Manager to retain other professionals in the interest of the City, and it had been added and would now appear on page 7 of the Ordinance as a new Subsection. S. Another change would be added on page 8 immediately preceding Section 6 -2, regarding temporary absence of the City Manager City Council Special Regular Meeting 6/27/96 PAGE 9 as follows: By letter of memorandum filed with the City Clerk, the City Manager shall designate a City Officer or employee to exercise the powers and perform the duties of City Manager during the Manager's absence or disability. The City Council may revoke such designation at any time and appoint another Officer or employee of the City to serve until the City Manager returns. Councilwoman Monroe requested the following changes: under the Whereas section beginning on page 1 at the bottom reading, ...the City has the governmental, corporate and proprietary powers to enable them to conduct municipal government - -to delete the word Council under the second Whereas on page 2; to change they seek to he /she seek in the next to last line on page 3; to delete the first line under Section 3 and to insert the word of in Section 6 -1(b) immediately preceding the wording the manager's absence or disability on page 4; to begin item (6) on page 6 with the word To and a capital T on the word to at the beginning of item (7) ; to change the following wording under Section 8 -2: substitute its for their own and substitute the word it for they immediately preceding the wording may raise or lower salaries of City Council Special Regular Meeting 6/27/96 PAGE 10 all members of future councils. Vice Mayor Furtado requested the following additional changes: Under Section 8 -1 to insert a space between the words shall and then, which had been typed with no space inserted; and to change the word department to departments in the sentence reading Any conflict of powers or duties between department shall be resolved by the city manager. Councilman Clark requested the heading Section 2 be moved to be below the sentence The explanatory statements of the proposed amendments are set forth in Section 2 through 7, which follow. Councilman Clark made a motion to approve Ordinance 9, 1996 on Second Reading by title only with the amendments as read into the record. Vice Mayor Furtado seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous vote of 5 -0. The City Attorney read Ordinance 9, 1996 on Second Reading by title only. ORDINANCE 10, 1996 Mayor Russo declared the Public Hearing open for consideration of Second Reading and Adoption, which was duly advertised 6/12/96 for Ordinance 10, 1996 - Amending Ordinance 24, 1995, same being the budget ordinance of the City of Palm Beach Gardens for the Fiscal Year beginning October 1, 1995, and ending City Council Special Regular Meeting 6/27/96 PAGE 11 September 30, 1996, inclusive. Hearing no comments from the public, Mayor Russo declared the Public Hearing closed. Vice Mayor Furtado made a motion to approve Ordinance 10, 1996 for consideration of Second Reading and adoption. Councilman Jablin seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous vote of 5 -0. The City Clerk read Ordinance 10, 1996 on Second Reading by title only. RESOLUTIONS RESOLUTION 95, 1996 Vice Mayor Furtado made a motion to approve Resolution 95, 1996 - Calling an Election on September 3, 1996, to decide whether a majority of the electors participating in said referendum are in favor of amending the Charter of the City of Palm Beach Gardens. Councilman Jablin seconded the motion. Councilman Clark requested that language be changed as in Section 5 to reflect the changes made in Ordinance 9, 1996. The motion was unanimously carried. RESOLUTION 97, 1996 Councilman Clark made a motion to approve Resolution 97, 1996, adapted for purposes of Treasury Regulation Section 1.150 -2, establishing official intent to reimburse expenditures for the demolition of the existing City Hall and Police Station and the City Council Special Regular Meeting 6/27/96 PAGE 12 acquisition, construction, improvement and equipping of Administrative (City Hall) and Public Safety (Police and Fire) and City Municipal complex recreational facilities for the City from proceeds of general obligation bonds issued for such purposes. Vice Mayor Furtado seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 P.M. City Council Special Regular Meeting 6/27/96 PAGE 13 APPROVAL s MAYOR JO -RUSSO L_ VICE MAYOR LAUREN FURTADO COUNCILWOMAN LINDA MONROE COUNCILMAN ERIC JABS COUNCILMAN DAVID CLARK ATTEST: LINDA 47. KOSIER, CMC, CITY CLERK