HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 041494WORKSHOP MEETING
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS
APRIL 14, 1994
The Workshop Meeting of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to
order by Mayor Clark at 7:30 P.M. in the Assembly Room of the Riverside Drive
Community Center, 10170 Riverside Drive, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
ROLL CALL The Assistant Deputy City Clerk called the roll and present were Mayor Clark, Vice
Mayor Monroe, Councilwoman Furtado, and Councilman Jablin.
ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Clark stated the announcements were posted on the Bulletin Board at City
Hall as follows:
Monday, 4/18/94, 5:30 P.M., Art Advisory Committee
Thursday, 4/21/94, 7:30 P.M., City Council Regular Meeting
It was also announced there will be a special day of golf at the City's golf course on
April 24 and special invitations had been sent to the City Council Members, and
that volunteers for trash cleanup were to report to Public Works at 9 a.m. on April
16.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
COUNTY PARKS LEVEL
OF SERVICE City Manager Herakovich reported she and Mayor Clark had attended a meeting
with County personnel regarding the City's recreation needs and impact fees; and
Sue Miller, Director of Parks and Recreation, reported she had met with Dennis
Eschelman, Director of Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation, and had learned
that Palm Beach County has plans for a regional park north of Donald Ross Road "
and west along the C -18 canal which would be known as Riverbend. Her
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/14/94
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suggestion that a Palm Beach Gardens park connect on the south side of Riverbend
with nature trails and water access was received favorably. It was the consensus
of the City Council to accept Sue Miller's recommendation that the City's objection
to the level of service proposed by the county be dropped in order to work with the
county on an informal basis in planning these parks. The City Manager stated by
working together the City and County would be eligible for major grants for land
acquisition.
SPORTSPLEX David Panaia, Spokesman for the Sportsplex, stated the Sportsplex would meet the
recreation needs of our area as well as bring jobs to our area. Their current plan
was to operate the project as a business, raising equity by public offerings to
investors, and to form a public - private partnership with the City of Palm Beach
Gardens, which would lease the land to the Sportsplex. That would mean very little
overhead for the business, and possibly 66% profit. The only downside their report
shawed was there would not be enough hotel rooms in the city to accommodate the
extra business generated by the Sportsplex. Tournaments were projected to
contribute an extra one hundred thousand dollars annually to the local economy.
Palm Beach Gardens would receive national recognition. He believed the
Sportsplex along with the Master Plan would solve the City's recreation problems
into the next decade. Sixteen profit centers, no debt service for land acquisition or
construction would all contribute to the financial soundness of the plan. Admission
would be charged to enter the park in order to control entry, however, that money
would be refunded at the concession stand. The concept would include the
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CITY COUNCIL, WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/14/94
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opportunity for a night out for both young people and their parents. Since this
complex could be used for cultural events and graduations, it would solve the
problem of finding locations for these events. fn this private enterprise for the
public good, City Council support, property leased without taxpayer support and
funds raised from investors would all need to be obtained. The City would get
credit for any sports provided. Vice Mayor Monroe stated that this needed to be
something anyone could use - -not just people who could afford it - -and the amount
of park facilities required per thousand residents, and what the State would allow
to be counted needed to be addressed. Mayor Clark stated his belief that if private
money was available it would provide a comfort level that the public — private
partnership would be successful; and he directed staff to provide case histories of
both successful and unsuccessful city and privately managed sports complexes in
order to recognize pitfalls that might arise as well as to perform risk analysis, and
to provide the City's own proformas for the project.
TRASH REMOVAL
CONTRACT Doug McCoy, Vice President of Waste Management of Palm Beach, presented a
video of his company's services that had been provided during the past and of
proposed new services with lower rates to the City of Palm Beach Gardens if their
contract were extended for an additional five years. Kent Olson, Finance Director,
stated changes to Exhibit 1, Current and Proposed Solid Waste Collection Rates,
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would change the amount of total annual savings for the new contract from
$370,591 to $400,000. Also, in addition to rate reductions, Waste Management
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/14/94 PAGE 4
proposed to provide a release to the City of any and all claims it may have from an
alleged breach of contract caused by the Solid Waste Authority's imposition of the
disposal assessment program. Finance Director Olson recommended the City of
Palm Beach Gardens revise the existing contract with Waste Management of Palm
Beach and extend it for another five years through September 30, 1999, with the
proviso that the contract must be re -bid at that time, and to implement the proposed
rates effective April 1, 1994. Consensus by the City Council was that Council
members would like input from the City Attorney as to the collectibility of a
lawsuit regarding the alleged breach of contract, and whether since Waste
Management of Palm Beach was a privately owned company it was required to
continue to pursue a lawsuit unless consideration were received.
PROPOSED 5 -YEAR CAPITAL
IMPROVEMENTS PLAN During the discussion of the proposed 5 -year capital improvements plan,
Councilwoman Furtado expressed her concern about the level of service for
amounts shown which seemed high and also the number of calls being made by
emergency vehicles as opposed to receipts received. Mayor Clark brought up the
point that special equipment would be required in order for fire trucks to respond
to airport emergencies such as airplane crashes out in the brush. The City Manager
stated that the Fire Department had a need for a training facility. City Manager
Herakovich pointed out that the sidewalk on Burns Road had not been included in
the plan since Ballenlsles would never reach the density required to trigger release
of funds by that development for this item. In response to concerns expressed that
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CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/14/94
PAGE 5
some Public Works items were too high, Vice Mayor Monroe offered the idea that
Public Works might bid on projects, to which the City Manager responded they
were not ready to do so this year but could do this later. Ways to reduce
engineering fees were discussed. The City Manager stated that before the City
Council considered the plan for formal approval that Councilman Russo needed to
review the plan.
AUDIT REPORT Kent R. Olson, Finance Director, discussed the audit report. He pointed out that on
page 2 of the audit, the Combined Balance Sheet, under Unreserved Designated a
large portion of that figure was impact fees, and that the total figure consisted
mainly of impact fees and gas tax. Discussion was held as to possibly establishing
a percentage in the budget for contribution to a 401K plan for employees. At the
suggestion of Finance Director Olson it was the consensus of the City Council that
the City should retain a different auditor next year, since the present company had
performed the audit for the past several years. i
ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, upon motion made by Vice Mayor
Monroe, seconded by Councilman Jablin and unanimously carried, the meeting was
adjourned at 11:30 P.M.
APPROVAL,�,
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MAYOR C ARK
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/VICE MAYOR MONROE
CINDY HAR` Y ASSISTANT DEPUTY CITY CLERK
COUNCIL O "TADO