HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 071593CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS
JULY 15, 1993
7:30 PM
The Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida was called to order by Mayor
Russo at 7:42 P.M., in the Assembly Room of the
Municipal Complex, 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach
Gardens, Florida.
ROLL CALL The Deputy City Clerk called the roll and present were
Mayor Russo, Vice Mayor Monroe, Councilman Jablin,
Councilwoman Furtado and Councilman Clark.
ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Russo stated the announcements were as posted on
the City's Bulletin Boards.
PRESENTATIONS
CITY MANAGER SEARCH
Robert Slavin Robert Slavin summarized his report on the search for a
permanent City Manager and advised that over 100 people
applied for the position, including in -state and out -of-
state applicants. Mr. Slavin stated he had worked
closely with Acting City Manager Herakovich and members
of the City Council. He stated he was very impressed
with Acting City Manager Herakovich's knowledge of this
organization and its issues and her ability to relate to
people. After reviewing further considerations and
alternatives in the search, and having an apparent "fit"
already with Acting City Manager Herakovich, Mr. Slavin
- recommended hiring the Acting City Manager as the City's
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 2
full -time Manager and let her fill the Assistant Manager
position with someone who was trained and experienced in
municipal government. Mayor Russo commended Mr. Slavin
on the process.
Acting City Manager
Bobbie Herakovich Councilwoman Furtado asked the Acting City Manager for
her input on this consideration. Acting City Manager
Herakovich said she originally was hesitant to put in her
application but felt she had given 110% and she would
continue to do that. She also mentioned there were some
large challenges ahead for the City and, if the City
Council wished to appoint her, she would be happy to
serve as City Manager.
Bob Slavin Mayor Russo asked Bob Slavin to comment on the Assistant
City Manager position. Mr. Slavin stated the position
was needed and not expendable, in his opinion because the
City needed to have a person on staff who had a few years
of city management experience.
City Council Comments
Councilwoman Furtado
Councilwoman Furtado felt that Bobbie Herakovich should
have been in City Government a year ago and felt the
Acting City Manager had made a very big difference and
had the gut instinct needed for the position.
Vice Mayor
Monroe Vice Mayor Monroe said she felt she was now in the most
uncomfortable position she had been in, in the past 13
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 3
years. She had been hearing over the years, from
detractors of the administration, about people hired
without municipal administrative experience. Vice Mayor
Monroe felt that Acting City Manager Herakovich had given
more than 110% but suggested some balance and experience
was needed in the top level. She suggested the City
Council's first choice should be to include Mrs.
Herakovich and make a strong commitment to interview
everyone fairly. However, Vice Mayor Monroe assured the
City Council that, should her position lose out, she
would give 100% support to Mrs. Herakovich.
Mayor Russo Mayor Russo stated he could not understand how the rumor
started that the City Council was going to hire an
internal person. However, he wanted to assure everyone
that the rumor was not correct and at no time had he or
anyone else on the City Council told anyone that Bobbie
Herakovich would be the next City Manager.
Councilman Jablin Councilman Jablin stated that, whenever you have an
internal candidate, everyone from the outside will
obviously think they have a fast -track to becoming the
final candidate. He further stated that he had worked
with Mrs. Herakovich for the past four months and found,
during his interaction with her, that she was an
incredibly able administrator and felt the City has a
tremendous amount of problems that needed to be
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 4
addressed. Given all of this information, and Mr.
Slavin's recommendation, Councilman Jablin felt that the
City Council should get on with the process as quickly as
possible and, with a candidate like Mrs. Herakovich the
City Council should not continue to look and should
center on Ms. Herakovich to fill the City Manager
position.
Councilman Clark Councilman Clark said he had struggled with the decision
but as time went by, he quit worrying about the City
Manager position because the Acting City Manager was
doing such a good job and suggested the City Council not
fix what was not broken.
Mayor Russo Mayor Russo reminded the members of the city Council that
Acting City Manager Herakovich had taken over his
position and had found she had done such an excellent job
in the past three months that anyone else coming in would
have to battle the good job she did. Mayor Russo stated
he felt Vice Mayor Monroe had some valid points, but was
sure Mrs. Herakovich would do a good job and the City
Council was there to evaluate her and make sure she did
a good job. He also stated it was important to promote
from within, when the City had qualified people, and it
would set a bad precedent when, having someone qualified,
not to appoint that person.
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 5
Motion was made by Vice Mayor Monroe to appoint Bobbie
Herakovich as City Manager of the City of Palm Beach
Gardens. Seconded by Councilwoman Furtado. Motion
passed unanimously. Mayor Russo recommended that, in the
next two weeks Mrs. Herakovich's salary be set and
brought back to the City Council on August 5th for review
and approval.
Vice Mayor Monroe Vice Mayor Monroe then asked Mayor Russo when the City
Council would deal with the position of Recreation
Director and could the Council appoint sue Ruskay as
Director of Parks and Recreation. The City Attorney
recommended the Council wait until the next regular City
Council meeting and place a resolution on the agenda.
City Manager Herakovich stated she would prepare a
recommendation for the next meeting. The City Manager
stated she will also be working on the Assistant City
Manager position and Mr. Slavin had been working with her
on reviewing the Finance candidates.
POLICE & FIRE
IMPACT ES
Dr. Nicholas Dr. Nicholas advised that the County uses impact fees as
a source of revenue. Impact fees operate under a system
of equity. He had prepared a Memorandum and previously
provided it to the City Council, and the Memorandum
provided suggested methods used to calculate impact fees
in order to improve public services. He felt the Police
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 6
and Fire services were both below the average of what
other communities were doing. After completing his
report, Mayor Russo complemented Dr. Nicholas on the
process and stated the City Council wanted to assure
fairness that new development would pay for their share
of Police and Fire services and other applicable areas.
Vice Mayor Monroe Vice Mayor Monroe asked the City Council to review Table
7 on page 7 of the Memorandum. Several questions were
put to Dr. Nicholas and he also explained the charges per
1,000 S.F. of space (page 6 of Memorandum). He also
reviewed the City Manager's actions as described on Page
5 of the proposed ordinance.
Councilman Jablin Councilman Jablin asked about the ISO rates. Kim Glas
stated that 5 is the highest rating and a community is
rated based on its ability to fight fires. Palm Beach
Gardens had been given a rating of 4, so the level of
risk the City has adopted is to maintain 4, if not attain
5.
Mayor Russo Mayor Russo requested staff review the Ordinance further
for additional items. Dr. Nicholas will look into the
budget and make sure the City is still in conformance
prior to the first reading which may be August 5th or
August 19th. If there is that much difference in the
budget, the City Council could wait and coordinate it on
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 7
October 1. The City Attorney suggested that two Public
Notices would be required.
CHARTER REVIEW
COMMITTEE
Tom Baird Tom Baird, Chairman of the Charter Review Committee,
thanked his colleagues for their participation in the
previous three meetings. He announced the presence of
Vice Chairman Gary Fields, Lynn Hawkins, Ben Bennowitz,
and Steve Mathison. Mr. Baird asked the City Council for
clarification of the Committee's direction. They have
identified specific areas that need the attention of the
City Council. Mr. Baird stated the City's charter has
not changed dramatically since 1979 but the community is
much different today. Possible changes are:
1. Article 2. The most obvious area that needed
attention was the section covering current
boundaries; this needed to be updated to show
current boundaries.
2. Article 4. Another area was identified as the
section dealing with City Council terms and City
elections. Mr. Baird felt continuity was very
necessary and City Council terms should be
staggered so that not all members are up for
election the same year.
3. Article 6. Council /Manager form of Government was
compared with other similar communities. The
current method of establishing the Manager's salary
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 8
4.
5
0
and benefits should be changed from the Resolution
process to establishment by contract.
Article 7. The Merit System should be overhauled
and updated to current personnel policies and a
Personnel Code adopted.
Article S. This Article covers Department Heads
and was somewhat unclear. Mr. Baird suggested that
Council members not be Department Heads; also
Department Heads should not be required to be
appointed annually.
Article 9. This Article sets forth the powers and
duties of City officers (Mayor, City Clerk,
Treasurer). Mr. Baird stated the Committee
identified this as a priority item. He felt the
City's Code of Ordinances should establish what
departments the City had and allow the Manager to
determine what departments the City needed. He
strongly recommended establishing the Charter
offices of Internal Auditor and City Attorney
positions.
7. Finance and Taxation. Mr. Baird felt this area
would also have to be looked at with the possible
establishment of a Finance Director and some
reorganization of this Article and including the
Bond Article into Section 11.
S. Charter Amendments. The Charter does not now allow
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING
9
for periodic review. In similar communities, Mr.
Baird stated it was common to establish a 5 -year
cycle or other cycle so there would be a mandatory
commitment to select a Charter Review Committee who
would give the City Council recommendations and
keep the Charter current.
9. Mr. Baird said there were two areas that could be
eliminated from the Charter because they were
covered by Florida Statutes:
a). Article 14. City Courts have been abolished
by the Constitution;
b). Liability of the City. Chapter 768, FS,
governs and caps liability for municipalities.
Gary Fields Gary Fields of the Charter Review Committee then covered
two additional items that needed review:
1. A substantial portion of the Charter is the
"boundary" of the City section. The Charter could
contain a provision that says "The boundaries are
kept current in the Office of the City Clerk ".
This would save space in the Charter and the City
Engineers could keep the records up to date in the
office.
2. Article 16 regarding initiatives and referendums
could be changed, per the trend, to raise the
petition percentage of 10% of the number of
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 10
registered voters to 15 %.
Mayor Russo Mayor Russo thanked the Committee for the work to date
and felt they were headed in the right direction. He
stated it was important to do something about the
elections so the City would not have Special Election
after Special Election, like last year. He also said
that, regarding the City Manager portion of the Charter,
the Committee should do further review.
ITEMS BY
CITY MANAGER City Manager Herakovich reported several items to the
City Council:
1. Parks & Recreation survey that was recently
conducted had been compiled and results were in.
She would provide the City Council with a cover
letter and provide the names of some people who
were actively involved in that assessment. Mayor
Russo asked that she have that in the Budget
package and Sue Ruskay attend the budget hearings.
2. The Burns Road /Seacoast Utilities line was
installed in one day. The finish coat on the road
would be completed next week.
3. Traffic count at Burns Road and Gardens Drive East,
per the County, showed no need of a traffic light
at this time. Peak volume was between 3:00 and
4:00 PM and only 1,310 vehicles were counted. The
County would continue to monitor, but accident
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 11
reports had started to level off. Mayor Russo
asked that the residents concerned and St. Mark's
School, be advised that the County had turned down
the City's request for a stop light at that
intersection. Councilman Jablin reported he had
requested the County do a study on Gardenia at
Military Trail and was told they were following up
on one they did last year and would do a second
study next month, but the study last year did not
warrant a light.
4. The PGA Boulevard Planning & Design Guidelines went
to Planning & Zoning this week and had minor
modifications. It was agreed this would go on the
August 5, 1993 agenda.
5. Staff members met with Mike Kaufman of Palm Beach
Gardens Medical Center to explore some cooperative
efforts in a wellness program and services that the
City currently contracts out. City Manager
Herakovich felt the City may be able to work out
some real cooperative programs.
6. Military Trail landscaping: Howard Ostrout wrote
some comments that they agreed the loss of trees
was due to the weather and soil conditions, meaning
the shellrock. The staff recommendation was to go
back to the original agreement where the contractor
would replace 10% of the trees and the City would
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 12
replace the rest. Councilwoman Furtado asked
Jonathan Kaye of Trader Horn Nursery some questions
about other plantings he had done and what his loss
record was with them. Mr. Kaye responded and
offered to replace 25% of the oaks at his cost and
requested he be allowed to finish the job. work
could start immediately. The City Manager reminded
Council that it was their previous direction that
the pines be replaced with oaks. Rich Walton
advised the City Council that they will have to go
back to the County and request the change of
plants. Mayor Russo asked City Manager Herakovich
to go ahead with the process.
.ITEMS BY THE MAYOR AND
CITY COUNCIL
Councilwoman Furtado
Councilwoman Furtado announced the Space Allocation
Committee will meet on the 19th and invited interested
parties to attend.
Vice Mayor Monroe Vice Mayor Monroe reported that the Military Trail Task
Force met a week ago. Dennis Foltz has stepped down as
Chairman. The Committee determined they would like to
invite County and State people, due to the jurisdiction
of the road. George Webb, County Engineer, stated that
Military Trail at this time was not a State road. The
Committee had some design ideas that needed to be
discussed with the County. Vice Mayor Monroe would also
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 13
like to propose that the City, in writing, go to the
County Delegation and propose new legislation allowing
landscaping, including large trees, in the median and
adjacent to roads. She asked that Staff put together
some reasons why the City would like to do this.
Councilwoman Furtado
Councilwoman Furtado felt, in order to allay confusion,
the City Manager, who had been directed, as Acting City
Manager, to re- evaluate organization of personnel for the
upcoming year, evaluate positions that could be
eliminated, and evaluate a need to put a hold on hiring,
should formally report back to the City Council now that
she is the City Manager. Mayor Russo stated that the
City Manager would have that information to them very
quickly because it will be part of the Budget process and
she will bring back the Resolution at the next meeting.
The City Attorney stated that the City Council needed a
consensus in order for the City Manager to submit the
Resolution. Mayor Russo advised the City Manager she had
the direction to bring before the City Council a
Resolution, at the next meeting.
Mayor Russo Mayor Russo advised he had a list of items that former
Councilman Kiselewski faxed to him. He asked for a
report back from Steve Ross, Code Enforcement Officer, as
to why he had not returned the phone call, what the items
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 14
~ were, and how the City would take care of the items that
needed to be addressed.
Mayor Russo reported he attended the Municipal League
Meeting and also discussed the local option gas tax but
will report on the discussion at the next meeting, due to
time constraints.
Councilman Jablin Councilman Jablin reported he and City Manager Herakovich
met with Seacoast and representatives of the MacArthur
Foundation to discuss the Landfill Committee. He
formally requested George Cox convene the Landfill
Committee and Councilman Jablin be invited so he could
provide a plan that was devised at that meeting which
will hopefully bring the problem to a conclusion. Mayor
Russo asked that, if Councilman Jablin does not have
control of that Committee, then the City Council needed
to do away with it, since it is a town - sanctioned
committee.
City Manager
Herakovich The City Manager asked that Councilman Jablin be
recognized for his assistance for getting Waste
Managementts donation of $1250.00 for the Community
Policing Bicycle unit. Councilman Jablin stated Llwyd
Ecclestone had agreed to also donate funds for another
bike. The Council recognized Louise Zuckweiler, who was
also in attendance, for donating a bike. Councilman
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING
15
Jablin stated, after speaking with the Chief of Police,
the goal was for six bikes, the City now has four.
CONSENT AGENDA Councilman Clark made a motion that Resolution 91, 1993
be pulled, and the remaining Consent Agenda be approved.
Seconded by Councilwoman Furtado. The motion was
unanimously approved by the City council. Items approved
were:
1. Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting of 7 -1 -93.
Resolution 81, 1993
Rich Walton, Director of Planning & Zoning, addressed the
Council stating the Interlocal Agreement had two parts:
1) comprehensive plan review process; 2) County -wide
issues forum. Councilman Clark asked why the Forum as
described in Attachment III appeared to be separate with
separate fees and was advised by Mr. Walton that a
Community could join one but not the other. The
Executive Committee would be the same for both. Mayor
Russo asked that a contact person be shown on the Agenda
and include points of discussion on the agenda, in order
for City Council members to reach someone in advance with
any questions they may have. After additional questions
and comments, Vice Mayor Monroe made a motion, seconded
by Councilman Clark, to approve Resolution 81, 1993,
approval of a Countywide Intergovernmental Coordination
Interlocal Agreement. The motion was unanimously
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING
approved by the City Council.
16
RESOLUTION 82, 1993
It was the consensus of the City Council that, because
Bill Perry would not be a resident of the City until
August 2, 1993, they delay voting to appoint him as a
member to the Firemen's Retirement Trust Fund Board of
Trustees until the next meeting.
RESOLUTION 83, 1993
Councilwoman Furtado made a motion; seconded by
Councilman Jablin, to approve Resolution 83, 1993 by
appointing Jerry Bergman and Win Weldon as members of the
General Employees Pension Fund Board of Trustees. The
motion was unanimously approved by the City Council.
Mayor Russo advised Mr. Weldon had agreed to not do
business with the City of Palm Beach Gardens while
serving in this capacity.
RESOLUTION 84, 1993
In response to Vice Mayor Monroe, Mayor Russo stated
committee members are to be residents of the City. After
review, a motion was made by Councilwoman Furtado and
seconded by Councilman Clark, to approve Resolution 84,
1993, by inserting the names of Bill Beville and Michael
Simon in section 1, paragraph 1, Ben Bennewitz in section
1, paragraph 2, Carol Entrekin in section 1, paragraph 3,
Anthony Beryl in section 2, and appointing Audrey Martin
as secondary alternate. The motion was unanimously
approved by the City Council.
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 17
RESOLUTION 86,
1993
Vice Mayor Monroe expressed concern with replacing 5
members of the Code Enforcement Board. After discussion,
there was a consensus of the City Council that Resolution
86, 1993, be scheduled for the City Council Regular
Meeting on August 5, 1993.
RESOLUTION 87,
1993
City Manager Herakovich reported that the members of the
Recreation Advisory Board had requested their terms
alternate so they do not all expire at the same time.
Vice Mayor Monroe made a motion, seconded by Councilman
Clark, to approve Resolution 87, 1993, appointing Sandra
Gottlieb to fill the unexpired term of Charles Campbell,
on the Recreation Board. The motion was unanimously
approved by the City Council.
RESOLUTION 88,
1993
It was the consensus of the City Council to schedule
Resolution 88, 1993, appointing 3 regular and 2
alternates to the Zoning Board of Appeals, for the August
5, 1993 City Council Regular Meeting.
RESOLUTION 89,
3993
Councilman Clark made a motion; seconded by Councilwoman
Furtado, to approve Resolution 89, 1993, appointing Bob
Zuppinger to fill the unexpired term of Tom Celentano on
the Military Trail Task Force. Seconded by Councilwoman
Furtado. The motion was unanimously approved.
RESOLUTION 90,
1993
This consideration was for the permanent sign for
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 18
Prosperity Centre PUD. A report was given by Rich Walton
and a request received for direction from Jeff Lis, who
was representing Prosperity Centre. Landscaping and
signage colors were discussed. Mayor Russo stated he
liked the teal trim on the building, but would not like
red letters on the sign. After discussion and agreement
by Mr. Lis, it was the consensus of the City Council to
act on this Resolution at the August 5, 1993 City Council
meeting.
RESOLUTION 91, 1993
Mayor Russo advised Resolution 91, 1993, was placed on
the Agenda because the Municipal League had asked the
Council to support the League in requesting the County
commission not to adopt this wetlands ordinance that
would require cities to "opt out ". Mayor Russo said the
Council could do two things: 1) vote on this at this
time; 2) if the Council Members had concerns, it could be
pulled and put on the agenda for the August 5, 1993
meeting. It was the consensus of the City Council to
pull this agenda item at this time. Vice Mayor Monroe
asked what the procedure was to "opt out ". Staff was to
research and report back at the next Council meeting.
ORDINANCES
ORDINANCE 11, 1993
Per a consensus of the City council, Deputy City Clerk
read, by title only, on first reading, Ordinance 11,
1993, amending the Comprehensive Land Use Plan of the
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 19
City by approving land use classifications on recently
annexed lands.
OTHER BUSINESS Rich Walton, Director of Planning and Zoning, said it
would not be a problem to add the parkway when updating
the map.
There was a consensus of the City Council directing staff
to transmit the Comprehensive Land Use Plan Amendment
#93 -2 to the Department of Community Affairs.
ITEMS FOR
DISCUSSION
ART /PUBLIC PLACES
ZONING CODE UPDATE,
In reviewing this Ordinance, Councilman Clark asked about
several items which were corrected or clarified. Mr.
Walton was to work on corrective language. Mayor Russo
asked if there was a way to compute what this was going
to cost - what the savings would be and what the Police
and Fire Impact Fee would be, and would it be "a wash ".
Mayor Russo complemented the Planning and Zoning
Commission on the work they had done to date, including
the draft outline provided, and was advised the
Commission would be back before the City Council within
four months.
SITE PLAN APPLICATIONS
Rich Walton reported that about 2 months ago Mr. Mathison
came before the City Council regarding the reinstatement
of an PUD inside an expired PCD. Mr. Walton stated a
City policy needed to be set regarding reinstatement of
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, REGULAR MEETING 20
PUD's. The original policy reasons were, per Mr. Walton,
to not be involved with all the work needed by
departments to review site plans that may never be
needed; it was to not create any illegal problems with
leading someone on to their own detriment; building a
record that we may not want to be talking about things
that were not part of the policies.
Vice Mayor Monroe expressed concern that staff would be
put in an awkward position. If you break policy once,
the next person would expect the same. Councilwoman
Furtado agreed with that. Councilman Clark had no strong
feeling and Councilman Jablin felt as Vice Mayor Monroe
did. Attorney Mathison stated they just wanted the right
to go forward and submit this site plan for review. He
was not seeking a direction or a policy from the Council
and this was a specific instance regarding Blockbuster
Video. Councilman Clark asked Mr. Mathison if
Blockbuster was willing to defray the expenses of the
City in processing this petition? This was confirmed by
Mr. Mathison. Vice Mayor Monroe suggested that staff
come up with a policy where under certain circumstances
it is warranted because they are 95% or whatever
developed. Further discussion was deferred until the
next meeting due to time constraints.