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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.