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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 051393CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING - CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS MAY 13, 1993 The Workshop Meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order by Mayor Russo at 8:15 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 ORD I14ANC ES ORDINANCE 5. 1993 Russo, Vice Mayor Monroe, Councilman Jablin, Councilwoman Furtado, Councilman Clark. AMENDING ORDINANCE 21, 1992, SAME BEING THE BUDGET ORDINANCE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING 10/1/92 AND ENDING 9/30/93, INCLUSIVE. Mayor Russo stated that the City is taking $668,000 out of the savings account that the City had saved, which can now be spent on this year's budget. Some changes were made to reduce the budget. $290,000 had been taken out of the capital outlay, however that was basically for the Police Department. Some additional expenses have been cut and the goal is to continue reducing expenses. Mayor Russo stated he is not comfortable taking the savings from yesterday, $668,000, and spending it today. Ujoek.5kzp j3 CITY COUNCIL 3�I-� MEETING, MAY 1-5, 1993 2 Unfortunately a large amount of that figure is because of the golf course. The golf course is a problem which must be dealt with. He stated that he would still like everyone to cut back on expenses and that government should be more efficient. The total that the City took for this year's budget is $2.5 million from the appropriated fund balance. In effect, the City is using $2.5 million of savings to run the City this year. Vice Mayor Monroe asked what is a generally established percentage that should be in the fund balance. Mayor Russo stated that a percentage of any surplus at the end of the year must go back to the fund balance. Holly Vath stated the City doesn't get the majority of the City's tax monies each year until January. Our bills run about $1.5 million each month. A comfort zone would be to have enough cash so we don't have to do any short -term borrowing. The City still has the three -month cushion for next year. According to Ms. Vath, most departments do not spend their entire budget, therefore, there will be money left over. Mayor Russo stated that if the Council takes the position that we don't want to reduce that fund balance below $4.5 million, we will have to raise the budget in taxes to try to get the $2 million that we're allocating for fund reserves. If the budget stayed the same, the City would have to raise taxes next year for the $2 million it would need. The fund balance we took from yesterday won't be here. Mayor Russo CITY COUNCIL 5DECI L MEETING, MAY 1-5-, 1993 3 stated again that the City has to be run more cost efficiently, The Finance Department needs to do more. Councilwoman Furtado commented on the concerns of the people in the community about taxes and other things. Mayor Russo discussed planning an informal Town Meeting to give the residents the opportunity to ask whatever they want to ask. Such a meeting like this can really increase the people's understanding. A lot of people don't like coming to City Council meetings because they may have to stand up in front of a group. Mayor Russo reiterated the fact the golf course was costing us an additional $700,000. We can't stop running the City because of certain things and we can't have an EMS situation whereby a person is having a heart attack and nobody's there. That is really what we need to address. As to the police facility and the fire facility — the people need to know we're going to spend money on a police facility, but they also need to know that we're taking different actions to help pay for these facilities and equipment. We need to show the people that we're reducing expenses. All present concurred that the Town Meeting was a good idea because it was another way to not only communicate with the people, but to have a dialogue. Not all the people know what is going on and not all read the paper. Mayor Russo explained that the Council Contingency Account was not reduced because that's the contingency used to settle some law suits. If we settle some of the law suits, uJ ©P_Lt4r jq 13 CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING, MAY 1-K, 1993 4 it may cost the City some money, and therefore, it was good to leave the money in Contingency Account. Mayor Russo stated that he did not like the Council Contingency Fund as it is used today because it was perceived by some of the residents to be like a "slush fund." It's a dollar amount that's there. Mayor Russo proposed that the Council Contingency fund be analyzed and allocate monies to specific line items; for example, Project Graduation, Donations, etc, Vice Mayor Monroe discussed the possibilities of emergencies, like Hurricanes, etc., and the need for an emergency fund. Mayor Russo assured that the Council Contingency fund would allow for those emergencies. He just didn't want the monies to be used for anything that comes up, rather allocate to line items. Acting city Manager Herakovich responded to Vice Mayor Monroe's suggestion that expenses be pared more by stating that she felt they worked very hard at reductions, i.e., eliminating some programs. She also stated that if they need to reduce more, there would be cut - backs. Acting City Manager Herakovich further stated that even though some salaries may be down, retirement contributions will be up. She assured that she would work with individual department heads to let them know that we need to "really tow the line" and not come back to ask for money from Council Contingency Fund for the next six months. She will CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, MAY 13, 1993 5 -_ request the department heads to keep their expenditures at this level. Councilwoman Furtado stated she does not want to see the Training and Education in the Police Department adversely affected by this. Mayor Russo reminded everyone that $668,000 is being taken out of reserves, but we have to budget for $765,000 for the golf course. In effect, we have already cut $100,000 from this year's budget because we had to take the whole $765,000 out. However, the message has been communicated that departments are not encouraged to spend their whole budgets. Councilman Jablin stated that we have to turn this golf course into a profitable venture which all agree will take time. Vice Mayor Monroe suggested that the Acting City Manager ask the department heads to think of creative ways to increase revenue. ORDINANCE 6, 1993 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 159 OF THE CITY ZONING CODE FOR PURPOSES OF PERMITTING AS A CONDITIONAL USE THE INCLUSION OF A SECURITY APARTMENT WITHIN WAREHOUSE AND STORAGE BUILDING USES, PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND, PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Councilwoman Furtado reported on the changes made to the ordinance, Section 2.B. -the second sentence was deleted completely. The intent of the Council last week was to keep 3 CITY COUNCIL &PEE£� MEETING, MAY 1.3, 1993 6 a minimum of 500 sq.ft. and a maximum of 800 sq.ft. floor area. section 2.C. - the second sentence was deleted. The intent to make sure that the security apartment was used for that purpose, not rented or leased for any other purpose. Vice Mayor Monroe wanted to delete all of C. Councilman Jablin did not agree with this change. The consensus was the wording had to be such that an office space cannot be attached to the living space. Therefore the second sentence of that sentence was struck. Mr. Steve Mathison, representing petitioner, stated the office requirement was a separate issue. The intent of the security apartment was originally to have an apartment that a husband, wife, and two children could live. However, the Council did not support this arrangement. Mr. Mathison then requested an increase of the minimum square footage another 50 sq.ft. The minimum of 500 sq.ft. is being used because it is already the City's existing minimum requirements for a one - bedroom. This information will be checked and verified. Vice Mayor Monroe was concerned about the ramifications of who lives or visits the apartment that is not security personnel. Mr. Mathison want to keep section 2.C. because it clearly states that "any security apartment shall be used only for purposes of security and shall only be occupied by security personnel." This statement is important to assure that the renter is the security personnel. Wo Uv op 13 CITY COUNCIL 9P-F� MEETING, MAY >'T, 1993 7 Vice Mayor Monroe was concerned about the guests, visitors, or live -ins at the security apartment there were not security personnel. This was ultimately not a major concern, though there was some concern that it is clear children are not to live there. All of Section 2.C. remained striking the last sentence in 2.B. Staff was directed to advertise Ordinance 6, 1993 for Public Hearing and Consideration of Adoption. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION Pension Board Representative Presentations The Attorneys from all three Pension boards (General, Fire, and Police) were present. Mr. Lee Dehner, Attorney for the General Employees Pension Fund, was first to speak. Mr. Dehner was appointed last week. Because the problems are similar between the Pension funds, Bonnie Jensen, Attorney for the Police Pension Fund shared the podium. Mr. Dehner stated that the presentation would report on the background and then bring the situation up to date. The City has three independent pension plans administered by three independent boards. All can work together to achieve common goals and move forward as a group. The most immediate problems at this time deal with the funds, the money in the funds, and the contract with Travelers. Ms. Jensen commented on Chapters 185 and 175, which are Florida Statutes which established these Pension Plans. CITY COUNCIL - 3FECIu MEETING, MAY Z, 1993 0 Chapter 185 was adopted in 1953 and Chapter 175 which deals with the Fire Fighters was adopted in 1963. This created the ability for the municipalities to levy an excise tax on the insurance companies which insure property within their municipality. This excise tax was created to provide extra benefits for police officers and firefighters. The State of Florida recognized that these people provided benefits for more than just their municipality and they are basically on duty 24 -hours a day wherever they are. They felt that these people should receive benefits in addition to those provided for the general employees. The City has been receiving Ch.185 monies since 1972 and Ch. 175 monies since 1974. At that time the City invested in the Travelers contract, which was sold as very conservative investment which basically guaranteed interest return. At the time the Travelers contract was entered into it was probably illegal. In 1968, the State Attorney General issued an opinion that these kinds of funds could not invest in positive administration contracts. The boards were not authorized to invest in these types of investments. Mr. Dehner stated that Ch. 175, in respect to Fire Fighters, and Ch. 185, in respect to Police officers, clearly delineate legal investments which qualify to receive the State monies. Certain annuities are clearly within the legal parameters of the Statutes and it has been argued that the Travelers contract is not. we find ourselves now in a situation where we have most of our assets for all these (c,)o e-�s oio 13 CITY COUNCIL CPECIAEr MEETING, MAY 1T, 1993 9 funds in the insurance contract. Whether or not they should have gone there to begin with is not our major concern at this point. Our concern is how much we can get out and how soon can we get it out, because of some of the detriments that we've incurred for having the money there. Typically these funds' primary funding sources are member contributions, investment returns which we have but not the incentive we would like to have seen, the State monies in the case of Police and Fire generated from the insurance premium pack, and also employer commitment to the plan which the City of Palm Beach Gardens has never had to date. As a result, the benefits in these plans (on a comparative basis) are below a median level as we compare with other police and fire plans. The reason for this lesser value of benefit isn't just that there hasn't been City commitment as we've recently found out on the fire side. With respect to the fire plan, we've had an independent actuary evaluation done by Foster & Foster, Inc. That firm does the actuary consulting work for approximately 80 municipal fire and police plans throughout the state. They may also have the state contract in which they do another 50 chapter plans. The independent evaluation that was done and presented to the firefighters board six weeks ago showed a couple of interesting things with respect to finding in the plan the missing assets. This illustrates one of the problems with Travelers. The benefits of the fire plan is age 60 retirement currently, with 2 1/2% accrual Lt) O 2 Xsk'yo 13 CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING, MAY J1 , 1993 10 rate. subsequent to the evaluation report done by Travelers, Mr. Foster recognized $200,000 in assets that the actuary for Travelers didn't recognize in his evaluation report. Mr. Foster discovered that, for still no additional contribution by the City, the firefighters plan right now could have a 3% accrual rate, 20% increase from what's there right now, and a normal retirement age of 52 years of age with 25 years of service. That is with no City contribution. This is with recognizing the $200,000 that wasn't previously recognized and from changing the assumptions that are more appropriate for public funds in Florida. The police officers are in the process of getting an independent actuary, and something similar may or may not result. With respect to the investment vehicle, the return on the assets — on a relative basis this contract has not been providing returns to these funds that other pension funds that are individually managed have provided, certainly, at least, over the last 10 year period. When you have an insurance contract, "all your eggs are in one basket." we are depending on Travelers staying afloat. All we have a claim on is their general assets. We have a contract claim. We don't own share of IBM or shares of General Electric. Travelers representatives acknowledge that they own a lot in real estate - they had trouble with real estate — which is one of the reasons why they've indicated they can't be as flexible in negotiating a settlement for this contract and 1A )c ask" 13 CITY COUNCIL S ECIAL MEETING, MAY Z, 1993 11 getting out of this contract. With respect to dealing with this company, we are "burning" money every time we send them a check. All agree there is a common interest in getting out of this contract as soon as possible. We met with two representatives from Travelers in February, one an actuary and the other an administrator. We were in the process of negotiating, and, in fact, the Travelers representative indicated on the record at our public meeting that they waive further receipt of contributions to the plan and member contributions, and state monies. We wanted to do that because as you know, under this contract 50 (in the case of the firefighters) was gone as soon as we sent the check. And in addition to that, under the termination provisions, which they seem to be attempting to enforce, we have to cash out over a period of 4 1/2 years with five payments, 20% each, and the money they retain pays interest at 4 %. The previous 5% is both a management fee and a penalty. Mr. Dehner also noted that everything in the City's package concerning this subject is 10 years old. The Firefighter's Fund has approximately $540,000 with Travelers. Mr. Dehner is in the process of getting the documents concerning the General Fund. Mr. Dehner stated that since 1972, with respect to the firefighters, until September 30, 1992, slightly over $370,000 of state monies have come to this Fire Fund. Through September 30 of last year, member contributions to the Fire Fund total $267,000. Those two figures combined are CITY COUNCIL � 3�� . MEETING, MAY 23-, 1993 12 roughly $640,000. We have $540,000 with Travelers and about $180,000 in addition. We have, based on our evaluation report which was independently done by Mr. Foster as of September 30th of last year, $722,000. This is after twenty years — and there have been no fire retirees. Mayor Russo stated he only found out about a lot of these facts last week and is now treating this as an emergency matter. A real concern is that Travelers is not in a position to pay out the monies if people came to claim their money. They are not in good shape. Councilwoman Furtado inquired about the changes on the board that occurred in 1985. Ms. Jensen reported that the change in the law required that there be two employee representatives, two City representatives, and a fifth V member picked by the other four. The City was not in compliance with that. The State was contacted and Norman Clayton was at that time the head of the Bureau of the Police and Firefighter Pension Fund and he came in and basically orchestrated the change in the pension laws and then put employees on the board. it was at that time the employees became interested in what was going on - actually came to know what was going on in the pension fund. Mayor Russo stated that he has been on the Council for four years and had never been advised of all this information. Councilwoman Furtado had attended a pension board meeting five months ago and stated that her being there was CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING, MAY 1993 appreciated by the board members and she thinks it's important for Council members to know what's going on. Mayor Russo said he first heard the problem when it was 13 brought to his attention in January, but at that time it was not presented as it is now. Ms. Jensen acknowledged that she came before the Council twice last year and it was concerning the changes in the pension ordinances. Mr. Dehner stated that late last summer he was retained to represent the fire board. Initial recommendations were made to the board, among those was to employ an independent actuary and have an evaluation done. In fact, in November of last year, there was a meeting with Mr. Orr, Mr. Besklin, Mr. Foster and Mr. Dehner reviewing the issues discussed at that time. By the end of the meeting, he indicated exploring doing something about Travelers, to get the funds structured differently. Mr. Dehner stated that by last February, negotiations with Travelers were taking place for this waiver of any additional contributions into that contract and also exploring methods upon which we could adequately get out of that contract. Obviously if everything failed, we were concerned about litigation with Travelers. We worked diligently to get us to the point we were at, however a stop was put to the process last February when Travelers had written a letter, apparently to revoke communications with Mr. Orr, stating there would be no more direct communication with representatives of the pension boards in connection with any matter dealing with the insurance contract. Ms. CITY COUNCIL- . T� MEETING, MAY 1993 14 Jensen stated communications stopped with them and Travelers since last November. Mr. Dehner stated that Travelers said they would not communicate with the board unless they hear otherwise with authorization from a representative of the City. Mr. Dehner requested Acting City Manager Herakovich to write a letter to Travelers authorizing them to deal directly with Mr. Dehner and Ms. Jensen. on this waiver situation, we have to be very careful. The provision in the contract that we have to be very careful of is that we not put them in a position that by waiving future contributions they can exercise their right to buy annuities for all members in the plan at this time. Mr. Dehner stated that currently under the contract, we have an option to v require them to pay the money out so that we can transfer it to another vehicle. But there is a provision in there that could be triggered and they would automatically buy annuities — Travelers annuities. What we need to do in getting this waiver, and again if we receive the authorization to deal directly with Travelers, we will undertake to negotiate a waiver for the contributions and do in such a way so as we don't trigger the purchase of the annuities. This needs to be done in the proper manner. Mayor Russo directed the Acting City Manager to write the letter which will hopefully enable Mr. Dehner to negotiate directly with Travelers. CITY COUNCIL ,;PECIAL MEETING, MAY XI, 1993 15 City Attorney Brant stated the questions are how to disengage the annuity contract with Travelers and who is going to pay the penalty provision. And that's the bottom - line issue. Mayor Russo stated that another issue with the police fund concerns the dollars sent from the State from 1972 through 1987. Ms. Jensen stated that the board has no record of where those funds went. It is quite possible they were sent to Travelers. The board at this point doesn't have any documentation of where those funds (from the State) were placed. zt is approximately $240,000 from 1972 through 1987. We received $961,000 from the State last summer, and there are employee contributions of $483,000. we have $1.4 million in our Travelers contract. There are five retirees, only one of which represents the major portion. There is $240,000 to purchase his annuity. The money comes from the State to the City in the name of the Board of Trustees. Ms. Jensen stated that prior to 1986, the employee members on the board came down to sign over the checks and they went into the hands of the City and we don't know from that point where they went. From 1986 -87 forward, the money was deposited into an investment account. Travelers say they have no records prior to 1989. The Acting City Manager said they are in the process of looking for the files and putting those found on microfiche. WaG io� 13 CITY COUNCIL S-F, C AI; MEETING, MAY i!�, 1993 16 vice Mayor Monroe suggested possibly contacting the previous comptroller (Gloria Woodward) for assistance and offer her temporary work. Mr. Dehner stated that in the future he would like to discuss "employer contribution" to these plans. We also need to make sure the State monies, the insurance premium monies, are being used for the purpose they are being provided for. This program dates back to 1938. The State recognized that firefighter services and police officer services were of a higher risk nature than other types of employment and in recognition of that they adopted a policy that there should be an opportunity for early retirement and provide money to enable somebody to retire early. The issue arises where we have three plans and there is City funding for the General Plan but no City funding to the Fire and Police Plan. That is an indirect use of State monies for the benefit of general employees. That is an issue, but we plan to present it later and make a proposal for the new benefit package and the funding of that. We will bring this up at another time. Mayor Russo stated that another purpose of the early retirement age is that the jobs that they do as they get older get more dangerous. In effect we are not providing for this. Mr. Dehner, retained to represent the General Fund, made a recommendation to adopt an ordinance which would provide for the composition of the board similar in structure to what we have for the police officers and firefighters plan. The CITY COUNCIL 2rEC1nL & FETING, MAY , 1993 17 purpose of the ordinance is to get that board structured. The structure that Mr. Dehner recommended is: two members elected by the general membership of the plan, two persons appointed by Council, and then a fifth person appointed by those four. It would be advisable that the Council's two appointments be required to be residents of this municipality. Term of office is also important. Mr. Dehner stated he thinks two year term limits are short because generally a trustee takes about two years to learn the ropes on how to administer the fund and that's not a good point to leave. Mr. Dehner recommends 3 -4 years. Mayor Russo directed Mr. Dehner to prepare an ordinance the way he thought it should be done and then present it to the board. Mr. Dehner requested that the Council get the structure set up; i.e. employee elections. Conceptual Linkage Plan and Parkwav Svstem Kim Glas, City Planner, a presentation re: conceptual linkage and Parkway System. The Comprehensive Plan outlines two programs the City is to develop into the land development regulations. These are the Conceptual Linkage Plan (Nature /Pedestrian Trailway) and the Parkway System. These two programs work together to provide a continuous system of native habitat preservation, open spaces for bicycle and pedestrian paths and connections between CITY COUNCIL "MEETING, MAY .-5, 1993 residential areas and commercial, civic and recreation activities. 18 Ms. Glas explained the Comprehensive Plan deals with two different elements that we haven't really started to implemented yet. One is the Parkways: PGA Boulevard, central Boulevard and Donald Ross Road. The idea of these Parkways is to require 300' -400' of right of way providing for lush land so there would be a buffered pedestrian and bikeway facility which would be an aesthetically pleasing environment for the pedestrian or bicyclist. This would give the opportunity to get people out of their cars to recreate and also to provide an alternate mode of transportation. Ms. Glas stated that the concept of the Parkway is to have within this wide right -of -way, landscaped medians that would serve to block the two different travel lanes, the buffer area, shaded paths, public spaces, public fountains, and people spaces where they could sit and socialize. Ms. Glas stated there are some problems within this program, however, this is a good concept. The pedestrian system is the foundation of any community and going back in planning history, this is how the community started. This is also something that neighborhoods have been lacking. It's been found that communities that do provide for these kinds of pedestrian bicyclists become known for that; i.e. Palm Beach with their lake trail. Ms. Glass showed a slide presentation to point out what works and what doesn't. 60a� a CITY COUNCIL MEETING, MAY , 1993 19 There was some discussion about Military Trail and how the planning there hurt the neighborhood. PGA Boulevard is a State arterial. The state would allow for the lush vegetation that is present there. Vice Mayor Monroe stated that the State has requirements regarding curves (mountable and non - mountable) and types of vegetation that can be planted. Ms. Glas concurred that some of the trees on PGA Boulevard may not meet today's requirements and the point was made that if the City tried to install some of those trees today, they probably wouldn't be allowed to do so. She also stated that there are laws governing the rules about swales. Mayor Russo stated it was designed on I -95 to have sand in the swale so if a car went off in that direction it would get stuck. The grass actually causes the cars to slide over to the other side. If anyone went into a median strip it will cause them to slow down. Vice Mayor Monroe stated that the law says if you have mountable curves we may have trees larger but they must be a certain distance from the non- mountable curve. We cannot have the vegetation that we have seen on PGA Boulevard. Mayor Russo stated we should find out what the law is and design accordingly. vice Mayor Monroe stated that we should lobby to change the law and we should find out what caused these laws to be in effect as well as how long ago was it written. Circumstances may have changed. It was the consensus of the Council to have the lush landscaping, the medians, the parkways, and all of it if it L 'oC_1_�W c ,1�3 CITY COUNCIL OPECIAL �EETING, MAY k5, 1993 20 is within the law. The Council was interested in having the Parkway system and to comply with the law. If the law doesn't allow something, then Mayor Russo requested Ms. Glas come back and present an alternative. Ms. Glas pointed out the Parkways are the major arteriels and the Trailways link to individual neighborhoods, with the schools, the parks. The two interconnect and provide a continuous system throughout the City. The two have a common problem in that they each identify that a special taxing district will be set up to be the entity responsible for the ownership, maintenance of these Pathway systems. The entity is not in existence right now. The question is, does the Council want to pursue a special taxing system, or City ownership, or private ownership. All these different options have their own different issues and problems, such as cost, personnel, equipment needed, and residents disputing over where their tax dollars are being spent. Usually a separate taxing district is site specific. It was suggested that perhaps it could be set -up to be three separate Parkways (areas) and taxing districts. Council suggested that Ms. Glas investigate the separate taxing districts further and that our Comprehensive Plan reflect this. If someone says that they want to contribute to this Trailway system and get recreation impact fee credit, the position of staff is that this is a specialized facility and it doesn't go to meet our recreational level standards so it should not be giving consideration of credit. Lt )p �� M �3 CITY COUNCIL .7rs+�. EETING, MAY .1-5, 1993 21 Environmentally Sensitive Lands Ordinance Ms. Glas reviewed the revisions of the Natural Resources and Environmentally Significant Lands Code. Ms. Glas stated that pages 3 -8 expands the definition section. Page 9, Pine Flatwoods was added to the list of environmentally significant native habitat, added because it was in the Comprehensive Plan Policy that it was specifically told to include Pine Flatwoods. Prior, the Council did not regard Pine Flatwoods as significant because they were so abundant in the City. EA objected because they thought there were a lot in the City, it is regionally significant and needs to be protected also. Pages 12 -14 expand the application submittal list. This helps speed up the process. Pages 15 -17 expand the criteria for approval based on the Comprehensive Plan policies. Pages 17 -22 add Preserve Area Requirements to clarify what we expect to see in a preserve area. A minimum size is specified and by requiring that wherever possible preserves are contiguous to other preserves or open spaces we can map natural areas to help ensure that it remains viable. Page 23 specifies management plan requirement to help ensure that the preserve will be maintained properly, that it won't be impacted over time. On page 26 -27, more specificity in the mitigation provisions. Councilman Clark suggested that perhaps a third appraiser be assigned to balance the other f t>oe -Kr- v{� 1-3 CITY COUNCIL aPLCI MEETING, MAY X 1993 22 two. Mayor Russo stated that if other cities have a third appraiser, if it works better, then it would be okay. Ms. Glas stated staff requests direction on the process. She stated that the way the Ordinance has been revised it maintains the current procedure where the Council has the ultimate authority to approve the preserve area. It is not written into the Ordinance, it's been more policy on how the procedure has been working. The procedure has been that the City Planner presents the preservation area to the Council for its blessing, then it is taken to the Planning & zoning Commission for their review process, and then it comes back to the Council for approval. It was intended to work this way so that we set where the preserve area is and then when staff and planning & zoning commission is reviewing a v project, they know they can do anything outside of the preserve area to make it a good project. we are finding that with some projects going through the system now that it is not working. Planning & zoning are questioning the preserve areas and staff's recommendations. Adjustments sometimes have to be made and then it's brought back to the Council and then back to planning & zoning. Mayor Russo stated that this problem has been experienced with MI Homes. The developer needs to know it will work before he moves forward. Ms. Glas recommended that it might be better for staff to work with the consultants and do an administrative recommendation on where the preserve area should be and CITY COUNCIL SPECIld, MEETING, MAY 1993 23 based on our recommendation it goes to planning & zoning commission with the full site -plan so it's workshopped altogether and it goes through the regular process. Yet, the preserve area isn't set in stone, so as they are doing the site plan work it can be adjusted a little bit based on where some quality habitat is located. It is not until it comes before the Council, the final authority, that the approval of the site plan preserve area is set. If a question arises during the process, the developer may want to come before Council early on. It was discussed that a fee be required. The Council and staff do not want to encourage these tactics. Developers may try to get approval early on and this should be discouraged. Jim Schnelle, Consultant, stated that the Ordinance has been expanded from 11 pages to 31 pages. The Ordinance has been really tightened up, such as we are not accepting buffer strips for preserves anymore. Mr. Schnelle stated that what we were working with before will be transformed when we implement this Ordinance, if it's the Council decision to do so. Mr. Schnelle stated we would like to see the City Council have the option to designate the significant land just like the County is allowed to do. This is the framework we would like to work with. By using this Ordinance, the loopholes have hopefully been closed. The County has looked over this Ordinance and staff has received back a page of comments. It's considered an excellent document. LLB Dv� J3 CITY COUNCIL 5PEE4AIw, MEETING, MAY i-!�, 1993 24 Councilman Clark stated he would like the language to be clarified about who determines if the Council gets involved in the process early on; it would be more clear if the wording reflects the meaning that Council has a right, not an obligation to intervene. Mayor Russo requested that Ms. Glas return to Council with some of the changes discussed. Mission Statements on Ad Hoc committees Mayor Russo stated that we already have some of the mission statements as written in our Charter. Mayor Russo would like the committees to have mission statements. Space Allocation and Facilitv Committee needs more of a mission statement; the priority is 1) the police facility, 2) public works, and 3) government offices. We need to tell everyone that we want to have two space facility projections, one for the year 2000 and one for 2022. The size of the facility, what needs to go inside, and where the facility is to be located needs to be noted. Same applies to public works and the governmental office. The immediate task for them to come back with is the police facility, and then the coordination with the others. The police chief has to be involved as it relates to the police facility, and the same with the others. Mayor Russo stated a possible committee member could be Vince Papallardo because he is a general V contractor who said he is not interested in bidding on the CITY COUNCIL S-FECI�'MEETING, MAY Z, 1993 25 job and was involved in the original building here, so some of the history he can bring to this may be helpful. Mayor Russo also suggested Mike Anderson, now contractor of the year and member of the Chamber (on the board of directors). Mayor Russo suggested we have an architect (commercial) on the committee, someone with a lot of experience; a financial person; people who are interested and involved in the City. It was also suggested to ask the planning & zoning commission if they had anyone interested to be on the committee. Mayor Russo stated he would like to appoint the committee at the next meeting and that the Acting City Manager clean up the mission statement. Sian Code Committee Mayor Russo said the mission statement is fine. Vice Mayor Monroe would like to see a tougher sign code. she cited the Toys R Us sign as an example. Mayor Russo discussed who to appoint to the Sign Code Committee. Vice Mayor Monroe as the liaison, Jack Hanson, Building official, is a possibility, a member of the Chamber, and the Merchant's Association. Mayor Russo stated we should get going on this by next week. Charter Review Committee Vice Mayor Monroe suggested City Attorney Brant participate on this committee. The problem areas would be reviewed. The Chamber made recommendations for committee members to serve. Mayor Russo appointed Councilman Clark as liaison and stated he would like to get started next week. Q CITY COUNCIL "D�EETING, MAY K 1993 26 Golf Course Committee Mayor Russo will be the committee liaison.. He is receiving many requests from people in the community to serve on this committee and will plan to have a meeting with these people to hear what they have to say and what direction they want to take. The golf committee can be our "sales force." Mayor Russo stated that the report from PGA will be presented to him next week. He will provide copies to everyone and put it on the agenda when available. Discussion re: appointments to Advisory Boards We have two people we need to appoint to the Planning and zoning Commission. Joe Hamzy and Carl Sabatello are up for re- appoint. Vice Mayor Monroe suggested re- appointing Joe Hamzy and Carl Sabatello and appoint Diane Carlino as a regular member because her attendance is so terrific. Councilman Clark reported that Mr. Sabatello explained five of his absences were related to a back problem and he had to be in bed and in the hospital. The other absences related to property owner association meetings. Their meetings are no longer on Tuesdays. There was a couple of vacation absences and one personal absence. Councilman Clark stated that Mr. Sabatello has a lot to say, interested and wants to stay, and he agrees with re- appointing Joe Hamzy. It was noted that Joe Hamzy and Carl Sabatello's terms will W expire in November of 1993. We have three members that are b�Vp_A l6 to 13 CITY COUNCIL Rei-_Clal MEETING, MAY,1-5, 1993 RE$QLUTION$ 27 one year terms and the rest are two year terms. Mayor Russo would like to have this changed so they will all be two year terms. Denise Deitrich has moved out of the City. More research needs to be done on the Advisory Boards Resolution 42, 1993, will be amended and reconsidered by the City Council. VICE MAYOR MONROE Announced she will not be at the meeting next week. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 11:30 P.M. -- APPROVAL MAYOR RUSSO (-G UN L N SIN y ,VICE MAYOR MONROE COUNCILMAN FURTADO r; s" COUNCILMAN CLARK A.A. b -- RIEF DEPUTY CITY CLERK