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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 040893IZ CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS APRIL 8, 1993 The Workshop Meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order by Mayor Russo at 8:00 P.M., in the Assembly Room of the Municipal Complex, 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. ROLL CALL The Deputy City Clerk called the roll and present were Mayor ANNOUNCEMENTS Russo, Vice Mayor Monroe, and Councilman Clark. Councilwoman Furtado and Councilman Jablin were not in attendance, as they were out of town. Mayor Russo stated the announcements were as posted on the City's Bulletin Boards. FV:YOR RUSSO Mayor Russo stated the Landscape Code and Conceptual Linkage Plan, scheduled under Items for Discussion, would be postponed to the 4/22/93 City Council Workshop Meeting. PRESENTATIONS COMMUNITY BASED PROSECUTION PROGRAM Barry Krischer, Palm Beach County State Attorney, addressed the City Council and reviewed the proposal for a Community Based Prosection Program in Palm Beach County. Attorney Krischer discussed the pros and cons regarding the implementation of this program and answered questions from the City Council and the residents. Attorney Krischer requested the City Council provide a letter or resolution in support of this program. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/8/93 PAGE 2 Mayor Russo stated he would like to discuss the program with Police Chief FitzGerald and schedule a Resolution for consideration by the City Council. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION GOLF COURSE Mr. Joe Wise, Senior Vice President, and Kevin Mulshine, First Vice President, representing William R. Hough and Company addressed the City Council and reviewed a handout representing a refunding analysis for the City of Palm Beach Gardens Special Obligation Revenue Bonds Series 1990. Mr. Wise requested the City Council consider retaining William R. Hough and Company as the underwriter, and Moyle, Flanigan, et al, as bond counsel. The necessary documents could be prepared for the refunding and when the window of opportunity appeared, could go to market in two weeks. In response to Mayor Russo, Mr. Mulshine stated the City Council should determine how they wished to proceed with the golf course before considering a refinancing, due to T.R.S. regulations regarding revenue bonds. Mr. Mulshine suggested the Council keep in contact with bond counsel as to any changes made in the current structure in the management of the golf course, due to violating tax covenants. Mayor Russo stated one priority of the golf course was to be competitive with the surrounding golf courses, as the City was operating below projection. After the Council reviewed the memorandum to Mayor Russo CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/8/93 PAGE 3 from Don Kepler, Golf Course Manager, regarding other avenues for revenue, there was a consensus to place a sign - up sheet at the golf course for residents to volunteer to serve on a golf course overview committee. Mayor Russo read into the record a letter received from Colin Wright, PGA National Golf and Sports, volunteering a team to study the City's golf course operation and make recommendations. There was a consensus of the City Council for Mayor Russo to forward a letter to Mr. Wright accepting his proposal. Bobbie Herakovich, Acting Assistant City Manager, was directed to provide Council with the original projections for the golf course by Laventhol & Horvath and Public Golf Corporation. There was a consensus of the City Council directing staff to prepare a Resolution for the 4/15/93 City Council Meeting, appointing William R. Hough and Company as bond underwriters. TAZ 848 DENSITY REDUCTION Rich Walton, Director of Planning and Zoning, addressed the City Council and briefly reviewed his Tuesday, 4/6/93 meeting in Tallahassee with the Department of Community Affairs. Mr. Walton stated the Interlocal Agreement would need to be executed before the County's adoption of their Comprehensive Land Use Plan amendment, and the City's amendment to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan for the reduction of densities CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/8/93 PAGE 4 in TAZ 848 needed to be expedited. Mr. Walton requested policy direction from the Council on procedures to lower the densities. Mr. Walton reviewed the memorandum from Kim Glas, City Planner, regarding several options to achieve the density reduction in TAZ 848. Vice Mayor Monroe and Councilman Clark both expressed interest in Option 2 (Land Use Overlay), however, limiting the density to 2.0 units per acre with no bonus. In response to Vice Mayor Monroe, Mr. Walton stated the County requires land to come in under a PUD where the trips are recaptured internally and thus takes care of the bonus. Mayor Russo felt the PUD would need to justify the trips within the PUD before getting the bonus. There was a consensus of the Council to further discuss this issue with a full Council at the 4/15/93 Regular Meeting and for staff to begin preparing the documents for the transmittal. Mr. Walton stated he would like to received input from Attorney Brant, Paul Bradshaw and the traffic consultants before proceeding. Mr. Walton briefly explained the time frame for transmittal of the amendment. There was a consensus of the Council directing staff to begin preparation for the second Comprehensive Land Use Plan amendment transmittal to bring annexed lands with County CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/8/93 PAGE 5 zoning under the City's land use category and to include language to prohibit urban sprawl and leapfrogging. FINANCE DIRECTOR Mayor Russo reported meeting with Paul Bremer of Ernst & Young, City Auditors, and the need for a finance director to CITY MANAGER ensure good internal control procedures. Mayor Russo recommended proceeding with the job description for a finance director and felt the organizational chart for the City and the finance director job description should be fine tuned for the 4/15/93 Regular Meeting. Vice Mayor Monroe expressed concern with not knowing what the 1993/1994 fiscal year budget indicated before considering the extra expense of hiring a finance director. Attorney Brant recommended the Council consider establishing a Finance Department and determine the overall functions of the department before moving forward. In response to vice Mayor Monroe, the Acting Assistant City Manager stated the mid -year budget changes were being worked on at this time. Per a recommendation by the Acting Assistant City Manager, there was a consensus of the City Council directing staff to proceed with preparing a job description for the finance director position. Attorney Brant stated, based on the minutes of the 4/1/93 Regular Council Meeting, the Mayor was granted the authority to execute the Escrow Agreement. After further discussion by the Council, there was a CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/8/93 PAGE 6 consensus to amend the 4th WHEREAS clause as follows: 1. Insert "payment and method of payment, including without limitation" after "the" in the first sentence. The Mayor and Deputy City Clerk executed the amended Escrow Agreement with John K. Copeland, attorney for Mr. Orr, stating he would have the amended Escrow Agreement executed by Mr. Orr, and returned to the Council this evening. There was a consensus of the Council for Councilman Clark to negotiate with Attorney Copeland in settlement of this issue. Councilman Clark would meet with the negotiation team and report back to the Council at the 4/15/93 Regular Meeting. nFPARTMENT HEAD ,�RUAL OF VACA�N —TIME Mayor Russo requested a legal opinion from Attorney Brant on what the City was obligated to pay to the Department Heads regarding the issue of vestment. Attorney Brant stated there was ample precedent where long- term employees have been bought out on accrued vacation time for lesser dollars. After further discussion regarding the Acting Assistant City Manager's memorandum dated 4/7/93, there was a consensus of the Council to select Option II, whereby the City would buy out Department Head vacation hours in excess of 200, giving the employee a chance to use vacation hours before reaching the maximum. The Council directed staff to prepare a resolution for the 4/15/93 Regular Meeting to approve this CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/8/93 PAGE 7 - option and to unfreeze the accumulation of hours and credit past hours. The Acting Assistant City Manager stated since these funds had not been budgeted, the funds would need to be transferred from Council Contingency. CURFEW FOR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS There was a consensus of the City Council directing staff to prepare the necessary documents to amend the Charter to reflect Council meetings would commence at 7:30 P.M. and end at 11:30 P.M. There was discussion regarding limiting time for Petitioners to make their presentation. The Acting Assistant City Manager was directed to provide the Council with information regarding placing a time limit on items on the Agenda. SPACE STUDY James FitzGerald, Police Chief, addressed the City Council and reviewed the space needs for the police department for the next 20 years. Mayor Russo stated the Council needed to determine if they wished to build out to the year 2000 or the year 2010 and the direction they wished to proceed. Mayor Russo felt Chief FitzGerald should serve on the Space Facility Committee and felt public input meetings should be held with the residents. Mayor Russo felt a mission statement should be prepared for the Committee. The Acting Assistant City Manager was directed to summarize the discussion regarding the consensus of the Council re: the mission statement. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/8/93 PAGE 8 Mayor Russo stated they would attempt to schedule a meeting for the committee within the next 2 weeks and would appoint a Council liaison. POLICE AND FIRE IMPACT FEE ORDINANCE Mr. Walton briefly reviewed the Police and Fire Impact Fee Ordinance. In response to Councilman Clark, Attorney Brant stated police and fire impacts fees collected would need to be kept separate. There was a consensus of the City Council to proceed in this direction re: Police and Fire Impact Fee Ordinance. Mr. Walton was directed to contact Dr. Nicholas to again review the ordinance and make the necessary changes and updates. Mr. Walton was directed to obtain a time frame from Dr. Nicholas, as the Council wished to expedite this issue. MILITARY TRAIL SPEED LIMIT In response to Vice Mayor Monroe, Attorney Brant stated the City would be dealing with the Florida Department of Transportation to request the speed limit be lowered on Military Trail. If the Florida Department of Transportation did lower the speed limit, the legal burden would be on them. Per a consensus of the Council, this item would be placed on the 4/22/93 Workshop Agenda for further discussion. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/8/93 PAGE 9 ustARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE Mayor Russo stated Steve Mathison and Gary Fields had both expressed an interest in serving on the Charter Review Committee and felt someone in public administration would also be suitable. The Acting Assistant City Manager was directed to draft a mission statement for the committee. Attorney Brant felt the purchase section of the Charter should also be reviewed and updated. Mayor Russo stated he wanted the referendum vote on the charter amendment to be held in conjunction with another election. MAYOR RUSSO Mayor Russo reported he had been appointed by Chair Mary McCarty to the North County Task Force, along with the other Mayors in the North County area, representatives of the Chambers of Commerce and residents of the area, to try and locate FAU in the north county area. CITY MANAGER PROFILE The Acting Assistant City Manager requested any comments regarding the City Manager Profile provided by Slavin & Associates, be provided to her by the end of next week. GREAT WESTERN BANK The Acting Assistant City Manager stated Great Western Bank had requested an amendment to the site plan re: change in the tile roof, and this item would be discussed at the 4/15/93 Regular Meeting. LAWSUITS Attorney Brant stated, regarding the Ford lawsuit against the City re: paying for public record request, the matter was to be heard Tuesday in County Court. Attorney Brant CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/8/93 PAGE 10 recommended the Council conclude this case in order to be awarded reasonable attorney fees. Per the recommendation of Attorney Brant, there was a consensus of the Council directing Attorney Brant to attempt to settle the Watterson lawsuit out of court for no more than $2,000. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 11:26 P.M. APPROVAL I�AYOx2 R SSO COUNCILMAN JABLIN VICE MAYOR MONROE COUNCILWOMAN FURTADO r- COUNCILMAN CLARK 'EXA M. RIEF DEPUTY CITY CLERK