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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 070193r J CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS JULY 1, 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 7:30 PM, 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 City Clerk called the roll and present were Mayor Russo, Vice Mayor Monroe, Councilman Jablin, Councilwoman Furtado and Councilman Clark. :announcements ITEMS BY THE Mayor Russo stated the announcements were as posted on the City's Bulletin Boards. Mayor Russo welcomed the Boy Scouts present in the audience as they are getting their merit badges for Community activity. Acting City Manager Bobbie Herakovich advised the Council that there is now a GIS (mapping) computer system in- house. Staff is in process of learning the system and will need to purchase a few programs. Vice Mayor Monroe was concerned the City might be duplicating work now being done by the County. She would also like to see staff contact the County to see if they have any information we could use. Also discussed was the CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING OF 7 -1 -93 2 possibility of hiring a part -time or full -time data entry person to do the detail work in house instead of paying outside engineering fees. That will be looked into over the next couple of months during the budget process. Acting City Manager Herakovich stated she and Rich Walton, Director of Planning and Zoning, met with the County Planning staff regarding the Library. The County expects to award the contract in September; bids have already been awarded for the road construction. The City is still working with the County to get some right -of -way dedications and sign offs on landscaping and such issues. The County's application has started through the City's formal process. Acting City Manager Herakovich advised the City Council that Reverend John Muntz, a member of the Merit Board, will be leaving the Community. This Board will have a formal recommendation to the City Council to move Ben Benowitz up from alternate to a regular position. However, this would leave two alternate positions vacant. Herakovich stressed the necessity of receiving nominations prior to the next City Council meeting, as the Merit Board has some important meetings that require a quorum. The Acting City Manager also reported that the Police auction brought in $17,000+ with a little over $2,800 to CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 3 be deposited in the Law Enforcement Trust Fund. She asked that the Police and Public Works Department be commended for the hard work they put into that auction. Acting City Manager Herakovich reported that it may be necessary to update the policy for drug abuse assistance under the Employee Assistance Program. As of right now, out - patient service is not covered by insurance. If included under the new insurance coverage recently approved by the City Council, it would cost an additional $7,771 to cover alcoholism and drug abuse; and the same amount to cover mental and nervous assistance, for a total of $15,542.00. It was the Acting City Manager's recommendation that the City reimburse an employee up to $2,000 rather than add the expense to the insurance policy. Councilwoman Furtado said that alcohol and drug dependency are considered a disease by today's standards and should not be treated any differently. Vice Mayor Monroe asked if the new policy covered mental health and was advised it did. She then suggested just the alcoholism /drug abuse portion of the expense be added to the new policy. Mayor Russo suggested that, after one year, the City Council could evaluate the insurance and identify the trend of expenses and use. It was the general consensus of the City Council to add both insurance coverages to the new policy and evaluate the usage and costs in one year. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 4 Acting City Manager Herakovich also advised the City Council that she and staff had met with Florida Power & Light and other interested parties to determine the cost of lighting the south side of Northlake Blvd and also PGA Blvd. Prior to the budget meeting, she would present information in a Workshop Meeting to advise the City of what roads would require this work. ITEMS BY MAYOR AND Vice Mayor Monroe Vice Mayor Monroe requested that everyone send in their letters and postcards to FAU for the Planning Forum as a head count is needed. Yesterday, the group net for 3 -1/2 hours to determine the participants. List will be out next week. Councilman Jablin Councilman Jablin mentioned how well he felt the Town Meeting turned out last Monday, stating he received good input and reaction by the City residents who attended. Mayor Russo said, too, that it seemed to be a success and the general feeling of the public was that caution was needed in the area of taxes. He felt everyone in attendance was in favor of the taxes being increased to meet Police Department, etc., needs, but the general public who were not present will not understand the need to increase taxes. Councilman Jablin made a suggestion the annual Town Meeting be made a requirement in the City Charter and aired on Adelphia Cable TV which would allow CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 5 people to learn about their City from their homes. Vice Mayor Monroe directed staff to contact the cable company to determine cost to bring someone in to put this public forum together in a professional way. Milton Stern, in the audience, said he could report back on how much it would cost to televise the debate. Mayor Russo reported that, as they are not a member of the Economic Council, he felt the Council should look into being a member of that group in order to improve the City's economic base with new business growth. Acting City Manager Herakovich will contact the Economic Council to determine the cost. Mayor Russo said he attended the Planning Board Meeting last week and stated he was concerned that the City does not have an attorney representing the City at those meetings. He felt it important the City not get into a situation where these volunteer people are thinking they're doing the best thing possible but say something that in effect gets the City into a lawsuit. The City Attorney stated he would be ready and willing to serve, if so authorized by the City Manager and the Council is amenable to the additional expense. Acting City Manager Herakovich suggested that staff could advise of any controversial items that may come up at those meetings and the City Attorney could attend where controversial actions are voted on. Vice Mayor Monroe asked that the CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 6 fees be reviewed to include additional time needed to cover engineering costs and attorney fees especially if the City Attorney must sit in on Petitions. Mayor Russo stated he had no problem with charging additional fees to developers but he wanted to make sure work was streamlined so fees were not more than actual services provided. Mayor Russo Mayor Russo advised the members that he saw the Assistant Solid Waste Director of the Solid Waste Authority and congratulated them on the amount of money they saved. Also, the Solid Waste Authority will help the City prepare the bid package at no cost to the City. The City's current contract is up in October, 1994 but must be bid in the Spring. MUNICIPAL LEAGUE Mayor Russo advised he attended a Municipal League meeting last week. The next meeting will cover inter- governmental coordination. Mayor Russo recommended the City be represented at all Municipal League Meetings. He is on the Board of Directors and will attend all the Board of Directors meetings. The General Membership meetings that he could not attend should be attended by other Council members. Also, there are some meetings coming up that staff should attend such as cable, various County policies, local options gas tax; and Mayor Russo stated that Acting City CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 7 Manager Herakovich was planning on having staff attend. COMMENTS FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC Bill Beville Bill Beville of 285 Riverside Drive addressed the City Council and requested the City erect a gazebo -like structure on or near the bank of Lake Catherine. He said it would be an inexpensive asset to those who use that area. Mayor Russo felt this would be a good idea and asked that someone from the Public Works Department construct and build it. Vice Mayor Monroe suggested the this request be directed through the Recreation Advisory Board and let them give their blessing. Questions to be answered would cover: Do we only want one, or three gazebos; do we want it forever; where would it be placed? Sam Carsillo Resident Sam Carsillo mentioned that it would be nice to have garbage drums situated around Lake Catherine so people eating lunch on the grounds will have a place to put their debris. Mr. Carsillo also mentioned that some people are using the area to practice hitting golf balls and that can be dangerous. He's asking that they use the other side of the lake. Mr. Carsillo updated the City Council that there were 239 people attending the Town Meeting regarding medical services. He also stated he was having a meeting the next morning at 10:00 AM with the Acting City Manager to cover areas of concern. Reuben Fox Councilman Jablin introduced Mr. Reuben Fox to the CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 8 members of the City Council and said he was one of the original creator/ founders of the Community Awareness Network in PGA National. Mr. Fox also works at the Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center and Councilman Jablin works with him as well on a project called "Visiting Hearts" and the "Heart to Heart Club ". Mr. Fox raised an area of concern in which the City may not be giving sufficient attention to an underutilized resource; that is, the older people in the City willing to give service to the Community on a volunteer basis. Councilwoman Furtado provided Mr. Fox with the names and numbers of Ben Benowitz and Bill Beville who would also like to do something along those lines. Milton Stern Mr. Milton Stern addressed the City Council regarding the North County Planning Forum. He felt this City should have a strong interest in the results of the Planning Forum and was concerned whether a cross section of public and private interests were selected. He felt the selection process would determine the outcome of the Planning Forum. He felt the City's cross section was not properly represented, including the not- for - profit groups. Vice Mayor Monroe pointed out that if some of those selected in the different categories could not attend, the Committee will have additional input in selecting alternates that will represent a fair cross - section of the groups to attend and will verify that they CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 9 are City residents. The Vice Mayor suggested that names be again submitted before the 14th of July in case additional alternates are needed and Vice Mayor Monroe can make a strong stand to have more Palm Beach Gardens residents on that Forum. Mayor Russo Mayor Russo brought up an additional item that was to be under "Items by Mayor" earlier. Mr. Bob Slaven had come down and spoken to the City County members a few weeks ago re: City Manager search. He is in the process of writing an update and would like to come in and talk to the City Council and requested he attend the next meeting on the 15th. CONSENT AGENDA Vice Mayor Monroe requested Items # 4, 5, and 6 be pulled from the Consent Agenda. Motion was made by Vice Mayor Monroe to approve the remainder of the Consent Agenda; Seconded by Councilwoman Furtado and passed unanimously. Items approved were: 1. Approval of Minutes of 6 -10 -93 City Council Workshop Meeting. 2. Approval of Minutes of 6 -17 -93 City Council Regular Meeting. 3. Approval of Minutes of 6 -24 -93 City Council Special Meeting. 7. Resolution 78, 1993 - Amendment to BallenIsles Windward Cove, Parcel 4, PUD, approved by Resolution 61, 1989, re: sidewalks. 8. Resolution 79, 1993 - Endorsing candidacy of Clarence E. Anthony for Office of First Vice President, Florida League of Cities. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 10 9. Resolution 80, 1993 - Appointing member and alternates as City representative to Municipal League. Vice Mayor Monroe advised of a correction needed to be made to the Minutes of the Workshop Meeting of June 24, 1993, page 5 where it stated the meeting of the North County Planning Forum was in September, it should say "August ", and the sentence previous to that should read: "it was also recommended Council delay a decision on possible changes in land use designations until the North County Planning Forum which will meet in August." Vice Mayor Monroe moved for an approval of the Workshop Meeting Minutes of June 24, 1993as amended; seconded by Councilwoman Furtado and passed unanimously. ORDINANCE 6, 1993 Rich Walton advised the City Council that this was the second reading of an Ordinance that was delayed until Planning & Zoning Commission input was received. It was their recommendation that the maximum value per square foot for each apartment was inadequate and they wanted to encourage more of these but at 1,200 S.F. minimum. PUBLIC HEARING Mayor Russo declared the Public Hearing open, which was duly advertised and held on the intent of Ordinance 6, 1993, Security Apartment ordinance. There being no comments from the public, Mayor Russo declared the Public Hearing closed. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 11 Vice Mayor Monroe proposed, at the very bottom of the page 1 of the proposed Ordinance, that one phrase be added where it says "There shall be no access between a security apartment and a security office" and add "or other ware house or storage building ". Per a unanimous vote of the City Council, the City Clerk read Ordinance 6, 1993, by title only. Vice Mayor Monroe made a motion, seconded by Councilwoman Furtado, to approve Ordinance 6, 1993. Ordinance 6, 1993, was unanmously adopted by the City Council. ORDINANCE 7, 1993 Rich Walton reported that the Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval of this proposed Ordinance. However, the staff report outlined five procedural points: 1) the Petitioner prepare a Proposed Areas of Preservation for review by the City Environmental Consultant; 2) preserve areas and master /site plan be reviewed concurrently by the Planning & Zoning Commission; 3) preserve areas to be high quality and viable habitat; 4) all issues to be resolved at the Planning & Zoning Commission before it proceeds to City Council; 5) any master /site plans that need approval of the Site Plan and Appearance Review Committee may be appealed to the City Council. Vice Mayor Monroe voiced her concern re: Page 7, Section 160.05(b), sentence 1. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 12 She asked if there was to be a time limit on applicants requesting an exemption. Acting City Manager Herakovich advised that there is an automatic expiration date on building permits. Mayor Russo declared the Public Hearing open, which was duly advertised and held on the intent of Ordinance 7, 1993, Environmentally Sensitive Lands Ordinance. There being no comments from the public, Mayor Russo declared the Public Hearing closed. Vice Mayor Monroe made a motion to approve Ordinance 7, 1993, seconded by Councilman Clark. Ordinance 7, 1993, was unanimously adopted by the City Council. PUBLIC HEARING Mayor Russo declared the Public Hearing open, which was duly advertised, and held on the intent of Ordinance 9, 1993, General Employees Pension Board. There being no comments from the public, Mayor Russo declared the Public Hearing closed. Per a unaniomous vote of the City Council, the City Clerk read, by title only, on second and final reading, Ordinance 9, 1993. Vice Mayor Monroe made a motion, seconded on Councilwoman Furtado, to approve Ordinance 9, 1993. Ordinance 9, 1993, was unanimously approved by the City Council. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 13 nz, c.�r rrm r�wro RESOLUTION 70, 1993 Vice Mayor Monroe requested the following change: Section 1, item 3, "One bicycle rack accommodating a total of six bicycles shall be provided for this facility. The location of the racks shall be approved by the City Engineer" adding the words "prior to occupancy." Mayor Russo requested that in Section 2, the "change machine" be deleted. Motion to approve Resolution 70, 1993 as amended was made by vice Mayor Monroe, seconded by Councilman Clark and passed with a vote of 4 to 1. Councilwoman Furtado voted against due to the violent nature of one of the games. RESOLUTION 71, 1993 Alex Perez, Committee Member of the St. Mark's Episcopal School, spoke as representative of the School. In reviewing the Resolution, Mr. Perez asked for a 3 -year period for the temporary use of the trailer instead of the one year as shown. School Head Mrs. Hardy stated they would not be adding more students, but wish to add an academically- enriched program and enhance the programs they have, and that would include enlarging the facilities. Vice Mayor Monroe suggested that the Resolution state that the student enrollment will not increase above the existing number of "X" students. After discussion, it was felt the one -year temporary use CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 14 be changed to two years, until 7- 31 -95. Motion was made by Councilman Jablin to approve Resolution 71, 1993 with the amendment that the one year time period be changed to two years in the second paragraph of Section 1. Seconded by Councilwoman Furtado. Passed unanimously. RESOLUTION 75. 1993 Rich Walton advised the Council that the issues regarding this Resolution have been worked out, and the property owners have approved of the proposed plans, including a wall. After discussion on several items, a motion was made by Councilman Clark that Resolution 75, 1993, be approved. Seconded by Councilman Jablin. Passed unanimously. RESOLUTION 76, 1993 In reviewing the plans, Vice Mayor Monroe questioned whether the Petitioner, Mr. Cordani, could have gone forward, prior to and without this agreement, at any point since being annexed into the City approximately two years ago. Rich Walton said the development could have been processed anywhere from under the County's 1980 plan or the City's current policies. The City Attorney stated that, until the City processes the plan, the land is still under the County's plan. Vice Mayor suggested the Council postpone this vote and bring it back with a condition as to a guaranteed number of years, look at the traffic, and not allow the property to have a guaranteed CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 15 use forever even if not developed within five years. Mr. Gary Brandenberg suggested this agreement should be viewed as allowing Mr. Cordani the opportunity to come forward through the City's process in a way that has been agreed upon to get his approvals and move ahead with his projects. If the City Council feels Mr. Cordani is not proceeding in accordance with the Ordinance, after a certain amount of time, Mr. Brandenberg felt the City could notify the developer of a proposed land -use change, in accordance with the City's comprehensive land use plan, and divest the property. Mr. Brandenberg stated Mr. Cordani would be willing to include that in the PUD; however, five years for development would not be sufficient time. Vice Mayor Monroe suggested that, at the end of five years, if the project has not met the definition of "commencement ", then the City Council would have the ability to review it and determine if they wanted to change the status of the project. Mr. Brandenberg agreed with this statement. It was agreed that Mr. Bradshaw would write the agreed -upon compromise right into the Vested Rights Agreement while the Council reviewed the next agenda item. RESOLUTION 77, 1993 In response to a question by City Council, Acting City Manager Herakovich advised that a retroactive date was used because the position has already been filled by Dick CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 16 Cameron. Vice Mayor Monroe moved to approve Resolution 77, 1993, approval of salary range for superintendent of Parks position; seconded by Councilman Clark. Resolution 77, 1993, passed unanimously. ORDINANCES• ORDINANCE 10,1993 ITEMS BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE MEETING REPORTS Sign Committee Space Allocation Per a unanimous vote of the City Council, the City Clerk read, by title only, on first reading, Ordinance 10, 1993, code revision to allow churches in all categories. The City Council will conduct a duly advertised Public Hearing re: Ordinance 10, 1993, at their 8/5/93 Regular Meeting. Vice Mayor Monroe reported that the Sign Committee met and felt impressed that the Committee is working very hard. Committee Councilwoman Furtado said the Space Allocation Committee was very involved and she was looking forward to good results. The next meeting is the 12th. Steering Committee Vice Mayor Monroe announced that the next meeting, as listed, are wrong. The next meeting is the 14th. Golf Course Committee Mayor Russo stated he was getting quite a few calls from people who want to be on the golf course committee. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 17 -charter Review Committee David Clark stated the Charter Review Committee meet on Monday and will meet on a regular basis. Landfill Committee Councilman Jablin was unable to attend the last meeting but expects a report shortly. RESOLUTION 76, 1993 Gary Brandenburg returned to the Council and proposed the following as a new Paragraph 115" Vested Rights Agreement of new Paragraph 105, Review of Vested Status. "If development of the project does not commence within five years of the date of this Agreement, then the City may review the vested status of the project. If the developer has not made a good faith effort to proceed v with commencement of development by the time of review, then the City may consider the vested status of the project and, at its option, divest the project." Motion to approve Resolution 76, 1993 was made by Vice Mayor Monroe; seconded by Councilman Clark. Resolution 76, 1993, was unanimously adopted by the city Council. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION Rich Walton discussed the Concurrency Ordinance and its suggested revisions. Seacoast Utilities does not wish to write letters saying there is capacity unless someone actually pays for the capacity, however, the City Council does not wish to process PUDs if the capacity is not there. Paul Bradshaw advised there were several ways to CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 18 amend the Ordinance to be more flexible: 1) The City can make the effectiveness of the permit contingent upon the infrastructure being available at the time development occurs; 2) Write in the Ordinance that Seacoast Utilities provide a letter stating capacity be at a certain amount or it is a certain amount. COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN AMENDMENT F93-2 Kim Glas reported to the City Council on those items that led to questions at the City Council Workshop Meeting of June 24, 1993. Vice Mayor Monroe mentioned the City Council had agreed to wait to make any changes until after the August Planning Forum, but felt it appropriate to direct staff to look at the property in more depth, recognizing the land use put on it has not yet been utilized as was granted 34 years ago, and look at the noise contours, and industrial land use. Mayor Russo wanted to know how much time that would take and how much it would cost, considering we already have a comprehensive plan. Vice Mayor Monroe requested staff advose Cpimco; as to the cost of a consultant and a time frame. And Mayor Russo suggested that cost should also be discussed during the budget process. Councilwoman Furtado suggested a retired volunteer who has expertise in this area might be interested in assisting. It was the consensus of the City Council that staff would look into the cost and how much time it would take to evaluate CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 1, 1993 19 A n,T0TTP NMRMT that piece of property. There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourn at 0. 5 PM. CO CI N --a--IKCBLIN COUNCILWOMAN FURTADO 4'4'4� f�6'&c 8thfl+� C I LMAN Ii�IOA V.'KOSIER', CMC, CIT&LERK APPROVAL ,MAY VICE MAYOR MONROE CO CI N --a--IKCBLIN COUNCILWOMAN FURTADO 4'4'4� f�6'&c 8thfl+� C I LMAN Ii�IOA V.'KOSIER', CMC, CIT&LERK