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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 042293v` CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS APRIL 22, 1993 The Workshop Meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was called to order by Vice Mayor Monroe 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 Vice Mayor Monroe, Councilwoman Furtado and Councilman Clark. Councilman Jablin arrived at 8:10 P.M. Mayor Russo was not in attendance, as he was out of town. ANNOUNCEMENTS Vice Mayor Monroe stated the announcements were as posted on the City's Bulletin Boards. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA VICTOR ROMERO Mr. Victor Romero, Commander of V.F.W. Post #4058, presented a Loyalty Day Award to the City of Palm Beach Gardens. ORDINANCES ORDINANCE 2, 1993 Vice Mayor Monroe briefly reviewed the reasons for preparing a new Landscape Code Ordinance. Vice Mayor Monroe stated the new code utilized a point system to determine if a project met the Code. Mark Hendrickson, City Forester, addressed the City Council stating the Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended scaling the permitting for pruning back and adopt the CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/22/93 PAGE 2 standards of the National Arbor Association. Mr. Hendrickson stated, if a property owner disregarded the standards, they would go before the Code Enforcement Board. Mr. Hendrickson stated the larger cities did have a permit system, however, they had the staff to handle it. Mr. Hendrickson stated staff had reviewed the proposal for permitting and had come up with estimates on the manpower to administer the permit system, and it would require additional staff. Mr. Hendrickson stated the non - conforming uses primarily existed in commercial areas that existed at the time the City was incorporated or before the 1974 Landscape Code. Mr. Hendrickson stated staff was planning to notify the non - conformers that, within two years, the City would like them to come back before the City for a landscape review. Mr. Hendrickson stated this would take some administrating and would either be a landscape plan review or a landscape variance. Mr. Hendrickson stated there would be approximately 20 such establishments in the City and, after 2 years, the workload would taper off and, hopefully, within 5 years, the non - conformities would be in compliance. Vice Mayor Monroe stated she would rather forego any permits for pruning at this time and educate the community on the new requirements of the Code and work on the non - conforming issues. Rich Walton, Director of Planning and Zoning, addressed the CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/22/93 PAGE 3 _. City Council stating Vice Mayor Monroe's comments were the same as expressed by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Councilwoman Furtado stated she was in agreement with Vice Mayor Monroe. In response to Councilwoman Furtado, Mr. Walton stated 1 full -time person would be needed to administer the permitting process for pruning and non - conforming projects. Mr. Hendrickson stated he estimated within the first year, approximately 250 -300 permits would be required, increasing as the City grew. In response to Councilwoman Furtado, Mr. Hendrickson stated Palm Beach County had pruning standards and the City would basically be adopting the same standards. Mr. Hendrickson stated he was planning to send a copy of the Code to the tree service companies listed in the phone book, go to the individual establishments that have had problems in the past and educate them regarding the new Code. Councilman Clark stated he concurred with Vice Mayor Monroe and Councilwoman Furtado re: dropping the permit requirement for pruning. Discussion ensued regarding the effective date of the Ordinance in reference to enforcing same. There was a consensus of the City Council to adopt the Ordinance with the effective date being immediate, however, administratively instruct staff to issue warnings only, on existing projects, for a reasonable period of time. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4122/93 PAGE 4 Ms. Herakovich, Acting City Manager, suggested using the resident newsletter to inform residents of the new Code and provide information for any pruning workshops. Staff was directed to return to Council with suggestions on how they intended to educate the public regarding the new Landscape Code. Per a consensus of the City Council, Ordinance 2, 1993, was amended as follows: I. Page 8, (4); replace with "See Sign Code Landscaping Requirements ". 2. Page 3, "Grub "; last sentence, insert "such as" between "maintenance" and "grass mowing ". 3. Page 29, 153.50 Variance, A.; add to the end of paragraph, "The City Council shall appoint five (5) members to serve as the Landscape Committee of Adjustments, otherwise, in the absence of any such appointment, the Council will serve as such Committee." Vice Mayor Monroe requested staff maintain written records notifying individuals and companies of violations for verification by staff and Code Enforcement. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN AMENDMENT 93 -1 In response to Councilman Clark, Mr. Walton stated the City would deal in advance with the concerns raised by DCA, which applied to the City of Palm Beach Gardens, in their response to the County. Per a recommendation by Councilman 3ablin, there was a consensus of the City Council authorizing the Acting City Manager to direct a letter to Robert Weisman, Palm Beach CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/22/93 PAGE 5 County Administrator, extending an offer to the City for assistance. In response to Vice Mayor Monroe, Kim Glass, Planner, stated the intent of the proposed transmittal would not allow the density bonus. Per a consensus of the Council, the following amendment was made to the "Revisions to Adopted Portions of Comprehensive Plan ": 1. Goals, objectives and Policies, last sentence; clarify sentence. In response to Vice Mayor Monroe, Mr. Walton indicated staff would prefer to transmit on May 20, 1993, rather than expediting the transmittal on May 6, 1993. Milton Stern, 24 Cayman Place, addressed the Council and requested the transmittal of Comprehensive Land Use Plan Amendment be on May 6, 1993. After further discussion, there was a consensus of the Council to transmit the Comprehensive Land Use Plan Amendment #93 -1, as amended, on May 20, 1993. NEEDS ASSESSMENT BY RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Ronnye Sands, Chairperson of the City's Recreation Advisory Board, addressed the City Council and briefly reviewed the needs assessment survey being requested by the Recreation Advisory Board. Ms. Sands stated the survey was to be mailed to a random computer selection of residents. Ms. Sands stated the survey was to gather information regarding the type of recreational facilities the residents preferred. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/22/93 PAGE 6 After further discussion, there was a consensus of the Council to include at the end of each section, the following question: "Would you be willing to pay a fee, if necessary, for any of these services and a range of what you would be willing to pay ?" There was also a consensus of the Council to provide additional surveys at the recreational facility locations for individuals to complete, however, these results would not be included in the results of the mailed survey. The Acting City Manager stated the Recreation Advisory Board would be attempting to obtain donations, such as dinner, cruise, etc. to entice the residents to return their survey. The Acting City Manager expressed her thanks to Ms. Sands and the Recreation Advisory Board for their pro - active role in obtaining feedback from the residents and looking ahead to the future of the City. FINANCE DIRECTOR POSITION In reference to Councilwoman Furtado, Vice Mayor Monroe stated salary for positions was considered separate from the job descriptions. The Acting City Manager stated the job description for the Finance Director position had been completed quickly and would request the opportunity to discuss this position with staff and fine tune the description, to include Council's comments, before forwarding the job description to the Merit System Board for their review. �- After further discussion, the Council requested CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/22/93 PAGE 7 clarification on "computer applications" contained in the last line of "Nature of Work ". Councilman Clark requested adding under "Principal Duties and Tasks" that the Finance Director would "supervise internal audits ". Councilwoman Furtado stated she would like to consider slowing down on the City Manager search, at this time, and focus on filling the Finance Director position. There was a consensus of the City Council for the Merit System Board to consider the job description for Finance Director at their 5/4/93 meeting. ITEMS BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL JNCILWOMAN P—CRTADO Councilwoman Furtado recommended the City Council authorize Vice Mayor Monroe to deliver a letter, on Monday 4/26/93, at the FAU Task Force Meeting, requesting the FAU Task Force not act until the North County Planning Forum had been completed. Councilwoman Furtado felt this should be a partnership and that the specific type of university should be addressed and the sites should not be limited. In response to Councilman Jablin, Vice Mayor Monroe stated, at this time, it appeared the forum would take place on the last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, of August. Vice Mayor Monroe stated she had spoken with Commissioner McCarty and expressed the intent of the Planning Forum to discuss this issue. Vice Mayor Monroe requested information CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/22/93 PAGE 8 re: if the June 30th date was cast in stone, due to possible funding. Vice Mayor Monroe stated Commissioner McCarty did show an interest in the questions being raised. Vice Mayor Monroe stated she would again raise these questions at the FAU Task Force meeting on Monday. Councilwoman Furtado reported Margaret Walton, Principal of Palm Beach Gardens Community High School, would be addressing the School Board next Wednesday re: the existing problems at the school. Councilwoman Furtado felt the Council should support positive changes and requested the Council authorize Vice Mayor Monroe to sign a letter in support of Ms. Walton's proposals. The Acting City Manager stated she would be meeting with Ms. Walton on Friday to acquire further information. There was a consensus of the Council authorizing staff to prepare a letter in support of Ms. Walton's proposal for her to hand carry to the School Board meeting. COUNCILMAN CLARK In response to Councilman Clark, Councilwoman Furtado stated Sam Carsillo had fallen and broken his thigh bone, however, was doing fine. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 P.M. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING, 4/22/93 PAGE 9 APPROVAL ✓ �c�:_� �� �f7'SCRO VICE MAYOR MONROE A M. RIEF DEPUTY CITY CLERK COUNCILMAN JABLIN _ l COUNCILWOMAN FURTADO Y COUNCILMAN CLARK