CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE

COMMISSION MEETING

FEBRUARY 10, 2009

REGULAR MEETING –5:30 p.m.

MINUTES

The North Lauderdale City Commission met on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at the Municipal Complex. The meeting convened at 5:35 p.m.

1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE –Vice Mayor Cangemi gave the invocation.

2. ROLL CALL – All present

Mayor Jack Brady

Vice Mayor John R. Cangemi

Commissioner Gary Frankel

Commissioner Rich Moyle

Commissioner David G. Hilton

City Manager Richard D. Sala

City Attorney Samuel S. Goren

Interim City Clerk Patricia Vancheri

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

a. November 29, 2007 – Commissioner Frankel moved to approve the minutes as submitted. Seconded by Vice Mayor Cangemi. All in favor.

b. January 27, 2009 - Commissioner Frankel moved to approve the minutes as submitted. Seconded by Vice Mayor Cangemi. All in favor.

4. PRESENTATIONS - None

5. PUBLIC DISCUSSION

Luis Davila – SW 77 Avenue, North Lauderdale – Mr. Davila addressed the Commission and said he has been a North Lauderdale resident for 11 years. He voiced concerns about the garbage service having only one man picking up the garbage. Also, Mr. Davila asked why we do not have a post office in North Lauderdale. Mayor Brady advised that BizWay on McNab and 81^st is a full service post office. Vice Mayor Cangemi explained that it is an annex of the US Postal Service.

Bruce Tumin – Hampton Boulevard, North Lauderdale – Mr. Tumin voiced concerns about kids playing football in the streets and damaging private property. Mr. Tumin referred to FS 316.2045 which states that roads should be free from obstructions and said that would be the kids. He said he was unhappy with the response from BSO that their road is private and that the law was not being enforced. Mr. Tumin said they are not a gated community, therefore their road is public and the law should be enforced. He indicated that he spoke to the Police Chief about the incident and also, mentioned an incident in which BSO investigated kids with a handgun at the pool. Mr. Tumin had complaints about BSO and said the Commission should look into them. He also asked about the cost of the Wyland Wall project.

Ian Sargent – SW 19 St, Ft. Lauderdale – Mr. Sargent addressed the Commission to inform them of some of the issues which may be affecting the Union membership. One issue being reserve firefighters. Mr. Sargent said the City hired reserve firefighters to fill in for overtime and said it is excessive. He said the Union agrees that it needs to be addressed, but disagrees that reserve firefighters is the solution. Mr. Sargent said the Union has brought forward some ideas on how to curb the overtime. His concerns are safety and having firefighters on the job with no experience of the City and its monthly and weekly fire drills. Mr. Sargent also spoke about the open and competitive driver/engineer position posting. He said this never happened in the City before and this decision affects the morale of the veterans and seasoned firefighter/medics that have been grooming for such a position, and said this does not help the turnover situation and new hires question if they have a future here. Mr. Sargent asked the Commission to consider these issues. Attorney Goren said these are issues that are controlled by a different process and it would be appropriate to defer conversation on the record to the City Manager.

Allan Gopie – SW 5 Street, North Lauderdale – Mr. Gopie gave a Power Point presentation for a company he represents called GreenDoggieBags.com. He said they are a new startup company focused on delivering biodegradable bags to community organizations, local and state governments and non-profit organizations, in a joint venture with PetMD.com, and that they wish to donate the bags to the City for the dog park at no cost to the City to encourage a more green community since the bags degrade in 45-90 days. Mr. Gopie said that he would solicit sponsors for the bags. Commissioners voiced that it is a good idea. City Attorney Goren said that although this is a good issue, the City will have to look into how the service is applied, as the code and charter must be followed, because even though the service may be offered for free, there may be other matters that require attention. He said he respects that the presentation was made, but that Staff will look into the matter and report back. Mr. Sala said he would have to look at the contingencies regarding advertising as well.

6. ORDINANCES SECOND READING

a. ORDINANCE – RE-DISTRICTING

Commissioner Hilton moved to read. Seconded by Commissioner Frankel.

Attorney read:

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, PROVIDING FOR THE RE-CREATION AND RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES FOR FOUR (4) ELECTION DISTRICTS IN THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 3.2 OF THE CITY CHARTER; PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF ORDINANCE NO. 04-06-1118; PROVIDING FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE CITY COMMISSION; PROVIDING FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF REVISED ELECTION DISTRICTS TO BE EFFECTIVE FOR THE ELECTIONS TO BE HELD IN THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA COMMENCING AT THE GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION IN NOVEMBER, 2009, AND THEREAFTER; PROVIDING A FORM OF REQUEST TO THE SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS OF BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO IMPLEMENT THE REVISED PLAN ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO THIS RE-DISTRICTING ORDINANCE AND TO CREATE FUNCTIONAL DISTRICTS CONSISTENT WITH THE IDENTIFICATION OF GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES FOR ELECTION DISTRICTS; PROVIDING FOR THE ATTACHMENT OF ELECTION DISTRICT MAPS, CHARTS AND STREET ADDRESS DESCRIPTIONS, WHICH SHALL BE ATTACHED TO AND MADE A PART OF THIS ORDINANCE; PROVIDING FOR AUTHORIZATION AND DIRECTION TO THE CITY MANAGER TO IMPLEMENT THE TERMS, CONDITIONS AND PROVISIONS OF THIS ORDINANCE TO BE EFFECTIVE FOR THE NEXT ENSUING GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION OF NOVEMBER 2009; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

Ronald Schultz, PhD. provided a copy of his Consultant Report on Revised City Commission Districts. Attorney Goren said Dr. Schultz will describe and define what was concluded at the last public meeting. Further he said tonight’s public meeting will be effectuated as required by the charter and the decision made will be implemented with the Supervisor of Elections to ensure the public is aware of the new districts.

Dr. Schultz said the districts were developed using data starting with the 2000 census, upgraded with the City’s permits and occupied housing units built since the census, and verified against the Broward County Property Appraiser’ NAL file (name/address/legal). Dr. Schultz said he developed four alternatives which were previously reviewed by the Commission and Alternative II was adopted.

Public hearing opened. Bruce Tumin commented negatively on the City changing districts and asked if it was changed on principal or for politics. Attorney Goren answered that the Charter requires a four year re-districting as a matter of law in the City, and requires the City to look at the impaction of the districts, the compatibility of the districts and the population of the districts and all other manner of things required, which Dr. Schultz has performed, in order to recreate the districts. Mr. Goren said several years ago the Commission submitted a voter referendum with issue to changing the districts, as well as having November elections. He said we are well in time for the November elections and Dr. Schultz was engaged as a matter of law to comply with the City’s Charter. Mayor Brady asked Dr. Schultz if he had any contact with the Commissioners on this and Dr. Schultz responded that he had complete independence. Public hearing closed.

Commissioner Frankel made a motion to approve. Vice Mayor Cangemi seconded. Clerk polled Commission. All yes.

ORDINANCE NO. 09-02-1217 PASSED AND ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY

7. CONSENT AGENDA

Mayor Brady pulled Item 7(b) from the consent agenda. He also commended Chief Cavallo and Assistant City Manager on Item 7(c). Commissioner Frankel moved to read remainder of consent agenda. Seconded by Vice Mayor Cangemi.

Attorney read:

a. RESOLUTION – Agreement with Rides Vendor for 2009 North Lauderdale Days

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO AN ACCEPTABLE AGREEMENT WITH RIDES, SLIDES AND GAMES, INC. FOR 2009 NORTH LAUDERDALE DAY RIDES AND GAMES AND, PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

RESOLUTION NO. 09-02-5403

c. RESOLUTION – School Crossing Guard Service Agreement with Action Labor and Staffing Connection

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO THE ATTACHED SERVICE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE AND ACTION LABOR & STAFFING CONNECTION, FOR PROVISION OF IT’S SCHOOL CROSSING GUARD SERVICES AND; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

RESOLUTION NO. 09-02-5405

CONSENT AGENDA APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY

8. OTHER BUSINESS

a. Boxing/Mixed Martial Arts Event at City’s Gymnasium

Commissioner Frankel moved to read. Seconded by Vice Mayor Cangemi.

Attorney read:

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE USE OF THE CITY GYMNASIUM AND CITY’S SPONSORSHIP WITH SQUARE RING PRODUCTIONS FOR A BOXING AND MIXED MARTIAL ARTS EVENT ON SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2009 AND, PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

Mike Sargis, Parks and Recreation Director, commented that he was approached in January by a representative of Square Ring Productions, which is a boxing production company owned by the boxer, Roy Jones, Jr., who is a championship fighter on a few different levels. He said they do small boxing events to highlight up and coming talent and they would like to use our gym. Mr. Sargis said they met with the City Manager and the Police Chief; laid out a series of conditions; payments the vendor would be responsible for and insurance. He said with the exception of providing the gym, some deputies, a few Parks and Recreation staff and tables and chairs, everything else will be covered by the vendor, and the conditions are set forth in the backup memo. Mr. Sargis said the event will run from 7:30-10:30 pm and there will be VIP and general admission seating. The vendor will pay for the deputies and staff, and will make a donation of $2,000.00. Also, he said there will be beer available but sales will cease one hour before the event ends. Mr. Sargis also said that parking arrangements are being made with Riverside Christian and they will use the City sites and Fusco Park. The vendor’s security will be in touch with Chief Cavallo to lay out a security plan. Mr. Sargis said if the vendor does not meet the goals and deadlines by March 6^th, the event will be cancelled. Further, he advised that Square Ring Productions has agreed to all the conditions.

Commissioner Frankel made a motion to approve. Seconded by Vice Mayor Cangemi. Mayor Brady said regarding the parking, the vendor has met with Pastor Brookins and he agreed. Mr. Sargis said the vendor will provide a parking plan. No further Commission discussion. Clerk polled Commission. All yes.

RESOLUTION NO. 09-02-5406 PASSED AND APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY

9. REPORTS

a. Community Shuttle Program Fare Policy – Broward County Transit

Mike Sargis reported that last budget year, one City Shuttle bus was cut out and only one bus was running. He said the County is looking for ways to keep the money for the Shuttle systems as they can no longer afford it, and are going to try to increase the ridership requirements. The West bus was cut out due to not meeting the numbers, and Mr. Sargis said the ridership requirement might put the East Route in jeopardy. He said the County has met with all the operators in the cities and have laid out three options for how the County can make benefit from this. The first option is to set a fare for the Shuttles and take a portion of it. Mr. Sargis said right now we charge $.25 and the County gets none. The second option is that they are looking at reducing the $20 the County pays the City per operating hour, to possibly $10 or $15 per hour, and the City would have to pick up the difference. Mr. Sargis said this would be a huge impact on the City to continue to run the program. The third option would be to sell advertising for the busses and the County would come up with a policy and plan for the advertisements. Mr. Sargis said further that right now we don’t know if our Shuttle will be funded next year because our numbers will be under the limit if they go to double digit numbers. He said we do need to report back to the County letting them know what the City favors as the best of the three options. Mr. Hilton asked if we would have any say in the advertising and Mr. Sargis replied that it is early on in the process, but we may be able to build into an agreement some language regarding advertisements. Commissioner Moyle questioned what would be objectionable advertising. Mr. Sargis and Mr. Sala mentioned some of the questionable products or pictures and said it is a difficult subject and that we could hire a marketing company for advertising, but that they did not have much luck in getting companies to advertise in the past. Mr. Sargis said the advertising option would be the least financial impact if we could sell advertising. Commissioner Hilton commented that he thought if the fare would change, the ridership would drop even more, and if you cut what the County pays us we would need to come up with the remainder of the money through advertising or some other means and that the advertising would be the least objectionable if we could put some restrictions on it. Mr. Sargis said he just wanted feedback from the Commission at this point and will continue to attend future meetings and will report back.

b. Tamarac Chamber of Commerce Networking Event

Tammy Reed-Holguin, Community Development Director, provided a flyer to the Commission which was produced by the Tamarac Chamber of Commerce, with North Lauderdale’s input. She indicated that the Tamarac Chamber of Commerce approached North Lauderdale with an opportunity to join them in partnering together to help businesses. She said the Neighborhood Improvement Coordinator, Kevin Pierson, has been working closely with them to bring together the details to facilitate the event scheduled for Thursday, February 26^th, 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., hosted at Family Central in North Lauderdale. Ms. Reed-Holguin indicated that they wanted to get the word out to the North Lauderdale businesses, inviting them to join the Tamarac Chamber of Commerce to take advantage of different programs that they have to offer to assist our businesses as well as theirs.

10. COMMISSION COMMENTS

Commissioner Frankel advised that a request was received from the Boys and Girls Club to waive a bill in the amount of $760.00 for eight false alarm fees.

Commissioner Frankel made a motion to waive the fees, with the requirement that the Boys and Girls Club fix the problem.

City Manager Sala commented that last year they asked to have the fees waived, and the Commission agreed that it would be the last time we would do it and that he is concerned that they accumulate these fees over the year. He said this has not been budgeted for and asked what fund the money would come from. Mr. Sala said the Police Chief went to the Boys and Girls Club and did a report and recommended changes and now they’ve come back with a bill twice the amount. He said this will continue to happen if the Commission continues to approve waiving the fees. Mayor Brady said they have a motion detector setting and said they can change their alarm system. He said if they do approve waiving the fees, the Boys and Girls Club cannot come back again with this request. Vice Mayor Cangemi asked if all these were false alarms and Police Chief Cavallo replied yes. Commissioner Hilton commented that last year they were told to fix the alarm system. Commissioner Moyle added that last year he recommended that they change to glass break protectors instead of motion detectors and suggested taking this money and paying it toward glass break protectors so that there are no more false alarms. Mr. Sala suggested that rather than waiving the fees again, the Boys and Girls Club should correct the system and once corrected the City would reimburse the fees as payment toward the work that they had done. Finance Director, Steven Chapman, suggested this be contingent upon receiving a copy of an invoice showing they actually had the work done and the problem corrected.

Commissioner Frankel made an amended motion to reimburse the Boys and Girls Club up to $800.00 contingent upon receipt of an invoice of proof of improvements to their alarm system. Mayor Brady passed the gavel and seconded the motion. Clerk called the question:

Vice Mayor Cangemi No

Commissioner Moyle Yes

Commissioner Hilton No

Commissioner Frankel Yes

Mayor Brady Yes

MOTION PASSED ON A 3-2 VOTE

Vice Mayor Cangemi commented on the Code for chickens and farm animals. He said he is getting a lot of complaints in his area about chickens being raised and he said that type of activity cannot go on in the City. City Attorney Goren said it is a violation of the Code to have a farm operation in the City and cannot have an operation for consumption or sale and that it is illegal to have certain types of farm animals which are not domesticated, including roosters, birds or fowl, as defined in the Code. Commissioner Moyle said that he had this problem in his district several years ago. City Manager Sala said that Code Enforcement will check into the situation.

11. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS

a. Events Reminder – City Manager Sala reiterated the following event schedule and said he looks forward to seeing the Commission at these events:

· 2009 Youth Soccer Awards – Saturday, February 14^th -10:00 am at Jack Brady Sports Complex – Field #3

· Shred-A-Thon – Saturday, February 28^th – 9:00 – Noon – City Hall

· Employee Appreciation Day - Saturday, February 28^th - 11am – 4pm (Kickball games between 1pm – 4pm)

12. CITY ATTORNEY COMMENTS

a. Broward County Ordinance – Sale of Alcoholic Beverages

Attorney Goren examined the proposed Broward County Ordinance and said it is a unique ordinance that seemingly restricts persons under 21 years of age from entering an establishment that sells alcoholic beverages. Mr. Goren addressed provisions of the proposed ordinance which were outlined in his backup memorandum, as well as exemptions. He also said that these provisions create a challenge for police and the ordinance would be difficult to enforce and may impact the rights of individuals to be in a place lawfully. Mr. Goren said the ordinance came from the United Way. Further he said this is not a land development, platting or environmental issue which could be controlled by Broward County, and in the event that Broward County adopted such an ordinance, the City could adopt an ordinance of its own rejecting this ordinance. Also, Mr. Goren advised that the item was scheduled to be heard and would know later what came of it. He said there was a lot of objection from other cities and the Broward League raised some concerns because it would place a great strain on men and women in uniform to enforce this code.

b. Traffic Magistrate Update

Mr. Goren advised that recently he, on behalf of the League of Cities, BSO and Chief Judges’ offices met and special legislation action was taken this past month and there was a specific provision in the bill that raised traffic fines and other types of infractions. He said in that legislation which he believes has become law, there was a line item for traffic magistrates statewide which created the obligation to fund this by the legislature on a re-occurring basis. Also, a trust fund was established for traffic fines and forfeitures which could be rated by the legislature to make the budget balance. Mr. Goren stated that the good news is that there has been recognition in Tallahassee that the impact of traffic magistrates is very important, and each year it will be funded unless they repeal that section of the statute.

c. Shade Session for Commission – Sunshine Laws

Mr. Goren advised that Weston has proposed a bill, sponsored by Senator Rich, which is a unique bill and good for local government. He stated that the bill allows the City Manager, City Attorney, as well as the Risk Manager of the governmental agency, to have another qualified person having knowledge of the subject litigation, to be present in the course of a shade session. Mr. Goren recommended the Commission’s support of this proposed bill.

d. Honest Services Act

Mr. Goren updated on the Honest Services Act and said it is becoming very grounded in South Florida, and stated it relates to decision making by public officials with a secret motive. Senator Wise is seeking to amend Chapter 112, the statute governing ethics for public employees and public officials, including local government attorneys, stating that under the jurisdiction of a Commission, those people may not cause or commit a malfeasance, misfeasance or non-feasance in office and any violations of law while conducting the duties of office, between the public duties and private interests of the public officer, employee or attorney, is a breach of public trust as defined by State statute. Mr. Goren said if this gets passed into law, any secret decision being made by any public official, which is adverse to the public’s interest, is actionable under Chapter 112 of the ethics code.

13. ADJOURNMENT – There being no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 6:49 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Patricia Vancheri

Interim City Clerk