CITY OF
COMMISSION MEETING
TUESDAY, JULY 31,
2007
SPECIAL MEETING –
4:00 p.m.
MINUTES
1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – Commissioner Frankel
2.
ROLL CALL
Mayor
Vice Mayor
Commissioner Gary
Frankel
Commissioner John
Cangemi
Commissioner David
Hilton
City Manager Richard
Sala
City Attorney Samuel
Goren
Deputy Clerk Patricia Vancheri
Commissioner David Hilton was conferenced into the meeting by telephone.
3.
RFP – Hurricane Debris Removal: Discussion and possible motion to approve a
Request for Proposal for Emergency Push and Storm Debris Collection from City
Right-of-Way.
Mr. Mike Shields brought the item to the Commission and outlined the
timeline for the publication of the RFP, the procedure for the review and
ranking of the bidders and the bid opening date. After the publication, Mr. Shields said there
is normally a 30 day time period to receive bids. He said after the proposals are received, he
will bring them back to the Commission for review at the next meeting. Mr. Goren said the objective is to provide
the best framework to get reimbursement from FEMA in the event of a hurricane
situation. Mr. Sala said that there are
three vendors in place in the meantime.
After discussion, it was decided to shorten the length of the bid time
to two weeks. Upon publication of the
RFP, the proposals would be received until August 20, 2007. Mr. Shields recommended that the Commission
approve the Request for Proposal with a minimum of 3 years experience in storm
debris collection and disposal. He also
indicated that the ranking and weighting process should be categorized. The Commission discussed the criteria and
decided on the percentages for the criteria based on the worth to
qualifications and experience of the proposers.
Commissioner Frankel made a motion to approve the RFP package as follows:
·
To
provide a 15 day advertising notice period, with a special Commission meeting
scheduled soon thereafter by the Mayor for review and ranking
·
To
provide a minimum of 3 years experience
·
To
provide criteria percentages of 40% for pricing; 50% for experience and
qualifications and 10% for presentation to the Commission
Motion seconded by Commissioner Cangemi.
MOTION WAS APPROVED ON A 4-1
VOTE. MAYOR BRADY DISSENTING.
4. PUBLIC DISCUSSION - None
5.
COMMISSION COMMENTS - None
6.
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS – The following items were
walked onto the Agenda:
a.
Banking Signatories
Finance Director, Brian Raducci, recommended that Ydia Forster and
Peta-Gay Clemetson added as signatories to SunTrust Bank; State Board of
Administration and Bank of New York. Mr.
Raducci said his name will be removed from the signature authorization as of
September 30, 2007. He said a new
finance director will be added as a signatory once that decision is made.
Commissioner Cangemi made a motion to add the item to the agenda. Seconded
by Commissioner Frankel. All yes.
Vice Mayor Moyle made a motion to approve the changes in the signature
authorizations as indicated by the finance director. Seconded by Commissioner
Cangemi. All yes.
MOTIONS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
RESOLUTION NO. 07-07-5251 SunTrust
Bank
RESOLUTION NO. 07-07-5252 State
Board of Administration
RESOLUTION NO. 07-07-5253 Bank
of
b.
Report: The Palms – Code Enforcement and Utility
Billing
Mr. Sala said there are many Code Enforcement and Utility Billing issues
to address with regard to The Palms at
Ms. Tammy Reed-Holguin provided some pictures of the property maintenance
problems. She advised the Commission that this property was converted to
condominiums for individual ownership in 2005 and has had maintenance problems
since a new management company was hired.
She said the property has a history of violations and citations. They have had many conversations with the
property management and most of the time the violations have been brought into
compliance just before the timeframe is up to be able to issue a summons and
certify fines against the property. She
also said that since 2001, there have been over 100 citations issued by at least
7 different code officers. The
management company also became delinquent with All Service Refuse. Ms. Reed-Holguin said that in July, they
posted a five day notice to comply with violations on the trash and debris
situation. They did not get a response
from the property management who became uncooperative. They then posted notices on individual
units. Ms. Reed-Holguin said as of
today, they were in compliance; however she recommends going to the Code
Enforcement Board on August 22nd to adjudicate the matter based on
the history of the violations. She
recommends obtaining a “Cease and Desist Order” so that any future occurrences
can be automatically assessed a fine amount per occurrence and not be
accumulating over time and this would be a lien against the homeowners or
property owners. Also, Ms. Reed-Holguin
asked for authority to enter and abate the nuisance which would be another
Order from the Board. If that Order would
be entered, they would be able to go in and abate the nuisance and back bill
the homeowners for any costs incurred.
Mr. Brian Raducci then addressed the Commission and said in addition to
the code enforcement issues, there are two water billing accounts which are in
arrears. He said they have not been
current since November of 2006 and currently owe approximately $7,400.00 in
past due amounts, with a current portion of approximately $2,075.00 due in
about 30 days, for a total of around $9,400.00.
Mr. Raducci indicated that he and Mike Shields have had several
conversations with the property manager and on March 20th sent a
letter to the President and Treasurer of the condo association indicating that
from that point forward they had to make a good faith attempt to get caught
up. He said the City is working with
them, but would like to see payments of approximately $2,000.00 in arrears per
month, plus the current amount due. Mr.
Raducci said all of the units were posted with door hangers also. He said they have only been paying the
current month’s bill and haven’t made any attempt to pay the past due
amount. He said other than shutting off
the water, they see no other way to get them current. Mr. Shields recommended sending a notice that
their service would be disconnected within a certain amount of days if they
don’t come forward with bringing the arrears current. He is looking to get them to pay the current
balance, and an additional $3,000.00 per month, for 3 months, to get the
accounts current, or may have to disconnect their water. He said this has been going on too long and
will send a letter advising that the water may be disconnected until such time
as they attempt to bring the account current.
Commissioner Cangemi asked if it were legal to disconnect the water and
City Attorney answered that it is. Mr.
Shields said the association did approach the City recently to inquire about
putting in individual meters. He said
their board voted to do that and was trying to establish a line of credit in
order to accomplish that, but to date no one has come forward with that. Commissioner Frankel said the association may
be dysfunctional or newly formed and may not know how to handle collecting the
funds from the homeowners. He also said
he hoped the homeowners had the proper insurances for the properties. Mr. Sala said he just wanted this to be
brought to the Commission’s attention; that there is a code and a means and the
City Attorney will lead the City in what needs to be done. Mr. Goren reiterated Mr. Sala’s comments by
saying that some homeowners may not be happy with the strident measures the
City may have to take in order to remedy the situation by implementing the code
to the full extent of the law.
Commissioner Frankel suggested that City Hall be made available for a
meeting with the homeowner’s association and property owners to get them
educated about the problem and try to come up with a remedy. Mr. Goren said yes, it has always been the
City’s goal to educate the public and the facility would be available to the
extent that questions and answers could be provided to serious problems such as
this.
c. Report:
New Park Hours - Mike Sargis handed out
a memo which outlined the changes in the Park hours to reduce operating costs.
d. Wal-Mart Update - Mr. Sala updated the Commission on a phone conversation
with Mr. David Ewing, of Wal-Mart. Mr.
Ewing heads up the property real estate and new buildings department. Mr. Sala said Wal-Mart is asking the City to
issue a permit for the building and not for the out-parcels. Mr. Ewing indicated that they did not have
any tenants for the out-parcels and that they have tried everything they can
and are going to ask the contractor to walk away. Mr. Sala said that he told Mr. Ewing that he,
the City Staff and the City Commission is very disappointed since it has
already been two and a half years. He
said Wal-Mart would have to do what they need to do and the City would do what
it needs to do. Mayor Brady said he
would like Wal-Mart to come meet with the Commission and tell them in
person. Commissioner Cangemi said that
the developer’s agreement called for the out-parcels to be done first. Mr. Sala said the Commission will be updated
when Wal-Mart wants to communicate with them and maybe set up a special
meeting. Mr. Sala said the proposal from
Wal-Mart will probably include separating the out-parcels from the building so
that the building can be built independently.
7.
CITY ATTORNEY COMMENTS – Mr. Goren said that the tax reform litigation
is still in Leon County and the judge essentially dismissed the law suit,
changed the conclusion by suggesting that a writ of mandamus, to take an item
off the ballot, was denied, and the only thing pending there now is a
declaration for declaratory judgment to get the court to rule on what the
rights of the parties are. Mr. Goren
said this item will be pending for quite some time. Mr. Goren also mentioned that at the Florida
League of Cities board meeting on the 2nd of August, there will be
an item presented for consideration with regard to road closures. He said the Broward County Planning Council
has proposed a change to the Broward County Charter which would provide for an
option to local government where if a city were blocking or closing a road,
that the city who is offended by the blockage, in the context of public health
and safety, that the city could ask that the matter be abated and that the
matter go to the planning council for review.
8. ADJOURNMENT – Meeting adjourned at 5:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia Vancheri
Deputy City Clerk