CITY OF NORTH
LAUDERDALE
COMMISSION MEETING
OCTOBER 27, 2009
MINUTES
The North Lauderdale City Commission met on Tuesday, October 27, 2009, at the Municipal Complex. The meeting convened at 7:00 p.m.
1. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – Vice Mayor Cangemi gave the invocation.
2.
ROLL CALL- Clerk called roll. All present.
Mayor
Vice Mayor
Commissioner Gary
Frankel
Commissioner Rich Moyle
Commissioner David G.
Hilton
City Manager Ambreen
Bhatty
City Attorney Samuel S.
Goren Jacob Horowitz
City Clerk Patricia
Vancheri
3.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a.
April 14, 2009 – Commissioner Frankel moved to approve minutes as submitted. Seconded by Vice Mayor Cangemi. Minutes were approved unanimously.
4.
PRESENTATIONS
a.
Lt. Sileo Recognition and Deployment Farewell – Chief Cavallo advised the Commission that
Lt. Ed Sileo would be leaving the district for some time. Lt. Sileo is a member of the Air Force
Reserves and is getting deployed to Iraq. Lt. Sileo is a Master Sergeant in the
Military Police Unit, and this will be his sixth time serving overseas and will
be deployed this time for possibly up to 8 months. Chief Cavallo commended Lt. Sileo on his
service as an executive officer in the past three years in the district
operations on a daily basis and said he is proud of his work and he will be
extremely missed, and is proud of his service to the Country and prayed for his
safe return in the Summer of 2010. Chief
Cavallo wanted to publicly thank Lt. Sileo for the work he has done in this
district. Lt. Sileo thanked everyone for
the support given to our district and said that Chief Cavallo has been a
fantastic mentor. Also, he commended Lt.
Will Jackson for helping him when he came back to road patrol.
5.
PROCLAMATIONS
a.
Village United Methodist Church – “Friends and
Family Day” – City Clerk read the
Proclamation and Mayor Brady presented it to Reverend Kartwe-Bradley, who said
with heartfelt gratitude to the City that they appreciate all the work that the
City does.
6.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION
Micheal Brown – Mr. Brown stated that he submitted a proposal
for the use of the school facility and hopes to speak to the Commission again
on the subject at another time.
7.
OTHER BUSINESS
a.
RESOLUTION - U.S. Soccer Foundation Grant Program
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, AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO TAKE ALL STEPS NECESSARY
TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR A U.S. SOCCER FOUNDATION GRANT IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO
EXCEED $100,000 TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO RE-SOD TWO SOCCER FIELDS AT HIGHLAND
PARK; PROVIDING FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS WITH REGARD TO THE BENEFITS TO BE
DERIVED BY ACCEPTING SUCH GRANT FUNDS; PROVIDING
FOR CONFLICTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Mike
Sargis, Parks and Recreation Director, said the item before the Commission
tonight is a grant which requires no City match from the US Soccer Foundation
and the grant maximum is $100,000.00 and we are applying for the full grant to
resurface both soccer fields at Highland Park.
Mr. Sargis said the work will begin at the conclusion of the current
program and they are looking to do the work in April, May and June to get it
ready for the next soccer year. Mr.
Sargis said the total cost of the project is estimated to be about $115 to
$120,000 for some irrigation work and fence repairs. The grant will pay the majority of
$100,000.00 with no match from the City and the remaining money will come from
the Parks and Recreation general fund budget, and the irrigation work and fence
work was already budgeted to be done.
Mr. Sargis stated that if we are able to get this grant, it would be a
huge savings to the general fund budget next year.
Commissioner Frankel moved to
approve. Seconded by Commissioner
Hilton. No Commission discussion. Clerk polled Commission. All yes.
RESOLUTION NO. 09-10-5502
PASSED AND APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY
b.
RESOLUTION – 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Vaccine for Firefighter/Paramedics
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 THE AGREEMENTS AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER AND OTHER
APPROPRIATE CITY OFFICIALS, INCLUDING THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR, TO EXECUTE
MEMORANDA OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE BROWARD COUNTY HEALTH
DEPARTMENT AND THE STATE OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PROVIDING FOR THE H1N1
VACCINATION PROGRAM; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; PROVIDING FORSEVERABILITY; AND
PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Chief Kevin Bowman said this item is basically to allow the City Manager and the Medical Director to sign an agreement between the City and the Broward County Health Department which will allow the Fire Department to give the Paramedics the H1N1 vaccine. He said they are anticipating that the paramedics will be treating people exposed to the virus on a daily basis, so the paramedics should have the vaccine. He indicated that there would be no cost to the City, the Health Department will provide the vaccines and supplies and the paperwork would be done in-house at staff cost.
Commissioner Frankel moved to approve.
Seconded by Vice Mayor Cangemi.
Mr. Brown from the public commented on this issue and said that he is the President of the Comprehensive Care Unit of the Broward Childrens Center, which is a unit of 35 beds of hospitalized children that are ventilated and deeply fragile. Mr. Brown said at present the H1N1 vaccine is barely available and he appreciates what the firefighters are doing because they are going to be exposed, but what he would like to make sure is that they recognize there is also other units that the H1N1 vaccine needs to go to and it may not be readily available.
No Commission discussion. Clerk
polled Commission. All yes.
RESOLUTION NO. 09-10-5503
PASSED AND APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY
c. WALK
ON ITEM – ORDINANCE – Second Reading – 200Year End Budget Amendment
Commissioner Frankel moved to read.
Seconded by Vice Mayor Cangemi.
Attorney read:
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 08-09-1213 BY WHICH THE CITY COMMISSION DID ADOPT THE BUDGET OF THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE FOR THE 2008/2009 FISCAL YEAR, TO PROVIDE FOR THE RECOGNITION OF THE RECEIPT OF NET INCREASED REVENUES; DESIGNATING THE AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURE FOR THE NET INCREASED REVENUES AS PROVIDED HEREIN; DESIGNATING THE AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES FOR APPROPRIATED FUND BALANCE IN THE VEHICLE MAINTENANCE FUND; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS, SEVERABILITY, AND, PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Steven Chapman, Finance Director, said this item is before the Commission
for second reading of the budget amendments.
He stated this was basically some house cleaning items to finish the
2009-2010 FY budget and there were a number of revenues that were short and
some that were over and there have been no changes since the first reading.
Commissioner Frankel moved to
approve. Seconded by Vice Mayor
Cangemi. No Commission discussion. Clerk polled Commission. All yes.
ORDINANCE NO. 09-10-1227 PASSED AND ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY
8.
REPORTS
a.
Update on City
Housing Rehabilitation Program –
Tammy Reed-Holguin, Community Development Director, gave the Commission an overview and update on the Housing Rehabilitation and Acquisition Programs currently operated by the City. She stated that there are currently 5 programs operating which is a first for the City to have so many programs operating at one time. Ms. Reed-Holguin said the programs include the Community Development Block Grant Program Year 34, which is a first time home buyer program; the Disaster Recovery Initiative Round 1, which includes rehabilitation of storm damaged homes; the Disaster Recovery Initiative Round 2, which is rehabilitation and hardening of damaged homes. She said they just began Year 35 CDBG program and this year they will be doing a rehabilitation program instead of first time homebuyer, and lastly is the Neighborhood Stabilization Program which provides funding for purchase assistance and rehabilitation of foreclosed properties. Ms. Reed Holguin provided a power point presentation and gave background on each program. Mary Dunning and Kim Kay Liakos, who are the consultants who work with the Community Development Department on the disaster recovery programs were present. They addressed the Commission, showed photographs and gave an update. They said it has been a very busy process, with a lot of applicants. She stated that the most important criteria is that applicants are current with their mortgage. Ms. Liakos said they have expended approximately $290,000.00 so far and have enough money left to help approximately 12 more people with Round 1. She said with Round 2 they have encumbered or expended about $510,000.00 and they have enough money to help about 13 more people, but there is a waiting list of 40 people. Ms. Liakos indicated that the residents who call are so in need and they can not fix everything that is in need. She showed some pictures of some of the needy homes and some of the repairs and indicated that the recipients are very grateful for this assistance. Tammy Reed Holguin indicated that they are not taking any more applicants for the DRI Round 2 because there is a waiting list, but they are taking applications for Round 1, because we still have money to expend for Hurricane Wilma damage. Ms. Reed-Holguin commented that the Neighborhood Stabilization Program has approximately 1.9 million dollars to establish financing mechanisms to purchase and redevelop foreclosed residential properties. She indicated that that program started on August 6th and will run through August 6th of next year. Further, she said they anticipate to be able to help at least 25 people who would like to purchase homes that are in foreclosure and the assistance will provide up to $35,000.00 for purchase assistance based on GAP financing and can provide up to $20,000.00 for rehabilitation assistance on these homes. They are currently addressing a waiting list since it is taking a while to get the contract and the funding from the County. Ms. Reed-Holguin said they are currently working on an agreement with Habitat for Humanity and it will provide approximately $500,000 for the same time frame to address a minimum of 4 households of families that have very low income. She said the NSP funds can assist people who do not exceed 20% of the area median in income. The Habitat for Humanity Program can address only people whose income does not exceed 50% of the median income, and is also based on family size. Ms. Reed-Holguin reported on the status of foreclosed properties and said that they have registered 364 foreclosed properties since July of 2008, based on the Ordinance which was passed requiring the banks who owned the properties to register with the City. She said this has helped in knowing who to contact when there are property maintenance issues. Further, 45 of the registered properties have been sold and have owner occupants in them. Currently they have 135 single family homes on the multiple listing and another 260 that have expired listings, but those may still be for sale, and the bank has an option to bundle them for auction or to list them again. There are 196 condominiums and townhomes, with another 292 expired listings, and there are 18 income properties which are probably multifamily properties. There are another 19 properties with expired listings. Ms. Reed-Holguin said there is one commercial property listed and one commercial property whose listing has expired. She said if you look back over the last year, the number of properties sold escalated during the summer months, but we are still up 129% of what they had last September, which is a good sign that things are starting to turn around. The number of for sale properties has gone down, which could be a result of expired listings. She said we are 36% below the number of properties that were for sale last September. Ms. Reed-Holguin further stated that the median sale price on a home in September of 2008 was $150,000.00 and this September is about $107,000.00.
b.
Update on
First Weekend of Haunted Hamptons –
Mike Sargis, Parks and Recreation Director, reported that for the first
time they will have Haunted Hamptons for two weekends and the first weekend
they had a little over 1,500 people, with no incidents on either night. There were a lot of positive comments from
the public about the event. He said this
is a team effort, with support from the Sheriff’s office; the Fire Department;
the help of the Community Development Department staff and Public Works. Mr. Sargis said they did everything they
could to reduce costs this year and have spent less this year than in the
past. He said they toned it down this
year, without a lot of modern stuff, but still had positive comments and they
are looking forward to another great weekend coming up.
9.
COMMISSION COMMENTS
a.
Discussion and Motion to re-schedule Commission meeting
set for Tuesday, November 17 to Monday, November 16, at 5:30 p.m.,
to allow for Commission travel to Florida League of Cities Legislative
Conference in Orlando.
Commissioner Moyle made a
motion to reschedule. Seconded by
Commissioner Hilton. All yes.
b.
Discussion and possible motion to direct City
Administration to review the Water and Sewer Rate Structure.
Vice Mayor Cangemi wanted to review the water and sewer rate
structure. Mayor Brady agreed and said
he would like to see if we could revert back to the old rate to give grace
period in these tough times. Commissioner
Frankel said maybe for six months, because we are in a recession and maybe we
could postpone it until next year.
Commissioner Moyle commented that the Finance Director informed them
that the amount of money that we collected as a result of the increase to do
rehabilitation was taken by the County for the sewage treatment facility, so we
would be back at square one and not be able to rehabilitate the infrastructure,
which concerns him. He said he understands
that times are tough, water is not cheap, it takes money to manufacture; sewage
treatment is almost twice what the water is, but we have to pass that cost on
to the residents which is a normal function of life to have water and sewer and
he is concerned that we may end up getting ourselves into a jam that would be
difficult to get out of. Commissioner
Moyle further commented that a lot of people complain about the water and sewer
but there are other costs involved as well as garbage, but water is essential
to life and should be first and foremost in anyone’s budget other than
food. He said if we don’t start working
on the infrastructure, we could be heading for trouble. Vice Mayor Cangemi said he would still like
to review the water and sewer rate structure.
City Manager Bhatty said what we can do in the upcoming months is to
take a look at the rate structure, keeping in mind the factors that
Commissioner Moyle commented on, which are key factors and do a financial
analysis in the month of December, because according to the Ordinance that was
adopted, the rates actually do increase again in January. She said they will do an analysis and come
back with a report as to where we stand with the rate study. Further, she said we will have to keep in
mind the costs that the County increased which took away most of our increase,
and keep in mind the aging infrastructure, which we are looking to starting
improvements to the water plant in the next few months. Mayor Brady commented that he just wants to
give the residents a break. Commissioner
Hilton said he doesn’t have a problem with doing a review and coming back with
options. Commissioner Frankel commented
that he would like to review it with the possibility of adjusting the
rates.
Commissioner Frankel made a
motion to review the rate structure.
Vice Mayor Cangemi seconded the motion.
Clerk polled Commission. All yes.
c.
Discussion and possible motion to direct City
Administration to include appropriate language on the Utility Billing Statement
regarding past due date and late payment fee.
Mayor Brady commented that a lot of people are confused on the due date
and late payment charge. Steve Chapman,
Finance Director, read the language on the back of the bill, which states
“billing, late fee, service disconnection and tampering bills for utility
services are rendered once per month and are due when rendered and past due 15
days subsequent to the billing date”.
So, Mr. Chapman explained, if the billing date is on the 1st,
the bill is past due on the 16th, which is 15 days grace
period. He said if payment has not been
received by the due date, which would be the 15th, a past due notice
and a late payment fee of $15.00 will be applied to the customer’s subsequent
monthly bill. If past due payment is not
received during regular business hours on the 14th day following the
past due notice, which is the next month – day 44, then utility services will
be disconnected. Mr. Chapman said they
can look at the bill to see if they could make it simpler, but it is all right
there. He said maybe we can add a past
due date as well as a due date to make it more clear. Mr. Chapman said he will check with US Water
to see when the mailings go out to see if there could be an adjustment to make
the grace period 15 days.
Vice Mayor Cangemi motioned to
direct City Administration to look into the issue. Commissioner Hilton seconded. All in favor.
10.
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS
City Manager Bhatty commented that a few months ago the Commission
adopted a Resolution authorizing City staff to submit a local bill and a
general bill pertaining to the law enforcement assessment program we are trying
to pursue. She stated that the City
staff worked with the City Attorney’s office and the lobbyist and they did
prepare the proper documentation for the filing of the local bill which was
submitted to the local delegation on October 22, and Representative Ari Porth agreed
to be our sponsor, for which we are thankful.
She said in the upcoming months there will be some meetings at the local
Broward Delegation office to discuss this item and maybe the Commission could
go and show their support of this issue and may also reach out to the local
delegation members to seek their support.
Ms. Bhatty said as for the general bill, we are preparing a bill which
will be submitted in January and will continue to pursue both bills. Further Ms. Bhatty said that she will be
discussing this at the next BCCMA meeting and that the BCCMA said they would be
making this one of their priorities as well.
Ms. Bhatty also commented that based on the Commission’s direction at the
last meeting, she had a very positive and productive meeting with Ericks
Consultants and they discussed a number of key issues and projects that the
City would like their help on with lobbying services, including the law
enforcement assessment. She said she is
working with the City Attorney’s office to negotiate and finalize a contract
and will place it on the agenda for approval, hopefully by next meeting.
Ms. Bhatty advised that she was recently approached by the Fort
Lauderdale Police Department with a request to use our school gym for a couple
of hours in the month of November to hold a special canine unit training, and
some of the other cities will be participating.
11.
CITY ATTORNEY COMMENTS
a.
ORDINANCE – First Reading – Taking Office
after an Election
Commissioner Frankel moved to read. Seconded by Commissioner Hilton.
Attorney read:
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF NORTH LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 18 OF THE CITY’S CODE OF ORDINANCES, ENTITLED “ELECTIONS”; SPECIFICALLY AMENDING SECTION 18-2 ENTITLED “DAY UPON WHICH NEWLY ELECTED MUNICIPAL OFFICERS TO TAKE OFFICE”; PROVIDING FOR NEWLY ELECTED MUNICIPAL OFFICERS TO TAKE OFFICE AT THE NEXT REGULAR OR SPECIAL MEETING AFTER RECEIVING CERTIFIED ELECTION RESULTS PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 102, F.S.; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
City Attorney Horowitz said this is essentially a house keeping ordinance
which will clarify a section of the code which deals with the swearing in of
newly elected officials. He advised that
when candidates are elected, they are not formally elected to office until the
certified results are received from the Secretary of State and what this
ordinance will do is provide that the individuals will be sworn in at the next
Commission meeting immediately following receipt of the certified results.
Vice Mayor Cangemi moved to
adopt. Seconded by Commissioner
Frankel. Clerk polled Commission. All yes.
ORDINANCE PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
ON FIRST READING
12.
ADJOURNMENT – There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:01 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia Vancheri
City Clerk