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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-07-05 Minutes WS MINUTES OCOEE CITY COMMISSION September 7, 2005 at 6:30 P.M. COMMISSION WORKSHOP - CITY MANAGER CONTRACT I A. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the Workshop Session to order at 6:42 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of City Hall. Roll Call: Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Anderson, Commissioner Johnson, Commissioner Parker, and Commissioner Howell Also Present: City Manager Frank, City Attorney Rosenthal, and City Clerk Eikenberry E EMPLOYMENT City Attorney Rosenthal said you have the City Manager's contract before you, which is dated June 21, 2004, for a term ending September 30, 2005. Prior to that date, the City Manager, and City Commission need to mutually agree on an employment agreement, the minimum of which would be to extend the agreement beyond September 30, 2005. If an agreement is met, he will bring it back the to next Commission Meeting with any revisions agreed upon. If no agreement is reached, the severance package will become effective. City Manager Frank said he requests that he receives the same COLA and merit that all other employees have been eligible for. He also asked that the mandatory residency in Section 9C be removed so that he can commit to purchasing a property in the City when the market conditions change. He said the length of the contract is not important to him, he would be open to whatever the Commission decides is appropriate. Commissioner Johnson said he has no problem with removing or revising the clause (9C) for mandatory residency. He said he thinks he should receive the 3% merit increase, retroactive back to his year anniversary on July 12, 2005, and 2% COLA, effective October 1, 2005, that is being received by all other employees. Commissioner Anderson said he has already expressed that City Managers should live in the City; he would be more accessible to the public and able to attend more City functions. We can give him additional time to find a residence, but we should not remove the mandatory residency from the contract. He said the original employment agreement was written to go for 16 months without a COLA or merit increase. He does not think the merit increase should be retroactive. He thinks that the vehicle allowance fee should be raised because of the cost of fuel. The Commission should consider raising the vehicle allowance from $600 to $700 per month. City Attorney Rosenthal said the contract does not address any pay increase, with exception to the COLA, which occurs automatically if the contract is extended. Merit increases are subject to negotiation between the Commission and the City Manager. Commissioner Parker said she agrees with renewing the contract for one year. She also thinks he should receive the 3% merit and 2% COLA, and is not averse to making the merit increase retroactive back to July 12, 2005. She also feels that the elected officials should be living in the City, but does not City Commission Workshop September 7, 2005 care if the mandatory residency requirement is removed or revised. She said as long as he is doing a good job running the City, and remains accessible and at night and on weekends as he has in the past, she has no problem with him remaining in his home. Commissioner HoweU said he has no problem with the 3% merit and 2% COLA, and making the merit retroactive back to July 12,2005. He agrees with the one-year term of the contract. He does not feel that mandatory residency should be a requirement, because the market is rising too rapidly. He thinks that the vehicle allowance should be raised from $600 to $700, because of the rising cost of fuel. Mayor Vandergrift said he has been through three or four City Managers with all different lengths of contracts, and doesn't feel that a one-year contract represents faith in his abilities. He thinks the contract should be two-year, or one-year with an automatic one-year extension. He thinks the City Manager is doing a very good job. He would like the City Manager to live in the City and be part of the fabric of the community, but he is not going to reject the extension of his contract just for that reason. He still wants that to be the eventual goal. City Attorney Rosenthal said the Charter of the City of Ocoee states that the City Manager may reside outside of the City while employed as City Manager subject to the approval of the City Commission. The contract would need to specifically provide for the City Manager being allowed to live outside of the City. If they adopted a two-year contract, the current contract would provide for an automatic COLA increase on October 1, 2006, to the extent that the employees get one, but the merit increase would not be addressed. Commissioner Johnson asked if we can insert a clause into the two-year contract stating that the City Manager will receive whatever merit increase the employees get. City Manager Frank said it does not matter to him if it is a one-year or two-year contract, because he is committed to staying and understands that it is an "at will" position. City Attorney Rosenthal confirmed that the wishes of the Commission were to offer a 3% merit increase, retroactive to July 12, 2005; 2% COLA, effective October 1, 2005; a two-year contract with a provision stating on October I, 2006, he will receive the same COLA as the other employees; he will receive a 3% merit increase on his anniversary on July 12, 2006; the vehicle allowance will be raised from $600 to $700 per year; and the mandatory residency will be waived, but the City Manager will use his best efforts to locate a home in the City. I ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m. Attest: APPROVED: City of Ocoee ~ ,1 ~~~~ t!~ s. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor Page 2 of2