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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-03-90 '-' MINUTES Of THE CITY COMMISSION MEETING -----------..-----.----------- HELD ON TUESDAY,_ JULY 3, 1990 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Dabbs called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m., Commissioner foster led in prayer, and the Mayor led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. PRESENT: Mayor Dabbs; Commissioners Johnson, Foster, Combs, and Woodson; City Attorney Rosenthal; City Manager Shapiro; City Engineer IUt Hi ties Director Shira; Director of Planning Behrens; Public Works Director Brenner; and Acting City Clerk Resnik. ABSENT: None. PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS '-' Outstanding Citizen Awards for 1989 and 1990 Commissioner Johnson explained that the Committee of Mary Ann Swickerath, City Manager Shapiro, Walt Cobb, and himself had chosen both an outstanding citizen for 1989 and for 1990. He said it was a nice way to recognize the people in the community who volunteer their time and who are an inspiration to others. Commissioner Johnson presented Curtis Richards with the award for 1990 for his determination and courage for dealing with his handicap and for showing others such a positive outlook. Commissioner Johnson read a brief history on Curtis detailing his impressive high school athletic career and the events that led up to the accident that left him paralyzed. Commissioner Johnson said Curtis continues to surprise everyone with the progress he has made physically and for his positive outlook on life, especially in helping others. Curtis thanked everyone for all their support and invited the audience to a demonstration of tennis that was taking place the upcoming weekend. Mary Ann Swickerath presented John Bateman with the 1989 Outstanding Citizen Award for his numerous civic activities and for filling in (without benefit of a salary) as Acting City Manager until the City could interview for a replacement. Former Commissioner Bateman said he was honored to receive the award and especially to be in the company of Curtis Richards. Mayor Dabbs said that Curtis Richards was an inspiration to him personally and that he is amazed that such a young man can think of others when he himself faces such adversity every day. Mayor Dabbs also recognized John Bateman for both his work as a City Commissioner and as a citizen who had labored long and tirelessly without ever seeking anything in return. Innovative Ideas Awards - Dave Gosnell and Mark Brownold Mayor Dabbs explained that the Commission first needed to approve of the funds for the two employees. Commissioner Combs moved to approve the expenditure of $640, Commissioner Johnson seconded, and approval was unanimous. ~ Mayor Dabbs presented Dave Gosnell and Mark Brownold with commemorative checks that had been enlarged for a keepsake and City Manager Shapiro awarded the two City employees with the actual checks in the amount of $320 each. City Manager ~ Page 2 City Commission Meeting Minutes July 3, 1990 Shapiro explained that the idea that Mr. Gosnell and Mr. Brownold submitted had to do with Water Plant Aerator Cleaning. He said the idea was basically to wash by chemical rather than manually and that it would result in an annual savings of $3,200. Mayor Dabbs offered his congratulations to Mr. Gosnell and Mr. Brownold. City Manager Shapiro added that $2,640 had been given out so far in the Innovative Ideas Program of which the ideas have saved the City some $13,000- $14,000. He said he was happy to see the program working and that it would benefit the employees, the City, and the general public as well. Review and Recommendations Concerning City Pension Plan - H. Lee Dehner - Christiansen, Dehner & Watts, P.A. City Manager Shapiro introduced Mr. Dehner to the Commission. Mr. Dehner said he had reviewed the current plan and would be putting together some ideas for the City in regards to different options for pension plans for police, fire, and general government employees. Mr. Dehner said he currently is working with 55- 60 municipalities throughout the state on pension plans and that he had been in this business since 1979. ~ Mr. Dehner said he would propose a plan with prOV1Slons in terms of benefits of a "medium" level and would then ask an actuary about cost for such a plan. He said from there the City needed to consider enhancing benefits, reducing costs, and how best to manage the funds. Mayor Dabbs asked if Mr. Dehner had looked at the current plan close enough to see if the City could be getting more for its dollar than is currently the case and Mr. Dehner responded that the current benefits are low and the current returns are low but that he had not studied the current plan enough to say specifics. He did say he thought the City would be able to deal with the major funding problems working with the state on state funds that are available and through working with different investment options. Commissioner Foster asked why there would be a different plan for police officers and firefighters. Mr. Dehner said there was a difference in benefit levels and funding insofar as the high risk nature of the jobs (he said due to the high risk nature, police officers and firefighters generally have better benefits because of disability concerns, etc.) and state monies available to aid in funding police and fire employees' plans. Mr. Dehner said the typical structure for the Board of Trustees would consist of five members with two of the members being department heads, two being appointees of the City Commission (residents), and a fifth member to be chosen by the other four. He added that most plans that require contributions from employees also require mandatory participation. \-.-. '-' Page 3 City Commission Meeting Minutes July 3, 1990 CONSENT AGENDA Commissioner Woodson asked to pull Item B, Acceptance and Approval of Lake Olympia, North Village, Final Plat. Commissioner Combs moved to approve the remaining items on the Consent Agenda, Commissioner Foster seconded, and the vote passed 4-1 (Commissioner Johnson was out of the room). The items approved were as follows: A. Acceptance and Approval of Minutes of Commission Meeting of June 19,1990; (Item B was pulled, see below); C. Acceptance and Approval of Revised Water & Sewer Utilities Specifications; D. Approval and Authorization to Pay Dues: East Central Florida Regional Planning Council; E. Approval and Authorization to Use Contingency Funds to Replace Planning Department Desktop Personal Computer. \...- Commissioner Woodson said he asked to pull the Lake Olympia, North Village item because he wanted to note for the record that there was still a problem with drainage from water running off the sidewalk along Silver Star Road onto First Street and that this would need to be taken care of before the City issued final acceptance of the site improvements. City Engineer Shira said the developer is in the process of resolving the problem and that when the wall and the sidewalk were originally constructed, the water was channelled over to First Street. He said they had made some modifications so that the water would now be piped into the retention pond at the corner of First Street and Silver Star Road and that the work would be completed before the City certified the site improvements. Commissioner Woodson moved to approve final acceptance of the Lake Olympia, North Village Plat with the understanding that the drainage problem would be resolved before the site improvements were given final approval, Commissioner Johnson seconded, and approval was unanimous. COMMENTS fROM CITIZENS/PUBLIC There were no comments from citizens. OTHER BUSINESS Action Upon Board of Adjustment Recommendation Regarding Case 11-3V-90: Lakendon - Request for Variance Regarding Location of Off-site Advertising Billboard on State Road 50 Director of Planning Behrens said the problem the developer was facing was that the City had required that the driveways be reduced into the site from three to one. He said the developer had contracts on the lots but that there were no provisions for signage. The developer was requesting the variance to allow the proposed hotel to be able to post a sign on State Road 50. Director of Planning Behrens said staff feels the hardship was not self-imposed by the developer since ~ it was on the City's request that the driveways be reduced in number. He said \... Page 4 City Commission Meeting Minutes July 3, 1990 the Board of Adjustment concurred and had unanimously voted to recommend approval of the variance. Director Behrens added that staff also felt there was a safety reason for permitting the sign in that location. Commissioner Woodson moved to approve the recommendation and findings of the Board of Adjustment to allow the variance, Commissioner Combs seconded, and approval was unanimous. Appointment/Reappointment of Board Members (Code Enforcement Board Member Skirvin - Term Expires June 1990; Member Imes Missed 3 Consecutive Meetings) Mayor Dabbs asked Commissioner Johnson if he had the name of the person he wanted to nominate for the Code Enforcement Board appointment. Commissioner Johnson said he did not have the name with him but that he did have someone who was interested in serving on the Code Enforcement Board. Mayor Dabbs said they would table the item until the next Commission meeting and they would formally nominate the person at that time. First Reading of Ordinances (Second Reading and Public Hearing Scheduled for July 17, 1990) '-' Ordinance No. 90-14, "relating to garbage collection; amending subsection 11- 10(B) of the Code of Ordinances; providing that either City or Franchise may bill and collect fees; providing for a franchise fee; providing for severability; providing for an effective date." City Manager Shapiro read the title and explained that this ordinance would allow a private company to bill and collect fees for garbage collection. Ordinance No. 90-15, "providing for an adjustment of the City of Ocoee Recreational Parks Facilities Impact Fees; providing for severability; providing for an effective date." City Manager Shapiro read the title and explained that the Recreational Impact Fee Ordinance was being revised in order to meet concurrency needs. He said the original intent was to revisit the ordinance on a yearly basis to make sure the fees were appropriate. City Manager Shapiro said the increase in fees would allow for several neighborhood and regional parks to get needed equipment and that Recreation Director Jim Beech and Associate Planner Lisa Claman had all the specifics for where the monies were planned for and that the Commissioners could contact either staff member for more details. \.,. Ordinance No. 90-16, "relating to the City of Ocoee Personnel Rules and Regulations; amending Appendix "c" of the Ocoee City Code by the addition of a new Section 12.09 relating to longevity pay; providing for severability; providing an effective date." City Manager Shapiro read the title and explained that this revision was being made in order to allow for longevity pay for employees that would be handled separately from the regular pay scale and merit increases. He said this action was taken by the Personnel Rules and Regulations Committee because three long- time employees had grieved the ruling that they would not receive longevity \.,. Page 5 City Commission Meeting Minutes July 3, 1990 increases because they were already at the top of their pay scales. The Commi ttee voted to recommend that the City Commission pass this ordinance reV1Slon in order to add to the Rules and Regulations that longevity pay be a separate item and not tied to where an employee was on the pay scale. STAFF REPORTS There were no further items from staff at this time. City Attorney Rosenthal wanted to explain that the letter that he and the Commissioners had received from the Florida Department of Transportation had to do with the recent Florida Supreme Court ruling that ruled unconstitutional the right-of-way reservation maps and that they saw it as a temporary taking which could lead to compensation. City Manager Shapiro said he had directed City Engineer Shira to look into whether any portions of this map would affect the City and that he would report his findings to the Commission as soon as possible. COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS '-" commissioner Combs said for the record that he did not receive a complete agenda packet and that he needed a copy of all of the ordinances. Commissioner Foster wanted to discuss the letter he had received from the Board of Adjustment regarding where to place their recommendations on the agenda. City Manager Shapiro said the Board of Adjustment recommendations could not be placed on the City Commission's Consent Agenda because they needed discussion. Commissioner Johnson mentioned the repairs needed at the railroad tracks at the crossing on Bluford/Lakewood. City Manager Shapiro said the City had already been in touch with the appropriate agency and was told that it would be taken care of in the next three weeks. Commissioner Johnson also reminded everyone that the Senior League (baseball) All-Star games started this week with the first game to be played Friday night at 7 p.m.. Commissioner Woodson thanked staff for taking care of the railroad/pavement problems and for handling the drainage problem at the Lake Olympia subdivision so quickly. Commissioner Combs said the March of Dimes "Walk America" had raised over $7,000 and thanked Police Chief Boyd and Buddy Elmore for all their efforts. ~ Commissioner Combs said he read the article in the Sentinel about the Winter Garden Housing Authority and that although Ocoee was doing a good job with Code Enforcement and cleaning up the City, he would like to see Ocoee establish a Housing Authority as well. ~ Page 6 City Commission Meeting Minutes July 3, 1990 Commissioner Combs said that City staff did a great job in getting lights at Bluford and State Road 50 and that he would also like to see lights at the intersection of Geneva and Bluford and improvements made to the intersection of Geneva and Kissimmee. He said Bowness Road was a great accomplishment but that the bottleneck experienced at the intersection of Kissimmee and Geneva needed to be dealt with. City Manager Shapiro said he was trying to take a conservative approach to these intersection improvements and was hoping that the state would pick up the cost or share in the cost for improvements on state roads. Commissioner Combs asked City Engineer Shira about the restoration of areas after water lines go in on the right-of-way and City Engineer Shira said that the policy was to restore the area to its original condition. Commission Combs asked about Christmas lights and whether the City Manager had looked into replacement costs. City Manager Shapiro said he intended to discuss the subject during the budget workshops and that if the City Commission voted to fund them, he would purchase them. \.. Commissioner Johnson asked about the possibility of getting turn lights at the intersection of McKey and Bluford. City Engineer Shira said he could look into the timing of the green phase in order to allow for additional turning time but that the geometrics of the intersection as it exists did not allow for enough room to put in a dedicated turn lane. Mayor Dabbs asked if the City could take away the parking without alienating the businesses and Commissioner Woodson said that parking area is very important to those businesses. Commissioner Combs said he had received a letter from DOT regarding this intersection and DOT's response was that there was not enough traffic to warrant a delayed turn signal. He noted however, that the DOT personnel had visited the site during a "non-peak" traffic time. Commissioner Woodson said that the City's recycling program would be officially started on Friday, July 13, at the Harbour Highlands subdivision. He thanked Public Works Director Brenner and Public Works Secretary Judy Henry for all their work in getting the program established. Mayor Dabbs said that the recycling meeting scheduled for July 12 had been cancelled. He also reminded everyone that the garbage pick up regularly scheduled for July 4th would be picked up on July 5th. \.i Commissioner Johnson mentioned to Public Works Director Brenner that he had received calls from citizens that the items in the recycling bins were not being picked up by the Sanitation Department and that people were unsure about what to do with the new bins. City Manager Shapiro said there was a note in the bins and also information on the water bills regarding the new process. Public Works Director Brenner said the department had several new employees and that although that was not an excuse for poor service, he felt that may have been one of the ~ \.- \..- Page 7 City Commission Meeting Minutes July 3, 1990 reasons for the confusion. He also said that the program does not officially begin until July 16 although he would make sure that any items put out were picked up beginning immediately. There being no further comments from Commissioners, the Mayor adjourned the meeting. ADJOURNMENT: 8:30 p.m. ATTEST: