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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-06-95 ~ MINUTES OF THE CITY OF OCOEE BOARD OF CITY COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MEETING HELD JUNE 6, 1995 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the regular meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the commISSIon chambers. Commissioner Foster led in prayer and Mrs. Frances Watts led in the pledge of allegiance. The roll was called and a quorum declared present. PRESENT: Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioners Foster, Glass, Gleason, and Johnson. Also present were City Manager Shapiro, City Attorney Rosenthal, Administrative Services Director Beamer (arrived at 8:20 p.m.), Recreation Director Beech, Fire Chief Strosnider, Personnel Director Psaledakis, Acting Police Chief Wilson, PPTD Supervisor Elmore, Solid Waste/Fleet Maintenance Supervisor Dees, and Acting City Clerk Green. ABSENT: None \i. PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS Presentation Mr. Larry Cappleman, President of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce, expressed his gratitude and presented a resolution by the Board of Trustees of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce extending appreciation and thanks to the elected officials, the staff and the people of Ocoee for their assistance in making the 1995 Friday's Friendly Fish Fry "one of the best ever." Rob Nordin, Executive Director of the Chamber, added his thanks. Proclamation Mayor pro tern Johnson read a proclamation in which he had proclaimed May 19, 1995 to be J. Lester Dabbs, Jr. Day in Ocoee. In formal ceremony on that date the Orange County School Board had named the Stonewall Jackson Middle School Gymnasium in his honor, and the proclamation had been presented to him at that time. Mr. Johnson noted many of Mr. Dabbs contributions to central Florida as an educator and as former Mayor and Commissioner of Ocoee. In appreciation for all that Mr. Dabbs had done for the community, Mavor Vandere:rift. seconded bv Commissioner Johnson. moved to make the proclamation a resolution of the Commission. Motion carried 5-0. CONSENT AGENDA The consent agenda consisted of items A, B, C, D, E, and F. Commissioner Gleason had a question on item E and Mayor Vandergrift had questions on items D, E and F, to which staff responded as follows: D. Do we have the camcorders on order? One purchased. one to be ordered. E. Is there period of time when auditor's contract is rotated off? Two firms submitted bids when put out to bid in 1991. Will send out to bid again after next year. Do we have a separate audit for our wastewater funds? No. audit includes the general fund and all the other funds. ~ Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting ~ June 6,1995 F. Asked if we had not purchased the radio equipment from Winter Garden. Yes. this is tower on which equipment sits. Could we not use radio station in town rather than WXXL? It was Motorola's position that the WXXL tower was needed for covera~e. A. Acceptance and Approval of Minutes of the Rel:ular Meetinl: held May 16. 1995. B. Acceptance and Authorization for Mayor and City Clerk to execute Mutual Aid Al:reement with the City of Apopka. C. Acceptance and Approval of the Proposed Distribution of the Fiscal Year 1996 Anti- Drul: Abuse Grant within Oranl:e County. D. Acceptance and Approval of the Use of $7.200 from Forfeiture Funds to Purchase Radar Units. E. Acceptance and Approval of Extension of Contract with Auditors for Fiscal Year 95- 96. F. Acceptance and Authorization for Mayor and City Clerk to execute Tower Lease Al:feement with WXXL Radio to use their tower for Police Radio Service. Mavor Vandere:rift. seconded by Commissioner Gleason. moved to aoorove the consent a2enda as oresented. Motion carried 5-0. '-' COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS/PUBLIC Senior Program (formerly Over 65 Program) Commissioner Johnson began comments on the Senior Program by reading a letter dated June 1, 1995 from Commissioner Glass to Attorney General Robert Butterworth seeking his opinion on the Constitutionality of the Over 65 Program and a message dated June 6, 1995 from Commissioner Johnson to the Citizens of Ocoee explaining his position. (Attachment Nos. 1 and 2 to these Minutes.) Mayor Vandergrift suggested forwarding Commissioner Johnson's comments to the Attorney General. A heated discussion between Commissioners Johnson and Glass ensued and was ruled out of order by the Mayor. (See Comments from Commissioners for additional comments on this issue by Commissioners Glass and Johnson.) Ms. Ann Whittle, 715 East Lakeshore Drive, and Bruni Massa, 611 East Lakeshore Drives, commented briefly about the Senior Program issue. Ms. Massa also expressed concern that Lake Prima Vista, on which she lives, was frequently referred to as Starke Lake. Mavor Vandere:rift. seconded by Commissioner Johnson. moved to formally. officially rec02nize Lake Prima Vista (formerly Deeo Lake.) Motion carried 5-0. R. P. Mohnacky, 1820 Prairie Lake Boulevard, asked if the sound system in the Commission was still under warranty? Yes. (Clerk's Note: There were ongoing problems with system during this meeting.) '--' 2 "'" Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting June 6, 1995 PUBLIC HEARINGS - None OTHER BUSINESS Equity Study Commission Report and First Reading of Ordinance. Second Reading and Public Hearing scheduled for June 20, 1995. Report from Equity Study Commission City Manager Shapiro said they had not planned to discuss the report at this time unless Commissioners had questions. Administrative Services Director Beamer, who could best answer questions about the report, had attended a meeting in Atlanta and her return had been unexpectedly delayed. Mr. Shapiro encouraged Commissioners to contact staff with any questions they might have. Questions could be answered in the public hearing on June 20th. Ordinance No. 95-18, relating to the Occupational License Reclassification and Tax Structure. City Attorney Rosenthal read the proposed ordinance by title only. Mayor Vandergrift announced the date and time of the second reading and public hearing. '-" Discussion re: Notification re: Incidents. Mr. Shapiro asked Commission to establish a formal policy so that staff may know when the elected officials should be notified about events that may occur in the City. He said he had no problem abiding by the wishes of the Commissioners, but he wanted to know when and how they want to be notified. Commissioner Gleason commented that when the chlorine leak occurred recently at one of the City's water plants and residents had to evacuate the area, he found out about it when a citizen called him to tell him it was being reported on television news. He also said that the occurrence of a sinkhole in his district earlier this year was not reported to him by City staff. He said Commissioners could be reached by phone and that providing pagers for them would not be a wise expense. Commissioner Johnson said he thought the City Manager could never please all the Commissioners. Commissioner Foster said he felt he did not need to be aware of everything that was happening, but would like to be advised about major incidents. He felt the City Manager was very capable and should be allowed to manage and should seek advice of Commission if needed. Mayor Vandergrift said communication had been a problem for a number of years and that a policy needed to be established. He read a portion of the City of Ocoee Disaster Preparedness Plan of 1990 concerning the responsibilities of the City Commission and the City Manager. He '-" 3 ~ Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting June 6, 1995 said his memo dated June 5, 1995 regarding the chlorine leak contained questions to which he would like answers. He had begun work on a "Policy of Informing the Commission," and shared his suggestions for categories for normal events and emergency events, with division under normal events for "need to know" and "want to know" matters. Mr. Shapiro asked for a copy and the Mayor agreed to provide it when completed. Commissioner Glass suggested that "instead of re-inventing the wheel" to come up with a policy, that City staff check whether there was any information available on this topic from the Florida League of Cities to see what other cities do. Mr. Shapiro said that was a good idea, and staff would do so and prepare a synopsis for Commission. Set Date for First Meeting in July. Resolution No. 95-03, setting regular Commission meeting date on July 5, 1995. City Attorney Rosenthal read the proposed resolution by title only. Commissioner Glass. seconded by Commissioner Gleason. moved to aoorove Resolution No. 95-03. cancelin2 the meetin2 scheduled for Tuesday. July 4. 1995 and callin2 a re2Ular meetin2 for Wednesday. July 5. 1995. Motion carried 5-0. '-" EMERGENCY ITEM: Summer Temporary Positions - Recreation Department Mayor Vandergrift declared this to be an emergency item in order to add staff to the Recreation Department's summer program so more Ocoee children could be supervised. City Manager Shapiro explained the need for summer temporary positions for an additional 30 hours per week. Mavor Vandere:rift. seconded by Commissioner Foster. moved to authorize the transfer of $1.810.00 from General Fund Contin2ency to orovide for the Recreation Deoartment an additional 10 hours for an existin2 oosition and an additional 20 hour oart-time position for ei2ht weeks. Motion carried 5-0. STAFF REPORTS City Attorney Rosenthal said he has sent a letter to Mr. Ken Enlow, the City's insurance agent, regarding issues related to the 0 and E coverage as it relates to the Over 65 Program. The letter has been forwarded to our insurance carrier, and Mr. Rosenthal assumes that it will be passed along to their legal counsel. Mr. Enlow will notify Mr. Rosenthal about an expected time for their response. When their response is received, Mr. Rosenthal will take a look at it and forward it to Commission. Other issues related to the liability question will be addressed along with the letter from the insurance carrier. COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS COMMISSIONER FOSTER: 1) Congratulated the Commission and Mayor for keeping the City running in his absence. '-" 4 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting ~ June 6, 1995 2) Extended greetings to all their former constituents from former Commissioners Junior Crawford and Bob Lyle whom he met at the Catfish Corner Restaurant in Blairsville, Georgia recently. ~ COMMISSIONER GLASS: 1) Wished Mary Myers a speedy recovery from her leg infection. 2) Extended compliments to Jean Grafton for the beautiful Memorial Day service and special thanks to Commander Tommie Sanders from the American Legion Post for allowing him the honor and privilege of participating in the placing of the flags on the veterans' graves along with the Mayor and Commissioner Gleason. 3) Announced second physical plant assessment meeting for Orange County Public Schools to be held at Windermere Elementary on Tuesday, June 15th at 7:00 p.m. 4) Commended Code Inspectors and Code Enforcement Board for doing "a bang-up job" and expressed his appreciation. 5) Apologized to Commissioner Johnson and the members at the dais for raising his voice earlier in the meeting. Said that the quote from his letter was somewhat inaccurate but he believed that was unintentional. Does not want to cut off the Senior Program, but wants to bring it into compliance with the Florida Constitution. Said he had asked question about malfeasance because malfeasance needed to be taken very seriously, as it was grounds for removal from office by the governor of the state. Said he needed to know for himself what the affect would be if the matter was in the budget, was unconstitutional, and he supported the budget. Said he understands there are strong feelings on both sides of issue, and believed that all members support needy senior citizens of the City of Ocoee. 6) Announced the meeting of Vision West Orange on Wednesday, June 7th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Gleason Room at Health Central. (Mayor Vandergrift asked that his regrets be conveyed as he will be attending the Hurricane Conference in Tampa.) COMMISSIONER GLEASON: 1) Thanked Janet Resnik and Lynx for coordinating to provide students with bus service to West Orange High School. Lynx will begin a special bus run at 6:35 a.m. to pick up at all stops in Ocoee for arrival at West Orange High by 7:20 a.m. and will return to West Orange for afternoon pick-up at 3: 10 p.m. to return to all bus stops. Students who need to cycle to the bus stop may leave bicycles in the bike rack at City Hall. (Mr. Shapiro will arrange for additional bike rack if needed.) 2) Echoed Commissioner Glass' comments about Senior Program. Said he did not want to take it away, but wanted to help all Ocoee seniors legally and fairly. Felt supporting the program as it is was a hypocritical position. Stressed that Commission needed to set an example in upholding the law. ~ 5 '--' Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting June 6, 1995 COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: 1) Said he had no problem with making adjustments in the Senior Program, and suggested considering some kind of future deadline. (Commissioner Glass said if Commissioner Johnson would make a motion to direct the City Attorney to look into ways to accomplish the goals of this program legally, he would be happy to second it. Mr. Shapiro said they were doing that now.) He felt the program should be for property owners. ~ MAYOR VANDERGRIFT: 1) Had received complaint about noise from generator located on north side of City Hall. Said he had learned in the Hurricane Conference that the generator should be "missile" proof (protected from flying debris in a hurricane or tornado) and suggested that a fence might provide noise abatement as well as protection. (Mr. Shapiro said they will be working on it.) 2) Mentioned grants available for shelters and other aspects of our EMS program. (We have applied for it.) 3) Mentioned possible grants available from historic group that might redo our brick streets. (Fe are aware of it.) 4) What will be done with generator at Kissimmee water tower? (Probably used for back- yp.) 5) Thanked whoever is working on lights in City Hall parking lot. Noted wires on outside of poles appeared to be permanent. (Ms. Beamer will check on them.) 6) Suggested toning down the rhetoric about the Senior Citizens' Program, especially use of terms "malfeasance" and "hypocritical." Suggested studying the issue and looking forward to the answer from the Attorney General. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Attest: APPROVED: City of Ocoee !Yl tl~'J()~ J/Uh) MarIan Green, Acting City Clerk t> S. Scott Vandergrift, May --... 6 Attachment 1 City Commission Minutes 6/6/95 SCOTT A. GLASS COMMISSIONER. DISTRICT 3 150 N.LAKESHORE DRIVE OCOEE. FL 34761 OFFICE (407) 656-2322 EXT. 172 HOME (407) 877-0661 ~ June 1, 1995 Robert A. Butterworth Attorney General Dept. of Legal Affairs The Capitol Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050 Dear Attorney General Butterworth: It is with deep regret that I find myself writing this letter seeking your opinion on the Constitutionality of the City of Ocoee' s Over 65 Program. I was elected a Commissioner of the City of Ocoee in late November of last year. In March of this year I became aware of the City's Over 65 program which provides free municipal services to citizens age 65 and older (or 62 if receiving Social Security benefits) who own real property within the City and who have resided within the City for at least ten years. The program also provides for a direct refund of a portion of real estate taxes. The details of the program are set forth with greater specificity \..,. in the attached legal opinion from our City Attorney. In April, with great concern that such a program is violative of Article vn of the Florida Constitution, and violative of the Equal Protection Clauses of both the Florida and the United States Constitution, I requested an opinion from our City Attorney. That opinion was presented to the City Commission at our April 18, 1995 meeting. The Mayor and two Commissioners rejected the attached opinion. Several comments were made to the effect that it does not matter if it is unconstitutional, Ocoee has had the program for twenty years and will not suffer the State of Florida or the United States government to interfere with the benefits provided to our "City Pioneers. " Alanned at this attitude, I made a motion that we seek your opinion as to the Constitutionality of the program. The motion was defeated by a vote of 3 to 2. The Mayor graciously advised me that I was free to seek your opinion on my own. On behalf of all of the citizens I represent, I feel compelled to do so. I believe you will find all of the infonnation you need in the attached memorandum. If not, please let me know and I will endeavor to provide whatever else you need. My final question to you is; if this program is clearly unconstitutional, would continued support of it with knowledge of that fact constitute malfeasance? Sincerely, /:...~ _ ~-/ h-' v:c".,~~--.- Scott A. Glass cc: Mayor and Commissioners THE PRIDE OF WEST ORANGE Attachment 2 City Commission Minutes 6/6/95 \.- Commission Meeting - June 6, 1995 Message to the Citizens of Ocoee By: Commissioner Rusty Johnson I would like to begin by saying that it is not always possible for elected officials to agree all of the time. As elected officials we must vote our conscience and represent our City the best way we can. From time to time we as elected officials will have differences in opinions and what I am about to say is based on this factor. Over twenty years ago the elected officials adopted the over 65 program for our Seniors. This program assisted our Seniors, the majority of whom were on a Social Security fixed income. The program today still provides this same benefit for those Seniors. I was not an elected official when the over 65 program was adopted but I have always supported the program. \..... On June 1, 1995 Commissioner Scott Glass did write to the Attorney General of Florida and asked for a legal opinion as to whether our over 65 program violated Article VII of the Florida Constitution, the Equal Protection Clauses of both the Florida and the United States Constitution. Commissioner Scott Glass further advised the Attorney that he had sought an opinion from our City Attorney. The opinion of the City Attorney was given to this Commission on April 18, 1995. Commissioner Scott Glass further advised the Attorney General that the Mayor and two Commissioners rejected the City Attorney opinion. I was one of the Elected Officials that rejected the City Attorney opinion. Allow me to explain my position. Commissioners Gleason and Glass are relatively new to the Commission. They have the right, which I cannot deny, to bring forth issues they deem appropriate. I have the right, to not agree with certain positions they or any other elected official may take. I cannot in good conscience turn my back on the Seniors in our Community. I must also abide by the Laws of the State of Florida and the Constitution of our Government and support our City Ordinances. I believe strongly in the separation of powers. Those powers are identified as Judicial and Legislative. I want to do everything I can to preserve the over 6S program through the legal system and before an appointed Officer of the Court. When a ruling is ~ rendered to the City by an appointed Officer of the Court, then I must abide by the ruling. I want this City to exhaust every avenue it can before a program that has benefitted so many in need, is eliminated. \.... Commissioner Glass advised the Attorney General that several comments had been made at this Commission meeting. One of the comments was "that it did not matter if this was unconstitutional, Ocoee has had the program for twenty years and will not suffer the State of Florida or the United States government to interfere with the benefits provided to our "City Pioneers." I did not personally make this comment. Commissioner Glass in his letter to the Attorney General asked a final question. The question was; "if this program is clearly unconstitutional, would continued support of it with knowledge of that fact constitute malfeasance?" Again, Commissioner Glass and Commissioner Gleason have the right as elected officials and citizens of our community to raise these issues or any issues they deem appropriate. But, I have the right to support our Seniors through a Court of Law and I will not do less." ~ The City Attorney is seeking information from our Insurance Carrier, which provides the City with an Errors and Omissions policy, to ensure we have proper coverage in the event this legal avenue is pursued. In the event the Errors and Ommissions policy will not provide the coverage for a lengthy court battle, I will have to do what is right for our City government. I am patiently awaiting that information. Thank you for listening, and if you have any questions of me during the next few weeks, while we are trying to resolve this issue, please call me. \ ........