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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Regular_11/08/2007MINUTES VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA VILLAGE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES NOVEMBER 8, 2007 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jim Humpage at 7:10 p.m. A roll call was taken by Village Clerk Lori McWilliams. Present were: Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice Mayor Pat Watkins, Council Member Dan Amero, Council Member Tom Paterno, and Council Member Calvin Turnquest. Also in attendance were: Village Attorney Scott Hawkins, Village Manager Michael R. Couzzo, Jr., Village Clerk Lori McWilliams, and Department Heads. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Invocation was given by Council Member Amero, followed by the pledge to the flag. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Vice Mayor Watkins moved approval of the agenda as submitted; seconded by Council Member Amero; motion carried by unanimous 5-0 vote. PRESENTATIONS /PROCLAMATIONS 1. Proclamation recognizing Tequesta Country Club's 50t" Anniversary Mayor Humpage presented Mr. Adams with a Village Proclamation celebrating the 50tH Anniversary of the Country Club. He then presented Mr. Adams with a letter of recognition from the Lt. Governor, a certificate from the State of Florida and a flag that was flown over the Capital in honor of the County Club's 50tH Anniversary. Mr. Adams stated on behalf of Tequesta County Club he appreciated the presentation. COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITIZENS Mr. Russell von Frank, 489 Dover Road, stated he was asked to offer Council a few kind words; he told a short story as given by comedian Jack Benny -and said he was thinking and might have something to offer next year. Ms. Barbara Hymans, Stephanie Sullivan and Marian Grace of the Wholeness House, 4521 PGA Blvd. #228 Palm Beach Gardens, introduced themselves as a faith based ministry. Ms. Hymans explained the Wholeness House planned to obtain the property located at Village Boulevard and Old Dixie Highway to make available a residence to women and their children who have encountered personal turmoil in their lives and who were without home or income to provide a homelike environment. Their mission is to help restore them to society as productive members. She noted these would be short term stays for the women. Minutes -Regular Village Council Meeting 11/08/07 Page 2 Mr. Jeff Green, 494 Dover Road, stated he lived next to the Hattie Siegel home which was unsafe and overrun by rats. He mentioned the Village placed bait stations on the property over two years ago and since then the rats run onto his property when the lawn was mowed. He asked Council to take care of this abandoned property and the abandoned vehicle. He commented on curb appeal being important to the community and did not want to continue to compromise the tax base. He voiced concern with the maintenance of swales; specifically the piece of property on Dover Road that was recently listed with Vice-Mayor Watkins realty company. He stated the liability to the Village was significant and thought the Village took care of this previously. He questioned why the 4x4 wood stakes were allowed to be planted. Lastly, he commented on the October Council Meeting where Council spoke about mowing swales and believed the purpose was to keep the Village Hall looking nice; Tequesta Drive looked nice, but grass continued to grow high on one specific property which was near the entry way to the Country Club; on the north side of the road on Tequesta Drive. Ms. Bethany Humpage, 562 North Dover Road, spoke of the positive experience she had taking her grandson to the park recently. As she sat there she thought about how lucky she was to live in a place like Tequesta with great parks. She commented on the great job Greg Corbitt did and loved seeing the Festival rides going up. She said as they strolled around Tequesta Park, she realized how safe she was due to the terrific Fire and Police Department. She stated it might not be utopia but it was close thanks to the great administration and the good and decent Tequesta residents. Tim Goldsbury, 20 Tradewinds Circle, expressed his appreciation to the Village for having held the 50th celebration. He stated he has lived here for 31 years and loves this community and thanked Council for bringing the community together. Ms. Geraldine Genco Dube, 7 Country Club Circle, agreed the preparations for the Harvest Festival looked fabulous and stated it was a good community. She asked about the status of the Reverse Osmosis Plant and believed Phase 1 restrictions would come in December. She asked that the other train come on board to get out of the water restrictions and allow more flexibility to water lawns. On behalf of the employees, she stated a lot of things have been done in the Village that was a benefit to non- taxpayers who utilize Village tax dollars. She asked that these funds be used to give employees raises before moving forward with projects that would cost taxpayers. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COUNCIL Council Member Turnquest mentioned Council did the best they could for all residents of the Village and while the Council Member position was not a full time job it tended to be full time. Council Members needed to prepare and ensure everything was in order to make certain they were better informed to place the Village in the best possible position. He commented on being involved in the JTAA and coaching flag football and stated his reason for moving to Tequesta was because it was a great place to raise a family; you could walk down the street without fear of crime., everyone knew his name and he simply loved the small town environment. He believed the employees and residents 2 Minutes -Regular Village Council Meeting 11/08/07 Page 3 made this a great place to live; the Village Department Heads and Administration go above and beyond their jobs and the citizens get involved. Council Member Paterno stated he would wait to address his items under Any other Matters. Vice-Mayor Watkins agreed with Council Member Turnquest. She commented on each Council Member having the opportunity recently to meet individually with the Department Heads and believed it was important that Council knew how they viewed things. She believed the Village was in good shape. She attended a conference recently and found it gratifying to hear about the businesses that wanted to move to Northern Palm Beach County due to what was offered and the environment. She thanked everyone who was involved in putting together the upcoming Fall Festival. She reminded Council that Lori, Deb, Deanna and herself had been working on putting together the Village of Tequesta Business Forum. She advised it was scheduled for January 24, 2008 and would provide an opportunity for businesses to meet Council during an evening gathering. She wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving holiday. Mayor Humpage thanked staff for their hard work in putting the Fall Festival together. He too wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. He found his meeting with the Department Heads to be informative. He thanked the Police and Fire Departments and the Tequesta Country Club for their assistance with the 6th Annual Golf Tournament. He noted they cleared $9,700 for a total raised to date of $65,000 - $70,000. He hoped to break ground at the beginning of the year and appreciated everyone's endeavors to finalize the public safety memorial. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION: Council Member Amero moved approval of the following Consent Agenda as presented; seconded by Vice-Mayor Watkins; motion carried by unanimous 5-0 vote. MINUTES 2. Village Council Special Meeting Minutes September 11, 2007 3. Regular Village Council Meeting Minutes September 13, 2007 3a. Local Planning Agency Minutes September 13, 4. Village Council Workshop Minutes September 18, 2007 5. Village Council Workshop Minutes October 3, 2007 5a. Local Planning Agency Minutes October 11, 2007 5b. Regular Village Council Meeting Minutes October 11, 2007 3 Minutes -Regular Village Council Meeting 11/08/07 Page 4 END OF CONSENT AGENDA UNFINISHED BUSINESS 6. Resolution 09-07/08, Council Approval of Policy Revisions, Additions and Deletions (Tabled 7/10/07) Mayor Humpage explained there was a workshop in August regarding the Personnel Policy Manual and Council directed the Manager and staff to address particular issues that had been brought forward by Council and citizens. He noted the manual had gone through staff and legal review and staff had done a superior job in preparing the manual. He asked Council if there were specific issues they wished to discuss rather than go through the entire manual item by item again, he would like to pull the ones for discussion or table for another workshop and if there were limited items that could be handled this evening that would be great. Mr. Hawkins, Village Attorney read Resolution 09-07/08 into the record. MOTION: Vice-Mayor Watkins moved approval of Item 6; seconded by Council Member Amero for discussion. Item was opened for discussion. Council Member Amero stated there had been a lot of changes many of which were needed and it was a heck of a job for all involved. He pointed out there were several policies that were not previously approved that were now added to the manual, thereby making it a better product. He said this was an excellent idea and job well done by staff and indicated he had no questions. Council Member Paterno referred to Policy 2.3 paragraph 1 and Policy 2.6 (L) and noted the work week was addressed in both policies, however was worded differently in each and asked if they should be consistent. Ms. Reid agreed and would change the reference in 2.6 (L) to match the wording in 2.3. He voiced concern with the nepotism policy and did not believe family members should be hired by the Village since we were a small community and felt it would be difficult to move employees around. He referred to Policy 3.6 regarding cell phone Usage and asked that it state a hands free device should be used. Mayor Humpage noted it stated that employees would refrain from using the phone while driving and Council Member Amero suggested the wording read "prohibited" rather than "refrain". Vice-Mayor Watkins asked if the Village would provide the cell phone and the hands free device and Council Member Turnquest indicated the device would have to be blue tooth compatible. Village Manager Couzzo recommended language "refrain from or when possible use hands free." 4 Minutes -Regular Village Council Meeting 11/08/07 Page 5 Mayor Humpage felt the wording as written would work for the manual and suggested the Department Heads work on wording that could be instituted at a departmental level. Council Member Amero suggested leaving the policy as it was written and Consensus of Council agreed. Council Member Paterno referred to Policy 3.12 -page two -Confidentiality -and noted drug testing of employees was to remain confidential for two years and asked if it was an open record and had to be disclosed by law if someone tested positive. Ms. Reid stated she would have to ask the Village Clerk. Council Member Paterno felt it could not be confidential if was a public record and had to be open. Mr. Hawkins stated there was a protection of medical information. Ms. Reid stated the medical information was maintained separately and she would check on this information. Mr. Hawkins did not believe that it would be public record. Mayor Humpage stated that the Village would comply with State law. Council Member Paterno referred to Policy 4.2 and suggested the wording be amended to "40 hours worked" in order to receive overtime. Council Member Paterno pointed out that an employee could use vacation, work two days and then receive overtime or comp time. Mayor Humpage indicated they were contract issues and not for the general employee. Manager Couzzo stated that outside of the current contracts this was the policy manual and if the contract was different it superseded the manual. He believed the question was that if an employee took two days vacation this week and worked then worked twenty-six hours rather than twenty-four would the two hours be calculated as overtime. Ms. Reid stated it has been counted toward work time and Manager Couzzo indicated vacation time was counted as hours worked. Council Member Paterno inquired using the same scenario but using comp time as opposed to vacation time. Ms. Reid explained these policies would affect only the non-unionized staff and would have to refer to the respective union contracts for union staff and there would be different combinations in each contract. She explained in terms of the non-unionized staff vacation counted towards time worked. He referred to (F) and asked that this be addressed. He stated in the past employees have used sick time, personal days, comp time, vacation time and still received overtime under the State of Emergency section and did not believe this was in the union contracts. Manager Couzzo suggested the policy refer to the Emergency Management Policy and then address the Emergency Management Policy prior to the hurricane season. Ms. Reid pointed out the wording presented was as a result of the policy workshop and she was instructed to reference the Emergency Management Policy. 5 Minutes -Regular Village Council Meeting 11/08/07 Page 6 Council Member Paterno referred to Policy 5.1 -page three -Section VII. He stated this was an added benefit and believed in accumulating sick time, but it was not meant to be saved for future payment and strongly urged that this section be stricken from the policy. Ms. Reid advised this wording was taken directly from the union contract and the unions enjoyed this benefit and currently only the non-unionized employees did not receive this benefit. She said the policy would cover approximately 14 employees and to remove it from the union contract would have to be negotiated. Mayor Humpage stated employees receive one sick day a month per year and the Village was trying to encourage employees to remain at work; if someone was out sick, the Village had to fill in for that gap. He felt with no incentive to not use sick days there would be additional costs to bring in temps and by putting this policy in place the employees would receive half of the unused time back in pay as an incentive. Council Member Amero commented on sick leave sharing pool and would rather have a bank to donate unused leave as an option. Council Member Paterno reiterated that sick leave should not given to employees as a mechanism to cash in for a bonus. Mayor Humpage stated he respected Council Member Paterno's opinion, however did not agree. Vice-Mayor Watkins clarified this wording was currently in the union contracts and was being added to cover the 14 non-unionized employees and Mayor Humpage concurred and wanted to provide a benefit to employees for not using their sick time. Mr. Hawkins asked to return to a previous question by Council Member Paterno regarding the confidentiality of drug testing and advised the Village Clerk pulled F.S. Chapter 119 which provided an exemption for medical information related to drug testing and noted it was not considered a public record for purposes of mandatory disclosure. Council Member Paterno referred to Policy 5.8 -last sentence on page one -and noted a word was missing and Manager Couzzo indicated the word was "release". Ms. Reid clarified, regarding Policy 5.1 the IAFF Union was currently in the process of negotiating their first contract and noted they did not currently have the sick leave buyback benefit. She noted whatever was approved tonight; she would have to send a memo to the unions noting the changed policies and ask if they wanted to look at in terms of negotiations. Council Member Paterno asked if the firemen currently fell under these Policies since they did not have a contract and Manager Couzzo stated that was his understanding and Council Member Paterno indicated that would add the firemen to the 14. Mayor Humpage pointed out the cost to bring a fireman in at time and a half if one were to call in sick while still paying the other firefighter. Council Member Paterno asked if anyone wanted to wait until negotiations were completed to which no one agreed. 6 Minutes -Regular Village Council Meeting 11/08/07 Page 7 Council Member Paterno referred to Policy 5.9 -next to the last paragraph and believed there was a potential conflict with the Emergency Manual Policy because employees received overtime in times of emergencies and did not want employees receiving both overtime and personal days. Manager Couzzo suggested adding language to this section or addressing the Emergency Manual. Council Member Paterno stated if an employee took the six personal days they should not receive the emergency overtime pay. Manager Couzzo suggested the language remain as written in the policy and re-address the Emergency Manual and bring back to Council next year prior to the onset of the season. Council Member Paterno referred to Policy 6.2 -Definitions -and asked who was entitled to higher education reimbursements -part time and full time. Ms. Reid explained there were some part time workers that were eligible and Council Member Paterno questioned if higher education benefits and felt only full time workers should receive this benefit. Mayor Humpage asked if the Village was a proponent to furthering job related knowledge and Council Member Paterno stated he was a proponent for offering it to the full time staff. Ms. Reid explained the part time employees were added for purposes of attending seminar type functions relating to the job and suggested limiting this benefit to short courses. Council Member Paterno agreed with the short courses but not paying for them to receive their degrees. Manager Couzzo suggested leaving policy as written, but broaden the definition that regular part time employees would be eligible for everything with the exclusion of higher education benefits; Council Member Paterno agreed excluding item four (4) and Council Member Amero concurred. Ms. Geraldine Genco Dube, 7 Country Club Circle understood that revising the manual took a tot of work; however commented in reference to Policy 4.2 that an emergency situation in the Village that was a hardship on the taxpayer's behalf should not be a windfall for an employee. She mentioned the policy that addressed paying for sick time did not address any associated cost benefits and recalled when the Village bought out vacation time it was a lot more than was planned. Mayor Humpage explained the associated costs were included in the budget under compensated absences. Council Member Paterno stated there was a budgeted item for normal sick time use and Mayor Humpage clarified sick leave buy out was budgeted under sick leave compensation and compensated absences. Council Member Paterno asked how many employees were eligible to be paid for the one week if this was approved and Manager Couzzo stated they could only speculate because it changed every year and was difficult to pinpoint. Mayor Humpage explained $19,860 was budgeted for compensated sick leave and $28,530 for compensated absences in the General Fund. Additionally, there were employees who work for Enterprise Funds and $3,700 was budgeted in that fund for a total $52,090 budgeted for this purpose. Manager Couzzo explained that due to unforeseen departures from the Village by employees who have accrued leave; this number was hard to budget. 7 Minutes -Regular Village Council Meeting 11/08/07 Page 8 Council Member Amero asked how the conflicts would be addressed in Policies 5.9 and 4.2. Mayor Humpage said they would be addressed through the Emergency Management Manual and Council Member Amero asked about the personal days conflict to which Manager Couzzo advised would be addressed through the Emergency Manual as well. The motion to approve carried 4-1 with Council Member Paterno in dissent. NEW BUSINESS 7. Council Approval to Transfer $7,500 from the 50th Golden Anniversary Fund to the Public Safety Memorial Fund MOTION: Council Member Amero moved to approve the transfer of funds; seconded by Council Member Paterno; motion carried unanimously 5-0. 8. Resolution 10-07/08 - Council Approval of Contract Service Agreement for Utility Consulting Services with Professional Resources Management Group, Inc. (PRMG) for Updated Utility Financial Forecasts Attorney Hawkins read the Resolution into the Record. MOTION: Vice-Mayor Watkins moved approval of Resolution 10-07/08; seconded by Council Member Amero. Item was opened for discussion. Mayor Humpage explained this was to provide a checks and balance for the water utility to see how the Village was financially. They would look at the overhead, the costs to the operation, the revenues collected to ensure everything was solvent and that revenues were meeting the costs and if adjustments were needed. The study would tell the financial health of the water department. Council Member Amero pointed out the Resolution showed $22,000 and the summarization stated the project would not exceed $22,500. Manager Couzzo suggested leaving the agreement and Resolution at $22,000 and in the interest of the Village he would negotiate it down to $22,000. Council Member Paterno commented in regards to the commercial rate being different than the residential rate and asked to direct Manager Couzzo to ensure they were the same so residents were not paying more than commercial users and Consensus of Council agreed. Manager Couzzo commented on the possibility that the Village and other communities would be further restricted on water consumption. As a result of the restriction, there would be less consumption, which would mean the Village would sell less water. He noted that would be a significant component in the analysis and the restrictions would 8 Minutes -Regular Village Council Meeting 11/08/07 Page 9 be severe and would have to be taken into consideration. He commented on an article he emailed Council about a community in Tennessee that could only use water for three (3) hours a day. The motion to approve Resolution 10-07/08 carried unanimously 5-0. 9. Ordinance 622. First Reading, Providing for the Submission to the Electors of said Village an Amended Village Charter (Second Reading 12/13/07) Attorney Hawkins read Ordinance 622 into the record. Mayor Humpage explained Council met in a Workshop to address the proposed changes and how to proceed. It was agreed unanimously on the changes presented. He explained that a change to the Village Charter required resident's approval and would be placed on the March 11, 2008 ballot. Council Member Paterno asked if the simple version would be on the ballot and Mr. Hawkins noted the entire item. MOTION: Council Member Amero moved to approve Ordinance 622 on First Reading; seconded by Vice-Mayor Watkins; motion carried unanimously 5-0. Vice-Mayor Watkins stated Council's job would now be to properly educate the residents on the changes so that they were clear; and when voting it was to either accept or reject the Charter in total. She thanked the Charter Review Committee for their hard work and time spent. STANDING REPORTS 10. Village Attorney Mr. Hawkins stated his report was supplied and he had nothing new to add. Council Member Paterno asked if anything had transpired regarding JMZ to which Mr. Hawkins explained the Mayor was to be deposed last week and the opposition cancelled and the deposition would now occur in November. 11. Village Manager Manager Couzzo commented on the improved sound system. He extended his thanks to the employees and residents who have planned and participated in the Fall Festival scheduled for this weekend. ANY OTHER MATTERS Vice-Mayor Watkins asked that the Resolution Council received from Lake Park be redistributed and placed on the December agenda for discussion and Consensus of Council agreed. 9 Minutes -Regular Village Council Meeting 11/08/07 Page 10 Council Member Paterno commented on the Hattie Siegel property and believed Council needed to be more aggressive on this issue. He thought the problem had already been resolved and Mayor Humpage agreed. Vice-Mayor Watkins asked if it was possible to have the house torn down due to the health and safety concerns. Mr. Hawkins noted it would depend on the severity of the conditions and felt Council could notify the Board of Health. He suggested the Village's Code Enforcement continue to process the violations. Manager Couzzo stated Code and Community Development had been in contact with the Health Department and County and they were investigating. Council Member Paterno mentioned not being able to discuss an item that was previously addressed and believed three Council Members had asked the item to be placed on the agenda. He stated Council could vote on items that were not on the agenda. He asked who's responsibility it was to place the item on the agenda and why it was not on the agenda as a procedural item. Mayor Humpage asked what the item was and Council Member Paterno stated the Village Manager contract. Mayor Humpage stated the reason the item was not placed on the agenda was because there was an email showing $10,000 was spent to receive three attorney opinions of which they agreed it could not be discussed without meeting with Mr. Couzzo and having an agreement. Council Member Paterno stated the procedures were that if two Council Members wanted an item on the agenda then it would be placed on the agenda and asked why the procedures were not followed. He mentioned he had never seen the procedure and Vice-Mayor Watkins stated the Village Clerk provided each candidate with the procedures and each Council Member has had them since they were adopted. Mayor Humpage stated that when two Council Members want something on the agenda they could place it on the agenda and if it was the Consensus of Council agreed to agenda an item it would be placed on the agenda. He did not recollect a consensus at the last Council Meeting to place that item on this agenda. Council Member Paterno felt there were three Council Members that had wanted to speak to that item and he reiterated that it should have been placed on the agenda. Mayor Humpage clarified that Council Comments were for general comments on what Council was doing and for informational purposes. The purpose of Any Other Matters, in his opinion, was to have the opportunity to voice an issue with an item and request that it be placed on an upcoming agenda and receive Council consensus to place it on the agenda. He stated that according to his recollection, no one at the last Council Meeting asked that the item be placed on the agenda. Council Member Paterno stated it was the previous meeting. 10 Minutes -Regular Village Council Meeting 11/08/07 Page 11 Lastly, he asked that information that was received by other Council Members should be distributed to all Council Members. He stated going forward and not looking back, since he was not here as often as others, he wanted any information that was given to other members and it could be sent through email. He said if there was something going on he wanted to know about it. Mayor Humpage agreed and believed every Council Member was entitled to the same information; however, as Council Members they have agreed to represent the citizenry and should make a concerted effort to check in every now and then. Council Member Turnquest mentioned at the last Council Meeting he brought up the idea of doing something with the vacant lot on JMZ properties. He said he had one meeting with Mr. Zuccarelli and has tentatively come to an agreement to allow Council to develop the land which was the most difficult hurdle. As the project was finalized they would bring it forth to Council. Mr. Zuccarelli was in agreement to allow Council to develop the land for whatever project(s) they might want. He stated he wanted to recognize the Charter Review Committee since they took a lot of time working on the Charter. He would like to present them with something personalized and with the Village logo. He did not want to simply give them plaque or a letter from the Mayor but something substantial. Ms. Dottie Campbell, a Charter Review Board Member, felt Council's remarks were reward enough and would rather have the funds put towards the park in the committees name. She said she had the joy of working on an efficient committee. Vice-Mayor Watkins suggested a piece of Constitution Park could be placed in their name. Mayor Humpage suggested placing something here at Village Hall and supported doing something. Council Member Amero asked Manager Couzzo about the meeting on voluntary annexations that was held by the County. Mr. Couzzo explained the County unanimously passed the item and it spelled out how to do voluntary annexations. Council Member Amero clarified in the minutes of 9/11/07 on page two that he intended that departments would be rewarded for reducing expenses and not just senior personnel as indicated in a Memo he received. He asked if Council would be doing anything regarding the Resolution received from the City of Sanibel asking the Village to participate and Consensus of Council agreed to place this item on the December agenda. Lastly, he wanted to put an end to the Village Manager contract discussion. He believed three agreed to review the contract; however if the Manager lived up to his expectations, which were not high, he would join his fan club. He believed Council Members were elected to review every Resolution and every contract and as such 11 Minutes -Regular Village Council Meeting 11/08/07 Page 12 should be afforded that opportunity. He was disappointed Council did not have this opportunity and he would personally sit down with the Manager behind closed doors to discuss it. He would always have a problem with this; however he would not prolong the issue and would not bring it up again. ADJOURNMENTMOTION: Upon motion by Council Member Amero, seconded by Council Member Paterno, the meeting was adjourned at 9:04 p. m. by 5-0 vote. Respectfully submitted, ~,~ m~w~~ Lori McWilliams, CMC Village Clerk 12