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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Regular_11/09/2006. MINUTES VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA REGULAR VILLAGE COUNCIL MEETING THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2006 I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jim Humpage at 7:00 p.m. A roll call was taken by Recording Secretary SharifaTharpe. Present were: Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice Mayor Tom Paterno, Council Member Geraldine A. Genco, and Council Member Pat Watkins. Also in attendance were: Village Manager Michael R. Couzzo, Jr., Village Attorney Scott Hawkins, Recording Secretary SharifaTharpe, and DepartmentHeads. II. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Council Member Genco gave the invocation and led in thepledge ofallegiancetothe flag. III. APPROVALOFAGENDA MOTION: Council Member Watkins moved to approve the agenda as amended; seconded by Council Member Genco. Motion was to approve the Agenda with item 10 removed from the Consent Agenda and Item 12 struck from the Agenda by staff,• Motion passed 4-0. • Mayor Humpage announced Chief McCollom removed Item 12 from the Agenda. Council Member Genco removed Item 10 from the Consent Agenda. IV. STANDING REPORTS VILLAGEATTORNEY -None VILLAGE MANAGER Village Manager Couzzo reported if the Village Hall was inspected by the Fire Department and some minor work was completed, the staff would be moving to the new Village Hall. He stated they would get a temporary CO and there were some issues which still needed to be addressed but the furniture had been delivered, the power was up, and everything was ready to go. Council Member Genco asked the status of hiring a Village Clerk. Village Manager Couzzo stated Human Resources Manager Merlene Reid and Finance Director Jo-Arm Forsythe interviewed today. He informed Council had an appointment on Tuesday morning to meet with the Finalist. He stated it looked very positive. Council Member Genco asked if the move in date for the next Village Hall would be this weekend. Village Manager Couzzo stated it would be November 10, 2006. ~J Minutes -Village CouncilRegularMeeting 11/09/06 Page 2 Council Member Genco asked if they wanted to hire the new Village Clerk to help with the move. Village Manager Couzzo stated they had not conducted the final interview. He informed the next interview would be next Tuesday and hopefully they would be able to make an offer and the start date would be two weeks. Council Member Genco thought they would expedite the process so the Clerk would be able to organize the files. Village Manager Couzzo stated Recording Secretary Ms. Betty Laur and Office Assistant Sharifa Tharpe would organize the files when they moved to the new VillageHall. V. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION.- Council Member Watkins made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as amended with item 10 being removed. Council Member Genco seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 4-0 vote. Therefore the following items were approved on the Consent Agenda: 2. Village Council RegularMeetingMinutesOctoberll,2006. 3. VillageCouncilSpecialMeetingMinutes(FinalPublicHearings)FY2006/2007Millage and Budgets September 28, 2006. 4. Planning andZoningAdvisory BoardMeetingMi nutes August 3, 2006. 5. BoardofAdjustmentMeetingMinutesNovember21,2005. • 6. Board ofAdjustment Meeting Minutes September 25, 2006. 7. Special Master Meeting Minutes January 26, 2006. 8. Special MasterMeetingMinutesAugust31,2006. 9. General Employees Pension Board Quarterly Meeting Minutes Apri124, 2006. END OF CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA 10. Public Safety Officers Pension Board Quarterly Meeting Minutes April 18, 2006. Council Member Genco stated she was following up on it. She stated the Public Safety Pension Funds with Rockwood Advisors had been in a hole for the last six quarters. She commented that was not good and it meant if they were not getting their target the Village would have to make up what the funds. She stated she wrote her own personal memorandum to Attorney Bonnie Jensen and expressed she was concerned about it and thought after six quarters they should be doing something about it and moving forward. She commented the Village had to keep up to date with it because every time they fell • 2 Minutes -Village CouncilRegularMeeting 11/09/06 Page 3 behind the tax payers had to pay for it. She stated other than that, she did not have any other issue with the minutes. She stated she wantedto point itout. • Council Member Watkins stated on the Minutes of April 18, 2006 it stated Council Member Genco was resigning from the Pension Board and she wanted to know if she resigned officially. Council Member Genco stated they received an official letter of resignation from her in person. She explained the Village Clerk wrote it for her and she went into the office, she signed it, and they retained a copy of it. Council Member Watkins stated it was in the minutes and she was curious. Council Member Genco stated she resigned in 2005 and she thought Village ManagerCouzzo should follow up on it. MOTION: Council member Watkins moved to approve Item 10. Vice Mayor Paterno seconded the motion. Motion passed 4-0 VI. COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITIZENS - Russell Von Frank, 489 Dover Road, stated he had a short story. He mentioned Mr. Omblebee and explained he was the brother -in-law ofhis oldest sister. He stated he was avineologistwho was sent out to fmdores forminingcompanies; He also participated in the royalties. He stated afterthe war began, he offered his services to the Unites States Governmentwhich accepted. He pointed out his salary was $1 a year. He stated his point was to make an offer for $1 a yearto help Officer Joe Petrich in his endeavorto enhance the Village Codes because he has had aproblem on the last one and he has not been able to get to a few ofMr. Von Frank's own. He thought it would be helpful ifhe could give himahand. Harold Taylor, l 3 Chapel Court, He stated he would like to discuss what was going on in the North end ofTequesta Park. He pointedoutJupiterHillshaveinstalled afence and have landscaped that area. He stated the fence ran approximately 700 feet from the west end to about 2/3 of the way across the north side of the park. He mentioned the fence company was Martin Fence Company in Lake Park. Mr. Taylor stated when he walked his dog, they were out there working on it. He pointed outthe only problem was they did not finishthe jobproperly and ifsomeonewalkedtheirdog along the north side and met someonewalkingtowardsthern most ofthe fence posts, approximately 95, have not been back filled properly. He stated there was apossibility someone could walk along the fence and get there foot stuck in the whole, which was about 1 foot and a half deep and break a leg which would leave the park, or the state, facing a lawsuit. He asked i f the Villagecould call the fence company and have them finishthe job completely orhave one ofthe maintenance crews could do it. Mr. Taylorcommented it was not a safe condition. He asked whatresponsibility the Village had regarding Tequesta Park. He stated he knew the V illage leased it from the • 3 Minutes -Village CouncilRegularMeeting 11/09/06 Page 4 State. He pointed out at one time the fence was where the center of the brim was but now the fence was 20 feet inside the park. He asked if that was apart ofthe agreement between the Village orJupiterHills with the State. He pointed out a length of 700 feet with a width of 20 feet would be taken out ofTequesta Park. He commented it seemed like a strangeplace to putthe fence and from apracticalperspective he could see why they did it because they did the landscaping and ifthey putthe brim of the fence on their side they would not be ableto getto their landscaping but in the mean time it looked strange to place the fence there with out any priorapproval from anyone. He asked ifsomeone could check into that, to see if everything was according to plan and get back to them at the next Regular Village Council melting. Mayor Humpage stated yes they could do that. He explained the criteriawas setwith Jupiter Hills and he helped to negotiate that deal and the V illage would fill the holes tomorrow. He stated they had a survey from the State and Jupiter Hills was supposed to putthefencebackattheoriginallocation. Mr. Taylorpointedoutthatwouldbeatthe center ofthe burin; he doubted they could do that because ifthey did that would leave some oftheir landscaping especially theirPalm Trees on the other side ofthe fence. Mayor Humpage stated the agreement was Jupiter Hills would go over and maintain the property even on the other side ofthe fence. He statedt didn't make a difference and he would connect with them tomon ow. - Carl Hanson, 264 RiverDrive, stated he would liketo talk about TequestaMemorial. He stated people were working on it for the most part of2004 and at Publix he met his friend Mr. Carlton Stoddard and he said Mr. Hanson had to talk to Council about it because he wanted to see some action. He stated he was speaking on behalf of Mr. Carlton Stoddard, • andcertainly Mr. Edward Resnik. He statedthey had several meetings atthattime and they looked at the locations and a decision was made to wait until the new Village Hall was built so they could find abetter location for it. He pointed outthe Village Hall has been built and itwas a good time to decide where the memorial should be. Hereminded Councilthey already had the Indian Head that was supposed to be in the memorial.. He hoped the Village wouldtake a positive look at it. He thought it would be a goodthing to have and it would be a wonderful tribute to Mr.Resnik because he was chairman ofthe Memorial Committee at that time. He stated Mr. Fred Menor of Lake Worth MonumentCompany came up with a place, the firstphase of it which would be good forthenext 5 or 10 years and would cost $35,000. Council Member Watkins stated at aprevious Council meeting she suggested they have a workshop includingthe Committee that worked on the memorial and the Village Council to discuss itagain, nowthat the building was there and they could address it. She stated she has asked the V illage Manager to bring it to the forefront. She stated they were definitely goingto address it and it had not been forgotten. Mr. Hanson stated he had minutes where it was discussed CouncilMemberGencoannouncedtheywerehavingamemorialservice forMr.Edward D. Resnik at 8:30 a.m. incase anyone was interesting in attending. • Minutes -Village CouncilRegulazMeeting 11/09/06 Page 5 VII. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COUNCIL COUNCIL MEMBER WATKINS Council Member Watkins thanked Mr. Taylor for bring ing the issue ofthe fence in Tequesta Park to their attention because they needed to be aware ofthat so that noone got hurt. She expressed she was glad Mr. Hanson mentioned the memorial because November 8, 2006 was the anniversary ofhis death and as Council MemberGenco statedthememorial servicewastomorrowmorning. Shecommentedtheywouldjust like to rememberhim. She stated she asked Village Manager Couzzo and ChiefMcCollom abouthaving a system to identify the elderly residents who did not hav a any family, so ifthey wanted, the Village could contactthem to give themparticulazinformation like hurricanewarnings.She commented she would love to get input from residents about that idea. Mr. Hanson stated about 1 year and a half ago, there was initiativemade regarding that idea. He stated some residents met and spoke about it but the people who were contacted were not interested in that. He stated there were some people who were willing to make the calls in the morning from the Police Departure nt but there was no interest from the peoplewho were contacted. Council Member Watkins stated thatwas the type of information she was looking for. COUNCIL MEMBER GENCO Council Member Genco stated she heazd from adeveloperand a few citizensthatthe Villagewas havingproblemswiththe fee increaseswhichweremade in Community Development and the budget was based on those fee increases. She pointed out apparently there was somethingthatwas not legal aboutthem. She stated they could not implementthem. She asked V illage Manager Couzzo what was happening and why Council has notheazd about it. Council Member Genco specified they increased all the permit fees by 200%and others by 20%. Attorney ScottHawkins thoughtthey werereferringtotheoccupational License fees. Council Member Genco stated it was not the Occupational license, itwas also BuildingPermit fees. She reminded Council they did a fee increase approximately seven meetings ago before the budget and when Community Development Director Catherine Harding asked for the three or four people to be added to her staff, their salaries would be covered by those fee increases. She stated a Developer has made a complaint to the State Attorney's office aboutthe fees forthe Developments or something being illegal. She explained because it was no longer an Enterprise Fund, they are not allowed to do that. • Minutes -Village CouncilRegularMeeting 11/09/06 Page 6 Attorney Hawkins stated he knewthere was a complaintbut did notknowthe State Attorney's Office was involved. He stated the complaint was four to six weeks ago and whatthey learnt was that what Council had approved had been implemented more broadly than whathad been approved. He explained the charges had been reversed. Council Member Genco asked whatwould happento the Village's budget because thatwill have a big effect on the budget. Attorney Hawkins stated he was not sure about the budget impact but he knew the way it was implemented appeared to be incorrect and it had to be rectified. He stated it had to be done and that was his recommendation. Council Member Genco expressed she was amazed no one advised Councilbecausethebudgetprojectionsthat camefromCommunityDevelopmentand allthe staff Council approved includingtheI nspectorwas based on the additional revenues from that. Attorn ey Hawkins stated he did not know anything about the budget impact but when itcame to him ithad already been put in the mail. MayorHumpage asked if they were talking about Permit Fees or Licensing F ees. Council Member Genco stated they made across the board increases to every type of fee. She listed Permit, Development, F ire, and Inspection Fees. MayorHumpage stated he was only hearing of one thing that had been change d. Attorney Hawkins believed they approved a modest fee increase. He stated he did not draft it and when it came to him it appeared ithad been implemented more broadly than Council approved. MayorHumpage asked if it was regardingPermitorLicensing.Attorney Hawkins stated itwas awhole range of fees. Council Member Genco stated Council increased the Fire inspection and Inspection costs, the Development fee, Occupational fee, and almost every fee collected by Community Development was increased from 25%to 300%. She stated the budgetprojections they utilized in the past budget and • the salaries ofthose new positions they approved was based on those fee increases and Council approvedt because they thought they were getting the extra revenue. Council Member Genco expressed she was shocked they did notknowwhat effect resulted from the reversal. Council Member W atkins stated she received a cal l from a business owneraboutthe Occupational License. Attorney Hawkins stated he was familiarwiththe issueregardingtheOccupational licenses and itwas implemented more broadly than wasproper; and it was reversed. He stated the charges brought forthwere nullified and it has returned to its last schedule. Council Member Genco asked what impact ithad on Fire. Village Manager Couzzo stated he didnotbelievethere was any impactthere. He stated the only impact was with the Occupational Liscenses.Council Member Genco thought itwas an important issue for Council to be aware of. Village Manager Couzzo stated he would prepare a report for Council and give any thoughts on the impact it would have on revenue. Village Attorney Hawkins stated when it was broughttotheirattention, itwasrectifiedveryquickly. Vice MayorPaterno asked ifthey were talking about the Occupational orthe Permit Fees. Village Manager Couzzo stated it was the Occupational License fees. Vice Mayor Paterno asked Attorney Hawkins ifthat was correct. He commented it seemed • 6 Minutes -Village CouncilRegularMeeting 11/09/06 Page 7 they were talking abouttwo separate issues. Village Attorney Hawkins commented he has not looked at it in six weeks nor has he heard about it in six weeks but he recalled • the Occupational License issue and it was rectified. He stated there was something about a range of fees and he did not recall that being an issue. CouncilMember Watkins asked if he had been contacted by a Developer. Attorney Hawkins stated he has notbeen contacted by anyone but Community DevelopmentDirectorHarding who told him they had an issue and it was resolved in 48 hours. Council Member Genco stated she talked to one Developer and three residents but she has not gone into Community Development. She stated she was relaying what she had been told. Mayor Humpage stated a restaurant ownertold him he got a check back from the Village for $30 forthe license. Village Manager Couzzo specified it was a reimbursement. MayorHump age stated he was not aware of a Permit Fee issue but he was not aware thathad occurred as a complaint either. Attorney Hawkins stated staffmisapplied the statute, the statue changed with in the last six months, it was acomplaint ortwo coin-plaintsand itwentto staff, which brought itto his attention. Council Member Genco asked that they let Council know if it gets any furtherthan the Occupational license. Mayor Humpage asked V illage Manager Couzzo to do a report. Village Manager Couzzo stated he would. Vice Mayor Paterno asked if the Permit Fees were affected. Village Manager Couzzo believed itwasthe Occupational Fees only. Council MemberGenco explainedthe reason was becausethe Village changed it from an EnterpriseFundto a Government Fund, and itwas not a State Statute change. Attorney Hawkins thought it was reclassified. Council Member Genco stated they requested by the Departments so it putthem into adifferentcategory. She explained instead offallingunderone area of the statute, which would have been the Enterprise Fund, which would have allowed them to increase funds based on their cost when they changed it to the Government Fund, they were not allowed to do that because they have a cap on the fee, which was a statute. Attorney Hawkins stated he was not prepared to respond but he knew it was reclassified in some way. Council Member Genco stated she looked it up as a result of someone questioning it. Council Member Watkins asked Village Attorney Hawkinsto letthem know ifanythingcame up. Council Member Genco stated she had another issue she had been addressing for quiet a long time and she wantedpeople to understand her reason for addressing it because she felt as an elected person, her job was to represent the tax payers and in order for her to make decisions based on her own expertise, she needed information. She statedthat information wasvery important forherdecision making and ithadto do with financial data, projection s, and staffing. Council MemberGenco stated an example ofsomething she was asking forwhich shefinallyreceivedwasbeginning on January 16, 2005 when she sent an e-mailto the V illage Manager regarding Mutual Aid Information and background. She stated she asked for specific information so she new what projections and cost would be • ~ Minutes -Village CouncilRegularMeeting 11/09/06 Page 8 affectingthe Villageresidentswhenthey entered into aMutualAidAgreement. She stated she did not receive a response to that and that was January 2005. Council Member Genco stated in Apri12006 she asked for more information and that did not mean shedid nothave conversations inthe meantime. She specifiedthese were memorandums she wrote to the Village Manager. She stated Council was being given informationaboutthenumberofcall s ofMutual AidtheVillage gave andthe number they received. Council MemberGenco stated ifthey did not knowthetotal numberofcalls for Tequesta, Palm Beach County, and Martin County, those two numbers by them selves were numerators and there was no denominator to know how many calls the Village had. She explained they could not know what effect the Mutual Aid had on the Village Staffand the costs. She stated she asked for that and she never got it. She stated she asked for it again inNovemberand finally afterthe second memo, she got a response. She pointed out it was a year and six months later. Council Member Genco stated the next one was March 9, 2005, she found out they had an on going IitigationwithJohnZackerelli. She explainedhehadajudgmentthattheVillagedid not have closed or dismissed in Court and it took a total offive months to get a response to that at which point in time the Attorney took care of it and it was resolved. She stated she had to make at least a half of a dozen calls to get any response from the Village Manager. She stated this was over a period oftime. Council Member Genco stated the next one was on September 26, 2005 and it had to do with something Council asked the Village Manager to do because there wdere developmentplansforthe Westernportion ofIslandWay thattheVillage feltwould • impactthetraffic ofthe Village along Country Club Drive. She stated she asked the VillageManagertowritealettertoMartinCountyPlanningandZoning onbehalfof the Village to be copied on any pending applications and petitions. She stated nothing was done. Council Member Genco stated she sent anothermemorandum on September 29, 2005, waiting to hear ifhe would send a letter, she found instead of going to her, he went to legal council to have them draft a letter. She pointed out he could have written the letter instead of having legal Council do and stated that cost the Villagemoney. Council MemberGenco stated she sent anothermemo on October 10, 2005 and she was still waiting to get an answer. She stated this was from September 26, 2005 to October 10, 2005 to find out about the letter. She stated she understood the Attorney eventually sentthe letterand she was not sure ifshe received the letteror notbut she did not have it in her files. She stated she had another issue with the budget. She explained aftermeeting with Village M anager Couzzo, she sent a follow up to him on October 7 where he had told herinthepreviousmeetingthatshewouldhave agraph and budgetprojections forthe up coming budget. Mayor Humpage asked if this was ZOOS or 2006. Council Member Genco stated she was still referring to 2005. She stated she never got it and it would have helped Council understand the budget ifthey had gotten it. • Minutes - VillageCouncilRegulazMeeting 11/09/06 Page 9 MayorHumpage asked Council Member Genco ifthey were going to go through a litany ofthese things. Council Member Genco stated there were four or five of them. • MayorHumpage askedwhatherpointwas.Council Member Genco stated she would liketo finish makingherpointbecause she has been made fun of, has been called a liaz, and labeled a crazy woman, forthe kind of information she has been requesting. She stated she wanted the publicto understand why she was doing it because she felt she needed the informationto make adecision and other CouncilMemberswould benefitintheirdecisionmakingabilityiftheygotthissortofinformation .She stated the only reason she had them into writing was because when she state d them verbally, they are completely ignored. Mayor Humpage stated this was i nformation she did not receive from the Village Manager. Council Member Genco stated itwas affecting her job and she was not able to make informed decisions on behalfofthe taxpayers because she was not being provided information forherdecision making ability. She stated if it was one instance, she could understand. She stated if it was two she could have forgiven it but if itwas more than four times that written requests were not responded to, she had a problem with it. Council M ember Genco stated she would like to finish because it was importantto her and the taxpayers. Council Member Genco stated this issue had to do with the bridge. She stated she requested engineering reports three time during the months ofDecember. She stated she nevergot it. She stated MayorHumpage got itbecausethatwaswhat Village Manager Couzzo responded. She stated the rest ofthe Council Members did not receive it until the Council Meeting. She mentioned someone told Council they had • infom~ation regarding the bridge that was outdated and asked why Council did not do anything about it. She stated she asked for that information three times and never got it. Council Member Genco stated February 27 had to do with the Annexation of Coral Cove Park because the V illage was devoting staffto look at annexing it.She stated she wanted to know what the cost to the V illage would be for L ife Guards, for bathrooms, forasphalt, and cleaning the beaches. Mayor Humpage stated he responded to that. Council Member Genco stated he did notuntil the Council meeting. Mayor Humpage stated he did not know until he met with Palm Beach County CommissionerKaren Marcus. Council Member Genco stated she wanted to finish speaking. Council Member Genco stated she called Village Manager Couzzo to find out why they were looking at annexing Coral Cove Park. She stated he told her the reason was kids were having beer parties, they were making trouble, and the nearby condominiums were having trouble because by thetime Palm Beach County got there, the kids were already gone. Council Member Genco stated she suggested to Mr. Couzzo the V illage do a Mutual Aid Agreement. She stated there was no feed back until Mayor Humpage said it at the meeting four months later. Mayor Humpage stated no one had the answerto that until the week priorwhen he met with Commissioner C~ Minutes - VillageCouncilRegulazMeeting 11/09/06 Page 10 Marcus and there was no cost. Council Member Genco stated that was not her point. MayorHumpage stated how could someone respond when there was no answer to be • given. CouncilMember Genco stated ifthey were lookingatthe annexation atthat point ittime, they should have been lookingatthe fiscal responsibilities the Village would have as aresult ofthatannexation.Shwtated she asked Mr. Couzzo at a that timewhatthe responsibilitieswere, she did not receive a response, and it took two more conversations with him before he had the courtesy ofdiscussing it with her at which time the real reason the Village was doing itwas forPolice Patrol. She stated she suggestedthey do aMutual Aid Agreementwhich was whathappened. Mayor Humpage pointed out they would have also picked up three acres of green space. Council Member Genco stated there were eight staffmembers there. Mayor Humpage stated there was not eightpeople, there was two ofthem. Council Member Genco apologized and stated he was right. She listed Assistant Village Manager RobertGarlo, CommunityDevelopmentDirectorHarding,and Mayor Humpage. She stated the other five attendees, were from Palm Beach County. She stated her issue was she asked for information and she never gotthe courtesy ofaresponse.Council Member Genco stated she wanted a response because she wanted to know where they were going for the taxpayers. Mayor Humpage stated they were not going anywhere with out Council's consent. Council MemberGenco stated ifthe Village Managerhad responded perhaps they would have gotten somewhere. She commentedthey ended upwith the Mutual Aid Agreementwhich was very good. She stated she had questions in June and on the 2°d ofJanuary because the different Boazds requested information on the Charterand the • Sunshineruleswhich ScottHawkinsdidaneducationalsession. Shestatedthe different Boazd Members wanted to attend those meetings and she got no response. She stated on the 20`h and the 24`h she followed up and he nevertold anyone about it, fom~ex Village Clerk Gwen Carlisle cal led and informed them and that was why there were so few people from the boards. Council Member Genco referred to October 10, 2006 and pointed out as a result of the budgetthis yeaz Council decidedto lookatwhat theirhurricane expenseswere for theirHun-icane expense and she asked for information from the Acting Village Manager Gazlo. She stated she wanted to know what the total hurricane costs were and what the gross costs before reimbursement was. She stated Mr. Gazlo had that memorandum done on October 13, 2006 and it was on V illage Manager Couzzo's desk uNil October 31, 2006. Council Member Watkins stated he was on vacation. Council Member Genco stated he was gone on the I 1 `h, 12`h° and 13`h; onthe 13`h Assistant Village Manager Gazlo hand delivered the response to him and it took weeks to get to her. She stated when she asked for it, Mr. Garlo was blamed for giving itto Village Manager Couzzo late. Council Member Watkins stated she would take issuewith that. Council Member Genco stated yes, why should Mr. Gazlo be blamedforit. • 10 Minutes -Village CouncilRegularMeeting 11/09/06 Page 11 CouncilMemberGencoreferred to September28, 2006. Council MemberWatkins stated shethought this was inappropriate. She described it as apublic grillingwith no • opportunityto respond. MayorHumpage commented ifCouncil MemberGenco wanted to vent, he did not think it was appropriate to do it at the meeting. He stated for what it was worth, he felt the Council has been kept informed by the Village Managerandhewassurehemademistakes withthenumberofthingshehad to do and he was sure he did not always get back to every request. Council Member Genco asked how often was someone not to respond. Mayor Humpage stated he did not know what to tell her. He stated he runs into Council Member Watkins and Vice Mayor Paterno all the time at the Village Hall and he did not always send e-mailsbut he continually made phone calls when he had questio ns; or he would ask the Village Manager ifhe could speak to a department head. Mayor Humpage stated the Village Manager was accountab le to them but he had a number ofthings on his plate everyday. He stated he would expect a response was required by him buthe wouldthinkCouncil intheirown conscience would contact the Village Manager. Hepointed outhe always bumped into Vice MayorPaterno and Council Member W atkins at the Vil lage Hall who were also trying to get answers to theirown questions. He commented it was Council Members' responsibilityto contact and get information and if it fell in a hole, or ifthe information was n of received in 10 days, he would find outwhy. Council Member Genco asked what happened the last time she did that. She pointed out Mayor Humpage stated it was a Sunshineviolation. Mayor Humpage stated that had nothing to do with something from Mr. Couzzo. • Council Member Genco statedyes itdid and specified it had something to do with October 10, 2006. Mayor Humpage expressed he did not want to go there and that was not the case; he did not think she had to go there nor did he. He stated his point was they were beating the dog to death from March 2005 and now she was upset, she was comingout, and she was going back a year and a half ago. Council Member Genco stated she was not angry. MayorHumpage stated these issues were done and overwith and Council needed to make a consolidated effort to work towards the betterment of the Counci 1. Council Member Genco stated Council made a decision October 26, 2006 and they were given an agenda which stated the Items in the Regular Council meeting were for discussion only. MayorHumpage stated no and specified it was in the Closed Door Session. Council Member Watkins stated that was the notice. Council Member Genco stated they were also given a memorandum a day before the Special meeting saying it was fordiscussion only. Mayor Humpage stated it was. Council Member Genco stated she went into the meeting and found out they would be voting on a ratio o f what the salaries were versus the revenues. She pointed out omitted from the salary benefits were things such as Insurance and Pension benefits. She commented that was not an accurate ratio. She pointed out she asked for that and she noted to the V illage Manager that Council did not have enough information to make an educated vote. She • 11 Minutes -Village CouncilRegulazMeeting 11/09/06 Page 12 stated Village Manager Couzzo responded itwas for discussion and Council was not voting on it. • Mayor Humpage stated that was completely incorrect. Council Member Watkins pointedoutthediscussionwasregazdingthePolice BenevolentAssociationandthe agenda clearly stated "Discussion and Possible Action".She commented this was not fair and Council MemberGenco had to be accurate in what she was saying. Council Member Watkins emphasized the agenda stated "Discussion and Possible Action" and discussion regazdingthe Fire Departmentwas included. C ouncil MemberGenco stated the public agendastated discussion andthatwas all the noticethepublic received. She stated she was only concerned aboutwhatthepublic got. Mayor Humpage asked ifthey weretalkingabouttheExecutive Session orthe Special Meeting. Council Member Genco stated they were talking about the Regulaz Council Meeting. She explainedthe Village Council Special meeting was where they do action afterwazds. She stated she asked V illage Manager Couzzo ifthey were goin g to be voting on the Communication Workers ofAmerica only. She stated V illage Manager Couzzo stated yes but instead Council voted on Information on the Fire Department and the General Employees. Council Member Watkins commented Council Member Genco knew they were voting that night. Mayor Humpage stated she knew and pointed out it was on the a agenda. Council Member Genco stated ifthey had the Pension information and the Insurance information, Councilwouldhavevoted differently. Vice MayorPaternocommented there had been a lack ofcommunication on occasion. He stated he agreedwith • Council MemberGenco on that issue but they had a choice to maketherightdecision and do the rightthing forthe Village and move on and ifitdid notget rectified then they would take care ofwhat ever they had to do and let everyone know that communication is the most importantthing here. He stated they shou ld do something about it and move forward and if it did not get better, she could do what she had to do but to keep going on at this point would alienate otherpeople she would rathernot. Council Member Genco stated although she respected her fel low Council Members, she was a financial consultant, a Principal, former C ontroller ofa Bank, and an expert in financial matters who testified all over the world, and had a very high level of fiscal responsibility. She believed there was information that had to be provided to makefiscallyresponsibledecisionsandshewouldnotchangethatbelief regardlessof whether or not her fellow Council Members thought they were important and she apologized to them ifthey did not understand why she felt it was important . She stated ifthey asked herquestions she would explain itto them. Vice Mayor Paterno stated he was the one person out of the 4 of them who was more inclined to agree with her on some things but he was saying if it did not get better he would support her to fix it but he would rather not go on about it and starting today if it did not change immediately then she could bring it up and they would do something ifthey had to. He stated he agreed to some extent that V illage Manager Couzzo and • 12 Minutes -Village CouncilRegulazMeeting 11/09/06 Page 13 staffneeded to communicate better with them. He stated he was not sure where she was going when she kept on going on about it. Council • MemberGenco statedthe Village Managerhadthe responsibility toprovidethe information they request, promptly, completely, with out omission and personal interpretation. MayorHumpage stated he agreed. He asked ifthey could agree to have aprotocol to follow. He stated ifthey were going to hold the Village Manager accountable for information, the information they sought needed to g o through the Village Manager. Council MemberGenco stated thatwas thepolicy. Mayor Humpage stated it was the policy set by the Charter. He commented he knew one of the issues she was upset about was the issue with the "hurricane numbers." Council member Genco stated that was one of many. Mayor Humpage referred to when she asked Assistant Village Manager Gazlo for the information when Village Manager Couzzo was on vacation and suggested ifthe Village Manager was away and a Council Member had a request, they should send him amemo and Ccthe staffrnember ofthe department involved. Council Member Genco stated it was sent to the Village Manager. Mayor Humpage stated his understandingwasMr. Couzzoneverreceivedtherequest forthehurricane.She stated Mr. Garlo told her Village Manager Couzzo got the request,as well as, the response when it was placed on his desk on October 13, 2006. Mayor Humpage stated he agreed but he did not want to get into the details. He explained he spoke to Mr. Gazlo about it and there were errors in the report and that was why it was delayed because the Finance Department did not agree with it. Council Member Genco stated that happened afterthe fact; she called Finance to find that out. Mayor Humpage . stated they were hearing two different explanations. He stated they needed to follow the protocol. Council Member Genco explained after she got the response and she sent an e-mailto VillageManagerCouzzosayingthatwasnotsuf£icient information, then he brought the memo to Finance at the end of the month. Mayor Humpage stated this Council was entitled to any information they wanted and it should be supplied to them in a timely matter. He stated if Council M embers wanted informationthey shouldtun itthroughthe ViilageManage r, and Cc the department heads, andthe VillageManager was accountable because he would be aware ofit atthe same time the information was being requested. Council Member Genco stated she does not send it to the department heads because she feltitwastheVillageManager'sresponsibilitytorespond. MayorHumpage stated Council should followtheprotocol and the Village Managerand staffwould be required to follow up on their side and ifthat did not occur, he would want to know. Council Member Watkins asked Council Member Watkins to be very careful with the comments and the accusations said in thepublic because she personally felt some of them were coming very close to slanderous and she as a Council Memberwould not want to be apart of a lawsuit. She commented she did not know Council Member Genco'sdailybusinessbutshehadahardtimebelievingthe VillageManagerwould intentionally not give her answers if for no other reason than not to be held up to public ridicule. She stated they had to work together and move forwazd and be fair 13 Minutes -Village Council RegularMeeting 11/09/06 Page 14 and operate under the conditions they could best operate. She stated she had registered the complaint about the information many times and commented she felt • staffwould workvery hard. She pointed outthe problem she was seeing was staffhad limitedtime,and wereboggeddownwithincessantquestions. She stated they concerned about the accuracy ofreports and made an extra effort to ensure it was accurate. She mentioned they sometimes include d Attorney Hawkinswhile making sure it was accurate and commented it was exhausting. She asked Council Member Genco to be careful with hercomments, and letthem work withthe Village Manager. Shepointed outby Charterthey should go throughthe Village Managerandthey all agreed by policy ifthey had aproblem with the Village Managerthey should go to the Mayor. She commented she did not want to be apart ofaccusationsthat were faceless and which could open the Village up to a lawsuit. Council MemberGenco stated as a Publ is Official she was worried the lack of information was interfering with herresponsibility ofmakingan informeddecision. Vice MayorPaterno stated they needed to come up with a way they could get the information everyone needed. He pointed out Village Manager Couzzo tries to find the information but by the time he goes to someone and gets the information and responds, it takes a while. He asked how they could solve the information problem withoutoversteppingtheirability. He stated sometimes he soughtthe information himselfbut he did nottell them whatto do. He stated they should come up with something where they could go through the Village Manager and get the accurate information. He stated sometimes he would ask for specific information but Village Manager Couzzo would not understand exactly what he was looking for and by the time he received what he wanted it was a week later. Vice Mayor Paterno stated the • problemwashewasnotgettingthe informationhewantedbutwhatMr. Couzzo thoughthewanted. He stated they needed to do a better job with communication and he wanted ideas because he did not want itto continue. Mayor Humpage suggested when Council requested information, they could put a deadline on itor state they wanted it in a certain amount oftime and ifthere was a problem, staffneeded to know Council had to have the courtesy ofa response stating they were working on it. Council Member Genco stated she usually gave 10 business days and ifthere was aproblem they should call her. Vice Mayor Paterno stated that was a good idea and referredto what Council MemberGencowas saying earlier. He commentediftheVillageManagerdidnothavetheanswerheshould atleastcontact Council Member Genco to say he did not know or what ever the reason was. Attorney Hawkins stated he intended to address some ofthe issues in a memo he wasworking on. VII. NEW BUSINESS a 14 Minutes -Village CouncilRegularMeeting 11/09/06 Page 15 11. RESOLUTION 11-06/07 - A Resolution of the Village Council of the Village of • Tequesta, Palm Beach County, Florida, Approving a Memorandum of Understanding for participation ofthe Tequesta Police Department in the Palm Beach County Multi-Agency Violent Crimes Task Force and Authorizing the Mayor to ezecute the same on behalf of the Village. ChiefMcCollom statedthe Village were already aparticipant inthe violentcrimes task force underthe signatureofChiefAllison and they requestedthatthe Village refresh itwith his signature nowthathe hastaken reigns ofthePolice Department. Mayor Humpage asked ifthere were any questions from Council for ChiefMcCollom. MOTION: Council Member Watkins moved to approve RESOLUTION 11-06/07; Vice Mayor Paterno seconded the motion; Motion passed 4-0 Council Member Genco asked ifthere was any financial impact from this. Chief McCollom statedthere was no obligation onthe Village'spart andtheirdetectivewould betheLiaison Officer in the case they would need any assistance fin the Task Force. He statedwith the Village being aparticipant they could call upon those resources which the Task Force was a conglomerate of several agencies in Palm beach County and theSheriff's Department.Heexplainedtheyworkedonprimarilyviolentcrimesand were very busy now inthe middle and SouthpartofPalm Beach County. He mentioned tohis understanding the Village have used them in thepast on a robbery thatturned into ahomicide in Broward. He explained those services were made with no charge to the Village and itcostsnothing to be aparticipant. • Council Member Genco asked ifitwas a reci rocal ofarran ementwhere fifth P tYPe g ey needed the helpthey could call on them andthey could call on the Village. Chief McCollom statedthey did notneed the Village'srnan power. He explained the way the Village was situated and the way the agreeme nt was set up because they would liason with them they would not have to reciprocate which meant they would have to help them. 12. IX. ANY OTHERMATTERS -None MayorHumpagethankedeveryone forattending andwishedeveryone ahappyThanks Gn+ing. K ADJOURNMENT MOTION_ Council Member Watkins, seconded by Council Member Genco, and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. 15 Minutes -Village Council RegularMeeting 11/09/06 Page 16 Respectfully submitted, fem. ~'~.~ ~~- SharifaTharpe OfficeAssistant • • 16