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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Miscellaneous_10/26/1995_Finance & Administration Committee r VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA Post Office Box 3273 • 357 Tequesta Drive Tequesta, Florida 33469 -0273 • (407) 575 -6200 3 Fax: (407) 575 -6203 o A 4 f,OH COOS VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 26 1995 I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The Tequesta Finance and Administration Committee held a regularly scheduled meeting at the Village Hall, 357 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on Thursday, October 26, 1995. The meeting was called to order at 4:43 P.M. by Chairman Joseph Capretta. A roll call was taken by Betty Laur, the Recording Secretary. In attendance were: Chairman Joseph Capretta and Co- Chairman Ron T. Mackail. Also in attendance were: Councilmember Elizabeth Schauer, Councilmember Carl C. Hansen, Vice Mayor William E. Burckart, Village Manager Thomas G. Bradford, Village Clerk Joann Manganiello, and Department Heads. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chairman Capretta proposed an addition to the Agenda regarding the Jupiter water rate situation. Chairman Capretta explained that some of those present at the meeting would attend a water rate hearing at Jupiter at 6 P.M. where it was anticipated that Jupiter would approve a charge of $8.00+ to all Tequesta customers, necessitating a water rate increase by Tequesta effective immediately on all water Recycled Paper FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 26, 1995 PAGE 2 ---------------------------------- customers to be accumulated into an escrow account until settlement of the lawsuit, at which time it would be returned to the customers if Tequesta won the case, or given to Jupiter if the case were lost. Therefore, authorization must be granted to Village Manager Bradford to prepare the necessary ordinance to accomplish that and to present the ordinance to the Village Council at their November 9, 1995 meeting. Chairman Capretta suggested the Tequesta residents be notified by a newspaper article and also by an explanation in the village newsletter. Chairman Capretta explained that the other Councilmembers had been invited to the meeting primarily for discussion of the 5 -year projected costs of the Village and the fact that interest payments on borrowed funds must be added. The other agenda items were reviewed and no other changes were made. Notion was made by Co- Chairman Nackail to approve the Agenda as discussed. Notion was seconded by Vice Mayor Burckart. The vote on the motion was: Joseph N. Capretta - for Ron T. Mackail - for The motion was therefore passed and adopted. III. REVIEW OF LIFE SAFETY AND CODE COMPLIANCE EVALUATION REPORT Chairman Capretta explained that the existing municipal facilities were in violation of the Village Codes as well as State Codes and that correction of the violations would cost approximately $75,000. Ms. Lisa Lemanowicz, Architect with Gee and Jenson, explained that ADA items which were important to address were access to the buildings, which would be accomplished by redesign of the facilities, and general access to public services, i.e., lowered counters to FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 26, 1995 PAGE 3 provide access by individuals in wheel chairs, minimal changes to the bathrooms, etc. Life Safety items which needed to be addressed were improved ingress and egress via full -width doors, and installation of audible and visual alarms. Some fire rating issues also required attention. Mr. Tom Orlowski, Architect, explained that it was not necessary to provide top -of -the -line items at this point, but that cost- cutting measures could be utilized in order to provide temporary compliance until redesigned facilities were constructed, and that the ADA did not police municipalities for strict compliance but rather for intent. Chairman Capretta recommended that only urgent items involving safety be addressed at the present time and that temporary solutions be made, pending a decision regarding new or remodeled facilities. Councilmember Hansen explained that in his business, experience with ADA had been that they allowed 2 to 3 years for compliance with priority items on their list and would wait for compliance with other items. Councilmember Hansen asked whether the architects could determine priority items for compliance which would be important to the safety of Tequesta residents and which would satisfy compliance with the law. Mayor Mackail commented that because the Village was in a state of transition, he would favor accomplishing only immediate requirements at this time. IV. REVIEW OF PRELIMINARY DRAFT OF VILLAGE'S MASTER PLAN AND FACILITY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM Co -Chair Mayor Mackail expressed his opinion that the following actions should be taken: formulation of a plan for redesign of Village facilities, a decision made whether to stay at the present site or move to another location within the Village, and establishment of a plan for increasing the tax base of the Village in order to pay for the new facilities. Mayor Mackail cautioned that residents did not realize the condition of the present facilities and that FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 26, 1995 PAGE 4 care must be taken to make the residents aware of the problems. Councilmember Hansen recommended a master plan, and commented that the centralized garage might be utilized for temporary facilities during new construction or remodeling. Chairman Capretta suggested that the current facility could be used for a public safety building, and that either a new town hall could be constructed on the park site next door, or that all of the other Village operations could be moved to another site. The size of the present building was discussed (5,000 S.F.) versus the square footage needed for a Public Safety facility (22,000 S.F.). Discussion ensued regarding whether the best and lowest cost strategy would be for the present site to be utilized for Public Safety and the other functions to be relocated, or to use the present site for the municipal facilities and relocate the Public Safety facilities. Councilmember Hansen expressed concern that the Village would be expending large sums in order to go to reverse osmosis. Chairman Capretta explained that the water Department could support that project on their own and could borrow money, issue water bonds, and pay those bonds. Chairman Capretta commented that he favored Public Safety facilities at the present site, stating that it would be easier to move the other departments which could all utilize office space, that Public Safety involved special use on land owned by the municipality, that the present site was in the center of town and the response time would not be affected, and that costs should be less to remodel the existing building than to construct new buildings. Chairman Capretta stated that he hoped to achieve what was needed at a cost of 2 -3 million dollars rather than 5 million. Village Manager Bradford commented that the political ramifications must be considered, and that most residents felt secure knowing that fire and police were stationed north of the railroad tracks. other suggestions were the possibility of moving municipal facilities to Lighthouse Gallery if they should vacate, purchasing Gallery Square FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 26, 1995 PAGE 5 ---------------------------------- South, building a new Public Safety building on the present site and moving the existing building to the park site next door, and saving money by placing municipal facilities into storefronts, using the old K -Mart building as a temporary site. Village Manager Bradford commented that a meeting room was necessary. The architects presented five different conceptual site plans depicting utilization of the present site, as well as space /area requirements, estimated construction costs, phasing considerations, e.g. rental of portable office space, contingency, and miscellaneous costs and professional fees. All of the plans incorporated a two -story Village Hall, with different designs for police and fire facilities, and some which included public safety apartments. The concept of public safety apartments was explained by Village Manager Bradford, who commented that in December, FAU would be breaking ground for a new university at Abacoa, and the Village might be able to lure students to work as police officers and fire fighters for room, board, and spending money while attending college, and a bonus of money for college at the end of their 4 -year commitment. Village Manager Bradford explained that he was trying to find ways of providing able- bodied personnel at lowered costs, and that he could control the cost of building the apartments, however the cost of providing personnel was unknown. Village Clerk Manganiello explained that in each of the conceptual site plans, the difference in cost between new construction and salvaging the existing buildings was approximately $200,000 to $300,000 less to remodel existing buildings; however, additional costs must be added to the remodeling scenarios because remodeling would necessitate adding support to buildings which were not originally built to carry a second story, so that the cost of either method might be equal. Village Clerk Manganiello advised that research would be done regarding hurricane ratings, which FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 26, 1995 PAGE 6 ---------------------------------- must also be considered. The architects explained that the existing buildings would have to be hurricane hardened, which meant reroofing, so that in case of extreme winds the building would not uplift, and shuttering of all glass. Additional hurricane hardening cost was estimated by Architect Orlowski at $100,000 to $150,000 for the existing City Hall in the site plans where it was placed in the middle of the property, or $150,000 to $200,000 in the plans where it was located in the front. village Manager Bradford stated that the present building would not withstand a 4 or 5 category hurricane. Discussion ensued regarding the fact that Public Safety facilities must withstand any conditions to the extent possible. Chair Capretta commented that a plan needed to be developed which would utilize the present site for Public Safety facilities and would move all municipal operations into nearby existing office space off site. Village Manager Bradford clarified that direction from the Committee for this project was to develop alternative site plans locating Public Safety only on the existing site, with or without public safety apartments, and moving all non- public safety functions off site. Mayor Mackail inquired regarding progress on the centralized garage project. Architect Orlowski responded that prequalification for contractors had been completed. Chairman Capretta briefly discussed the 5 -year projection under the assumption that the tax base would rise 3% each year in order to meet the $400,000,000 goal, and that taxes would need to be increased 5% each year over the next 5 years. Chair Capretta stated that if the village facilities cost only $3,000,000,000 to $4,000,000,000 that addition of interest to service debt would make the tax increases more than 5 *, possibly up to 8% each year. FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 26, 1995 PAGE 7 Councilmember Hansen questioned how the size of buildings and number of parking spaces had been arrived at in the different conceptual site plans. Architect Orlowski explained that the number of parking spaces had been based on square footage of the buildings. Architect Orlowski responded to Councilmember Schauer that the existing village Hall could be improved to withstand a category 5 hurricane, however it would cost money. V. REVIEW OF THE PROPOSED TEQUESTA INVESTMENT POLICY This agenda item was not discussed. VI. REVIEW OF PROPOSED RESOLUTION DESIGNATING DEPOSITORIES FOR DEPOSIT OF VILLAGE FUNDS This agenda item was not discussed. VII. ANY OTHER MATTERS No other matters were discussed. VIII. COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITIZENS Betty Nagy questioned whether the village no longer planned to take over the fire department station on Seabrook Road. village Manager Bradford responded that as long as Tequesta had a stand -alone fire department, that station would not be utilized because it was very inadequate, and would only be advantageous if used as part of a regional system. Peggy Virhoven complimented the committee on their proposed options. FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 26, 1995 PAGE 8 ---------------------------------- wade Griest questioned why the Village did not build on the parking lot they owned next door, to which Chairman Capretta responded that apparently the parking lot had been left to the Village by someone who had conditioned ownership on the requirement that it must be used for public purposes, however the ownership situation was unclear. Co -Chair Mackail and Village Clerk Manganiello left the meeting at 5:34 P.M. Architect Orlowski made final comments that by maxing out the existing site there would be further hidden costs for additional square footage involving retention areas, stairs and elevators for two -story buildings, etc. VIII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 5:37 P.M. upon motion by Councilmember Hansen, seconded by Councilmember Schauer, and unanimously carried. Respectfully submitted, Betty Laur ATTEST: Recording Secretary Joann Mangani to Village Clerk DATE APPROVED: