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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Special Meeting_07/24/2001 VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA Post Office Box 3273 250 Tequesta Drive, Suite 300 Tequesta, Florida 33469-0273 (561) 575-6200 Fax: (561) 575-6203 VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA VILLAGE COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES JULY 24, 2001 I. Call to Order and Roll Call The Tequesta Village Council held a meeting at the Tequesta Recreation Center, 399 Seabrook Road, Tequesta, Florida, on Tuesday, July 24, 2001. • The meeting was called to order at 7:06 P.M. by Mayor Geraldine Genco. A roll call was taken by Mary Wolcott, Village Clerk. Councilmembers present were: Mayor Geraldine Genco, Vice Mayor Joseph N. Capretta, Councilmember Basil E. Dalack, Councilmember Russell von Frank, and Councilmember Sharon Walker. Also in attendance were: Village Manager Michael R, Couzzo, Village Attorney John C. Randolph, and Village Clerk Mary Wolcott and Department Heads. II. Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Geraldine Genco gave the invocation and led the pledge of allegiance. III. Approval of Agenda Mayor Genco announced the following rules in order to accomplish the goal of ending the meeting as close to between 6:00 and 6:15 p.m. as possible: Council people would be limited to three minutes to speak on the subject matter; citizens would be limited to speaking on point for the topic item only and limited to one mmute. Recycled Paper Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2001 Page 2 Councilmember von Frank made a motion to approve the agenda as submitted. Councilmember Dalack seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5-0 vote. IV. Communications from Citizens Harold Taylor, 13 Chapel Court, indicated the Village wous ahanve and h twig, land pl g~ million invested upon completion of the roed old back $1.6 million would building demolition; and if parcel C we remain, which was enough for the taxpayers. V, New Business • A. Discussion of JMZ Parcel Swap Proposal Village Manager Couzzo indicated that the prior evensn~gP o6 •erties, had received a fax from John Zucc nebh t~ Village Councl. ~• outlining the terms for consideratio y rovided to the Couzzo indicated this document had been p Councilmembers the previous evening. Mayor Genco called for any comments or questions from the Councilmember ent d the Village Zuccarelli's letter. Councilmember von Frank comet had owned a building and property on which the Village had been paying taxes for over two years while Mr. Zuccarelli had been receiving the income. The Village was paying for the street, water, sewer, lighting, landscaping, and partial demolition in order for Mr. Zuccarelli to build. Councilmember von Frank indicated a e Manag r the Council to think very carefully about grvmg the V g instructions if possible tonight, to proceed with demolition of the Village's building. Councilmember von Frank indicated many people had indicated their feeling to him the first thing thaTe dun b~ yor was to demolish the building and then to have a refe Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2001 Page 3 ----------------------- Genco responded that Councilmember Von Frank was bringing to the forefront the issue on demolition of the building with one of the points he brought up was continuing to manage and receive monies from the people who were leasing. Mayor Genco commented it was her understanding from reading the agreement that as of March 2001 the Village could demolish building any time, that subsequent to that period of time it was dependent on the CO issued for building A, the building currently under construction. Village Attorney Randolph indicated that was his understanding also but stated he would like to call on Peter Holton of his office to confirm any questions relating to the agreement since Mr. Holton was more intimately involved with this document than Mr. Randolph. Attorney Holton explained that the agreement read that it was JMZ's obligation to move the tenants out of • the building by February or March 2000, and the idea was to transition them mto the new building which was now under construction. Attorney Holton explained that had not been done because various reasons the time frame on construction of that building was pushed back, and Mr. Zuccarelli had never transitioned those tenants out of the existing building into the new building. Mr. Holton advised the Village was the owner of the existing building and the owner of all of the leases and all those tenants should be there on a month-to-month basis since the Village owned all those leases and they had now all expired. Mr. Holton explained the Village should be able to give the tenants notice, and there were certain notice provisions with which the Village would have to comply to terminate the leases. Once the leases were terminated the tenants should leave the space and if they did not leave the Village could bring an action to evict them and regain possession of the premises. Once all the tenants were out, since the Village owned the building and had rights under the agreement to demolish it, the Village should be able to demolish it shortly after that. Mayor Genco stated it was her understanding that there would be nothing to prohibit the Village from giving notice and executing an order to demolish the building, which was verified by Attorney Holton. Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2ooi Page 4 Mayor Genco stated it was also her understanding that the building was tied to the continuation of payment of taxes for the third, or eastern, parcel; and once the building was demolished there was no requirement for the Village to continue to pay taxes on the third parcel. Attorney Holton verified that was true, that the way the agreements worked was the Village's obligation to pay taxes was on the lease; that the Village had a lease on the land under the building which would end when the building was demolished and the rubble hauled away, as soon as that happened when the lease ended the obligation to pay taxes would end as well. Vice Mayor Capretta indicated that what Mr. Holton said was technically correct, and questioned the estimated time for Mr. Zuccarelli to obtain a CO for the new building. JeffNewell, Director of Community Development, explained that Mr. • Zuccarelli was currently in the process of correcting the stairway on the south side of the building, and as soon as that was completed and accepted by the Fire Department, the CO could be issued that building, which he estimated as 21 days. Vice Mayor Capretta noted that one problem was the agreement with JMZ, but another was that these tenants were businessmen in the Village and the Village would not want to give notice to move out when they were 21 days away from moving into their new building. Mayor Genco commented the focus now was on demolition of the building and if the Vice Mayor was proposing a deadline that would be dealt with next. Mayor Capretta commented when the date for the deadline was picked, 21 days should be added to finish the building, 30 days for the tenants to move out, then time to hire a demolition contractor, so the earliest practical date would be in October. Motion• Mayor Genco commented that the Vice Mayor's point would be covered next; that now she had a proposal on the floor and i requested a motion that the Village Council was agreed to deliver Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2001 Page 5 a notice to have the building demolished, and asked if she had that motion. Councilmember von Frank agreed to make the motion. Village Attorney Randolph interrupted to advise it would not be proper to deliver a notice since the Village had the right to demolish the building, that notice needed to be given to the tenants. Mayor Genco re-worded the motion to state that notice be given to the tenants of the Village's intent to demolish the building. Vice Mayor Capretta commented his point should be considered first. Councilmember Dalack seconded the motion for purposes of discussion. Councilmember Dalack stated that Vice Mayor Capretta was correct, and pursuant to the status of the Certificate of Occupancy the appropriate time of notice from the date the Certificate of Occupancy was issued, he moved to amend • the motion to begin demolition at such time as the tenants had been given notice. Mayor Genco stated she believed that could lead to a catch 22 because the building was now 9 months roughly behind in getting a CO and if something else happened, deliberate or Act of God, that the building did not get its CO, and questioned if the Village wanted to keep going until the building got its CO or her understanding was the Village had the right as owner of the building to let the tenants know they were being given notice and the tenants could come back if they had a hardship to request for an extension of time. Mayor Genco stated that hardship could be unrelated to them not being able to move into that new building. Attorney Holton stated there was no requirement to wait for the CO to be issued, but there were notice requirements that must be given under Florida law, such as minimum time periods. Mayor Genco commented her focus right now was to issue the notice, to allow the people who needed an extension to let the Village Council know their hardship and the Council could decide on the extension time. Village Attorney Randolph worded the motion - to give notice as required by law for them to evict the premises. • Councilmember von Frank indicated he made that motion. Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2ooi Page 6 During discussion of the motion, Vice Mayor Capretta commented the motion did not contain a date. Mayor Genco responded that the motion was to give notice effective expediently as tomorrow or next week or whatever length of time it took the Village=s attorneys to draft the proper notice. Vice Mayor Capretta commented the attorney had pointed out there was a legal requirement of what the minimum date was that could be given, and you couldn't say to do it tomorrow. Attorney Holton agreed. Attorney Randolph stated the motion was to give notice as required by law. Vice Mayor Capretta asked what thatwas, to which Attorney Randolph responded it was probably 30 days. Attorney Holton advised on a month to month lease when notice was received the tenant got to finish that month, and the time . period could be anywhere from 32 to 60 days. Vice Mayor Capretta commented that if the Village did not want to have a series of appeals since it was apparent that the CO should be issued in approximately 20 days, his position was to give notice to the tenants that they would be evicted by October 30 which would allow time. Attorney Holton commented he believed the bestway would be to give the tenants a period of time stated in the notice, 60 days or 90 days. Attorney Holton advised that although everybody wanted to move quickly but the Village would be better off from a legal perspective to give the tenants more time to make plans to get out, so notice could be given in a couple of days that stated they were to vacate the premises by a stated date and to state they could come back and discuss it with the Council. Attorney Holton recommended giving more than the minimum notice since this had gone on for a long time and the tenants had probably heard a million times they had to leave butwere allowed to stay, and catching them flat-footed would not be best for the Village from a legal perspective. Mayor Genco suggested September 30. Vice Mayor Capretta suggested October 30 so • that there would not be a series of businessmen coming in to Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2001 Page ~ appeal to the Council that they waited all this time to move and why would the Village throw them out. Vice Mayor Capretta predicted that when given authority to hire a demolition contractor the Village Manager might find the earliest that could be done might be December 15 or some such date. Mayor Genco stated the date before the Council was September 30 and asked if anyone agreed. Vice Mayor Capretta indicated he had recommended October 30 because he preferred to avoid feedback. Mayor Genco commented she had recommended September 30 so she was seeing if anyone agreed with her. There was no response. Mayor Genco commented no one agreed with her on September, Councilmember von Frank stated he agreed. Mayor Genco stated one person agreed with her; Councilmember • Dalack agreed with Vice Mayor Capretta. Councilmember Dalack expressed his opinion it would be appropriate to give as much time as possible for a merchant to relocate without further impeding the process of the building going down. Mayor Genco asked what date Councilmember Walker preferred; Councilmember Walker stated she would choose October 30. Mayor Genco stated that there was a motion on the floor to give proper legal notice with a deadline of October 30, Councilmember von Frank had made the motion. Attorney Randolph advised the maker of the motion should amend the motion to include the date of October 30. Councilmember von Frank amended the motion to give proper legal notice with a deadline of October 30. Councilmember Dalack seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5-0 vote. Mayor Genco commented it was her understanding that the date the building came down that paying taxes on the third parcel was no longer an issue, and that Mr. Zuccarelli had asked that the Village give him assurances on that. Attorney Holton advised Mr. Zuccarelli could • be sent a letter to that effect, although it was stating the obvious since Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2001 Page 8 it was in the agreement. Mayor Genco commented another issue brought up by Mr. Zuccarelli was the construction of Main street. Village Manager Couzzo indicated Community Development Department was working on development of bids so that Main Street could be completed as quickly as possible, and Main Street would be the responsibility of the Village. The Village Manager explained that the cost of Bridge Road would be researched and both those projects would come back to the Village Council for approval. Councilmember Walker noted that number 9 and number 10 of Mr. Zuccarelli's letter contained time deadlines for those two items, 60 days for Main Street and 90 days for Bridge Road, and asked Mr. Holton if that needed to be addressed in order not to be locked into a time frame that could not be met. Attorney Holton indicated he could • speak to number 9 since the agreement simply said the Village would construct Main Street and did not give a time deadline and that included all improvements--paving, drainage, curbs, etc., but there was no time deadline so he believed the 60 days was not a time deadline with which the Village had to comply. Attorney Holton advised the agreements he was involved with did not cover Bridge Road so he could not speak to that issue. Mayor Genco indicated she did not know Mr. Zuccarelli was involved in the Bridge Road improvement but did not think the Village had a contract obligating them as far as performance. Attorney Holton indicated he was not aware of anything. Mayor Genco commented then the only issue the Village would address with Mr. Zuccarelli was the one for which there was a contract, which was on Main Street, and since that was in process that would only be an informative response. Attorney Holton commented he would write that letter. Attorney Holton asked the Village Manager if he was aware of any agreements with respect to Bridge Road, because he had heard discussion about it over the years. Village Manager Couzzo responded he was not aware of any specific agreements and he and Mr. Zuccarelli had had a number of • conversations regarding it. Mr. Couzzo commented that it had gone Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2001 Page 9 from progressing along in phases with development of the entire parcel to what was now before the Council, 90 days. Vice Mayor Capretta commented the only reason Bridge Road was involved was the parking on bridge road contributed to the parking for the whole site but he did not believe there was any contractural time limits on Bridge Road. Councilmember Dalack asked if Main Street construction could begin before the building was demolished or if that was related. Village Manager Couzzo verified that Main Street could be constructed before the building was demolished. Vice Mayor Capretta. commented Main Street was two thirds done, that it came in from both sides, it just did not have a middle, and the Village tore down enough of the building so there would be plenty of room for Main Street. Mayor Genco stated another item mentioned by Mr. Zuccarelli was partly addressed in his question number four regarding the ECR connections for the water utilities. Mayor Genco stated it was her understanding from conversations a long time ago with Finance Director Jody Forsythe that the Village was owed approximately $52,000 for those ERC connections. Vice Mayor Capretta asked if anyone had a rational explanation for the $36,000 mentioned by Mr. Zuccarelli, and who owed it. Village Manager Couzzo responded Mr. Zuccarelli had indicated there had been a receipt forwarded to the Village, but he had yet to see the receipt. Vice Mayor Capretta commented he had never seen that but Mr. Zuccarelli kept mentioning that specific sum as if he had an invoice or something of that sort. Mayor Genco commented if no one knew what it was then possibly a statement could be made that upon the CO for the building be issued he would owe the Village $52,000 as per the ERC connections and if he had a credit due and provided documentation an offset transaction could be done. Mayor Genco asked for any other ideas for handling this and received no other suggestions; therefore, the Mayor stated the Council was in agreement that was the way it would be handled. The • Mayor stated the contract was written that upon issuance of the CO he Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2ooi Page io had 25.6 ERC's which was equal to $54,528 that was owed and if Mr. Zuccarelli could provide something to show the Village owed him monies the Village would consider it an offset. The Village Attorney advised no action was needed unless the Village Council decided to do something affirmative in regard to those items on which Mr. Zuccarelli was requesting action. Attorney Holton commented that to the extent JMZ collected tax monies from tenants he was supposed to remit that to the Village, so if tenants paid a share of the real estate taxes, so the Village was obligated to pay the taxes but Mr. Zuccarelli was supposed to give the Village tax money that he collected from tenants to the extent he collected it, and Attorney Holton advised that he did not know that anyone had ever asked Mr. Zuccarelli to account for those sums and now was the time to do that. Mayor Genco • commented that around the same time notice was given copies of the existing leases should be obtained and reviewed by the attorney, and if the Village was owed monies they should be paid. Mayor Genco commented the larger issue was the option exercised last August wherein the Village notified Mr. Zuccarelli of the Village's intent to swap Parcel 1, the southwest parcel, for Parcel 2, the northwest parcel. Mayor Genco commented when the notice of intent to swap the Village had increased the size of Parcel 2 to 52,000 square feet or 1.1 acres and along with that the Village owed Mr. Zuccarelli $70,780; and Mr. Zuccarelli had misquoted the amount of money owed. Mayor Genco asked how the Council felt about owning both parcels of land. Councilmember von Frank indicated he was in favor; Vice Mayor Capretta indicated he would be in favor if the price was right; Councilmember Walker indicated she would be in favor if hypothetically the Village could pay for it and the price was fair; Councilmember Dalack indicated he did not know. Mayor Genco commented she would favor owning both pieces of property under the hypothetical scenario. Mayor Genco commented in thinking about • that and where the Village Hall would be located, one of the concepts Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2ooi Page ii that she thought was the vision of the Council was having the Village Hall also become a community center and having it associated with a park. Mayor Genco commented that placing Village Hall on approximately 1.1 acres with a significant amount for parking might not allow the vision of the park. In that case, the Village Hall and Administration area would be built on the northwest parcel if the Village was able to get the option exercised. Vice Mayor Capretta commented Mr. Zuccarelli's letter implied he was willing to swap Parcel A for Parcel D. It was clarified the Village owned the southwest parcel. Mayor Genco asked that the parcels be called northwest and southwest. Vice Mayor Capretta Clarified the Village owned the southwest lot and asked Mr. Zuccarelli if he would swap the northwest lot for the southwest lot plus $70,780; Mr. Zuccarelli's • letter started out that yes, he would do that. Vice Mayor Capretta continued that, however, Mr. Zuccarelli indicated if the Village wanted both parcels he would not sell the other one to them but wanted a 25-year lease, which was an issue for the future. Vice Mayor Capretta expressed his opinion that the Village should tell Mr Zuccarelli they wanted to make the swap, but the issue was whether to do that and then have a referendum on whether to locate Village Hall . at 357 or the northwest lot because if the referendum came out to be 357 there would be no problem--then the Village would ask for their money back and Mr. Zuccarelli would give them a check for $500,000; but if the referendum came out with that northwest lot chosen then there would be the question of whether the Village wanted both lots, which would mean a negotiating squabble with Mr. Zuccarelli. Vice Mayor Capretta commented that the momentum had now changed entirely and the question was to settle that before the referendum or after the referendum. Mayor Genco requested focus on 2 things: Right now the Village owned one parcel of land and her opinion was no matter what happened she would like to continue to own one parcel of land in that plaza. Mayor Genco commented if • there was a referendum and if the residents chose the Village Hall Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2001 Page 12 location at 357 she would like to use the Plaza site for some type of park, art area, fountain area, recreational area, which the Village could use for their Comprehensive Plan requirements because it was a great deal at $477,000, and it was her understanding from reading the agreement that if that land were used for a cultural park, with artwork displayed, that would meet the criteria of the agreement. Attorney Holton commented both parcels were intended to be used by the Village for cultural or civic purposes, but since it was now beyond the two-year period of the agreement, this was uncharted territory and if the Village became the owner of the northwest parcel none of the restrictions in terms of the buy back would go with it. Mayor Genco indicated regardless of whatever parcel the Village ended up with, because there were less restrictions on the northwest parcel if the • Village ended up with the southwest parcel there might be a few issues raised if the Village wanted to utilize it as a cultural park; however, it was her opinion that and Mr Zuccarelli denied the Village using the property as a civic use because he failed to exercise the swap and the Village might be able to successfully argue that. The Village Council would need to agree that they would want to keep one parcel for civic or cultural use. Mayor Genco asked if a motion was needed; Village Attorney Randolph cautioned to be very careful about making a motion that might reverse an action taken previously in regard to the swap. The Village Attorney commented right now the Village had given notice to Mr. Zuccarelli they wanted to swap and he had not moved forward. The Village stood in a certain legal position now and he would be careful about making any motion that implied the Village wanted to do something different than the swap. If the question was if the Village wanted to own the additional parcel as well as the swapped parcel, to which Mayor Genco indicated no, that this was simply conceptual, that whichever parcel the Village owned the Council could be agreed it would be used for some type of civic or cultural use. Councilmember Dalack responded he agreed with the • Village Attorney and that was way beyond what the Council needed to Village Council • Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2ooi Page ~3 do. Councilmember Dalack commented right now the ball was in JMZ's court; the Village had done everything it was obligated to do under the agreement to swap. Councilmember Dalack commented the Village was ready, willing, and able to complete the swap, and was at the closing with the money, and the President of JMZ Tequesta Properties did not show up at the closing. Councilmember Dalack commented that the conditions JMZ wanted to put on the swap were not a part of the original agreement, and he saw no sense in the Village agreeing with those conditions. Mayor Genco indicated she was only trying to determine if the Council agreed they wanted to own a parcel of land at the Plaza. Councilmember Walker commented she personally felt that entire question was premature until Song + Associates came back with all their findings in regard to both potential • sites, and she could not make a determination at this point whether she wanted to continue to own property downtown. Mayor Capretta commented he had been in this for many years and in the last six months he had privately discussed this with Mr. Zuccarelli many times; and Mr. Zuccarelli believed that the Village had not lived up to the agreement; therefore in his letter he put a series of things in so the Village would pay for his problems. Vice Mayor Capretta. commented the current status was that the Village owned a lot downtown and they had just voted to get rid of the building on that Iot; and that the original purpose of the previous Council six years ago was to get rid of that ugly eyesore. Vice Mayor Capretta commented the Council was not going to approve all Mr. Zuccarelli's conditions tonight and the Village Council needed to say to Mr. Zuccarelli they wanted to make the swap and were willing to pay him the $70,000+ and were going to have a referendum to decide if they were going to use the parcel they owned for a municipal center or something else and if he did not want to make the swap it would be built on the southwest lot or at that time ask him to swap, or if the referendum decided it would not be there the Council could consider Mayor Genco's idea of making it into a park. Mayor Genco commented it was her understanding the southwest Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2ooi Page i4 ----------------------- parcel had to have construction started on it by March, which was verified by Attorney Holton. Attorney Holton also verified that if the Village did not start construction on that site that Mr. Zuccarelli was then obligated to exercise an option to purchase that land. Mayor Genco commented that under what the Vice Mayor had laid out there was only one course of action--consider building on the northwest parcel and look for legal pressure to make Mr. Zuccarelli exercise the option for which the Village gave notice last August. Attorney Holton advised that would be suing Mr. Zuccarelli for specific performance of contract. Councilmember Dalack requested the Council not start talking litigation, and agreed with Vice Mayor Capretta's assessment of where things stood. Mayor Genco asked Attorney Holton what would happen if the Village built on the southwest parcel to which Attorney Holton responded Mr. Zuccarelli would have a cause of action to force the Village to sell the property back to him. Mayor Genco commented things must be put in order of precedence, and to her the first precedence was if the Village was going to build at the northwest corner, which was already determined at a workshop. Therefore if the Council was going to take an action tonight with regard to doing anything on a parcel of land at the Plaza then a motion to authorize the attorneys to pursue completion of the swap was needed and was the only course of action open. Vice Mayor Capretta commented the Village should go ahead with the swap without honoring all the financial punishment conditions Mr. Zuccarelli had listed in his letter and if he then refused to swap and the Village decided to build on the parcel they owned he could stop them from doing that, so basically he could stop the Village from building a Village Hall at the Plaza site if he wanted to; although Mr. Capretta indicated he did not believe Mr. Zuccarelli would do that. Attorney Holton commented that Mr. Zuccarelli would certainly argue he had already tried to buy back the southwest parcel from the Village and you didn't build by March 16, Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2001 Page i5 so here's my check and give me the deed, and if the Village did not there would be a lawsuit. Mayor Genco commented Mr. Zuccarelli was ignoring the fact that the Village had exercised their option. Both Mayor Genco and Vice Mayor Capretta agreed that the Village was legally in a better position to pursue the swap. Councilmember von Frank commented Song + Associates were working on a project with Site A and Site B and talking about the Village Hall on the northwest parcel. Vice Mayor Capretta indicated the Village was in a better legal position to pursue the northwest lot and asked the attorney if that was true. Attorney Randolph responded the Village was in a strong legal position to go forward with the swap, they exercised their rights to the swap and had been ready willing and able to close . Councilmember Dalack expressed his opinion the Village should express clearly the extra conditions of financial punishments JMZ wanted to impose were not acceptable and the Village's only obligation was to tender the additional money for the difference in area between the parcels and that the only conditions that applied were the ones in the agreement. Mayor Genco commented that she believed Mr. Zuccarelli was adding the extra conditions because so much time had gone by but it was a cut and dried situation and there was no reason for the Village to do them. Mayor Genco indicated she would like to see a motion tonight to authorize the attorneys to proceed with whatever legal documentations were needed to get the swap done. Village Attorney Randolph advised a motion was not needed to go forward with the swap because that had been done; but if legal action to force the swap to be completed was desired a motion was needed. Discussion ensued. Motion• Vice Mayor Capretta made a motion to have the attorneys proceed with whatever action was necessary to execute the swap. Councilmember von Frank seconded the motion. Arnold Blum, Village Council • Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2ooi Page i6 410 Tequesta Drive, commented the Village was in compliance with the contract, and Mr. Zuccarelli was not, and the Village should hold up the CO until he complied. Village Attorney Randolph commented the Council had already authorized the attorneys to do everything necessary to effectuate the swap, but if they were now asking to do everything legally necessary including litigation, then that needed to be made clear because the attorneys needed authorization for that. Councilmember Dalack asked if engaging in any kind of litigation would be an appropriate subject for a closed meeting. Village Attorney Randolph advised that closed door sessions could only be held regarding pending litigation-litigation that had already begun. Councilmember Dalack indicated he was opposed to litigation. Village Attorney • Randolph advised he was not requesting that be done but it needed to be clear if litigation was included. Vice Mayor Capretta indicated that was what he had said. Mayor Genco commented it was clear if this motion passed the Village would be instigating some level of litigation and asked that once the attorneys had made their first claim and received an answer that they come back to the Council to discuss where to go with that. The Mayor indicated that if it was going to take a legal action to get this thing moving, the Village needed to do something; the Village could not have a referendum on property they did not own; and unfortunately, Mr. Zuccarelli was putting the Village into a situation that might entirely eliminate the construction of a Village Hall downtown and was forcing this issue himself. Councilmember von Frank asked when was the last time the attorneys had spoken with JMZ after the first tender, to which Attorney Holton responded they had met with Mr. Zuccarelli and had spoken to his lawyer, but had not spoken about resetting a closing for the swap but had been waiting for direction from the Village Council. Vice Mayor Capretta indicated that after the • building was torn down Mr. Zuccarelli would own the land under Village Council • Special Meeting Minutes July 24, Zoos Page ~~ the building after the swap and the building must be torn down while the Village still owned it. Vice Mayor Capretta wanted to make sure there was no doubt the Village owned the building even though Mr. Zuccarelli would end up owning the land underneath it after the swap and asked if there was any risk to the Village tearing down their own building. Attorney Holton responded he had thought about that and believed the better position was the Village had always owned the building and had always had the right to tear it down. Attorney Holton indicated he believed what would happen was that if the Village went to Mr Zuccarelli and wanted to swap he would say what about the 16 items and the Village would say no deal; then if litigation took place there would be no resolution of that until long after the building was gone. • Vice Mayor Capretta stated he wanted to make clear ownership of the building was clear and had nothing to do with anything else. Councilmember Walker commented she wanted to make clear she would not vote for litigation to spend yet more money. The Village Clerk clarified that the motion, made by Vice Mayor Capretta and seconded by Councilmember von Frank, was to proceed with whatever actions are necessary to go forward with the parcel swap. Mayor Genco stated it was understood that might involve litigation. The vote on the motion was: Geraldine A. Genco - for Joseph N. Capretta - for Basil E. Dalack - against Russell J. von Frank - for Sharon D. Walker - against Motion carried by 3-2 vote. Mayor Genco brought up that taxes were due for parcels one and two. • Attorney Holton advised taxes should be paid on the parcel the Village Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2001 Page 18 owned. Mayor Genco indicated Mr. Zuccarelli should be notified the Village would only pay taxes on the property they own. Mayor Genco indicated that would clear out the agreements outlined in Mr. Zuccarelli's letter, and it was her understanding was that the Village was not a party to some of those agreements and she saw no reason to address them. Village Manager Couzzo asked if the Village Council would like him to negotiate on acquisition of the southwest parcel. The Mayor indicated renderings which were shown in the workshops on the Village Hall had included both pieces of property. Councilmember Walker indicated she did not remember seeing the renderings; Mayor Genco commented they were in the first book. Motion• Vice Mayor Capretta made a motion to have the Village Manager continue to negotiate on acquisition of the southwest parcel to see what price and conditions would be required. Councilmember von Frank seconded the motion. During discussion of the motion, Vice Mayor Capretta commented negotiations would take place but no resolution would be reached until after the referendum because Mr. Zuccarelli would not make a decision that gwickly, so if the referendum came out to build downtown, this made it possible to look at Song + Associates' plans; if the referendum went the other way, the Village would have the one lotto do what they wanted, and to continue negotiations only showed Mr. Zuccarelli the Village was still interested and see if he would come up with a reasonable price. Mayor Genco commented Councilmember Walker had been interested in getting additional parkland and depending on the price and conditions thatwould be an ideal place to have a park and possibly incorporate it with • Village Hall if it were determined to be at the Plaza. The vote on Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2ooi Page i9 the motion carried unanimously. Village Attorney Randolph indicated there were no other items which the Village was contractually obligated to discuss regarding the JMZ issue. Vice Mayor Capretta commented one issue made Mr. Zuccarelli lose his temper which was dealing with government and when negotiating with him on acquiring the northwest lot he would ask if the Village was really going to build a Municipal Center there if the referendum came out to build it downtown, because if a new Council was elected in March they might change their minds. Councilmember Dalack commented the change in the Council did not result in any attempt to • regress or question the actions of the previous Council so he envisioned no difficulty with a change of Council balance resulting in what had been established. Attorney Randolph commented the Council could agree as a Council to build as a result of the referendum and then contract with Mr. Zuccarelli to do it and then it would be binding. Mayor Genco indicated the Council could direct the attorney to draft the referendum now and then go through the exercise with Song + Associates, there could probably be a vote in November and get a contract done before the next election. Mayor Genco commented she believed Vice Mayor Capretta had a great idea to make a motion to direct the attorneys to draft a referendum to bring back to the Council. Village Attorney Randolph advised that was not an item on the agenda for consideration at this meeting, but the Council could direct him to begin work on that and put it on the next agenda for consideration. Vice Mayor asked when the Board of Elections must be notified of the referendum which would have two issues--the Charter and the Village Hall location. Village Clerk Wolcott commented she had notified the Supervisor of Election of the possibility of a referendum. Village Attorney Randolph advised 30- • day lead time was needed to get on the ballot. Mayor Genco verified Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2ooi Page 20 with the Village Attorney work would begin on the referendum and it would be on the agenda for the next regular Council meeting. B. Adoption of the Proposed Millage Rate (6.7305) Necessary to Provide the Ad Valorem Taxes Required to Balance the Tentative Fiscal Year 2001 General Fund Budget. Finance Director JoAnn Forsythe explained that this was the tentative millage rate, not the one the Village Council would vote on for the final rate. Ms. Forsythe explained that this would allow the budget process to go on and the rate could not go higher but could be lowered, and this was required for the tax bills to go out. Councilmember von Frank requested an estimate of what the final rate might be. Ms. Forsythe indicated that would be up to the Village • Council after they had reviewed the budget. The proposed millage rate was the same as in the prior year. Councilmember von Frank made a motion to approve the proposed millage rate of 6.7305. Vice Mayor Capretta seconded the motion. The motion carried 4-1. Councilmember Walker stated she was opposed without seeing any budget figures, no draft budget, and holding no hearings on the budget; she could only assume this rate was based on the certificate of taxable value. Councilmember Walker commented she had requested a budget worksheet per fund as of June 30 which was very incomplete, and she felt it would be irresponsible as elected officials to set any kind of proposed millage rate without any information, which was why she was voting no. Mayor Genco commented it was done the same way the previous year. Councilmember Walker indicated that last year at least one budget hearing had been held before the proposed rate was set. Mayor Genco indicated that by adopting the proposed millage rate there would be 8% more funds than last • year because the ad valorem tax base increased by 8%, and given Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2ooi Page 21 the cursory look at the budget she was very comfortable with that figure. Councilmember Walker commented she had not been afforded the opportunity of having a cursory look at the budget and did not feel she was properly informed to make that kind of judgement. Mayor Genco commented Councilmember Walker's comments were duly noted. C. Adoption of the Computed Rolled-back Millage Rate (6.2477) to be provided to the Property Appraiser in Accordance with F.S. 200.065. Mayor Genco explained the rolled-back rate was if the Village got the same amount of income as last year they wouldn't need the same • percentage. Motion• Vice Mayor Capretta made a motion to adopt the rolled-back millage rate of 6.2477. Councilmember von Frank seconded and asked if this locked the Village in. Mayor Genco explained this was a mathematical calculation used in the tax notices and could not change. The vote on the motion was 4-1 with Councilmember Walker opposed. D. Adoption of the Date, Time, and Place of the First and Final Budget Hearings to Consider the Proposed Millage Rate and Tentative Budgets. 1. First Public Hearing -September 13, 2001, 7:00 p.m., Tequesta Recreation Center, 399 Seabrook Road, Tequesta, Florida. 2. Final Public Hearing -September 17, 2001, 7:00 p.m.; Tequesta • Recreation Center, 399 Seabrook Road, Tequesta, Florida. Village Council Special Meeting Minutes July 24, 2ooi Page 22 Mayor Genco read into the record the above dates, times, and places. Motion• Councilmember Dalack made a motion to adopt the following dates, times and places to consider the proposed millage rate and tentative budgets: First Public Hearing -September 13, 2001, 7:00 p.m., Tequesta Recreation Center, 399 Seabrook Road, Tequesta, Florida; and Final Public Hearing -September 17, 2001, 7:00 p.m.; Tequesta Recreation Center, 399 Seabrook Road, Tequesta, Florida. Councilmember von Frank seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5-0 vote. VI. Any Other Matters There were no other matters to come before the Village Council. VII. Adjournment Councilmember von Frank moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Dalack seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5-0 vote. The motion was therefore passed and adopted and the meeting was adjourned at 6:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ,~~ Mary Wol ott Village Clerk DATE APPROVED: