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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Special Meeting_09/13/1999 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 SPECIAL VILLAGE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 13, 1999 I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The Tequesta Village Council held a special meeting at the Office of the Village Manager, 250 Tequesta Drive, Suite 300, Tequesta, Florida, on Monday, September 13, 1999. The meeting was called to order at 4:34 P.M. by vice Mayor Carl • C. Hansen. A roll call was taken by Betty Laur, Recording Secretary. Councilmembers present were: vice Mayor Carl C. Hansen and Councilmembers Joseph N. Capretta and Basil E. Dalack. Also in attendance were: village Manager Thomas G. Bradford, Police Chief Stephen Allison, and Fire Chief James Weinand. Mayor Ron Mackail was absent. Councilmember Elizabeth A. Schauer arrived at 4:45 P.M. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA village Manager Bradford requested addition under ANY OTHER MATTERS of presentation by himself, Police Chief Allison, and Fire Chief Weinand of plans for Hurricane Floyd. Councilmember Dalack made a motion to approve the Agenda as amended. Councilmember Capretta seconded the motion. The vote on the motion was: Carl C. Hansen - for LJ Recycled Paper SPECIAL VILLAGE COUNCIL • MEETING MINUTES September 13, 1999 PAGE 2 Joseph N. Capretta - for Basil E. Dalack - for The motion was therefore passed and adopted and the Agenda was approved as submitted. III. COMMt7NICATION FROM CITIZENS There were no communications from citizens. IV. ANNOUNCSMgN'P AND NOTICE OF ATTORNEY/CLIENT SESSION CONCERNING VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA V. PALM BEACH COUNTY HEALTH DEPAR'I~NT, SF~ AND THE LOXAHATCHEE RIVER ENVIRONMEN'PAL CONTROL DISTRICT (ENCON) AT A SPECIAL MEETING TO BE HELD • ON SEPTEMBER 15, 1999, COMMENCING AT 5:00 P.M. IN THE VILLAGE HALL COUNCIL CHAi~ffiERS, 357 TEQUESTA DRIVE, TEQUESTA, FLORIDA, OPHSREIN A CLOSED DOOR ATTORNEY-CLIENT SESSION PER F. S. 286.0111 (8) SHALL BE HELD. SCOTT G. HAOPRINS, ATTORNEY. Vice Mayor Carl C. Hansen announced: 1) Subject Matter of Meeting 2) Attorney/Client Session Attendees a) Basil E. Dalack b) Joseph N. Capretta c} Carl C. Hansen d) Ron T. Mackail e) Elizabeth A. Schauer f) Thomas G. Bradford g) Scott G. Hawkins, Esq. h) Jane Pastore, Ley & Marsaa Court Reporters village Manager Bradford explained that the agreement reached in negotiations required the Village to meet not • later than September 15 and ENCON to meet on the 16th; however, because of the approaching hurricane a meeting on SPECIAL VILLAGE COUNCIL • NBETING MINUTES September 13, 1999 PAGE 3 the 15th might not be possible. Councilmember Dalack suggested a possible telephone conference; Councilmember Capretta suggested meeting after the storm. village Manager Bradford explained that the Village's schedule was dependent on what ENCON was willing to do. Councilmember Capretta suggested having the discussion at this meeting, to which village Manager Bradford responded that had not been the agreement and also that the village's meeting should not be a private meeting because litigation matters were involved. Councilmember Capretta expressed his opinion that litigation was not involved. Village Manager Bradford commented that mediation was a legal strategy and it had been decided by all parties that this mediation would be closed door; therefore it would not be appropriate for the Village to make it open door. vice Mayor Hansen commented that it had also been decided to keep discussion • within a small group and the Village Council would want to k h ' now t e whole Village Council s feelings about the whole issue. Councilmember Capretta commented that the opinions of the Council could be obtained in other ways, such as by phone. The Village Manager agreed, but cautioned that this matter was extremely complicated and sensitive. Councilmember Dalack requested and received clarification that the purpose of the meeting announced for the 15th of September was to have the Village Council hear what had happened at the mediation, and based on that to recommend to the village Attorney how to proceed. Councilmember Capretta commented that his impression was that the mediator had proposed a non-legal solution, or non- litigation, and if all legal action was dropped on both sides, all legal items would be off; but if both sides did not agree then legal action would be back on. Village Manager Bradford responded that if the village Council rejected what was recommended there were other options available. Councilmember Capretta suggested picking another date instead of the 15th. Councilmember Dalack questioned the purpose of closed door sessions, to which • Village Manager Bradford responded closed door sessions ld b h cou e eld to discuss either litigation strategy or SPECIAL VILLAGE COUNCIL • MEETING MINUTES September 13, 1999 PAGE 4 litigation expenditures, and in this case it would be to discuss litigation strategy based on what had happened at the mediation. Councilmember Dalack questioned whether a closed door session was needed to discuss whether to accept a mediation proposal. Village Manager Bradford responded that would still fall under a closed-door session. Councilmember Capretta suggested including a rain date in the announcement. Village Manager Bradford explained that the reason that having the meeting by September 15 was important was because ENCON met on the night of the 16th and if the village Council accepted the recommendations of the mediation ENCON would agree on the 16th to postpone the litigation. Discussion ensued regarding changing the date of the meeting to the 16th before ENCON~s meeting. Village Manager Bradford phoned Attorney Scott Hawkins to see if he would be available on the 16th; however, he did not answer. The village Manager suggested that the announcement be modified to state if the 15th was not available due to inclement weather then the meeting would be held at 4:30 p.m. on September 16, which would allow time for a decision before the ENCON Boards meeting, and that he would notify Attorney Hawkins. Councilmember Dalack made a motion that the anaouacemeat of the September 15 closed door session at 5 p.m. be modified to state that if that time was not available due to inclement weather or if a quorum was not available then the meeting would be held at 4:30 p.m. oa September 16, 1999. Cowncilmember Schauer seconded the motion. The vote on the motioa was: Carl C. Hansen - for Joseph N. Capretta - for Basil E. Dalack - for Elizabeth A. Schauer - for The motion was therefore passed and adopted. SPECIAL VILLAGE COUNCIL • MEETING MINUTES September 13, 1999 PAGE 5 V . ANY OTIiER MATTERS Fire Chief weinand reported Governor Bush had declared a state of emergency for the State of Florida, and Palm Beach County had declared a state of emergency for the County, which meant any hurricane-related purchases would be reimbursable under FENS. Chief weinand reported that Palm Beach County planned to issue an evacuation order that evening for the barrier islands based on a category one storm; and that the slosh model, which was based on the rise of the tide and the storm surge, indicated that under a category one storm the Country Club would be cut off and that areas by the bridges, downtown, all roads to Jupiter, U.S. Highway One, and Jupiter Island would be under water, so that all main arteries would be cut off . Fire Chief weinand explained that the Tequesta area was considered an • evacuation zone under the County's Comprehensive Emergency Plan because there would be no way for residents to get out or to get emergency supplies in. Chief weinand explained that the village was preparing according to their Hurricane Plan and shelters would open at 7 p.m. for the public. Evacuation would be ordered at 7 p.m. village Manager Bradford clarified that the shelters were intended only as a place of last resort, and residents should be urged to evacuate. Councilmember Schauer questioned why Lighthouse Cove had not been notified to remove the stacked tiles from their roofs, to which the response was that they had been notified by Director of Community Development Scott D. Ladd but they had not complied, and that there were thousands of tiles stacked on those roofs. Police Chief Allison explained that all job sites not cleared were on a list given to Mr. Ladd. Fire Chief weinand commented that if Hurricane Floyd came closer than predicted, Tequesta would experience category two or three conditions; and if it became a category four or worse (a direct hit), then all services would be vacated out of the village one vehicle at a time, so that someone would be kept in the village il h l ibl h i i i unt ast m e. T e F t e nute poss re Ch ef explained SPECIAL VILLAGE COUNCIL • MEETING MINUTES September 13, 1999 PAGE 6 that one of the mistakes made during Hurricane Andrew was not moving equipment out, and it would be better to move it out and be able to bring it back in a couple of hours rather than having it destroyed. Vice Mayor Hansen questioned why announced repairs to Bridge 707 had not been done, to which Fire Chief weinand responded that the repairs had been postponed because of the hurricane, since during the storm the bridge would need to be locked into the down position. Councilmember Capretta questioned how big a tidal surge at high tide would be needed to come into Jupiter Inlet to travel to the north prong of the Loxahatchee River to put the Country Club under water. Chief weinand responded that the slosh model indicated almost the whole Village would be under water in category four or five storm conditions; however, the slosh model did not include wave action, which would also be present. • Village Manager Bradford explained that residents would be worried about flooding from the ocean, but the surge would back up the river into the tributaries, causing flooding from the river on the other side of the Village as well. Councilmember Schauer questioned how the announcement to evacuate would be communicated to the residents. Village Manager Bradford explained that all telephone callers to the Village that day had been advised to evacuate. Fire Chief Weinand explained that when the Village was under a warning that evacuation should take place from the barrier islands. Village Manager Bradford commented that now everyone should leave. Councilmember Capretta commented that people should be given a phone number to call to find out when it was safe to return. Police Chief Allison announced that 575-6210 would work. Fire Chief Weinand commented that a cell phone would be set up at the Police and Fire Operations Center, and that number was 379-7001. village Manager Bradford commented that his cell phone number could be contacted. Councilmember Dalack questioned whether the official word was to evacuate, to which Village Manager Bradford responded his son was currently in route to Tallahassee, and Councilmember Schauer commented that SPECIAL VILLAGE COUNCIL . MEETING MIN[JTES September 13, 1999 PAGE 7 she was leaving that evening for Sarasota. Councilmember Capretta expressed concern that his neighbors had not prepared adequately. Fire Chief Weinand explained that a swamp buggy had been obtained so that people could be rescued if necessary. Councilmember Capretta commented that getting back into the Village after the storm could be a problem because of limbs and debris on the roads. Nichols Sanitation would be picking up the storm debris but their time schedule was not known. village Manager Bradford stated that the first priority was to make roads passable. Fire Chief Weinand explained that chain saws were available so that Village personnel could help clear roads if necessary. It was announced that water would be available even without electricity since there was emergency power at the water plant, assuming the water plant was not leveled and that water mains were not broken. • Village Manager Bradford announced that non-emergency village personnel would not work the next day, Tuesday the 14th, or Wednesday the 15th. Only police, fire, public works, utility personnel, and the Village Manager would be on duty. village Manager Bradford announced that he could be reached by his cell phone. Various hurricane predictions were discussed. vii . AnJOCrRNr~NT Councilmember Schauer moved that the meeting be adjourned. vice Mayor Hansen seconded the motion. The vote on the motion was: Carl C. Hansen - for Joseph N. Capretta - for Basil E. Dalack - for Elizabeth A. Schauer - for The motion was therefore passed and adopted and the meeting • was adjourned at 5:07 P.M. SPECIAL VILLAGE COIINCIL MEETING MINiJTES September 13, 1999 PAGE 8 Respectfully submitted, ~~~~ Betty Laur Recording Secretary ATTEST: Joann Manganie to • Village Clerk DATE APPROVED: i~,/9~'9 •