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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Workshop_08/29/1995VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA Post Office Box 3273 357 Tequesta Drive Tequesta, Florida 33469-0273 (407) 575-6200 Fax: (407) 575-6203 VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA VILLAGE COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING NIINUTES AUGUST 29, 1995 _. II. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The Tequesta Village Council held a workshop meeting at the Village Hall, 357 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on Tuesday, August 29, 1995. The meeting was called to order at 5;46 P.M. by Mayor Ron T. Mackail. A roll call was taken by Betty Laur, Recording Secretary. Councilmembers present were: Mayor Ron T. Mackail, Elizabeth A. Schauer, Carl C. Hansen, and Joseph N. Capretta. Also in attendance were: Village Manager Thomas G. Bradford, Village Clerk Joann Manganiello, and Department Heads. Vice Mayor Burckart arrived at 6:19 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Councilmember Hansen moved that the Agenda be approved as submitted. Councilmember Schauer seconded the motion. The vote on the motion was: Ron T. Mackail - for Elizabeth A. Schauer - for Carl C. Hansen - for Joseph N. Capretta - for The motion was therefore passed and adopted and the Agenda was therefore approved as submitted. Kecycled Payer village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes August 29, 1995 Page 2 ------------------------------- III. REVIEW OF ANNEXATION OPTIONS A) ANNEXATION BY REFERENDIIM Village Manager Bradford explained that annexation by referendum had been held in March of this year and that a criticism of that exercise was that the Village had tried to annex all of the areas proposed for annexation at one time which precluded revisiting annexation of any of those areas for two years. Also, if the area proposed to be annexed did not exceed 5~ of the total land area of the Village or 5~ of the population, the vote could be held in that area only and the vote of the Village residents was not required, which would save a little money. B) VOLIINTARY ANNEXATION Village Manager Bradford explained that from time to time people with property adjacent to the village would request annexation for various reasons, such as a faster process for zoning amendments and development approvals. C) ANNEXATION OF ENCLAVES OF TEN ACRES OR LESS Village Manager Bradford explained that via this process the village had annexed every piece of land within Tequesta that was ten acres or less, and that process had been concluded in April, 1994. D) SPECIAL STATE LEGISLATION The village Manager explained that this item and a variation of item (A) were the only tools available to the village unless someone requested annexation. The special legislation required getting involved in the Village Council workshop Meeting Minutes August 29, 1995 Page 3 ------------------------------- political process, beginning with the local senator and state representative and enlisting their support for a special local bill to annex all or part of the unincorporated enclaves. They would then get the support of the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation who would hold hearings on bills they would support through the legislative process in Tallahassee in April each year. If the entire legislature would then vote the bill in and the Governor would sign it, that land would be a part of the Village. Village Manager Bradford explained that Delray Beach had done this in the early 1980s, and that if the village wanted to do this that a strategy was needed, remembering that politicians count votes, and possibly carving up some of the proposed areas in order to eliminate some political problems. If the vote count were considered irrelevant then the Village Council might opt to annex all of the enclaves at one time. Another option offered by the Village Manager was that Area D, which consisted of the largest geographic area, could be split into two areas and then a referendum could be held on the separate areas at any time without waiting two years. The consultant who had handled the annexation had analyzed the failure of the referendum and concluded that all of the areas probably should not have been included at one time, however, that had been done in order to show the cost of joining the village at its absolute lowest. That had caused a problem in that according to which properties annexed and which did not, that twenty different annexation scenarios were created, which made the voters uncomfortable since no one was sure of the outcome. In order to keep options open, only one or two areas should have been undertaken for annexation so that another area could have been considered the following village Council workshop Meeting Minutes August 29, 1995 Page 4 ------------------------------- year. IV. DISCUSSION OF FUTURE TEQUESTA ANNEXATION STRATEGY Councilmember Hansen inquired when any of the areas which had failed the recent referendum would qualify for special State legislation. The Village Manager replied that Anchorage Point (Area C) used every one of the Village services and benefited from the fact that the Police Department kept the crooks out of their area. The Village Manager stated that it was the policy of the State to eliminate enclaves. Councilmember Hansen commented that the other areas were enclaves also and that the most resistance had been from Area D. The Village Manager suggested that Area E might be a good candidate for the special legislation since that was the area the Village had done best in and therefore could demonstrate to the legislature that the Village had a lot of support there--probably in excess of 50$. Village Manager Bradford stated that a case could be made to annex Waterway Village in order to save them from themselves, since a governmental body willing to maintain the infrastructure was needed there. Because of numerous road and drainage problems in that area it would cost the Village more money to fix the problems, but revenues would exceed the cost if the drainage and road improvements were bonded. Village Manager Bradford cautioned that the larger the area the Village Council wished to annex through special legislation, the higher the likelihood of opposition from those with special interests in the issue as well as the people living there. Mayor Mackail verified that Palm Beach County's policy was to eventually see all enclaves become a part of the municipality, and suggested that pressure be applied to the District 1 County Commissioner. The Mayor stated that the support of the County Commissioner was village Couacil workshop Meeting Minutes August 29, 1995 Page 5 ------------------------------- needed since there was a mutual benefit to the County and to the Village. The Village Manager agreed and commented that going through the special legislation process would not work if the County Commission was opposed and worked to stop it. village Manager Bradford suggested that the Mayor meet with Commissioner Marcus to determine her position and what problems she might have with annexation, and pointed out that the County would no longer have to be the primary provider of police and fire rescue services to annexed areas and therefore would save money, and could then provide a higher level of those services to other areas which needed them, such as Jupiter Farms. Mayor Mackail suggested targeting two or three areas for demonstrating the benefits of annexation to Commissioner Marcus. The Mayor commented that the biggest problem for the village in the annexation process had been how to sell the Village if the taxpayers were going to see an increase in their tax bill, and the Village services became the real issue. Response times for police had seemed to be the biggest concern. Councilmember Hansen questioned whether a case could be made using examples of areas in the County which had been incorporated and as a result other unincorporated areas had fewer services. The Village Manager responded that people who had had a need for services in the past were generally pro annexation, however, most people had never had first-hand dealings with service requests from the County and were therefore harder to convince. Village Manager Bradford also explained that the odds were against the Village in terms of that with the passage of time and levels of service becoming worse that their requests to the County for relief would finally be answered, so that doing nothing in order to show the deterioration of services would really not work. Councilmember Capretta stated that he was very pessimistic regarding getting people to agree to be annexed since they would never volunteer to pay more taxes unless they were Village Council workshop Meeting Minutes August 29, 1995 Page 6 ------------------------------- desperate--for example, if Waterway Village roads deteriorated and their crime became so bad that they would agree to be annexed. Councilmember Capretta stated that it would be easiest to go through the political process working with Commissioner Marcus; and also the Village should make sure there was no new construction and development in any Palm Beach County unincorporated area contingent to the village. Councilmember Capretta suggested that the village should make sure that developers and landowners knew that if they annexed that they would get police protection, a streamlined permitting process with reduced impact fees, and greater density. This strategy would cause them to annex in order to avoid taxes for greed. Fire Chief Jim weinand pointed out that under South Florida water Management that the Village must furnish water but by law did not have to furnish fire protection water for development, which could be an incentive to annex. Village Manager Bradford commented there was very little property that could be developed that was adjacent to the Village. The village Manager verified that the county and state process could begin now. Vice Mayor Burckart arrived at this point in the meeting. Councilmember Hansen stated that he agreed with Councilmember Capretta that an individual would not vote to increase his own taxes and was in favor of proceeding with the special legislation process in conjunction with Palm Beach County. Mayor Mackail stated that the Village needed to expand their tax base, and the Village Manager commented that if all of the proposed areas had annexed that the Village would have had the lowest cost municipality in Palm Beach County. Mayor Mackail stated that the order of procedure would be first to speak to Mr. Horniman, then set up a meeting between himself, Commissioner Marcus, and the village Council workshop Meeting Minutes August 29, 1995 Page 7 ------------------------------- village Manager to start a dialog to see what they will do to help with annexations. Councilmember Capretta suggested enlisting the help of the Municipal League. Another suggestion made by Councilmember Capretta was that landowners should be charged more for letting land sit vacant. Councilmember Capretta suggested that in order for the Dorner Trust land to be developed, Mr. Van Brock would need to be separated from the Dorners by contacting the Dorners and telling them his strategy, which is never to sell the land by convincing the landowners that he could always get more money than what was offered. In response to Councilmember Capretta's suggestion that taxes should be doubled on undeveloped land, Village Manager Bradford explained that different tax rates were not allowed, but that assessments could be levied. Councilmember Capretta suggested a $500,000 assessment on the Dorner land, and that discussion with the Dorner Trust should include all of the incentives that the Village would provide for development of the land as well as what would happen if development were discouraged. The consensus of the Village Council was to give the village Manager the authority to move forward to meet with Palm Beach County Commissioner Marcus to look at enclaves for annexation. Councilmember Hansen questioned whether all of the areas should be considered for special legislation at once, to which the Village Manager responded that if one area were annexed by special legislation that the next year another one could be proposed, however, that must be weighed against politicians who might consider that the Village was wearing out their welcome. Councilmember Capretta suggested that the Village seriously consider contacting the Municipal League for cooperation from only the small cities, and get village Council workshop Meeting Minutes August 29, 1995 Page 8 ------------------------------- ten or fifteen small cities with similar problems to put pressure on their county commissioners and on their state legislators. VI. ANY OTHER MATTERS Village Clerk Manganiello responded to Councilmember Hansen's request for an update on Constitution Park that a hearing was scheduled for September 20 at which the Village would be represented by a lawyer in Mr. Randolph's firm, and that it could take up to sixty days to get a judgement in writing since three judges would hear the oral arguments. The Village Clerk explained that since it was highly unlikely this matter would be appealed to the Supreme Court that this would probably be the final step if the ruling was in favor of the village. village Manager Bradford stated that if the Village lost that a stronger position would immediately be taken. Councilmember Capretta suggested if that happened that the Village should wash its hands of the whole matter by giving the park to the people who sued. VII. ADJOIIRDi~NT The meeting was adjourned at 6:37 P.M. Respectfully submitted, ~~-~ / Betty Laur Recording Secretary Village Couacil workshop Meetiag ~iAUtes August 29, 1995 Page 9 AZ`'I'EST:. Joann Mangan' llo village Clerk DATE APPROVED: