Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Workshop_07/02/2018 MINUTES VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA WORKSHOP July 2, 2018 �, CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. A roll call was taken by Assistant to the Village Clerk, Mary Ann Grieser. Present were: Mayor Abby Brennan, Vice-Mayor Tom Paterno, Council Member Vince Arena and Council Member Laurie Brandon. Council Member Kristi Johnson was absent. 1. Review Applications for Village Manager Position Ms. Merlene Reid, Human Resources Director/Assistant Village Manager provided a handout for Council, which illustrated the order of the selection process, with dates to be determined by Council. She recommended that the essay portion of the application be performed in a "blind copy" manner, in order to be ensure fairness. Ms. Reid reminded Council that the background checks were approximately $1600 per candidate. In addition, she recommended Council choose 2 top candidates at the latter part of the selection and asked for guidance regarding the start date for the new Manager. Council Member Arena suggested a possible start date of the new fiscal year (October 1, 2018) although he was also open to an earlier or later date. Vice Mayor Paterno understood that Manager Couuo's contract was active until December 31, 2018 but felt there was a possibility for him to exit sooner than that date. He believed Manager Couuo should not overlap his employment with the new Manager. Mayor Brennan thought there might be a way to work something out with Manager Couzzo in order to encourage him to leave in October rather than December. The pension contribution would still be paid through December 31, 2018. Council Member Brandon was conflicted on whether it would be better for the Village to pay Manager Couzzo and have him exit earlier or have him stay until the end of his contract. Mayor Brennan believed that after the budget and IAFF (International Association of Fire Fighters) contract were completed/approved, the rest of the year was somewhat open. In addition, she felt that the new Manager should start on October 1, 2018 in order to become familiar with the budget process and understand how the Village operates. She would speak with the Manager to see if he was amenable to the idea of an early exit. Ms. Reid revealed that Manager Couzzo had 160 hours of vacation and 130 hours of sick leave in his bank, beginning on October 1, 2018. Vice Mayor Paterno suggested having Village Council Workshop Minutes July 2, 2018 Page 2 the new Manager keep with the standard vacation allotment that the rest of the Village employees were offered. Attorney Davis informed Council that in order to hire a new Manager, Council had to have at least 4 votes of agreement, out of the 5 Council Members. Council Member Brandon felt that there should be as little overlap as possible with Manager Couzzo and the new hire. She felt that 2 weeks would be the maximum overlap time frame that she would feel confident with. Vice Mayor Paterno asked that there be no overlap whatsoever. Vice Mayor Paterno asked that if the Charter was amended anytime in the future, the contract for the new Manager would need to follow the new change. Assistant Village Manager Reid revealed that the timeline would be tight, but that she could push towards having a new hire by October 1, 2018. Additionally, Ms. Reid was scheduled to be on vacation in mid-October. Council was comfortable with having no Manager for 2 weeks in October and they felt there would be adequate department head coverage. Vice Mayor asked if Mr. Quirk could do an analysis on the monthly costs associated with having the Manager exit in October vs. December. Ms. Reid distributed a handout of salaries for various City Managers throughout Florida. Council decided the new Manager should live within the Village of Tequesta and would offer the new hire a time frame of one year, to obtain housing. Assistant Manager Reid informed Council that she would email them the questions that she would be sending out to the applicants for the essay portion of the interview. Attorney Davis informed Council of the Village Charter rule which stated that a Council Member could not be employed by the Village until a full year had passed, after the Council Member had left office. Council discussed how to determine the next level of applicants and agreed to each submit their own list of viable candidates to Assistant Manager Reid,with Council Member Arena and Brandon tuming their list in by Thursday, July 5, 2018. Mayor Brennan, Vice Mayor Paterno and Council Member Johnson's preliminary choices were read aloud and notated. It was determined that background checks would not be performed until after the interviews had occurred. Mayor Brennan advised against using Skype communication, as it had been unsuccessful in the past. Council recommended splitting the interviews into finro days in order to better manage the time and energy needed to do so. Village Council Workshop Minutes July 2, 2018 Page 3 Council discussed possible benefits that would be offered to the new hire. Attorney Davis informed Council that State law had capped severance packages to a maximum of 4 months. A courtesy interview for 2 candidates was discussed and it was determined that a personal phone call would suffice. Attorney Davis revealed that a Council Member was not considered an employee, but was categorized as an elected official. Mayor Brennan asked Council to consider selecting a spokesperson that would negotiate the terms of the new management contract. Vice Mayor Paterno asked for consistency in the benefits package offered to the new manager, with an exception made for vacation time. Assistant Village Manager Reid was asked to provide information based upon a PEPIE Study in regards to vacation, personal and sick leave. Council discussed industry standards for leave time and what they would like to possibly offer going forward. Council decided on a salary range of $165,000 to $190,000 as fair compensation for the scope of the job and the requirement to live within the Village of Tequesta They understood that cost of living was a major consideration in coming up with this number. Pendin Tasks: Item: Assi ned: Financial anal sis b month on Mana er earl exit vs end of contract Chris Quirk Pe ie Stud on vacation leave/benefits at mana erial level Merlene Reid Request for Future Workshop Meetings to be held in Council Staff Chambers, per Vice Ma or Paterno Lori McWilliams, MMC �j(�"(��(,c�(��� Village Clerk Note: These summary minutes are prepared in compliance with 286.011 F.S. and are not verbatim transcripts of the meeting. A verbatim audio record is available from the office of the Village Clerk. All referenced attachments are on file in the Village Clerk's office.