Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-04-2018 CC Workshop MinutesL cr SEAT" HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND SEBASTIAN CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 1:30 PM CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA 1. Mayor Hill called the workshop to order at 1:30 p.m. 2. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Mayor Jim Hill Vice Mayor Linda Kinchen Council Member Ed Dodd Council Member Albert lovino Council Member Bob McPartlan Staff Present: City Manager Joe Griffin City Attorney Jim Stokes City Clerk Jeanette Williams Administrative Services Director Ken Killgore Police Chief Michelle Morris Also Present: Colin Baenziger, Colin Baenziger & Associates 4. WORKSHOP ITEM (In accordance with R-15-10, at workshops, matters maybe discussed and placed on an appropriate City Council meeting agenda for formal action. Substantive decisions shall not be made at workshops. At their March 14, 2018 Council meeting, Council passed a motion to suspend the rules and not permit public input.) A. Conduct Individual Citv Manager Interviews Mayor Hill said the candidates would come forward and sit at the City Manager's desk for their interviews. Ben Newhouse - 1:35 to 2:05 pm (Mr. Newhouse requested to be removed from consideration earlier in the day.) ii. Paul Carlisle - 2:10 to 2:40 pm Mr. Carlisle thanked Council for their consideration and briefly described his background. He said the City provides a great opportunity to bring in some outside ideas and augment some of the current ways of doing business to move forward and solve some of the issues Sebastian is facing. City Council Workshop & Special Meeting City Manager Selection April 4, 2018 Page Two He has worked on several different types of grants as well as state and federal appropriations. He said a residency clause or utilizing the same health insurance as other City employees were valid considerations. He said Twitter and Facebook were important tools to keep the public informed especially during the hurricane season. He said his current most challenging budget situation is that his County is fiscally constrained since a majority of the land is agriculturally exempt so they must live within their means and continually re-evaluate their tax base. If he should come to Sebastian, he would evaluate each department to see if they are meeting Council's objectives and if not, how it could be corrected. He is willing to be the leader to meet goals that are challenging but not unattainable. He said similar to Sebastian, he oversaw a CRA in Lake Park that distributed fagade and drainage grants. In regard to the proposed additional homestead exemption that will affect ad valorem, he said each department will have to look at their wants and needs and determine efficiencies such as replacing fleet to reduce maintenance at the back end and save down time. Another consideration is that Council may also not go back to the rolled -back rate. He said he has been following the infrastructure conversations. They will need to draw up a diverse five to ten year plan. There will also need to be education and communication with the residents as to the water draining into the Lagoon. Mayor Hill described the public/private partnership along the waterfront that is helping to spark development along the Lagoon and asked what his thoughts were regarding funding for the waterfront projects. Mr. Carlisle said anytime you can get private, community, and public dollars together the better because grant writers like to see when people are invested. To work with the business community, Mr. Carlisle said if businesses aren't successful, the City won't be. The City needs to support the businesses and let them know they have a voice at the table. Mr. Carlisle said he would share his SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats) analysis with Council to make good decisions or changes. He said a strategic plan is the City's future and how Council would like to plan and budget for the future; otherwise the budget will be a maintenance budget. City Council Workshop & Special Meeting City Manager Selection April 4, 2018 Page Three Mr. Carlisle said the difference between growth and expansion is when things are left in a box, they begin to deteriorate but when you expand and bring in new dollars that revitalizes communities. Cities should control their own destinies by annexation and development rights. 1:52 pm 1:54 pm In closing, he said he appreciated the opportunity to answer their questions, thoughts, concerns and ideas. He could bring forward some new ideas and paths for the City and he hoped to be the new City Manager. iii. Mark Roonev — 2:45 to 3:15 om Mr. Rooney said he has 20+ years of local government experience that would be a very good fit for Sebastian after reading the advertisement. He was grateful for the opportunity to be interviewed. He said in the Chicago area, grants are administered on a regional basis and they must show how they will impact the region as well as your community. He said he has hired consultants to work with staff be successful with grant submissions. He said the key to strategic planning is to get Council to focus on where they want to be in five to seven years; he has worked with outside facilitators to mediate changes. Mr. Rooney said management and leadership experience is the same in any community; he would work with staff to get up and running within the two to three months. He would need time to get to know the Council Members and stake holders of the community. He said zero -based budgeting justifies what is in the budget and roots out non- priority items. In regard to annexation, the growth will happen and to ensure the City's viability, it would be good to control. He said he is comfortable with the universal concepts of a City Manager contract, such as living within the City, standard employee health benefits and then negotiating a settlement structure. He said green, sustainable communities have become a hot button issue and he kept Lake Michigan's drinking water a forefront issue. He also participated in a regional compact where the communities had access to a manual of best practices that they called green initiatives. He said technology adds value to cities; provides for more effective management for every department; and there is a great return on investment. City Council Workshop & Special Meeting City Manager Selection April 4, 2018 Page Four Mr. Rooney said the community. He said need for the next 10 to City's roads are in great shape compared to his Chicago stormwater maintenance will be an upcoming infrastructure 15 years. He said Illinois has Tax Increment Finance Districts where funds have to be used according to a documented plan which is incentive to improve communities similar to a CRA district. He said intergovernmental relationships are important to share resources and expertise. He said the key is to have a legal document with political accountability. It is the most important thing for a manager to do. He said local government can indirectly create great burdens for small business so an open door is essential to break down the divide and empower staff to not be bureaucratic. He instructed his community development department to get to yes without violating the safety or standards of engineering to help the businesses achieve what they are trying to achieve; sometimes in that process the code needed to be changed. In closing, he appreciated being part of the selection process, staff has been enjoyable and he would like to come to work for Sebastian. 2:25 pm iv. Break - 3:15 to 3:30 pm — Earlier in the meeting, Council decided to forego a break and continue with the interviews. iv. Glenn Irbv — 3:30 to 4:00 om 2:27 pm Mr. Irby briefly described his local government experience and education. He said his most challenging budget situation happens to be his current year where his Council decided to have a zero increase to the general fund. He likes to provide the best equipment for his employees to get the job done, which is difficult this year. He said the latest technology is needed to get the job done; he was responsible for bringing the City of Apopka into the 20th Century. He said he has written some small grants and used a consultant to write the more difficult grants who can usually tell if his community stands a chance. He said there is a vast difference between a strong manager versus a Council form of government and in Sebastian he would carry out the policies of Council as a whole. He did not have any object to a standard City Manager contract or relocating to Sebastian. Mr. Irby said the City of Apopka goes through strategic planning every year during the budget process. City Council Workshop & Special Meeting City Manager Selection April 4, 2018 Page Five He said Apopka is favored by the SJRWMD for their stormwater treatment and sale of non -potable water. In regard to intergovernmental relationships, he said they are important to help your City move forward. He said he has constructed the documents for one CRA and revitalized another CRA district. He said it is important to interact with the Chamber of Commerce; he would use the media to get the word out and practice an open door policy with businesses, employees, residents and Council. Mr. Irby said he has relatives in Vero Beach and would like to be a part of Sebastian and move his family here. 2:40 pm V. Susan Hann — 4:05 to 4:35 pm 2:41 pm Ms. Hann said she is interested in coming to Sebastian where she would be a good fit given her strong and lengthy background with the City of Palm Bay facing the same drainage, road, infrastructure concerns. Also, as a Brevard MPO staff director for eight years, she understood the role of bringing transportation revenue into the City. She said she would appreciate the opportunity to be Sebastian's City Manager. She said she had some significant budget deficits to address when she came to the City of Palm Bay and upon approval of the bargaining units, used employee furloughs as well as a tax increase to solve the budget deficit. She said annexation with strategic initiatives would be positive for the City, noting it would important for Council to control the land use activities on Sebastian's borders. She said her most challenging budget situation was the $4.5M budget deficit that she faced upon arriving at the City of Palm Bay; she did not want to initiate across the board cuts so she prioritized their resources and made strategic investments to be successful in the long run. Ms. Hann said technology is a strong tool to provide communication, GIS mapping, and trend analyses for the City. She said she has an extensive history of grant writing and has requested legislative appropriations to address capital improvement projects. She has been working on stormwater projects during her entire career. In regard to opportunities on the horizon, she said the upcoming annexation will be big for Sebastian; the seawall issue will be significant; and the strong investment by the residents and Chamber will provide additional opportunities for the City. City Council Workshop & Special Meeting City Manager Selection April 4, 2018 Page Six She said she would prefer to live in her Malabar home that she built 25 years ago and if selected would definitely be a part of the community. She would consider moving if required but preferred to stay in her home. She said the CRA's direct riverfront access is a great economic engine for the City and is familiar with tax increment financing. Ms. Hann said the City Manager is an advocate for the community for all intergovernmental relationships. She plans to be at City events and the Chamber Board meetings to understand the needs and concerns of the citizens and business owners. She said the City Manager is a facilitator rather than provider of rules and regulations that need to be followed; facilitating is more in line with strong economic development. She said the City could become SNAP (Simple Nimble Accelerated Permitting) certified. She thanked Council for the time they have spent with all of the candidates. She appreciated Council for what they do and their collegiate environment and would like to be a part of it. 2:58 pm 5. Mayor Hill thanked Colin Baenziger and staff for facilitating the last couple of days and asked Council to return at 5:00 p.m. to make their decision. He adjourned the workshop at 2:58 p.m. 6. Mayor Hill called the Special City Council meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Mayor Jim Hill Vice Mayor Linda Kinchen Council Member Ed Dodd Council Member Albert lovino Council Member Bob McPartlan Staff Present: City Manager Joe Griffin City Attorney Jim Stokes City Clerk Jeanette Williams Administrative Services Director Ken Killgore Police Chief Michelle Morris Also Present: Colin Baenziger, Colin Baenziger & Associates It was the consensus of Council to add the opportunity for the public to provide input at item #8B. City Council Workshop & Special Meeting City Manager Selection April 4, 2018 Page Seven 8. DISCUSS AND SELECT NEW CITY MANAGER — IF NO SELECTION, ANNOUNCE SPECIAL MEETING APRIL 5,2018.5:00 P.M. There was no objection to Mayor Hill's suggestion that they should make nominations for their choice of the candidates and then a roll call would be taken if there were more than one nomination. Council Member McPartlan nominated Paul Carlisle for the next City Manager. Council Member lovino also nominated Mr. Carlisle. There were no other nominations. Mr. Paul Carlisle was appointed to be the next City Manager for the City of Sebastian. MOTION by Mayor Hill and SECOND by Council Member Dodd to direct the City Attorney to start the process of negotiations with Mr. Paul Carlisle for the purpose of hiring him as the next City Manager. Council Member Dodd thanked Mr. Baenziger for the four extremely qualified candidates. Council Member lovino agreed, noting each candidate had an area of expertise but Mr. Carlisle was well-rounded. Mayor Hill said while the decision was difficult, it seemed Council's like -mindedness worked together again. Mr. Baenziger advised that even though he expected negotiations to go through with Mr. Carlisle, it would be good for Council to pick a second candidate. Roll call: Vice Mayor Kinchen — aye Council Member Dodd — aye Council Member lovino — aye Council Member McPartlan — aye Mayor Hill — aye Motion carried 5-0. Mayor Hill called for nominations for an alternate candidate. Council Member Dodd nominated Sue Hann. Mayor Hill seconded the nomination. There were no other nominations. In the event that contract negotiations fail with Mr. Carlisle, Ms. Hann would be considered as their second choice to be the next City Manager. MOTION by Council Member Dodd and SECOND by Council Member to cancel the April 5'", 2018 Special City Council meeting passed with a unanimous voice vote. It was the consensus of City Council to have the City Clerk draft letters of appreciation to the four other candidates for coming to Sebastian and being a part of the process. 8b. Public Input Damien Gilliams said he reviewed all of the applications and asked for Mr. Carlisle educational background. Mayor Hill advised it was in the backup. Mr. Gilliams said Mr. Carlisle was good candidate but the second candidate had impeccable qualifications. City Council Workshop & Special Meeting City Manager Selection April 4, 2018 Page Eight Approved at the April 25, 2018 Regular City Council meeting. ay Jim Hill ATTEST. anetteIliams, MMC —City Clerk 3