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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09202000 CEB CITY OF SEBASTIAN CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 20, 2000 Chairman Cosco called the meeting to order at 3:02 pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was said. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: EXCUSED ABSENCE: ALSO PRESENT: VC Barczyk Mr. Kea Mr. Neglia Mr. Davis(a) Chmn. Cosco Mr. Schofield Mr. Morozowski(a) Mr. Connelly and Mr. Cavallo Dennis Hovasse, Alarm Administrator Richard Stringer, City Attorney Ann Brack, Recording Secretary Lt. Chanse Reardin, Division Commander ANNOUNCEMENTS: Chmn. Cosco noted that Officer Hovasse provided a corrected page - citation #14274 dated 6/28/00 - which replaces #16821. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: MOTION by Davis(a)/Neglia I make a motion we adopt the minutes of the regular last meeting of 16 of August, 2000, time 3:00 pm. A voice vote was taken. 6 - 0, motion carried. OLD BUSINESS: Mr. Neglia commented that at the last meeting, the Board requested that Lt. Reardin be present at these meetings, and noted that he is not present today and only one Code Enforcement officer is present. (Mr, Morozowski arrived at the meeting.) Mr. Neglia continued and noted that he wanted Lt. Reardin to be present to answer some questions. VC Barczyk agreed with Mr. Neglia and noted that she has questions for Lt. Reardin CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2000 as head of the Code Enforcement Department. She commented that she did not know what could be done about Lt. Reardin's attendance. Mr. Davis(a) suggested an internal communication memo stating this request. VC Barczyk commented that she thought it would be normal procedure for Lt. Reardin to attend these Board meetings. Mr. Neglia then asked who the secretary is that would write this memo? At this point, Officer Hovasse attempted to reach Lt. Reardin by phone. VC Barczyk reminded the Board that Lt. Reardin can be reached by phone and voice mail between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. Chmn. Cosco noted that a request was made for this Board to make a motion setting a time limit for the fine for Damien Gilliams to be paid (from the last meeting). Mr. Neglia made a motion, but after discussion, it was determined that a time limit was not needed since it should be paid as any other citation would be paid. Attorney Stringer noted that this Board acted only on an appeal to the decision, so the citation stands. VC Barczyk withdrew her second, and Mr. Neglia withdrew his motion. NEW BUSINESS: FALSE ALARM APPEAL: 1. Walter Suter: 909 Rosearbor Drive, Sebastian Mr. Walter Suter, 909 Rosearbor Drive, Sebastian, was present, and he and Officer Hovasse were sworn in by the Chairman at 3:14 pm. Mr. Suter presented his appeal, referring to citations of 5/16/00, 6/22/00, and 6/28/00. He noted that he had his alarm serviced on 8/2/00 and has not had any problem since. He felt that the alarm system was doing the job it was designed to do, even though the Police did not seem to find any obvious evidence of an attempted break-in. He presented much commentary about his situation noting that he does not have a neighbor familiar enough to go in and turn off his alarm when he and his wife are out of town. He also noted that the company Protection One advised him that the alarm was set off at the front door. There was discussion on this issue. MOTION by Neglia/Barczyk I make a motion, on a date of 6/28/2000, case Number 14274, Mr. Suter, I think we should impose a fifty dollar ($50.00) fine. Roll call: Mr. Neglia - yes Mr. Kea - yes Mr. Schofield - no Chmn. Cosco - yes Mr. Morozowski(a) - yes Mr. Davis(a) - no CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2000 The vote was 4 - 2. Motion carried. At this point, VC Barczyk asked Atty. Stringer about a workshop meeting that had been discussed at the last meeting. There was discussion on this issue. It was determined to schedule it for 2:00 pm on October 18th, unless there are no cases for the regular meeting, in which instance the workshop will be held at 3:00 pm. All members agreed to this provision. ATTORNEY MATTERS: Atty. Stringer noted that the citation books have arrived. MEMBERS MATTERS: Lt. Reardin arrived at the meeting to answer questions from Board members. Mr. Neglia asked for the procedure of notifying residents about grass that is too high. Officer Hovasse explained the procedure. Lt. Reardin noted that offenders who pose a problem on a regular basis are going to be cited and taken to County court. Mr. Neglia then asked if Mr. Zelinski would be attending these Board meetings, and Lt. Reardin noted that he can't have his full staff attend every meeting, but whoever has a case to present will attend. Atty. Stringer noted that the Class III fine correction from $100 to $200 will be made at the next Council meeting on September 27th. Mr. Neglia then commented that his impression is that this Code Enforcement Board is being phased out. He noted that he sees a lot of violations, yet the reports indicate that there is compliance, and no cases are coming to the Board. Atty. Stringer commented that the only thing he sees that the Board should be phased out of is the tradition of them being an over-site committee for Code Enforcement matters. He noted that if this Committee is charged with making sure Code Enforcement is done the right way, and at the same time sits as judge as to whether or not a case is properly brought, then there is a mixing - a sort of judge and jury type of problem. He cautioned the Board about pre-judging cases. There was a brief discussion on the new citation form. VC Barczyk commented that this Board needs a secretary. She asked Lt. Reardin if this position is planned in the future. Lt. Reardin responded that nothing was budgeted for a secretary, and indicated it would be up to the City Management if additional manpower is needed. There was more discussion on this issue. VC Barczyk questioned the activity report that had been furnished at a previous meeting, noting that there was page upon page of non-compliance activities, yet, no cases are coming before this Board. She asked why there used to be cases brought before this Board (before the Department change), yet now none appear. Lt. Reardin responded CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2000 that there is a very high rate of compliance now. VC Barczyk made a comparison that with only two (2) Code officers previously active, there was much more case activity before this Board, than there is now with the attention of an entire Police force. Lt. Reardin assured the Board that all the officers are trained to watch for Code violations. There was discussion about Lt. Reardin's attendance at the Board meetings. There was discussion about the amount of fine for parking in a swale. Atty. Stringer commented that at the time that changes or corrections are made to the Resolution on fines, that amount will be amended to $10.00, since there is already a Code that covers this issue, and the Code overrules the Resolution. Mr. Kea, as a new Board member, voiced some questions about the responsibilities of this Board. There was some discussion on this issue and it will be covered in more detail at the workshop meeting that will be scheduled on October 18th, 2000. Chmn. Cosco adjourned the meeting at 4:40 pm. (9/26/00 AB)