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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06232010City Council Present: Mayor Richard H. Gillmor Vice -Mayor Jim Hill Council Member Andrea Coy Council Member Eugene Wolff Council Member Don Wright 5. AGENDA MODIFICATIONS None. cmrcF SIMAsTIA1V HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND SEBASTIAN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2010 6:30 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA 1. Mayor Gillmor called the regular meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. 2. Rev. Richard Jones, Sebastian United Methodist Church gave the invocation. 3. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 4. ROLL CALL Staff Present: City Manager, Al Minner City Attorney, Robert Ginsburg City Clerk, Sally Maio Deputy City Clerk, Jeanette Williams Administrative Services Director, Deb Krueger Building Director, Wayne Eseltine Growth Management Director, Rebecca Grohall Police Chief, Michelle Morris Police Captain, Mike Beyer Public Works Director, Jerry Converse MIS Systems Analyst, Rob Messersmith 6. PROCLAMATIONS, AWARDS, BRIEF ANNOUNCEMENTS Presentations of proclamations, certificates and awards, and brief timely announcements by Council and Staff. No public input or action under this heading. 10.073 A. Presentation of Plaque Employee of the 1 Quarter Susan Lorusso Mayor Gillmor read Ms. Lorusso's plaque and presented it to her with a savings bond. 10.096 B. Proclamation Treasure Coast Waterway Cleanup Week Week of July 19 Mayor Gillmor read the proclamation and presented it to Steve Haigis, President, Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast who invited interested citizens to meet at the Main Street boat ramp on July 19 to assist with the clean up efforts. Regular City Council Meeting June 23, 2010 Page Two 10.097 C. Presentation of Plaque Letter to Blue Ribbon Boarding and Grooming "Yappv Hour" Fundraiser for Local Police Doq Ballistic Vests and Related Equipment Mayor Gillmor read a letter of gratitude to Martin Lavander, Owner, Blue Ribbon Boarding and Grooming and along with Sebastian Officers Cole and Antosia with their K9's Yoda and Armor, presented him with a plaque. 10.098 D. Presentation and Update on Deepwater Gulf Oil Issue Martin Smithson, Administrator, Sebastian Inlet District Beth Mitchell, Commissioner, Sebastian Inlet District, explained the chain of command for the inlet, who keeps in touch regarding the status of the oil spill. Martin Smithson, Administrator, presented a PowerPoint (see attached), stated the oil spill is the largest catastrophic environmental event in nation's history that will last decades and it is difficult to make statements on the status when problems are so severe. He said the District has held task force meetings with the Brevard County Emergency Management Office, the Indian River County Emergency Management Office, and the Florida Wildlife Conservation which has vessels and airplanes watching for the oil sheen. He said the oil's dense molecules will coagulate and in time come to our area as non- toxic tar balls; and with NOAH's assistance, they have identified that the south side of the jetty and in the nooks and crannies along the shoreline is where the debris might collect. He said the sargassum weed might carry some in but the tide will take it right back out. Ms. Mitchell said Visit Florida has set aside $11M for an overall marketing plan for the entire state including a website called Florida Live, which are state -wide live webcams to show people what is happening on the beaches, one being at Sebastian Inlet. She said they are also inviting citizens to submit beach photos for their website. Brief Announcements Ms. Coy invited the public to the Little League District playoffs to be held Saturday, 9:30 a.m. in Sebastian. 7. CONSENT AGENDA All items on the consent agenda are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of consent agenda items unless a member City Council so requests; in which event, the item will be removed and acted upon separately. If a member of the public wishes to provide input on a consent agenda item, he /she should request a Council Member to remove the item for discussion prior to start of the meeting or by raising his/her hand to be recognized. A. Approval of Minutes June 9, 2010 Regular Meeting 10.099 B. Waiver Bid and Authorize Staff to Negotiate One Year Contract Renewal with Florida League of Cities for Property, Casualty, Liability Workers' Compensation Insurance Renewal (Administrative Services Transmittal, FLC E -Mail, Preliminary Renewal Savings Table) Mayor Gillmor pulled item B. 2 Regular City Council Meeting June 23, 2010 Page Three MOTION by Mr. Hill and SECOND by Ms. Coy to approve item A passed with a voice vote of 5 -0. Item B Damien Gilliams, 1623 US Hwy 1, said he had asked the Mayor to pull this item, the property, casualty, liability, and workers' compensation insurance should have been bid out to try to receive a savings noting the City will receive $28,789 kickback if the coverage is renewed. The Administrative Services Director explained the City went out to RFP for FY06, `07, and '08 and received bids and great service from FLC and in 2008, they asked to renew with a reduction of $82,000. She noted staff has been reduced, proactively reducing workers compensation claims and the $28,789 is called a dividend. Mr. Wright said the FLC claims department works closely with City staff and found the losses which have been substantially reduced. He said he has worked 30 years in the property casualty business and finds this a very good proposal and it would be waste of time to take it out to bid. Dale Simchick, 766 Easy Street, cautioned Council to check with the City Attorney to see if the insurance should have gone out to bid. MOTION by Mr. Hill and SECOND by Ms. Coy to authorize staff to negotiate contract renewals with the Florida League of Cities for Property, Casualty, Liability Workers' Compensation Insurance. In response to Mr. Wolff, the City Manager said we do not have an advocate for this insurance as it will increase the cost. The City Attorney said we are in compliance with Florida Statutes, the Charter and Code; that the City has the right to go out to bid for this insurance but it was not required and there was not a dollar amount to trigger bidding for this as there are in other areas. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: Coy, Wolff, Wright, Gillmor, Hill NAYS: 0 Motion carried. 8. COMMITTEE REPORTS APPOINTMENTS City committee reports and Council Member regional committee reports. No public input or action except for City committee member nominations and appointments under this heading. Ms. Coy said the Economic Development Committee met and recommended tax abatement referendum wording which includes job creation, for the County Commission's referendum. She suggested assisting the County in educating the public. 9. PUBLIC HEARINGS None 10. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None 3 Regular City Council Meeting June 23, 2010 Page Four 11. PUBLIC INPUT Damien Gilliams, 1623 US Hwy 1, said he still has $1,000 available to assist underprivileged kids to play golf and gave his phone number for further information. He also said that he missed the Airport fuel discussion at the last meeting, and asked why the City isn't putting the fuel facility out to bid. Mr. Gilliams also asked Council to set a good example and use their expense accounts to pay for the Florida League of Cities conference. Dale Simchick, 766 Easy Street, commended the City on the kiosks. She said a couple of Councils ago, the Council decided to go into the municipal fuel business at the Airport and when she served on Council, a proposed Airport tenant requested to take over the fuel operation but it was denied. She said at the last meeting Council should have first voted on giving away the fuel operation and then granting the lease. She suggested they read the 2009 Airport Compliance Update 5190.6b. 12. NEW BUSINESS 10.100 A. Award Employee Group Health to Blue Cross /Blue Shield of Florida Inc. Dental, Life, and Long Term Disability to Florida Combined Life Group Vision to Humana Employee Assistance Program to MH Net (Admin Services Transmittal, RFP Analysis, RFP) Christian Bergstrom, Director of Analytical Services, Gehring Group, said it was decided to go out to bid for the entire employee package, reviewed the responses with staff, and said he had negotiated a savings with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Alternate Three plan. MOTION by Mayor Gillmor and SECOND by Mr. Hill to approve the insurance services as recommended by staff. In response to Mr. Wright, the City Manager said the collective bargaining agreement only requests coverage, not a certain plan. Public Damien Gilliams, 1623 US Hwy 1, asked what the Gehring Group's fee was. The City Manager said it was 2% of the premium. Mr. Gilliams suggested bidding out the consultant, and said employee out of pocket has increased, and they are getting less money. Mayor Gillmor said the total out of pocket hasn't changed. Mr. Gilliams responded it's the principle, and suggested putting the broker out to bid. In response to Mr. Wolff, the City Manager said the term was for 14 months as they started the process earlier. Mr. Wolff asked Mr. Bergstrom if he anticipated the national healthcare legislation making health care more favorable for the employees. Mr. Bergstrom said beginning October 1, lifetime benefits will be removed, there will be no co -pay for preventive care visits, there is dependent coverage till 26, and there is no pre- existing condition for children under 19. 4 Regular City Council Meeting June 23, 2010 Page Five Result of the roll call vote: AYES: Wolff, Wright, Gillmor, Hill, Coy NAYS: 0 Motion carried. 10.101 B. Old School House /City Hall Use Agreement Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (City Manager Transmittal, Agreement) The City Manager said the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program requested 100 square feet for their north County operations and staff recommended the old Finance offices in the school house for $500, the cost of utilities. MOTION by Mr. Hill and SECOND by Ms. Coy to grant the City Manager the authority to execute a use agreement between the program and the City. Sarah Bumgardner, Director, Retired Senior Volunteer Program, thanked City Council on behalf of the program. Mr. Wolff asked how the $500 will impact their budget. Ms. Bumgardner said they had just received funds from the Edward Kennedy Service Act so they would not be impacted at all. Damien Gilliams, 1623 US Hwy 1, said this is great and asked if the $500 could be waived. Mr. Wolff pointed out that he questioned if the organization would be impacted and they said they would not. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: Wright, Gillmor, Hill, Coy, Wolff NAYS: 0 Motion carried. 10.092 C. Florida League of Cities Conference Issues (City Clerk Transmittal, FLC Letter and Forms) i. Select Voting Delegate for FLC Conference Ms. Coy nominated Mayor Gillmor and being no other nominations; he was appointed the voting delegate. ii. Consider Any Resolutions Council Wishes to Propose to FLC Membership for Consideration at Conference Re: Commemorative, Constitutional or Federal Issues Council did not have any resolutions to submit. Mr. Hill said he would sit with the resolutions committee on the Thursday prior to the conference to go over submitted resolutions. 5 Regular City Council Meeting June 23, 2010 Page Six 13. CITY ATTORNEY MATTERS 10.102 A. Report on Legislative Issues Re: Council's Ability to Take a Stance on Ballot Issues (Florida Department of State Opinion DE10 -07) 8:00 pm The City Attorney said he wanted Council to see the Department of State's opinion in regard to ballot issues noting the Legislature split the prohibition in two and public monies could now be spent for issues on the ballot. He noted the Federal Court has enjoined the enforcement of those restrictions in any event by entering a permanent injunction from State officials enforcing them. He advised they may wish to consider the upcoming ballot issues with Amendment 4 being the most controversial issue. 10.103 B. Litigation Update (Memo) The City Attorney reported the City has resolved most of the cases that were active on his last report and there is one active case with a former police officer that will be replaced with a State lawsuit. Mr. Wolff asked on Item A, if something is legal, is it necessarily ethical. The City Attorney said no, ethics and the law —in theory— should be partners and the best laws are ethical, but there is a divergence many times. He said when the legislature prohibited the spending of public monies on an issue it seemed unbalanced and as the elected officials, they should be able to explain where they stand on things, especially with the Supreme Court saying corporations can be treated as individuals for election purposes. 14. CITY MANAGER MATTERS None. 15. CITY CLERK MATTERS None. 16. CITY COUNCIL MATTERS 10.024 A. Charter Officer Evaluations (Transmittal, R- 10 -05) Ms. Coy said she turned in the evaluations and thanked staff for their work. Mr. Wright said he is very satisfied with the Charter Officers' work, he is not recommending raises due to budgetary restraints and he did not write these up but he continues to work with the City Manager on specific objectives. Mr. Hill said he met with the officers and turned in the evaluations. Mr. Wolff said he handed in written evaluations, and did not recommend an increase. 6 Regular City Council Meeting June 23, 2010 Page Seven ATTEST: Mayor Gillmor said he also handed in evaluations and did recommend increases for the Manager and Clerk and he noted the City is in a budget crisis but in any business, executives are compensated even in down times. He said the City is blessed to have the charter officers to help run the City. B. Mayor Gillmor Wxidko4rva home D tp Cil-y 4 r Sally A. Maio, MMC City Clerk Mayor Gillmor said there is a Florida Boating Improvement Grant available and suggested applying for a finger pier at the Main Street boat ramp which would be a benefit to boaters. Mr. Hill said he would be happy to consider it. Mr. Wright said he would like to reinitiate discussion on mooring field to enhance the CRA district with possible funding from recreation impact fees. There appeared to be general consensus to proceed. In response to Mr. Wolff, Mayor Gillmor said there is $300,000 available statewide but the Yacht Club finger pier cost was $10- 15,000. There appeared to be general consensus to proceed. C. Vice Mayor Hill none D. Council Member Coy none E. Council Member Wolff none F. Council Member Wright Mr. Wright said this past week the leaf spring broke on his boat trailer and he went to the Alpha Hardware on Cleveland Street and for two days they provided excellent advice on how to fix his trailer. He gave kudos to Dave Humphrey and John Devoe and highly recommended them to anyone that might need hardware for their boat or home. 17. Being no further business, Mayor Gillmor adjourned the regular meeting at 8:19 p.m. Approved at the July 14 2010 Regular City Council meeting. 7