CITY COUNCIL MEETING MASCOTTE, FLORIDA

Transcription

1 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MASCOTTE, FLORIDA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, :30 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS TEDDER-THOMAS MEMORIAL CIVIC CENTER 121 N. SUNSET AVE MASCOTTE, FLORIDA MINUTES CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Felix Ramirez called the November 17, 2008, Regular Meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE & INVOCATION: Mayor Ramirez gave the invocation. Mayor Ramirez followed with the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Present: Mayor Pro-Tem Mary Marquard Council Member Brenda Brasher Council Member Stephen Elmore Mayor Felix Ramirez Absent: Council Member Barbara Tillman Also Present: Marge Strausbaugh, City Manager Randy Brasher, Fire Chief Steve Allen, Police Chief Robert Holland, Public Service Director Michelle Hawkins, Assistant City Clerk

2 Installation of newly Elected Council Members: City Manager Strausbaugh read the canvassing results: Page 2

3 Assistant City Clerk Hawkins administered the State of Florida Oath of Office to Mary Marquard (Seat 2) and to Brenda Brasher (Seat 4). Appointment of Mayor Pro Tem: Council Member Brasher stated she would do it, adding that she didn t think it was appropriate for her to nominate herself. Mayor Ramirez nominated Council Member Elmore as Mayor Pro Tem. Council Member Brasher seconded the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Marquard Mayor Ramirez Council Member Brasher Council Member Elmore 1. Minutes of Previous Meetings: Approval of the November 3, 2008, Council Meeting Minutes Council Member Marquard stated that there were two scriveners errors which have been given to Assistant City Clerk Hawkins. Mayor Pro-Tem Elmore moved to approve the November 3, 2008 Meeting Minutes. Council Member Brasher seconded the motion. Council Member Marquard Mayor Ramirez Council Member Brasher Mayor Pro Tem Elmore 2. Public Comments: There were none 3. Presentations: Lt. Jan Otero City Manager Strausbaugh stated that this is a very special presentation, and that Fire Chief Brasher will speak on this. Page 3

4 Fire Chief Brasher stated that Lieutenant Jan Otero is the first paramedic in the City of Mascotte. This is a training that takes over a year. He added that he was truly honored and proud of Lieutenant Jan Otero. Chief Brasher presented Lieutenant Jan Otero with the paramedic award. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that it is very important to have paramedics since they have the ability to save a life until the ambulance arrives. She added that providing this service was great for the citizens and the city. She added that she and the City appreciate Jan Otero s dedication. Mayor Pro Tem Elmore congratulated Jan Otero and stated that this shows how dedicated the City s Fire Department is. Council Member Brasher thanked Jan Otero and his wife Amber, and the family for their support while Jan Otero was attending school to become a paramedic. Council Member Marquard thanked Jan Otero and stated that he is an outstanding Firefighter. Mayor Ramirez congratulated Jan Otero. LOCAL PLANNING AGENCY A. Amending the Comp. Plan to update the Capital Improvement Schedule (CIS). City Manager Strausbaugh stated that the Council meeting is suspended to hold the Local Planning Agency meeting, adding that the City Council also sits as the Local Planning Agency. She added provided was the Comprehensive Plan portions applying to updating the Capital Improvement Element of the Comp Plan and the Capital Improvement Schedule. She added the documentation is provided showing that the update is in line with the comprehensive plan. Mayor Ramirez entertained public comments: There were none. LPA Member Elmore motioned that the Capital Improvement Schedule (CIS) does meet the requirements of the comprehensive plan and that it is recommended to council for approval. LPA Member Marquard seconded the motion. LPA Member Marquard LPA Member Ramirez LPA Member Brasher LPA Member Elmore The LPA meeting ended and the City Council meeting resumed. Page 4

5 4. Public Hearings: Ordinance Final Reading and Adoption- Ordinance Amending the Comp. Plan to change the Capital Improvement (CIS) to update it. City Manager Strausbaugh read the title of Ordinance as follows: ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MASCOTTE, LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA AMENDING TABLE XII 2 OF CHAPTER XII, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS ELEMENT, OF THE CITY S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO UPDATE THE 5-YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS SCHEDULE AS REQUIRED BY FLORIDA LAW; PROVIDING FOR TRANSMITTAL TO THE STATE LAND PLANNING AGENCY; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS, SEVERABILITY, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that the LPA has certified the update of the Capital Improvement Element and Schedule to be in line with the City s Comprehensive Plan and has recommended approval of the adoption ordinance. Mayor Ramirez entertained public comments: There were none. Mayor Pro Tem Elmore moved to approve the Final reading and Adoption of Ordinance , amending the Comp. Plan to update the Capital Improvement Element and Schedule. Council Member Brasher seconded the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Elmore Council Member Brasher Council Member Marquard Mayor Ramirez City Manager Strausbaugh stated that this will go up to Department of Community Affairs to meet the December 1 st deadline. Page 5

6 5. Resolution for Consideration and Action: Resolution , ICMA Pension Documents. City Manager Strausbaugh read Resolution as follows: RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MASCOTTE, FLORIDA; RELATING TO A MONEY PURCHASE RETIREMENT PLAN FOR ADMINISTRATION BY ICMA-RC AND INVESTED IN VANTAGETRUST. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that ICMA is requiring the City to pass a resolution to change administrators of the City s Pension Plans. Along with the resolution council will authorize the City Manager to sign all necessary documents. Council Member Marquard stated that this looks like a good plan. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that is a very good government pension plan. Mayor Pro Tem Elmore stated that it would have been nice to see the other company documents side by side to compare, but it looks like a good plan. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that both plans are similar in nature. She added the differences are in the administration; less cost to the City and to the employee to administer, better customer service and assistance and moving from a private pension plan administered by AIG-VALIC to one that is non-profit and offers more security. The items pertinent to the plan itself have not changed. Mayor Ramirez stated that a lot of the problems had to do with customer service issues. Council Member Marquard moved to approve Resolution ICMA Pension Documents. Council Member Brasher seconded the motion. Council Member Marquard Mayor Ramirez Council Member Brasher Mayor Pro Tem Elmore 6. Correspondence, Agreement, Communications, Petitions: There were none. Page 6

7 7. Budget Amendment: There were none. 8. New Business: There were none. 9. Site Plan Review: There were none. 10. Unfinished Business: There were none. 11A. Report s and Request s: Mayor and City Council. Council Member Brasher questioned if invitations were sent out for the Christmas party. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that the Christmas party will be on December 9, 2008, and that invitations may not have been sent out. Council Member Brasher questioned when the tree lighting will be. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that the tree lighting will be on the December 4, 2008 from 6 to 8. Mayor Ramirez stated that tomorrow here at the civic center Jose Rubio and Mayor Ramirez church will be working with the Mexican Consulate who will speak with the public to explain what services they offer. Mayor Pro-Tem Elmore questioned the amount of time that campaign signs must be removed after the election. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that she had directed that if city staff sees any signs remaining they should remove them and throw them away. 11B. Report s and Request s: City Manager. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that Pastor Joe Lee has asked if his church could use the Civic Center for church services until they are able to find a permanent church home. She added that she had explained to Pastor Joe Lee that it would be on a three month basis then could be extended if need be with three month extensions. City Manager Strausbaugh stated this was what had been done with another church in the past. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that Pastor Joe Lee is aware that if the Civic center is rented out on a Sunday their church service will be bumped. She added they would also have to make Page 7

8 sure it was cleaned after the service in case it was rented out for a Sunday afternoon or evening. She added Saturday and Sunday are the two busiest day for the Civic Center rentals. Council Member Marquard questioned if this will be just on Sunday mornings. City Manager Strausbaugh stated yes just on Sunday mornings. Mayor Ramirez questioned if this is the same church that the City helped before. City Manager Strausbaugh stated no the name of this church is The Gospel Tabernacle of Lake County, Inc., and a Southern Baptist Church. Mayor Pro Tem Elmore questioned if this church is in Mascotte. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that according to Pastor Joe Lee it is in Mascotte and they are looking for a permanent home in Mascotte. Council approved that The Gospel Tabernacle of Lake County, Inc can use the civic center for their Sunday church services for three months with no fee. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that in preparation for the visioning session with the City Council the first of the year, there will be an employee retreat starting at noon tomorrow until noon Wednesday. The first session will be with the supervisors who have gathered information from their department employees and will present that information to the directors at this session. The second part of the retreat will be team building exercises with the directors and preparation of information to use with Council. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that the annual Concurrency report is complete and will be given to Council after the meeting. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that there have been concerns with Veolia and the complaints are getting worse. She added in addition there was increased damage and disrespect for the City owned garbage cans. She added when the City decided to try the privatization of the Sanitation, they made it clear that they would take it back if the service was not good. She added the issue the City had prior was the debt of the 2004 garbage truck. She added the City did get rid of the Sanitation debt, which the City had to do since it was an enterprise fund. She added when the complaints began to increase she directed Public Services Director Holland to start looking at the budget for the City to possibly operate the sanitation. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that the report has been handed to Council showing how this can now be done without the huge debt from that initial truck and maintaining the same or better profit as Veolia is now providing. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that the city will have to purchase two garbage trucks, and part of the concern was how the City was going to fund the start up of taking over the sanitation. She added they were proposing two of the used Kissimmee Garbage trucks which the City found to be better made, less of a cost and less maintenance intense than the previous purchased one-arm garbage truck. Page 8

9 City Manager Strausbaugh stated that Finance Director Bisner came up with a viable method of purchasing the two used trucks. The City General Fund will loan the money to the Sanitation Department from the General Fund reserves. This way the City will get a better interest return on the money used to purchase the trucks since the City is not getting a good return on interest right now. Public Service Director Holland stated that when the City had the two trucks in the past, the newer truck was giving the City a lot of problems that were costly. The second truck that the City had was a used truck that was purchased from the City of Kissimmee and there were never any problems with that truck. The City of Kissimmee will be purchasing two new trucks and so they are willing to sell Mascotte the two used trucks for $70, total. He added the previous truck had cost almost $200,000. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that Veolia seems to be having a lot of turn-over and therefore there have been even more problems. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that Public Services Director Holland had an opening in his department and they have hired a person who is a certified mechanic and he will be working on all the vehicles throughout the City, which includes upkeep of the sanitation truck. Public Services Director Holland stated that there have been thirteen complaints so far this month and there were eleven complaints last month. Council Member Brasher stated that she is having the same problem with Veolia in Howey-inthe-Hills. She added that the City needed to have it back since Mascotte can offer better customer service. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that the money to purchase the vehicles will be coming out of the General Fund reserves. She added in order to pay the debt on the prior truck the City was going to have to raise their monthly rate to at least $25. She added the City could run the Sanitation Department on the current $23 a month and would earmark within the department $2 a month for the purchase of the vehicles and for a sinking fund for future trucks and equipment. Public Services Director Holland stated that this budget would also include a sinking fund so that there is money just in case there is a need for repairs. Mayor Pro Tem Elmore stated that he had concerns when the City decided to go with Veolia. Mayor Pro Tem Elmore questioned if the City would be better served to see if there are other companies out there that are more competitive. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that when the City originally decided to franchise the sanitation they put it out for bid and Veolia was the only company that responded to the bid. Council Member Brasher stated that Waste Management which is another sanitation company is more expensive from what she had heard. Page 9

10 Mayor Ramirez questioned when this will begin. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that the City has to give notice, and the City will have to wait to see when the City of Kissimmee will be able to sell their trucks to Mascotte. City Manager Strausbaugh stated that Veolia will still be doing the City s commercial and construction garbage. Mayor Pro Tem Elmore moved to approve that at the appropriate time that the city will notify Veolia that their services are no longer needed, and that city moves forward in purchasing the two garbage trucks needed to start the sanitation department. Council Member Marquard seconded the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Elmore Council Member Brasher Council Member Marquard Mayor Ramirez Council Member Marquard stated the second Council Meeting in December she would not be present as her grandson is graduating basic training from the Air Force. 12. Adjournment Mayor Pro Tem Elmore moved and Brenda Brasher seconded for adjournment. Mayor Ramirez adjourned the meeting at 7:25P.M. ATTEST: Felix Ramirez, Mayor Marge Strausbaugh, City Manager/Clerk Page 10