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Minutes 04-11-97MINUTES OF THE CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON FRIDAY, APRIL 11-, 1997, AT 4:30 P.M. PRESENT Gerald "Jerry" Taylor, Mayor Jamie Titcomb, Vice Mayor Matt Bradley, Commissioner Shirley Jaskiewicz, Commissioner Henderson Tillman Commissioner Kerry Willis, City Manager James Cherof, City Attorney Sue Kruse. City Clerk I. OPENINGS A. Call to Order Mayor Taylor called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. B. Agenda Approval 1. Additions, Deletions, Corrections 2. Adoption No additions, deletions, or corrections were made to the agenda I1. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION A. City Boards Mandated by Charter and Florida Statutes City Attorney Cheref advised that there are approximately 22 boards in the City. (He did not include within this count certain types of boards like the Grievance Board which is a board empowered through the Civil Service system and is not under the jurisdiction of the Commission. created by the Commission, or mandated by the Commission in any way other than through the Civil Service system.) Of the boards that the City has, the following are mandated under State Statute or Charter: Building Board of Adjustment and Appeals Civil Service Board Community Redevelopment Agency Employee Pension Board MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1997 Firefighters' Pension Board Police Officers' Pension Board The balance of the boards exist under the auspices of the City Commission or enacted or created by the City Commission and could be abolished by the City Commission, although there are many tasks being done that the City would be hard pressed to do' without some of those boards. For example, the Code Enforcement Board handles 60 to 80 cases per month, enforcing the technical codes of the City and violations of those codes. Board meetings which are advisory or quasi-judicial in nature under State law are sunshine boards and have to be properly noticed. There has to be a secretary at the meeting taking minutes, and the minutes have to be maintained by the City Clerk's Office. B. Presentation by City Clerk Regarding Preparation for Board Meetings City Clerk Kruse reviewed the requirements of the City Clerk's Office in preparing for and documenting the board meetings. Two full-time Recording Secretaries attend approximately 25 meetings per month. They receive compensatory time for evening meetings equal to the time they spend at those meetings. It takes approximately two to three times longer than the meeting to transcribe the minutes. The Recording Secretaries also proofread copy, distribute, mail, and index the minutes on the computer for research. They keep an attendance log and when someone has three absences, they prepare a letter notifying the member of their third absence. On the fourth absence, they prepare a memo for the City Commission agenda for a new appointment to be made. They prepare thank you letters when members resign. They also send letters to the members about a month prior to their appointments expiring, send out appointment letters, and update and distribute the board listings City Attorney Cherof advised that in addition to those administrative tasks, several of the boards are quasi-judicial boards and require the attendance of an attorney to represent the board or. in some cases, two attorneys--one to represent the board and one to prosecute a case. The boards that require the attendance of somebody from the Legal Department are the Board of Zoning Appeals, the Building Board of Adjustment and Appeals, the Civil Service Board (on occasion when it is a contested disciplinary matter), and the Code Enforcement Board. The Fireflghters' Pension Trust Fund and the Police Officers' Retirement Fund retain special counsel separate and apart from the City Attorney's Office. The Nuisance Abatement Board is represented by the City Attorney's Office. 2 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1997 C. Consolidation and/or Elimination of Selected Boards Mayor Taylor inquired about the Library Board. City Attorney Cherof advised that there is a State standard that is required for the certification of the library as the type of library that it is. You could function as a library without that board; however, it ~Nould not be the type of library that this community is accustomed to having. Mayor Taylor added that it also has an impact on funding, City Attorney Cherof advised that there are two boards associated with the Cemetery-- the Board of Governors, which meets frequently and conducts affairs on behalf of the Cemetery, and a Cemetery Board of Trustees which was established by a trust in 1983 to manage the funds that are used for the perpetual care of the cemetery properties. The trustees are comprised of the Mayor. the City Manager, and two members of the Cemetery Board of Governors, and a fifth member selected by the other four trustees. This Board of Trustees has not met in the last seven or eight years, and their function, which is limited to the management and allocation of funds to the maintenance of the cemetery, ~s now handled by the Finance Department. This board is required under the terms of the trust that was created. The trust is perpetual and cannot be abolished but for the power of the Commission acting in concert with the Board of Trustees unanimously abolishing the trust. Commissioner Jaskiew~cz asked if the Board of Governors could assume that responsibility. City Attorney Cherof said they could not. If it is the intent of the Commission to transfer this responsibility to a purely administrative function by the Finance Department, there would have to be an ordinance abolishing the Board of Trustees and it would have to be ratified by unanimous vote of the Board of Trustees and the Commission. Mayor Taylor advised that the purpose of consolidating or eliminating boards is to make the boards more effective and efficient. The Commission understands that input from the community ~s necessary and the boards serve a valuable purpose ~n advising the Commission. The members of the boards are in touch with the community and the information they provide to the Commission is very valuable. However, some boards have questioned their goal. Sometimes a situation arises and a board is formed to address the situation, but remains in existence even after accomplishing their purpose. Some boards are a feed off of another board, and some boards should have individuals with certain backgrounds. Mayor Taylor stated that if you keep creating boards, you start spreading out the talent. Mayor Taylor felt the time frame within which a Commissioner has to make an appointment should be addressed. He pointed out that many times the Commission is 3ressured to appoint somebody to a board because if they do not appoint someone MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL '11, 1997 within a certain time frame they lose their appointment to another Commissioner. He would also like to address the procedure on how appointments roll over because currently it involves a tremendous amount of work for staff, which relates to money. Mayor Taylor appreciated all the boards and said they will continue to do their job under another heading. He stated that everything that is currently being done needs to be done. It is just a matter of how to get it done most effectively and efficiently. Commissioner Jaskiewicz was concerned with utilizing the talent we have to the fullest extent. She suggested alternating the Nuisance Abatement Board and the Code Enforcement Board and holding meetings twice a month. She explained that the Nuisance Abatement Board process is faster and more effective than the judicial system. Also, due to the new Community Appearance and Maintenance Code, the Code Enforcement Board consistently hears many cases. She was concerned about the hoops that people have to go through in order to get something done to their property. It is possible that someone would have to appear before four boards and the Commission before getting any results. This is redundant and does not encourage development or redevelopment. She would like to streamline the process between the Planning and Development Board, the Board of Zoning Appeals, the Building Board of Adjustment and Appeals, and the Community Redevelopment Advisory Board. She pointed out that people deal with staff first, then they go to various boards and ultimately have to appear before the City Commission. She also pointed out that there is an expense involved in having an attorney appear at each one of these meetings. She felt these boards need some redistribution of authority. She suggested combining the boards if they overlap. She was concerned about the boards that deal with public relations. She stated that the role of the Community Relations Board has changed over the years. It was originally formed to address health and welfare issues and to mediate social injustices. The function now is more in line with neighborhood organizations. At one time, there was no Education Advisory Board, Advisory Board on Children and Youth. or Senior Advisory Board. All of these boards are able to supplement and help each other. If they work together on projects, projects could be more successful. The Advisory Board on Child ten and Youth has an idea about having the youth of our City help the seniors who need assistance in cleaning up their yards, etc. If the Community Relations Board was aware of this. they could be trying to identify the people. It seems all of these boards are working autonomously. She did not think this was the most effective way to do the most for the City. The Advisory Board of Children and Youth wants to form a Youth Orchestra. Perhaps there are retired musicians in the senior community who would like to be involvec~ in a project of this nature. All these boards deal with human relations and should be working together 4 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1997 She was disturbed about some of the press releases that were put out this week. She felt it was counterproductive to the theme that the Black Awareness Committee has regarding the spidt of success in Boynton Beach. She felt our first criteria should be to build a better Boynton Beach. Commissioner Titcomb is interested in improving communication and reducing the amount of overlap between boards. He tried to group boards by mission and content. He agreed with Commissioner Jaskiewicz that the Code Enforcement Board and Nuisance Abatement Board could perform similar functions. Other boards that can work together to streamline the process are the boards that handle grounds, maintenance, and. recreational opportunities. For example, [he Recreation and Park Board, the Cemetery Board[ and the Golf Course Advisory Committee deal with similar issues and perhaps can hold joint meetings or cover some of each other's territory. In putting some of these boards together, it may be necessary to increase the size of the board, give them more power, or have them meet more often. The idea is to co. mmunicate better and increase the efficiency of the tasks they are set out to do. The Advisory Board on Children and Youth and the Education Advisory Board serve some significant differences; however, they should be talking to each other because there is a lot of overlap. They should also be talking to the Community Relations Board and the Senior Advisory Board. He did not think it is not a good idea to segment the population into groups. There should be more interaction between certain boards so that projects flourish. The Firefighters' Pension Board, Police Officers' Pension Board. Employee Pension B~ard. and Civil Service Board deal with similar employee issues and there could be g~at benefit if they communicate and interact with each other. The Library Board probably needs to maintain some autonomy because of its nature and the type of library system we run. However. perhaps we could consider a cultural counsel type boam that would be involved in cultural opportunities and put this under the jurisdiction of the Library Board. With regard to the entire building, development and zoning area. we have a Visions 20/20 Task Force, the Building Board of Adjustment and Appeals. the Community Redevelopment Advisory Board. the Board of Zoning Appeals, and the Planning and Development Board. He felt this confuses the public and developers. He suggested giving more responsibility, power, and clout into a development or planning and development area to streamline the process. Much like we might do internally and try to; increase the efficiency and friendliness of the City staff, we need to do that on the advisory and quasi-judicial side of the planning and development process. Perhaps it 5 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1997 will be a slightly larger board with the various expertise to make the important decisions that affect all of us in the City for many years to come. He felt the number of boards is not the issue. The issue is the efficiency and the end product of what they produce. Mayor Taylor felt one of the issues is the number of boards. He pointed out that if a board is eliminated, all the members' names will go into the talent bank to be appointed to another board. He felt the Cemetery Board could function under the Recreation and Park Board. He felt the Senior Advisory Board could function under the Community Relations Board. For example, one of the members of the Community Relations Board should be assigned to keep the Community Relations Board updated on cemetery issues. Every board should have a minimum of five members and a maximum of seven. Any more than seven would be unwieldy. The Planning and Development Board is a major function of the City and this board needs to be empowered to hear zoning appeals. He suggested eliminating the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Community Redevelopment Advisory Board because they serve the same function as the Planning and Development Board. He felt the City should be planned and zoned by one board. He also felt we need to put the historical preservation district under the Planning and Development Board. and that they should have the power to hear variances and abandonments. If the variance ~s denied, the applicant can appear before the City Commission for final determination. If the variance ,s granted and the Commission had a problem with it, the Commission could call it back for their review. This would eliminate the Commission having to look at variances or abandonments if they agree with the Planning and Development Board's decision. Rather than creating a cultural board, an individual on the Library Board could be assigned to address cultural issues. The Education Advisory Board is doing a tremendous job. They go to SAC meetings and have members assigned to each school. The Advisory Board on Children and Youth should be put under this board and one of the members should be assigned to child ten and youth activities. Commissioner Tillman was concerned with the boards working more efficiently and creating better communication. He felt that if boards are combined, they should be stronger. He referred to the costs associated with the boards. He stated that the minutes reflect what goes on at meetings and if a board has no function and is inactive. it should not exist. He pointed out that many boards were formed to address a particular issue or situation and if that issue or situation is resolved, it may be necessary to deactivate that board or move it under the auspices of another board 6 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1997 He felt the Planning and Development should remain in existence and someone on that board should be assigned to historic preservation issues. Community Relations should remain strong. The Golf Course Advisory Board should be put under the Recreation and Park Board. Nuisance Abatement should fall under the Code Enforcement Board. The Advisory Board on Children and Youth should fall under the Education Advisory Board. We need tc make sure that the Visions 20~20 Committee does not attempt to do the work that the Commission is supposed to do. The Library Board should remain in existence. To make this a better City, we are going to have to streamline the system to make it more efficient so the City can operate and function better. Commissioner Bradley agreed we need to streamline the process. He suggested putting Golf representatives and Cemetery representativeson the Recreation and Park Board. Mayor Taylor pointed out that the Golf Course Advisory Committee is a County and City Board and he did not know if we can legally do that. However. if possible, he agreed it should be under the Recreation and Park Board. Commissioner Bradley suggested putting the Community Redevelopment Advisory Board and Zoning Board of Appeals under the Planning and Development Board. and have that board address historic preservations issues as well. He felt the Commission sees too many development applications. He would like staff's recommendation regarding what they feel the Commission should or should not see. He felt we should turn more of this over to the Planning and Development Board. He agreed with Commissioner Jaskiewicz that the Community Relations Board should address senior and youth issues. He also agreed with Commissioner Tillman that the 20/20 Implementation Task Force was designed for a short period of time and wondered if the time has come to sunset that board. Mayor Taylor was supportive of sunsetting the 20/20 Implementation Task Force. He stated that this board was formed to prioritize what came out of the 20~20 Visions COnference and to make recommendations to the City Commission. They have done that well and it is time to turn this matter over to the consultant to go forward with the plan. However, it is important to have one or two people from this task force Continue on as an intermediary with the City Commission to help us follow through with this. Commissioner Bradley suggested that the Planning and Development Board include a slot for a 20/20 liaison. Commissioner Jaskiewicz suggested that each member of the Commission be a liaison to a particular board. 7 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1997 In light of the additional duties and responsibilities. Mayor Taylor felt the Planning and Development board would function better if they met twice a month. In addition, a lot of applications are coming through and if an applicant does not make the Planmng and Development Board meeting, they have to wait another month. Consensus The consensus of the Commission was as follows: The Planning and Development Board should absorb the duties of the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Community Redevelopment Advisory Board and will now conSider variances and abandonments. The Cemetery Board should go under the Recreation and Park Board. and consideration should be given to putting the Golf Course Advisory Committee under them also. Commissioner Bradley suggested that slots be designated on this board for cemetery and golf representatives. · The Senior Advisory Board will be put under the Community Relations Board. · The Advisory Board on Children and Youth will be put under the Education Advisory Board. The Nuisance Abatement Board will be put under the Code Enforcement Board. Commissioner Jaskiewicz pointed out that only the members of the Nuisance Abatement Board can hear nuisance abatement cases, D. Utilization of a $pecial Master for Quasi-Judicial Boards This item was not discussed by the Commission. E. Absenteeism of Board Members, Policy for Removal Mayor Taylor felt the current policy for removal has been effective; however, sometimes there are extenuating c~rcumstances for absences, He suggested that after the fourth absence, the Commission be notified and review the circumstances of the absences. Commissioner Jaskiewicz felt it would be a good practice to consider legitimate reasons for being absent. Commissioner Bradley suggested giving this responsibility to the boards themselves with the Commission's suggestions and expectations. Mayor Taylor had no objection to this as long as the entire board makes the decision and not the Chairperson alone. 8 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1997 City Attorney Cherof advised that the Commission should not delegate the power of removal of a board member to a board. Therefore, it was the consensus of the Commission that individuals submit a letter to the Commission explaining their absence and the Commission will dec~de whether or not to hold the absence against those individuals. Additional absences should be considered if a board meets more than once a month. F. Rotation/Assignment Policy for Appointment of BOard Members Mayor Taylor asked staff to come back with some suggestions regarding the rotation of appointments. Comments from the Public Ron Washam. Chairman of the Community Relations Board. asked if the Commission is going to vote o~ these issues today. City Attorney Cherof explained that this is a workshop meeting and the Commission is providing a consensus. Administration will go back to the drawing board and try to consolidate in the fashion of the consensus and bring back any problems they encounter in trying to do so. At that point, if the Commission approves it, it will come back in the form of ordinances, probably as an amendment to the entire chapter that deals with boards so that we have some uniformity of language throughout that entire chapter and modernize that section Mr. Washam believes there is room for streamlining. However, he felt the Commission should look a little deeper into this because some of the boards have been effective. He pointed out that the Community Relations Board and the Education Advisory Board have worked effectively together on Youth in Government Day. The members of the Community Relations Board are vocal and are very strong leaders in the community and Mr. Washam would not know what to do without them. The members of the Education Advisory Board have volunteered their time beyond the time they spend at their meetings. He felt all the boards have done an excellent job and should be kept intact. Mayor Taylor advised that the City Commission has given this a lot of thought. The purpose of advisory boards is to advise the Commission on what action the Commission could take or did take that may not have been right. He said it discourages him when he reads in the newspaper a comment made by a Chairperson or member of any of the advisory boards who identifies himself or herself as such, about whether or not a department head is functioning correctly in this community. He pointed out that this is not the function of an advisory board. 9 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1997 Mike Fitzpatrick, 101 S.W. 4th Avenue. serves on the Recreation and Park Board. He felt the following issues should be assigned to a board: The scrub jay is an endangered species and there is supposed to be a management plan for the preserve behind Ezell Hester. The City is required, through an agreement with the South Florida Water Management District, to have a xedscape plan as part of the Landscape Code of Boynton Beach, A certain portion of the utility bill goes into a Federal program for cleaning up stormwater. The City ~s supposed to have a plan on what they are going to do about that. Mayor Taylor thanked Mr. Fitzpatrick for his input. He stated that the xeriscape might start coming under the Planning and Development Board The stormwater plan is being addressed by the Utilities Department. He would have to look into the environmental management plan. Lynne Matson, 1 West Chesterfield Drive. has always been an advocate of downsizing and streamlining government. She stated that many boards are being filled with people living within the same community. If we have a very important board with three or five out of seven people iving n one or two communities within the City, we really do not have the overall scope that we should. A way to de-politicize some of these appointments would be for each Commissioner to only appoint somebody who lives within their district so that nobody has to worry about currying favor with communities that may have very large voting blocks. The Mayor, being at large, would have a little more leverage than the other Commissioners. She referred to the sunshine law and stated that it is dangerous to have three or four neighbors on a board because n a natural course of conversation, neighbors talk to each other about what they are involved in. She explained that the Community Relations Board has different duties now and pointed out that they do a lot that the Commission is not aware of. She felt they serve a unique purpose. Ms. Matson also expressed concern about the members of the Planning and Development Board, the Building Board of Adjustment and Appeals, and the Board of Zoning Appeals not having the backgrounds that they are supposed to have according to the ordinances. She pointed out that these members make important decisions. 10 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1997 Dee Zibelli stated that if a memo had been put out to all the boards asking for input and giving the date of the workshop well in advance, it would have lessened the perception of control, trust would have surfaced, and it would have given due respect to the board members. Anne Centi. Vice Chairpemon of the Education Advisory Board. pointed out that the Education Advisory Board and the Community Relations Board worked together on Unity Day and Youth in Government Day. Also, thanks to the Community Relations Board, the Education Advisory Board was able to revamp their program and become more effective. Henrietta Solomon, 230 N.E 26~ Avenue, felt one of the biggest problems of Boynton Beach is apathy and noninvolvement and that people feel left out of this City. Being on a board is one of the best ways to keep citizens involved. She felt the Commissio~ should find more ways to involve citizens rather than trying to put them out. Ms. Solomon suggested that an item titled, "Response to Public Audience" be placed on the City Commission agendas so that people do not feel the Commission just dismisses them after listening to them for three minutes dudng the Public Audience portion of the City Commission meetings. Maurice Rosenstock, One Villa Lane. congratutated the City Manager and City Commission for putting this forum together. He stated that this type of government is a strong City Manager type of government wherein the City Manager is the Chief Operating Officer and the City Commission sits as an advisory board to set the policy. He felt some issues can be handled administratively and should never go to boards. With regard to cronyism, he pointed out that no one on the Commission objected to appointing the people currently sitting on the boards. He pointed out that no matter what district you come from you have certain capability. If you start using single member districts to make appointments, you are not always going to get the best individual. At this time, Commissioner Bradley left the meeting. Mr. Rosenstock felt the Commission should take the advice of the City Manager who is responsible for operating this City. He would like the City Manager to look into appointing a special master to handle almost all of the work of the Code Enforcement Board. He advised that the County is getting volunteers to do this, He also pointed out that when dealing with peOple's property, you need even adjudication and not adjudication that (;an work by the whims of an individual who is appointed to a board. 11 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1997 James Miriana. NE. 8~" Avenue. agreed to some degree that the consolidation of some boards is necessary. He agreed with most of what Ms. Matson said. He felt there would be a conflict by combining the Planning and Development Board and the Board of Zoning Appeals and recommended that the Commission look into this further before taking any action. Jos~ Aguila, 800 S.W. 1s, Court, is a member of the Planning and Development Board but spoke strictly .as an individual. He commended the Commission for wanting to consolidate scm? ,of the efforts that he agreed are duplicative. He felt the functions of the Planning and Development Board. the Community Redevelopment Advisory Board, and the Board of Zoning Appeals should be acted upon by one entity and should not have more thar~ seven regular members and two alternates. This entity should be quas~-judlc al have full responsibility to review and act upon al development Issues and meet twice a month. From his experience with other municipalities, the Planning and Zoning Boards make the final decision, which has to be ratified by the City Commission. He pointed out that 'it is a waste of time for the Commission to hear those entire presentations. He felt it is very important that the members of the boards be properly qualified. The Planning and Development Board has very important functions that impact everybody's lives. The people on that board need to be experienced and understand the issues. Aisc he felt alternates should automatically be moved up to regu [ar positions when there are vacancies. Commissioner Jaskiewicz pointed that there are two professional planners, two architects, a lawyer, and a builder on the Planning and Development Board. Mayor Taylor referred to the comment Ms. Solomon made about the citizens in this community not feeling_involved. He pointed out that we are here tonight because we have 20 to 22 citizen boards involved in this community. Over 100 citizens participated in Visions. We have ir~cluded citizens in our hiring processes. We have held a town meeting and invited the entire community to talk about anything they wanted. We have created neighborhood organizations which we participate in and get their feedback. In addition, the consulting group, James Duncan and Associates, is going to conduct citizen interviews. Commissioner Jaskiewicz added that the concerns of the people who speak during the public audience portion of the City Commission meetings are followed up. Nellie Denahan, 650 N.E. 8th Avenue commended the Commission for holding this meeting. She felt the Commission w be send ng the wrong message to the public if they consolidate the Education Advisory Board with any other function. She stated that 12 MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 11, 1997 education is a broad enough scope in and of itself. The members of this board are liaisons for 13 schools. Ms. Denahan also felt there is too much absenteeism allowed on boards. She felt a total of three absences is more than enough. Patti Hammer, Chair of the Board of Zoning Appeals, felt combining the boards is a good idea. However. she did not think the Commission should arbitrarily hand over the boards that are being disbanded to the current Plarming and Development Board. She felt the Commission should take the best from each of the boards that are being disbanded. III. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the City Commission. the meeting was adjourned at 6:15 p.m. ATTEST: 'Cit~Clerk ' Recording Secretary (Two Tapes) 13