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Minutes 05-28-04 MINUTES OF THE AGENDA PREVIEW CONFERENCE HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM C, WEST WING, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2004 AT 10:00 A.M. Present: Mike Ferguson, Vice Mayor Bob Ensler, Commissioner Mack McCray, Commissioner Carl McKoy, Commissioner Kurt Bressner, City Manager James Cherof, City Attorney Janet Prainito, City Clerk Absent: Jerry Taylor, Mayor Call to Order In the absence of the Mayor, Vice Mayor Ferguson presided and called the meeting to order at 10:02 a.m. V.A. Appointments to be made Vice Mayor Ferguson noted that there was a dearth of applicants for the Education Advisory Board. Commissioner Ensler inquired if there was a future agenda item to discuss the future of the Education Advisory Board. Mr. Bressner would like this Board to continue because they perform a very valuable function to the City. Mr. Bressner will ask Assistant City Manager Hawkins to work with Ms. Farace, the Library Director. He was not in favor of putting anything on the agenda regarding this Board. Commissioner Ensler would like to know if the Board has been holding meetings and Ms. Prainito reported that they did not meet during the month of May. VI.B.I. Award Bid #033-2821-04/JA, "WEST WELLFIELD DEVELOPMENT," to Florida Design Contractors, Inc. (FDC) to execute a contract in the amount of $847,960. Also approve an owner's contingency of 10% in the amount of $84,796 for a total project budget appropriation of $932,756 (Proposed Resolution No. 04- 076) (Tabled on 5-18-04) (Left on Agenda for review by Interim Utility Director) Mr. Bressner reported that he was meeting with the consultants after this meeting. He will convey the results of the meeting to everyone over the weekend. Mr. Bressner recommended that the item remain on the agenda. VI.B.5 Multi-award the 'ANNUAL BID FOR SAFETY CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT,' Bid #046-1412-04/JA, on an overall basis to the lowest, most Meeting Minutes Agenda Preview Conference Boynton Beach, Florida May 28, 2004 responsive, responsible bidder who meets all specifications with an estimated annual expenditure of $50,000 VI.B.7. Multi-award 'ANNUAL BID FOR HARDWARE SUPPLIES,' Bid #053- 1412-04-CJD, on an overall basis to the lowest, most responsive, responsible bidder who meets all specifications with an estimated annual expenditure of $35,000 Vice Mayor Ferguson questioned the backup statement in those bids that stated that non-typed bids were rejected as not being responsive. He did not feel that bids that were not typed were evidence of not being responsive. Mr. Bressner inquired if this resulted in the lowest bidder not being selected. Vice Mayor Ferguson was not aware of this. He did not like the bidder being referred to as "non responsive" because it was not typed. He felt that the City might be losing out on small contractors that could do a good job for the City. Diane Reese, Finance Director, noted that bid documents state that they must be typed. If the Commission wanted to allow handwritten bids, the bid documents would have to be changed. Ms. Reese pointed out that handwritten documents sometimes are not legible. Commissioner Ensler pointed out that this could affect minority firms that do not have the equipment to type their bids. Mr. Bressner recommended that the specifications could be changed to state, "typed or legibly written." Commissioner McKoy noted that if the language were changed as recommended, who would determine if the writing is legible. Mr. Bressner stated that this would be staff's responsibility. Mr. Bressner stated that he had no problem with changing the language to include "legibly written." He pointed out that the written bids would have to be looked at to determine if they were legible. Vice Mayor Ferguson requested that Ms. Reese look at the handwritten bids. Ms. Reese noted that any handwritten bids are automatically. placed on file and are not reviewed. Commissioner McCray stated that he would be pulling Item VI.5. Ms. Reese inquired if there was any specific information that Commissioner McCray required and he stated he would like to know what type of equipment was included in the bid. Mr. Bressner responded that it is safety equipment that includes vests and hard hats and the equipment should be listed on the bid tabs. Commissioner McCray inquired if the Interim Utilities Director was present and was informed that he was not. Mr. Bressner will insure that he is present at future meetings. C. 1. Proposed Resolution 04-078 Re: Approving five individual task orders for the East Water Treatment Plant Expansion (EPX), Stage 1, Phase I Project totaling $1,324,702. Also, approve an owner's contingency of 5% in the amount of Meeting Minutes Agenda Preview Conference Boynton Beach, Florida May 28, 2004 $66,235.10 for a total budget appropriation of $1,390,937.10. The owner's contingency of 5% will be applied to individual task orders on an "as needed basis." (TABLED ON 5-18-04) (Left on Agenda for review by Interim Utility Director) Vice Mayor Ferguson announced that this item may be pulled. VI.D.I. Hendricks Variance (ZNCV 04-003), 911 SW 28th Street - Request for relief from Chapter 2, Zoning Section 5.C.2.a, requiring a minimum rear yard setback of 25 feet for a single-family home within the RI-AA zoning district, to allow for a variance of 10 feet, and a rear yard setback of 15 feet Vice Mayor Ferguson indicated that he would be pulling this item. Commissioner Ensler received a call from the applicant requesting that the item be pulled. Commissioner Ensler was not in favor of the practice of continuing to grant variances. He would like to see the code changed to allow setbacks less than 25.' Mr. Rumpf reported that staff is reviewing the Land Development rewrite project and is looking at certain circumstances where setbacks could be reduced. Commissioner McKoy pointed out that at the Planning and Development Board meeting, the applicant was informed that the LDR might include a possible rewrite and an alternative had been offered to them regarding the plan for the addition. Vice Mayor Ferguson noted that the Planning and Development Board had denied the item by a split vote. Attorney Cherof noted that the applicants have not presented any legal hardship for the variance, which is a requirement for the granting of a variance. If an adjacent property owner contested the granting of the variance, the City would not prevail. VIII. D. Largo Pointe (ABAN 04-001) - Request for abandonment of the roadway portion of an unimproved roadway/utility easement Commissioner Ensler questioned if the abandonment of the roadway was necessary and he felt that the drawings were not discernable. He also inquired what the use for the property was. He felt that if someone was going to build on the property, the City should be paid for it instead of giving it away. Mr. Rumpf responded that the property is reserved for utility and roadway access, which would prevent any construction on the property. IX. A. Review of Crime Statistics Commissioner McCray stated that he requested that the item be placed on the agenda. He asked that the elected officials be kept informed of what is going on in the City. He noted that two Assistant Police Chiefs were added to the Police Department and he did Meeting Minutes Agenda Preview Conference Boynton Beach, Florida May 28, 2004 not know of this until months later. Commissioner McCray would like to see more minorities promoted within the Police Department. IX.B. Discussion and Consideration of Annual Board Dinner Commissioner McCray also requested that this item be placed on the agenda. He felt it was important that the elected officials keep in touch with members of the City's Boards and to thank them for serving in that capacity. X. Future Agenda Items Commissioner Ensler requested that an item be placed under future agenda items dealing with the management of colors on Federal Highway, Boynton Beach Boulevard, Congress Avenue and Ocean Avenue, east of City Hall. Mr. Bressner will add this to future agenda items. Commissioner McCray questioned if the City should start dictating what colors people can paint their property. He felt that this could send the wrong message to builders and developers. X.B. Mr. Bressner noted that this item will be changed to read "Old High School Refurbishment Report", since this is a repeat of Item D. X.E. Proposed Lease Agreement with Boynton Woman's Club Commissioner McCray inquired if the report from the architect was received. Mr. Hawkins responded that it should be received either today or by the middle of next week. The City has received a preliminary report. Quintus Greene, Development Director, noted that a City Commission workshop needs to be set to address the Comprehensive Plan Update. He recommended July, if possible. Mr. Bressner also noted that the Commission needs to set a workshop with the CRA dealing with the Town Center Plan in July. He recommended that both workshops could be held sequentially. Vice Mayor Ferguson inquired about the budget workshops. Mr. Bressner stated that the tentative dates are July 13, 14 and 15 at 3:00 p.m. Mr. Bressner recommended that this be placed under Future Agenda Items, as well. XII.B.3. Proposed Ordinance No. 04-039 Re: Amending Ordinance 03- 058 - Early Retirement Incentive Program - to permit otherwise eligible firefighters to use prior military service buyback for purposes of satisfying the 15 year eligibility requirement for early retirement Meeting Minutes Agenda Preview Conference Boynton Beach, Florida May 28, 2004 Commissioner McCray read the backup on this item and did not have a problem with the item. Mr. Bressner noted that staff is not in favor of the change to the ordinance because it sets a precedent. The ordinance was put on the agenda at the request of the attorney for the firefighter pension board. Mr. Bressner explained that there was one individual who did not qualify for the early retirement program because he did not have enough years of service. In order to qualify for the ERP, this individual proposed to use utilize military credit to bring him up to the minimum number of years. Mr. Bressner further pointed out that other employees who bought back prior military time and were participating in the ERP had all attained the necessary years in order to qualify for the ERP based upon years of City service. This is a policy decision that the Commission needs to make and Mr. Bressner was not certain if any other employees would come forward with the same request. Commissioner McCray noted that the backup stated that it would only apply to this firefighter. Attorney Cherof felt that it would be preferential to one employee if this were approved. Commissioner Ensler inquired if the petitioner would be allowed to speak since this was the first reading of the ordinance. Mr. Bressner recommended that the item be moved to the City Manager's Report to allow public testimony. XII.D.1. Review and consider proposal from Juan and Anna Valverde to purchase the vacant parcel adjacent to 730 SW 3rd Avenue Commissioner Ensler inquired what the applicants intended to use the land for. Mr. Bressner thought that the applicants wanted to place an addition onto their house. Mr. Bressner noted that the lot itself was not a buildable lot. Commissioner Ensler inquired if the Commission could require the applicants to change the legal description so that the two lots would become one lot. Attorney Cherof stated that this could be accomplished by requiring the applicants to obtain a Unity of Title. Commissioner McCray inquired why the appraised value of $4,000 was not the purchase price. Mr. Bressner noted that the applicants offered $3,300 for the lot. Mr. Bressner requested that Attorney Cherof inform the applicants prior to the meeting that they will be requested to obtain a Unity of Title and will be asked to pay the appraised value. Commissioner McCray inquired if the City has contacted the owner of the vacant Winn- Dixie store to determine if there are any potential businesses going into this space. Mr. Bressner will follow through on this request. Meeting Minutes Agenda Preview Conference Boynton Beach, Florida May 28, 2004 Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 10:40 a.m. Recording Secretary City of Boynton Beac_q.b (June 2,2004)