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Minutes 03-27-86MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1986 AT 7:30 P. M. PRESENT Nick Cassandra, Mayor Robert Ferrell, Vice Mayor Ezell Hester, Jr., Councilman James R. Warnke, Councilman Carl Zimmerman, Councilman Peter L. Cheney, City Manager Betty S. Boroni, City Clerk James W. Vance, City Attorney Mayor Cassandra called the meeting to order at 7:33 P. M. The Invocation was given by Pastor Nathaniel Robinson, Church of God, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Councilman James Warnke. AGENDA APPROVAL Councilman Zimmerman moved that the agenda be adopted, seconded by Councilman Hester. Motion carried 5-0. ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Cassandra announced a Public Reception will be .held in the Council Chambers immediately following this meeting. Mayor Cassandra announced the next Regular City Council Meeting will be held'on Tuesday, April 1, 1986. MINUTES Special City Council Meeting Minutes of March 14, 1986 Councilman Zimmerman moved to adopt the minutes as pre- sented, seconded by Councilman Hester. Motion carried 5-0. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of March 18, 1986 Mr. Cheney referred to these minutes just being received and Councilman Warnke moved to postpone the minutes of March 18 until April 1, seconded by Councilman Zimmerman. Motion carried 5-0. PUBLIC AUDIENCE NONE -1- MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MARCH 27, 1986 ADMINISTRATIVE Accept Re,Signation from Dee L. Zibelli, Community Relations Board Vice Mayor Ferrell moved to accept, seconded by Councilman Warnke. Motion carried 5-0. Mayor Cassandra requested the appropriate letter to be sent to Mrs. Zibelli for her efforts as a citizen on that Board. PRESENTATIONS/ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND APPRECIATION OF SERVICE TO MAYOR, VICE MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS Mayor Cassandra referred to the time put in by the City Council members and stated this Council had the pleasure of appointing someone who was felt would be an asset and needless to say, we were not wrong. It gives him pleasure to present Councilman Hester a plaque in appreciation for his service to the City of Boynton Beach during 1985 and 1986. Mayor Cassandra then referred to having young and old mem- bers of the Council and stated we are fortunate to have an elder statesman and then with appreciation, he presented a plaque to Councilman Carl zimmerman. Mayor Cassandra referred to Vice Mayor Ferrell also being an asset to this Council and presented a plaque to him. Vice Mayor Ferrell commended Mayor Cassandra for having done a great job handling the Council this year and stated we are looking forward to another year. He then presented a Plaque to Mayor Cassandra. Mayor Cassandra referred to Councilman Warnke and how various people refer to him, but stated we have learned a lot from him with his concern for the City of Boynton Beach, the environment, etc. He then congratulated Councilman Warnke and presented him with a plaque. Farewell Remarks Councilman Warnke stated he had a call from Ronald Reagan this morning wondering what to do about some of his problems around the world and he told him that he has a simple solu- tion to his problem because we have people in this city who an really help. If he wants to know how to solve things, just call Ben Uleck, Ralph Marchese or Wilda Searcy and everything will be taken care of. If all else fails and he is still in trouble, call Dorian Trauger. Councilman Warnke continued that in all seriousness, this ~ouncil could not get along without the city staff and department heads, and especially the City Clerk, Betty - 2 - MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ~CH 27, 1986 Boroni; our Attorney, Jim Vance; and our City Manager, Pete Cheney. He is also proud of the fact that this Council and the previous Council during the past four years, we had a Council which did not divide itself with one particular segment of the Council running things as has happened in past years. We all had our differences and we all had our agreements. He thinks it is a compliment to the city that this Council worked together so well during the past four years. Every Councilman, Vice Mayor and Mayor who sits up here is under a certain obligation to be certain places at certain times with lots of meetings, etc. and thankfully the people who are behind us, our spouses and families, are to be thanked for their backing and putting up with some of the things we found it necessary to do throughout the years. He then introduced one of his main backers, his wife, Beverly. Councilman Warnke then read the following article, which he felt was very appropriate: "The Public Servant's Lament" If I express myself on a subject, I'm trying to run things. If I'm silent, I'm dumb or have lost interest. If I'm always at my office, why don't I get out and learn what's going on. If I'm out when they call, why am I not tending to business. If I'm not at home at night, I'm out carousing. If I'm home, I'm neglecting important outside contacts and activities. If I don't agree with persons, I'm bullheaded. If I do agree, I don't have any ideas of my own. If I don't do what I'm requested, I'm a darn poor official. If I do agree, well, that's what I'm paid for. If I give someone a short answer, I'm too big for my britches. If I attempt to explain the pros and cons of an issue, I'm a know-it-all and long winded. If I'm well dressed, I think I'm a big shot. If I'm not, I'm a poor representative of my office. If I'm on the job a short time, I'm inexperienced. If I've been there a long time, it's time for a change. Mayor Cassandra complimented Councilman Warnke for giving an excellent speech. He expressed appreciation for his four years given to the Council. - 3 - MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MARCH 27, 1986 ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS OF OFFICE The City Clerk gave the oaths of office to Councilwoman Dee L. Zibelli and Councilman Ezell Hester, Jr. SELECTION OF VICE MAYOR Mr. Ferrell announced he would like to nominate Councilman Carl Zimmerman for the position of Vice Mayor. He told about Councilman Zimmerman's interest and concern with attending various functions. Councilwoman Zibelli seconded. Mayor Cassandra announced that Carl Zimmerman has been accepted by acclamation as our next Vice Mayor. Administration of Oath of Office to Vice Mayor Mrs. Boroni administered the Oath of Office of Vice Mayor to Carl Zimmerman. NEW BUSINESS Remarks by Mayor Nick Cassandra Mayor Cassandra announced that normally, if the Council so w~shes, some goals and objectives or accomplishments are given that they would like to see in the next year. Before doing that, Mayor Cassandra stated he would first like to give part of his presentation to former Councilman Warnke, who is leaving this 1986/87 Council. He wishes him a well deserved rest. There are a lot of things he would like to say, but time restrict~s him. He has had the 91easure of learning from Mr. Warnke and also had the ~leasure of knowing his priorities for the City of Boynton ~each. His concern for water, sewer and environment will ~lways stay with him. He hopes he will always be a con- cerned citizen of Boynton Beach. He is needed to keep the Council constantly aware of the amount of straws put into the ground to draw water. He wishes him well in his future endeavors. ayor Cassandra continued that for the new, the new ouncilwoman has been welcomed and we are familiar with Councilman Hester. As Councilman Warnke stated, he hopes his Council will also be able to work with each other. We ill have our disagreements, but he hopes we are never ~isagreeable. He foresees the following goals and objec- tives.that this Council will have to address for the upcoming year. The need to control growth and the need to - 4 - MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MARCH 27, 1986 solve what kind of growth we want. What kind of balance we want between commercial, industrial and residential. Do we want more retail stores, strip shopping centers, light industry? What kind of residential do we want? Do we want high density, rental, single family, multi-family? He feels this Council in the policy making for the City of Boynton Beach will have these objectives through their actions, con- cern and the comprehensive plan and zoning. With the Federal Government taking away some of our money, there is going to be the need for tighter fiscal controls. If we increase our expenditures for the use of general funds, it means we increase our taxes or should we increase the con- cept of users' fees - if you use it, you pay for it? Do we spend more monies on parks, recreation and cultural needs or do we spend monies in upgrading the living conditions in certain areas of our city? Do we take the excess energy of our youth and let them expend it in sports and recreation or do we try to take this energy and put it into useful employment? Do we take this money and use it to push the drug dealers out of our city or do we take this money and use it for public usage in our downtown area to aid the business community as well as beautify that area? These are all rhetorical questions which will have to be answered in the near future by this Council, since we are the policy making group. Mayor Cassandra continued that there is also the possibility of the comprehensive plan being raised in priority and we know an active effort has been there. He just found out tonight that they are one step closer to getting that done. Do we shift our priorities from parks, recreation and cultural needs to the needs to improve living conditions of poverty levels and employment of our youth? Those questions must be addressed by this Council coming up, because those are ~uestions that the citizens of this city would like to know the answers to. With that, he hopes we can approach some of ~hose concerns which he has and he hopes the other members ~ill be agreeable to. He hopes this Council will work ~ogether. Remarks by Councilman Robert Ferrell Mr. Ferrell stated that as long as there have been leaders mong mankind, there have been formal procedures from new fficeholders ranging from human sacrifice to majestic coro- nation rites that have been used to celebrate the advent of new regime taking over. He thinks we are all pleased here tonight to see we have come somewhere between the two extre- mes with neither human sacrifice nor majestic coronation. - 5 - MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MARCH 27, 1986 Since then, there are many people who have run for office to win a seat in government who often win because of their popular stand and they spend a good part of their term riding high. He hopes we begin this next year in the history of Boynton Beach. Then, Councilman Ferrell referred to Matthew, Chapter 22, Verse 14: "For many are called, but few are chosen". To be chosen is a rare honor and in this case, he along with the other members of the Council consider the rarity to be very well done. He thinks we have some good choices to go on for the next year. One of the great problems in democracy is that some of the people who have elected a candidate someti- mes try to exercise a shopper's prerogative or a lifetime guarantee. Even though a superb performance is expected from the chosen officeholders, they cannot remember the old saying that first the individual holds the office and if he Ks not careful, the office will hold him. He hopes we go into the year with no holding of our officials and today, we see the start of even better things to come in the future of Boynton Beach. With that, the people's help is needed to give input, not always at a meeting, but call in between. Councilman Ferrell continued with having some great quotes and stated that A1 Jolson used to say to his audiences when they cheered him: "You ain't seen anything yet". The gram- mar leaves something to be desired, but the message is crystal clear and he believes it furnishes a fitting theme for this occasion tonight. With the kind of good wishes with the taking of office for 1986 and 1987, and with the kind of people on whom this weight of responsibility now rests, with the kind of need and the kind of challenge and the kind of opportunity that looms before us today, he thinks it is fair for us to say: "You ain't seen nothing yet". Councilman Ferrell continued that we pledge to you and we need to continue activity in learning in dealing with issues, both in the city and the issues outside the city that affect us. He just returned from the National League of Cities convention and the cities are constantly being ignored at the county level, state level and federal level. The cities need to get together to do this. In particular, in the south county, the cities are beginning to band together and with the metropolitan coalition, which should become a reality within another month or so, to represent the interests of the cities and the people that live there. Councilman Ferrell referred to a good politician not knowing everything, but stated he is constantly in the learning pro- - 6 - MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MARCH 27, 1986 cess to face the challenges of tomorrow. He doesn't think any of us think we know everything, some of us think we are pretty close, but we need to keep learning and keep par- ticipating in what goes on in the world around us and in the county. The cities have to be partners for the future. At the convention, a comment was made that either we hang together or we will hang alone. We are facing federal reve- nue sharing cuts and they are coming. We are trying to gain some ground wherever we can and that requires that we work together to get what we deserve. Mr. Ferrell then wished former Councilman Warnke good luck in the future. He added that he was a great asset to the Council because he had different opinions and was not afraid to say them. He was a good addition to the City Council. Councilman Ferrell stated it was good to see Councilman Hester back on the Council. He was appointed the first time and got elected to serve on the Council now. He is looking forward to serving with him again. To Councilwoman Zibelli, Mr. Ferrell referred to it being a long time coming, but he also won on the third try. It just takes persistence to keep at it. To Vice Mayor Zimmerman and Mayor Cassandra, he has two bottles of Magic Grow, which they can rub on and see what they can do for the coming year. Councilman Ferrell stated to all his colleagues on the Council, he pledges to work with each and every one during the coming year to achieve the goals that we as a body determine that we want to go for. The only thing that he requires is the rest of them get out and ride a jet ski. To the citizens, we need your help. Again, not off and on, but throughout the year and contact each and every one of us when something comes up and let us know what you think about it. We've had some big issues recently and a lot of people came and it's nice to see some of those same people out again tonight. We hope you will continue to come out and bring some friends. It would be nice to have to turn people away at the door to participate because then it truly beco- mes a government for the people. Remarks by Vice Mayor Carl Zimmerman Vice Mayor Zimmerman stated as always, his wife is here trying to keep him straight and requested her to stand. stated this is his fourth participation in a sWearing-in - 7 - MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MARCH 27, 1986 ceremony of the Boynton Beach Council. To some, it may appear rather old hat or routine, but that is not so and rather the opposite must be the view as the new year starts with a larger city and bigger problems to be faced. Repeating former Councilman Warnke that very many meetings and delegation gatherings are necessary each year, he would predict that this coming year there will be no dull moments and that we will all be busy. However, we do have a diverse and well balanced Council, all extremely civic minded to tackle the job before us. The Mayor starts this year with already one year's experience under his belt which is a first and a very good first. Our new Councilwoman, as we all know, never gives up on problems and that is a quality very much needed in this job. Councilman Hester is a life- long resident of Boynton Beach and has a first-hand knowledge of our city and knows how to deal with the problems. Bob, our jet water skiing member, being young and ambitious will soon be telling us all how the county govern- ment ought to be run. For himself, he will furnish the age and maturity and with that ought to be a little bit of wis- dom. All in all, he sees a very busy good year for our Council coming up. Remarks by Councilman Ezell Hester, Jr. Councilman Hester stated a year ago this month, he was cho- sen to become a City Councilman by this Council. He thanked the Council for that appointment which he appreciated and he has enjoyed working with the members this last year. He hopes he was worthy of their choice, that he served in the capacity he should have served and especially served the citizens of Boynton Beach. He then introduced his wife, son and daughter. Councilman Hester continued that he does not make promises because he is not going to make any, but does promise one thing and that is to work with this Council next year to make Boynton the best city in Palm Beach County. He will try to make it the best place to live, work and play. To live, he thinks we are going to have to look out for our water supply, the sewage system, and recreation, which is needed in our city. We need adequate police protection, which he does think is adequate. There have been comments about the police protection, but he thinks we have a fine police department. But, there are times when we have to get involved in helping our police by calling them when we see something going on. We do have an adequate fire department. He also hopes we can work together with others to try to bring light clean industry to our town because it means jobs - 8 - MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MARCH 27, 1986 for our citizens. Of course, the main thing is that we need more recreation space for our teenagers so we can get our teenagers off the street. He hopes we can work together in harmony like we have done. Surely we are going to disagree, but let's not be disagreeable. There have been a lot of questions about city growth and we will have to grow, but we are hoping to control it to a certain point. He is trying to control growth and as Councilman Warnke always mentioned, we have to be careful about our water supply. He will work diligently for the citizens of Boynton Beach and do whatever is possible for them. Any time they have problems, espe- cially the people of his district but he represents the whole city, please call him. He represents all the citizens of Boynton Beach. He hopes he can continue to serve on this Council in harmony with all the members. Remarks by Councilwoman Dee L. Zibelli Councilwoman Zibelli referred to it taking awhile, but stated she has a little credo on her lamp at work with a saying by Thomas Edison stating: "The most certain way to succeed is always try just one more time." That is exactly what she did. She just tried that one more time. She feels very privileged to be up on the dais this evening. She could not have done it without her husband, Cye, and all her wonderful friends who helped her tremendously. She also thanked Councilman Warnke for all the information he has iven her for the past three months on environmental stu- ies, water supplies, sewage, things which are super impor- tant to the city, growth management, special things, etc. She will try to work with this Council and knows she will Because she has known them for years. We have had discussions, but have never been disagreeable. She will strive to serve her city with pride. Further Remarks by Councilman Ezell Hester, Jr. Councilman Hester stated he would like to thank the City Manager also. When he was first appointed, Mr. Cheney took his time and toured him all over the city showing him dif- ferent parts of the city which were important and also Mr. Cessna did the same. He feels we do have a real pro- fessional staff in the city that we can all be very proud of. Further Remarks by Mayor Nick Cassandra Mayor Cassandra stated he would like to recognize two groups of people that he would like the audience to also recognize, - 9 - MINUTES - SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MARCH 27, 1986 first his wife, Blanche, and second, this group of people up front who gave him such support pro or con in all ways. ADJOURNMENT Councilman Ferrell made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Councilman Hester. Motion carried 5-0 and the meeting was properly adjourned at 8:20 P. M. CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Mayor / Councl lmember ATTEST: -~~~C~'ty Clerk Recording Secretary (One Tape) ~°unc i lmember - 10-