Monday, May 21, 2012 7:00 pm Town Hall 247 Edwards Lane TOWN COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING AGENDA John M. Workman, Mayor Alan D. Fiers, Vice Mayor Commissioner Roby DeReuil Commissioner Scott McCranels Commissioner Lisa A. Tropepe Town Attorney Keith Davis Town Manager Cindy Lindskoog 1. CALL TO ORDER: a. Pledge of Allegiance b. Roll Call 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: a. Special Meeting March 16, 2012 minutes b. April 16, 2012 regular meeting 3. AGENDA APPROVAL: Additions, substitutions, deletions 4. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: a. Financial report for April 2012 b. Planning and Zoning Board report c. Staff reports: 1) Police department 2) Fire department 3) Town Manager 4) Town Attorney 5. MAYOR, COMMISSION REPORTS: a. Commissioners Priority Items 6. PUBLIC COMMENTS: 7. MISCEALLANEOUS BUSINESS: a. Approval of Town Manager as an authorized check signer b. Financial software c. Special Magistrate services 8. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: a. Second reading of Ordinance O-2-12 Amends Chapter 14 Buildings and Building Regulations to update references to FL Bldg Code and the National Electric Code, adopt local amendments to Chap 1 of Florida Building Code and repeal obsolete code sections. 9. ADJOURNMENT.
MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER: a. Pledge of Allegiance The meeting was called to order at 7:07 p.m. Mayor Workman led the assembled in the pledge to the flag. b. Roll Call Roll call revealed that Mayor Workman, Vice Mayor Fiers, Commissioners Tropepe and DeReuil were present. Commissioner McCranels was on vacation. Also in attendance is Town Attorney Davis, Town Manager Lindskoog, Town Bookkeeper Wells, Lt. Langevin, Fire Chief DeLoach and Deputy Clerk Loftus. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: a. Special Meeting March 16, 2012 minutes b. April 16, 2012 regular meeting Commissioner Tropepe made the motion to approve the March 16, 2012 Special Meeting minutes and the April 16, 2012 regular Commission meeting minutes with a second from Commissioner DeReuil. The vote was unanimous. 3. AGENDA APPROVAL: Additions, substitutions, deletions Town Manager Lindskoog asked that Designation of Voting Delegate to the Florida League of Cities Conference be added as item 7.d. Commissioner Tropepe moved to approve the agenda as modified. After a second by Commissioner DeReuil, the motion passed unanimously. 4. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: a. Financial report for April 2012 Mayor Workman explained that the Town has received 82% of its annual revenue to date. Vice Mayor Fiers moved to accept the financial report for April 2012 as presented. Commissioner Tropepe offered a second. Vice Mayor Fiers asked why the expenses appeared higher than the prior year. Bookkeeper Wells explained that the payout to the Town Clerk and the energy grant has inflated the figures. The vote was unanimous. b. Planning and Zoning Board report Chairman Zeigler reported that the Planning and Zoning Board will address fence access at a future meeting. Also the Planning and Zoning Board will discuss cleaning up the code to allow A/C units in the side yard along with pool equipment. Landscaping will minimize any noise bothering the neighbors. c. Staff reports: 1) Police Department Lt. Langevin stated that the department made two arrests for warrant. The Sheriff s Department now emails warrants. A shoplifting arrest was made at 98 Lake Drive (Sailfish Marina). Resident C. Larcher asked if the Police department has been logging radar hours. Ms. Larcher has noticed cars that seem to be speeding in the morning on the way to the Marriott. Lt. Langevin replied no, the department has been assigning more foot and car patrol. Lt. Langevin stated that residents can contact the Police department or the Commissioners with any concerns.
2) Fire Department Chief DeLoach stated that the Fire Department had four drills. Chief DeLoach reported that one of the volunteers achieved Firefighter 1 status. Chief DeLoach and Building Official McIntosh inspected 115 Inlet for code violations on April 19. It was determined that code violations still existed on the property. Chief DeLoach commended the volunteers who worked on the new Fire Department office especially Police Officer Steve Coe who completed the drywall finishing process. 3) Town Manager Ms. Lindskoog reported: Budget workshops will be held after the first week in July. Mayor Workman has suggested considering a Saturday workshop. Public Works Director Fleming came to the office looks great and is doing well. Community Center doors are installed with funds from the energy grant, and meeting room doors are being installed this week. Beach/community center parking lighting permit has been approved by DERM. Poles and fixtures are ordered. Installation will be completed by CR Dunn (piggyback off West Palm Beach contract). Received the Town s 2012 estimate of taxable value from the Property Appraiser. We had an 8% reduction in revenue but instead received a 12.79% reduction based on timeshares. Ms. Lindskoog contacted Palm Beach Shores Resort Manager who explained that the Resort is predicting a 15% shortfall in revenue from people not paying fees. Ms. Lindskoog added that some timeshares are selling on ebay beginning at $1.00. Bookkeeper Wells prepared a synopsis of the tax situation for discussion using the expeditures exactly as they appear in this year s budget less the amount the Town appropriated of $265,565 from the fund balance before the energy grant carry over. The result is that revenue will be under expenditures by $563,877. Vice Mayor Fiers asked if the problems were all timeshares. Ms. Lindskoog replied in the affirmative. Commissioner Tropepe asked that the documents provided be added to the Town website. Commissioner Tropepe also asked that the Town request, in writing, from the Property Appraiser s office the reasons for the decrease in revenue. Mayor Workman agreed that more research was necessary. Resident and Real Estate Agent Jody Samanich stated that there has been a definite increase in property values. 4) Town Attorney Attorney Davis provided an update on pending litigation. Attorney Davis was directed by the Commission to look into deadlines and expenses of adding a charter amendment on the election ballot. The Supervisor of Elections opined that the Town should add the item on the March election ballot as the November ballot will have many questions. The cost to the Town for either ballot would be about $2000. 5. MAYOR, COMMISSION REPORTS: a. Commissioners Priority Items Vice Mayor Fiers reported that the Corps of Engineers will be widening and deepening the Lake Worth Inlet. The channel will be 75 feet wide and 3 feet deeper. Commissioner Tropepe stated that Project Lifesaver is an international program that helps people with Autism and Alzheimer s. The Town decided to become a partner with Palm Beach County Project Lifesaver who held their convention at the Community Center last year. Commissioner Tropepe declared that she was proud to announce that the Town received two awards for appreciation and support. Commissioner Tropepe presented the awards to Mayor Workman and Lt. Langevin.
Commissioner DeReuil recommended using some of the budget surplus to fund a stipend for the out of district volunteer firefighters. Commissioner DeReuil noted that the stipends would be managed by the stipend committee. Mayor Workman stated that the decision will be deferred to the June Commission meeting when Commissioner McCranels is present and the stipend could be funded in mid cycle. Chief DeLoach commented that the out of district volunteers cannot meet the stipend criteria. The out of district volunteers do receive $10 gas allowance paid out of the in district members funds. Chief DeLoach will prepare a written proposal for the June Commission meeting. Vice Mayor Fiers stated that he will be absent but supports the funding of the stipends. Mayor Workman had no report. Vice Mayor Fiers opined that the Town should set a referendum date to change the charter to state that a referendum be held before any town property can be sold. The decision will then be in the hands of the residents. Vice Mayor Fiers made the motion to set the date to add a public referendum for the sale of Town property to the March ballot. After a second from Commissioner Tropepe, the motion passed unanimously. 6. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Elizabeth Ortman asked the Commission for permission to allow beach parking during yoga from 8:00 am until 9:15 am. Mayor Workman asked Ms. Ortman to submit her request in writing for consideration. Pat Maloney stated that during the Seasiders monthly luncheon, ladies are receiving tickets for parking at the Community Center without a sticker. Town Manager Lindskoog will speak to the police department and Seasiders will receive Town cards for their dashboards. Lt. Langevin apologized to Ms. Maloney. Resident Frank MacNeil stated that with less revenue, the Commission will have to look at budget cuts. 7. MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS: a. Approval of Town Manager as an authorized check signer Bookkeeper Wells led the discussion. Ms. Wells stated that each check requires two authorized signatures. All Commissioners plus the Mayor are authorized signers. The new Town Clerk will also be an authorized signer. Ms. Wells checked with the Town auditor regarding the segregation of duties and Manager Lindskoog does not write checks or adjust the General Ledger. Commissioner Tropepe moved to authorize the Town Manager as a check signer with the understanding that once a Town Clerk becomes employed that person will be included as long as one elected official signs off on all checks. Commissioner DeReuil offered a second. Mayor Workman stated that one elected official has always signed the checks. Vice Mayor Fiers stated that he agreed with having the Town Manager sign checks in the interim until a new Town Clerk/Treasurer is employed. Commissioner Tropepe amended her motion to allow the Town Manager to sign checks and revisit the issue when a Town Clerk/Treasurer is hired. After a second by Commissioner DeReuil, the motion passed unanimously. b. Financial software Bookkeeper Wells made the following comments regarding the current IMS software:
The sewer service billing malfunctioned in April. It is not a true utility billing. The billing does not update and has to be input manually. When the malfunction occurred, IMS was contacted. Three records were corrupt. IMS advised that the Town had to rebuild the database using our backup files. The situation took about a week to fix. The Town is billed monthly for support. The Town had to pay the current IT person for most of the repairs. Purchase orders and building permits are manually typed. Mr. Glas, IT, stated that IMS is a lower end accounting system which has failed on several occasions. Ms. Wells reiterated that she is truly nervous with the efficacy of this system. Mayor Workman commented that the Town has made improvements with the server and the phone system, but the financial software was on the back burner. Commissioner DeReuil advocates improving software stating it increases productivity. Vice Mayor Fiers opined that conversion costs and staff time are expensive. Ms. Wells agreed that there would be staff overtime. Ms. Wells stated that Mangonia Park has just switched from IMS to Black Mountain with much of the conversion being done off site. Commissioner Tropepe suggested that Ms. Wells contact other municipalities to ascertain the types of software used, and their functionality. Commissioner Tropepe also commented that the Town should make use of universal applications such as those used by Palm Beach County for building permits. Mayor Workman asked Ms. Wells to proceed with research into new financial software and to return to the Commission with staff recommendations. c. Special Magistrate services Attorney Davis led the discussion. Attorney Davis stated that the Town employs only one Code Enforcement Magistrate, Mr. Torcivia. Attorney Davis proposed that the applicant, Mr. Wagner, be used as an additional Magistrate or as a substitute for Mr. Torcivia. Mr. Wagner works for several other municipalities. Mr. Torcivia has been habitually late to the last several hearings. Commissioner Tropepe asked that Mayor Workman have a serious discussion with Mr. Torcivia to see if this issue can be resolved. Commissioner DeReuil opined that the Town should enlist the services of Mr. Wagner, using both Magistrates on a rotating basis. Mayor Workman stated that he will call Mr. Torcivia and report back at the June Commission meeting. d. 86 th annual conference to designate a voting delegate Vice Mayor Fiers moved to nominate Commissioner Tropepe as the Town s voting delegate with a second from Commissioner DeReuil. The vote was unanimous. 8. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: Second reading of Ordinance O-2-12 was read by title only. Attorney Davis stated that Ordinance 0-2-12 eliminates outdated technical provisions that are no longer relevant. Vice Mayor Fiers moved to adopt the current standards of the Florida Building Code and the National Electric Code with a second from Commissioner DeReuil.
Commissioner DeReuil noted that the revisions in regard to permit fees were not on his copy of Ordinance 0-2- 12. Town Manager Lindskoog stated that the Commission was given the wrong copy. Vice Mayor Fiers amended his motion to include the revisions with a second from Commissioner DeReuil. The vote was unanimous. The meeting was adjourned. Roberta Loftus Deputy Town Clerk John M. Workman Mayor