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HomeMy Public PortalAbout06-June 11, 2020 VWS Covid-19CITYOF OPA-LOCKA "The Great City" CLERK'S ACTION SUMMARY MINUTES VIRTUAL WORKSHOP (COVID-19) Thursday, June 11, 2020 5:30 P.M. 1. WELCOME/OPENING REMARKS: Mayor Matthew Pigatt called the Virtual Workshop Meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 11, 2020. Pursuant to Executive Order No. 20-69, issued by the office of the Governor Ron DeSantis on March 20, 2020, municipalities may conduct meetings of their governing boards without having a quorum of its members present physically or at any specific location, and utilizing communications media technology such as telephonic or video conferencing, as provided by Section 120.54(5) (b) 2, Florida Statutes. An opportunity was given to the public to email the City Clerk prior to the Virtual Workshop with any questions/comments/concerns. This meeting is streamed live at https://www.youtube.com/user/CityofOpalocka. Since this is a virtual meeting as authorized by the Governor of the State of Florida, again, members of the public wishing to address the commission have been offered the opportunity to do so. Public comments will be included as part of the public record for this Virtual Workshop. 2. ROLL CALL The members of the City Commission appearing remotely were: Mayor Matthew Pigatt, Vice Mayor Chris Davis, Commissioner Sherelean Bass, Commissioner Joseph L. Kelley, and Commissioner Alvin Burke. Also appearing remotely was: Assistant City Attorney Candice Cobb, City Manager John Pate, and City Clerk Joanna Flores. 3. INVOCATION: The invocation was delivered by Commissioner Sherelean Bass. 4. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison. 5. PUBLIC INPUT: 1 Virtual COVID-19 Workshop Minutes —June 11, 2020 Clerk Flores stated the protocols for virtual participation at public meetings. There were no public comments. 6. DISCUSSION ITEMS: a) City's Response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) City Manager Pate reported the recent daily numbers for the COVID-19 tests which were increasing throughout the week. He said that the testing site had a new incident commander by the name of Randy Bronson. He advised that the city was planning for Hurricane Season, planning to give out facemasks and in the process of setting up temperature check points. Commissioner Kelley asked, how many of the individuals being tested were from the City of Opa- locka. City Manager Pate said he did not have that information. Commissioner Kelley asked the City Manager for his recommendation in terms of keeping the curfew and whether that was necessary. City Manager Pate deferred the question to Chief Dobson. Chief James Dobson, Opa-locka Police Department recommended keeping the curfew for now. Commissioner Kelley asked if the city was appropriately educating residents about the curfew in effect. City Manager Pate explained that the City was using social media to remind residents as well as robo calls. He said that other methods were being looked into. He requested the City's Public Relations Consultant to further explain. Jessica Modkins, Public Relations Consultant for the City of Opa-locka explained that the City was using social media to educate the residents. Commissioner Kelley said he wanted to make sure the residents were aware of the expectations. 2 Virtual COVID-19 Workshop Minutes —June 11, 2020 Commissioner Burke asked about the positive number of Coronavirus cases for Opa-locka. City Manager Pate said there were 389 cases as of June 10, 2020. Mayor Pigatt asked for clarification in terms of the mask distribution to residents. He said he was under the impression that the masks were for city employees, emergency personnel, and for individuals who did not have a mask and were in violation. The Mayor asked for clarification on why the masks were going to be given to residents when he thought they were going to be retained for city employees, emergency employees or provided to those individuals who did not have one and were in violation mask mandate. City Manager Pate said that was still the plan. Mayor Pigatt asked about the reopening of City Hall and what measures were being put in place to ensure the level of infections were lowered. City Manager Pate said that a temperature checking device was going to be installed. He would recommend keeping City Hall closed due to the positive cases coming from City Hall. He explained there was a cleaning crew disinfecting offices. Mayor Pigatt stressed the importance of offering virtual services to residents sooner rather than later in City Hall. Chief Dobson reported that there were 416 facemask warnings, 592 social distancing warnings, no curfew arrests, 2 restaurants involved in warnings or fines, and 2 large gatherings that were resolved. Ms. Modkins said that the City increased its social media outreach. She reported the testing event that took place on Sunday went well with 7 churches attending. She reported an increase on social media of 8,000 people. Commissioner Kelley asked if clubs were open. Chief Dobson stated there were no clubs open, but restaurants with liquor license were allowed to operate. Vice Mayor Davis requested an update in regards to the operation of fitness centers. City Manager Pate stated the City had no order prohibiting gyms, but the County did have one. He said at the time, gyms were allowed to re -open. 3 Virtual COVID-19 Workshop Minutes —June 11, 2020 b) Ordinance relating to face masks or face coverings during pandemic related public health emergency that threatens life, health and safety of residents. Mayor Pigatt asked for a report on the implementation of the facemask ordinance. City Manager Pate requested a delay on the effective date of the mask ordinance to be able to allocate resources to maintain and store the fines associated with the mask ordinance. He explained that he envisioned issuing a local civil citation and he asked if new material was needed. Chief Dobson said it was needed. City Manager Pate asked Chief Dobson if citations data should be held, including storage of papers and if new software was required. Chief Dobson stated the data should be stored in the City and new software was required. City Manager Pate asked what would be the course of action for the City in the event that residents do not pay the fme. Robert Anathan, Budget Administrator for the City asked if the issue was taking residents to collections or a special magistrate. City Manager Pate replied, either option. Mr. Anathan explained that collection agencies are not highly productive, but it may still work as it is the City requesting the funds. City Manager Pate said that there was no mechanism in place in the form of a ticket book. He explained how he envisioned the process for the City to collect and organize the fines. It would take about 60 days to have such type of system ready. He asked the IT Director Mr. Rodriguez for his input on this matter. Nelson Rodriguez, IT Director for the City of Opa-locka compared the system with the red light traffic fme system. He said there was a module that could be added to the system to collect civil citations, but that it would not be shared with the County. Vice Mayor Davis expressed his concems relating to the financial implications of the ordinance overall. 4 Virtual COVID-19 Workshop Minutes —June 11, 2020 City Manager Pate said it was necessary to evaluate the use of the current staff to accommodate the need for collecting the citations. Commissioner Kelley asked, what would be the financial impact and cost for implementation? City Manager Pate speculated that it would take $100,000 in man hours in the first year without receiving any revenue. Commissioner Kelley asked what would be the cost for the Special Magistrate. City Manager Pate asked City Attorney Norris -Weeks to provide a response. City Attorney Norris -Weeks said she did not have the information at the time. Commissioner Kelley asked if it would be a different special magistrate. City Attorney Norris -Weeks explained that would be a possibility, but it may be more reasonable to assign the one already in the contract. Commissioner Kelley asked if the City could utilize the same special magistrate and save money. City Manager Pate replied, yes. He said the financial team provided an approximate of $250,000.00 of salary expenses to be able to run the program. Commissioner Kelley said that was a stretch. He stated that he was considering re -thinking supporting the mask ordinance. Commissioner Burke explained the surrounding cities have prioritized educating their residents and the fine would be an added burden on the residents. He recommended putting all of the effort in educating the residents. He further spoke against the mask ordinance. Mayor Pigatt explained that masks were necessary to mitigate the risk of the imminent danger of the coronavirus and he did not agree that a team of staff was needed to process the few fines the City might have per day. He recommended looking into other options to process the citations. He explained the reason why the City did not execute it as an emergency order, but instead was looking into the ordinance to prevent residents from being arrested. He said he was surprised with the fiscal impact of the ordinance presented during the meeting and is concerned about the apparent misinformation of the fiscal impact. 5 Virtual COVID-19 Workshop Minutes —June 11, 2020 City Manager Pate explained this workshop was appropriate to discuss the fiscal impact of the ordinance. He explained that any initiative will start with loss in revenue. The police department and code enforcement were both obligated to enforce the ordinance equally to all residents. He explained other cities have repealed this type of ordinance due to resident outrage. Mayor Pigatt said that the City needed to figure this out for the residents. He requested realistic numbers backed up by data and analysis through research in order to have a documented proposal. He deferred the item to give staff time to provide the information being requested. Commissioner Burke advocated against the mask ordinance due to the burden on the residents and the fiscal impact to the City. Mayor Pigatt explained he was requesting the information in writing and well documented before moving forward. He agreed that he would not support the ordinance if the preliminary information was the actual fiscal impact. City Manager Pate explained the situation where most of his staff was quarantined making it difficult to coordinate, communicate and create a report. He asked for consideration based on the situation. Vice Mayor Davis stated that he was not aware of the financial implication prior to sponsoring the item and that is why it was deferred. He explained that while he thought the law was necessary, he didn't see it being fiscally feasible. Commissioner Kelley concurred with Vice Mayor Davis and further advocated for educating residents. Mayor Pigatt said he was looking forward to seeing a detailed report and analysis to decide if it was feasible for the City. c) City of Opa-locka FY 2020 Forecast / FY 2021 Proposed Budget Mr. Anathan provided an overview of the City of Opa-locka FY 2020 Forecast. Commissioner Kelley asked, with regards to FY 2020 Governmental Funds, what is forecasted to be returned to the General Fund. Mr. Anathan forecasted a surplus of revenue over expenditure of over $2.1 million dollars. 6 Virtual COVID-19 Workshop Minutes —June 11, 2020 Commissioner Kelley asked if the City does not use the General Fund contingency, will the City have over $3 million surplus. Mr. Anathan replied, yes. Commissioner Kelley asked about the $400,000 figure Mr. Anathan referred to in his presentation. Mr. Anathan explained that the City was billing for storm -water fees on the water bills being put out by the County. Commissioner Kelley asked for clarification on the water & sewer charge in terms of water loss. Mr. Anathan said there is some water loss for whatever reason and the city is investing in the relining of the system. He said he believed the rate might be going up. He explained some of the challenges with the water sewer system. Commissioner Kelley asked, regarding the fund balance, what was the decrease accredited to in the people's transportation plan? Mr. Anathan explained the movement of funds from other programs. Vice Mayor Davis asked if there were suggestions limiting the millage rate. City Manager Pate stated his goal was to lower the millage rate accordingly with the Five Year Plan. Vice Mayor Davis stressed the importance of lowering the millage rate in the future by FY 22. Mr. Anathan continued his presentation and provided an overview of the FY 2021 Preliminary Budget. Commissioner Kelley asked if the 8 staff members in the Finance Department is full staff. Mr. Anathan replied, yes. Commissioner Kelley asked what other positions were required in the Finance Department. Mr. Anathan said the department was looking for a senior accountant and accounts payable clerk. 7 Virtual COVID-19 Workshop Minutes —June 11, 2020 Commissioner Kelley asked Mr. Anathan to elaborate on the number of officers on payroll and the number of officers budgeted for the year. Mr. Anathan said that there were currently 43 officers on the payroll, which was 4 less than what was budgeted for. He continued his presentation with the FY 21 Preliminary Budget. The requested positions not included: HR Administrator, Economic Planner / CRA Coordinator, Building Inspector, Parks Recreation Supervisor, 4 Officers, PW Administration Manager, Carpenter Helper, 2 Heavy Equipment Operators and 3 Maintenance Workers. He said he did not think there was a budget to support the requested positions. He continued with an overview of the FY 2021 Budget Preliminary Fund Summaries. He further requested IT Director Nelson Rodriguez to discuss the Technology Initiative's Budget. Mr. Rodriguez explained the proposed initiatives for FY 21 which included an automated Building Department, public self-service portal, online RFP/RFQ process, enterprise resource planning (ERP) system evaluation — integration of information, upgrade cloud computing facilities collaboration, virtual City Hall, smart city initiatives, 24/7 call center, facilitation of working remotely when needed and enhanced public information sharing. Commissioner Bass commended the IT Department's initiatives. Vice Mayor Davis asked if the City was looking into a City-wide intemet expansion to facilitate virtual learning and activities. Mr. Rodriguez explained that was a heavy task and it may not be plausible, but he could promise the City offering intemet in public parks. Vice Mayor Davis said that was a good option to begin with, however, he wanted to know if it would be possible in the long term. Mr. Rodriguez stated it could be possible in a 5 year term. Commissioner Kelley asked about the type of training required for these initiatives. Mr. Rodriguez explained that due to the repetitiveness of the task and the skill required, it was attainable for the department given the current skill sets possessed by him and his staff. He explained that minimum training would be required, until a set of instructions was made. 8 Virtual COVID-19 Workshop Minutes —June 11, 2020 Commissioner Kelley clarified and said he was referring mainly to the other departments. Mr. Rodriguez stated himself and Mr. Lobo will be training the staff in each department for most initiatives except for the ERP, which will require training from the vendor itself. Commissioner Kelley stressed the importance of staff knowing how to use the new programs effectively from the beginning. Mr. Anathan concluded his presentation with preliminary budget options, discussing average savings in layoff of an employee working part time or full time and the average savings of an employee transitioning from full time to part time. Commissioner Kelley asked how much money did the City need to avoid any type of layoff. Mr. Anathan explained that at the time there was a surplus, however, that would depend on if the City wished to pursue a project such as the Historic City Hall. He further stressed the difficulty of the accurateness of the preliminary budget for FY 21, due to the change in circumstances in the economy caused by COVED -19. Mayor Pigatt said that of concern to him was the option of layoffs. He requested a more thorough analysis of where the reductions would be, such as which department. He also spoke about the salary distribution and asked how much it would cost the City to get all employees to a living wage of $30,000 a year. He said currently the table showed 17 employees were under $30,000. Mr. Anathan said it would roughly cost the City around $120,000.00 to bring all 17 employees to a wage of at least $30,000.00. Mayor Pigatt asked, where would the extra income come from and if one of the options would be wage reduction. Although he understood what the Mayor was requesting, City Manager Pate said he didn't think the city should reduce other employees' wages or lay off employees to accomplish it. Mayor Pigatt explained that he was exploring options for the City to adjust to the new norm and offer employees a living wage at the very least, including changing roles and what other things will change. He requested a report with the possible changes needed to adapt to the new way of doing business. The Mayor requested to have the budget completed by August 1st. Mr. Anathan replied, yes. 9 Virtual COVID-19 Workshop Minutes —June 11, 2020 Mayor Pigatt asked if the budget was in alignment with the Five Year Plan. Mr. Anathan explained that the next year will be uncertain and abnormal, therefore, he could not vouch that the budget would be nearly accurate. He said the expectation is to have a more aligned budget for FY 22. Mayor Pigatt said he just wanted to make sure the funds are being used efficiently to put the City in a stronger fmancial position. Commissioner Kelley said he too wanted to see employees earning a living wage, but he did not agree to interfere with the wages of other employees earning more. 7) ADJOURN: There being no further business to come before the City Commission, it was moved by Commissioner Kelley, seconded by Vice Mayor Davis to adjourn the virtual workshop at 8:45 p.m. Matthew A. Pigatt Mayor Al lEST: Jo . .4., a Flores, CMC City lerk 10 Virtual COVID-19 Workshop Minutes —June 11, 2020