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HomeMy Public PortalAbout09-Sept 17, 2014 SCM MinutesCITY OF OPA -LOCKA "The Great City" CLERK'S ACTION SUMMARY MINUTES SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING September 17, 2014 6:00 P.M. City Commission Chambers at Sherbondy Village 215 President Barack Obama (Perviz) Avenue Opa- locka, FL 33054 1. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Myra L. Taylor called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, September 17, 2014 in the City Commission Chambers at Sherbondy Village, 215 President Barack Obama (Perviz) Avenue, Opa- locka, Florida. 2. ROLL CALL: The following members of the City Commission were present: Vice Mayor Joseph L. Kelley, Commissioner Dorothy Johnson, Commissioner Luis B. Santiago, Commissioner Timothy Holmes, and Mayor Myra L. Taylor. Also in attendance were: City Manager Kelvin L. Baker, Sr., City Attorney Joseph S. Geller, and City Clerk Joanna Flores. 3. INVOCATION: The Invocation was delivered by Mayor Myra L. Taylor. 4. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison. 5. CITIZENS' INPUT: Agenda Items Only Attorney Geller introduced Alicia Lewis of Greenspoon Marder. He will be leaving early next week due to a religious holiday and Ms. Lewis has agreed to attend the Regular Commission Meeting in his absence. In addition, he introduced John Dellagloria of Greenspoon Marder who will be fulfilling many of the functions Mayor Oliver Gilbert use to before the pressing city business required him to leave. 6. FIRST READING ORDINANCE: a). AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OPA- LOCKA, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 21, ARTICLE II, SECTION 21 -77 OF THE CITY OF OPA -LOCKA CODE OF ORDINANCES, ENTITLED "SCHEDULE OF RATES GENERALLY" BY AMENDING PROVISIONS RELATED TO WATER, Special Commission Meeting Minutes — 09/17/2014 1 SEWER, AND STORMWATER RATES FOR FISCAL YEARS 2014 -2015, 2015 -2016, 2016 -2017, 2017 -2018 AND 2018 -2019; PROVIDING FOR INCORPORATION OF RECITALS; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT AND REPEALER; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND CODIFICATION; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Sponsored by L.S. The above ordinance was read by title by Attorney Geller. Attorney Geller said this is in the nature of a motion for reconsideration because this item was previously presented. Commissioner Santiago voted on the prevailing side so procedurally it should be treated as a motion for reconsideration by Commissioner Santiago and take a vote on that, if that passes then move on to consideration of the ordinance. It was moved by Commissioner Santiago, seconded by Commissioner Holmes for re- consideration. Commissioner Johnson asked, once the item has been moved and seconded, when are they allowed to have discussion? Attorney Geller said if the motion for reconsideration passes then the ordinance is back in front of the City Commission for first reading. There being no further discussion, the motion for re- consideration passed by a 4 -1 vote. Commissioner Johnson Yes Commissioner Santiago Yes Commissioner Holmes Yes Vice Mayor Kelley No Mayor Taylor Yes AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OPA- LOCKA, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 21, ARTICLE II, SECTION 21 -77 OF THE CITY OF OPA -LOCKA CODE OF ORDINANCES, ENTITLED "SCHEDULE OF RATES GENERALLY" BY AMENDING PROVISIONS RELATED TO WATER, SEWER, AND STORMWATER RATES FOR FISCAL YEARS 2014 -2015, 2015 -2016, 2016- 2017, 2017 -2018 AND 2018 -2019; PROVIDING FOR INCORPORATION OF RECITALS; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT AND REPEALER; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND CODIFICATION; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Sponsored by L. S. The above ordinance was read by title by Attorney Geller. It was moved by Commissioner Santiago, seconded by Commissioner Holmes to pass the above ordinance on first reading. Vice Mayor Kelley asked, is Burton & Associates the same company that did the previous study? Special Commission Meeting Minutes — 09/17/2014 2 Manager Baker replied, yes. Vice Mayor Kelley asked, at that time did they outline the steps that needed to be taken including the yearly rate increases and or structure? Manager Baker replied, yes. Vice Mayor Kelley asked, did this Commission follow the structure? Manager Baker replied, no. Vice Mayor Kelley said they are asking to do something again that they may or may not follow. In the previous study, he asked them to look at years going forward which would address what the county did. He asked, is there anything in the agreement that will make the city adhere to the plan? Manager Baker said, no. Providing it is approved the document will be forwarded to the State of Florida because this is part of the State Revolving Loan Program. They are waiting on this document in order to release the funding. Vice Mayor Kelley said when the city applied for the State Revolving Loan it was never mentioned that it was going to be tied to a rate increase. He asked the City Manager according to his knowledge; will the financial impact be an 8% annual increase in water & sewer rates for the next five years? Manager Baker replied, yes. Commissioner Johnson said when this previously came before the City Commission, she mentioned the increase from the county and staff said it will be a decrease. In her opinion it is misleading to the citizens. If this is connected to the loan then they should have had input from the citizens because the increase is going to impact the citizens. Manager Baker said they had a workshop with the consultants and the impact of the State Revolving Loan and the increase from Miami -Dade County were outlined. Commissioner Johnson said that was done after the fact, so how is it a priority now to be included in the State Revolving Loan? Manager Baker said legislation was passed giving him authorization to do the application for the State Revolving Loan and he provided monthly status updates. Note: This portion of the minutes is transcribed in verbatim form. Commissioner Johnson: My source in Tallahassee advised me that because of our financial condition previously staff was advised that they had to have some sort of mechanism just like with City National we have to have a lockbox that we have to put the enterprise and the franchise tax money in that and you can't touch it. So we didn't really have a lot of access that was explained to staff and this is the way. I think matters of such, you are in a spot now where you do or don't and I think with legal Mr. Geller and with Special Commission Meeting Minutes — 09/17/2014 3 the City Manager I think these type of things need to be extracted from agreements and really driven home to make sure that everyone understand the intent and what really is the liability, because it's going to gradually impact the budget, it's going to cause some concern from the citizens and if you don't do it, it is a strong possibility you will not get a favorable response. I've seen this often and I don't think we are getting it, I don't think we understand. I'm going to show you in the audit report, I'm going to show you some things that's been in front of our face for the last five years. If we don't get this straight real soon, we got some issues Madam Mayor. We really need to look at this because we are in a tight situation. Note: This concludes the verbatim portion of these minutes. Commissioner Holmes said it was brought to his attention that this is tied into the $40 Million Dollars for infrastructure. Commissioner Santiago asked, if the legislation is not passed, how will it impact the infrastructure projects? Manager Baker said they will not be able to proceed. Vice Mayor Kelley asked, is this increase based on the county's increase or the loan? Manager Baker said it is based on both. Vice Mayor Kelley asked, is there anything in the agreement that allows the Commission to go back and look at the rate increase on a yearly basis? Manager Baker said no, the City Commission sets the rates. Vice Mayor Kelley said he would like to review the rates on a yearly basis. There being no further discussion, the above ordinance passed by a 5 -0 vote. Commissioner Santiago Yes Commissioner Holmes Yes Vice Mayor Kelley Yes Commissioner Johnson Yes Mayor Taylor Yes 7. RESOLUTIONS: a). A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OPA- LOCKA, FLORIDA, TO APPROVE THE AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE PERIOD ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2013; PROVIDING FOR INCORPORATION OF RECITALS; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Sponsored by C.M. The above resolution was read by title by Attorney Geller. Special Commission Meeting Minutes — 09/17/2014 4 It was moved by Commissioner Holmes, seconded by Commissioner Johnson to pass the resolution. Commissioner Johnson made reference to the auditor comments. She asked, has staff met on a quarterly basis with the auditor? Mrs. Liburd said during the last audit report it was requested that they provide a quarterly financial report to the City Commission. Commissioner Johnson suggested that staff go back and review the minutes that reflected staff meeting with the auditors. She asked, what has been done to correct the comments by the auditor? Mrs. Liburd said they are in the process of reviewing the 2013 fiscal year audit and they did have issues with 2012 -2013. Some of the reoccurring comments will be noted for improvement in the upcoming audit. Commissioner Johnson said that is unacceptable. Commissioner Santiago said they over spend on unnecessary things. Vice Mayor Kelley said there are several deficiencies in the document and they are reoccurring year after year. There is no excuse because most of the staff was here. He directed staff to provide a copy of the structure. He further said a policy has to be implemented because employees are being transferred to other departments and keep their salary. He said it's obvious that affects the budget, he asked, how are the adjustments made? Susan Gooding - Liburd said when an employee is transferred to another department the budget should move with them. Vice Mayor Kelley asked, is that occurring? Mrs. Liburd said she does not see that occurring. Vice Mayor Kelley said this creates morale issues, because staff is being transferred to departments without the skills and their salary is more than the staff that has been in the department. He asked, are all the meters installed? Manager Baker said they have certain accounts that require larger meters and they are reading them manually, however the majority of the meters are being automatically read. Vice Mayor Kelley said they are on notice that they need to change the way they do business, because when you continue to spend more than you receive it becomes an issue. Special Commission Meeting Minutes — 09/17/2014 5 Mayor Taylor said history is proven if it is not corrected, it repeats itself. She asked, how often do staff meet with the auditors? Mrs. Liburd said they meet with the auditors when it's time to work on the audit. Mayor Taylor directed the City Manager to schedule quarterly meetings between the auditor and the City Commission. There being no further discussion, the above resolution passed by a 5 -0 vote. Commissioner Holmes Yes Vice Mayor Kelley Yes Commissioner Johnson Yes Commissioner Santiago Yes Mayor Taylor Yes b). A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OPA- LOCKA, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH 3400 LLC, IN AN FORM THAT IS ACCEPTABLE TO THE ATTORNEY, TO RENEW THE OFFICE SPACE LEASE FOR ONE YEAR, BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2014 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2015, A BUDGETED ITEM, PAYABLE FROM ACCOUNT NUMBER 19-519440; PROVIDING FOR INCORPORATION OF RECITALS; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Sponsored by C.M. The above resolution was read by title by Attorney Geller. It was moved by Vice Mayor Kelley, seconded by Commissioner Johnson to pass the resolution. Vice Mayor Kelley said he just received the lease extension and when he met with the City Manager his position was that the city needed to make sure they recoup some of their money, however he does not see that in the agreement. Manager Baker said staff had several discussions with the property owner and they expressed the concerns of the City Commission. The property owner agreed to give the city something back at the end of the lease. Commissioner Johnson asked, who prepared the lease? Attorney Geller said he received a draft from the other party and he did review the document and requested several changes. Commissioner Johnson voiced her concerns regarding the language included in the agreement. In addition, for the record she spoke to Commissioner Jordan, but she will not repeat their conversation. Commissioner Holmes said the building is not good for staff to be occupying, but he's going to support the legislation because they don't have a choice. Special Commission Meeting Minutes — 09/17/2014 6 There being no further discussion, the above resolution passed by a 5 -0 vote. Vice Mayor Kelley Yes Commissioner Johnson Yes Commissioner Santiago Yes Commissioner Holmes Yes Mayor Taylor Yes c). A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OPA- LOCKA, FLORIDA, TO. AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO RENEW THE AGREEMENT WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS FOR INMATE LABOR WORK SQUAD(S), IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED ($57,497.00), A BUDGETED ITEM, PAYABLE FROM ACCOUNT NUMBER 41- 541340, FOR A ONE (1) YEAR PERIOD, BEGINNING DECEMBER 15, 2014, THROUGH DECEMBER 14, 2015, WITH AN OPTION TO RENEW FOR AN ADDITIONAL ONE YEAR PERIOD; PROVIDING FOR INCORPORATION OF RECITALS; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Sponsored by C.M. The above resolution was read by title by Attorney Geller. It was moved by Commissioner Holmes, seconded by Commissioner Johnson to pass the resolution. Commissioner Johnson said it was brought to her attention by a citizen that the city is not feeding the inmates, she asked is that true? Manager Baker said unfortunately they had to stop feeding the inmates. There being no further discussion, the above resolution passed by a 5 -0 vote. Commissioner Johnson Yes Commissioner Holmes Yes Vice Mayor Kelley Yes Commissioner Santiago Yes Mayor Taylor Yes 6. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Commission, it was moved by Commissioner Holmes, seconded by Vice Mayor Kell to adjouryr� meeting �t 7:50 p.m. � / ATTEST: U TYOR " )(JQ� CITY CLERK Special Commission Meeting Minutes — 09/17/2014 7