HomeMy Public PortalAbout10 11 19 MeetingMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING HELD BY THE TOWN
COMMISSION OF THE TOWN OF GULF STREAM ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019 AT
9:00 A.M. IN THE WILLIAM F. KOCH, JR. COMMISSION CHAMBERS OF THE TOWN
HALL, 100 SEA ROAD, GULF STREAM, FLORIDA.
I. Call to Order
Mayor Morgan called the meeting to order at 9:00 A.M.
II. Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Morgan led the Pledge of Allegiance.
III. Roll Call
Present and
Participating: Scott W. Morgan Mayor
Thomas W. Stanley Vice Mayor
Paul Lyons Commissioner
Joan K. Orthwein Commissioner
Donna White Commissioner
Also Present &
Participating:
IV. Minutes
Gregory Dunham
Edward Nazzaro
Edward Allen
Rita Taylor
Town Manager
Asst. Town Attorney
Police Chief
Town Clerk
A. Regular Meeting of September 13, 2019 and Budget Hearing
Minutes of September 13 and September 24, 2019.
Commissioner Orthwein made a motion to accept the minutes of
September 13 and September 24, 2019, and the motion was seconded by
Commissioner White with all voting AYE at roll call.
V. Additions, withdrawals, deferrals, arrangement of agenda items
The Board of Adjustment Hearing was withdrawn and postponed to
the November meeting.
VI. Announcements
A. Regular Meetings and Public Hearing
1. November 8, 2019 at 9:00 A.M.
2. December 13, 2019 at 9:00 A.M.
3. January 10, 2020 at 9:00 A.M.
4. February 14, 2020 at 9:00 A.M.
5. March 13, 2020 at 9:00 A.M.
6. April 10, 2020 at 9:00 A.M.
Mayor Morgan called attention to these dates.
VII. Communication from the Public (3 min. maximum)
There was none.
VIII. Board of Adjustment Hearing
This was postponed to the November meeting.
IX. Reports
A. Town Manager
1. Utility Undergrounding
Town Manager Dunham asked Steve Rosa from Comcast Cable
to speak. Mr. Rosa stated that Comcast turned on the equipment on
Minutes of Town Commission
Regular Meeting & Public Hearing
Held October 11, 2019 @ 9:00 A.M.
September 20, 2019. Comcast will now need to go to the existing
customers and mount weatherproof boxes which will have the optical
receiver inside. He added they would do the first 99 customers,
starting on the south side of town and working north, which would take
approximately six weeks, and then the system would be turned over. Mr.
Rosa stated Comcast would be tagging homes with door hangers to let
residents know Comcast would be digging in their yards. Once they are
finished with a home, they will then tag the door to let them know to
call Comcast for service to be switched to fiber optics. Vice Mayor
Stanley asked the Town Manager if a letter could be sent out so
residents would know what needed to be done. Mayor Morgan agreed and
told Mr. Dunham to send out a letter to the AT&T/Comcast customers that
would be affected. Mr. Tim Sherrif from Comcast added that they would
be digging a trench in the yards and may have to go through landscaping
at some homes, but they would try and put it back the best they can, but
he wanted the Town to know in case complaints were made from residents.
Mr. Dunham then gave an update from AT&T that they should be finished
splicing before Thanksgiving.
2. Guard House at Place Au Soleil
Town Manager Dunham stated the job at the guard house had
been completed and passed inspection, but they found chips in the
Formica and the contractor will be correcting that issue.
3. Curb Construction at 3259 Polo Drive
Town Manager Dunham told the Commission the curb was doing
its job. Vice Mayor Stanley said he had received a lot of positive
feedback from residents about the curb and them wanting to know when
more were going to be put in. Mayor Morgan was pleased with the
positive feedback and Commissioner Lyons wanted to know what the next
steps were going to be. Commissioner Orthwein suggested that the Town
should look at the areas that needed to be done the most and do
everything at one time to be budget friendly. Mr. Dunham stated that
there were also straight-aways in Town that were regularly impacted as
well as the intersections and he showed a product that is used in
overflow parking areas that are grass. Mayor Morgan added he thought
that was a good approach but felt the Town should take baby steps
because he doesn't like the aesthetic look of curbs going up the
straightaways. Commissioner Orthwein wondered if this could all be done
at the same time the streets were being done with the CIP project to be
more economical. Town Manager Dunham answered that Baxter Woodman would
be at the November meeting so they could find out then if a particular
street wasn't going to be done for several years, then they would need
to go ahead and get a curb put in. Mayor Morgan asked when the beta
site could be finished, and Mr. Dunham said it could be done very soon.
Vice Mayor Stanley said that as long as the Town was careful with the
aesthetics, the residents seemed to be positive the Town is taking
action on this issue.
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Minutes of Town Commission
Regular Meeting & Public Hearing
Held October 11, 2019 @ 9:00 A.M.
4. Baxter Woodman Update
Town Manager Dunham said the 50% Design Review Meeting on
September 26, 2019 to approve the alignment of the piping, proposed
placement of new fire hydrants, service lines and any lines that go
under AlA will be jetted and that residents will still have water during
construction. He added that on Sea Road and Little Club Road they were
trying to save money by doing an open -cut trench that would be right
where the pipe is as opposed to milling the entire pavement since new
overlays will be done later. Mr. Dunham said that on County Road the
pipe is proposed to be installed on the east side of the right-of-way,
where there is only ten feet of right-of-way, and the pavement is not
always within the right-of-way. It needs to be decided, when the
restoration is done, whether the pavement is going to go where it is
supposed to go or be replaced where it is currently with the water main
on the east side since it has to have 10' clearance of sewer mains and
it's being done with the potential of new sewer mains in the future, he
added. Mr. Dunham said they agreed upon the alignment and the
installation method, most of it being bored due to the Australian Pines,
but trenching will be done where possible. Mr. Dunham also relayed that
bidding would be done in alternates, which, he said, is a common
practice.
Town Manager Dunham went on to add that Boynton Beach had a boil
water notice issued that affected some of the Town's residents who are
on Boynton Beach water. He added that he found out about the boil water
notice two days after it was announced. Mr. Dunham wanted the
Commissioners to know he was going to be talking to the Boynton Beach
manager regarding this. He went on to mention that 3400 Polo Drive was
being torn down and that he put the white road bumps back up in Mrs.
Brophy's yard while this is being done so it doesn't damage her yard.
Commissioners Lyons and Orthwein both commented on how kind that was for
Mr. Dunham to do that for her and thanked him for it as well. Lastly,
Mr. Dunham stated that 16 notices had gone out to residents regarding
their dirty roofs and eight of them had been cleaned and the other eight
were going to receive a notice of violation at this point.
B. Architectural Review & Planning Board
1. Meeting Dates
a. October 24,2019 at 8:30 A.M.
b. November 21, 2019 at 8:30 A.M.
c. December 18, 2019 at 8:30 A.M.
d. January 23, 2020 at 8:30 A.M.
e. February 27, 2020 at 8:30 A.M.
f. March 26, 2020 at 8:30 A.M.
Mayor Morgan called attention to these dates.
C. Finance Director
1. Financial Report for September 2019
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Minutes of Town Commission
Regular Meeting & Public Hearing
Held October 11, 2019 @ 9:00 A.M.
Commissioner White wanted to ask CFO Tew what the Local Government
Financial Report submission to the Office of Economic and Demographic
Research was to which Mrs. Tew answered it was a new mandatory report
required by the state of Florida and this was the first one so that is
why she mentioned it in the Summary and Highlights portion of the
Financial Report. She added that if any of the Commissioners would like
to see the report, she would gladly provide it to them. Commissioner
Lyons had a couple of questions regarding the Income Statement. He
asked Mrs. Tew to explain the variance on page four in the Inspection
Fees. Mrs. Tew explained that the City of Delray Beach is contracted to
perform the Town's inspections for all the building permits. She added
that she is bound to budget the same amount that Delray budgets for
revenue and they only budget $300,000, which she thought was a rather
large underestimate of what they collect. She went on to say it happens
every year and that it was a wash and adding that next month there would
be a resolution to adjust and amend the Town's budget specifically for
that revenue and expenditure. Commissioner Lyons then went on to page
five and wanted to know what the Federal Grant was, to which Mrs. Tew
answered that it was Hurricane Irma. Commissioner Lyons then went to
page six and asked what the Capital Outlay variance was since they had
budgeted $132,500 and only spent $14,462. He wanted to know if the
$118,000 difference was going to be used. Mrs. Tew said that money was
going to be for the server, but since the Town migrated a lot over to
the cloud that much money wasn't needed. Commissioner Lyons then went
to page eight and asked about the Capital Outlays for the streets and
asked if the reason that a variance was there was due to timing issues,
which she answered in the affirmative. Commissioner Lyons went down to
Legal on that same page and stated that we had underbudgeted, to which
Mrs. Tew answered that it was still fluid because there were still
outstanding bills for the month of September.
2. Water Usage as of September 30, 2019
D. Police Chief
1. Activity for September 2019
Chief Allen asked that his report be accepted as
presented. The Mayor declared all reports accepted.
X. Items for Commission Action.
A. Lien Reduction Request - 2775 Avenue Au Soleil
Assistant Town Attorney Nazzaro explained to the Commission
that a letter had been received from Zachary Mazure with a proposal on
the property. Mr. Nazzaro stated the key terms being a $430,000
purchase price, a mandatory knock -down demolition of the home as part of
the settlement, $50,000 settlement for back violations/fines. Town
resident, Daniel Stanton, who owns the neighboring property at 2765
would like to expand his current home and assemble both parcels. Mr.
Nazzaro stated this new proposal was addressing three concerns. The
first being the Commission wanted something nice at the entrance of
Place Au Soleil and he believed that is what Mr. Stanton wanted to
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Minutes of Town Commission
Regular Meeting & Public Hearing
Held October 11, 2019 @ 9:00 A.M.
accomplish. The second thing being the payment has been raised from
$20,000 to $50,000 for the back violations/fines. The third thing was
the timing issue of having to foreclose on the property, then demolish,
sell it, etc., where this offer brings more immediacy to getting it
done. Town Clerk Taylor administered the oath to Mr. Cory Carano, Mr.
Daniel Stanton and Mr. Zachary Mazur. Mr. Cory Carano, the real estate
attorney for the estate, stated he was representing Mr. Peter Carbone
for the estate of Richard Lavoie and was asking for the lien reduction
pursuant to the Town Code Section 2.76. He added that Peter Carbone had
been appointed over the estate on June 11, 2019 and a compliance update
by the Town was given on August 8, 2019 with Mr. Carbone resolving the
problems. Commissioner orthwein asked if you could transfer a homestead
from an estate to heirs to which Mr. Nazzaro answered that it got into
legalities with homestead protection, etc. Mayor Morgan asked Mr.
Carano if there were any other heirs to which Mr. Carano answered there
were four additional to Mr. Carbone. Mayor Morgan then asked if any of
them lived in Florida and Mr. Carano said the Carbone family lived in
New Jersey and the Lavoie family resided in Florida. Mayor Morgan asked
if any of the heirs on either side had the intention of taking the
property and Mr. Carano said they had not but if an agreement couldn't
be made they would hold on to the property because they had homestead
rights. Mayor Morgan stated that Mr. Carano was trying to maximize the
amount of money that was going to go to the estate. Mr. Carano used
Riviera Beach having a 5% standard policy on their property liens as an
example and reiterated that he believed their offer of $50,000 was
sufficient. Mayor Morgan stated his concerns for the residents of Place
Au Soleil and for the enforcement of the Town's Rules and ordinances.
The Mayor added that this property had violated the rules for too many
years resulting in the significant lien and although it was not the
purpose of the Town to cash in on liens it was the responsibility of the
Town to enforce the rules and ordinances to make sure those standards
were maintained. Mayor Morgan stated he believed the $50,000 offer was
woefully deficient and asked what the standard for lien reductions in
Gulf Stream was. Assistant Town Attorney Nazzaro said there had only
been one other lien reduction in Gulf Stream and it was 150 of the
amount. Mr. Carano continued to say multiple times that he didn't
understand why the Commission didn't think $50,000 was a significant
amount of money. After doing a bit of math, Mayor Morgan stated that
Mr. Carano was offering the $50,000 so that the estate would walk away
with roughly $350,000. Mayor Morgan stated that he believed $150,000
was the number he was willing to start with to settle a two -million -
dollar lien, which he thought was being very generous by the Town. This
still gives money to the estate that they would not have had, it
enforces the Town's standards and rules and discourages future
violations. Mr. Carano argued that the fines were for landscape issues
and a pool that wasn't covered properly. Commissioner White spoke up at
this point and stated there were more than landscape issues. She said
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Minutes of Town Commission
Regular Meeting & Public Hearing
Held October 11, 2019 @ 9:00 A.M.
the garage door was broken and bashed in, the roof was caving in and the
entire property was in disrepair and that she knew all this because she
lived across the street. Commissioner White also pointed out that none
of the heirs ever came down to help when things were bad. Vice Mayor
Stanley asked if the contingencies on the contract were regarding timing
of the demolition, etc. Assistant Town Attorney Nazzaro said that a
demolition permit and cash payment within a certain amount of time would
need to happen before releasing the lien.
Town Resident, Daniel Stanton, stated that he wanted to be
compliant with the architectural codes and expectations of the Town for
the overall look of the property. He added he would like all the
contingencies related to the lien to be taken care of prior to him
signing off, as well as who was going to take care of the demolition
and what the Town was looking at as far as timing on all of these
details. Mr. Stanton said that he was looking at a 9400 sq. foot home
with a detached guest house, as well as keeping the tennis court. Mayor
Morgan stated that what he was hearing Mr. Stanton say is that he would
like to demolish the Lavoie building, unify a title, have the Town
eliminate any lien on the property and work on re -addressing easements
to enable a single home with a guest house and tennis court.
Commissioner White asked if he was wanting to demolish his home
as well or just add an addition to which he said that was a
consideration but there were setback issues. Commissioner White asked
about the tennis court, to which Assistant Town Attorney Nazzaro said it
would need to be grandfathered in.
Mayor Morgan believed it was in the Town's best interest to have
current resident take the property and develop it like Mr. Stanton
wanted to do. Commissioner Lyons agreed with the Mayor that this would
be a great solution. Mayor Morgan stated that whomever demolished the
property, whether it be the Town or the buyer, it would need to be
demolished, seeded and irrigated because it would take some time for the
plans to go through the approval process. Mr. Stanton asked how long
the process would take in entirety to which Town Manager Dunham and Vice
Mayor Stanley said he was reasonably looking at March, 2020. After a
bit more deliberating and arguments back and forth, Mayor Morgan asked
for a number from the Commission that would be acceptable for Mr. Carano
to take back to the heirs. Commissioner Lyons started with $100,000,
Vice Mayor Stanley said $125,000, Commissioner White said $125,000,
Commissioner orthwein said $125,000. Mayor Morgan then said he would
come down to $125,000 and asked Commissioner Lyons if he would make it
unanimous. Commissioner Lyons said he didn't want that number just
sitting out there and would like to hear back from the heirs in a
certain amount of time. Mayor Morgan then told Mr. Carano that the
estate needed to respond within 14 days with an acceptance or rejection
of the $125,000. Vice Mayor Stanley moved to approve a lien
reduction at the Lien Reduction Hearing in the amount of $125,000 in the
Town Commission's Agreement to reduce the lien to $125,000 and is
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Minutes of Town Commission
Regular Meeting & Public Hearing
Held October 11, 2019 @ 9:00 A.M.
subject to acceptance by the property owner within 14 days and
contingent on the other condition that the property will be demolished.
Commissioner White seconded the motion and all voted AYE at roll call.
B. Adoption of Personnel Policy Handbook Revisions
Town Manager Dunham stated the handbook was originally
developed when Scott Harrington was manager in the 90s and has been
revised three times since then in 2004, 2007 and 2015. He added that
when he came on staff in 2017, it was a goal of his to update the
handbook after first reading it due to new laws, etc. Mr. Dunham went
on to highlight the items that were new, changed or deleted because they
were no longer relevant. He added that 900 of the handbook was staying
the same. Mayor Morgan asked who had helped him with the updates, to
which Mr. Dunham gave credit to Assistant Town Attorney Nazzaro, CFO
Tew, Chief Allen and Lt. Haseley. Mayor Morgan was impressed and said
the sections added need to be added. Commissioner Lyons wanted to make
sure the HR Legal Compliance was taken care of, to which Assistant Town
Attorney Nazzaro said that he had anticipated that question and had
looked through it very thoroughly. Commissioner Lyons also asked about
actions including a Town Manager and the chain of command. He wanted to
know if something was said, for example harassment, and it involved the
Town Manager, who would they go to then. Mr. Nazzaro stated that it was
designee or supervisor, to which Commissioner Lyons thought it should go
to the Mayor or any one of the Commissioners. Town Clerk Taylor stated
that the Charter put the responsibility in the lap of the Commission as
far as hiring and firing for the Town Manager, Town Clerk and Police
Chief, but didn't say anything about complaints. Mr. Dunham then added
that something else that needed to be put in the handbook was if there
was a grievance made or an appeal to the Town Manager's decision it
needed to go before the Commission in a public meeting. Commissioner
White questioned the "at will" employment, to which CFO Tew answered
that Florida was an "at will" state. Mr. Dunham added that he liked to
go with due process procedures if possible. Commissioner White also
asked if the HRA was a separate insurance policy to which CFO Tew
replied that it was a benefit of $3,000 per year given by the Town to be
used for medical expenses not covered by insurance and it rolls over
each year. Commissioner Orthwein moved to approve the revisions to the
Personnel Policy Handbook. The motion was seconded by Vice Mayor
Stanley and all voted AYE at roll call.
C. Items by Mayor & Commissioners
There were none.
X. Adjournment.
--Mayor Morgan adjourned the meeting at 10:53 A.M.
Ke -6- Baser`
sistant Town Clerk
III