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HomeMy Public PortalAbout12 11 15 MeetingMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING HELD BY THE TOWN COMMISSION OF THE TOWN OF GULF STREAM ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2015 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. The Mayor led the Pledge,of Allegiance. III. Roll Call. Present and Scott W. Morgan Participating: Robert W. Ganger Joan K. Orthwein Thomas M. Stanley Donna S. White Also Present & John Randolph Participating: William Thrasher Rita Taylor Garrett Ward Christopher O'Hare Martin O'Boyle Anthony Iadarola, Jr. Mayor Vice Mayor Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Town Attorney Town Manager Town Clerk Police Chief Resident Resident Mouw Associates Inc. IV. Minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 13, 2015. Vice Mayor Ganger moved to approve the minutes of November 13, 2015 and Commissioner Stanley seconded the motion with all voting AYE at the roll call. V. Additions, withdrawals, deferrals, arrangement of agenda items. The Town Clerk requested to change Item IX.C., Items by Mayor and Commissioners, to Item IX.D., and to add as Item IX.C., Request to Place a Construction Trailer at 1424 N. Ocean Blvd. There were no objections to these changes and the Mayor so ordered. VI. Announcements. A. Regular Meetings and Public Hearings 1. January 8, 2016 @ 9:00 A.M. 2. February 12, 2016 @ 9:00 A.M. 3. March 11, 2016 @ 9:00 A.M. 4. April 8, 2016 @ 9:00 A.M. 5. May 13, 2016 @ 9:00 A.M. 6. June 10, 2016 @ 9:00 A.M. There were no anticipated absences declared. VII. Communication from the Public (5 min. maximum) Those speaking were Christopher O'Hare and Martin O'Boyle. VIII. Reports. A. Utility Undergrounding-Danny Brannon (Engineer) Mr. Brannon said the advertising for Phase II is out and bid is expected to be awarded during the 3=d week in January. He further Town Commission Regular Meeting & Public Hearing December 11, 2015 @ 9:00 A.M. reported that he has heard that AT&T will be offering fiber optics to Palm Beach and that he will be contacting them to determine how this might impact the Gulf Stream project. B. Town Manager The Town Manager had no report. C. Architectural Review & Planning Board 1. Meeting Dates a. December 17, 2015 @ 8:30 A.M. b. January 28, 2016 @ 8:30 A.M. c. February 25, 2016 @ 8:30 A.M. d. March 24, 2016 @ 8:30 A.M. e. April 28, 2016 @ 8:30 A.M. f. May 26, 2016 @ 8:30 A.M. D. Finance Director 1. Financial Report for November 2015 Mr. Thrasher offered to answer any questions and there being none, Mayor Morgan declared the report accepted as presented. 2. Water Usage as of November 30, 2015 Commissioner White asked what the base year is on this report and Mr. Thrasher advised it was 15 years earlier. She further pointed out that in water usage comparisons the multi -family shows a negative percentage while the single family shows a positive one. Mayor Morgan then declared the report accepted as presented. E. Police Chief 1. Activity for November 2015 There were no questions regarding this report and Mayor Morgan also declared this report accepted as presented. IX. Items for Commission Action. A. Ordinances 1. No. 15/6; AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN COMMISSION OF THE TOWN OF GULF STREAM, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANACES AT CHAPTER 42, BUILDINGS AND BUILDING REGULATIONS, ARTICLE IV, DRAINAGE REGULATIONS, SECTION 42-94, DESIGN CRITERIA, PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (2nd reading & adoption) Commissioner Ganger moved the adoption of Ordinance No. 15/6 on Second Reading and Commissioner Orthwein seconded the motion with all voting AYE at roll call. 2. No. 15/7; AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN COMMISSION OF THE TOWN OF GULF STREAM, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANCES AT CHAPTER 22, NUISANCES, ARTICLE III, NOISE, DIVISION 3, NOISE ABATEMENT AND CONTROL FOR GENERATORS, SECTION 22-78, REGULATIONS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (2nd reading & adoption) Commissioner Ganger moved that Ordinance No. 15/7 be adopted on 04 Town Commission Regular Meeting & Public Hearing December 11, 2015 @ 9:00 A.M. second Reading. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Orthwein and all voted AYE at roll call. 3. No. 15/8; AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN COMMISSION OF THE TOWN OF GULF STREAM, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANCES AT CHAPTER 2 ADMINISTRATION, ARTICLE II, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, DIVISION 2, CODE ENFORCEMENT, SECTION 2-68, JURISDICTION, TO INCLUDE VIOLATIONS OF CHAPTER 58, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT, UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE SPECIAL MAGISTRATE; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION, PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (2nd reading & adoption) A motion to adopt Ordinance No. 15/8 on second reading was made by Commissioner Ganger which was seconded by Commissioner Orthwein with all voting AYE at the roll call. B. Agreement for Vote Processing Equipment Use & Election Services -Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Town Clerk Taylor advised that even though Gulf Stream will not be holding an election in 2016, the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office has requested that all municipalities adopt the agreement. Commissioner Ganger moved to adopt the agreement and Commissioner Orthwein seconded the motion with all voting AYE at the roll call. C. Request to place a construction trailer at 1424 North Ocean Blvd.-Mouw Associates, Inc. Commissioner Stanley recused himself and left the room as he had previously represented the owner of this property. Mayor Morgan asked if there had been any ex -parte communication in relation to this matter and none was declared. Anthony Iadarola, Project Manager for Mouw Associates, Inc., explained that this project is expected to take 6 to 8 months and they had applied for permission to have the trailer in place for 12 months but have been advised that the permits are only valid for 6 months so they are amending their request to 6 months. Commissioner Ganger was concerned about possible damage to public and private property in the delivery and the removal of the trailer and questioned if the bond that is required for the project would cover this type of damage. The Town Manager stated that it would if it could be proven that the damage was caused by something related to this project. Chief Ward added that the contractor is responsible for advising the police department of the time of arrival so they can be at the location to assist the driver in making the delivery to the site. Commissioner Orthwein moved to approve the request for a construction trailer to be placed at 1424 N. Ocean Blvd. for a period of 6 months 3 Town Commission Regular Meeting & Public Hearing December 11, 2015 @ 9:00 A.M. and Commissioner White seconded the motion with all voting AYE at the roll call. D. Items by Mayor & Commissioners Mayor Morgan asked for an update on the Fire District feasibility study to which Mr. Thrasher advised that a representative from Matrix was in the area this past week and had met with each of the involved municipalities and will be returning next week to follow up. They also met with each of the current fire providers and obtained records from their files, he said. Commissioner Ganger wanted to make certain that the persons residing in the "county pocket" were made aware of this activity to which Mr. Thrasher advised he had made Matrix aware of this. Mayor Morgan reminded that at the spring long range planning meeting there was discussion regarding the expansion of Town Hall and the Town Manager confirmed that he has a preliminary plan in relation to this and funds are provided in the current budget for preliminary planning. He reminded, however, that the primary concern at that meeting was that the Town Reserves be restored. The Mayor next asked for the status of the fountain and the Town Manager pointed out that repairs to the retaining walls and lighting in the area has been planned for some time and it is being included along with the installation of the new fountain area while it is under construction. He reminded that there is a solid commitment from the Civic Association to assist financially in the project. Mayor Morgan recalled that the Civic Association had pledged $20,000 to the project and at that time it was thought the Town would add $9,000 to that. He thought that with this extra maintenance work Mr. Thrasher should be authorized to go up to $20,000 even though it may not cost that much. Commissioner Orthwein commented that this area was constructed along with the building and has had no attention since that time. She was pleased that the Civic Association had offered to help and believed the project should move ahead with doing whatever is necessary. The other Commissioners had no objections to this. Mayor Morgan lastly mentioned the matter of upgrading and maintenance of the roads. He pointed out that Old School Road is very narrow and sod along the sides is continually being damaged. He reminded that at the planning meeting there was support for widening this roadway to be comparable to the other east -west roads in town and he was asking that the Commission direct the Town Manager to look into that project and obtain an estimated cost. Mr. Thrasher said he can certainly obtain this information, possibly for the next meeting. At the request of Mayor Morgan, Vice Mayor Ganger reported that he and Town Manager Thrasher had been working the past 2 years to obtain legislative support for changes in the Public Records Act. He said that the bills that were being considered during the 2015 legislative sessions were victims of the early departure of the members of the House 4 Town Commission Regular Meeting s Public Hearing December 11, 2015 @ 9:00 A.M. of Representatives. He further reported that two new bills are being prepared and will soon be presented in the 2016 legislative session. Commissioner Ganger said that it has now been recognized that abuse of the public records act is costing taxpayers a considerable amount, so much so that it has the attention of an organization called Florida Tax Watch and reports will be presented to show this is not just a harassment issue but is a real cost issue that needs to be addressed. In closing, the Mayor gave a brief report on the Town's defensible litigation. He particularly cited; 1) The O'Boyle Law Firm, started by Mr. O'Boyle and run by his son, is essentially denuded as most of its' lawyers have fled with a couple left handling the existing cases. 2) The Citizens Awareness Foundation, the non-profit organization set up by Mr. O'Boyle to be the bank for money to come in from all those public record cases, that would be tax free as well, is essentially shut down as well. 3) Joel Chandler, who was hired by Mr. O'Boyle to oversee and run this entire public records operation throughout the state, turned whistleblower and will shortly be testifying on behalf of the Town of Gulf Stream. He believed, with that in mind, we have had a good year. The Mayor wished everyone a very happy holiday and a peaceful and joyous new year. X. Adjournment. Mayor Morgan adjourned the meeting at approximately 10:10 A.M. Rita L. Taylor, Town Clerk 9