Board of Commissioners Special Meeting

MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS SPECIAL MEETING JANUARY 28, 2020 1:30 P.M. A special meeting of the City of Made ira Beach Board of Commissioners was held at 1:30 p.m. January 28, 2020, in the Patricia Shontz Commission Chambers at City Hall, located at 300 Municipal Drive, Madeira Beach, Florida. MEMBERS PRESENT: Deby Weinste in, Commissioner District 1 Nancy Hodges, Vice Mayor/Commiss ioner District 2 Doug Andrews, Commiss ioner District 3 MEMBERS ABSENT: Maggi Black, Mayor John Douthirt, Commissioner District 4 CITY STAFF PRESENT: Robert Daniels, C ity Manager Clara VanBlargan, City Clerk Patty Kordis, Deputy C lerk Ralf Brookes, City Attorney 1. CALL TO ORDER Vice Mayor Hodges called the meeting to order at I :33 p.m. 2. ROLLCALL City Clerk C lara VanBlargan called the roll. She stated that fo r the record Commissioner Douthirt and Mayor Black were not present at the meeting. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT Vice Mayor Hodges opened to public comment. There were no public comments. 4. Project #2013-80, Award of RFP and Contract for the Crystal Island Roadway Improvement Project - Jamie Ahrens, PE, Public Works Director; Al Carrier, Deuel & Associates. Public Works Director Jam ie Ahrens expla ined the City' s desire to start the project as soon as possible. Commissioner Andrews asked the amount budgeted for the project. January 28, 2020 BOC Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 4 Finance Director Walt Peirce said there is a 2020 budget in place to get the project started. The project amount is $7,834,000 of a $15,000,000 loan. There is a separate account for the three projects that are to be paid for with the $15,000,000 loan. Commissioner Andrews questioned how they would pay for the other two projects with the $15,000,000 if this project is $10,000,000 plus change, and they missed their target over $3,000,000. There will not be enough money left to do the other two projects. The initial budget was $18,000,000, and they added $6,000,000 on top of that. People were promised that the $15,000,000 would take care of the three projects, and that is the reason for the millage rate increase. Now, they must tell them differently. He asked why no one is seeking grants to offset the costs of the projects. With two of the Commissioners not at the meeting, he has a tough time trying to approve it. City Manager Robert Daniels said he was not there when the calculations were done. He did ask the Legislature for an appropriation for the Crystal Island project in the form of $2.5 million. He received an update this week that it is on their agenda, and they are recommending the funding amount that the City requested. He hoped to have an answer by the end of the week. The SWFWMD funding traditionally received in the past didn't qualify for the Crystal Island project because of the water table issues. That is also part of the rationale as to why contractors charged so much for their work because of the different types of pipes they might have to use. Al Carrier, Deuel & Associates, explained how they came up with the project's original budget and explained what is causing the price to increase. Commissioner Andrews said they rushed through the process, and now they have messed up. They were being asked to push away other projects to fund the Crystal Island project because they will not have money left for the other projects. He is having a tough time with that. Before taking out loans, they need to know what the projects will cost. Director Pierce said the City is in a great financial position. As they go into next year, some of their old debt will be paid off. The fire truck loan was paid off recently. As the loans get paid off, this money will be freed up to be paid from the General Fund to the Stormwater Fund to cover any unexpected expenses. Commissioner Andrews asked why the millage rate 25% was increased if they were in a great financial position. Director Pierce said they raised the millage rate to plan for the project to get the money so the money would be available. They also took advantage of low- interest rates. It was a great time to do it, and they have the money available. It offsets the interest earned by the interest expense, and they have the use of the money for 15 months. They are not incurring any hardship about the money. Commissioner Andrews said interest rates are lower today than when they got the loan, and the process was rushed without any idea of what the project would cost. Director Pierce said he did not rush anybody through the process. They wanted to budget for the money to put in the CIP to plan for it. Al Carrier has already been paid money from the loan. Yes, they had to do it, and they had to do it when they did do it. January 28, 2020 BOC Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 4 Commissioner Weinstein said when they first started talking about it in February 2019, she did not think the $15,000,000 would cover the three projects. She knew it would be the beginning. They wanted to make sure the increase in the millage rate gave them the wiggle room to make sure they would not have to raise the millage again in three or four years. She supported the project and is ready to move forward with it. She is comfortable with the figures and reports the Finance Director has given to them. Commissioner Andrews said he was 1,000% behind doing the projects, but money does not grow on a tree for them. The money will run out after the project is over. They made promises to the constituents that the three projects would be paid for with the $15,000,000 loan and that they were basing that on the fact that the first project would cost between $6.5 million to $7.5 million. He cares about the project, and he ran on it. He felt that they rushed through the process, the homework undone, and they did not do their due diligence. All the points Al had made should have been discovered long before borrowing dime one. They should have known what they are looking at going in so they would not have to go back to the constituents and tell them something different. He is 100% behind the project, but the process stinks. The City Manager said there was a challenge, and they must do something with Crystal Island because of the condition of the roadway. He was surprised at the amount of money being charged on the bids, but his challenge is that they move forward with the other projects as well. He would be looking at other opportunities like the one dealing with the Legislature this year to help pay for it. Hopefully, that will be successful, and it will limit the exposure they have. He agreed that the project needed to get done and would like the full support of the Board. Vice Mayor Hodges opened to public comment. Robert Preston, 425 S Bayshore Drive, said he was surprised at the prices that came in. He did not recall it being said that the project would cost between $6.5 million to $7.5 million and that he did not recall Mr. Pierce saying they would be paying off other debts so they can make the payments. He does not agree with the process of calculating the funds for the project. It is an election year, and the City is not moving forward. Everything the Commission has done is to restrict, remove, build up walls for projects that can bring the City revenue. Chuck Dillion, Roadway Construction Review Task Force, said with his road construction experience, he volunteered his time on the Committee to try and make sure there will be no cost overruns. Commissioner Andrews said he had no problem with the price; he just wished they were a little closer when they had made their estimate to know how much money to borrow. Helen Price, 13319 Boca Ciega Avenue, agreed that the project needed to be done but did not agree with the process for putting projects out to bid. John Hendricks, 569 Normandy Road, said he did not agree with the loan process for the projects. He was curious why the City hired an engineering company to manage and oversee the project when the Public Works Director Ahrens is an engineer. There have been bad decisions made all January 28, 2020 BOC Special Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 4 around, and he is disappointed that Mayor Black and Commissioner Douthirt were not present at the meeting. The City Manager said the main rationale of having a public works director with an engineering degree so that he could oversee each one of the engineers on each one of the road projects so they could make sure things are done correctly, and according to their specifications. Mr. Hendricks said he did not understand the City's engineering overseeing the engineering company that bid the project. Director Pierce said when they set the budget for this year for 2020, they figured in the millage rate increase to handle the payment going forward. The $7.8 million was budgeted this year to get started. The set millage rate will make that $1 million payment going forward each year. Commissioner Andrews said no one had told him that the $7 .8 million was the starting number. The $15,000,000 was to pay for the three projects. Director Pierce said that the Board approved the starting number, and it was recommended by the Budget Review Committee, which brought forth the recommendation to the Board, and the Board approved it. Commissioner Andrews said he would like to see that starting number stated somewhere in the minutes. He did not recall hearing that. Mr. Dillion commented on the money Pinellas County will be reimbursing the City. Vice Mayor Hodges closed to public comments. Vice Mayor Hodges suggested tabling the meeting until they have a full board. Following discussion, Commissioner Andrews motioned to defer Project #2013-80, award of RFP and contract for the Crystal Island roadway improvement project until there is a full board. Vice Mayor Hodges seconded the motion. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Andrews "YES" Vice Mayor Hodges "YES" Commissioner Weinstein "NO" Motion carried 2-1. The Board of Commissioners consented to schedule a special meeting to consider approval of the item when all Board members are present. Vice Mayor Hodges adjourned the meeting at 2:27 p.m. {Y\~ 'MJc-- Maggi Bl~ayor January 28, 2020 BOC Special Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 4