Board of Commissioners Workshop Meeting

MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR WORKSHOP MEETING OCTOBER 22, 2019 2:00 P.M. A regu lar workshop meeting of the City of Madeira Beach Board of Comm issioners was held at 2:00 p.m. on October 22, 2019 in the Patricia Shontz Commission Chambers at City Hall, located at 300 Municipal Dri ve, Madeira Beach, Florida. MEMBERS PRESENT: Maggi Black, Mayor Deby Weinstein, Commissioner District I Nancy Hodges, Vice-Mayor/Comm issioner District 2 Doug Andrews, Comm issioner District 3 John Douthitt, Commissioner District 4 MEMBERS ABSENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT: Robert Daniels, C ity Manager Clara YanBlargan, City Clerk Patty Kord is, Deputy Clerk Mathew McConnell, C ity Attorney 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Black called the meeting to order at 2 :00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL City Clerk Clara VanB largan called the roll. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Black opened to pub lic comment. There were no public comments. A. Attorney Helen Price paid invoice City Manager Robert Dan iels rev iewed the item. Commissioner Weinstein and Commissioner Douthirt commented in support of req uesting that Attorney He len Price reim burse the City for what was paid to her. Comm issioner Andrews read a section in the City Charter that req uired the City to pay the attorney fees for officers and employees acting in their official capacity. October 22, 20 19, BOC Regular Workshop Meeting Page 1 of 5 Attorney Matthew McConnell clarified how the City Attorney could not represent both sides of a lawsuit against the City because of conflict of interest. Finance Director Walt Pierce was asked if other employees had their attorney fees paid for in the past. Director Pierce responded that the City has a $100,000 insurance policy to pay for lawsuits that may arise or have in the past. Mayor Black opened to public comment. Robert Preston, 425 S. Bayshore Drive, said the City has no policy in place for attorney fees paid by the City at this time except for what is in the Charter. Mayor Black closed to public comment. Following discussion, the consensus of the Board was to not require Attorney Helen Price to reimburse the City for the paid invoice. City Manager Robert Daniels said with the Commission's approval he will draft something in conjunction with the Charter to address it. The Board provided consensus to the City Manager to go forward with drafting a policy. B. Email Access Complaint by a Citizen and Responses City Clerk Clara VanBlargan explained the item and said it was placed on the agenda for informational purposes because it was said at a previous meeting that any issues that arose regarding the City Clerk, the Board would like to discuss it. Attorney Matthew McConnell explained the role and responsibilities of the City Clerk and said it included being responsible for the emails on the City's server and helping to make sure that nothing is sent that is exempt as a public record. Commissioner Douthirt commented that he had read the email chain and he would not want anyone reading his emails either. The City Clerk explained that she did not access emails just to read them. Emails are accessed in response to a public records request. The City Clerk's office must review them so that an exempt record is not mistakenly sent out. Attorney McConnell explained all emails regarding City business are public records and the City Clerk has the right to read the emails for any public records request. The City Clerk explained how emails are retrieved through a program, Proofpoint. Mayor Black opened to public comment. October 22, 2019, BOC Regular Workshop Meeting Page 2 of5 Robert Preston, 425 S Bayshore Drive, commented on the public records law. Attorney Mcconnel suggested being conscious of what is written in emails and to assume that they could be read in the future by anyone. Attorney Patrice Pucci, 695 Central Avenue, St Petersburg, asked permission from Attorney McConnell to speak. She said she was the personal attorney for City Clerk Clara VanBlargan and represented her in the duties as City Clerk. She commented that the issue is that Mrs. VanBlargan wanted to know how to report anything that concerned her job. It has been suggested in discussion that she has been "willy nilly" in reviewing documents. This is based on conjecture, if that ever happened. There have been allegations between Mayor Black and a citizen where a citizen made the allegation, without an investigation. The City Clerk is required to review documents for public records before they go out to see if there is information that is restricted. Mayor Black made representation to the citizen that the Commission had not given the City Clerk permission to review emails. This is incorrect, the law states that it is part of her job. Mayor Black appears to go out of her way to defame Mrs. VanBlargan by indicating she was acting outside the scope of her job and only later went to the City Attorney to ask if this was the case. How does Mrs. VanBlargan go forward in stating her objections when things are raised that may impact her job? Attorney Pucci ask that if in the future there are any changes, she and Ms. VanBlargan be notified. Mayor Black closed to public comment. Mayor Black commented on what she had said in the email chain and said there was a misrepresentation on what she had asked. C. Presentation on the Enterprise Rent-a-car Agreement: Jamie Lee, Account Manager, and Don Duckworth, Area Sales Manager of Enterprise Fleet Management reported on the progress of the program. Finance Director Walt Pierce commented on how he thought the future of the program will be a success. Mayor Black opened to public comment. There was no public comment. D. Proposed Charter Amendments: City Clerk Clara VanBlargan reported that the charter amendment item regarding the City Clerk had been pulled for a further analysis. She reviewed the remaining proposed charter amendments. Doreen Moore, 13019 Boca Ciega Avenue, chairman of the Charter Review Committee, reported on the Charter Review Committee meeting held on the proposed charter amendments and requested that the items be put in a folder and reviewed again in five years. The City Clerk, Attorney Matthew McConnell, and the City Manager responded to questions and comments. Mayor Black suggested tabling this item. October 22, 2019, BOC Regular Workshop Meeting Page 3 ofS Mayor Black opened to public comment. Robert Preston, 425 S Bayshore Blvd., a~ked if there was a policy in place for handling a run-off election if one should be required. Attorney McConnel said that he would research it and get back to him. Mayor Black closed to public comment. Following discussion, the Board tabled the proposed charter amendments. E. RFP 19-4- Mowing and Lawn Maintenances Service Contract Recreation Director Jay Hatch reviewed the item. He said two bids were received, one from Duval Landscape Management and other from F)oriculture Landscape Services. Duval had provided the lowest bid. Director Hatch and Finance Director Walt Pierce responded to questions and comments. Mayor Black opened to public record. There was no public comment. Following discussion, the Board of Commissioners consented to accepting the lowest bid from Duval. F. Policy in Recycling: Interim Public Works/Marina Director Deb Laramee presented the bid results for the recycling contracts and said the accepted bid was from Waste Connection. She responded to questions and comments and said the item will be on the November 12 th meeting agenda for approval. Mayor Black opened to public comment. Robert Preston, 425 S Bayshore Blvd., commented there is only one truck picking up all recycled materials. Tracy Meehan, Waste Pro, 5170 I 26 th Ave N, Clearwater, requested that the City review the Waste Pro proposal. Mayor Black closed to public comment. Commissioner Deby Weinstein reported on a past event she attended and two upcoming events. Director Pierce gave an update on the financial status related to the resurfacing and undergrounding projects. 4. ADJOURNMENT October 22, 2019, BOC Regular Workshop Meeting Page 4 ofS  Mayor Black adjourned the meeting at 4: 13 p.m. ATTEST: Clara VanBlargan , MMC, MSM, City C October 22, 20 I9, BOC Regular Workshop Meeting Page 5 of 5