Board of Commissioners Workshop Meeting

MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR WORKSHOP MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2019 2:00 P.M. A regular workshop meeting of the City of Madeira Beach Board of Commissioners was held at 2:00 p.m. on November 19, 20 I 9, in the Patricia Shontz Commission Chambers at City Hall , located at 300 Municipal Drive, Made ira Beach, Florida. MEMBERS PRESENT: Maggi Black, Mayor Doug Andrews, Commissioner District 3 John Douthirt, Comm issioner Di strict 4 MEMBERS ABSENT: Deby Weinstein, Commissioner District I Nancy Hodges, Vice-M ayor/Commissioner District 2 CITY STAFF PRESENT: Robert Daniels, C ity Manager Clara VanBlargan, City Clerk Patty Kord is, Deputy Clerk Ralf Brookes, City Attorney 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Black called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. 2. ROLLCALL C ity Clerk Clara YanBlargan called the roll. 3. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION City Manager Robert Daniels announced changes to the agenda. Agenda Item 4.A., Update on Marina Aud it and Agenda Item 4.B., Presentation by RCS Pinellas, were postponed to the December workshop meeting. Agenda Item 4.D., Presentation on the Traffic Light, was moved up to be the first item of discuss ion at the request of the presenter. A . Update on Marina Audit and the steps taken on that to follow the advice of the Forensic Auditors - Robert Daniels, City Manager This item was postponed to the December workshop meeting. B. Presentation - RCS Pinellas, lnc. (Help & Hope for People in Need) - Melinda Pen y, PCS Pinellas November 19, 20 19, BOC Regul ar Workshop Meeting Page 1 of 7  This item was postponed to the December workshop meeting. C. Presentation - Traffic Light Request - Madeira Cove Residents John Lipa, 399 150th Avenue, and Larry Roelofs, 399 150th Avenue, presented the item and explained the need to have the traffic light relocated from Madeira Way to 150th A venue due to safety concerns. They explained the handouts they provided to the Board. When planning the new developments, it had been agreed upon by the developer and the residents that the traffic light needed relocating. Some of the City officials at the time went to FOOT to plead their case. According to the traffic reports received by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department, the number of traffic accidents in that area continues to increase. Because all safety concerns back then, residents of Boca Vista and Snug Harbour had gotten together and signed individual letters they presented to the City and those letters should be on file with the City. Mr. Roelofs said they are asking the City to support them and to join in their efforts to get the safety concerns resolved and to help get the traffic light relocated. Commissioner Douthirt said he did not know who all signed a letter back then, but recently, as the President of Boca Vista since 2014, he had spoken to the owners, and they wanted nothing to do with it. Mayor Black said she was on that Board at the time and she recalled the issue discussed, but not voted on. She recently had been told by their association manager it was not approved. Commissioner Douthirt said he was not in favor of moving the traffic light from Madeira Way. There will be no left turn there. He suggested putting in a round-about there to slow the traffic. He asked the City Manager to bring back some options to the Board. Mr. Lipa asked if the City could get the developer to put a temporary "No Turn on Red" sign at the intersection there. The City Manager said he looked into it and learned that they had gotten a permit for the roadway construction signs, but FOOT would not let them restrict the right turns on red. Mayor Black opened to public comment. Bill Karnes, 11055 9th Street E, Treasure Island, said a round-about was discussed during the development and design phase, but it was not possible to put one there. The radius is too great and encroaches both the south and northside properties. When the project gets completed, the light at that location will be a blinking yellow light. The light will only tum red when someone hits the pedestrian crossing either coming north or south to cross 150th Avenue. A benefit to the Snug Harbour and Boca Ciega residents is that when relocating the traffic light, it will stop traffic and allow cars to make a left tum coming out of Condo B. Commissioner Andrews commented he would love to help in the situation and asked the role of the City going forward since it is a state road. The City Manager explained they could send a recommendation to FOOT requesting that they include a traffic light on 150th A venue, but chances November 19, 2019, BOC Regular Workshop Meeting Page 2 of7 are, without any funding for a traffic light, it could get pushed back. The homeowner's association indicated that if FOOT had the funding, they would have a better chance at getting them to speed things up if they had a recommendation from the Commission in the form of a resolution supporting the traffic light. However, if it does not match the traffic warrants, they legally could not put up a traffic light. They would need an engineering study to prove why they would need a traffic light, or a stop sign in place. The City could also include the traffic light as a CIP project and start the funding for that. The understanding is that traffic warrant studies were done explaining the flow of traffic and the traffic lights. He also spoke about the new medians going in on 150th Avenue and the impact for the residents to enter and exit the three condominiums safely. Guy Critelli, 13025 Pelican Lane, commented the speed limit on 150th Avenue should be reduced. Shirley Nolshime, Madeira Cove, commented the speed limit should be lowered. Robert Preston, 425 S, Bayshore Drive, gave examples of what a difference lowering the speed limit would have in matters of minutes. Mayor Black closed to public comment. D. Presentation - Global Warming and Sea Levels Rise - John Parks & Bill Marshall, Citizens Climate Lobby John Parks & Bill Marshall, Citizens Climate Lobby, gave a presentation on global warming and sea levels rising. Mayor Black opened to public comment. Guy Critelli, 13025 Pelican Lane, commented in favor of protecting the environment. John Hendricks, 569 Normandy Road, commented in favor of protecting the environment. Mayor Black closed to public comment. E. Update on 150 th Avenue Construction - Robert Daniels, City Manager City Manager Robert Daniels provided an update on I50th A venue Construction and said the construction on 150th Avenue should be completed in December, the third week before the Christmas Holidays. Mayor Black opened to public comment. There were no public comments. F. Update on Live-a-board Ordinance - Robert Daniels, City Manager City Manager Robert Daniels provided an update on the live-a-board ordinance. He said the Sherriffs Office are giving warnings, the permitting process is underway, and the City is looking at an enforcement implementation date of January 1, 2020. November 19, 2019, BOC Regular Workshop Meeting Page 3 of7  G. Scheduling a Town Hall Meeting to address questions by the citizens Commissioner Andrews explained the need to schedule a town hall meeting to address questions by citizens. Meeting with the citizens in any manner is productive. The three minutes during public comment is not enough time for people to speak and their questions are not being answered. The City Manager said there has been two town hall meetings since he has been with the City. He said he is also putting together a City Government Academy for citizens to attend. This will help the residents gain more of an idea of what they do as a government to provide those services and for the City to get feedback on how they can better provide those services. Mayor Black commented that the Breakfast with Bob seems to be getting information to the community. Mayor Black opened to public comment. Helen Price, 13319 Boca Ciega Avenue, commented that she had attended the academy by Pinellas County University and the program was great. It is a wonderful event to put together. H. Discussion on the $12,537 attorney bill paid for the Fire Chief- Walt Pierce, Finance Director Finance Director Walt Pierce reported that the City's insurance company paid the Fire Chiefs $12,537 attorney bill. According to the Fire Chief he is waiting on the final order and has the two payments ready to give to the City that total $4,320, but they have not received those payments yet. Commissioner Andrews said this ties Agenda Items Hand I together. He read City Charter, Section 5.3, which stated that the City Attorney shall act as legal advisor, and attorney for all its officers or employees in matters arising out of the performance of their official duties for the City. He said there is no way that the duties of the Fire Chief or what the Fire Chief was accused of in the Ethics complaint had anything to do with his City performance. It is an issue he keeps bringing up because the Board is not coming up with any kind of consensus on what they are going to do going forward. They've had several issues already since he has been on the Board and nobody has an idea on who is supposed to pay for what or how it is supposed to be paid. The right thing to do is have the Fire Chief to reimburse the City for the $12,537. That will be a stepping stone to say that is wrong and they are not going to do that again. It needs to be evaluated. He asked where the authority to do it came from. In accordance with the City Attorney's contract he can hire other attorneys after he discusses it with the Board and gets approval. The City Attorney has stated he had gotten authorization from the City Manager. The City Attorney does not work for the City Manager and he should not be getting direction from the City Manager. Instead, the City Attorney takes direction from the Board of Commissioners. There are several attorneys working for the City and no approval has been given by the Board to hire those attorneys. Those bills are stacking up and there are a lot of them. He wanted to know who gave the authority to pay the attorney bill for the Fire Chief. November 19, 2019, BOC Regular Workshop Meeting Page 4 of7 The City Attorney explained that when the Commission on Ethics complaints are received by the City, Karen Paulson, HR Coordinator, sends it to Preferred Governmental Insurance Trust. They make a determination on whether there is any coverage, which would include any advancement of insurance costs. That means that the insurance company provides a lawyer to the employee and they pay those defense costs as they go along as part of the City's insurance policy. He said a prior City Commission, before he came to the City, passed a resolution providing that the City would defend officials and employees if they were served with Commission on Ethics complaints or other outside complaints if it were in the scope of their duties. Commissioner Andrews said it was an Ethics Complaint against the Fire Chief personally, so Karen should have never sent that bill to the City's insurance company. The City Attorney said the insurance company advances the cost, but they do not know until the end if the official or employee would be found guilty or not. They are entitled to a lawyer under the insurance policy until there is a final determination. The insurance company has the right to seek that money back from the Fire Chief because it was outside the scope of his duties. But they usually do not sue and try recovering money from their own insured because it is bad business. Commissioner Andrews said the Board is the only one to go out and hire outside attorneys and pay for them, whether it is the insurance company or a private attorney. He wants to make sure going forward they are following the steps that are provided in the City Charter. The City Attorney said understood. Mayor Black opened to public comments. Robert Preston, 425 S. Bayshore Drive, asked if the City had ever gone over the $100,000 it has in insurance coverage each year. Director Pierce said they went over that in 2016 and 2017. Mr. Preston said the Fire Chief was found guilty. He had stolen over $27,000 from the City in services. Now, he has been given a bonus by paying for his attorney. The City Attorney said that was in 2017 and 2018 and that was about $28,000, which is well below the $100,000. Mr. Preston said it was public funds paying for personal wrong doings. He finds it amazing that the City never did anything to him for stealing from the City, and he still works for the City. Mayor Black closed to public comment. The City Manager said the incident happened under a different administration, so he is not going to go back and discipline him for it because it was adjudicated two years ago. There was discipline done at that time. The City Attorney read a section of the order and explained the discipline that had been done. Commissioner Andrews said going forward that type of activity will not be tolerated and any attorneys that is going to be used outside Ralrs purview is going to be approved by the Board. That is in the Charter and going forward he wants to make sure they are following the Charter. I. Discussion on paying Clara's outside legal bills The City Attorney said this one has been sent to the insurance company. They received a demand letter from Clara's attorney on November 13 th after their last meeting. It was immediately forwarded to the insurance company that afternoon and has been submitted for a determination of coverage. They are waiting for a response to see if the insurance will pay for that. If the insurance November 19, 2019, BOC Regular Workshop Meeting Page 5 of7 does not pay, the invoice can be placed on a regular meeting for the Board to decide if they want to pay it regardless of insurance coverage. Commissioner Andrews said the next time if Clara's attorney submits another legal bill to the City, that bill will be presented to the Board to submit to the insurance company. The City Attorney said the problem is that when they get a claim, they must immediately provide it to the insurance company based on their policy. If they sit on their hands or don't report a potential claim, the insurance company will sometimes deny a claim if not timely reported. He can provide the insurance policy to the Board and a list of attorneys they use for approval. That can be approved for the year, so when they do get claims the Board will be aware of the coverage and the providers, and the Board can review it again at that time. Since they pay for the insurance it only makes sense to see if they will pay for it first. Commissioner Andrews said it should never be submitted to the insurance company if it's for something that was done outside their employment. The City Attorney said the one being complained about might think it was for something inside their employment, so the insurance company needs to make the determination. It is the insurance company's right to go after that money from the employee, but so far, they have not done that. They have paid Shane Crawford and paid other people, including a former Commissioner, for things outside the scope of their employment. The insurance company paid the lawyer fees of the Commissioner and never sought to recover that back. That is up to the insurance company since they are the ones paying. Commissioner Andrews asked for more information on that because he is not comfortable in the way they are handling it. Mayor Black recalled the City Attorney stating at the October 22, 2019 meeting that he would draft something on how they would pay legal fees. The City Manager said he had drafted an internal process that when they receive an attorney bill, he would have to see it before it gets processed. He might have misunderstood on what to draft, so he will get with Ralf and draft something. He will not be approving any bill for outside attorneys if it has not been approved by the Board first. Mayor Black opened to public comments. There were no public comments. E. Moving forward with the City Attorney - Ralf Brookes, City Attorney City Attorney Ralf Brookes commented that in the packet is a copy of the current contract and he has no proposed changes. He can update the dates and bring it to the next meeting for a vote unless the Board has changes, they would like made to the contract. It expires on December I I th , but it does say it will continue until terminated or renewed. The Board can approve it at the December 1Oth regular meeting. Commissioner Andrews asked that the word "Commissioners" in #6 in the contract be changed to "Board of Commissioners," so there would be no misunderstanding. Mayor Black opened to public comments. November 19, 2019, BOC Regular Workshop Meeting Page 6 of7 Robert Preston, 425 S Bayshore Drive, suggested going out for an RFP for legal services to see if they are getting the best services with Mr. Brookes for the same amount of money. To be good stewards for the taxpayer's money, they would go out for an RFP. Mayor Black closed to public comment. Finance Director Walt Pierce said he is trying to get an Audit Committee formed and he would like a member of the Board to be a part of that Committee. It would need to be a Commissioner that is not up for re-election, Commissioner Andrews or Commissioner Douthirt. He would like to know now who that Commissioner will be. He would flip a coin. Commissioner Douthirt said to let them know at the next meeting who was chosen. Jay said he has been discussing with staff on how to form that committee. Commissioner Douthirt said in past they have talked to Jay Hatch, Recreation Director, about having a special event committee and that has not happened. Director Hatch commented that he has been meeting with staff to determine how to put it together. Commissioner Douthirt said in the past the City has thanked the people donating their time and energy serving on a Committee by giving them a gift card and he would like to do that again. The City Manager said he will work on it. The Board consented. 4. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Black adjourned the meeting at 3:33 p.m. ATTEST: Clara VanBlargan, MMC, MSM, City Cle November 19, 2019, BOC Regular Workshop Meeting Page 7 of7