Board of Commissioners Workshop Meeting

MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORKSHOP MEETING APRIL 28, 2020 2:00 P.M. A workshop meeting of the City of Madeira Beach Board of Commissioners was held at 2:00 p.m., on April 28, 2020, in the Patricia Shontz Commission Chambers at City Hall, located at 300 Municipal Drive, Madeira Beach, Florida. MEMBERS PRESENT: John B. Hendricks, Mayor Doug Andrews, Vice Mayor/Commissioner District 3 Helen "Happy" Price, Commissioner District 1 Nancy Hodges, Commissioner District 2 John Douthirt, Commissioner District 4 (via telephone) MEMBERS ABSENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT: Robert Daniels, City Manager Clara VanBlargan, City Clerk Patty Kordis, Deputy Clerk Ralf Brookes, City Attorney (via telephone) 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hendricks called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL City Clerk Clara VanBlargan called the roll. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Hendricks opened to public comment. There were no public comments. 4. TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION A. Review changes made to tbe Board of Commissioners Policy Handbook - Board of Commissioners The Board made the following changes to the BOC Policy Handbook: ARTICLE I - OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS AND REPRESENTATION OF THE CITY PROTOCOL (pp. 1-13) April 28, 2020, BOC Workshop Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 4  II. GUIDELINES RELATED TO COMMISSION COMMUNICATIONS (pp. 1-3) 3. Public Communications Correct this section to read: • The Board of Commissioners will endeavor to inform and interact with the public in meaningful and respectful ways that convey accurate information, using the following guidelines: • Commission members frequently are asked to explain an action made by the Board or to give their opinion about an issue as they meet and talk with constituents in the community. Commission members may give a brief overview of a decision made by the Board or City policy and to refer to City staff for further information. • Commission members may not overtly or implicitly promise Board of Commissioners action, or to promise City staff will do something specific (i.e., fix a pothole, void a parking ticket, plant new flowers in the median, etc.). Commission members shall make no promises on behalf of the Board of Commissioners. • Commission members may not make any personal comments, verbal or nonverbal, about other Commission members. • Commission members may publicly disagree about an issue, but one should refrain from making derogatory and/or inflammatory comments, verbal or nonverbal, about other Commission members, based on their opinions, and actions. • A Commission member may have the City Manager and/or Public Information Specialist to inform and interact with the public on their behalf. IV. COMMISSION CONDUCT WITH THE PUBLIC (pp. 5-8) 6. Government Access Channel or alternative measure In the first sentence of the paragraph, add the word, "currently" before the words, "Channel 640." 7. Video Live Streaming In the new added paragraph 2, remove unnecessary capitalization to read: Candidate Forums will be video live streamed on the government access channel even if it involves City personnel. April 28, 2020, BOC Workshop Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 4 ARTICLE III. - RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR BOARD OF COMMISSIONER MEETINGS (pp. 17-24) 6. Agenda Preparation In the second bullet point, Packets, replace the word "efficient" with the word "sufficient." Following discussion of the BOC Policy Handbook, the Board consented to the City Clerk bringing the handbook to the May regular meeting for a vote. B. Goals, Objectives, and Priorities for FY 2021-Board of Commissioners Finance Director Walt Pierce reviewed a handout he distributed to the Board and said it was a revision to FY 2020 Commission Goals and Objectives that will be included in FY 2021 adopted budget. The Board can change it. Vice Mayor Andrews said the handout was a structure that hit on some of the major points. They might want to add a few objectives along the way. He would like small playground equipment to be put in some of the pocket parks to encourage families to go there. There are grants available to pay for playground equipment. When running the Rec Center, he got an $80,000 Florida Parks and Recreation grant to build the playground. Someone needs to be getting those grants. They must be fiscally responsible and communicate better across the board. That would be between the Board and staff, staff and the Board, and City and the residents. When people do not know what is going on in their City it causes a lot of doubt and no trust. There is too much overspending and it needs to stop. The City Charter must be followed, and it has not been. There are spending limitations and bids must be sought. There must be strong leadership that is consistent, and the eyes must be kept on the ball to prevent overspending. They are in no position to be overspending and overindulging on anything. The Mayor said in addition to the grants, there are public-private initiatives that can be pursued. Companies have offered to purchase small playground equipment or outdoor workout stations to go in the pocket parks. Commissioner Price commented that the list was okay but vague. The City Manager said it was things that the Commission talked about over the past two weeks. Commissioner Price said she did not recall talking about some of them. She would like some specifics. The Mayor said they could change the list later if they wanted to. It is going to be a tough year for Madeira Beach. They must create new revenue streams. The City cannot live on parking lot revenue and that is why he pushed hard for a high and dry boat storage at the Marina. It is something they need, and it creates a new revenue stream. The excess BP money could be used as a down payment on that. Director Pierce distributed a handout showing account balances in percentages. Vice Mayor Andrews stressed__ disappointment in its format and said they needed a document showing a April 28, 2020, BOC Workshop Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 4 complete comprehensive look at their expenditures. One he can walk through bit by bit to determine the status of where they are, where they can make cuts, and what can be salvaged this year, because their revenue stream will be disastrous this year. He is not a huge fan of paying employees to stay home. Instead they should be doing what other businesses are doing. Staff was recently praised by Commissioners for going $3.5 million over budget on the Crystal Island proj ect. That project took the bulk of the $ 15 mill ion borrowed and there is a $ 1 million balloon payment on that. There are other projects still on the horizon. Director Pierce had mentioned it takes $50,000 to fund the whole health insurance program and they spent that much on a marina audit, a fraud audit that never came to fruition. T hey may be looking to make changes to human capital. In addition to the available BP money, they also have an emergency reserve fund that has not been tapped into yet. They may be telling the citizens in a few months that their millage rate might be going up, and that will not be easy to tel l them. The Mayor commented that was a point well taken. Commissioner Price said she did not make a bullet point list because she only had four things. She came prepared to rank the things that have been mentioned. T he ones she ranked l1igh were grants, COVID-19 assistance to their businesses, new revenue streams, town hall meetings, City cleanup, budget cuts, press release correcting the marina audit, and apologizing to Dave Marsicano. That was just her high list and something they co uld start working on. The Mayor said they could clarify tlu·ough a press release that Mr. Preisser puts out that the City did not lose $500,000 and that can be emailed to everyone. The City Manager agreed to start with the high ranked list. C. Other Discussions - Board of Commissioners Commissioner Douthirt asked Commissioner P rice what non-profit organization she was talking about that caused a confl ict with Tuesday night meetings. Commissioner Price said it is the Old Salt Fishing Foundation and she would not want to ask the organization to change the ir meeting night for her. It is not a public obligation to have the Commission meetings on Tuesday. The Mayor reported that the merchants in John ' s Pass Village said they would be giv ing the Madeira Beach residents a 10% discount when they open back up. He encomaged everyone to shop and eat local when the City opens back up. 6. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hendricks adj ourned the meeting at 2:5 1 p.m. ATTEST: C lara VanBlargan, MMC, MSM , Ci April 28, 2020, BOC Workshop Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 4