Village Council Workshop

Village of Wellington 12300 Forest Hill Blvd Wellington, FL 33414 Action Summary - Final Monday, January 26, 2015 3:00 PM Village Hall Village Council Workshop Bob Margolis, Mayor John Greene, Vice Mayor Matt Willhite, Councilman Anne Gerwig, Councilwoman John T. McGovern, Councilman Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final January 26, 2015 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Margolis called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. 2. REVIEW OF COUNCIL AGENDA Mr. Schofield presented the Agenda for the January 27th, Council Meeting for discussion and review. A. 15-24 PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING HOWARD K. COATES FOR HIS DEDICATED SERVICE AND CONTRIBUTION TO THE RESIDENTS OF THE VILLAGE OF WELLINGTON Mr. Schofield presented the item and provided background. There were no changes recommended. At this point, Councilwoman Gerwig explained that several Eagle Scouts recently achieved that recognition. She indicated that she did not know if that was something the Village normally recognized, and asked whether the Council would like to do that. Mr. Schofield said that they would be recognized if the Scout Master made the request. B. 15-27 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR WELLINGTON COUNCIL MEETING OF NOVEMBER 25, 2014 Mr. Schofield presented the item. There were no changes recommended. C. 14-851 AUTHORIZATION TO RENEW EXISTING DEBRIS MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS Mr. Schofield introduced the item and explained that the item would not take effect unless there was a declared emergency or disaster where debris removal was necessary. There were no changes recommende D. 15-3 AUTHORIZATION TO UTILIZE MULTIPLE CONTRACTS, AS A BASIS FOR PRICING, FOR THE PURCHASE AND DELIVERY OF VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT Mr. Schofield introduced the item and responded to Council’s questions regarding the options for the local vendors. In response to a question raised by Councilman Willhite, Mr. Barnes explained that the items on the list were all budgeted to be purchased and a picture of the message board would be provided to Council. There were no changes recommended. E. 14-955 CERTIFICATES OF CORRECTION FOR NON-AD VALOREM ASSESSMENTS Village of Wellington Page 1 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final January 26, 2015 Mr. Schofield introduced the item and explained the request came from the PBC Tax Collector’s office and the properties in question were all located within common areas. Mr. Schofield explained that there was a pending legislative bill proposal that would aim common areas in associations separately. There were no changes recommended. F. 15-5 WELLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL AND PALM BEACH CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL PROJECT GRADUATION SPONSORSHIP Mr. Schofield introduced the item and provided background on the item. Councilman Willhite asked staff if each school’s current Project Graduation signage was in accordance with the appearance standards Council requested several years ago. Mr. Barnes said that the signage at Wellington High School appeared to be in accordance with the standards but he would have staff take pictures at both locations and provide the information to Council. Councilman Willhite reiterated that he supported the project but since the signage was out throughout the entire year he wanted to make sure that the landscaping and the signage was appropriate. Mr. Schofield said that the Wellington Garden Club could provide assistance. Councilman Willhite Supported that idea. There were no changes recommended. G. 15-33 ORDINANCE NO. 2015-03 (AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 3 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES ENTITLED SPECIAL ASSESSMENT TO CREATE A NEW SECTION 3-9 ENTITLED “PREPAYMENT OF SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS”) AN ORDINANCE OF WELLINGTON, FLORIDA’S COUNCIL AMENDING CHAPTER 3 SPECIAL ASSESSMENT OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES TO CREATE A NEW SECTION 3-9 TITLED “PREPAYMENT OF SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS” TO PROVIDE THAT THE VILLAGE COUNCIL MAY, IN ITS DISCRETION, BY ENABLING RESOLUTION(S), PROVIDE FOR RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS ON, INCLUDING A PROHIBITION OF, THE PREPAYMENT OF SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS LEVIED BY THE VILLAGE; PROVIDING AUTHORITY TO CODIFY; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mr. Schofield introduced the item. Ms. Cohen clarified that this ordinance was not the provision that was being used with the Saddle Trail project which was following the supplemental procedure that was permitted by Chapter 170. Councilwoman Gerwig asked if there was a penalty for pre-payment. Ms. Cohen explained that the ordinance provides the option for Council by resolution to restrict or limit pre-payment on a case by case basis. Ms. Quickel explained that the amount of the pre-payment needed to be known before the Village of Wellington Page 2 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final January 26, 2015 calculation of the debt issuance. Councilman Willhite asked for an example in which a resident has a bond that the Village holds where the resident would be concerned about pre-payment. Ms. Quickel explained that it deals with the issuance of the debt and some owners have asked if they can pre-pay the assessment. Ms. Cohen said if the resident pre-pays the amount it would change the entire dynamics of the bond issuance. There were no changes recommended. H. 15-31 DIRECTION ON THE SALE AND DEVELOPMENT OF REAL PROPERTY AT K-PARK Mr. Schofield introduced the item. Councilwoman Gerwig asked if she was able to continue to sit at the table to listen to the discussions. Ms. Cohen suggested that Councilwoman Gerwig leave the room. At this point in the meeting Councilwoman Gerwig recused herself. Mr. Barnes stated that the six vendors were prepared to provide presentations and the order was the same as the Selection Committee. He said that he was asking for Council’s direction on how to proceed after the presenters completed their presentations. Mayor Margolis asked if all the applicants would be present at the following night’s Council meeting. Mr. Barnes said that five of the six applicants have confirmed their attendance at the meeting. Councilman Willhite mentioned that the time limit for their presentations was fifteen minutes. Mr. Barnes stated that each applicant was advised of the fifteen minute time limit. He added that staff’s recommendation was that questions be reserved to after all the presentations. Mayor Margolis said that after the councilmember vacancy item he would ask for a ten minute recess before hearing the presentations. Mr. Barnes said that during the break all of the presentations would be loaded on to the lap top and staff from the IT department would be present to handle any technical issues. Vice Mayor Greene stated that the K-Park land sale topic was very significant and public comment had not been made available to the residents. He felt that the perception of residents may be that Council was having a “closed door” process and he wanted to make sure that the residents were aware that the process was made fair for everyone. He further explained that for the first time, residents would hear the information from the applicants at the Council meeting the following night and the public may need time to digest. Vice Mayor Greene felt that Council may be rushing to make a decision after the presentations, especially since there were only three councilmembers available to vote on this issue.. He indicated he would feel more comfortable having a full body of councilmembers present to make the decision. He requested to have the new councilmember be part of the process. He said that he did not feel a sense of urgency in making the decision regarding the potential K-Park land sale and wanted an opportunity to hear from the public.. Village of Wellington Page 3 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final January 26, 2015 Councilman Willhite said that he agreed that the item was of a serious nature but he wondered at what point in time the newly appointed councilmember would be up to speed and have sufficient knowledge on the K-Park land sale item to participate. He added that since the three councilmembers present were the ones to rank and score the applicants, they should follow through and conclude the process. Councilman Willhite said the three existing councilmembers decided to move forward with the process knowing that Councilman Coates and Councilwoman Gerwig would not be participating. He stated that it would not be fair to the applicants to delay the process. He explained that the public would have the opportunity to speak at the following night’s meeting where the Council would be making a potential offer to one of the ranked applicants. Councilman Willhite stated that the contract would need to come back to Council in the future and at that point the public would once again have an opportunity to speak. Vice Mayor Greene stated that the K-Park land sale item was very different from other items because this is a parcel of land that affects the entire community. He felt that the dynamics were against Council; having a councilmember recusing herself and a councilman that resigned because of his appointment to the court, which makes Council’s decision less urgent. He recommended that they hear the presentations, but requested that the public be given an opportunity to digest the information, to weigh in on the issue and then have Council listen to the public feedback. Mayor Margolis expressed concern with getting the new councilmember up to speed in order to make a decision for the sale of the property because it usually takes a couple of months. He added that he did not have a problem with the three councilmembers making a decision at the following night’s Council meeting but he was concerned with no public input regarding the item. He was comfortable having a special meeting for the K-Park land sale discussion as soon as possible; and having Council vote on the item before the new councilmember takes office. Vice Mayor Greene said that he agreed to have a Town Hall meeting similar to the Equestrian Summit in order to provide the public the opportunity to understand how the project would impact them. Mayor Margolis asked if what he was hearing was that Council was comfortable in having a public forum and a special meeting to determine the sale of K-Park. Councilman Willhite said that Council was delaying the inevitable by one week and felt that Council needed to move forward at the following night’s Council meeting. Vice Mayor Greene said that Council needed to hear from the public at the meeting. If the response throughout the community was to delay the sale, he thought that Council would need to delay the sale of the land. Mayor Margolis said that one of the applicants was gearing up the community to attend the meeting the following night. Vice Mayor Greene said that he was not being influenced by social media and he had not spoken to any of the applicants. Mayor Margolis reiterated that did not support having the new councilmember be part of the vote for the sale of K-Park land but if the consensus was to delay making the decision at the following night’s Council meeting for a town hall meeting, he would support that. Village of Wellington Page 4 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final January 26, 2015 Vice Mayor Greene said that he was not convinced that they should not have the newly appointed councilmember participate in the decision and any other decisions made by Council immediately after they take office. Mayor Margolis recapped that Council was moving forward with the fifteen minute presentations by proposers and afterwards Council would vote on whether to negotiate a contract. At this point in the meeting Councilwoman Gerwig joined the meeting. I. 15-21 REQUEST FOR PAYMENT OF LEGAL EXPENSES INCURRED BY MAYOR BOB MARGOLIS RELATING TO ETHICS COMPLAINTS Mr. Schofield explained that this item had been removed from the agenda pending the receipt of additional information. J. 15-39 COUNCIL APPOINTMENT OF COUNCILMEMBER TO FILL THE VACANCY CREATED BY THE APPOINTMENT OF COUNCILMAN COATES TO THE CIRCUIT COURT Mr. Schofield introduced the item. Councilman Willhite asked if it posed a problem moving Regular Agenda Item 8C to 8A or did it have to be done at the end to swear in the new Councilmember. Mr. Schofield stated that the item could be moved, and Council could elect to swear the newly-appointed councilmember in at that time or the next meeting. It was his understanding the swearing in would be done at the February 10th meeting. Councilman Willhite thought that the appointment of the new Council member should be moved because of its importance. Council consensus was to reorder the agenda moving item 8C to the first item on the Regular Agenda. Mayor Margolis asked if three minutes would be allotted for Public Comments. Ms. Cohen explained that ministerial acts are exempt from the public comment provision, and she had to research whether this was a ministerial act, and would get back to Council. She said that Council had no discretion regarding the decision to appoint, but they did as to the process. Council Councilman Willhite stated that according to the Charter, Council has an obligation to appointment someone no matter what within 30 days. Ms. Cohen stated that the question was if public comment was required and she said that Council could allow public comments even if it was not required. Mayor Margolis said in the past public comment has always been allowed and he wanted to continue with the same procedure but was asking for Council’s consensus. Councilman Willhite asked Ms. Rodriguez what the procedure was in the past because he didn’t recall what was done. Ms. Rodriguez recalled that there were minimal comments made at that time. She added that Council has the ability to modify that in any way they desire. Councilman Willhite agreed to have public comment and every applicant would have three minutes to speak because they are residents. Councilman Willhite asked if Council wanted to have further discussion Village of Wellington Page 5 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final January 26, 2015 regarding the process. Ms. Cohen said that Council was able to discuss the process at this time because they were at a public meeting that was publicly noticed and the item was on the agenda. She explained that the direction from Council at the prior meeting was that Council wanted the position advertised; the applications were closed at the point directed by Council, Council has a packet with a list of all of the applicants, two of whom had withdrawn their names from consideration; Council would be provided with a sheet with the names of the applicants; Council would rank their top five choices; the choices would be tallied and converted to an ordinal score; and the one with the lowest ordinal score would be the presumptive nominee but that would be subject to a motion and a vote. She added that at that point, and a councilmember would make a motion for the candidate presumable for the applicant that received the most points and the lowest ordinal score. She mentioned that if the motion passes, that would be the nominee but if the motion does not pass, Council would need to discuss how to proceed. Mayor Margolis asked if the procedure was the same as when Councilman Coates was appointed. Ms. Cohen said that she believed that he was appointed by vote. Mr. Schofield said that there were other items that Council needed to discuss in preparation for the following day’s Council meeting. He said that it was his understand that after the ballots were completed, they would be collected and tallied by the Clerk, and the scores would be provided to Council. He said that he was asked whether Council had to pick five people. Mr. Schofield did not believe that each council member would be required to rank all five candidates. Councilman Willhite said that he believed all five candidates were ranked that last time that Council voted. Mr. Schofield reiterated that there was nothing to stop Council from diverting from that. Mayor Margolis said that the maximum number would be five. Mr. Schofield replied affirmatively. Councilman Willhite asked how Council would know the results. Councilwoman Gerwig asked if the procedure would happen at the current meeting or at the beginning of the following night’s Council meeting. Mr. Schofield explained that the procedure was a Clerk’s office function. Ms. Rodriguez explained that a laptop would be available in order to tally the results, print a copy and make them available to Council. Councilman Willhite said that after the votes were made and provided to the Clerk, Council would take a five minute break in order for staff to tabulate the scores. Ms. Rodriguez replied affirmatively. Councilman Willhite recapped that at 6:00 p.m. today the candidates would arrive at Council Chambers and draw a number. Ms. Rodriguez said that there was a sign in sheet and the order that was on the sheet would be the order that they would make their presentations; and Mayor Margolis would call the candidates to the podium in that order. Councilman Willhite said that he preferred the procedure that Mr. Schofield mentioned earlier where each candidate would draw a number upon their arrival. Ms. Rodriguez said that staff was prepared to make the change. Mayor Margolis recapped and said that each applicant receives five minutes for their presentation and he was only going to limit them to the five minutes. Councilwoman Gerwig thought it would be appropriate to allow the applicant to complete their sentence. Mayor Margolis agreed with Councilwoman Village of Wellington Page 6 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final January 26, 2015 Gerwig in allowing the candidate to finish their sentence. Ms. Cohen recapped that Council would not be asking the candidates any questions. Ms. Rodriguez said that the meeting would be recorded and broadcast. Mayor Margolis reiterated that the candidates would draw numbers as they walk in and he would call each candidate as per the information provided by the Clerk to give their five minute presentation. 3. WORKSHOP There were no Workshop items. 4. ATTORNEY'S COMMENTS No comments. 5. MANAGER COMMENTS Mr. Schofield advised Council he had several items to discuss with them. SOLID WASTE RFP Mr. Schofield explained that he needed Council’s direction regarding a request for reconsideration of the criteria contained in the Solid Waste Services RFP regarding the requirement for the five (5) years of experience and three (3) agencies of similar size. Vice Mayor Greene asked if staff was requesting a different direction that had been voted on. Councilwoman Gerwig explained that she had previously been concerned with a possible conflict with a sister company that would exclude her from the discussions. However, after receiving an opinion from Ms. Rogers that that there was no conflict, she would participate in the discussions. Mr. Barnes provided background information on prior discussions regarding the criteria provisions contained in the Solid Waste Services RFP. He stated that there was a request to revisit the criteria for the years of experience and similar size criteria contained in the proposed RFP. Councilman Willhite stated that he asked that the Solid Waste Services RFP be brought back for discussion because he was concerned that part of the current criteria was excluding companies from participating in the bid process. He further stated that any business that has the experience, knowledge, the vehicles and the staff should be allowed to bid. Councilwoman Gerwig said that Council agreed upon the criteria in the proposed RFP, and she did understand the request to revisit it. Councilman Willhite explained that Mr. De La Vega had provided a list of businesses to Council; however, he did not say that one of the largest companies that provides services to one of the largest zones in Palm Beach County would be excluded from bidding. Village of Wellington Page 7 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final January 26, 2015 Councilwoman Gerwig thought the presentation was clear, but if it comes down to the amount of experience criteria for the company, she was willing to change the criteria. Councilman Willhite said his request was to allow for a competitive process in order to obtain the best price for the residents. Mayor Margolis said that he did not understand why this issue was being brought up at this point in time. He said that Council, as a whole, agreed to move forward with the RFP process several months ago and the information provided by Mr. De La Vega has not changed. Councilman Willhite explained that he assumed all of the companies that were listed that were presently providing garbage collection service in Palm Beach County would be eligible to bid. However, Mr. De La Vega did not mention that the one company not eligible was authorized by the Solid Waste Authority to provide services. Councilwoman Gerwig said that the other issue was that the more Council opens the RFP up, the more competitive the price would be which was what Mr. Dee had made clear. She said that the Village wants the best value for its residents, but she thought only changing a single parameter may not lead toward receiving the best pricing. Mr. Schofield reiterated that staff was seeking direction from Council at this time if they wanted to amend the similar sized service criteria in order to allow more competition since the contract was due to expire in September. Mr. Barnes added that staff was looking for direction on amending the similar sized service criteria and the number of years criteria. He noted that the company that was mentioned earlier was not necessarily excluded based on the zone versus municipality, but due to the number of contracts of a similar size. Councilwoman Gerwig asked that the requirement for the number of years was (3) three. Mr. Barnes replied that the required amount of years on the RFP was (5) five which was the same provision from the previous RFP. Mayor Margolis said that he did not feel that the RFP should be changed but the majority wins. Vice Mayor Greene said that for him this has never been about a particular company, but was based on a staff recommendation and the proposed RFP was consistent with the previous one. He stated that this was the first time he had heard about the proposed change, and unless he heard something different from staff, he was not supporting making a change at this point in the process. Councilwoman Gerwig said that her concern was that the Village may end up paying more for the service and asked for the time length of the contract. Mr. Barnes said that the initial term of the contact would be for five (5) years. Mr. Barnes clarified that as with many of the procurement items, the best value selection and not necessarily just the price, although that is a key component Village of Wellington Page 8 Village Council Workshop Action Summary - Final January 26, 2015 that is based on the criteria. Councilwoman Gerwig thought they should loosen all of the criteria and that staff needed to review the RFP and determine what the best values are. She stated that she had not voted to put this out for bid because she thought Wellington would end up paying more for less service. Councilwoman Gerwig said since Council does not vote at Agenda Review meetings, she requested to meet with staff before making her decision and voting the following night. In response, Mr. Barnes stated that staff was prepared to speak to all of the councilmembers on an individual basis regarding the RFP in preparation for the following evening. Vice Mayor Greene explained that his concern was what would happen if another provider says they are excluded from another provision if staff now changes one of the parameters of the criteria. 6. COUNCIL COMMENTS Vice Mayor Greene Vice Mayor Greene asked for an update on the dissolution of the Wellington Community Foundation. In response, Ms. Quickel said that the request was sent to Mr. Bachove for review. Ms. Cohen added that the IRS portion of the request was being worked on and a revised draft of the by-laws was being created before dissolving and appointing new members. The process was moving forward and they would keep Council updated of any changes. 7. ADJOURN There being no further business to come before Council, the meeting was adjourned. Village of Wellington Page 9