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12-27-1976 - Regular u o CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING HELD December 27, 1976 Mayor Armstrong called the regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Edgewater to order Monday, December 27,1976, at 7:30 P.M. ROLL CALL: Mayor Dana T. Armstrong Councilwoman Ryta F. Webber Councilman Henry C. Riggs Councilman Walter B. Sikes Councilman Calvin R. Dietz City Attorney William Gillespie Deputy Clerk Elizabeth Crouser Police Chief Earl Baugh Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present INVOCATION SALUTE TO FLAG APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilman Sikes made a motion to approve the minutes of the meeting held December 13, 1976, being seconded by Councilwoman Webber. Upon roll call vote said motion CARRIED, 5-0. BILLS AND ACCOUNTS: Mayor Armstrong read the total of the bills in the General Fund and the Water and Wastewater accounts. Councilman Sikes made a motion to pay the bills, being seconded by Councilman Dietz. Upon roll call vote said motion CARRIED, 5-0. COMMUNICATIONS: The Deputy City Clerk stated that there is a letter here from May, Zima and Company in regard to the use of the Anti-Recession Fiscal Aid monies we received November of 1976. A copy of this letter was given to the attorney to look over. Attorney Gillespie stated that this is satisfactory to him, and he is prepared to advise the Council tonight that you can adopt a one time bonus provided it covers categories of municipal employees and not specific employees. You can not any bonus plan to be designed solely for the purpose of accomodating one person. He explained that he has dictated some priliminary ordinances in this regard however they are not ready due to his secretary being off for Christmas. Councilman Dietz asked if this letter means that we can use this $7,000 toward that bonus? He stated that there was a question last week about intermingling money. Attorney Gillespie stated that legally you can establish a one time bonus. You are talking about employees of the municipality. He explained that the legislature has created pension and retirement plans in two areas of municipal endeavor, one being the Police Departments and the Fire Departments. He said that there is no Florida Statute that governs general municipal pension plans. o o Councilman Dietz explained that we are trying to give these people who are retiring and are going to be left out of a pension plan, and we are trying to get a stop gap to protect these people until we adopt a pension plan. There was discussion about how many years a person should be employed before they earn a pension. Councilman Sikes stated that the normal retirement age for full benefits is age 65, however we could add age 65 or at least 10 years service. Councilman Dietz stated that if we donlt do something about this tonight it won't benefit Mrs. Sedgwick because it will take away from her social security because she plans to work part time for the City. Mayor Armstrong stated that she can make $2,700 without it affecting her social security. Councilman Dietz explained that they are hoping to work something out though so that we don1t have to hire another girl. Attorney Gillespie stated that you want to spend this $7,000 because if you don't it is money lost. Councilman Dietz stated that in the case of Mrs. Sedgwick it does not hinge on this, we have the money put aside in the Water and Sewer Department. However if we can use it properly out of this money we want to take it out of this. Attorney Gillespie stated that the idea of the Federal give away program came about was to improve the economy, put more cash in the economy so that people would spend more money, and they do not want the money sitting around in some- one's saving account. He explained again that this letter specifically states five ways of using this money. Councilman Dietz stated that we can take Mrs. Sedgwick's and Mr. Ohrwall IS bonuses out of this money, and then use the rest of the money in whatever department we can ~se it in. There was more discussion about what type of plan we can adopt for retirement. Councilman Sikes stated that right now we could vote to use this money for a plan and then the balance of this money can be used for the renovation of our buildings. Councilman Dietz asked the attorney if we can vote tonight to pay Mrs. Sedgwick the $2,000? Attorney Gillespie stated that you can allocate this money out tonight as long as the allocation is not to one particular person. He stated that he can not caution you any more about this; the purpose of this money is not to give two or three people a big bannana, it is to create income within the community. He added that a motion could be made tonight to allocate this money to certain people who have so many years service from these funds. He stated that he feels a resolution authorizing the payment of these funds to the classification of these employees, so that the City will not be criticized for spending muni- cipal funds for a purpose that might be other than what the public would want. Councilman Dietz questioned whether this could be called severance pay for Mrs. Sedgwick? Attorney Gillespie stated that what you are going to do is give one person this year something that someone last year did not get and something that someone next year may not get, and this is just not good politics. Mayor Armstrong stated that you have to look at this, where you have a man who has the qualifications of being able to retire, and might not want to retire, however he will just to get the payoff. He stated that he under- stands Attorney Gillespie that we should establish a police whereby certain classification of people on a certain age and a certain number of years can be funded however we wish. -2- o u Attorney Gillespie explained further, that if we adopt a policy by Resolution then you can repeal this legal action at a later date. Councilman Dietz repeated that we are going to be forced to enter into a retirement plan for our employees very soon, and right now we want to give these people who are retiring before such a plan is set up something for all of the years they have served. Mayor Armstrong stated that we are talking about two different things. One we are talking about one person retiring after many years service, and we are talking about money that has to be spent before April, and also something in the line of a pension plan. Councilman Dietz stated that we could settle this by voting tonight to pay Mrs. Sedgwick $2,000 severance pay from the Water and Sewer Department and Mr. Ohrwa11 $1,400 severance pay from the General Government, then we will work this later. Councilman Sikes stated that he will go along with this provided that this Council fully understands that anyone of the other employees were to retire that we go along with the same thing for them. Mayor Armstrong stated that we could not do this, because we don't know whether we will have the funds at that time. He said that we will first have to set a policy and make it work. Councilman Sikes asked the attorney if we were to instruct a resolution to be drawn and we voted on it next Monday, which would be in the new year how could we make a payment to these two individuals retroactive to this date? Attorney Gillespie stated that you could vote tonight to establish the policy and take a vote on that issue, then they can be paid this money for the calendar year 1976. He again stressed the legality of paying certain people monies from certain funds that are coming in this year that are not going to be a continuing act. He explained that if you cross the board with the employees and spend this money it would be within the intent of the law. Mayor Armstrong stated that he goes along with this idea, a one shot bonus for all City employees on the pro rata for the number of years service they have. He added that he recommends that this is what we do. Councilman Dietz stated that he still wants to take care of Mrs. Sedgwick and Mr. Ohrwa11, they are entitled to it, they have earned it and the City could use a lot more like them. Attorney Gillespie stated that he does not believe that it would be proper to use the municipal funds for an individual, and you could be challenged for that type of expenditure. He added that if we go across the board, you have $7,000 to allocate among how many employees you have. You can say that a certain per- centage of the money is to go to the employees with 15 years or more service and allocate the rest under that. Councilman Dietz suggested that we go to another item of business and discuss this later tonight after everyone has had a chance to think about it. Mayor Armstrong stated that he wants to change the order of business, Council- woman Webber was given the floor to present the Fire Chief, Tommy Duane with an award. Councilwoman Webber stated that she notified the National Safety Council on his outstanding job in taking care of the City, and they investigated and sent this award. It is a National Safety Council Award presented to Chief Duane. The Deputy City Clerk read a meeting notice from the Department of Transportation in regard to the control of the Harris Saxon bridge. The Deputy City Clerk read a letter of resignation from Mrs. Sedgwick. Councilman Dietz made a motion to accept this resignation with deep regret, and instruct the City Clerk to write a letter expressing our gratitude for the many years of service given to the City, and that each member of the Council sign the letter, being seconded by Councilwoman Webber. Upon roll call vote said motion CARRIED, 5-0. -3- o o AUDIENCE MISCELLANEOUS: Mr. Gross asked the Mayor if he has ever assigned Councilman Riggs a depart- ment to coordinate, and if he hasn't shouldn't he be assigned some responsi- bility in the City rather than being a free lance councilman? Tape 2A Mayor Armstrong stated that as a City official he has the responsibilities as set out by the Charter, and he is sure that Mr. Riggs is familiar with this. Councilman Riggs stated that he has not been assigned one department, however he has been working with every department in the City. Mayor Armstrong explained that each Council member was assigned a department to coordinate, and it may be in order to amend the resolution to appoint Councilman Riggs to a certain department. He added that Councilman Riggs has not been free lancing, because he has been working with the various departments. There was more discussion about this. Mrs. Walker spoke to the Council about there not being any stop signs in the area of 28th and Gauva, and someone is going to get hurt. RESOLUTIONS: None ORDINANCES: None OLD BUSINESS: Rick Fernandez was given the floor. He stated that he has ~eveiwed the bids on the generator. He recommended the acceptance of the low bid from Marine Industrial Equipment Corporation which does meet the specirications. He stated that it is believed that this money was budgeted in tne Water and Sewer account as Capital Expenditure. Tied in with this bid is an engineering order that was submitted to McMahan Construction which is a request for a price on the material necessary to tie the generator, the existing stand by engine and the fuel tank together. McMahan Construction has given us a price of $3,096.00 for this tie in, $2,300 of it is for the electr,ical and the rest is for the fuel tank and slab. .' Rick Fernandez answered some questions about these prices and the specifications. Councilman Dietz stated that we have $60,000 in 'Federal Revenue and it was the intention that this was to come out of that money, not out of Capital Improvements. We don~t want to take this out of Capital Improvements because we have to make some improvements to our Water Plant, since we did not get our E.D.A. grant. Mayor Armstrong stated that he is not sure but he thinks that the Federal Revenue account has been closed out. He stated that he thinks that the City Clerk closed the account. Councilman Dietz stated that she can't close it out without the authorization of the City Council. He stated that the Council did not vote on closing it so how could it have been done? Mayor Armstrong stated that we don't vote on any of it. Every time a bond comes through she reinvests it and the Council does not know anything about it. Councilman Sikes stated that the money is there; it might be invested bu~ it is there. -4- Q o Mayor Armstrong stated that hopefully it is, but he does not think so. There was some discussion about the last report. Councilman Dietz stated that he is confident that the City Council could vote to accept the lowest bid and take the money out of Federal Revenue. The money is there unless someone has written a check without authorization, and there is no way that it can be done. Any money taken out of there has to be authorized by Resolution and approved by the engineers. Rick Fernandez stated that there is a contract form in the bid, if Mr. Gillespie would review this for correction with the City then they can proceed with sending them to our low bidder for signatures. Rick Fernandez answered a question from Councilman Sikes about the kilowatts in the generator. There was some discussion about whether these bids are for a trailer mounted generator. Rick Fernandez stated that what they propose to do is to prepare a change order on the F.H.A. form for that engineering #3, which is McMahan's require- ment that connects with the corrective generator into the system. He would like the Council's direction on this. Mayor Armstrong stated that we need to instruct the attorney to draw up a Resolution accepting the bid and authorization to draw the change order in the amount $6,096.00. Tape 2B Tape 3A Rick Fernandez stated that item number 2 concerns McMahan in the same change order business was in regard to the fence. He explained that the fence was rerouted around the proposed structure. He stated that they requested some prices from McMahan about the fencing and he explained the prices to the Council. He showed the Council a sketch of the site. He added that the last item was direction to the contract to provide a price and time frame for construction of a degritter. The price that McMahan has submitted is $31,000 and a 30 week delivery. He suggested that the Council delay with the degritter since there is going to be a 30 week delivery period, and perhaps it could be put out as another bid item and maybe we will be able to get a better price. Rick Fernandez briefly brought the Council up to date on McMahan's progress with the plant construction. He stated that they have done a find job. (at this time some of the tape was missed) There was discussion "about the garbage and trash situation, and it was decided to put this on the agenda for the next meeting. Mayor Armstrong explained that we have a lot of bad debts to the City Government and the only way we can write them off is by authorization of the City Council. Councilman Dietz made a motion to authorize the City Clerk to write off the bad debts, being seconded by Councilman Sikes. Councilwoman Webber asked if there is no recourse? Councilman Sikes asked why we couldn't turn this list over to the Credit Bureau and they can report against the credit files the person's utility bill, and they will charge 25% to collect it. Upon roll call vote on the motion, said motion CARRIED, 5-0. Councilman Sikes asked that we bring this back up at our next meeting and he will have a percentage. -5- o Q NEW BUSINESS: Mayor Armstrong stated that we have a vacancy on the Board of Adjustments and Appeals. The Deputy City Clerk read a letter from the Board recommending that Mr. Joe Troutner be appointed to fill the vacancy. Councilman Dietz made a motion that we instruct the City Attorney to draw up a Resolution appointing Joe Troutner to the Board of Adjustments and Appeals, being seconded by Councilman Sikes. Upon roll call vote said motion CARRIED, 5-0. Councilman Dietz stated that he spoke with Mr. Briggs last week, and he reminded him that as of July 1,1977 Edgewater has to have a comprehensive plan into the County, or we will come under the law that the County will take over our planning. Councilwoman Webber suggested that the entire Council get together with our Planning Board and find out what they. have done and what their plans are. Councilman Dietz suggested that we might think about hiring a professional to help these people, because we have to do something before July 1st. Councilwoman Webber reminded the Council that Mr. McCallister suggested this at the very beginning. It was decided that the next meeting of the Planning Board will be a joint meeting with the Council, and that they should be notified of this. The meeting will be held January 4th. Mrs. Harmon stated that in regard to the addition to the Library, the dead- line to let the contract was January 9th, and at the December 13th meeting the suggestion was made to see if we could get an extension. She added that she received an amendment that extends the deadline for ninety days to March 14th. MISCELLANEOUS: Councilman Dietz stated that he received a bid from McMahan for the by-pass at the Water Plant in the amount of $1,645.00. He made a motion that we authorize McMahan to put in the by-pass with the two cut off valves to operate it, being seconded by Councilman Sikes stating for the purpose of discussion. Councilman Sikes asked how this will effect the safety of the water as far as drinking purposes? Mayor Armstrong stated that it does not effect the safety of the water other than the hardness of the water. Councilman Dietz explained this further to the Council. He stated that we need this; it is vemy important. He answered various questions from the Council members about this. Upon roll call vote on the motion, said motion CARRIED, 4-1. Mayor Armstrong voting NO. -6- Tape 3B o o Councilwoman Webber stated that she has spoke a number of times about these roadside stands. She stated that she thinks that the City should do something about these stands as quickly as possible, because more and more of them are coming in every day. Mayor Armstrong agreed with Councilwoman Webber, however we do not have a law on the books. Councilman Riggs stated that we can charge them a fee. There was discussion with the Chief about these stands. The Council went back to the discussion about the bonus for Mrs. Sedgwick, and using the Federal Anti-Recession Funes. Councilman Sikes stated that if we wanted to we could designate that money and use 30% of that money for a one time bonus for employees with 20 years of service, 10% from 10 to 15, and 10% from 5 to 10 years and then 5% from 5 on down. However this way a person who has been with the City for one year would get as much as a person who has been with the City for five years. What we need to do is to take every employee that we have and the number of years that they have been with the City and give them so many points based on the number of years completed service. You take the number of points and divide it into the $7,000 and this would determine what they would get. He explained this further to the Council. He added that he feels each per- son should be given at least one point even if they have not been here for a full year, and thereafter a point for completed years. Mayor Armstrong stated that he agrees with that, and he stated that we have employees under the CETA program, and they can not be discriminated against. He added that if everyone benefits it is well and fair. Councilwoman Webber stated that she does not understand why we have to spend all of this money for the people. We need more fire hoses. Mr. Gross stated that the idea is good, however by averaging the points out, the person with twenty years service will only get perhaps $400, which is not fair, you should raise the percentage as you go up to more years. Mayor Armstrong suggested that Mr. Gillespie set us up a program on the point system. Councilwoman Webber questioned whether we could use this money somewhere else other than for the employees. Mrs. Walker spoke to the Council that a lot of the employees have worked for several years and not received raises, and some of them are still eligible for welfare. Mayor Armstrong stated that this is true, and he is concerned about doing it fairly for all of the employees. Attorney Gillespie stated that it could be worked out that the employees with more years of service could get points worth more than the other employees. He added that he would like to have some help in a method of doing this. Councilman Sikes asked why we don't get our attorney to check into a bonus system and report back to us at our January meeting, and the fact that we are authorizing him to check into it we could make it effective as a part of this year's salary. Councilman Dietz suggested another option for using this money. We could say that anyone with at least 15 years of service who obtains the age of 65 and retires that the City of Edgewater will pick the difference in their insurance for the balance of their life. -7- o o Attorney Gillespie stated that it would be a good idea for the City to adopt a system for this. Councilman Dietz stated that he did check with the insurance company about this and it is legal to do this. We can think about this. Mayor Armstrong stated that he has one thing to bring up. The Police Department is under a contract with the P.B.A., which gives the Police Department a holiday that the other employees do not have. We need to make an amendment to our Ordinance, authorizing payment to all employees for a holiday on their birthday. It was agreed that this should be understood by each Department Head and we have to look over this as well as our sick leave Ordinance. Councilwoman Webber stated that she has a proposal from Mr. Karditzas for the work on the Civil Defense room, which is less if the men did the work themselves. Councilman Dietz suggested that Councilwoman Webber and the Mayor get together with Mr. Christy and look over the plans, and if it is satisfactory they can spend the money. Mayor Armstrong stated that he will talk to Mr. Christy, and Mrs. Webber can talk to Mr. Christy, and they will bring the data to the next meeting and discuss it with the Council. ADJOURNMENT: Councilman Sikes made a motion to adjourn, being seconded by Councilwoman Webber. Said motion CARRIED. MINUTES TAKEN BY: Elizabeth J. Crouser Debbie Sigler Cou l~an f ~I-W' T \.?G ~~ Co ~ l) {/ . ~. p ~~ ity Clerk tL Approved thi s /0 day of Jfij' 1977. ~ ~~;?-af~~ · T Ma or -8- , . GENERAL FUND: Florida Power & Light Larry Gibson Vicki Jarrell Linda D. Caudill Paul Feldman Dwight's Ropp.s Automotive Diversified Electronics Volusia County Gray I s Drugs WATER AND WASTEWATER: Fla. Water & Polut.Assn. Scientific Products Curtin Matheson Scientific o BILLS AND ACCOUNTS December 27, 1976 Com. Ctr. Street Witness Witness Witness Com. Ctr., City Hall Street P.O. Election Expense P.O. Wastewater Wastewater Water o 22.53 22.78 5.00 5.00 5.00 8.85 22.50 105.00 484.00 13.86 694.52 10.00 53.08 15.03 78.11