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08-04-1976 - Recessed/Regular J~/g Q ~ CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EDGEWATER, FLORIDA RECESSED MEETING August 4, 1976 Mayor Armstrong called the recessed meeting of the City Council of the City of Edgewater to order August 4, 1976 at 6:30 P.M. Mayor Dana T. Armstrong Councilwoman Ryta F. Webber Councilman William H. Cairnie Councilman Walter B. Sikes Councilman Calvin R. Dietz City Attorney Judson Woods City Clerk Sue Blackwell Police Chief Earl Baugh Present Present Present Present Present Excused Present Present ~.~..~\.~ .~ .~lr . ~ ROLL CALL: Mayor Armstrong explained that this meeting is for the purpose of going into our Revenue, estimated annual income and the beginning of the allot- ment for our various departments for our annual budget. He explained that this ~/as to be the sole purpose of this meeting, however there may be matters of an emergency nature which have developed, and it is the right of the Council to bring up other business that might be of interest to the Council. At this time there was discussion about the air conditioner in the Community Center which is not working, and needs repair, however it will cost approxi- mately $300 to fix. It was agreed that it has to be fixed. Mayor Armstrong explained to the Council that Mr. Davis, who is a CETA employee has had to leave to see his son who is in the hospital. If the boy is in serious condition Mr. Davis plans to stay with him. The situation with our program is that any employee which we lose now we can not replace. He explained that he had an applicant who is a good worker, however if we hire him he will have to go on our regular employ. Councilman Sikes suggested that the Mayor submit a priority paving list so that if anything comes up we will have something which will be a matter of record. Councilman Dietz stated that it was brought to his attention that Mr. Ohrwa11 was hired by Ordinance so we have to draw up an Ordinance releasing him. He made a motion that the City Clerk inform the attorney to draw up an Ordinance for next Monday night's meeting relieving Mr. Ohrwal1 of his duties as of July 16, 1976, being seconded by Councilwoman Webber. Upon roll call vote said motion CARRIED. 4-1 Councilman Cairnie voting NO. The Council began looking at the budget. There was discussion on the Homestead exemption. In regard to the fines and forfeitures it was explained that we will be lucky if the County Court system does not cost us money, therefore we can not anticipate revenue for this. o o There was discussion about the abolishment of the City courts, and how the Cities are going to be affected as far as the revenue is concerned. The Chief explained how the system is going to work, and stated that until we have a better idea of this we can not anticipate receiving any revenue. The City Clerk explained that there is a correction to be made in the Cigarette tax figure. There was discussion about the Building Permits. The City Clerk explained that she got these figures from the Building Official. At this time there was discussion about the letter of advertisement that has been sent out by Magnuson Corporation in regard to the property in Florida Shores. The City Clerk suggested that the Business Licenses should be looked into because some of the fees are still too low and some were high when they came into effect. The City Clerk explained that the Miscellaneous Income was dropped this year because before we had been including Homestead in it. The Council discussed the millage as it was certified to us. The City Clerk read to the Council from what she received from the tax office. Tape 2-A Councilman Dietz asked the City Clerk to get ahold of someone and find out if we have to have a Public Hearing on a certified millage from the tax assessor. Tape 2-B On Franchise Rebate, the City Clerk stated that we could probably raise this figure by $5,000 and get away with it. Mayor Armstrong stated that he would raise it $10,000, because the Miscellaneous Income is a low figure. He added that he meant that the Miscellaneous Income figure should be $16,000, and leave the Franchise Rebate as it is. There was discussion about the Community Center rent, the City Clerk stated that the fee is not high enough. More and more people are using the large hall for different activities. Councilman Sikes stated that we were making $840 a year based on the old rates, which should go up with the new rates. Mayor Armstrong stated that private functions should be paying more. Councilman Cairnie stated that when the Board of Governors start meeting again in the fall we can bring this up again. Mayor Armstrong suggested that we raise the figure under Community Center $1800 more. Councilman Dietz stated that he agrees that we should have another $1800 however we should not put it under Community Center because that will be a false figure, perhaps we could put it under Miscellaneous. Mayor Armstrong explained that what he is referring to is to cover up this figure which shows a building here that is worth $50,000 and the anticipated income shows $700. -2- ~ o u Councilman Dietz stated that this building is not suppose to make a profit, it is for the use of the citizens. There was much discussion about putting true figures in, and not putting too much in. The City Clerk explained to the Council how she got the figure for the Garbage and Trash. She stated that the Council is going to have to make up their minds about what they are going to do with the Garbage pick up. If we do keep it, we are going to have to get hard nosed with some of the people. If you charge the offenders extra you will make more money. Councilman Dietz stated that we have to be a little sympathetic with the people who are paying the taxes. Mayor Armstrong explained that this service was never intended to be sub- sidized by taxes, you pay monthly for the service. He added that there should be a division between garbage and trash, because there are some people who never have trash, and those people are subsidizing those people who are getting the trash pick up. Councilman Dietz still did not agree with the figure, based on the fact that we are growing, not receeding, so how can we come up with a lesser figure? There was discussion about using a system for trash pick up where people would be given a permit, and they would be charged for the pick up. Councilman Dietz stated that he feels that the $66,000 figure should be $70,000. Mayor Armstrong agreed with this, the next item is Office Rent. Mayor Armstrong explained that Thomas Moving and Storage are charging ll~ a square foot for rent. We have 1600 square feet in City Hall that is now utilized by the Water and Sewer Department, and he feels that $150 a month wouldn't be too much to ask for a rental. Everyone agreed with this. The Office Rent figure will go from $1200 to $1800 a year. The City Clerk stated that the Surplus Money figure is just a guess, and the State Revenue Sharing is a figure which came from the State. There was quite a bit of discussion about the Federal Revenue Sharing and the way it has been in the past. Mayor Armstrong explained the status of the CETA program and the funds. He explained that if we over expend the money they have allotted us by January 31st we will have to take it out of the General Fund, however if we under expend, that we will lose. The grand total comes to $573,763. Councilman Dietz stated that every year we come up with surplus funds, why don't we go back and anticipate additional revenue in miscellaneous for another $15,000? He stated that the way it is now we only have $6,998 and we have a lot of employees here who are going to want some raises, and this is not going to go around. Mayor Armstrong stated that we are going to have to hold the line somewhere on that, when are we going to benefit the people of Edgewater and not always benefit the employees? -3- ~ Q u Councilman Dietz stated that we will not even be able to replace the CETA employees that we are going to lose for $7,000. Councilman Sikes asked if the meaning of this is that in order to allow an increase to take care of the emRloyees' salaries we have to show more income so that the budget will balance? Whether we use all of this income or not? Mayor Armstrong stated that this is true but we have to show it from some source that we can rely on. Councilman Dietz stated that based on the fact that for the past ten years we have had a surplus of at least $26,000 and sometimes as high as $75,000. This year we are going to have more income than we anticipate, so instead of coming up with a surplus of $40,000 which we anticipate, let's take another $15,000.. . Mayor Armstrong stated that he does not feel that we are going to have that kind of surplus. There are going to be additional cost~to the City, and he thinks that we will be doing wonderful if we end up with $10,000 surplus. Councilman Sikes stated that he would like to know where this surplus money comes from before we anticipate it. The City Clerk explained that a lot of the surplus comes from things like the paving, which has not been done and the money is still there. There was discussion about the millage having to change if we do this. Councilman Dietz stated that the City is facing something that they have never had to face before, and that is the negotiations right now we are going through. He stated that we do not know what they are going to come up with, but if they get a settlement and it is beneficial to them than every other employee in the City is going to expect it, and if we don't than we will be negotiating with them. If we get caught with a 5% increase on our present salaries, that will be $15,000 and we have only come up with $7,000 here. Councilman Cairnie stated that this will all come up when we get to the budget, and then we can come back to this. Councilman Cairnie made a motion to adjourn, being seconded by Councilman Sikes. Upon roll call vote said motion CARRIED. ;J~~ City Clerk Approved this ~(j~day of August, 1976. {[~~r~~ Ma or -4- \