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04-22-1983 - Special f ~ . u ~ " CITY OF EDGEWATER CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING APRIL 22, 1983 MINUTES Mayor Richard McKillop called the Special Meeting of Council to order at 4:00 P.M. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor Richard McKillop Councilman David Ledbetter Councilwoman Gigi Bennington Councilman Neil Asting Councilman Jack Spencer Present Present Present Present Present City Attorney Jose' Alvarez City Clerk Nancy B1azi Police Chief Earl Baugh Present Present Present The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Councilman Asting's statement made on April 20, 1983, regarding the Mayor's meeting with Briley, Wild. Councilman Asting stated that nowhere in the City Charter is the Mayor authorized to act or speak for the City Council unless the Council authorizes him to do so. He said on the afternoon of March 25th, 1983, the Mayor called Briley, Wild in regard to a letter from Scott Spooner concerning Pelican Cove West. The Mayor was not satisfied with this letter and so informed Briley, Wild. Briley, Wild decided to discuss this letter and then call the Mayor back. On March 26th, Briley, Wild discussed the letter and then called the Mayor and the Mayor stated that since they had invited him to see their office and he had a file on Pelican Cove West, it would be easier to discuss the matter face to face. The Mayor picked up Terry Wadsworth and went to Briley, Wild's office. A draft of the letter dated March 28th was prepared with input from the Mayor and Wadsworth at that time. The conclusions in the Briley, Wild letter of March 28th include those of the Mayor and Mr. Asting believed the matter should have been a concern of Council and not the private concern of the Mayor. If there was something wrong with the Briley, Wild letter of March 25th, the Mayor should have brought it before Council, yet under the guise of visiting the Briley, Wild office he inserted his personal views into the meeting that was held on March 26th, and the letter dated March 28th. At the April 18th meeting of Council when publicly asked if he attended a meeting at Briley, Wild on March 26th and for a report on that meeting, the Mayor evaded the question by answering "I took the tour of the Briley, Wild offices". When again asked if any City business was conducted, he answered "possibly". In summing up, Councilman Asting said he found a copy of the Briley, Wild letter of March 25th was given to all Council members, that the Mayor acting on his own and without Council approval, did cause the Briley, Wild letter of March 28th to be prepared, reflecting his views and affecting previous conclusions of our City Engineers, that the Mayor showed no inclination to advise Council of this meeting or to report on matters discussed yet obviously it was a subject of interest to the Council and the people of this City, that when queried by Mr. Walter Gross, a citizen, at an open public meeting, regarding his trip to Briley, Wild and what was discussed he answered evasively. The public records reflect this. Councilman Asting said he believes that when a citizen asks a question of a public official at a public meeting, that person is entitled to a truthful and straightforward answer. Councilwoman Bennington said she did not feel it was within the bounds as Mayor to call a Department Head on a day off to "tour" Bril ey, Wi 1 d. Terry Wadsworth charged overtime and comp time on this, and there was no Council approval to do this. Mayor McKillop said at the April 18th meeting of Council, he wanted the record to show that Mr. Gross did not ask just one question but a series of questions of the Mayor. He reviewed the questions asked by Mr. Gross. The first was in regard to the railroad track and the Mayor said he, Nancy Blazi, and Earl Copeland met at Village Green to research citizen inquiries and complaints from James Willis of Palmetto Street, Chad Skipper of Old County Road, and Dana Armstrong of Cheeta Drive, concerning flooding and water problems in the area. After the meeting at the site, Nancy asked to be excused due to the fact that she was not dressed properly for the trek and asked him and Earl to report back to her when they were through. At the Council meeting of March 21, 1983, Earl Copeland was present to brief the Council on the size and locations of culverts in these areas and there was reference to a situation on railroad property where there was a blockage that caused the water flow to stop. Nancy sent a letter on March 23rd to the FEC Railway, at Council direction, and on April 14th, on drainage study, the 1966 and 1969 study will be researched and they are in City Hall. There was a request from him to instruct Mosquito Control to look at some of this because they feel some of the building has an impact on Gabordy Canal. This was an issue dealt with by entire Council. . . u o Mayor McKillop continued, on cars, regarding going with the Police Chief to look for unlicensed vehicles, that on February 7th, 1983, Council voted on allowing Carmen Montesano to bring his tow truck to Wildwood and Florida Shores on a 4 to 1 vote. As he had voted no, Mr. Montesano queried him on this and on Saturday, February 12th, 1983, he stopped by to purchase gas at his station and he said there were a lot of illegal trucks and buses in Florida Shores and asked if held accompany him and he would point them out to him. He went with Mr. Montesano and on that same day, since it was a citizen's complaint, he contacted the Chief on Saturday afternoon and reviewed the list with him and they rode through the area. The Chief said Barnhart was busy in other areas but helll tell him about these. On Monday, February 14,1983, Officer Barnhart proceeded to enforce ordinance 712.00/C. On February 23, 1983, Ben Vasquez came forward and complained about Police Department tactics and Carmen Montesano spoke on the illegal vehicles. Regarding home licenses, the motion was passed by the entire Council vote of 3 to 2 on April 4, 1983, and he concurred with the action. Regarding the Board of Adjustments, the City Attorney spoke on April 4, 1983, regarding the subject of the appellate step for the Board of Adjustments on special exception or variance and ordinance 82-0-3 for duties and powers of the City boards. Then there was review of the 1975 and 1977 ordinances. Regarding the Planning Board approving plans without coming back to Council, a motion was made on this subject by a Councilman but it did not receive a second. On the emergency meeting for culverts, Sec. 2-22 of the Charter for Special Meetings states that it can be called when public business may require it. Council first made the decision that this was an emergency by a 5-0 vote,and then dealt with the problem. The City Clerk was aware of this problem and she had Mr. Copeland in the field. Mayor McKillop continued, regarding the City Manager applications, Council took the action they deemed appropriate~ Regarding any changes in the duties or responsibilities of the Mayor, Councilman Asting read from part of the Code and it can be found in Section 15 of the Charter and Section 2.24 and 2.27 of the Code. Mayor McKillop said on March 10, 1983, Mr. Gross asked about the status of law books that cost the City $2,500. He asked if-they'd been turned over to the present City Attorney since they had been in the possession of our two former City Attorneys. He asked the Mayor to research this and have an answer at next meeting. Mayor McKillop turned the request over to Nancy Blazi and on March 21st she answered Mr. Gross. He said the point was that everyone turned to the-Mayor when they had questions. Mayor McKillop said the Councilman should have provided a copy of the statement earlier so it could have been reviewed. Mayor McKillop spoke on the March 15th letter from Luis Geil requesting 90% of the money on deposit as a performance bond for Pelican Cove West. He said Nancy notified him she had referred this to the Engineers since they had to give final approval. This letter was distributed to entire Council. The two letters of March 25th from Ward Towers and Scott Spooner had been distributed on March 30th, in a complete package from Nancy Blazi, as well as the March 28th letter from Bill Cross, and a cover sheet relative to the ~ubdivision ordinance. Mayor McKillop said if Mr. - Asting had read the entire package issued on March 30,1983, prepared by Nancy Blazi, held have seen the statement that the City would have the option of approving or not approving a final plan on page 2, last paragraph, of Bill Cross's March 28th letter. Mayor McKillop said in answer to Mr. Astingls statement about less than truthful answers, he had-stated to Mr. Gross that he possibly had been at that meeting. Mayor McKillop said Mr. Gross asked nine questions in his extended three-minute period and many contained two or more possible answers. He said regarding Pelican Cove West and pending recreation ordinances and recreation impact fees, he had reason to believe it was a subject under litigation; He said he'd been concerned that Pelican Cove West comply with all subdivision rules and regulations and he's discussed this with Attorney Alvarez many times. - He said held told the City Attorney about matters not covered in the first letter and he recollects that his advice was to inform them of your concern and let the Council take it from there. He feels he followed that advice. He said he did not feel he overstepped his authority and did not direct that anything be put in their letter. He felt the visit was of help to the Engineers and the reason he had Mr. Wadsworth accompany him was it has been his job to go on final inspections, to accompany the engineers and he had a working knowledge of the people and situation involved. -2- Special Council Meeting Minutes Apri 1 22, 1983 . . o o Councilwoman Bennington stated they got the packages from the City Engineers but the Mayor hadn't told them that held been to Briley, Wild with Terry Wadsworth. She said the Mayor took a City employee to discuss a City project that he thought was under liti- gation. Mayor McKillop asked if anyone else ever took a City employee for any purpose and Councilman Ledbetter said he accompanied Mike Avery to the Port Authority to obtain a grant for $33,000. Walter Gross asked to speak to Council and there was a roll call as to whether they wanted to open it up to public comment. Councilman Ledbetter, Councilwoman Bennington, and Councilman Asting voted to open the meeting. Councilman Spencer and Mayor McKillop voted NO. Walter Gross, 909 Lake Avenue, stated when he talked at the last meeting he gave facts and asked a pertinent question as to whether the Mayor attended a meeting at Briley, Wild's office and the Mayor had replied he was.on a tour there. He said Terry Wadsworth had been there many times before so he wasn't on a tour. He had also asked if the Mayor had discussed City business and the Mayor had replied "possibly". He said the reason he asked the questions was he received a call about the Mayor being at a meeting. He asked the City Attorney the seriousness of what took place on that Saturday.and the follow-up statements. The City Attorney did not wish to reply at this time. Councilman Asting asked for answers to Mr. Gross's questions which had been answered less than candidly, and Councilwoman Bennington asked how a tour lasted five hours. She asked why the City Administrator was not advised of this and the Mayor replied that the City Administrator was not at work on Friday, Monday, or Tuesday and she prepared a full report on the subject on her return on Wednesday. Councilwoman Bennington referred to when the Mayor met with Auditors and they weren't aware of it until a month later when Council met with them and the Mayor had the report for a month. The City Clerk said it's standard procedure for the auditors to come in with a draft for the Finance Director and usually the Mayor looks at it, it's been done in the past and the reason it was held up so long was the question to our present City Attorney on any litigation. Councilwoman Bennington felt Council should have been advised that held met with the auditors. Councilman Asting read excerpts from an April 20th letter from Bill Cross addressed to him which stated Mayor McKillop had left word for them to call him at his home or work. He felt the Mayor acted on his own and there is no doubt that Mayor McKillop has over- stepped his bounds and has acted without the authority to do so. Councilman Ledbetter said the normal procedure when necessary to consult with the Consulting Engineers is for the Council as a body to discuss it with them. and he didn't know Briley, Wild was open on a Saturday. Councilman Spencer said he thinks the Mayor has overstepped his bounds and requests that the Mayor govern himself in the future, as he has the same authority as any other Councilor, with few exceptions, and they would be able to get along. He said he was disappointed that this kind of hassle is going on. Councilwoman Bennington said the Mayor has been harrassing City employees to the point that several are on the verge of quitting, and she thinks there's public mistrust here and he's not being fair to those that put him in office or to Council and she makes a motion of no confidence in our Mayor. Councilman Asting seconded the motion. Council- man Ledbetter said our Charter and ordinances have not been adhered to by Council and asked the City Attorney's advice. City Attorney Alvarez asked if that question was on the assumption that there is a violation here and Councilman Ledbetter said yes. The City Attorney said you can enforce ordinances but if he's referring to State Statutes or the Constitution, that's a different situation. Councilman Ledbetter said held consult with the City Attorney before he pursues this further. Councilman Spencer said he finds it difficult to vote on this because he's already stated he feels the Mayor has overstepped his bounds but he hopes he will continue and will work well with this Council in the future in a manner they can all appreciate. -3- Special Council Meeting Minutes April 22, 1983 . ~ v o Mayor McKillop said he feels the motion of no confidence should go on record but that effective 4:45 today, he terminates as Mayor of the City of Edgewater and turns the gavel over to the Vice-Mayor and will stand on record that everything he's done to date was legal and in the confines of the City and wishes the City well and hopes it's a smooth transition. He said he started with high ideals for the City and it was evident from the time that Councilwoman Bennington accused him of attacking her and her husband that he wouldn't have a minute's rest as the facts were not allowed to dominate. His resignation is effective at that point. and he'll turn the gavel over to the Vice-Mayor after the roll call, per the Charter. Roll call on the motion was 2-3. Councilman Ledbetter, Councilman Spencer and Mayor McKillop voted NO on the no-confidence motion. Councilman Asting moved to accept the Mayor's termination.at 4:45 PM this afternoon. Councilwoman Bennington seconded the motion. Mayor McKillop said the gavel would pass to the Vice-Mayor and there would be an election for the vacant zone 1 position within 40 days. Councilman Ledbetter said he would accept it for 45 days, not to exceed 60 days, but to revert back to zone 1 councilman and declare the mayorship open per the Charter. Councilman Ledbetter said he didn1t run for Mayor and he didn't want it but he'll accept it for the 45 days, not to exceed 60, but will revert back to the Zone 1 Council seat. then. Motion to accept the resignation CARRIED 4-1. Councilman Spencer voted NO. Councilman Ledbetter moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilman Asting seconded the motion. Meeting was adjourned. Minutes submitted by: Lura Sue Koser ~~,0tJ2~~ MAY0R ~-- ~?--> U COUNCILMAN - ZONE ONE z.~~.:~ - ZONE TWq~ ~ ~~i( COUNCILMAN - ZON T EE ~ - "H~ COUNC I N - ZON FOUR ~ {/ 71~ / ~ ATTEST: _CI~Kj4 . if' :7r APPROVED TH I $':' ~ DA Y OF .~_'_1983. (7' h\1 ( ./01 . ~= 'i-- )aJ!~) (/ ~d:.~(1 _ MM~ - -4- Special Council Meeting Minutes Apri 1 22, 1983