Council Minutes : December 18, 1995 MINUTES COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF FORT MYERS BEACH REGULAR MEETING - DECEMBER 18, 1995 The regular meeting of the Town Council of Ft. Myers Beach was called to order at 6:30 p.m. at the Beach United Methodist Church. Councilmembers present were: Mayor Anita Cereceda, Vice Mayor Ted FitzSimons, Councilmembers Rusty Isler, Ray Murphy and Garr Reynolds. Also present was Acting Town Manager William Mills. Councilmember Ray Murphy led the Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance. Item #3: Presentation of Resolution of Congratulations, Support and Cooperation to the new Fort Myers Beach Town Council by the Greater Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce Linda Beasley, Chairman of the Board for the Greater Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce presented a Resolution extending congratulations and offering assistance to the newly created Town Council of Fort Myers Beach. Several additional congratulatory letters and offers of assistance were read into the record by members of the Town Council. Item #4. Consideration of the Selection of an Interim Town Attorney Mayor Cereceda suggested the following procedure be used for the interviewing process: Each candidate will give a three minute presentation on "Why they would like the position of Interim City Attorney" followed by a five minute question and answer period with Town Council members. At the conclusion of the interviews, Council will vote by written ballot for three candidates each. A second vote by members will then determine who will receive the position. There was Council consensus to accept the proposed interview procedure. The following candidates for the position of Interim Town Attorney were present: Mr. Charles Bigelow, Fort Myers; Mr. Robert Bone, Fort Myers; Mr. Michael Ciccerone of Goldberg, Goldstein & Buckley, P.A.; Ms. Ellen Mills Gibbs, Ft. Lauderdale; Ms. Beverly Grady of Peper, Martin, Jensen, Maichel & Hetlage, P.A.; Mr. David LaCroix, Tallahassee; Mr. Terrance Lenick of Knudson, DeBoest, Edwards & Roberts, P.A.; Mr. Richard Roosa of Aloia, Dudley, Roosa, Sutton, McIver & Burandt. At the conclusion of the interview session, the first written vote was taken. Acting Town Manager Mills read the votes into the record: Richard Roosa received 5 votes; Ellen Gibbs received 4 votes; Robert Bone and David LaCroix each received 2 votes; and Charles Bigelow and Terrance Lenick each received 1 vote. There was a brief discussion period among Council members before proceeding with the second written vote. Acting Town Manager Mills then read the votes into the record as follows: Richard Roosa received 3 votes; Ellen Gibbs received one vote and Robert Bone received one vote. Councilmember Isler made a motion to contract the services of Attorney Richard Roosa as the Town of Fort Myers Beach Interim Town Attorney as per his proposal. The motion was seconded by Vice Mayor FitzSimons and unanimously approved by Town Council. Mayor Cereceda declared a ten minute recess. Meeting reconvened at 8:10 P.M. Item #5. Consideration of the Selection of a Professional Executive Search Consulting Service for the Solicitation of Qualified Applicants for the Position of Full-Time Town Manager Acting Town Manager Mills defined the search and selection process to Council and noted the firms responding to his solicitation for service. Mr. Peter Knowles of the Range Riders, a subsidiary of the International City Managers Association, offered services at no cost other than legal advertising and travel arrangement expenses for candidate interviews. Acting Town Manager Mills recommended Council accept the offer of the Range Riders. Vice Mayor FitzSimons made a motion directing Acting Town Manager Mills to accept the offer of the Range Riders and contact Mr. Knowles as soon as possible. Councilmember Murphy seconded. Following discussion, the motion was unanimously approved. Item #6. Discussion and Consideration of Initial Town Revenue Sources Acting Town Manager Mills reported that he met with City of Sanibel Finance Director Renee Lynch to discuss obtaining a Tax Anticipation Note of $500,000 as a revenue source for the Town's first year of operation. Mills referenced Ms. Lynch's letter to Council with the recommendation that Town Council avoid accepting loans from individual citizens as revenue. After contacting several local banks, Ms. Lynch advised accepting the issuance of a Tax Anticipation Note line of credit with First Union Bank who quoted a fixed interest rate of 4.07 percent. Ms. Lynch suggests Council confer with the new Interim Town Attorney regarding any legalities. Mayor Cereceda added that she recently met with Ms. Lynch and supports her suggestions. Mr. Harold Huber was present on behalf of Mr. Jansen who was unable to attend tonight's meeting, but who recently offered a loan to the Town. Mr. Huber reiterated Mr. Jansen's loan offer to Council. Councilmember Murphy thanked Mr. Jansen for his generosity and concern for the newly created town government. Vice Mayor FitzSimons made a motion directing Interim Town Manager Mills to proceed with the recommendations made by Ms. Lynch. Councilmember Reynolds seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Final decision on securing this loan will be acted upon sometime in January. Item #7. Status Report on Town Hall Office Space Rental and Renovation Acting Town Manager Mills addressed several items for Council consideration as follows: Update on the lease agreement for Town Hall office space in the NationsBank building; Defined the bidding process for the design and construction of a handicap ramp and requested Council waive the requirement for competitive negotiations; Proposed rental of a post office box for Town mail in order to assure receipt of necessary state and federal identification numbers and other forthcoming documents. Councilmember Murphy made a motion for Council to direct Acting Town Manager Mills to obtain a post office box, solicit the necessary engineering and architectural design services and obtain quotations from contractors for the construction of a handicap access ramp at the NationsBank location, and to request an emergency resolution waiving the competitive bidding process to expedite construction. Motion was seconded by Vice Mayor FitzSimons. Councilmember Reynolds objected to the incorporation of all three items into one motion. According to legal counsel, this procedure is acceptable. Mayor Cereceda requested that local contractors be contacted and given the opportunity to submit price quotations on the handicap access project. Being no further discussion on the matter, the vote was called and the motion passed unanimously. Item #8. Status Report on Town Insurance Coverage Acting Town Manager Mills advised that he received a verbal endorsement from Mr. Kurt Heyman regarding the Town's insurance, but has not received any written documents to date. Mills reported on the Florida League of Cities insurance plan for the Town which includes Workman's Compensation coverage, property insurance coverage and $3 million Liability coverage. A binder is included, effective through March 9, 1996. Mills expects a detailed agreement outlining all coverage sometime after the first of year for Council consideration. This agreement would continue coverage until September 30, 1996. Health insurance benefits were also discussed with Mr. Ben Few, Risk Manager for the Florida League of Cities. Mr. Few will research health benefits for the Town and prepare a report for Council consideration sometime in January at no cost. Councilmember Murphy indicated that the Equal Rights Amendment section of the policy is a major concern for the Town and would like further clarification on the subject. Mr. Mills to research this subject and report back to Council. The need for Worker's Compensation coverage for volunteer workers was questioned. Attorney Roosa addressed these concerns and assured Council that although Workman's Compensation is an added expense, it is for the benefit of the employer. Continuing on, Mills presented a draft resolution which he prepared with the help of Sanibel City Attorney Robert Pritt and the Lee County Attorney's Office. The Resolution recognizes the time element involved in dealing with a number of issues that will become the Town's responsibility as of January 1, 1996, i.e. road maintenance and development permits, code enforcement, land use plan issues, etc. Upon approval, Commissioner Manning will present to the Lee County Commission for consideration. This resolution delegates the maintenance of town roads to Lee County, and delegates all powers to the Lee County Department of Community Development and the Lee County Hearing Examiner to continue service until March 31, 1996, or until another interlocal agreement can be passed at a later date. The only exception to this resolution would be that Town Council would have final ruling on any zoning issues, which are infrequent. Both Acting Town Manager Mills and Attorney Roosa recommend Town Council approval. Attorney Roosa suggested Council attend the next County Commission meeting for presentation of the resolution. Councilmember Reynolds moved to accept Resolution #95-01 as presented which allows Lee County to continue as facilitator. Councilmember Isler seconded the motion. Following discussion, Councilmember Reynolds moved to amend Resolution #95-01 deleting provision at the end of Section B on Page 2 and substituting language to require Town Council approval of all Hearing Officer actions. Vice Mayor FitzSimons seconded the amendment. After further discussion, Mayor Cereceda, Vice Mayor FitzSimons and Councilmember Reynolds voted in favor of the amendment. Councilmembers Murphy and Isler dissented. Mayor Cereceda then called for a vote to be taken on the original motion made by Councilman Reynolds to pass Resolution #95-01 as amended. Motion passed with Cereceda, FitzSimons, Murphy and Reynolds voting in favor. Councilmember Isler dissented. Attorney Roosa recommended posting the Agenda and copies of any pertinent Council information at the Library for public review. Mills noted that he spoke with Attorney Scott Hamilton who represents the Lee County Sheriff's Department. Mills referenced Sheriff McDougall's letter offering the Department's cooperation to the new Town of Fort Myers Beach. Mills recommended drafting an emergency resolution as soon as possible to allow the Sheriff's Department to continue enforcing ordinances which will become null and void within city limits on December 31, 1995. Attorney Roosa agreed to draw up a resolution granting the Lee County Commission authority to continue enforcing ordinances on a temporary basis. Attorney Roosa will obtain copies of all ordinances for Council review at next scheduled meeting. Item #11. Discussion Regarding Date, Time, Location and Agenda for next Town Council Meeting was taken out of order. Next Town Council meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, December 28, 1995, 6:30 P.M. at the Beach United Methodist Church pending availability of location site. Mills listed several items for discussion at next meeting. Item 9. Council Members'Items and Reports Councilmember Isler read into the record a letter prepared under his signature and forwarded to the Lee County Commissioners regarding the proposed pool for Fort Myers Beach Recreation Center. Councilmember Isler expressed concern over the possibility of losing this funding. He has also prepared a letter for the Mayor's signature to the County Commission with a request to hold the decision regarding dispersement of funds for 30 days. Councilmember Isler moved to endorse letter. Councilmember Murphy seconded. Pool Committee Member Ellie Bunting was present and addressed Council regarding the County Commission's offer for a 30 day extension to hold funds intact. Following discussion, Council amended letter to read allow additional time for Council to take action on this issue. Councilmember Isler suggested inviting City of Sanibel Parks & Recreation Director Richard Noon to address Town Council regarding pool operations and budgets. Mayor Cereceda amended original motion to include 'revised letter'. Motion passed unanimously. Councilmember Reynolds announced that the drawings for upcoming Beach Renourishment Project will be on display at NationsBank Office. Councilmember Reynolds also discussed state revenue funds that the new Town will be receiving in the near future, and moved to direct Acting Town Manager Mills take the necessary steps to contact State Revenue and set up a bank account for the Town. Vice Mayor FitzSimons seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Councilmember Reynolds reported that a National Conference on Beach Preservation will be held in January in St. Petersburg and volunteered to attend if Council feels it would be beneficial to the Town. Item #11. Public Comment and Inquiries Jack Heyman spoke on behalf of the Fire Marshall noting that the Fire District would like to offer input when Council considers the Lee County fireworks ordinance. The District believes that it is extremely important to public safety to include the District in the issuance of building permits. In another matter, Mr. Heyman questioned whatever happened to the dunking tank donation money, and listed a number of fees that the City is entitled to collect. Al Van Horn, Traffic Committee Member/ Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce, summarized responsibilities of committee and listed a number of accomplished projects. He offered assistance to Town Council in matters relating to Island's transportation/road projects/crosswalks, etc. Bill Whittaker expressed the importance of beach renourishment and spoke in favor of Mr. Reynolds attending the Beach Renourishment Conference. Mr. Huber expressed his concerns regarding bypassing the bidding process for the handicap access ramp. Mr. Huber feels the bank would want Town Council to go out for bid and is concerned that this will be unacceptable. Chris Johnson commented that there are strict guidelines regarding construction which will still have to be followed by contractor. Item 12. Adjournment. Being no further business on the Agenda, the meeting adjourned at 10:15 P.M. Respectfully submitted, William A. Mills Acting Town Manager