1974-12-10 Regular Uvon r, otion the Council. adjourned to meet December 10, 197h at 7:00 P.M.
PRES~D~-CITY ~6U~'~L
CIT~,? CLERi[
Dece~er lO, 1971;
The Ci!',y Council of the City of Okeechobee, lormc~, met in a regular adjourned session
a±~ ,,he Cit? Hal! on the above date at 7:00 P.~'~. with the following present: ~.~yor Audley Du~am,
~esi~ent [~,ussel~. V. Domer, Counci!~en: ~. H. Hunt~ E~-~ard W. Doug!as~ Donald L. Burk and Clif
C. Betts, Jr. Also present ~ere: City Cler~, San~-~ra ~enne~t, Attorney DaSd ~.~. Conlon, Director
of ~b~c :Jorks, L. ~. Fortner, Jr., C~ef of Police, De~it~'~ Staats an5 Fire ~ef Olen .... '
Bills in the a~ount o~ $19~>19.[~.~, ~8~k[~..07, ~16~162.50,+39~111.08', $21 ,8k9.20~
~;]57~67~.39 anti ~).2~109.00 were approved anC ordered paid ~hen funds are available.
l~lr. Fcster V. Wright, Representative of ~o~r]a Co~ined Insurance A~ency, Inc. ?~as
reco~zed. I~. Wright appeared in regar~ to increasing rates of the Citys hospitilization plan
from $25.00 per ~'ooi~] to ~0.00 and increasing !'.'lajor Medical from $10,000.00 to 4~7~,000.00.
~'~. '~'fri~fjht stated 'that Fort Pierce, !le;~orial Ho~ital is now $6[~.00 for se~-private room,
~.iartin l~iemorial Hospital is $~3.00 an60keechobee General Ho~ital is $~0.00. He further stated
that the Cit~rx p;~:'esent plan is far below the average hospital cost and needs to be ~m~aded to
meet the increasing cost. .~ter ~uch discussion, Councilr~an Burk ~noved to increase rates,
secon~e,.~ b~z Coumci!man Bet-ts an.~ car~ed.
Chief Staats reporte~ receivin;~ a resignation from Joe Phelps November 22, 197~ and
reco~nmen(]e~ -the Council accep~ ~ohe resi,~ation. Councilman Betts moved to accept Phelps
r.~sl~a,~ion upon, ~ief Staats reco~r~endations, seconded bz~ Council~aan Burk and carriec~.
Chief Staats stated that due to the resignation of Phelps and ~ant, he presented an
apmlication for ~lo~ent on Carroll ~ne Gibson for the Councils consideration. C~ef Staats
reported that Gibson ~as certifie~ and ha~ been e~loyed by Poke ~emorial ~n~ty Po]ice Department
an~f reco~ende5 ~';he Council e~loy '~bson as Patrolman ]~ . Councilman Burk moved to e~loy
Gibson as Patrolz~an ~ ~, seconded by Councilman Douglas and carried.
C~ef '~in presented the fire report for the month of November 197~. He requested
permission to apply for a operators license for the Ci~_l Defense on the Citys Fire Department
frequenc~/ . ~Chi~f Go~n stated that le~al]_y, the Civil Defense c~rmot operate on the City
freeuency ~itho~ a license. ~"~tter referred to Councilman Betts.
Attorm~y Co,on was asked for his iter~s of busi~ess. He stated that he had contacted
several cihies r~questing a copy of their t~i appticatioms an~ had cor~ined all the forms as a
~i~e for ~he Co~nci! to stu~2~ to deterr~ne w~ch rules and repletions they ~ish to adopt for
~ new ta~:i a~p!ication. The ~ouncmt a~ee~ to stuc]y ~h~ for~ prepared by Attorney Conlon and to
set uma worksho~ ~eeting in the future to adopt the new application.
l~rector Fortner presen'tec] the water, sewer and street report for the mo~lh of November.
Includ~:~d in the report was estimates of cost per ~000 gallons of water in the clea~.~ell,
total ~a!lons pu~ped for fiscal year of 1973-7h, for the last quarter of 73-7[ and for November
]-97]~ that the ~' '
~ouncml had reeuested ~rector Fortner to calculate to deter~ne how much to
imcrease the rat~ of water sol~. tc Okeechobee Beach ~
~,,at~r Association.
' "I1 ...... '[ .... ' '
1803
I%morandum;'~h. ~ulver.s to replace old ctzlverts at $1,089.76 Councilman Douglas moved
to aubhorE~e Director Fortner to puz'chase t~e culverts, seconded by Councilman Burk and carried.
Director Fortner reported t~a~-he had been approached to sell the old cask iron and
steel coYers a~ the ~ater and se~er plant at .~0¢ per hundred pounds for t~e iron and $1.00 Eer
hundred pounds for the steel and requested the Councils decision. After discussion Councilman
Hunt moved to authorize Director to sell the iron and steel, seconded by Councilman Douglas and
carried.
President Domer reported that stop signs were down at South Parrott Ave. and 11th Ave.
Director Fortner stated that he had been notified and had instructed the Street Department to
replace the signs.
A hill in the amount of $1~0.00 from El!ie Waters, voting machine Supervisor for costs
in the City Election was discussed. Councilman Betts stated that Mr. Waters had called several
cities im determining the fee. He also stated that if the City had employed an out of town
supervisor, the cost would have been more· After more discussion the Council postponed approving
the bill and reouested CouncilF~n Hunt to negotiate with Mr. Waters.
A letter from the City to Mrs. Clayton ~ite thanking her for the flag she gave the
City was ~resented to the Council for execution.
A bill in the amount of $6,800.00 from Lawson Masonry and Construction Company for
repair work completed on the old settling basin was presented. President Domer reported that
the work had been inspected by himself, Director Fortner and Building Official Spray. The
Council amproved payment of bill·
~resident Domer announced that the Council will meet in a closed session with Attorney
Conlon om legal advice regarding the quasi-judicial hearing December 12, 197h at 6:30 P.M. which
is permitted under Florida Sunshine Law. He also announced that the Council will meet with
Attorney Conlon and Conley before the hearin~ December 19 at 6:30 P.M.
Councilman Douglas requested the Council set a date for the members of the Council and
a Representative of the Florida Power and Light to check on the list of street ligh6 requests.
The Council agreed to meet '~uesday, December 17, 197~ at 1:30 P.M.
The Council approved billing water bills twice a month instead of once a month due
to the ..~r~wth of the City. Ordering new utility cards and notices notifying customers of the
change were a~proved.
The complaint previously report on the odor in Taylor Creed was discussed· President
Domer stated that he noticed tha gates to the lock hadn't been opened. P~tter referred to
~'~yor Dunham.
Minutes of the meetings held September 17 were read· Councilman Burk moved to accept
the minutes as read, seconded by Councilman Betts and carried.
The Council recessed to Thursday, December 19, 197~ at 6:30 P.M.
j~ ~/~ PRESIDEMT CITY COUNCIL
ATTEST: ~ /Fu~ ~
CiTY CLERK