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1997-07-15 Regular Meeting'/�o� pKEfCyO = CITY OF OKEECHOBEE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING SUMMARY OF COUNCIL ACTION A. Call Regular Meeting to order on July 15, 1997. B. Invocation offered by Council Member Dowling Watford; Pledge of Allegiance led by Mayor Kirk. C. Mayor and Council Attendance. - Mayor James E. Kirk Council Member Noel A. Chandler Council Member Lowry Markham Council Member Robert Oliver Council Member Dowling R. Watford. Jr. Staff Attendance: City Attorney John R. Cook City Administrator Rober Bradsnaw City Clerk Bonnie S. Thomas Deputy Clerk S. Lane Gamiotea JULY 15, 1997 - REGULAR MEETING - PAGE 1 OF 9 Mayor Kirk called the July 15, 1997 Regular Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Council Member Dowling R. Watford, Jr. offered the invocation; Mayor Kirk led the Pledge of Allegiance. Clerk Thomas called the roll. - Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present D. Motion to dispense with the reading and approve the Sum- Council Member Chandler moved to dispense with the reading and approve the mary of Council Action for the Regular Council Meeting of Summary of Council Action for the Regular Council Meeting of June 17, 1997, the June 17, 1997, the Special Meeting of June 19, 1997 and Special Meeting of June 19, 1997 and the Regular Meeting of July 1, 1997; seconded the Regular Meeting of July 1, 1997. by Council Member Oliver. There being no discussion on this issue, the vote was as follows: KIRK CHANDLER MARKHAM OLIVER WATFORD MOTION CARRIED. 391 REQUEST FOR THE ADDITION, DEFERRAL OR WITHDRAWAL OF ITEMS ON TODAY'S AGENDA. E. OPEN PUBLIC HEARING FOR ORDINANCE ADOPTION 1 JULY 15, 1997 - REGULAR MEETING - PAGE 2 OF 9 Mayor Kirk asked whether anyone had a request for additions, deferrals or withdrawals of items on today's agenda, none were stated. Mayor and Council welcomed Mr. Bradshaw aboard as the City's new Administrator. Administrator Bradshaw thanked the Mayor and Council and responded that he and his family were glad to be in Okeechobee and were moved into their new home. Mayor Kirk opened the Public Hearing for Ordinance Adoption at 7:04 p.m. 1. a. Motion to read by title only, proposed Ordinance Council Member Oliver moved to read by title only, proposed Ordinance No. 702 No. 702 amending the 1996/97 General Fund amending the 1996197 General Fund Budget and Ordinance No. 696; seconded by Budget and Ordinance No. 696 - City Attorney Council Member Chandler. (Exhibit 1). KIRK CHANDLER MARKHAM OLIVER MOTION CARRIED. Attorney Cook read proposed Ordinance No. 702 by title only as follows: "An Ordinance adopting an amendment to Ordinance No. 696 General Fund Annual Budget for the City of Okeechobee, Florida, for Fiscal Year beginning October 1, 1996 and ending September 30, 1997; which amended budget sets forth General Fund Revenues of $5,935,928.00 and expenditures of $3,302,846.00 leaving a fund balance of $2, 633, 082.00; Providing for an effective date. " c. Motion to adopt proposed Ordinance No. 702. III Council Member Chandler moved to adopt proposed Ordinance No. 702; seconded by Council Member Oliver. b. Public Comment. III Mayor Kirk asked whether anyone from the public had questions or comments, none were stated. X X X X x 392 JULY 15, 1997 - REGULAR MEETING - PAGE 3 OF 9 E. PUBLIC HEARING FOR ORDINANCE ADOPTION c. Motion to adopt proposed Ordinance No. 702 Mayor Kirk asked Council Members to state any questions or comments on the budget continued. III amendment as they went down the list of items: Legislative, 511-8200, $1,000 - for the fireworks donation approved by Council at the June 3, 1997 meeting. Executive, 512-1100, $23,634 - annual and sick leave, ninety day's severance pay, to Mr. Drago, and four weeks pay for a new administrator. 512-2100, $1,802 - additional social security for Mr. Drago's pay. Financial Services, 513-5200, $10,000 - software to bring accounting and payroll in- house. 513-600, $500 - for the purchase of a printer if needed. City Clerk, 516-6400, $7,477 - new furniture for City Clerk's Offices. Council Member Watford stated he did not feel this was an emergency expense and that it should be Presented in the 1997/98 budget and moved to amend proposed Ordinance No. 702 by deleting this line item. Motion died for lack of second after third call. General Services, 519-4609, $3,875 - renovation of offices for City Clerk and General Services. Council Member Watford stated he did not feel this was an emergency expense and that it should be presented in the 1997/98 budget. 519-5200, $865 - half the cost of the CAD system software for the addressing program. Council Member Watford stated he did not feel this was an emergency expense and that it should be presented in the 1997/98 budget and moved to amend proposed Ordinance No 702 to delete this item; seconded by Council Member Markham. KIRK CHANDLER MARKHAM OLIVER WATFORD MOTION TO AMEND CARRIED. X X X X X JULY 15, 1997 - REGULAR MEETING - PAGE 4 OF 9 393 E. PUBLIC HEARING FOR ORDINANCE ADOPTION 1. c. Motion to adopt proposed Ordinance No. 702 519-6400, $1,049 - new furniture to move general services offices. Council Member continued. Watford stated he did not feel this was an emergency expense and that it should be presented in the 1997/98 budget. Law Enforcement, 521-1200, $10,487 - accrued vacation and sick leave paid to Detective O'Neill. 521-2100, $816 - additional social security for Detective O'Neill. 521- 8300, $711 - matching funds for the public safety grant. Fire Protection, 522-1400, $18,000 - cover overtime. Council Member Markham moved to amend proposed Ordinance No 702 to reduce the amount to $14,000 since Chief Tomey found $4,000 in his department's budget to help cover the cost; seconded by Council Member Watford. KIRK CHANDLER MARKHAM OLIVER WATFORD MOTION TO AMEND CARRIED. 522-4500, $4,431 - insurance for new fire truck. 522-5200, $865 - half the cost of the CAD system software for the addressing program. Council Member Watford stated he did not feel this was an emergency expense and that it should be presented in the 1997/98 budget. Council Member Oliver moved to amend proposed Ordinance No 702 to delete this item, seconded by Council Member Markham. KIRK CHANDLER MARKHAM OLIVER WATFORD MOTION TO AMEND CARRIED. X X X X X X X X X X 394 JULY 15, 1997 - REGULAR MEETING - PAGE 5 OF 9 E. PUBLIC HEARING FOR ORDINANCE ADOPTION 1. c. Motion to adopt proposed Ordinance No. 702 continued. CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING F. NEW BUSINESS 1. Discuss Okeechobee Development Authority Roadway Sign - Mayor Kirk (Exhibit 2). 522-7100, $31,709 - principal due October 1 on new fire truck and 7200, $8,291 - interest due October 1 on new fire truck. Council Member Markham moved to amend Proposed Ordinance No. 702 to delete these two items; seconded by Council Member Watford. KIRK CHANDLER MARKHAM OLIVER WATFORD MOTION TO AMEND CARRIED. After amendments above, total budget amendment is $79,782.00. The source of funding for the amendment would be the reserves. Amendments for revenues and expenditures that are "washouts in law enforcement and fire protection n are also listed in Exhibit One of this agenda file. N152/o' ' Irk tiierl ..alied for a vote on the motion to „d o,cooc . Op' e'o �roli an�e N- 02 Cc amended: KIRK CHANDLER MARKHAM OLIVER WATFORD MOTION CARRIED AS AMENDED. Mayor Kirk closed the Public Hearing at 7:24 p.m. Mr. Paul Phillips, Okeechobee Development Authority Executive Director addressed the Council concerning future growth and infrastructure in the Industrial Park and Airport. He requested on behalf of the ODA, that funds be budgeted by the City in the 1997/98 fiscal year budget for an Industrial Park sign. Should funds be granted ODA will grant the City total autonomy in regards to design, layout and construction of the sign. X X X X X X X X X X JULY 15, 1997 - REGULAR MEETING - PAGE 6 OF 9 395 F. NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED 1. Discuss Okeechobee Development Authority Roadway Sign continued. 2. Discuss setting a date for public budget hearings and proposed millage rate - Lola Parker (Exhibit 3) The Council instructed Mr. Phillips to meet with Administrator Bradshaw and for them to come up with an appropriate sign the City could afford and present it back to the Council at budget time. Attorney Cook also cautioned the Council that they can only expend funds for items that are for the betterment of the citizen's of the City and that he would need to research the matter to determine whether or not they could make this expenditure. He also advised Administrator Bradshaw to move forward with meeting with Mr. Phillips and he would research this in the mean time. Mr. Rennie Berry addressed the Council stating he was for this project and submitted a check for one hundred dollars to Clerk Thomas to go toward the fund for the sign. Finance Coordinator Parker addressed the Council explaining the first public hearing for the budget and tax millage cannot be held earlier than sixty-five days from July 1. The City usually sets the hearings to be held the same time as the regular meetings (first and third Tuesday's in September). This year however. September 2 is only sixty-four days and she wanted to know what day the Council would want to hold a special meeting on for the first budget hearing. The Council decided Thursday. September 4 1997 The second hearing will fall on the regular meeting day of Tuesday, September 16 1997. Mrs. Parker then asked what millage rate the Council wanted to advertise for the budget. Following a brief discussion concerning current reserves being spent to compensate expenditures Council Member Watford moved to set a proposed millage rate at 5 94• seconded by Council Member Oliver. KIRK CHANDLER MARKHAM OLIVER WATFORD MOTION CARRIED. X X X X X 396 JULY 15, 1997 - REGULAR MEETING - PAGE 7 OF 9 F. NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED 3. Discuss the 90-day probationary period of the Fire Council Member Watford began discussion concerning the action taken by Council at the Chief - Council Member Watford. April 1, 1997 meeting. A written warning was to go into Fire Chief Tomey's personnel file regarding his lack of communication, leadership, oversight in his department's budget and stipulating that the Council would reevaluate the Chiefs improvements in ninety days. The ninety days were up July 1 and he understood a letter was never put in Chief Tomey's file. Council Member Watford moved to extend the period an additional ninety days. Attorney Cook advised the motion needed to provide specifically if a conclusion or report be placed in Chief Tomey's personnel file at the end of the additional ninety days. Council Member Watford added to his motion that a written report also be included after a recommendation was made to Council by the Citv Administrator. Council Member Oliver seconded the Motion for discussion and asked what Council Member Watford's specific reasons were to continue this issue. Council Member Watford commented that he d!d nnct any evidence that anythlno was dyne io improve and thai the nineiy cays icr nvn-j rcQUCt!vc. V�;i1J-1 a new adimilin�Srcivi he can offer an unbiased observation of the Fire Department. He continued also in detail other issues that he did not feel where proper such as spelling and grammar errors in memorandums to the Council from the Chief. Problems with a part time employee. Behavior with employees in other City offices. Chief Tomey responded to the Council that he felt he was doing the job they wanted him to do. As far as communication, Council was correct, he could not communicate with the past City Administrator, nor could other Department Heads. However, he has been meeting with Administrator Bradshaw and is confident that communication will not be an issue for them. On leadership/planning, he advised he had received a verbal report on the City's new ISO rating and that the rating is being reduced due to improvements he has incorporated in his department. 397 JULY 15 1997 - REGULAR MEETING- PAGE GE 8 OF IL AE .. .... . ... C>�Ji�t t�; A£ N I USSION F. NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED 3. Discuss the 90-day probationary period of the Fire Chief continued. Chief Tomey continued, on the overtime, in the last ninety days there have been seven hundred forty-five hours used by his personnel and 74 percent of that time was covered by volunteers and other means. Concerning the memorandum with errors and the part- time employee, he did not read the memorandum before it went out since he felt it was okay after Mrs. Thomas had edited it for him. He was under the impression his secretary had made the corrections before she sent it to the Council. Concerning the conversation overheard by Council Member Watford's wife. He stated it was he, Council Member Chandler, Police Chief Mobley, Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Parker, Mr. Elders, Lydia Williams and Bea Castorina in the office and everyone was expressing their concerns over the new health insurance coverage. Discussion continued. Administrator Bradshaw asked for clarification whether the Council wanted a recommendation, evaluation or a fact finding report allowing the Council to decide this issue. The Council advised a fact finding report without a recommendation would be sufficient from him at the end of the ninety days. Council Member Oliver withdrew his second to the motion. Council Member Watford withdrew his motion. The Council Member Watford then moved to instruct the City Administrator to do a fact findinq evaluation/repor of the Fire Department and report back after the first Council Meeting after 90 days; seconded by Council Member Oliver stating further that he felt Chief Tomey was doing a good job and that at the end of the ninety days when the conclusion was put in the file it will help the Chief not hurt him that it would clear all this up and bring it to a close. Council Members Markham and Chandler commented that Chief Tomey had done everything they asked him to do, that an extra ninety days was wrong and that the letter should not be put in the Chiefs file. Mayor Kirk stated the reason the letter was not put in the file was due to the discussion at the May 20, 1997 meeting. He felt the letter at the end of the additional ninety days would "be a wash" for the letter that will now be put in his file and would take care of this. Also, if a problem still exists, it will be found. But he did not think it was fair to the Chief to leave this situation with one letter in the file. If an additional ninety days is what it took to clear it up, he would go along with it. zoo v JULY 15 197 -9 REGULAR U A R MEETING G - PAGE 9 OF 9 :> AEN# ....... _ . .:.. :::>... :,:.: F. NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED 3. Discuss the 90-day probationary period of the Fire Chief continued. Adjournment - Mayor Kirk. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE AND BE ADVISED that if a person decides to appeal any decision made by the City Council with respect to any matter considered at this meeting. hershe may need to insure t;Iat a verbatim record' of the proceedinc is made. which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be I.-aSeO. A tare recordinC of this 'ilea is is rile in ti",e City Clerk's ATTEST: James E. Kirk, Mayor .- Bonnie S. Thomas, CMC, City Clerk Vote on motion is as follows: KIRK CHANDLER MARKHAM OLIVER WATFORD MOTION CARRIED. There being no further items on the agenda, Mayor Kirk adjourned the July 15, 1997 Regular City Council Meeting at 8.33 p.m.