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2020-12-01 Handwritten MinutesCITY OF OKEECHOBEE, FLORIDA DECEMBER 1, 2020, REGULAR MEETING HANDWRITTEN MINUTES BY BOBBIE JENKINS I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Watford called the regular meeting of the City Council for the City of Okeechobee to order on Tuesday, December 1, 2020, at _6:00 P.M. in the City Council Chambers, located at 55 Southeast 3rd Avenue, Room 200, Okeechobee, Florida. The invocation was offered by BK II. ATTENDANCE Mayor Dowling R. Watford, Jr. Council Member Wes Abney Council Member Clark Council Member Jarriel Council Member Keefe City Attorney John Fumero City Administrator Marcos MontesDeOca Police Chief Bob Peterson Fire Chief Herb Smith Public Works Director David Allen City Clerk Lane Gamiotea Deputy City Clerk Bobbie Jenkins Executive Assistant Robin Brock , followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by PRESENT ABSENT _x _x_ x x x via zoom III. AGENDA AND PUBLIC COMMENTS A. Mayor Watford asked whether there were any agenda items to be added, deferred, or withdrawn; New Business Item A, Res. 2020-20, 2020-21, provided for you this evening. B. Motion by Council Member _BJ_, seconded by Council Member BK_ to approve the agenda as presented/amended. VOTE: Ayes -Mayor Watford, Council Members Abney, Clark, Jarriel, and Keefe. Nays - none. Motion Carried. C. There were none agenda item forms or comment cards submitted for public participation for any issues not on the agenda. IV. CONSENT AGENDA Motion by Council Member _WA , seconded by Council Member _BJ_ to approve consent agenda item A [November 5, 2020 Town Hall and November 5, 2020 Regular Meeting minutes]. VOTE: Ayes -Mayor Watford, Council Members Abney, Clark, Jarriel, and Keefe. Nays - none. Motion Carried. V. MAYOR WATFORD OPENED THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 6:04 P.M. A. Motion by Council Member _BJ_, seconded by Council Member _BK to read proposed Ordinance No. 1220 by title only, regarding Abandonment of Right -of -Way Petition No. 20-002-SC. VOTE: Ayes -Mayor Watford, Council Members Abney, Clark, Jarriel, and Keefe. Nays - none. Motion Carried. Attorney Fumero read proposed Ordinance No. 1220 by title only as follows: "AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OKEECHOBEE, FLORIDA; VACATING AND ABANDONING A PORTION OF SOUTHWEST 4TH STREET (f/k/a FIFTH AVENUE) AND A PORTION OF SOUTHWEST 5TH STREET (f/k/a FOURTH STREET) MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED HEREIN, LYING WITHIN THE CITY OF OKEECHOBEE, ACCORDING TO B. Jenkins Handwritten Minutes, December 1, 2020, Page 1 of 5 THE PLAT THEREOF AS RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 5, PAGE 5, PUBLIC RECORDS OF OKEECHOBEE COUNTY, FLORIDA (PETITION NO. 20-002-SC); RESERVING UNTO THE CITY, ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS A NON-EXCLUSIVE EAST-MENT FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES PURPOSES; DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO RECORD THE ORDINANCE IN THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF THE CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT IN AND FOR OKEECHOBEE COUNTY, FLORIDA- PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE." Motion by Council Member _BK_, seconded by Council Member _BJ_ to adopt proposed Ordinance No. 1220. MDO-ben is awaiting the birth of his first child. This is the abandonment for Loumax on SW Ph that will take on the IND zoning. If there are any other questions, its already gone through the hamrick trust. Robin -Ben is via zoom. Ben -no comments, pretty straight forward, two easements requested by utility services, 10-ft wide being requested. Other than that all of the other bodies have signe doff. This is the property that was recenty approved for IND FLU and zoning change. DW-congrats on behalf of the council. Public comments: Steve Dobbs present on behalf of the applicant. Council Comments: none VOTE: Ayes -Mayor Watford, Council Members Abney, Clark, Jarriel, and Keefe. Nays - none. Motion Carried. CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 6:09 P.M. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Motion by Council Member _BK, seconded by Council Member _BJ_ to adopt proposed Resolution No. 2020-20 regarding the 2020 General Election and Terms of Office for City Council Member Monica Clark. VOTE: Ayes -Mayor Watford, Council Members Abney, Clark, Jarriel, and Keefe. Nays - none. Motion Carried. Attorney Fumero read proposed Resolution No. 2020-20 by title only as follows: "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF OKEECHOBEE, FLORIDA; ACCEPTING THE OFFICIAL RESULTS FOR THE 2020 GENERAL CITY ELECTION; PROVIDING FOR TERMS OF OFFICE TO BE HELD BY RUSS CALE AND MONICA McCARTHY CLARK, AS ELECTED CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS; PROVIDING FOR THE CITY CLERK TO ISSUE CERTIFICATES OF ELECTION; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE." JF-very briefly past practice, following the election clerk certified election results. In this case, two individuals ran unopposed, Monica and Russ. One of the Resolutions, 2020-20 is our standard post election resolution recognizing Clark has been dually elected beginning her 4 yrterm on 1/4/21. Second Resolution 2020-21, re: Russ Cale, received his unconditional resignation on Nov. 30t". Resolution recognizes and accepts resignation. Motion by Council Member _BK_, seconded by Council Member _BJ_ to adopt proposed Resolution No. 2020-21 regarding resignation of Council Member Cale. Attorney Fumero read proposed Resolution No. 2020-21 by title only as follows: " DW-Just for clarification, we will have to have a special election to fill this position. Probably start January with 4 Council Members. BJ-does the title have to be read into the record? DW-yes, thank you. VOTE: Ayes -Mayor Watford, Council Members Abney, Clark, Jarriel, and Keefe. Nays - none. Motion Carried. B. Jenkins Handwritten Minutes, December 1, 2020, Page 2 of 5 B. Motion by Council Member BJ_, seconded by Council Member _BK_ to approve an agreement for services with eSCRIBE Software Ltd. for webcasting and automated closed captioning. MDO-thanked Lane, appreciate her taking the time and going thru it. We went through and had discussions with escribe, which is CC for all videos. We will continue after this, this fell in approximate dollars, attempt to put through CARES as it was required. Cost is about $17000 per year. So with that again that's what the services are and what they do. DW-so the initial is that $16,668. Does that include the bundle? MDO-yes DW-any other questions? BK-when will this be effective? MDO-working on the module now, BIS coming in to update system. January/February everything functioning. BK-all meetings will be recorded with CC, posted on YOUTUBE, website. How about past recordings. Can we do that? MDO-I haven't reached out to them. I don't know, the module kind of reads it as it goes. The Governor's order ran out, which is why the last meeting isn't posted. VOTE: Ayes -Mayor Watford, Council Members Abney, Clark, Jarriel, and Keefe. Nays - none. Motion Carried. C. Motion by Council Member _WA_, seconded by Council Member BK_ to award Bid No. PW 05-10-09-20 Southeast 3rd Avenue Pavement Improvements to C.W. Roberts Contracting, Inc. in the amount of $139,848.50. MDO-DOT projects, Grant Dollars, will see those dollars come in and leave at the same time. 6th Street is up for bid as well. Trying to get a lot of these projects done on someone else's dime. DA-bid opening for 6th Street last week. Coordinating with FDOT is technical. DW-any discussion on the motion. VOTE: Ayes -Mayor Watford, Council Members Abney, Clark, Jarriel, and Keefe. Nays - none. Motion Carried. D. Motion by Council Member WA_, seconded by Council Member _BJ to approve Centennial Park Pavilion Rules and Reservation Fee Application. MDO-one item that people have asked about reserving. First come, first served. Not meant to be a money maker, but meant to be used for citizens to use for birthday parties. Just for the large pavilion. DW-similar to what the County uses for Kiwanis Park. DA-County uses the same thing. Not a money maker, just so they have a commitment. WA -is there a deadline or cutoff date for reservations? I didn't see that in there. I don't think we needed one. DA-realistically since PW is not here on Fridays, they cannot reserve it if they call on Friday. DW-so if they show up and no one is there, they can use it. BJ-1 didn't see in here about the cleanup. PBC when I rented, if you didn't clean up, there was a fee. We don't want to charge a fee, but we don't want to clean up. DW-read where it was included. BJ-what if they don't, what are the consequences. DA-we can work with the attorney. Copy of ID, thought about a deposit. If we get down the road and if we're having problems, we can revise it. MDO-Saturday morning and get into "it was clean when we left". County requires deposits on buildings, not parks. BJ-can we just add it in there so they know there would be if they don't clean up. MDO-we can add that. DW-motion to amend, or can we just add that wording. LG-defer to City Attorney. JF-vote to approve the verbiage be included, no amendment. VOTE: Ayes -Mayor Watford, Council Members Abney, Clark, Jarriel, and Keefe. Nays - none. Motion Carried. B. Jenkins Handwritten Minutes, December 1, 2020, Page 3 of 5 E. Motion by Council Member _BJ , seconded by Council Member BK_ to ratify the Interlocal Agreement for Fire Services between Okeechobee County and the city of Okeechobee, including all exhibits. JF-very brief, ILA for fire services approved on Nov. 25th by BOCC just before thanksgiving, CC approved almost a month ago, but did not have exhibits. Body of the wording have been modified but immaterial. Have added 4 exhibits, Exhibit A employees to be hired, Exhibit B temp positions to be funded, Exhibit C Pension Form, Exhibit D vehicle and equipment inventory. Once this agreement is approved by CC, we will be meeting with the union and communicating with all of the fire personnel. Going to set a meeting to discuss everything that has transpired thus far, importantly where we go from here. Separation agreemens have been drafted but have some blanks. Working with IR to make the calculations the CC has voted on. IN the near future we will be bringing back the final package. MDO wants to make sure you see the whole package. Once we have that package and releases, that should be it. Reminder the commencement date is June 1, 2021 at 8AM. So unless you have any questions, assuming you vote for the agreement, will be sending notice to the Union with the CBA, acting in accordance with CBA. BJ-Section 6, page 5, my uestion there is we're going to give the vehicles 30 days prior to this contract. Are we going to be able to operate. MDO-Chiefs are coordinating that. BJ-so there's not an issue. HS-there will be no issue on my side. DW-comments and questions. If you watched the BOCC meeting, two things arose. Goodbread made a statement that he wanted to make sure the history of the City Fire Dept was preserved. Burroughs said that's something the Mayor is to be working on. Let you know we will be working on preserving that. That brings up the issue of Engine No. 1 and what we plan to do with that, not something to decide tonight, but wanted to make the Council aware. Hazellief questioned the status of the ladder truck ladder certification. He indicated he was told that it might not be able to be certified. HS-that's incorrect. Wooten an dl spoke today. This information got out by rumor or by Ten-8 Fire Equipment. This gentleman made a statement, and they called the truck a piece of crap for lack of a better term. I will deal with that compnayh on that, it should have never been said. It's been certified and re -certified since we've had it. It hasn't been certified the last few years because it's been in the shop longer than its been out. The motor, the pump was recertified and repaired, the only thing not touched was the ladder, an dthey weren't asked to touch it. V party is required to test the ladder. So, they have to get a V party. We use them. The last thing that we had was in 2017 that the motor was not strong enough to allow the truck to do what it needed to do, so that's what started the process of the motor being rebuilt. Came from the mouth of competition at a conference. NO validity to this. Confirm that, Wooten called Sutton and spoke with a rep in Ft Myers and he said they will re -certify the ladder. Approximately a few thousand dollars. Pretty much guaranteed to get the truck re- certified. I'm very confident this can be recertified. DW-Hazellief did say we're giving them the truck, if they can't get it certified, then it's up to them. Other I will say, my dad used to call it barn yard advice, we can't take that for a fact. I may have been misunderstood. I've had those things happen in business. HS-there's no way id put my employee up in that ladder if it couldn't be recertified. DW-do we have the amount of annual accrued sick leave? MDO-lane is working on leave reports, as of 11/30/2020. IR-I don't have the spreadsheet in front of me, 100% of both around $137k. that's using salary and leave balances as of 9/30/20. Working on assuming every employee receives 1.5% salary, and when leave reports available past 9/30, 1 will provide those to you. DW-comments I'll make is we're giving away at least a million dollars worth of equipment, of city property, and I think that's a lot of money to give away. Storage of vehicles -we will not be able to use the building so we'll have to store at public works. At the end of 5 years, they can't get anything back. They'll have to start from scratch, I think we should at least get the equipment back. We will have an employee who loses their jobs. BJ-I think it's a good agreement, we've seen that it's going to save the city $600-700k per year. Our taxpayers paid for that euqipjment, we can make them buy new equipment. I think the agreement is fine the way it stands. MC-i just have a question for Marcos. The value of the equipment is one of th equeisons I've asked him over the last year. But the actual value of the pieces of equipment. It didn't come near $1 million dollars. MDO-I don't know about the ladder, replacement value on the ladder over $300-400, engine $400-$500k, radios $125k, $700-850k safe estimate. Harris radios are very expensive. Replacement value. B. Jenkins Handwritten Minutes, December 1, 2020, Page 4 of 5 MC -that's not the value that they are worth right now. If we went on the market right now and sold it, would we get a million dollars for that. I researched it. It wasn't near a half -million dollars. DW-clarify my comment, in my opinion its close to a million dollars. Looking through that list, bunker gear, pumper truck, ladder truck, radios, pumper truck almost brand new. It still adds up. That's my opinion. MC-i agree, I'd rather have the equipment go to the county because they provide services to the city. If the county has to purchase new equipment it would be more costs. VOTE: Ayes- Council Members Abney, Clark, Jarriel, and Keefe. Nays- Mayor Watford. Motion Carried. VII. CITY ATTORNEY UPDATE JF-will be working with the City Clerk on bringing back to Council the game plan on the special election. Also will be working with MDO and the Clerk by updating the public records policy, new technology, text messages, certain public records request can be very daunting. New policies to discuss with the CC, and new technology to assist us. Be bringing that back to you as well. Vill. COUNCIL COMMENTS WA -none BJ-it's a privilege to serve as a City Council. Sometimes we get some setbacks. We've had a good year, we just celebrated thanksgiving, now we're in the Christmas season, I would hate to see anything effect that. The last town hall meeting 2 people showed up. We would love for you people to come out to the meetings. Let us know what you're thinking. You're welcome to speak at any meeting we have. Finish this year in a good mood and tone, parade coming up. Support our city and lets start the new year off right. BK-im debating. I appreciate BJ comments just now, and agree with him. I think that despite the ups and downs, we've worked well together, despite any differences, this Council I've really been honored and appreciate being up here. Echo comments about public coming to meetings. Sitting here is so different than standing at the podium. I've stood at the podium, and I cringe at the thought at what I've said standing at those podiums. Much more pleasant at CC than BOCC. Until you've sat in these chairs and feel the weight of the City and residents concerns and opiknions, and had to make decision that effects lives of residents, its easy to stand at the podium, and we encourage that. Freedom of speech and the ability to present your thoughts to elected officials. Appreciate more people coming. MC -wanted to comment about the tree lighting in the park. Received many phone calls and wanted to make comments that at the last meeting when the subject came up, I don't know how everyone else felt, my focus was on safety and special and without crowds, as a public official, its my responsibility to make it safe. We agreed as a group that we couldn't comply with CDC guidelines. I was the one who suggested the city employees come with music in the background to create a better live stream and it could be a group we could control and do it within CDC guidelines. I thought live stream would be better and safer. Political and personal beliefs are often at odds. Apologize if I made anyone feel excluded to anyone in our community that felt that we were tyring to exclude them. Im a little more strict due to COVID guidelines, when someone close to you almost passes like my brother. Didn't want to expose anyone. This to will pass, and there's going to be another lighting next year. DW-appreciate those comments. Social media takes over some time. I don't people understood the Council had a difficult decision to make. We have a responsibility for public safety and health. I understand why the decision was made. Some people didn't understand or agree, but thank you fro your comments. Hopefully the word will get out about IX. The meeting was adjourned at 6:54 P.M. B. Jenkins Handwritten Minutes, December 1, 2020, Page 5 of 5