TOWN OF
MINUTES
TOWN COMMISSION - REGULAR MEETING
Community Center -
The Town Commission of the Town of Melbourne
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Present were Mayor
Mayor Stacey led the entire assembly in the invocation
and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
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APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion by Commissioner Price to approve the minutes
from the
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CHANGES TO THE AGENDA
Move Items B and C to New Business.
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CONSENT
AGENDA
A. Fiscal Year 2006 Budget
Amendment for the purchase of lap top computer and a speaker timer (as approved
by the Commission) for the Town Clerk in the amount of $2,314.30. Funds to come from the Health Insurance line
item, as the Clerk has opted to decline these benefits.
B. Site Plan for
Motion
by Commissioner Price to approve the Consent Agenda. Second by Commissioner Guglietta. The motion carried unanimously.
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PROCLAMATIONS AND AWARDS
Commissioner Guglietta presented Jr. Citizen of the
Year Anna Strock with a plaque. Mayor
Stacey presented Co-Citizens of the Year Kevin S. Gorman and Stephen A. Stewart
with a plaque. Certificates were
presented to each at Founder's Day.
The Proclamation for Florida Space Coast Council
Management Week was read by Mayor Stacey.
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NON-SCHEDULED
CITIZEN COMMENTS (Subject to
three-minute limit) Comments will
be heard on items that do not appear on the agenda of
this meeting. Note, however, that state
law and administrative rules prevent the Town
Commission from taking any formal action on
any item discussed at this time. The Town Commission may schedule such items
as regular
agenda items and act upon them in the future. The Mayor is authorized to limit discussion,
as
necessary, with each commentary limited to three
minutes.
Alice Graham,
Jane Waters 312 Sixth Avenue
- commented she was an alternate on the Planning and Zoning Board. She was upset because a member had been
placed on the board without the Commission going through the process of moving
alternates first. She felt the two
female members of the board were passed up resulting in the board being made up
of all men, which in her opinion looked biased.
She asked the Commission for an explanation. The Mayor responded the person she is
discussing had more qualifications than either of the alternates. She
was very upset. Commissioner Walters
commented that sometimes people are not suited for boards. He felt that in the future they need to take
more time when making decisions regarding who sits on boards. Commissioner Price commented that when people
are placed in an alternate position they should move up as spots become
available. He felt if they are not
capable of moving up, they should not be on the board in the first place. Vice Mayor Wilson commented that an
experienced person applied and they chose an experienced individual rather than
moving an alternate. He felt they should
choose based on qualification not because someone talks loud.
Jan Futch 202 S. Palm – commented
she was proud of the woman who spoke for women's rights. She said volunteerism is vitally
important. She felt the appointment was
discriminatory. She commented she called
all of the Commissioners complaining about the placement of the train
tracks. She was concerned it would look
bad. She said she definitely made a
mistake and it looks great.
Tom Shaw 406
Chris Romandetti 451/453
Sandy Key – thanked the Commission for bringing on an advisor for the planning
process who will be there during the day to answer questions. He felt the Town is moving in the right
direction. He stated there a lot of rumors regarding the Planning and Zoning
Board. The Attorney went through the
process of public information and information as it relates to the Sunshine
Law. There are many rumors around Town
about board appointments. Before the last
Planning and Zoning meeting, he heard about a pre-arranged deal. I spoke at the Planning and Zoning meeting
and described exactly what I thought one of the members on the board was going
to do, and right after I spoke that is exactly what she did. Eddie Serrano want through a lot of grief
with those boards. He was sent from Planning and Zoning to BOA, where he was turned
down. He said he heard that Gail was
going to resign from both boards and it was already pre-approved to go back on
the variance board. With that in mind,
the State made a decision saying she needed to get off the variance board. It did not say that if you resign you can
re-apply to the variance board.
Commissioner Price responded saying
that he was correct. There was a ruling
by the Attorney General and he thinks the ruling should hold and the Commission
should not sidestep to change that ruling.
Mr. Romandetti responded saying there was over $35,000.00 to $40,000.00
hardship to get Mr. Serrano's job approved because we went through both boards
that had the same person sitting on them after being advised not to sit on
both. I hope the Commission does not move forward and place
Gail on the variance board.
Dean Darling 421 Sixth Avenue
- stated he sent a letter to the Mayor and Commission addressing a meeting with
Mr. Bursick regarding an investigation
of the Police Chief with regards to a false diploma. He indicated Mr. Bursick had not contacted
him regarding his compliant. He stated
that making false claims about a diploma is a violation of state statute. He wanted to know what Mr. Bursick planned on
doing. Mr. Darling said there were
criminal laws that have not been pursued.
Mayor Stacey replied he and Mr. Bursick have discussed this issue.
Commissioner Walters
commented this had been given to the former city manager. There was a crime committed, there was no
question and the former manager decided not to proceed. The former manager completely ignored the
fact that a crime was committed by submitting a fraudulent degree in order to
obtain employment. Commissioner Walters
continued saying he has kept quiet because he is trying to support the chief. It should have been handled by the previous
manager. Clearly, there was a fraudulent
degree purchased from a diploma mill and used to get on the eligibility list,
which was later used to get the Chief hired.
Unfortunately, this had been dumped on Mr. Bursick. The rules and regulations of the police
department require an investigation.
This should be looked at.
Commissioner Price commented
that the police chief is currently on suspension. There are serious felony charges against the
chief. If we made a mistake about a
degree hiring him, I do not think this is the time to try to undo that. There are things far more important pending
and we cannot undo his hiring at this point.
Commissioner Walters
commented that when you do not follow the procedures there needs to be an
investigation. According to Florida
Statute 815.567 Making False Claims of an Academic Degree or Title is a misdemeanor. It should have been a simple procedure to
investigate when the complaint was first filed.
It should have been easy to find out if the Civil Service Board used the
degree to place him on the eligibility list or not.
Commissioner Guglietta
commented he believed the process started with Mr. Hoskovec. When he looked at the results, Chief Syrkus
was number 3. Mr. Hoskovec then resigned
and the process was turned over to Mrs. Smith.
She did not want to hire David Syrkus and there was a disagreement
between members of the Commission and Ms. Smith and she resigned. Mr. Higginbotham came on board and hired
him. If a proper investigation was done,
we should have found it and we should have found what he is being accused of
now.
Mayor Stacey replied the
issue has not fallen on deaf ears. Mr.
Bursick has a plan and he knows what he is doing. Mr. Darling responded saying the policy and
procedure manual says 45 days for investigation. We are paying Chief Syrkus his salary because
no action was taken. Mayor Stacey
responded there was a meeting today and
a decision will be made. It takes
time to compile the information.
Commissioner Walters
commented it was the unanimous decision of the Commission to keep with the
eligibility list they had. The previous
manager interviewed each candidate and choose to hire Mr. Syrkus. Mrs. Smith wanted to hire someone who was not
on the list. The Commission decided to
stay with the eligibility list. He
stated he also recommended Chief Syrkus.
Vice Mayor Wilson commented
that what is going to happen will happen and the Commission will have to deal
with it when it comes. I would like a
review of the polygraph situation, which has failed greatly. Obviously, the right questions were not
asked. We should review the
process.
Dean Darling stated he had
requested a copy of the investigation regarding Officer Dodson. It says voluntary separation while under
investigation. There is not
investigation on record. This was
November 2005. Again, there was no
investigation conducted as required.
Commissioner Walters stated that when an officer resigns because of an arrest the police department is required
to conduct an investigation and submit it to FDLE so they can determine if the
certificate should be pulled. I am sure
that Mr. Bursick can look into the matter.
Jan Futch 202 S. Palm - commented that she filed a formal complaint
for an investigation with FDLE on Mr. Darling.
She asked for an investigation into his background and of his employment
records. She was concerned when someone applies
for a position and claims to be a certified officer and is not certified. She also said she supported the Chief. She said she did not know any better and from what she saw, he did an incredible job.
Commissioner Walters
commented that he called FDLE when he received her letter. He said that Mr. Darling has completed the
academy and received a certificate of completion. He called Robin Davis who said that
technically you are not certified until you are hired by an agency and sworn
in, so technically she was correct. Ms.
Futch said she will leave it up to FDLE to decide. She said she is frightened of him (Mr.
Darling) as a law enforcement officer.
That is why she asked for an investigation.
Mr. Darling commented that
the posting for the position was for certified law enforcement officers. He said he applied, was interviewed, and
placed on an eligibility list. He said
he passed the state certification exam.
There were comments from the audience
that were not auditable.
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BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
Commissioner Guglietta
requested the appointments of board members be done by closed ballot the same
as last month.
Appointment to the
Motion by Commissioner Guglietta to take the
recommendation of the Clerk and move alternate #1 Jayne Waters to fill the
vacancy created by regular member Gail Gowdy's resignation with a term to
expire on
Commissioner Walters made a
motion to divide. There was discussion regarding
the correct procedure. The Town Attorney
stated that he could make the motion to divide but it needed a second. He withdrew his motion stating that he had no
problem with Ms. Waters.
The question was called and
the motion by Commissioner Guglietta carried with Commissioner Walters voting
no.
The candidates for the
alternate number two position were Dean Darling, David Clay, Kathryn Betten, Brad
Betten and Norman Barns.
Commissioner Walters read
from Roberts Rules of Order the process for a motion to divide. He stated that the motion needs a second and
is not debatable and is amendable. He
stated that he had the right to divide the motion. Commissioner Price stated that he did not get
a second.
The Clerk reported that Mr.
Clay had received 3 first place votes.
Motion by Commissioner
Guglietta to appoint David Clay to the
Appointment to the Board
of Adjustment
Mayor Stacey read the recommendation from the Town
Clerk to consider Ms. Gowdy's request for reappointment to the Board of Adjustment
to complete her term expiring
Motion by Vice Mayor Wilson to consider Ms. Gowdy's
request for reappointment to the Board of Adjustment to complete her term expiring
Commissioner Price
commented that a ruling from the State
Attorney has been received stating that Ms. Gowdy could not serve on both the
Planning Board and the Board of Adjustment.
He said that he objects to her trying to manipulate the ruling by
resigning from both board and asking to re-appointed to the Board of
Adjustment. The ruling clearly stated
that she resigned her position on the Board of Adjustment when she accepted
appointment to the Planning and Zoning Board.
He said she has been in conflict with Florida Law. He felt the Commission should not play a part
in circumventing the ruling of the Attorney General by placing her back on
Board of Adjustments. He commented that
earlier during citizen comment a man said he heard the rumors running through
Town that this action would happen, which means this has been planned. There is a little conspiracy here.
Commissioner Guglietta said he
heard a comment from a citizen on Sandy Key that because of the decisions made
by P&Z and BOA they lost thousands of dollars and that if certain things
happen the town could be held liable because of the decisions made by these
boards. Ms. Gowdy served faithfully on
both boards. She is the one that wrote
the attorney general to get an opinion. Commissioner
Price is correct, when you accepted
P&Z you lost BOA She made some votes
on BOA and P&Z that could be challenged in court because of this
ruling. He did not want the town to go
through another lawsuit and he got the feeling it will happen again. He wanted to table appointment.
Motion to table by
Commissioner Price. Second by
Commissioner Guglietta
Commissioner Walters stated
there was already a motion on the floor that was seconded. Now two members of the Commission have spoken
and they do not want anyone else to speak so they made a motion to table to
prevent the other members of the Commission from speaking.
Mayor Stacey commented that
he sees the controversy and we should table it.
Commissioner Walters said there
was no law Ms. Gowdy violated. It was
dual office holding under the constitution.
She requested an opinion because someone else asked the Attorney. The question was if the Planning Board was an
office. The Supreme Court determined you
cannot hold dual offices and you forfeit the first board you are on when you
take the second appointment. Ms. Gowdy
resigned from both to avoid conflict and asked to be re-appointed to the Board
of Adjustment and I intend to vote yes.
A citizen got up and said they lost thousands of dollars, but admitted
they worked without a permit. He said he
wanted someone on the board who was picky.
Commissioner Price said she
forfeited the first appointment. She was
legally on the Planning and Zoning Board.
Commissioner Walters replied she did not want to be on Planning and Zoning
she wants to be on the Board of Adjustment because it is quasi judicial and
that is when her vote counts. She has
done a great job.
Attorney Tsamoutales said the
motion to table has priority over all other motions and there is no
discussion. He said she forfeited that
position (BOA) and remained as a member of the P & Z Board. She is able to apply to be on the Board of
Adjustment. Commissioner Price asked if
she violated the law by serving on both boards.
The Attorney replied that she did not hold positions on both boards with
criminal intent. Commissioner Walters
commented the opinion of the Attorney General was new. There have been no other opinions saying that
the Planning Board is an office.
Commissioner Guglietta commented that if the Planning and Zoning Board
did not act as the Local Planning Agency it would not have been dual office
holding. He felt if someone wanted to be vindictive, we could
find ourselves in court again.
Commissioner Price asked if there were any others in the community that
could serve on this committee.
Vice Mayor Wilson commented
there is no one that does the homework like Gail. She is right on top of things and that is why
they do not want her on the board.
Gail Gowdy commented that she
resented anyone saying that she manipulated the system. This was truly something she did on her own
because it came up in a Commission Meeting.
She did not like the fact there was not a clear answer. She said she was a volunteer. When Mr. Sack asked which board she wanted to
be on, she said Board of Adjustments.
After the Attorney Generals ruling came, she thought the best thing was
to resign from both. It is up to the Commission
to do what you want.
Commissioner Price replied it
would have been much clearer if you had stayed on
Mayor Stacey asked the Town
Manager to look into this matter.
The question was called and
the motion to table carried with Commissioner Walters voting no.
Ann Downing 801 Pine Street, – Founders day was a great success and
everybody deserves a lot of credit for their hard work. The History presentations had a great turnout. People were very interested in the history of
the Town as well as
Commissioner Walters had a
question about the remaining tee shirts.
The Town Manager will get information from Chair regarding how many were
left and what sizes. He felt we should
allow the residents first option to purchase them. The Mayor stated the shirts should be sold at
cost to the residents. The Manager
commented that the surf con
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PUBLIC HEARINGS
ORDINANCE 2006-04 - Second and Final
AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF
SECTION 11-17(d) OF THE TOWN OF
PROVIDING FOR THE TOWN ATTORNEY TO BE LEGAL COUNSEL
FOR THE TOWN;
PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF
ORDINANCES OR
PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING
FOR INCLUSION IN
THE CODE OF ORDINANCES; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Ordinance
2006-04 was read by Attorney
Tsamoutales.
Motion by Commissioner Price
to approve Ordinance 2006-04 on its second and final reading. Second by Vice Mayor Wilson. The motion carried unanimously
ORDINANCE 2006-06 - First Reading
AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF
MELBOURNE BEACH AMENDING ARTICLE VII, SECTION 7A-136(c) AND (f)(2) AND (3) OF
THE TOWN OF MELBOURNE BEACH CODE OF ORDINANCES BY DELETING SAID SECTIONS AND
SUBSTITUTING NEW PROVISIONS THEREFORE; PROVIDING FOR THE PLANNING OFFICIAL TO
REVIEW FOR APPROVAL AND RECOMMENDATIONS ALL SITE PLANS FOR COMPLIANCE WITH HEIGHT
AND SETBACK REQUIRMEMTNS AND TO THE PROVISIONS OF 7A-59, ALL OTHER
CONSTRUCTION REQUIRMENTS AND ALL OTHER
PROVISIONS OF THE TOWN OF MELBOURNE BEACH CODE OF ORDINANCES AND THE LAND
DEVELOPMENT CODE; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF ORDINANCES
OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING FOR INCLUSION IN THE
CODE OF ORDINANCES; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFFECTIV DATE.
Ordinance
2006-06 was read by Attorney
Tsamoutales.
Motion by Commissioner Price
to approve Ordinance 2006-06 on its first reading. Second by Vice Mayor Wilson. The motion carried unanimously
RESOLUTION 2006-06
A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF
MELBOURNE BEACH, BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA
AMENDING SITE PLAN REVIEW FEE SCHEDULE.
Resolution
2006-06 was read by Attorney Tsamoutales.
Motion by Commissioner Walters
to approve Resolution 2006-06. Second by
Commissioner Guglietta. The motion carried
unanimously
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OLD BUSINESS
Discussion and possible
action regarding the compensation time policy for employees of the Town of
Commissioner Walters stated
he had no problem with recommendation from the Town Manager. He said he has a
problem with the fact that Lt. Haran has not used any comp time in two
years. He understands the
recommendation, Lt. Haran took compensation time instead of overtime and now
has 74 hours. The Town Manager replied
the purpose of the recommendation is he felt if an employee switches from
non-exempt status to exempt status the Town would be better off paying the comp
hours then you will not run into this type of
situation. What was discussed was
to have him use the hours between now and
his retirement, and pay him for the hours he did not use. He felt there should have been delineation
when he became exempt. He recommended
the Town pay him for the 74 hours.
Motion by Commissioner
Walters to approve the recommendation of the Town Manager on the compensatory
time policy with the understanding that Lt. Haran will upon retirement or resignation
receive 74 hours of compensation pay.
Commissioner Price felt he
should just be paid now. He did not feel
it should be carried on the books.
Commissioner Walters
commented that over the last two or three years he may very well have taken
those hours off. He is a good officer
and has served the town well. He did not
want to do anything detrimental to him.
Commissioner Guglietta
clarified that they are going to pay him for the comp hours accumulated while
Lt. Haran was a non-exempt employee.
Motion by Commissioner
Walters to approve the recommendation of the Town Manager and bring back a
policy to the Commission in the form of a resolution with the understanding
that the Manager will deduct any hours used by Lt. Haran from the 74 hours
currently on the books and pay him for the difference. Second by Commissioner Price. The motion carried unanimously.
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NEW BUSINESS
Acceptance of recommendations regarding traffic
calming on
Commissioner
Walters said the reason he pulled
this from the consent agenda was because the Manager said that there was a
proposal and he wanted to know if it would cost the Town money. The Manager replied it was a proposal from an
engineer to do a traffic study if you wanted him to. He said nothing has been done at this time, and
it was not costing the Town any money.
He recommended the policy for petitions be enforced and see what the
residents come back with.
Motion by Commissioner
Guglietta to accept the recommendation from the Town Manger for the
Final
Payment - Municipal Complex in the amount of $89,668.79
Commissioner Walters stated
that he had a problem with the recommendation of the Town Manager to pay the
bill, because the gate was installed to secure the Police Department. He said the problem is not as a result of
anything Mr. Bursick has done. The gate has
never worked properly and is worthless. The
concern is that there was a design flaw that has caused the drainage to undermine
the driveway. The previous Manager came
to some type of agreement, regarding the funds for the gate, which were applied
to fix the design flaw. He said he was opposed
to paying a contractor when he did not do his job right. There is a door to nowhere in the Fire
Department, and a storm drain on the north side of
Commissioner Price asked if
there was an architect to do the design.
Commissioner Walters replied that they paid the architect to manage the
contractor. He felt the gate should have
been removed and the drainage fixed at no cost to the Town.
Mr. Bursick replied that unfortunately
that was he agreement made, between the contractor, architect and the former
manager. The credit that should have
been issued on the gate should have been $3,000, which was applied to the
repairs of the drainage. We keep having to pay for their mistakes.
Commissioner Walters did not
understand how the previous manger could make an arrangement like that.
Commissioner Price asked if
Mr. Bursick had spoken to the architect.
Mr. Bursick indicated he has spoken to the contractor. Commissioner Price felt the architect had
responsibility for managing the project
He felt the Manager should sit down with the architect and try to
reconcile the problems.
Commissioner Guglietta agreed
the funds should not be paid, and there should be a meeting with the
architect.
Chris Romandetti 451/453
Sandy Key stated that an architect must have E&O insurance. The first issue is if the door is built in
front of an unusable area shame on the city because someone at the city level
approved the plans. As it relates to the
gate, the manager should get three estimates to see what it will cost to repair
and then meet with the engineer and the contractor should be responsible.
Commissioner Walters
suggested that Mr. Bursick call the previous manager and see if he can tell him
what happened.
Motion by Commissioner Walters
to table for further research into the matter.
Second by Commissioner Guglietta.
The motion carried unanimously.
The meeting recessed for five minutes.
Discussion and possible action regarding the selection
of a new Town Manager as requested at
the
Mayor Stacey commented that he agreed on May 3 the
Commission would vote on a new Town Manager.
He stated he was reluctant to move forward because the Town is paying
two police chiefs, additional lawyers, and he said he did not feel comfortable spending
additional money. He was certain the
issue would be resolved in the next two weeks and he asked the Commission to
consider at special meeting in two weeks.
Commissioner Price commented
he did not understand what the police chief had to do with hiring a Town
Manager. Mayor Stacey replied that
currently the town ins paying two lawyers and two police chiefs. He said he did want to enter into new
negations for spending town funds.
Vice Mayor Wilson commented
that maybe something that took place today that may have been an issue.
Commissioner Walters
commented that he feels completely vindicated when dealing with Jim. He said that he is a professional
manager. He said he has a problem when the
Commission votes on something that was not on the special meeting agenda the
day the interviews were conducted. What
was decided at that meeting should not have been discussed in the first
place. The decided not to interview
anyone else. The Mayor had to put up
with 14 minutes of disruption by a citizen trying to discuss another issue that
was not on the agenda. He did not feel
this issue should have been placed on the agenda tonight. Commissioner Walters commented they
interviewed candidates, and he left that meeting because he did not want to be
part of violating the Charter where it says they will not discuss anything that
is not on the agenda. He continued
saying that while he was gone the Commission decided not to interview anyone
else by a motion made and seconded by Commissioners Price and Guglietta. He continued saying that Mr. Bursick had been
interviewed twice and he wanted to re-interview Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Munoz. He wanted to give them a second chance. Commissioner Walters felt that Mr. Bursick
was doing a fantastic job and for the first time his job was easy, he does what
he is asked to do, he gets it done. He
said he was leaning toward hiring Mr. Bursick if we can come to an agreement on
salary.
Commissioner Price replied
that he objected to re-interviewing any one.
He said he did not have that need.
Commissioner Walters commented that Mr. Bursick was interviewed twice and
he felt the others should also be interviewed twice. Commissioner Price sated that Mr. Bursick was
interviewed for the interim town manager position and then the town manager
position.
There was discussion between
Mr. Bursick and the Commission regarding whether he had been interviewed
twice.
Commissioner Walters agreed
with Mayor to proceed with caution. He
wanted to give Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Munoz the same chance. He said he wanted to discuss salary before a
selection was made.
Vice Mayor Wilson stated
there is a lot of business to take care of tonight and it should be at a
separate meeting.
There was discussion
regarding this item being placed on the agenda.
Motion by Commissioner Walters
to table to the first Wednesday in June.
Second by Vice Mayor Wilson
There was discussion
regarding a meeting that took place that afternoon. There was further discussion regarding items
being placed on meeting agendas.
Commissioner Guglietta commented about a previous meeting and having items
added to the agenda. There was
discussion between Commissioner Guglietta and Commissioner Walters regarding
special call meetings.
The question was called and
the motion carried with Commissioner Price and Commissioner Guglietta voting
no.
Commissioner Walters asked if
anyone wanted to re-interview. The
consensus of the commission was not to.
Mayor Stacey reported there
was a meeting today to discuss the status of Chief Syrkus. He said Mr. Bursick will have to compile the
information to make a decision regarding his status.
Commissioner Guglietta
commented that if Mr. Bursick wanted additional pay for the position of Town
Manger should not the Town give it to him if he is worth it. Commissioner Walters commented he wanted to
discuss it because he was paying taxes.
At this point all decorum was
lost.
Chris Romandetti 451/453
Sandy Key asked if there would be public discussion at the special meeting. He said his problem was if you take it out of
this venue, you will isolate the residents Mayor Stacey replied the issue will be
discussed later in the meeting.
Commissioner Walters
commented that the Commission previously allowed public comment. The previous Town Attorney suggested no
comment because other towns do that. He
stated the residents do not like it.
Commissioner Price stated there has never been a vote to discontinue
public comment at special meeting.
Mr. Romandetti said he has
had interaction with the new manager and he was very professional and he has
done a lot in a short time. He also
stated he believes there is another agenda.
He said he knew all about what was going to happen with Gail before it
happened. The rumor mill is the problem
and he feels that they will use Mr. Bursick to fire the Chief and bring in a
new Chief and not have him (Mr. Bursick)
have that luggage to carry.
Jim Simmons - 409 Avenue B
commented the Commission should make a conditional offer, come to an agreement
on salary and if you cannot, go to the next candidate.
The Mayor apologized that
this happened tonight and he said that a decision will be made at the special
meeting.
Discussion and possible
action regarding public comments at Special Commission Meetings as requested at
the
Motion by Commissioner Guglietta
to allow public discussion on agenda items only.
Commissioner Price felt they
should not vote to establish comments at special meeting. He felt there are
times when emergency or special meetings are called that should not have
comments. He agreed comments should only
be on the items on the agenda and felt that the person holding the gavel should
have control of the meeting. Vice Mayor
Wilson stated this issue caused several problems at the last meeting. Comments should be limited to what is on the
agenda. Commissioner Walters agreed that
comments are valuable, when they are about the issues on the agenda. He said he felt the Mayor did a good job
controlling the meeting, and he thought he was actually being baited by Mr.
Thomas.
Commissioner Price stated
there is a section on the regular agenda called non-scheduled citizen comments. This is for citizens to talk about anything
they wish. This is not on any other
agenda. Comments need to be strictly
controlled and only about agenda items for special meetings.
Members of the Commission
continued to discuss who and what items may be placed on the agenda for special
meetings.
There was discussion
regarding occupational licenses and the fact that they can no longer be called
licenses. Municipalities will now have
to charge a tax for businesses, they cannot prevent an individual from opening
a business in town.
Jean Marshall –
Ann Downing -
Motion by Commissioner Walters
to allow public comment subject to the agenda items only. Second by Commissioner Guglietta. The motion carried with Commissioner Price
voting no.
Commissioner Price indicated
that he agreed there should be public comment but he did not feel it should be
in a motion.
Discussion and possible
action regarding the recovery of the Town's artifacts currently in the
possession of Mr. Frank Thomas as requested by Commissioner Guglietta.
Mayor
Stacey commented that he received an e-mail from Mr. Thomas saying he was going
to
Commissioner Guglietta wants
to know where the artifacts of the Town are.
He wanted to know what belongs to the Town. He wanted to know what can be done to get
those artifacts back to the town. He said he has heard the artifacts are in the
possession of Frank Thomas. He said Mr.
Thomas is no longer the historian.
The
Commissioner Walters
commented that at one time Mr. Thomas was the Town Historian, he wrote a book,
and as historian, he was given photographs and such in trust. Pictures from the 1800’s and artifacts were
put in the old post office, one day Mr. Thomas decided he wanted them and
removed them without permission. The
Commission asked for the things back and he refused. As a result of his actions, he was removed as
historian. Mr. Thomas has decided that
those were his artifacts and he was going to keep them. He felt that if Mr. Thomas was not going to
cooperate with the Town then the Town should not cooperate with him. Why should we allow him to use the Ryckman
House for a money making venture.
The Vice Mayor thought it
would be best to have a judge decide.
Commissioner Walters
commented that this occurred over 10 years ago.
The Commission has not taken action because they cannot prove which
items belong to the Town. He felt that
the taxpayers should not have to pay to take him to court.
Commissioner Walters said Mr.
Thomas should have had a permit for his history walk. There was no police presence it was a hazard. He convinced the Clerk to give him the
key. He needs to be made to follow the
rules.
Discussion and possible
action in support of the Stolen Valor Act as requested by Commissioner Walters.
Commissioner Walters stated
he felt the Commission should support veterans.
Congressman Bill Salazar has introduced a bill that would make it a crime to say you have
metals you did not earn. Currently there
are laws regarding the Medal of Valor only
This discredits those that have served.
Some claim they have received medals but they have not earned them. What he wanted to do was to send a resolution
to our Congressional delegation urging them to support Congressman Salazar's
Bill.
Motion by Commissioner Walters to direct the Town
Manger to prepare a Resolution in support of the Stolen Valor Act as presented
by Congressman Salazar and send it to our congressional district. Second by Vice Mayor Wilson.
Commissioner Price stated
that the Commission needs to be careful.
He agrees with the spirit of what Commissioner Walters said , but the
people who get those catalogs and order those medals are primarily teenagers
and kids. If they are debating it on Capitol
Hill, they should debate it and consider
what the impact is on the kids that order them.
Commissioner Walters read the
section of the Bill that discusses people representing themselves as receiving
these awards from the government. Not
necessarily kids wearing them for decoration, they are not claiming to have
received them. False representation for
receiving these awards is a disgrace.
Commissioner Guglietta stated
that if anyone wants to check any record they can write to
Mayor Stacey commented that
every medal received should have back up material from the government.
The question was called and
the motion was carried unanimously.
Discussion and possible
action on the Town of
Commissioner Guglietta stated
employees can accrue thousands of hours of sick and vacation time. In many companies, you receive a specific
number of sick days per year, and if you do not use them, you get paid for
them. In
Commissioner Price stated
that the Federal Government allows you to accumulate 13 days per year. When you retire, the sick time can be applied
against your retirement. Annual leave
from the federal government is handled differently. You get 4 weeks per year, and you use the
annual leave, you can accumulate your annual leave, but you are encouraged to
use it in the year you get it. You are
discouraged from using sick leave.
People should be encouraged to use their vacation time. Everyone benefits when people take
vacations. Sick leave should be allowed
for but discouraged from taking.
Commissioner Guglietta commented
that if you do not take a sick day for 20 years you can accumulate 1820
hours. When you leave, you will get paid
for half of them. If you make $20.00
per hour, you will have to pay the employee 18,000.00 when they leave. Commissioner Price stated that once you put a
limit on sick leave, people will take them.
Commissioner Walters
commented that this has been debated on the Commission over many years. The issue that allowed this was the union
thought it was a good deal for everyone.
Over a period of time, it was decided on the Police Department, that you
could accumulate sick time but only a limited amount. Then what began to happen is employees began
taking the time off, and a replacement would have to be paid time and a half to
take his shift and pay him for his own shifts.
The Commission and the union then decided there should be no limit on
sick time. The reason for this was
situations such as Cindy. She did not
take 10 days of sick time the whole time she was here and then got cancer. If we limit the sick time what do we do when
some one gets really sick, tell them to use their time and when it is done we do
not pay them anymore. The agreement was
if you do not take your sick time except when you need it when you leave we
will give you half. With this policy,
sick time was reduced drastically on the police department, which reduced the
overtime budget. This is an incentive it
helps build a nest egg. It is definitely
a benefit to the employees and the Town.
Commissioner Price replied
that when people are at work the operation runs smooth. When they are not at work things fall through
the cracks.
Commissioner Guglietta
replied he understood the point the Commissioners were making but he still felt
that sick time should be limited. He
felt the Town provides for the use of compensation time to be substituted for
the use sick time.
Motion by Vice Mayor Wilson
to leave the policy and procedures manual concerning sick and vacation leave as
it is written today. Second by Commissioner
Walters. The motion carried
unanimously.
********
REPORTS:
Mayor Stacey
commented that there had been a lot of talk about Mr. Thomas and he wanted on
the record that Mr.
Thomas donated $5,000.00 to the Town in 1991.
Town Manager - Finance report for the first seven months of 2006
revenues collected in the general fund are $1,330,448.00 or 69% of the
budget. Expenses equaled $969,388.00 or
50.4% of the budget. The annual audit is
nearing completion we are waiting for the management letter comments. The corrective action agreement with
Commissioner Guglietta asked
where the line would end. Commissioner Walters
commented the school and soccer field belongs to the Town. The sign should be by the school. This should also be in place to prevent
challenges to the speed citations.
Mr. Bursick mentioned the Florida
Main Street Program, if there is any interest in participating, the application
deadline is June 30. The designation
would help the town with applications for grant funds, but it may require
hiring a main street manager and if that was the case, it would not be
feasible. Things need to be checked out
further.
Thanked the staff, public
works, and the police department for all their hard work and help pulling
Founders Day together.
Town
Commissioners
Mayor Stacey - reported
that he was the honorary chair of arthritis foundation walkathon. It was a great success.
Commissioner Price - congratulated the new bocce ball champions from
Founders Day it was great fun. Excellent
turnout for Founders Day. He stated that
he supported the suggestion that we continue to make tee shirts available to
citizens at cost. He thank the staff and
the Commission for their attendance and support at the League of Cities dinner
this month. He thanked the Clerk for all
her help at the door it was a lot of work.
There were several interesting presentations especially the one regarding
the new ruling that municipalities will no longer be issuing occupational
licenses, they will be issuing business tax receipts. We cannot deny people from operating a legitimate
business. We can determine what the
taxes are. We are not licensing people
to operate only collecting a tax. There
was a presentation given by the director of Port Canaveral. There is so much going on and coming to the
port that we need to pay attention to it.
He stated he attended the annual leadership breakfast. He encouraged staff to attend these
meeting. There are so many resources
available at those meetings and we should take advantage of them.
Commissioner Guglietta - congratulated the team that beat him in bocce. He thanked the Town Manager for the seminar on revenue services. He learned a lot. He was concerned about the letter received
from DCA stating the Comprehensive Plan needs to be updated. He said that if we do not meet the deadline
we can loose grant money and we can be censured by the DCA. He informed the members of the Commission
that he is moving further South to
Vice Mayor Wilson – reported that some people felt the activities at
Founders Day went way too late.
Kathy Emerson -
Vice Mayor Wilson asked about
the air conditioners behind Town Hall.
The Manager responded that it was enclosed and Mr. Olsen was
pleased. He asked about the Code
Enforcement report he said he did not see one in the packet. Commissioner Walters replied that it is in
the packet and what he was happy about was that he was giving warnings. He felt that he was doing a great job.
Commissioner Walters reported that he attended the retirement board
meeting. He said they have been trying
to hire an attorney. It will cost $250
per hour. They have applications and are
scheduling interviews. One of the
issues that came up was a definition by the former manager. Lt. Haran had called the state and spoke with