TOWN
OF
TOWN COMMISSION - REGULAR MEETING
MINUTES
Community Center n- 6:30 PM
The Town
Commission of the Town of Melbourne
********
Present were
Mayor
Mayor Stacey called the meeting
to order and led the audience in the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance to
the Flag.
********
Consent
Agenda - Commissioner Walters requested items A and B be moved to
New Business for discussion, also under New Business, Item 12B, discussion and
possible action on refunding of extensive clerical assistance charges to all
persons charged in the last 15 months in relation to public records requests
prior to adoption of Chapter 22 Public Records Policy and Procedures. Commissioner Walters stated that Mr. Darling
had advised him that refunding his money was no longer a settlement option and
he removed it from the agenda.
Commissioner Guglietta asked for clarification of Commissioners Walters
changes. The Mayor stated moving Items A
and B to New Business and removing Item 12B under New Business. - The items
were approved by consensus.
The
next item under the Consent Agenda was the residential site plan review for
Recommendation
from the Planning and Zoning Board was to approve as stated
at
the
recommended
by Planning and Zoning. Second by Commissioner
Guglietta.
Motion
carried unanimously.
********
PROCLAMATIONS AND AWARDS - Life Saving Award for Officer Richard J.
Duvall. Officer Duvall stepped forward and Mayor Stacey read the Commendation and
offered
his congratulations for a job well done.
The Chief of Police also introduced the newest officer to the Melbourne Beach Police Department, Officer Dwayne Lanning.
Mayor Stacey commented that he went to
********
Non Citizen Comments
- Dean Darling - 421 Sixth Avenue read a statement because he said that
he received phone calls stating that no one heard this when they were speaking
on the public records request issue. On
August 13, I called the Town Commission regarding a letter from Chief Syrkus
pertaining to employment as a police officer from this town. On the fifteenth, I provided photocopies of
Chief Syrkus' and
*******
Commissioner Walters commented that the Commission missed the approval of the minutes. The Mayor stated that the Clerk had been very busy and she is still working hard to get caught up.
********
The Town Manger introduced the interim Town Attorneys Nick
Tsamoutales and Gary Sack. He indicated
that Mr. Tsamoutales is the Town Attorney for the City of
********
Public Hearing - Attorney Tsamoutales read Ordinance 6-2005 by title:
AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF MELBOURNE BEACH, BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA DESIGNATING AND ESTABLISHING THE AUDIT COMMITTEE IN ACCORDANCE WITH FLORIDA STATUTE 218.391 AUDITOR SELECTION PROCEDURES, EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2005; SETTING FORTH THE COMMITTEES DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES; ESTABLISHING SAID COMMITTEES ORGANIZATION, RULES AND PROEDURES; REQUIRING THAT ALL MEETINGS BE PUBLIC AND PROVIDING FOR THE KEEPING OF PUBLIC RECORDS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY OF ANY PORTION DECLARED INVALID; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Motion by Commissioner Price to approve Ordinance
6-2005. Second by Commissioner
Guglietta. The Vice Mayor asked for
clarification about the duties of the committee. The Town Manager commented that there is new
legislation that mandates a five-member audit committee to make the selection
regarding the audit firm hired by the Town.
The Vice Mayor stated that it would be a recommending board. The Manger asked for was authorization to
solicit applications and to set a special meeting for
The Clerk stated that a notice would be placed on the bulletin board. There being no public discussion. The question was called. The motion carried unanimously.
********
Town Attorney Tsamoutales read Ordinance 7-2005 by title:
AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF MELBOURNE BEACH, BREVARD
COUNTY, FLORIDA, REPEALING ORDINANCE 3-2005, RELATING TO BUILDING AND STRUCTURE HEIGHT LIMITS; THAT PROVIDE FOR A
REFERENDUM ELECTION AND BALLOT LANGUAGE; PROVIDING FINDINGS; PROVIDING A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Motion by Commissioner Price to approve Ordinance
7-2005. Second by Commissioner Guglietta. He continued stating that this was the
ordinance that rescinds Ordinance 3005-3 from the ballot. There being no public comment. The question was called and the motion
carried unanimously.
********
Town Attorney Tsamoutales read Resolution 07-2005 by title:
A RESOLUTION
OF THE TOWN OF MELBOURNE BEACH, BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA ADOPTING THE MANDATORY
PLAN AMENDMENT ELIMINATING AUTOMATIC DISTRIBUTIONS OF ACCOUNTS OF $1000.00; AND
PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE OF SEPTEMBER 29, 2005.
Motion by
Commissioner Price to approve Resolution 07-2005. Second by Commissioner Guglietta. Commissioner Walters asked for clarification
on the Resolution. The Town Manager
replied that notification from the state was received stating that this changes
an automatic distribution from $5000.00 to $1000.00. There being no public comment. The question was called and the motion
carried unanimously.
********
New Business - The first item under New Business was the approval of holidays for 2006. Commissioner Walters asked if all employees involved in this decision. The Town Manager replied that all employees were contacted and had an opportunity to vote on which days they would like off during the Christmas holiday as Christmas falls on a Monday making next year a bit unique.
Motion by Commissioner to approve holidays for 2006. Second by Commissioner Price. The motion carried unanimously.
The next item on the agenda was the approval of the contract to the repair finger piles in the amount of $8,000.00.
Motion made by Commissioner Price motion to approve the repair of finger piles in the amount of $8,000.00. Second by Vice Mayor Wilson.
The Town Manager commented that this was a result of storm damage to the pier last year. He indicated that he originally contacted the company that installed the pier and
they were not interested in the job. This contractor was at League of Cities, and
he has done a number of jobs with
Motion by Commissioner Walters to amend the motion on the floor and waive under Section 15-27(J) (3) the formal bidding procedures as described, and approve the request.
The original maker of the motion and the second accepted the amendment.
Jean Marshall 420 Sixth Avenue - Mrs. Marshall asked if this repair was budgeted and was it insured? She also wanted to know if we would be getting funds from FEMA. The Town Manager replied that it was not budgeted but it is anticipated that the Town will get a 75% reimbursement from FEMA. She also asked if FEMA had paid the town for last year. The Town Manager replied that we have not received anything at this point, but the review of the projects were completed 2 weeks ago for all work that has been done, and the work that is to be completed will be recommended for approval.
There being no further comment the issue was brought back to the Commission. Commissioner Walters clarified that the reason he changed the motion was that we were accepting the county bid price as they have also done work in the county. The question was called and the motion carried unanimously.
********
The next item on the agenda was the Discussion and possible amendment to Chapter 22
Policy and Procedures Manual - Policy and Procedures on Public Records Requests. The
Town Manager stated that the Town Clerk and he had discussed the policy and they both
felt that the Clerk should be the official person to receive all requests and provide the
official response. This would amendment would not change the custodians of the
department records, but would provide continuity.
The Mayor stated 90% of the Clerks job is filling public record requests. Commissioner Price stated that document requests are becoming a problem for the town in the sense that the Clerk receives so many requests she is working full days retrieving documents, recording tapes, etc. and they do not seem to be slowing down. It is a problem. We are required under the law to provide documents; we do not have a large staff to do this job. This is not a simple matter it is serious. We need a solution.
Commissioner Walters commented that our clerk is new and is still getting things organized and trying to keep up with demands for records requests. He stated that the clerk presented the Commission with a list of requests for the last 18 months. He stated that the town has received 128 requests, which is one request every 3 days. Of those requests, 60% were $3.00 or less, 85% of them were $10.00 or less. The problem seems to be not the number of requests but the recent volume of the requests. With police files
and personnel files, you have to go through the files and
take out confidential information and then make a copy of that. So far,
for October there are seven requests. In
order to facilitate her job the Commission authorized a high-speed
recorder. My problem is that I do not
want to put more burden on her. She
needs to get things organized the way she wants them. I am not in favor of this policy is because
if someone comes in asks for an accident report, the police department knows
how many copies to make. The report is
easily acceptable as the police department knows exactly where everything
is. Under this scenario,
Vice Mayor Wilson stated that he had a conversation with the Clerk just recently and the last time this subject came up we talked about plans that had to be transported, she stated that because she is the keeper of the records she is the one that has to go. I think this is a waste of the Clerks time. I thought she could designate an assistant keeper of the documents. We could use a courier system and pay courier fee.
Commissioner Price stated all of these are the details of accomplishing the task. What is being asked is not to provide the details, it is to provide in our policy and procedures a key person to make the decision as to what needs to be done when and how, that is very different from what is being discussed. The key person is certainly the Clerk. She has to use her discretion as to what records need to be protected and secured at all times. Only the Clerk is expert in making those decisions. Commissioner Walters stated that he did not agree with that.
Commissioner Guglietta commented that if a person wants information on financial records they go to the finance clerk who is the custodian of the finance records. The same as for the police, the chief is the custodian, public works; the public works superintendent is the custodian. My concern is that too many people are going to too many people to get information. I would like to know who exactly is picking up these records. I would like to know why they are being picked up and how much time is being used by the different departments. I would like a single source to go to. He continued stating that Commissioner Walters commented on how many public requests were made, but those were for the public only, not how many I asked for this month or any Commissioner asked for, just what the public asked for. I want to know these facts. I want to be able to ask one person if I have questions about public records. I do not think I should go to the police chief and ask for records. I think we must go through a central person. We are talking about being able to get records quickly. Make your request, pay your money, and be on your way. The Mayor asked if that was possible. The Clerk responded stating that it would certainly depend on what the record is. She continued stating that for the most part you can give information to people within five or ten minutes.
Commissioner Price commented stating that there are always exceptions to the rule and there will always be exceptions. At those times, we explain that the records are not readily available and will have it available as soon as it can be retrieved. That has to go through a central person.
Commissioner Walters replied that these requests do not reflect those of the Commission. We also have a deputy clerk. What I am talking about is the Police Chief has confidential records that are not open for inspection and he knows what is confidential and what is not. He knows the law. That is why the duties were divided to make sure the Chief is in charge of his records. I have no qualms with the Town Mangers suggestion. What I am trying to do is lessen the Clerks burden and keep what has worked for 30 years. The Clerk is in control of all records except the police records.
Commissioner Guglietta stated that you go to the person that has the records and you get what you need. Just because it has been working for 30 years does not mean it is still working. We need to educate the people that all public records requests go through the Town Clerk. I think the Chief has better things to do then worry about records. I am not suggesting we take the police records from the Chief and give them to the Clerk, just have one source, one place. .
Commissioner Price commented that the point is that this request for this change is coming from the Manager because he sees a problem. This is the person we charge with running the Town. He is requesting the right to centralize records retrieval. All he is saying is that record requests come through the Clerk.
Vice Mayor Wilson asked what the down side is to having the separation of records. The Town Manager replied that the issue raised about accidents reports is a good one, but that is not what he was talking about. He did not intend to change that. The routine public records requests and he does not consider accident reports routine records requests would continue as is. I am talking about typically personnel files, which must be treated differently; those requests should come through the Clerk. We can have the flexibility regarding traffic reports and other such things. With your permission, we can work around that. Commented replied stating that this not an issue of volume. It is simply to expedite the requests. The Vice Mayor stated that the Town also just passed a Public Records Policy. How would we separate these issues? The Town Manager replied that if someone is looking for an accident report we are going to send themdirectly to the Police Department.
Motion by Commissioner Price to approve the amendment to the Policy and Procedures Manual. Second Guglietta.
The Mayor stated that he believes this would be okay to and see if it works. Commissioner Walters stated he was going to vote no because the request says responding to all requests for public record. . Commissioner Price replied stating that the essence of the motion is giving the Manager the opportunity to design a system that
will help the town function. He indicated that what the Manager said is that he wants sensitive records to come through the Clerk, which makes sense, and that police reports will continue to go through the police department. They will be able to structure that in the Town Hall.
Vice Mayor Wilson stated that what we are doing is setting up a gatekeeper. I just do not want it to become an impossible obstacle to get passed.
Commissioner Walters stated that you have a right under 119.07 to request records, not only that, you do not have to give your name, or your reason if you do not want to. You have the right under Florida Statute to do that, and we do not have the right to put obstacles in your way.
Commissioner Price stated that we are here to obey the law.
Dean Darling -
Ron Gallagher -
Mark Abraham -
Commissioner Price commented that there is so much going on when people ask for records. It is wise for the town to have a person who is familiar with the rules, regulations and the laws and takes the extra steps to make sure that the laws are adhered to. We want a person that is so familiar with the rules and laws that we do not find our selves in a problem.
Jean Marshall 410 Sixth Avenue - I think the police department
should be the head of their own records,
I called Town Hall they said call the police department and I have still not have received my record 8 days later. It has worked in the past leave it alone.
Gail Gowdy -
Commissioner Guglietta stated that we are paying the custodian to make sure that the Government in the Sunshine Manual rules are being followed. If I ask the Clerk a question about records, she refers me to the page in the manual where I can read it. He continued stating that normal public record requests should go through the Clerk.
The Mayor called the question. The motion carried with Commissioner Walters voting no.
********
The next item on the agenda was to set up workshop schedule
for possible changes to Ordinance 2004-1.
Commissioner Guglietta stated that Ordinance 2005-3 is off the ballot
because the document 2004-1 has some flaws.
The
The Mayor asked what priority he wanted to give this. Commissioner Guglietta stated that he did not think that the Commission should be involved until the final product is ready.
Commissioner Price indicated that residents from the Breakers volunteered to help.
The Mayor asked that the Town Manager take care of setting up the workshop.
Motion by Commissioner Price to approve the Town Manger set up a workshop. Second by Commissioner Guglietta.
Ron Gallagher 318 Third Avenue - in relation to workshops will the town attorney be privy as to what is going on before submitted for approval? Commissioner Guglietta stated that he thinks they would be. It is put forth to the attorney ahead of time before it goes to the Commission.
Xochie Ross -
Commissioner Price stated that he believes that the responsibility of committees is that if they see an area of conflict to initiate discussion with the Commission.
Commissioner Guglietta commented that we do not direct the Parks Board, they come to us, and that he understand the confusion. Most of the people that come to the meeting hear the Commission discussing it. If they see something wrong, they should bring it to the Commissions attention. Commissioner Price stated that what we need to do is give the community the opportunity to come up with thoughts and make some type of recommendation. He asked the Town Manager to initiate that, and get a group together to start to discuss it.
Vice Mayor Wilson stated that he brought up the issue that
one Commissioner attend the
Commissioner Price stated that he would be timid about taking his ideas and pushing them on the Board.
Mark Abraham 410 Atlantic Street - felt that
Bob Mayer -
Commissioner Price stated that it is such a serious matter that impacts everyone. It would be devastating, there are a lot of properties that are non-conforming use and if a hurricane came through there would be some serious problems. He continued stating that it is why we need to stimulate the community and educate them. Let the community pick it apart and build something that will work and we want.
Mr. Mayer continued stating that when people buy homes here, they are not thinking about hurricanes and the problems that could arise. He believe that homes that were built 50 years ago should be grandfathered in.
Commissioner Guglietta stated that Mr. Mayer was saying exactly what the Commission is trying to do. We want to get the people involved.
Commissioner Price asked that the Town Manger to get the people involved.
Commissioner Guglietta asked if Mr. Mayer was interested in
serving on the committee for this issue.
Mr. Mayer indicated that he
would. Mr. Mayer continued commenting on
the flooding issues in Town. Vice Mayor
Wilson, commented that when someone buys a home, is it the banks obligation to
tell you that it is a non-conforming structure.
The Attorney responded that it is up to purchaser to be diligent enough
to find that out. Commissioner Price
indicated that if you have a realtor then it is their responsibility of the
realtor to tell you it is non-conforming.
The Attorney continued stating that the lender will require a survey if
they determine there are encroachments. The Vice Mayor stated that as it is now
they would have to re-build to the current code. Commissioner Price stated that if it was made
public that here in Melbourne
Mr. Mayer stated that this is a town with character it is great. It would make sense that you would grandfather in those properties. When you buy a house, you do not necessarily get concerned with conforming use.
Mayor Stacey indicated that he is sure the Commission will do something about this. Commissioner Price commented that this is a priority and the Town Manager will help get this started. Commissioner Guglietta interjected stating that the Commission needs to get this addressed including the storm water system and finding financing to get these things done. He believes that the Commission should stop talking about it, and get this done and clean up the code. He believes there should be citizen input, which is who the Commission works for, and come up with a good solid land development code.
Ron Gallagher commented that it was in the paper recently
that some towns are starting to bury electrical lines. He asked if the problem regarding parking on
********
REPORTS - The Town Attorney had noting to report. Town Manager gave this report: Last month you requested me to proceed with
making repairs at 310 and
Vice Mayor Wilson gave the following report: He Reminded everyone of the Iceman's Ball on
October 29 at
Town Manger replied that if it were to be written, he would
suggest that you have the Town Attorney and the Clerk review it. It is for educational purposes. Vice Mayor Wilson replied that this looks
like it is something that needs to be addresses. We have zoning challenges in this town and if
there is no way the County can enforce theirs there is no way the Town of
Melbourne
Commissioner Guglietta reported that at the MPO meeting this
month, projects were discussed, and
Chief responded saying that the Florida Police Chiefs Association is pushing for legislation to change Article 5 in the upcoming Legislative Session. In addition, the Florida League of Cities is pushing for the same. There will be no change until the delegation meets.
Commissioner Price reported that the League of Cities is wrapping up their fiscal year. Traffic fines are tied to the funding of the
courts, the fees will probably not come
back to us. The League came up with
action items, with the biggest being annexation and illegal fireworks. They want to outlaw the sale of
fireworks. Sewage from game ships, stormwater
funding, and insurance reform are some of the others. The next meeting will be in
Commissioner Walters reported that he thought the meeting tonight was a positive meeting. He apologized for missing the last meet, the first time in four years. He reported that he did get a copy of the tape and listened to it. He stated that he would like to shed light on an issue the Mayor took a beating from members of the Commission and some of the anger. He stated that Mr. Darling requested some records, according to Mr. Darling he was charged $355.00 he paid it and when he got home he started calling members of the Commission. He wanted to know about policy, there was none in effect for extensive use, and if there wasn't, going by State law had never been used. We have a new Town Clerk, he related to me several issues he felt were not fair and I think if anybody has ever felt wronged in an employment dispute you can understand how stressful it is and how concerned you are. I called the town attorney, I expressed the
concerns of Mr. Darling he said that he agreed with me and some of the issues involved. Under the Sunshine Law, I cannot call the Mayor, so I asked the attorney if he could call him. The Mayor is the Clerk's immediate supervisor. The attorney said he would. Mr. Darling called back stating he received a refund for all but the copies and that he was satisfied at that time, and told the Mayor that in the event that the Commission ruled against him he would go and pay that money back to the town. I want to commend the Mayor for trying to keep us out of a situation where we are going to have a lawsuit, and commend him for his leadership. He is the Clerk's immediate supervisor and this Commission has never defined exactly what that means, and if we want to do so, we can. It has always been that if you are the Mayor you give her direction and he gave her direction based on what the attorney told him in an effort to come to some kind of compromise. You do not throw gas on a fire and expect to put it out. I did what I did, and apparently the Town Attorney gave some direction to the Mayor and his money was refunded. I told Mr. Darling that I do not agree with his tactics. However, I also appreciate you integrity because within a few days of getting that notice to pay the money you went down and reimbursed the town. I appreciate that, and I hope this issue will be resolved in the near future. That is the end of my report. I think the Mayor took a beating and I feel what he did was right. He is the Mayor of this Town and he tried to put out a fire.
Mayor Stacey reported that he attended the
Motion by Commissioner Price to adjourn. Second by Commissioner Walters. The Motion carried unanimously.
William G. Stacey
Mayor
ATTEST:
Town Clerk