WINDING DOWN …. TO WIND UP FOR FALL ….

Anglin Pier …

Dear Readers … the word from those who keep in touch …the Town is quiet…not much going on…as we wind down from summer and wind up for Fall … which will be quite a different story…We have the budget meeting on Sept. 13th at 7 pm…Reg. Comm. meeting on Sept. 14th at 7 pm…The following week is the Reg. Comm. Roundtable at 5 pm on Mon. Sept. 20th…Tuesday at 7 pm is the monthly Master Plan Steering Committee meeting with a presentation by Asst. TM Bentley and perhaps representatives of the plans for the A1A FDOT Project…(no agenda as of yet…will post when received)….Wed. night is the Planning & Zoning Board at 6:30 pm dealing with codes brought forward from previous Roundtable discussions such as these from the agenda ..
“NEW BUSINESS
Request: The Planning and Zoning Board to provide recommendations to the Town Commission to the proposed
amendments to the Towns’ Code of Ordinances.

Item #1: Permitted uses in the B-1 and B-1A Zoning District

At the July 14, 2010 Commission Roundtable meeting, direction was given to staff to broaden the code to become more business friendly. Consultant Walter Keller reviewed the existing business uses and commonly accepted business uses in the B1 and B1-A zoning districts. Walter has provided a suggested listing of uses for your review and recommendations. ( Walter Keller, Consultant )

Item #2: Amendments Section 30-313 (31) Accessory Buildings and Structures.

At the June 9, 2010 Commission Roundtable meeting, direction was given to staff to move forward with drafting an ordinance amending the code to address sheds and storage containers that do not require a permit. ( Jeff Bowman, Director of Development Services )

Item #3: Amendments to Chapter 30-22 Adopting Zoning Relief Procedures ( Town Attorney Susan
Trevarthen )

At the Town Commission meeting of July 27, 2010, the Commission authorized moving forward with amending Chapter 30 “Unified Land Development Regulations” of the Town Code of Ordinances by creating Section 30-22 “Zoning Relief Procedures” to provide for a zoning relief procedure to address possible unintended violations of federal and state laws in the application of the Code or its related rules, policies, and procedures. This proposed amendment provides a preventative procedure to protect the Town from legal challenges, and facilitates the resolution of disputes.

Item #4: Amendments to Chapter 30-501 Adopting Severability Provisions to the Sign Code. ( Town Attorney Susan Trevarthen )

At its meeting of July 27, 2010, the Commission approved the Notice of Intent to move forward with amending Chapter 30, Article VIII, Sign Regulations, of the Town’s Code of Ordinances. These revisions to the sign code enhance severability provisions, resolve internal conflicts, and enhance defensibility in light of recent case law. Several minor changes have also been bade to address inconsistencies and implementation issues identified by Town staff.”

The second and final budget meeting to adopt the FY2010-2011 Budget will be held on Mon. Sept. 27th at 6 pm with the second Reg. Comm. Mtg. the next night, Sept. 28th  at 7 pm …

While it may seem quiet out and about to so many …there has been some action going on in town ….and behind the scenes even more so ……

The Pier has been busy with being the background for a TV series (The Glades …prev. posts)…but also for an ad on national TV for a diabetes drug…It shows a man fishing on the Pier…This writer was informed it was done about 4 months ago…So keep your eyes open for it…The funny coincidence was I had the local channel on while searching the guide to record the series The Glades to make sure to catch the Pier episode in the future when this ad came on!…

The Pier alleyway opening is progressing with the aid of the Town and the county to get it correctly striped with the proper signage to be used as it should have been all along…

The Valet service has had some hits and misses in its trial period thus far…One report was distributed (prev. post) with another substantive report coming (?) and some fine tuning will come as well to have it continue on in season…It will be included when the Town Administration and Commission along with the aid of the P & Z  deal with the antiquated and stifling parking requirements downtown…

Earlier this summer this writer unfortunately posted misinformation of a business closing after hearing the news from reliable Townspeople who passed on information told to them in the same manner…It was not done maliciously, and after a second business was also cited by quite a few as being closed, only to find it too is open as well …better PR for business in LBTS  is needed ASAP …because if the locals are so sure these businesses are gone or going… what about the visitors?…

The timing of coincidences has always amazed me…that it happens so often even more so…This writer was sitting at a Cubs game last Monday night and heard the women behind us speaking about this website called Groupon…Low and behold the next morning I received an e-mail sent out by local LBTS resident/Realtor/and new BTSFuture staffwriter Shevaun Steward-Kuhn, (GRI, GREEN Fine Homes Specialist Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Florida 1st www.ShevaunsRealEstate.com Direct 954-817-0606 Fax 954-525-7650) …It’s just one of the many informative e-mails Shevaun sends out …

http://www.groupon.com/fort-lauderdale/

The liaison program this Commission brought forth at their procedural meeting is a success whether it has been under an official liaison designation from the dais or acting in that capacity to either aid a constituent or fulfill a campaign promise…it’s working!…

Com. Sasser has been instrumental in helping the Choice Environmental Services situation as well as working with the Chamber presently on the budget for next year… Mayor Minnet worked successfully with the contract for Ms. Hoffmann as Int. TM and is now again working on the new contract after the 5-0 vote on Aug. 25th… Comm. Vincent though not designated liaison from the dais,was successful in aiding with the Pier alley access and the valet service trial … as well as the public bathrooms…now on hold…. Vice Mayor Dodd has been successful in having so many of the items he championed and were ignored by the previous Commission and Administration brought forth by these new Commissioners taking them on as “liaisons” and having them finally pass …(prev. posts)…He has unofficially been working as a liaison on the Artificial Reef Project with carrying out tests on the original buoy and opening up transparency with those involved in the project thus far…and the new Administration… to try and see if this can project can come to fruition …(see previous post)..

In October the Chamber will again have their Annual Fish Fry …the location this year will be Jarvis Hall …mark your calendars for Oct. 6, 2010!….. Make sure to check their site for updates on business…craft  fairs and events… http://www.lbts.com/chamber.html

Commissioner Sasser and his wife Teresa have been hard at work with getting Halloween ready and from the sounds of it…it’s going to make for quite some eye-candy as well as the bountiful trick or treat variety! …This writer will post any upcoming posters and photos when they are available as was done for Easter and July 4th…Stay tuned and get your costumes and Halloween bags ready for one tricked-out event in Jarvis Hall for Halloween 2010!…

Looks like the “goal post” has changed in where the future problems are going to be concerning the sewers and a Town Master Sewer Plan agreement with Pompano Beach… First, the Pompano Beach Commission voted to raise the water/waste last Thursday in a re-do …Our Town Manager Hoffmann caught the lack of proper notice before it was revealed in the newspaper and sent a memo to that effect to the Comms…. That will result in a big “hit” for all the LBTS customers as warned …and while it seems likely that SRClub and SRLNorth Condos will now be expected to pay any surcharge etc…just as other condos in the south and cover any expenses charged to the Town instead of what was covered previously in the behind the Town Hall doors decision made by just a few since annexation..It will most likely be a major stumbling block in any new negotiations with Pompano Beach for a Townwide Master Sewer Plan that tries to include the annexed north end of Town due to the decision made of turning over the new sewers after the change from septic!… This writer is trying to find info on that decision and why it was made…leading to what now appears to be a major blunder!…

…………………
Sentinel …Excerpts…full text link below…

“City commissioners approved a 22.6 percent increase to a typical water bill in the city on Thursday, reaffirming an action they took in July, but this time with many more angry residents on hand.

The commission had to take up the issue again because city water users had not received proper notice about the July public hearings. The extra notice made a difference.
But city officials said the current rates have not covered the cost of providing water and sewer services. The city had to dip into reserves for at least the past three years — including $3.4 million this year — to make up the difference, officials said.

“We can’t afford to let the citizens of Pompano Beach get gouged left and right. It’s too much. It’s too fast,” resident Richard Elie said. “If you want to chase us away, keep giving us these shock increases.”

The increases will appear on water bills in two phases, in September and January. A typical residential customer using 10,000 gallons of water a month will see almost a $14 increase in their monthly bill, to about $75. Someone using 20,000 gallons a month will see a 29 percent increase, or about $25, bringing their monthly bill to about $112.

Even with the increases, officials said the city’s rates would still be the fourth-lowest in Broward County.

Commissioners said the city water and sewer services have to be self-sustaining and pointed to the myriad federal and state regulations that drive the cost up.”

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/pompano-beach/fl-pompano-water-rate-increase-20100902,0,4527494.story

……………….

The VFD should be meeting this week to elect their new Chief …will it be for one year or two?…Will they make changes to their by-laws and SOPs?… Is there still some inside scuffling going on?…Will they agree to a new contract and a lower amount ($700,000 FY2010-2011)?….Will the volunteers show up for calls and drills if the $’s are not there as incentive?…. Will there be a surprise change in other leadership roles?… What about signing onto not controlling the apparatus fund or not automatically receiving a 4% increase for the remainder of the contract?… Will oldtimers come back into the fold to save the VFD?… We will know soon…

Some things never change with old personnel still in tow in Town Hall… A memo sent out to the Commission on Sept.1st was addressed to VM McIntee and Comm. Silverstone!… When the latter was caught by one Comm.  another leftover staff member was not the least bit chagrined, we are told…just more of the same old…same old…Time for some more changes after the budget is adopted!…

Speaking of old staff …we heard former Finance Director King left a message for a recommendation for a new job with one Comm. a few weeks back…The Comm. did not comply…Thank goodness after all that keeps coming up after her departure…..As for the former Asst. TM/Int. TM JohnO…He sent the Int. Town Manager two more letters asking for a change in his termination with cause (the 1st June 24, 2010 letter was previously posted with the July 6, 2010 reply from Ms. Hoffmann)… In the subsequent letters Olinzock sent to Ms. Hoffmann on July 21st and again on Aug. 11th 2010 …he made claims in the second letter of a difference in being titled “Acting” Town Manager vs. being an Interim Town Manager and claims of being “polled” by Commissioners along with claims of the need for another public meeting to stop any outgoing checks to terminated Town Manager Colon due to sunshine…as well as claims of Charter violations… He also makes references to eight “attachments” …In the third letter he states he is again appealing the revision to the terms of his dismissal of employment as outlined in the Town Charter sec. 5.5 and states “you are responsible to the Town Commission for the proper administration of all affairs of the Town coming under your jurisdiction and this responsibility is inclusive of the 14 subsections of this section. ” He points out this was his third time addressing in writing this issue with Ms. Hoffmann and ended with “Please provide expedient resolution of the referenced issue. I request that it includes payment of moneys owed for severance, annual leave, and sick leave, as has been standard procedure for terminated employees of the Town.”… Int. TM Hoffmann replied on Aug. 12, 2010 to state as she previously informed Mr. Olinzock she provided a copy of his first June 24, 2010 letter to the Commission asking to rescind their decision to terminate with cause…They chose not to rescind that decision…She stated she would forward the two new letters to them but stated she did not anticipate they will act upon them (She did and they did not act on them)…She also stated that his July 21, 2010 indicated attachments there were none attached!…She stated his letters indicate he is appealing the Town Commission’s action and there is no appeal procedure for an Acting Town Manager provided for in the Charter or Code of Ordinances of which she is aware of!… She went on to state “The Charter is clear that the Town Manager and Acting Town Manager serve at the pleasure of the Commission and may be removed by the Town Commission at any time.”… She further stated that the Town Atty. “advised the Town Commission that their actions in dismissing you and amending the dismissal to be with cause were lawful and opined that the Town has no obligation to pay you for accrued annual leave, sick leave, or severance pay. While it is obvious that you are frustrated by these decisions, you are mistaken in your belief that I have the authority to override the Commission’s decision to terminate you with cause or their direction to not provide any further compensation to you. Given the Attorney’s opinion that you were in the employ of the Town Commission at the time of your dismissal, it is clear that the issue falls under the purview of the Town Commission, not the Town Manager.”… Prev. posts..show an accurate account of what transpired as well as Town archived special minutes…No “polling” took place or breach of Sunshine…Just Commissioners and Town Attorneys doing their due diligence to avert an overpayment independently…Their concerns were well founded in the aftermath of the payouts made to Colon under the direction to proceed made by “Acting” Town Manager John Olinzock!….

So where do old Commissioners go anyhow… Some leave town …head north and go golfing…
“• Treasure Coast Golf Scores: Aug. 5, 2010 » TCPalm.com
Aug 5, 2010 … PIPER’S LANDING. White Hats (7/28): 1, Craig Harlan, Robert Marshall, Jerome McIntee, Wayne Schrader. White Hats (July 31): 1, … D Flight: Jerry Horne def. Lou Deangelis 5 and 3. Round 4, D Flight: Emil Kapcar def. …. Business: e.g. salon. Location: e.g. Stuart, FL. Powered by Local.com …
www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/aug/…/no-headline—spt_golfscores_c2/ – Cached
• Treasure Coast Golf Scores: July 8, 2010 » TCPalm.com
Jul 8, 2010 … Men’s Day (June 30, 2-Man Scramble): 1, Jerry Todd, Paul Krause, 57; 2, Dr. Tio, … PIPER’S LANDING. White Hats (June 30): 1, Craig Harlan, Robert Marshall, Kimber Vought. White Hats (July 3): 1, John Duffy, Jerome McIntee, …. 10 troubled Fla. banks Updated 8/26/2010 at 10:25 p.m. 7 comments …
www.tcpalm.com/news/…/no-headline—brief_spt_tc_golf_scores_c2/ – Cached”

Some get married … (congrats) ….and may claim to be happily  out of politics …but offer far too much input for this writer’s comfort  level to new Finance Directors …if the heads- up is so….when they are not qualified CPAs  …having no degree in finance and falling hook, line and sinker for all things Colon in the past…Advice to the new Finance Director…any questions on past finance call others in Town and John Thompson…

Others who have been sidelined even longer…try and fail for public office…as they decide whether to remain in LBTS or make a new start in Lighthouse Point?…. While one El Mar “stakeholder” claims he too is out of politics while a big yellow buoy sits out front his motel …Hmmm… guess “politics” by Blackberry doesn’t count?….

This writer is told the CRA issue brought up in previous posts has some thinking it will be the cause du jour to sink the new majority and new Administration…That’s only so if the previous players are again successful at parsing words and throwing out half-truths and fear-mongering… They failed to do so in the last election …and should again even if they have any traction left in Town…This writer has written we need to bring back the possibility of the CRA and other comparable ways to decide how to revive the stagnant town left in the wake of the all or nothing gang when it comes to development in Town… I merely want all avenues re-opened and all those who are knowledgeable in how to succeed to come back to the hall and participate…

That being said…we now hear the “which comes first the chicken or the egg”may be in play as well…as the Vision Meetings need to come before the Master Plan Steering Committee makes any revisions to the 2005 Master Plan …with the P & Z coming in the middle…

Lilly 4 & 1/2 mos…1st haircut (Nana cut her bangs)/playing the piano on the stand and play….

Last up…this writer will be coming home in November …December and each month after that as Lilly grows (5 months on Sept. 18th) …It  allows for Nana and Papa to make it back regularly… and yes …..Lilly will make the trek next spring as well! …

Happy Labor Day Readers….

more to come….

Tags: Former Employees Of Lauderdale By The Sea Still Writing, Lauderdale By The Sea Anglin Pier Backdrop To Series & Ads, Lauderdale By The Sea Businesses Are Open, Lauderdale By The Sea Has New Valet Service In The Heart Of Pelican Square, Lauderdale By The Sea Impact And Future Sewer Rate Plans, Lauderdale By The Sea Oct. Chamber Fish Fry On The 6th/ Halloween In Jarvis Hall Looks Scary Good, lauderdale By The Sea P & Z Sept. 21 2010 Agenda, Lauderdale By The Sea Town Commisison Liaison Program Is A Winner, Lauderdale By The Sea VFD To Vote For New Leadership/Contract With Town, Lauderdale By The Sea Vision Meetings/CRA?/ P & Z/ MPSC For The Future Of The Town's Development, Scoops, Where Do Old Lauderdale By The Sea Commissioners Go?
Posted in Boards, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, Local Politics, Scoops, Sea Ranch Club, VFD, local government

WHIPPING RIGHT THROUGH IT …

Dear Readers…The new Commission and this new administration whipped right through jam-packed agenda in record time …in one hour and fifty-nine seconds…This agenda that included once again a myriad of minutes to approve (7) and inordinate number of new or amended Ordinances …both first (2) and second readings (4) …as well as Resolutions (3)…along with approval of some uber-important choices that impact the Town going forth…(the Annual Audit Services vendor and Town Manager along with direction on renegotiating with the Town Atty. and the VFD)….Some on the dais that had been undoubtedly unprepared in the previous few months appeared to have gotten the hint that although this writer may still disagree on the subject matter… and will state that fact…criticism will be on the topic not on the lack of being prepared …Same goes for the staff’s /contractors presentations… That being said this meeting and the previous meeting at 5 pm (prev. post) prove the Commission is ready in October to make the anticipated change to Adventura style model presented to them when they first came together by Town Atty. Richard Weiss…One Commission meeting and One Roundtable meeting each month…This writer’s preference Commission Meeting the 2nd Tues. of the month followed by the Roundtable the 4th Tues. of the month…

The meeting began a few minutes late due to the previous Budget Workshop running long …After the pledge there was a moment of reflection due to the Town Chaplain not being in attendance…With no presentations…up first was Public Comments….At first the mayor thought there were none… but there were although limited in number…

MPSC Co-Chair Edmund Malkoon came to the podium as “resident” and commended both the Commission and Town Manager stating he purposely left off the interim from her title (she had not yet been voted on) for the Budget Workshop meeting and trying to retain the 3.999 but stated if they could not get there the 4.09 was really commendable when other communities are really increasing theirs…He again addressed the desire of having the Town purchase the Demko House due to it being a historic structure…

BC- Ms. Demko came before the Commission a few years back offering the same… It was a approx. a million …It fell on deaf ears and should do the same now as the Commission was just told they were looking for $153,000+ to keep the millage down and we are faced with major infrastructure issues …Ms. Demko and her family should donate the house if they want it to stay protected…. in this writer’s opinion, otherwise take a pass…

Joyce Murray came to speak about the St Vincent DePaul “Walk A Mile In My Shoes” for the poor and needy on Sept. 25, 2010 from 7-10 am … https://www.svdpusa.net/pledgathon/public/index.php?action=pledgathon.addteam&campaignid=11 …..She stated the Community Church Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Community Church located on 4433 Bougainvilla Drive also had a Disability Awareness Fair from 9-noon the same day and recommended attending both events… Interested participants can call 954-943-9717 …

Diane Boutin came to speak about the previous budget meeting stating it was excellent and addressed as she has in the past the role the businesses and the residents play in big picture…

The Public Safety Reports were done as this was the sole meeting for August …

BSO was passed 5-0 with no discussion..

VFD was the first time up to the podium for newly elected Fire Chief Steve Paine (prev. posts) …The Mayor welcomed him and stated she knew he had been with the Town for a while and congratulated him on his new position …Vice Mayor Dodd  also gave his congratulations …and stated “Let me repeat myself publicly that I am 100% committed to having the most professional Volunteer Department serving the needs of the town. I have been patient with my requests for responsible cut backs which I’m happy to learn are no longer falling on deaf ears and I would like to thank the whole volunteer fire department for their dedication.” He added a question about the medical calls being marked cancelled and asked if that meant the VFD is still paying the staff but not adding the wear and tear on the vehicles?…Chief Paine answered that was correct…The VM also found a computer glitch with the times on pages 9-14 and Chief Paine will correct it…

Chief Paine went on to inform the VM and the Commission of some changed being made.. He said on Monday (8/29/10) there would be a conference call with Broward County to have the call cards adjusted and the software had been ordered to change the pagers…There is a station pager that will be reprogrammed and his pager, the Dep. Chief’s, one Batallion Chief and the Chief on-duty will be reprogrammed as well so that medical calls will come to them only…Then it will be up to the Chief on-duty’s decision to decide if the medical call needs to have VFD …as they will no longer go on those sick calls where as person was ill for 3 days since it is obvious the med unit (AMR) can take care of it…unless AMR needed assistance for an unusually large patient (as was done in the past …with a less than steller performance on the details from the dais from former Dep. Chief McIntee …prev. post)….. He went on to state a letter would go to AMR stating the VFD  would be automatically involved for certain criteria such as heart attack, strokes, drownings, respiratory failure and any child..He said it would be a trial and error with the software done after ordering overnight it should be up in the next month…He was congratulated by the VM…The report was passed 5-0

BC- This writer has heard a few additional questions that need answering…by the new Fire Chief… We heard the VFD went into Sea Ranch Plaza a few weeks back and did a drill without their consent, using their water and making the Mayor and SR Police furious…If true…How come?…. Second on the new medical calls… As the VM stated in the past the decision on VFD going on medical calls should fall under AMR to decide…Perhaps there was a disconnect in the exchange above or it was not stated correctly …but Chief Paine’s criteria takes much of what is still unnecessary med calls for VFD still in play… We also hear that a few nights ago only 5 VFD members showed up for a call and there was no backup truck that would have been available due to the no-shows…Again, if true what’s up within the department?… Are there some behind the scenes pre-negotiating for perks coming from the new Chief?… We hear he may be asking for a personal vehicle and other “leaders” want to follow suit… If this one is true…WOW!… Is this why Comm. Clottey (via Marc Furth?) declared the new lower $700,000 cost if the contract is renegotiated too high still without apparatus inclusion?…Hmmmm….

One person in the know suggests the following… Note to the new Administration…You may want to get the VFD consultant to take a look-see…. The Sunbiz.org site … http://sunbiz.org/ … has the department listed as LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT, INC. ….The department until annexation we are told was the Town’s fire department which changed with the contracting in of BSO to becoming a contractor as well …The question now is…Should the Town once again take back the VFD and forgo it as a contracted vendor?… It would lead to the oversight needed to get this VFD in order under the Town’s direction…with a yearly budget and a say in how the leadership is decided as well as where the taxpayers money is spent beyond the apparatus now headed into a Town controlled account… It might bring back the VFD of old where calls were voluntary and not income boosters …It might also further address the Pension issue…that got a little better with the following info passed along by the new Acting Finance Director and Town Manager Hoffmann (see below) by finding out why for so few members we pay $10,000 for an actuarial analysis for any year… This writer recommends the consultant and the Administration seek out and confer with the many old-timers (VFD) who are still in town and most critical of the current 2008 resurrected VFD ….
……….
From: Finance Director
Sent: Monday, August 23, 2010 10:03 AM
To: Connie Hoffmann
Subject: VFD Board of Trustees Meeting – Thursday, August 19, 2010

Connie – I just wanted to give you a brief update re: I attended the above meeting last week. Three of the five members were present. The two not in attendance were the VFD representatives. The town’s request to have the actuarial report done ever two years was approved and the actuary from Gabriel Roeder Smith was there to support our request. Also, apparently this was the first time a representative from the town attended one of the board meetings.

FYI on another VFD topic. We received the payment from the state for the retirement plan in the amount of $73,507.15 and I notified Miguel and he picked it up this morning.

Doug Haag
Acting Finance Director
Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea

From: Connie Hoffmann
Sent: Fri 8/27/2010 7:23 PM
To: Birute Ann Clottey; Chris Vincent; Roseann Minnet; Scot Sasser; Stuart Dodd
Subject: FW: VFD Board of Trustees Meeting – Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wanted to let you know that Acting Finance Director Doug Haag found out that the Fire Pension Plan does not have to have an actuarial analysis done every year, we can go to every other year. The pension plan is a small one, yet the actuarial analysis was costing the Town $10,000 each year (paid by Fire Assessment Fees). So, as you can see from the email below, he asked the Pension Board to consider going to an every other year schedule and they approved it. So we’ll save $10k next year, then will have to budget for it again in the following fiscal year. Connie
……………

AMR was represented by a member and Comm. Clottey stated she went to the FLOCities conference and was informed that EMS is used as a substitute for primary physicians …The AMR medic responded he did not understand her question (welcome to the club) …Clottey went on to describe the use of Emergency Rooms for regular medical care and she wanted to know if EMS was used in the same capacity…The AMR medic stated no ..that was not the case …with the exception of tourists …(of course)… The report then was passed 5-0….

The 7 sets of minutes from June 23, 2010-July 28, 2010 were approved in two votes…5 passed 5-0  after VM Dodd pulled a. & f. and instructed the Town Clerk of the changes including this funny…The VM informed June White that on page 12 of the June 23, 2010 minutes she had the word moral and it’s actually morale …”It’s not talking about the morals of the Town, it’s talking about the morale!”… Afterward those minutes were also passed 5-0…

The Consent Agenda was also passed with two votes… The Mayor pulled items a. & d. …leaving b. (budget amendment for projected unemployment costs FY 2009-10 $16,517) and c. (Budget amendment for Esther Colon payout- $74,611) both put on by Acting Finance Director Haag passed with no discussion 5-0… The Mayor wanted to make it clear she did not approve  the Audit Company (Grau &Assoc.) chosen for one-year at the prior meeting…(prev. post)….Comm. Sasser had recused himself at the prior meeting and did so again…When they voted Town Clerk White could not count and stated it was 4-1 Mayor Minnet voted no…She needed to be corrected due to Comm. Sasser’s recusal…Ms. White still could not process the vote for a moment …ARGHHH…….Item d. was pulled by Mayor Minnet to address for the public it was discussed prior and the laptops being replaced would be going to the Community Center…and it was necessary to upgrade the Commission’s laptops to work with the new system…The Town Manager stated it was not only the laptops for the amount being asked for…The Mayor stated she was not sure she would have approved this expenditure until she learned they would not work with the new system…Vice Mayor Dodd stated he wanted to make two comments …First that it is very refreshing to see the agenda forms being used correctly with the  financial impact filled out for the very first time and secondly he thought it was great to use for the town’s pre-owned lap tops and he was sure the Community center will be able to make good use of them…. These items passed 5-0..

On to the Ordinances …Development Director Jeff Bowman was at the podium ( a surprise after hearing he was at a FEMA conference all week) …He spoke after the item was read by the Mayor and the TAtty… Ord. 2010-11 (1st reading) went in front of the P & Z  Jan. 26,2010 and June 16, 2010 …was tabled until the July meeting and was approved (prev. posts) … He stated it made the mortgagee responsible for “abandoned real property” and staff concurs… There was no public comment and no Comm. discussion..It passed 5-0… Ord. 2010-13 (1st reading) was to change the code to allow one Comm.Mtg/one Roundtable Mtg. by amending the prior ord. for 2 each month…The TAtty. added also the clause to allow for not holding a meeting as was done in August …Public comment was made by Diane Boutin who commended them and supported the new technology …No Comm. discussion …passes 5-0…

Ordinances 2nd readings… Ord. 2010-03 was to allow the Town Manager to update the departments…The TAtty. stated the history and the versions that were considered by the prior administration and the current one …excess wording was removed and the Commission will approve any changes that impact the budget…Also the Town Clerk will assist in election matters per Comm. Sasser’s request (Ms. White dropped the ball at the last election in any substantive assistance to candidates …(and the one before that in this writer’s opinion)…as well as being found the “culprit” ie the responsible ( or irresponsible) person for UOT not being properly registered with the state. as a PAC .(prev. posts) … after former VM Mcintee’s wife, Maureen while serving as Vice- Chair of the CIC filed a complaint against the opposing organization)…There was no public comment and no Comm. discussion…passed 5-0…Ord. 2010-10 was the amended Choice Environmental changes made after some successful negotiations on mixed-use and suspension of service made with the “players” Choice…Int. Asst. TM Bud Bentley…TAtty. Trevarthen and liaison Comm. Scot Sasser …Asst. TM Bentley did want one minor change made to remove the word “single” which would make it less restrictive and asked for Sept. 13th date to give Choice time to get ready for the changes…The Mayor thanked staff and Comm. Sasser for getting this done…There was no public comment…Good thing the Mayor thanked Comm. Sasser…because he was unable to make the motion or the 2nd…which should have been the case…OOPS!… passed 5-0….Ord. 2010-12 was the fire hydrants…Again Bowman read the backup only and stated staff recommends this…There was no public comment…One snafu came as Comm. Sasser asked about the header including automated sprinkler systems and why…The Int. TM stated it the sprinkler system was not included and the header was not in it and they needed to find out why… Comm. Sasser began to make a motion without the sprinkler system in the header …Ms. Hoffmann stated she was wrong it was included in line 30…and Mr. Bowman stated it was for above ground sprinkler heads …Due to the confusion it was deferred to Sept. 14th…

BC- another question…we hear the fire code already has this in place and a Reader wonders why it will be done on top of that?…

Ord. 2009-35 was the pools and fencing of them…it began in 2009 went to 2nd reading ..but had to go back after coming in front of the both prior and present Commissions and P &Z boards due to the lack of information from Mr. Bowman or the prior administration that the P & Z did not want the pools in the front yards of any properties but corner lots…thus version 2 was the P & Z’s approved version and the one now being recommended by staff and up for 2nd reading…(all were prev. posted)…There was no public comment or Comm. comment and it passed 5-0…

Resolutions…2010-20 was the Comprehensive Plan Amendments …It was again explained by the TAtty. (see prev. P & Z  board cat. June/July meetings)…Public comment was made by Diane Boutin who asked if it was something cities regularly went through with no impact on construction…purely administrative…The TAtty. explained in more depth the procedure …but added it would impact those in process …as well as future construction… No Comm. discussion passed 5-0…Resolution 2010-22 was the retirement benefits for the Int. TM due to State Statute …The TAtty explained the necessity and Ms. Hoffmann again stated they looked into not taking it…Acting Finance Director Haag concurred it was required …The Mayor asked if it could be negotiated and he stated not for the Town Manager position ..it was a legislative act…No discussion 5-0 …Resolution 2010-24 was the fire fees for less than 800 sq. ft.   …This was brought to the dais some time back from then-Comm. Dodd …and now there will be some relief from $144 to $75 for inspections…No public comment..No Comm. comment…passed 5-0….

Commissioner Comments…

Commissioner Clottey thanked the Town for the FLOCities conference she attended but stated she would not speak of that this evening and would use her time for the Artificial Reef Project…She read off a list of names of those who came forward to donate to Global Coral Reef Alliance  the vendor …(501(c)(3) non-profit organization)…(prev. post-Pompano Pelican article)…. Included in the names were former CIC Chair Bob Roberts for $6,000 in memory of his wife as well as Aruba, Ocean Reverie…Comm. Clottey and  the Int. Town Manager…($100 )…She said they donated to the vendor and would receive a tax deduction…

BC- Although Clottey stated she could not take the money herself…she did spearhead these donations and was asking people to contact her…While it may not be an ethics violation it is on its face disconcerting for her to be in this position after voting on this project and being in the position of voting on any re-negotiated contract due to the vendor presently being in breach of the current contract with the Town…Also it seems wrong for her to enlist and aid in the vendor going forth after three fellow dais members asked the Town to go back and renegotiate the contract as well as the Int.Town Manager /TAtty. questioning the permits…the Town’s liability for the project and the costs in the next 5 years for this research project…not to mention VM Dodd’s position that the vendor go ahead with the 1st buoy before building any others…as they now have stated they have done!…

The Mayor also stated she enjoyed the FLOCities conference and thanked staff and Buster Celestino for the newly installed Bocce Ball court (prev. post0..She spoke of the Trim Notices received and again stated it was advisable for taxpayers to see what other entities make up the costs…She recommended they contact those entities…She answered comments made earlier about the businesses vs. residents and the Chamber and stated information was required before committing taxpayer monies…

Commissioner Sasser … “Well, I agree with the Town Manager comments on her report that state it has been a very busy August. I am very grateful that we agreed to have this meeting rather than bypassing all the meetings this month. Updates, Halloween, we have made great strides with some great volunteers. I want to thank all of you who have worked thus far and thank you in advance for your efforts in the future. I want to give a quick shout out to Marie, Wayne, Ken, Bill and of course my wife Teresa who have worked very hard at creating from scratch the decorations for this years’ event. It is a daunting task when you start with nothing and I thank you very much. Choice, it has taken a while and August has been full of people vacationing but we finally have the data we need to make some determinations and propose solutions. I should have something for you by our next meeting, hopefully to accompany the Ordinance solution voted on tonight. Chamber of Commerce contract and funding request. After a couple of false starts we are moving forward with their vision and I have proposed their request to the Commissioners and staff tonight during our Workshop. Finally, We, as your Commission and Staff, seem to keep running across issues that have been long forgotten, ignored or plainly mismanaged. While we cannot sweep the past under the rug I, for one, want to personally assure you that my intentions are to get to the bottom of the issues while remaining fixed on moving forward. I will be searching for answers to these issues that are truthful, transparent, ethical and legal. You elected me to make the tough decisions that were the best for the town. Many of you told me often during my campaign, just be fair ,That is what I intend to do. While seeking our future we must sometimes be confronted with the past. I endeavor to confront the past and quickly move to solutions that get us on track for our future. I ask that you support the activity filled future of this sitting Commission and assist us with the same forward progression that I eagerly want to pursue. We have a wonderful town that we all want to preserve. In order to do this we must accept and agree on our plan, infrastructure, drainage, funding and, if we are honest with ourselves, change. Yes, sometimes change is needed to maintain and preserve that which we hold dear. All of this in a tough revenue season will bring about tough decisions. The Town Manager has proposed several public workshops to assist us in making some of these tough decisions. I urge you to participate. I urge you to keep an open mind to what is needed. I urge you to voice strongly your opinion. Finally, I urge you to, in the end, help move us forward in unity.”

Commissioner Vincent stated he too attended the FLOC conference, his first …that it was rewarding and interesting  and what it focused on …with the open roundtables…and discussion on revenue shortfalls and public comments… He spoke of finding in a budget meeting last month with staff a big mess-up with special events in the previous 2 years o8-09 of $125,000 & $140,000 …He stated it raised his concern due to it being half in the current year and next year being budgeted for $64,000 …While he was happy the cost was significantly less he wanted to know why…He asked Ms. Hoffmann to investigate the amended budgets and explain …He stated it was not $141,000 but was actually $47,000 and that there was a $93,000 overage in that General Account…He believed it could not be explained earlier when the budget review process started and that’s when they found it… He added this was just another one of the many things this Commission and staff is dealing with and thanked Hoffmann and Bentley …He also made a personal note of thanking all that volunteer and then made mention of BTSFuture Editor Mark Brown’s recent award from the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors …(see BTSFuture July edition)… http://www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/IRJCI/ISWNE2010.htm ….http://www.bytheseafuture.org/about.html …

BC- I have sent a PRR for the information on Comm. Vincent’s comments concerning the special events in 08 & 09 due to no backup included and no further explanation from the dais at the meeting…

Vice Mayor Dodd stated “I attended the Florida League of cities this past week and found it a very informative series of lectures. All sorts of topics were available but the most comforting feeling came from the realization we are not alone sitting up here. All 410 cities that make up the league are facing similar budget problems, how to cut costs without cutting essential services. I am waiting for a reply from the league on another statewide issue,  how can municipalities bring pressure to bear on the FPL monopoly to start charging a realistic price per pole for LED lighting. FPL would like to be considered Green with Biomass power stations and solar arrays when it suits them. LED street lighting is so much more efficient yet there is not a separate price per pole or any incentive for a municipality to install a cost effective lighting fixture with a true payback under five years. The second topic I brought back from the league of cities is recycling.  I have taken steps to obtain a copy of an Ordinance from Madeira beach where they have just introduced a recycling ordinance to allow them to let me euphemistically call it “encourage people” to get with the program. Governor Christ signed into law that the state has to achieve 75% recycling by 2020. The first step is 40 % by 2012. Currently Broward recycles 25%, Palm Beach 33%. We get a rebate from the recycling plant based on our tonnage. We need to start now and stop through money out with the trash. I will bring this back at the next round table for further discussion.
Hillsboro Inlet took over their two new work boats which have finally arrived. They will be put into service immediately.
Apologies to staff for the extra workload of an August meeting but I personally think we should aggressively work towards one Commission meeting and one round table per month and possibly consider only one December meeting if the workload will allow us the time off.”

Old Business was to be on the qualifications for a search firm to be enlisted to help with the search and the choice of a new Town Manager…It was not needed as the Commission made their choice as previously posted to retain and negotiate an agreement with Int. TM Connie Hoffmann …

New Business dealt first with the Town Commission approval of processing Proposed Regulatory Charges… Dev. Dir. Bowman came to the podium and stated it was 2010-16 Chapter 30 in the Code of Ord. … It included the changing of zoning for the Pet Groomers in the business district …accessory buildings and signs …All had been addressed prior at meetings…Comm. Clottey for unforeseen reason wanted it deferred until season and the return of residents…HUH?… She was ready to bend on the pet grooming portion (after Dir.Bowman stated the pet groomer would be stopped from opening his business)…but not the rest…until it was made clear once again by TAtty. Trevarthern the process of going to the P & Z on 9/15/10 and then to 1st & 2nd reading for public comment 3 times …. Comm. Clottey should know the process after 2+ years on the dais…She then withdrew her motion seeing no backing from the other Commissioners…Comm. Vincent asked if the pet groomer still wanted to come in and reiterated his stance on being diligent and expedient to move forward to help business… Comm. Sasser wanted to know if there “was a better way to build a mousetrap” when dealing with zoning items by making them more inclusive and wide ranging rather than having to add individual additions…TAtty. Trevarthen stated she had long asked for this and that is what is happening now…A motion was made to approve it….passing 5-0…Diane Boutin made the only public comment supporting it and stating we already had a dog groomer next to LaSpada’s… TAtty. Trevarthen stated it was a non-conforming business…

BC- Sorry but the Peter Principal still applies to our current Director of Development…in this writer’s opinion, as evidenced each time he is at the podium …I am hoping n the future for a Dir. who will be as qualified and fully able to apprise the Commission at the mike as we have had in the past…especially with an abundance of changes that will take place over the next year +….

Up next was LETF fund approval for an ATV and other equipment…Questions of LBTS-BSO Chief Llerena came from the Vice Mayor on what funds were available in the LETF and the Chief spoke of the $70,000 to come back from the questionable use last year by the former administration for the BSO’s new space in the public safety building leaving them with over $100,000 Comm. Vincent saw the justification and joked he wanted a ride after hearing the Inrt. TM state her nephew took a ride in a golf cart over July 4ht… Comm. Sasser asked about the security cameras …a line item and the company…Chief Llerena said they could add the cameras and he would go through the proper channels of BSO legal affairs first…It passed 5-0

BC- We have heard the security cameras at the entries of the Town are not as up to par as they could be…This writer suggests …replace them with the ones that can zone in on license plates…and use the old ones in the downtown area…

The next NB item was to schedule a September Roundtable…after some calendar juggling…it was decided Sept. 20th at 5 pm…so that VM Dodd could make his Hillsboro meeting at 7:30 pm…Meetings will be Sept. 13th Budget Mtg. millage/Fire assessment /Sept 14th Reg. Comm. Mtg./Sept 20th/Sept. 21st MPSC updates on A1A FDOT project with drawings/ Sept. 22 P & Z… codes etc…/Sept. 27th final Budget Mtg…Agendas will be posted as well as posts after each meeting …All are open to the public…on Comcast Ch. 78/ on Town website live-streamed and archived…

The final item of NB was to have a member of the Commission appointed as a liaison for renegotiating the current Town Law firm Weiss, Serota to be on retainer…They are currently on an hourly basis ….left over from there Special Meeting in 2008 (prev. post)… After discussion from the Mayor and Comm. Clottey on a retainer vs. hourly comparison …the Int. TM stated she would do some comparisons…TAtty. Trevarthen reminded them the firm used prior to them was on retainer for a portion of the work they did with additional charges as well…

The Town Manager report dealt primarily with the Artificial Reef Project …(prev. post) …The total disconnect in what was directed and desired by the majority on the Commission and what the vendor with the aid of Clottey and some donations went forward to do… There was quite a divide up there between the Mayor/Comm. Sasser and VM Dodd vs. Comm. Clottey and Comm. Vincent… It ended with a vote of 3-2 to send a letter and a new contract to the vendor, Global Coral Reef Alliance for being in breach and the need to address the contract as well as the viability of the first buoy ….A more in depth post will follow on the exchange and some additional info…Although most on the dais stated they did not need to see the contract and letter before it went out from the Town…we have been told Comm. Sasser “The Contract Guy” quickly informed the Town he definitely wants to see them…We have also heard VM Dodd has further looked into solar buoys and has requested from the Town a test of the buoy ASAP!….

One last piece of business was the approval of the Community Theater agreement.. With no discussion the vote was 4-1 …Mayor Minnet voted no…She did so due to covering the liability insurance to be done by the Town… as represented by the Int. Tm… The backup does not show that as the reason for the monies… From agreement in backup …. http://www.lauderdalebythesea-fl.gov/town/backup2010WORK.htm

“3.0 Services and Responsibilities of the Town
3.1 The Town agrees to provide funding for the term of this agreement in the
amount not to exceed ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1000) annually to
assist in the funding of the performances payable in three 3 increments
of THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY THREE DOLLARS AND THIRTY
THREE CENTS ($333.33). Each payment will be made after the
performance series for each play is completed.”

“5.0 Liability Insurance
5.1 CPAC shall not commence work under this Agreement until it has
obtained all insurance required by the Town and evidence of such insurance has been
provided to and approved by the TOWN All subcontractors of CPAC must also
provide evidence of insurance to the Town before providing any services. No
subcontractors may provide any services hereunder unless approved in advance by
Town.
5.2 Certificates of insurance reflecting evidence of the required insurance listed
below shall be filed with the TOWN prior to the commencement of services
hereunder .These certificates shall contain a provision that coverage afforded under
these policies will not be canceled until at least thirty 30 days prior written notice has
been given to the TOWN Policies shall be issued by companies authorized to do.”

BC- as much ass I am a proponent of the Community Theater…I agree with the Mayor, and cannot see how the TAtty. in the final recommendation will go along with the Town covering taxpayer’s monies for liability insurance…as it will lead to a precedent that could come back to bite us as Ms. Minnet stated at the 5 pm Budget Meeting (prev. post.)…

The Town Atty. had no report…Hmmm… seems she should have…updates would be nice on BJ Harris etc…

They were adjourned ….

Link to Town website backup …. http://www.lauderdalebythesea-fl.gov/town/backup2009.htm

more to come….

Tags: Lauderdal e By The Sea August 25 2010 Regular Commission Meeting, Scoops
Posted in LBTS Agendas/Meetings, Local News, Local Politics, Public Safety, Scoops, VFD, local government

CAN WE PUT A CAP ON IT?….

Dear Readers … Wed. night the Commission came together for an August Budget Workshop to offer an opportunity for public comment and catch up after some delays imposed on the new administration due to changes within the Town with terminations and resignations …new hires and new disturbing “minefields” that met them at each juncture…

Up first was the return of the Community Theater which was tossed out in 2008 with a new majority on the dais…and a Town Manager that was only too happy to comply, or so it appeared in giving the theater group the heave-ho … After some false starts yet again over the funding ..would it be from the taxpayers and/or from the letter asking for donations which went out from this non-profit company before it came before the Commission?… Comm. Vincent did not do a steller job when championing it at that Roundtable and we the taxpayers were left to wonder what the dollar amount would be as he quoted in the neighborhood of $12,000 or more…The Int. TM said it was less… We hear some residents made phone calls to certain Commissioners after the exchange and stated no-way, no-how it should just be donations… This time the agreement which was included in the backup stated the cost to the Town will be approx. $1,000 to cover liability insurance which will be paid to the company after each of the 3 plays that are set …although the dates need to be double checked for any conflict in using Jarvis Hall…Mr. Ragusa came forward to answer question both the old re-hash of the theater groups demise…and new concerning accounting and the status of being up to date with the non-profit requirements from the state…Mr Ragusa answered he was up to date and could produce the paperwork and also he thought he had enough for each play although he did not know what each one would cost …Donations received were approx. $3,000 thus far …He is unable to pay for the liability ins. required and the Town would cover that with the $1,000 …The Vice Mayor stated he was really happy that with the change in the dais and the administration the residents and visitors may well get to experience local people engaging in local theater productions. He said he was sure Mr. Ragusa is aware of the heavy load placed on the use of this hall and that the town will do their best to ensure the theater group gets the necessary time to set up and rehearse….
Comm. Sasser asked about state statutes with the $1000 and non-profits …and the wanted to make sure we were covered …The TAtty. said she would review the agreement if they chose to go ahead…Ms. Hoffman stated she did not include that in the agreement because it was a small amount …Comm. Sasser responded the Town had problems in the past over $30…(Greenfest-prev. posts)…Comm. Sasser also addressed the accounting being done simply by using a spreadsheet ….Mr. Ragusa balked at that and said to do that last time meant hiring an accountant that charged him $2,000…He said he would turn his books over to the Town and they could do whatever they needed to… The Int. TM thought it would be easy to accommodate that… Comm. Clottey did make a comment stating it was 2 Commissions ago for the demise…not so…A look back shows that Commission tried for a years long agreement to stop any new Commission from pulling the plug …She also could not imagine the cost of an accountant being so high….The Mayor was concerned about the Town paying for liability insurance and that to do so would set a precedent and open the Town up to future similar requests … In the end the consensus was to move ahead to vote on at the 7 pm meeting…

Next up were the Sea Ranch Club sewer fees… and we understand a few SRC residents were in the hall… The Int. TM introduced her consultant, Ms Margoles  who provided the report (prev. post) and she came to the podium to answer any questions… Ms. Hoffmann added as she approached how complicated this whole issue is …that the more they find the more complicated it gets (prev posts) …Ms. Hoffman also stated the “struggled” with how to present it..and added the town has a fragmented sewer system …2 separate sewer rates …and spoke of the detailed report in the backup (link below)…This writer as previously posted, disagrees with Ms. Margoles on some of her facts and as VM Dodd stated from the podium, I too disagree with her to seek legal counsel to put SRC under the north’s agreement with Pompano Beach (higher rate …surcharge and availability per unit charges) which would most likely bring forth a litigation with the 4 SR annexed in condominiums in 1998…The Int. TM did bring forth before any discussion going to Pomp. Bch and getting a new townwide master sewer plan with them after more study ……Ms. Hoffman stated she had a “social lunch” with a Pompano Beach Administrator and did bring up the probability… She included that it is a given all sewer rates will need to be increase due to the south not paying passed on rate increases as well (prev. posts)…

VM Dodd stated …that the sewer situation is quite complex and he did not yet agree with the present staff recommendation of putting SRC with the north…. He went on to speak of the history …that in  1997 the four Sea Ranch buildings were annexed into town and they asked to pay the same rate as the residents at the south end of town. The main annexation for the north end in the year 2001 were covered by an agreement that they paid directly to Pompano Beach. He added that the south end of town enjoyed a large user agreement as a result of the 2007 agreement. The north end pays a higher rate because their infrastructure repairs and replacement is covered by Pompano whereas the south end enjoys a lower rate but no provision has been made to replace the pipes when they finally collapse. He stated that on top of this mess the residents of Sea Ranch and the annexation of the north has left both these groups of town residents out in the cold since neither was included in the master sewer plan agreement of 2007. His opinion was as we are to move forward the town has to re-evaluate and come up with a proposal to increase the sewer rate at the south End and include Sea Ranch so that money is put into a fund to cover the eventual replacement of the sewers. Additionally he directed the Town Manager to  enter negotiations with Pompano to bring everyone into the Master sewer plan since there is little point paying a 25% premium when the town has just spent 10 million putting in new sewers. He added to let the money remain in LBTS coffers rather than Pompano Beach. He would propose asking for further research to ensure Sea Ranch are not dumped into the agreement covering the north End and perhaps the manager can renegotiate a united town agreement that will take us forward for the next 20 years….Ms Margoles missed his point completely and reminded him of what he was well aware of …that the Town was paying for SRC when they paid Pompano Beach…UGH!…

Comm. Clottey stated it was worse than the VM said it was up north (the 2005 agreement) that made residents with new sewers pay PBeach an $800 hookup charge …She said that money went to new sewers in PBeach…She added that none of the present Commission had anything to do with that agreement (but her choice for a return to Hillsboro Inlet Commission, Oliver Parker to replace Dodd last year…sure did!)…She addressed through the chair the TAtty. and stated she personally did not think it was “fair” to assess SRC for the monies paid since 1998 but wanted to know if there was a legal responsibility for the Town to do just that…The TAtty. stated she had only made an innitial look into the situation…

Comm. Sasser stated there were a lot of questions and with the time constraints of this evening and the info still not known …the legalities and the agreements he thought the better way to handle this was to gather that information before asking the questions and he had plenty of questions as well…

Mayor Minnet agreed and asked him to get his questions to the Int. TM  …She said we need a better understanding before they can address it at a Commission meeting…

The Int. TM stated they “grappled” how far back to go and needed guidance from the dais…She added it won’t change anything…

The Mayor stated it was time to come together in an equitable way and move forward…

Comm. Sasser stated he wanted not to find blame but to find how those funds were allocated behind the scenes and the legalities involved with that…meaning in the former administrative actions not the SRC /SRLNorth /south customers… He stated it was in his opinion a “colossal mismanagement by this Town”…and wants everybody on the same agreement…

The VM agreed to go forward …and again stated his preference that any surcharge stayed in Town rather than going to Pompano Beach..

Comm. Clottey agreed to go forward and stated she had spoken to past Commissioners in Old Town (Parker/Furth?) who stated a bond was obtained for sewers there and assessed to the taxpayers…It was kept in place until approx. 2002 illegally and was taken off the books when challenged …This writer needs to check that claim out…She thought it was possible those were the funds used to pay for the difference……She asked the Int. TM to check that out …..This writer needs to check that claim out as well…

The Mayor said that would mean going back to the 1960’s!…Clottey said it stopped in 2002 …pre-annexation from 1998 with SRC and move forward was her direction to the Int. TM and make it equitable…

The Mayor added and asked the Int. TM and Ms. Margoles to concur that some information is simply not there…They concurred and Ms. Margoles held up a thick book of the report info thus far…She also thanked staff for their help…

Next was to be the FY2010-2011 budget…but Mayor Minnet asked that it be held to discuss the Chamber due to the funding being included in the budget and the decision of how much that will be needing to be decided…

The Chamber Board was in attendance after some back and forth meetings that took place formally and informally in the weeks prior along with the resignation from the board of Yann Brandt who was the Chamber liaison working with Comm. Sasser, the liaison for the Commission… The problem as this writer sees it from the information I have received is there are two distinct visions of the Chamber of Commerce/ Welcome Center ….One vision is the status quo…a small Chamber that operates with a full time administrator and a hand full of volunteers plus a full time employee for the Welcome Center and a part time employee …The lines between the Chamber and the Welcome Center become blurry at time and distinctly separate at times…and most of those times are when it comes to funds… for employees etc… The track that Mr. Brandt was on and was the same one seen by most of the Commission as well as past and present members and board members of the Chamber was to grow the Chamber to advertise more…increase membership …and hire a consultant to aid in the marketing over the long run…That “branding” being bandied about…last year by Comm. Clottey and others and this year by Comm. Vincent …It appears to this writer that the 27 year old Mr. Brandt brought back to the board what he said he would …and that may have caught some off guard with his accomplishment …The course proposed seemed overwhelming to some of those in charge and it sounds like they balked…Mr. Brandt who has limited time due to his career…his new appointment as P & Z Vice Chair …and of course becoming a new Dad resigned …In this writer’s opinion that was a huge loss for the Chamber…I can tell you first hand that in my experience with him, he has always delivered what he says he will…never exaggerates what that is …and not only has the ability to succeed …he has the contacts…the insight and resources to carry out any vision he is presented with…My concern with the “powers that be” inside the Chamber is the same as any other aging organization…the organizations and boards should not be afraid of new ideas …change and vision coming in with young people …They should be afraid only if no new blood comes in the doorto carry on …as they have one foot out of it!… The Chamber was concerned with too rapid of growth…overcrowding the small building…and the possibility of Ft. Lauderdale breathing down their necks if proposed changes were made…There is no way the growth was going to catapult them into any of these scenarios in year one… And a consultant could have prepared them for how to work with any such concerns…including a satellite office as suggested by a Reader (not former VM McIntee-prev. posts) to accommodate if need be…

The Chamber changed its need to separate the Welcome Center from the Chamber asking the Commission now to supply the added $20,000 for a full time Welcome Center employee …$10,000 would supply a part time employee …and no increase ($35,000 is an increase from the prior few years) would not supply either…But a break down shows the following…The front desk staff $12.00 per hour. $12.00 x 8 hours is $96.00/day or $35,040 annually for Veronica, (full time) and a former staff member’s replacement, (when they find one). Filling the part time position has become a problem for the Chamber. The Board of Directors believes they need to increase staffing to two full time people. This equates to 10 shifts per week instead of the current 7. ($96.00 per day x 10 shifts per week = $960 per week or $49,920 annually. They also feel the hourly rate might have to be increased if they want a higher quality individual who can take some of the work load off of Judy…The Chamber stated they as the Chamber would not be asking for anything…only for the Welcome Center which they have funded to cover any gaps of funding from the Town…Everything inside the Chamber remains the same and no consultant is needed or wanted…This writer has been told that a consultant should be hired by the Town directed by the Town for a business development plan that includes the Chambers input but not under the Chamber’s auspices …

As they came to the podium Comm. Sasser presented to the dais and the taxpayers what the Chamber ultimately was asking for the $55,000/$45,000/$35,000 scenarios described above …

Paul Novak the President of the Chamber stated Comm. Sasser had it correct from the last meeting they had (post Mr. Brandt) and spoke of the additional monies also adding to the ability to advertise as well (in the neighborhood of an additional $5,000 if a full time employee is hired)…This writer has been informed the Chambers advertising has dropped from pat years of $50,000…$20,000+ to approx. $2,000!…He too stated they needed to take much of the burden of of Judy ….

Diane Boutin from the Windjammer spoke not as a representative of the Chamber  of the importance of the Chamber and the dollars it and the Welcome Center bring in sales and real estate and stated the $55,000 was nothing in the scheme of an $11 million dollar Town budget …comparing the cost to 4th of July and other events…

Comm. Vincent thanked Comm. Sasser for his role and stated he couldn’t say it better than Ms. Boutin …adding hard economic times for Towns and again using his “branding” scenario …He summed up the status quo of $35,000 being  the equivalent of “going back square one” and $45,000 with a part time person not enough and a full time person with $55,000 the “catalyst” for moving forward…HUH?…

Comm. Clottey said the Mayor was correct at a past meeting stating we are the only ones supporting our Chamber (monetarily)…This writer is not so sure with that statement…Some others must be housed in Town owned buildings…etc…She stated the County should be more of a factor and bring down the Town’s contribution to the Welcome Center …She again brought up in town and out of town businesses…asking for the? time the percentage of members in the Chamber…she wants 50-50… Judy Swaggerty from the Chamber stated at the podium they ran the numbers a few weeks prior and it was 50-50 or 60/40 she was not sure…

Comm. Sasser asked for direction through the Mayor of what the Commission wanted..

Vice Mayor Dodd  stated he was disappointed that it appeared that  the chamber wants to maintain a status quo rather than move forward and become the marketing arm of the town. He said he  was prepared to authorize a payment of up to $55,000 if the chamber adopted a more aggressive marketing stance…but since they are happy with doing the same as last year then I believe in these times of financial restraint they too need to cut back …adding even the commission has chosen to forgo our raise so why shouldn’t the chamber if they only want to do what they did last year.. and add an employee  …he was having a problem with an increase…and wanted Broward County brought into the situation….He said he has always supported the chamber but am disappointed …and still did not have the realistic amounts ..

The Mayor asked the Int. TM for those actual fund amounts including the building …she understood they are two separate entities and was a proponent of both but spoke of the taxpayers funding it…wanting a plan presented…still…and of wanting to take it to the next level …asking for more information…and stating she was not ready to fund the $55,000…She thanked Comm. Sasser for this assistance …

Comm. Sasser spoke of the need for clarification he was hearing from some of the members of the dais on the financials again speaking of the new separation being asked for…just the Welcome Center…

Paul Novak clearly agitated said he did not know what they meant by a “higher level” and spoke of the problems stated above Ft. Lauderdale …the building size etc… He admonished the Mayor  and reminded her she had been in the position to know what happens in a Chamber from her time there on the board…(The Mayor was miffed at his hard hit)….He said Judy does the selling..and works hard…He enlisted resident and former Chamber board member Dick Clark to speak…stating he knows what’s what…

Dick Clark who we understand sat in on the first meeting with Mr. Brandt ..the Int. TM and Comm. Sasser was visibly uncomfortable and stated he should have watched from home …He said he was proud of the Chamber and gave some of his own professional history …he agreed with Comm. Vincent on the “branding” and the Chamber being a partner with the community …He states the visitor center is the only one on the beach and offered his time and help with a plan… It is our understanding he had many other ideas of how to move to that next level..but did not bring them to the podium this evening….

Comm. Vincent thanked Mr. Clark for volunteering his time  and asked Paul about the separation of the Chamber and Welcome Center adding it was valid to ask for the Town to reduce funds if Broward County funded some…Paul replied they cannot count on the County…

The Mayor was told by the Int. TM the cost budgeted was to be $18,000…but later corrected that to add the Town employees etc….so the total including them and the budgeted monies asked for would be approx. $86,000

Comm. Clottey asked why it was difficult to separate the two entities and costs…Judy answered it would be too time consuming to come up with the split of telephone…paper…staples and such…”a nightmare”… It seems to this writer if the funding goes through as separate funding to only the WC that will need to be the case for the next year’s audit…

The figures provided by the Int. TM made VM Dodd insist the County needs to be “kicking in” with funds…

Comm. Vincent did not understand his fellow dais members and broke it down …(as if they didn’t get it!)…adding it was to take the stress off of Judy…and if they closed down the Chamber the building would sit empty as it wouldn’t be rented for years…Quite a leap!…

The Mayor cut him off at the pass stating she wanted a business plan…still…and it was not too much to ask for…

Comm. Sasser said it was a conundrum and they clearly understood what the Chamber was asking for what they needed to decide was the number that would be given…

They agreed to decide after the millage and the budget presentation… (see below)…

The decision to keep the $55,000 or reduce it was again introduced and Comm. Sasser tied it all up with the commentary of the what the Chamber was asking for…and the desire for Broward County funds to lead to a deduction from the Town’s share…

The Mayor added now she was in favor of the $55,000 but done quarterly adding in the Broward deduction as a part of it if funds came in…

Comm. Vincent countered her requirement by stating this was an appropriation after asking if funding quarterly gave the Town to reserve the right not to fund it the reports were not done.. but he did agree with funding less if Broward funded…

Comm. Clottey said she was reserving her final decision until she sees a business plan and allocation …She added a personal statement that she did not want the Chamber to give public monies to a charity as a donation (as happened last Christmas)…

So it appeared the direction was to keep the line item for the Chamber …rather the Welcome Center? …at $55,000 until a business plan was received for a final decision next month… and the Town and/or the Chamber would enlist some funding for the full time employee from the County..

BC- after his win over Beverly Kennedy this week to run as the democratic candidate for another term Broward County Mayor Ken Keechl must know he needs to make something ongoing happen to try and fully fund the $55,000 as a separated out entity that sits inside the Town owned Chamber building….on an ongoing basis…After all Comm. Clottey stated he was interested in funding the Artificial Reef Project last month…Voters should call or e-mail him and other Broward County Commissioners to add their voice to the need for County funding…

On a personal note…it is the hope of this writer that the Town consider a business development plan that includes the next level of the Chamber of Commerce in whatever feasibility study we pursue as part of the strategic plan for the future of this Town and that Yann Brandt is a part of that committee…

Chamber/Welcome Center link … http://www.lbts.com/chamber.html

As far as FY2010-2011 budget the Int. TM went over the backup provided …(link below)…She spoke of what they needed to do to retain the 3.999 millage the Commission wants kept in place… At the end of the discussions the Acting Finance Director, Doug Haag said we need to find another $153,330 dollars to get there …The Int. TM injected that figure stood only if the fire funds are legitimate as previously discussed (prev. post)….She covered the cuts in the cost of the auditor this next year …and having a portion for the fire department charged to the fire fund…The change in need for a Human Resources/Risk Management Manager (former HR Mgr. Kathy O’Brien’s position)…and that they were leaving $10,000 in for any consultant required …as well as the League of Cities cost of $2,000 for Risk management services …Town Topics was discussed and direction was given for 4 times a year…no more mailing…only at stores…Town buildings…Comm. Clottey stated she heard complaints about the last edition and the “glossy paper” being an extravagance..(Furths?)… Ms. Hoffmann said not so…and PIO D’Oliveira came to the podium as well to say no difference in the cost…Also direction came for Town e-alerts…(Include a Town Facebook as well) …Ms. Hoffmann spoke of the shift of funds from the Gen. Fund to the Fire fund …a new phone-I.T. system and new laptops for Commissioners to work with the new system…old ones would go to the Community Center…She touched on the agreeable interchanges with the VFD per President Ken Johnson and the cut in funding to $700,000 with the difference in an apparatus account…along with other contract changes such as percentage increases each year…all to be done after approval from the VFD members and re-negotiations…She spoke of the legalities in the funding of the beach patrol and EMS responses by VFD…She was incorrect in stating the VFD prevailed in instructing the Town it was allowable…That was done by Burton and Assoc. when inquired at last year’s fire assessment meeting… The gray area they touted was the VFD did not do medical procedures such as I.V.s …The beach patrol funds being in the Gen. Fund this year is confusing as Readers will remember the former TM being caught on this opened an account for paying that separately approx. 9 months after the fact at SunTrust (prev.post) and despite the fact that prev. VFD quarterly income/exp. reports (prev.VFD posts) showed the VFD was paying their members from fire assessment funds…On the donations from charities direction was given to have them show up and ask at the first meeting in Sept. as is customary…The Performing Arts was agreed to…and the TAtty. will proceed with what came up in the prior discussion…Comm Sasser had various questions on franchise fees and they were answered as a loss from people dealing in an ailing economy as well as legalities preventing any increase on the part of the Town…The improvements to the AC for the public safety building was accepted… The VFD was brought up once more… Rather funny that Comm. Clottey stated the cost was still too high without apparatus.(Hmmm…Furth-fed-led fallen out of favor w/ VFD?) …She directed a question of the contract being in place to the TAtty…. but the Mayor countered that for now both were at the table to possibly re-negotiate…On the subject of recreation the initial response was not to have a consultant (Ms. Margoles?) to help with the process behind the scenes as it was always done by volunteers… But 2010 Halloween Chair, Comm. Sasser disagreed and felt it would absolutely aid in the event’s volunteers to concentrate on the events… and was all for it..

BC- after the Greenfest fiasco…and the Furth’s packing up all the decorations for Easter and Halloween rather than donating them to the Town…Comm. Sasser is right on target… especially with Ms. Hoffmann’s ability to hire consultants and keep the budget in line as witnessed thus far…

The ending was as described above the dollars needed to keep the millage…and with 10 minutes left they began the Town Manager Application Workshop…and then decided after Comm. Clottey stated there was not enough time to discuss it…to move it to the meeting at 7 pm…(prev. post on the selection)…

The next Budget Meeting is on Sept. 14th…

Link to backup…http://www.lauderdalebythesea-fl.gov/town/backup2010WORK.htm

Link to meeting… http://lbts.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2

more to come…

Tags: FY 2010-2011 Budget Overview, Lauderdale By The Sea August 25 2010 Budget Workshop, Lauderdale By The Sea Community Theater to Return With 3 Plays/Sea Ranch Club Sewers And Future Town Wide Master Sewer Agreement With Pompano Beach/Lauderdale By The Sea Chamber Of Commerce & Welc, Scoops
Posted in Boards, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, Local Politics, Scoops, Sea Ranch Club, VFD, local government, organizations

GUESS THEY LIKED THIS BETTER THAN A MONUMENT FOR COMMISSIONERS …

In an interview with Pompano Pelican (now online …see below) …in the Aug. 13, 2010 edition in an article written by Judy Vik about  the Artificial Reef Workshop (prev. posts)… “Meanwhile, since the commission workshop, nearly $9,000 has been donated toward completion of the project, according to Commissioner Birute Ann Clottey. Bob Roberts , a LBTS resident, donated $6,000 in memory of his wife Adrienne, who recently died. He is the former chair of the Citizens Initiative Committee.” (BC-and former Editor of the Furth -owned-now defunct BTSTimes) “Many  others have stepped forward with donations, Clottey said this week.”…

BC- What is not stated and we wonder if the donors are aware …are the requirements per the permits of this project…It is a research project with strict ongoing criteria to be met with the Town being held liable for any problems…(prev. post…backup to the A. R.workshop on Town website)… We could not take a “hatchet” and take it down at the end of the first year as Dr. Goreau so flippantly stated at the podium during that workshop…It is not just a “feelgood” project that will have Cry of the Water and Furth going out monthly to see that the buoy is floating…secured and powered up…They or whomever the Town employs over the next 5 years will need to do studies and reports using 4 control sites and taking video to turn over to the Army Corp. of Engineers and others… The Mayor and the other Commissioners correctly put the brakes on this long stagnant project which is now in breech on the part of GCRA per the contract…to ensure the Town is properly covered…and the permit from the Army Corp of Engineers was done properly due to a 200 ft. requirement that is not even possible to do…and last but not least…is the alternative going on right next door in Fort Lauderdale…while according to the Army Corp permit and Dr. Goreau himself (at the podium on July 28th) the Town owned buoy sits in the Furth’s parking space outside their motel on El Mar Drive…

The Monument reference came from the granite monument the Commission wanted erected for themselves…The idea for a monument  popped up the first time around the same time the Artificial Reef Project did and came to the forefront once again before the last election with a call for donations…It was on the Town’s website to the right of the homepage for quite a while …It’s gone now…It was also covered in the Sentinel and in Town Topics…in the Aug/Sept. 09 edition also available on the Town’s website…(see below)…
“Town seeks donations
for granite monument
The Town of Lauderdale-By-
The-Sea is seeking donations
from residents to help defray the
cost of building a granite monument
to honor all of the elected
officials who have served on the
Town Commission since 1947,
when the Town was incorporated.
The Commission said it wanted
to first ask residents in the
community for donations to help
defray the total cost of the project
to taxpayers
If you would like to make a
donation to this project, please
make out a check to the Town of
Lauderdale-By-The-Sea and mail
to Town Hall, 4501 Ocean
Drive, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea,
FL 33308.
Please be sure to specify that
you want your contribution to go
toward the construction of the
granite monument honoring all
past and Town commissioners”

…………………

BC- Pretty funny…in looking for the monument info…in the same Aug/Sept 09 issue on pg. 3 was this…
“U.S. Corps of Army Engineers
approves fish habitat project

The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers recently awarded the
Town of Lauderdale-By-The-
Sea a federal permit to proceed
with its fish habitat project off
Commercial Boulevard.
The Broward County Environmental
Protection Department
is expected to award the
Town the final permit it needs (to
proceed) in September.
The construction of the
artificial reef, which was initially
discussed by the Town Commission
in July 2005 and approved
in June 2006, is expected
to start sometime in September.
The Town plans to construct
the artificial reef off Commercial
Boulevard south of the pier to
help boost local fish populations.
The Town approved a $64,500
contract with the Global Coral
Reef Alliance, a non-profit
organization, to build an artificial
reef with a solar-powered, lowlevel
electric current to help
stimulate coral growth.
The newest artificial reef will
be located near the Town’s
Snorkel Trail off Datura Avenue.
Dr. Thomas J. Goreau,
president of Global Coral Reef
Alliance in Cambridge, Mass.,
said scuba divers with Cry of the
Water, a local non-profit environmental
group, were responsible
for mapping the ocean bottom
where the reef will be located.
Goreau said the the goal of
the project is to restore the coral
reef fish habitat, which has
declined severely over the years.
The coral reefs off the Town’s
shores are extremely popular
with snorkelers and scuba divers.
The reason is simple: their close
proximity to the beach. A
snorkeler can be swimming over
a reef before he or she reaches
the end of the pier.

IN BIG BOLD LETTERS…IT STATES…

“Construction
of the fish
habitat
project is
expected to
start in Town
sometime in
September”

BC- September of what year?….That is the question….and of course we now know that pricetag was $76,000+ not the oft-touted $64,000 …OOPS!…

…………………

POMPANO PELICAN ISSUES NOW ONLINE….

http://pompanopelican.webs.com/

The Pelican comes out weekly and is delivered to a limited area of our town …making a consistent online edition a must for LBTS …Our area is covered by Reporter Judy Vik…The coverage of LBTS in the paper has been expanded in the last year…and Readers will recall the Pelican Special Edition coverage helped secure the 65% landslide last March…

It joins the By The Sea Future …the sole LBTS newspaper left standing after the last election….which now comes out the 3rd Friday of each month …It will be out this Fri. Aug. 20, 2010 in print throughout the town and always online …

http://www.bytheseafuture.org/

They join the newly expanded Town website …which is still undergoing some major improvements …in providing background …archived background…minutes…videos….and updated as well as the archived budget and justification sheets…

http://www.lauderdalebythesea-fl.gov/

Don’t forget the LBTS Chamber of Commerce that now posts its monthly newsletter online as well as other pertinent info…such as the Hurricane Seminar on Wednesday in Jarvis Hall…a combined program for the 1st time for the Chamber and the Town…

http://www.lbts.com/chamber.html

LBTS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE/TOWN OF LBTS….

EVERYONE IS INVITED!
HURRICANE SEMINAR
Wednesday, August 18
9:00 – 11:00am
Jarvis Hall, 4501 Ocean, LBTS

Special Guest Speakers
Jeff Beraradelli
WFOR/CBS4 Meteorologist

Chief Oscar Llerena
Broward Sherrif’s Office

Chief Steve Paine
LBTS Volunteer Fire Department

Seminar Brought To You By
The Lauderdale-By-The-Sea
Chamber of Commerce
and
The Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea

Complimentary refreshments courtesy of
Aruba Beach Café,Sandra K. Booth
and the LBTS Chamber
Call 954-776-1000 for more information.

…………………

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH?…

The Int. TM sent a memo to LBTS-BSO Chief Llerena on Aug. 5, 2010

“Chief,

Please share the attached letter with Officer Melbourne and advise him that the Commission and I are very appreciative of the excellent customer service he & BSO provided this resident.”

The Letter..

7/28/2010

Dear Connie,

I am a longtime resident of our beautiful Lauderdale-By-The Sea. For the past few years I have been using my home as a vacation rental when I am up North. I have always had fabulous renters that left my home in excellent condition.

On May 31, 2010, I rented my home to XXXX XXXX. I didn’t have any indicattion that things would turn out as they did…

My housekeeper informed me that they were trashing my house–broken furniture, using furniture for ashtrays, running AC at 60 with doors open, plumbing issues etc.

After a frustrating run of phone call with XXX (and reports from my neighbors) I knew she needed to leave. The reports from the neighbors were concerning–cars coming and going at all hours, garbage issues, and suspicious behavior.

I spoke to the Town Manager and she referred me to the Sheriff’s office. I had the good fortune of meeting with Officer Melbourne. He took down all the information and said he would look into it.

He was fabulous–went to the house, interviewed the tenants, looked around inside. Turns out there were warrants for their arrest. With his encouragement they have now left my house. I am currently restoring it to its original prisitne condition. I do not have any plans on renting again!

Officer Melbourne could not have been any better. I truly felt like I had a big brother helping me get this unpleasant group of Gypsies out of my home.

He was kind, effective, and communicated with me along the way. I feel such comfort knowing that we have such outstanding, quality people protecting our homes and town.

Sincerely, Carolyn Zaumeyer”

BC- Readers …have seen Deputy Melbourne’s name posted often on this site over the last few years… as he offered the same quality service in other situations throughout the town… Kudos to Officer Melbourne and the BSO!…

………………..

YEAH, SURE SHE WAS THE BEST FINANCE DIRECTOR WE EVER HAD!…

We were made aware of a memo to the Commission last week which included a series of exchanges between the new Acting Finance Director Doug Haag and Int. TM Hoffmann concerning a disturbing find made by Mr. Haag in mid July…The Town’s Emergency Reserve Account…a checking account with $1.9 million in it…was a non-interest bearing account… He had SunTrust Bank review their files to see why this was not changed to an interest bearing account… Ms. Hoffmann asked if there was anything in the Code that required this to be a special kind of account and that could be the reason why it was a non-interest bearing account…Mr. Haag had June White search of the finance policies and they came across one that required the funds be set aside in a separate bank account but made no mention that would be construed as to putting them in a non-interest bearing account … Ms. Hoffmann notified the Commission that they were converted into an interest-bearing account in July and that at today’s interest rates for public funds which are 100% insured as opposed to the normal $250,000 coverage while not earning much 0.22% at least it’s something…She also stated she asked Mr. Haag to either negotiate a better rate with the bank or find a better one elsewhere… We also hear VM Dodd gave the TM some input on the penalty paid without negotiating for the line of credit repaid last year along with other banking concerns he had including the many different accounts and the rates and encouraged changes being made… We are sure there will be more to come on the bank accounts…

…………………

HAPPY “SEWER” YEAR …. THE BIG BAD “WOLF” IS COMING … IN JANUARY …

The Interim Town Manager updated the Commission concerning the sewer rate increase from Pompano Beach …(prev. posts)…The north end of town who pay Pompano directly have already been hit with an increase that began Aug. 1st…They received a letter to that effect…The Town determined that Pompano put an ad in the newspaper advising of their rate increase but was not required to sent it to customers… (Sorry to say , since arriving in Chicago…looking at the local page and public notices stopped for this writer…with long hours of babysitting…researching and writing into the wee hours…something had to give… perhaps the Pelican will start publishing them?)…The Town received a copy of the letter sent to the north end residents and also spoke to the Utilities Director for Pompano who indicated they had not yet done their calculations on how this will effect the Town’s master sewer agreement and he anticipated they will assign that work to their consultant in Oct. leaving it to appear that rates will not increase to the south until Jan. but when they come they will be substantial!… OUCH!…

BC-As previously posted this writer made PRR for the master sewer agreement and will post upon receipt…It is also imperative that the Town look into what we provided to Pompano by way of the new sewers in the north and if that should have brought the Town any relief in charges as well as the SRC debacle…

……………

JUST WHO WILL BE THE LBTS-VFD “BIG KAHUNA” FOR ONE YEAR OR TWO?….

We hear that the VFD will elect their new Chief in September as previously posted…. The other news is the VFD is considering changing its bylaws to make it a 2 yr position…Hmmm….there’s a lot of other bylaws and SOPs that need changing as well!… Newly elected Chief Steve Paine went on vacation this month right after his win…It is said it was planned…and his opponent for the Chief’s job Dep. Chief Padden will cover for him… Hmmm….. Will that lead to a shift when the vote come up again next month?… We also hear Paine has indicated he will significantly curtail the medical calls with a protocol change that will have no negative impact on resident safety and medical outcomes…

The Int. TM advised the Commission she has been meeting with the VFD Pres., acting treasurer (who is that? Silverstone?) and VFD Board …(prev. post) …discussing a variety of issues…those concerning the budget and the contract…along with audit results on qualifications…apparatus etc… The VFD is going to have to come to some changes in terms and so far seems to be concerned most with the funds kept for future apparatus in a Town only account…They are concerned a future change in the Commission could divert the monies elsewhere and want the funds only spent by mutual consent… The Town will confer with the Town’s attorney…Ms. Hoffmann is also having the Town Atty. look into the proper use of fire inspection funds…per a further inquiry from VM Dodd….He was informed as this writer was and has posted that State Statute does not allow for profits on fire inspections …more to come on this one as well on Aug. 25th at the 5 pm budget workshop before the only Regular Comm. mtg. in Aug…..

……………….

MPSC MEETS TOMORROW NIGHT ….TUES. AUG. 17, 2010 7 pm JARVIS HALL….

Unfortunately no agenda or backup is on the Town’s website as of this afternoon… We are told the Int. Asst. TM will again present the CIP …and perhaps there will be discussion on the 2005 Master Plan revisions and El Mar Drive (say it ain’t so!)… This writer sure hopes the meeting will be cancelled…due to the fact the Commission upon advice from the Int. TM did not direct the MPSC to begin the revisions until after the budgeted “Vision” is done…We are also told that a re-instituted CRA would require a broader input before the MPSC does any revisions… Therefore save the time and the money for the video and transcriber until September and further instructions…The CIP can be watched on the Town’s website on the archived video from the July 28, 2010 Comm. Roundtable and in the archived backup…Below are the links to the Peter J. Smith Co. website and the LBTS Master Plan…

http://www.pjscompany.com/home.html

LBTS Master Plan PDF  sheet with an interesting pic of just how many came to be involved ….

http://www.pjscompany.com/Urban_Design.html
………
BC- From Town Topics…April 2005 …(on Town Website…link above)…
“The Town’s Master Plan Steering Committee has worked hard during the past year reviewing proposals and recommendations that will
affect the future of our Town. The Town Commission first held a workshop with members of the original Master Plan Steering Committee on April 20, 2004.

The Commission agreed that the “T” — basically Commercial Boulevard from the Intracoastal Waterway to the ocean, including Basin Drive, and from State Road A1A to the ocean — should be a priority for study and recommendations.
Since that time, the committee has held 18 public meetings. It has also met jointly with the Planning and Zoning Board and three times with the Commission. The committee has discussed each of the proposed projects recommended by the Master Planners, prioritizing them as high, medium and low. The committee concentrated on El Mar Drive, primarily because of the impact of three redevelopment projects. After much discussion of various alternatives, it was decided to ask the Commission to consider:
• Placing overhead utilities underground.
• Installing a new drainage system.
• Reducing the two lanes of traffic
on each side of the median to one.
This would allow for construction
of 8-foot sidewalks, 4-feet of landscaping,
2-feet of curb and gutter, a
4-foot bicycle lane and a 12-foot
driving lane.

The Commission agreed to this concept and a Master Utility Plan is currently underway. Developers will be responsible for making these improvements to their properties fronting El Mar Drive Several meetings, including ones with the Town Commission and the Planning and Zoning Board, were devoted to discussing the Goodkin Report, an evaluation of the socioeconomic and land use issues facing the Town, particularly in light of the replacement of hospitality units with condominiums and townhouses. Goodkin Consulting’s recommendations are still part of an ongoing discussion among Town officials and residents. The Master Plan Steering Committee approved a design that was forwarded to the Commission by the Gateways Committee for placing 14-to 18-foot high pelican “totems” at entrances into Lauderdale-By-The-Sea on Commercial Boulevard and A1A. The concept was informally approved by the Commission. A conceptual plan for a pavilion at the end of Commercial Boulevard was also approved by the Master Plan Steering Committee and the Town Commission; it is currently in the design phase. The Committee was asked to make a recommendation on the location for a new public safety building for police and fire services. The Committee recommended this building be placed on the south side of Town Hall where the current Public Works Complex is located. The Town Commission placed a 180-day moratorium on a block between A1A and El Mar Drive, bordered by the alley south of Commercial Boulevard and Datura Avenue. the Committee indicated to town Planner Walter Keller, who’s preparing a study of three alternatives for this area, that retail on El Mar Drive would not be an appropriate use. ”

Time once again to fill up Jarvis Hall with those who attended last time and those who want to participate once more…..

more to come…

Tags: 2005 Master Plan In Town Topics, By The Sea Future onlin, Donations come in for Furth Buoy, Former Finance Director/TM Colon Had Emergency Reserves In Non-Interest Bearing Account, Laauderdale By The Sea BSO Dep. Melbourne Thanked for Job Well Done, Lauderdale By The Sea Chamber of Commerce online & Hurricane Seminar Aug. 18 2010, Lauderdale By The Sea Master Plan Steering Committee Meeting Aug. 17 2010, Lauderdale By The Sea Town Website, Pompano Pelican online, Scoops, VFD Chief's Position One Year Or Two?, Waste Rates Going Up In Lauderdale By The Sea South End In January
Posted in Boards, LBTS Agendas/Meetings, Local News, Local Politics, Public Safety, Scoops, VFD, local government

HIT & RUN … RAN INTO WHAT?…

Dear Readers …at first it appeared to be a repeat from the prior week with BSO and VFD/AMR on scene yesterday on Poinciana Street and Washingtonia Ave at the same house (prev. post) … Then we heard it was a “Hit & Run”… but the final response came from BSO Chief Llerena that the call was for a hit and run of …a curb…with the driver driving erratically on a flat tire … he claimed he didn’t know what he hit although the car had heavy front end damage but they could not find what it was although the guy appeared to have hit and no calls came in of damaged property….. He was charged for possession of a non-schedule drug without a prescription…No update on one of the occupants inside the house last “visited” by this trio of public safety providers last week …We heard he was on life support… That incident was followed up last week with a power pole on Commercial and Poinciana when a Publix truck clipped the line and broke the pole…

……….

VFD CHIEF PAINE HAS ONE MORE ELECTION TO LEAD THE NEXT PARADE …

The vote Monday night for VFD Chief was a temporary one to finish out term for ousted Chief Perkins…New VFD Chief Paine will need to be voted in once again next month at the annual election that was already planned prior to this vote of no confidence….according to those in the know…

…………………..

YEP, IT’S STILL ON DRY LAND ….

A Reader sent this in today… No end in sight for the taxpayer’s buoy sitting outside the Blue Seas Motel….

…………..

CANDIDATE MAKES “HOUSE” CALLS….

LBTS Chamber of Commerce Beach Clean-up …(prev. post).. Candidate Maymon (3rd from the right) with LBTS Comm. Vincent …LBTS Comm. Sasser and Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff and her son Matthew …

Candidate Davie Maymon is making calls to voters …the BCbythesea Hubby received his today…. That’s what the winning slate of candidates for the LBTS Commission did ….and they won by 65% last March!…Smart move!…

http://www.davidmaymon.com/

more to come…

Tags: Candidate David Maymon Calls LBTS Voters, Lauderdale By The Sea BSO Kept Busy, Lauderdale By The Sea Buoy Still On Dry Land, Lauderdale By The Sea VFD To Vote For Chief In September, Scoops
Posted in Local Politics, Politics, Scoops, VFD, local government

UPDATE: The Town /Commission received a memo today from VFD President Ken Johnson advising them that the VFD membership took a vote of “no confidence” for Fire Chief Bob Perkins and voted him out…They then voted in Fire Marshal Steve Paine effective immediately…

EARLY DECISION ….

Dear Readers … Just received word the VFD membership met last night for their monthly August meeting…

It is said they fired Chief Bob Perkins after holding his check back for non-performance … This comes after the recent scuttlebutt a few months back of Perkins not filling out his application in the mid-nineties truthfully concerning any previous criminal charges and lots of questions about his spending within the department …as well as his actual hours of work in the department while being designated the full time Fire Chief…

The decision made last night comes a little early…Originally Perkins was to be out by now after the application questions arose …but that changed after we heard a “deal” was made for him to leave in Sept….which is what he sent in a memo to the Town and Commissioners (prev. post)… We have also heard for some time about a tug-of-war going on inside the department with different ideas floating from possible candidates for his chief position …including the desire for the department to become a professional fire department vs. volunteer…

We are told Fire Marshal/Fire Inspector Steve Paine was elected over Dep. Chief Joe Padden …No details on the count … but the result speaks volumes …and it had to be a personal blow to Padden who many felt did not step up to the plate after returning to his position …. after McIntee lost his own shot at Chief …(prev. posts)…

We also heard the board met with the Int. TM in a prior meeting as the new budget gets ironed out along with the contract and other items brought to the forefront by the consultant hired by Ms. Hoffmann as well as directions given from the dais last month concerning medical calls from VM Dodd…

The question now is how many hats does Chief Paine continue to wear and will he make more than Perkins did in salary …Perkins, in his first term was touted by McIntee from the dais for voluntarily turning  down most of his chief’s salary …to “give back” to the VFD and the community …..Of course a look at the past and present  VFD income/expense reports shows much of it was “recovered” when it was received through “expenses” etc…(prev. posts)…

A memo should be coming to the Town and Commission concerning the new change … Chief Paine will now be the one at the podium beginning Aug. 25th at the sole Reg. Comm. meeting in Aug. at 7 pm….as well as at the 5 pm Budget meeting held prior ….answering the Commissions questions and showing the Town if he can run a tight ship…financially… internally …and transparently….

Congratulations to VFD Fire Chief Steve Paine…

more to come…

Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea VFD Fires Chief And Votes In Fire Marshal/Inspector Steve Paine As New Chief Aug. 9 2010, Scoops
Posted in Scoops, VFD, local government

PUBLIC BATHROOMS SHOULD NOT BE THE ONLY THING N.I.M.B.Y ….

Dear Readers… the public restrooms in LBTS have been quashed for the next fiscal year while the vision process for the Town and the Maser Plan itself are revised to put everything in its proper place …literally… While the discussion of location (prev. posts) brought for the N.I.M.B.Y s (not in my backyard) both on and off the MPSC …My N.I.M.B.Y. happened  Tuesday night when the ugly side of certain “pockets” within our town yet again came to light  just a few doors away on Poinciana Street…This writer has long said (even when I was Vice-Chair of the CIC) LBTS does not consist solely of Commercial Blvd…A1A…and El Mar Drive … It includes north and south of Commercial on Poinciana and Bougainvilla from Seagrape Drive east to A1A ….which I find highly problematic to say the least… The previous post included the tidbits of what transpired the other night when AMR…VFD…and BSO arrived on scene en masse…Below is the police report received after the event…This one should rise to the top of the “plan” as we move forward….with our vision of LBTS….

Of note: while the VFD was asked to break- in per the BSO request that does constitute a “Told ya so” for the continuation for them go on every medical call in town ….

…………………..

“From: Palmer, Thomas
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2010 11:28 PM
To: LLerena, Oscar; Cedeno, Angelo; McCuaig, Donald
Subject: Sick/Injured person Haz Mat call LBTS
Importance: High

LS10-08-00047

1907 hours

4561 Poinciana Street #1

Units responded in reference to a medical call where a male was found unresponsive in a bathtub. Units arrived and observed Paulski nude in the bathtub convulsing. BSO attempted to enter the residence and found the door locked with the female (Dawkins) screaming from inside “I can’t, I can’t!” Due to the exigent circumstances Sgt. Palmer requested VFD to perform forced entry to the residence. Upon entry the female was observed on the couch possible hallucinating. She was removed to receive medical care. Further response in the residence Sgt. Palmer located a loaded .25 semi-auto handgun on the bed in plain view, and forced entry was made into the bathroom where Paulski was located. While inside, units were alerted by AMR that the female subject had possible carbon monoxide poisoning due to coloring around her mouth, and her foaming at the mouth. The residence (and surrounding units) were evacuated. VFD contacted HAZ Mat due to a possible unknown substance within the residence. Ft. Lauderdale Haz-Mat responded and discovered only cocaine exposure within the residence, and deemed the residence safe. In plain view marijuana pipes, marijuana, numerous cut straws, cocaine/heroine baggies, and numerous prescription narcotics were located and taken as evidence.

Both persons were transported to the hospital for medical care.

BSO SID was contacted due to narcotics exposure

Lt. Cedeno, Lt. McCuaig, Chief Llerena, Sgt. Palmer on scene.

Sergeant Thomas J. Palmer

Lauderdale by the Sea District

Charlie Shift Supervisor

office: (954) 491-3920

fax: (954) 776-6291

Please note that Florida has a broad public records law, and that all correspondence sent to me via email may be subject to disclosure.”

………….

more to come………

Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea Tues. Aug. 3 2010 BSO Incident, Scoops
Posted in Public Safety, Scoops, VFD, local government

POINCIANA & WASHINGTONIA …

The BCbythesea daughter saw the fire trucks and BSO show up tonight in our area…It was first a medical call ..   .AMR/VFD arrived with the BSO ….There was concern of a possible chemical/gas leak at the home due to an odor …. The Haz-Mat team was called in and more VFD along with BSO were on scene including Chief Llerena and Lt. Cedeno….After checking out the residence it was determined there was no danger to the community …Two residents were taken to the hospital by AMR… … There was some concern of possible criminal activity observed and BSO stayed on to investigate…

We hear when the call came in to the VFD the Int. TM was attending the monthly  VFD Board meeting and following up with what the Commission directed at the 7/27/10 Budget Hearing… She made sure the Commissioners were informed about the situation …

more to come….

Tags: Haz-Mat In Lauderdale By The Sea 8/3/10, Scoops
Posted in Public Safety, Scoops, VFD, local government

WRAPPING IT UP ….

Dear Readers … the July 27, 2o10 Regular Commission meeting lasted 2 hrs. and 11 minutes until 9:11 pm … The pledge said and the invocation by Rev. Hunsaker was given …there were no additions, deletions or deferrals of agenda items…Three quick presentations took place including the campaign promise of Comm. Sasser for a Code of Conduct that accompanies the Ethics Ordinance that was passed on second reading this evening…All 5 Commissioners left the dais and walked to the podium to each sign it and have a photo-op…After a big round of applause the Mayor made two proclamations for Honeybee Awareness Day on Aug. 21, 2010 and SRL North Town resident Betty Pagano Day on July 12, 2010 after it was mentioned at the last meeting she had celebrated her 104th birthday…Next up was public comments …Resident Joyce Murray gave praise to the new Commission…MPSC Co-Chair approached the podium and declared himself as resident to differentiate…he spoke of his interaction with people over the parking meters and recommended that the Commission do something to change the meters to the type that accepts charge cards stating it would improve tourism and revenues…This has been brought up before including from VM Dodd and former VM McIntee who saw it in Buffalo (prev. post) and it is already in the works under the parking study being done and included in the backup …He also commended the Commission and Int. TM Hoffmann and Int. Asst. TM Bentley  …Frank Herrman came to make some quips as usual and came through with a pretty good idea while offering his  preference of locations for public bathrooms…The Bougainvilla Parking lot (Sandra Booth’s idea and #2 location offered up by the MPSC …prev. post) stating the Bougainvilla lot should be renamed the A1A Parking lot…Comm. Clottey put this on the Roundtable as an addition the next night…There was no more public comments…The end of the month public safety reports were next…no discussion for the BSO report just the Mayor offering up to Chief Llerena “Excellent job”…and a 5-0 vote to approve…The VFD was another matter Chief Perkins came to the podium and VM Dodd again addressed the medical calls…Dodd asked why no cut backs after the Chief spoke about the fingerprinting machine to cut it down…(it’s been like a year since the sliding card was first brought up by the Chief) …The Chief replied they “just initiated the finger” in July and asked Dodd to give them a month to see if it’s working…No other questions the report was approved 5-0…AMR report had no questions and was approved 5-0… The plethora of minutes needing to be approved (many were held over due to VM Dodd’s absence and the looming public records requests from former TM Colon requiring that his portion be correct as well as all others …even more so than usual).. The VM pulled a few (A,D,G & H) the rest were approved and passed 5-0)…The VM stated the minutes were much improved and made corrections on the ones he pulled…after doing so all were approved and passed 5-0…Now let’s see how long it takes for them to be archived online ….The Consent Agenda item for permit parking provided to volunteers and a dumpster in the Bougainvilla Parking lot on Sept. 2, 2010 was approved with no discussion…

Ordinances 1st reading.. 2010-01 was the 24 hr business which was discussed by the previous Commission (prev. posts) and was brought forth by Walgreens…It was addressed by the P & Z Board (prev. post) and Rev. Hunsaker a member of the P & Z Board came to the podium on behalf of the board to state the vote was 3-2 and the 3 for were not “enthusiastic” about it…and approved it for procedure while the 2 against thought it was not necessary… The backup and prev. post does not show it this way…the 3 voting for it thought it was a process for the applicant not available currently just as VM Dodd would state later on ….and the Staff recommended it …. Comm. Vincent showing once more he is not doing his homework asked if this had ever come up before and what was the outcome it wasn’t in the backup …HUH?… He must have been chagrined when the Mayor correctly stated it came before the Commission in 2009 …Vincent asked what page …and was told the “cover page” of the backup…OOPS!… Doing a “Vincent” he stated quickly but it never made it to 1st reading as if that was “cover” for his foible …pun intended… The Mayor concurred it never moved forward ….which was a misstatement ….The backup shows this was on as Or. 2010-01 twice before …Feb 9, 2009 and Apr. 27, 2010 where Comm. Vincent addressed it … Vincent kept on asking the TAtty. if the Town would need to be named as an additional insurer on any extended business …HUH?… The TAtty. advised that in the backup it was stated it was in the best interest of the Town not to regulate and explained again this was only for general businesses not restaurants serving alcohol or bars…Comm. Clottey reiterated it stemmed from Walgreens and asserted the public comments that came from concerned citizens were negative…Not so it was 4 for and 3 against also in the backup including this writer who did not think it would be a problem…She asserted a “certain element would be attracted to Town”…The VM thanked the P & Z but added he thought there should be the ability on a case by case basis …Comm. Sasser further gave a wet noodle to Vincent with his correct recollections of this coming up on the campaign trail and the “hoopla” of drinking 24 hrs…He asked for clarification that it did not include that or the Pier.. The TAtty. stated page 2 had language that applied to hotels and piers …Comm. Sasser stated this allows us to approve or disapprove and the TAtty. stated conditions and corrective action was included… Comm. Vincent then spoke of speaking to businesses in town that they were not in favor of it …He added 101 and other restaurants that were not a party to to this Ord. as stated by the TAtty. ..He further stated it was “cost prohibitive”…HUH?… He stated BSO was not recommending it … that too is incorrect…the only concern of the BSO was “pill mills” … The Mayor spoke of the close vote of the P & Z but this writer believes they were again under a wrong assumption of what the board decided…VM Dodd made a motion and it died for lack of a second… That too was a wrong move…It would have only offered a business to be addressed case by case… This began on Oct. 20, 2009…went to the Commission 3 times and the P & Z Board…It required staff time and TAtty. time and sad to say this new Commission cast it aside without doing their due diligence… If they were against it in April…they should have killed it then…. It should also be required for the Dir. of Development to read from the P & Z minutes to represent an accurate description on all votes…Members of the committees and boards should not speak on behalf of the committees and boards at public comments unless asked to do so by the Commission …

Ordinance 2010-10 was the ordinance for the changes to be made in with Choice Environmental per Comm. Sasser’s liaison role (prev. post) …He was asked to explain it and he did…In public comment resident Marie Chiarello came forward to speak about there being no fines on those who put out too much garbage beyond the container …Diane Boutin concurred and addressed the user fees…The TAtty. spoke of the general penalty in the code of ordinances that covers all ordinances …Dir. of Development Jeff Bowman spoke of the Special magistrate and then this topic disintegrated into the abyss of perpetrators who abuse the use of one container…with way too much talking by the Commission ala the block party discussions… It was put back on track by Comm. Sasser although Comm. Vincent had one more comment about not wanting to”create the trash police” and leaving it to the staff’s discretion……The Mayor asked the Int. TM what other communities do and Ms. Hoffman replied large towns have an in house person who goes around to check …LBTS has code enforcement to write it up ..She and Jeff will see how often and provide a report in Sept. …The Mayor asked to move forward and the VM/Sasser motioned and 2nd for a 5-0 vote…

Ordinance 2010-12 on fire hydrants and standing pipes …not to landscape or screen them within 7.5 ft…The cover page stated this was supposed to be added with others in 2009…Hmmm…found in another Colon-admin. “pile” somewhere?… There was no public comment and no Comm. discussion…passed 5-0…This writer’s questions…. what time frame is afforded to current “offenders” to rectify it and how may are currently in non-compliance with this ordinance …Has the A1A project been advised of this coming down the pike?…

Ordinances 2nd Reading …Ord. 2012-04 on amending the Administration chapter concerning the Town Commission and elections …No public comment …VM Dodd had a few lines he felt were redundant and the TAtty. stated they could be removed …sec. 7.4 ws removed and it passed 5-0..

Ordinance 2010-07 Ethics …Public comments came from BTSFuture Editor Mark Brown again commending them on this ordinance being enacted…VM Dodd thanked the Mayor and Commissioners for making this happen…As a Comm. it was Dodd that brought this forth using a Miami version to introduce what he was asking for…(prev. posts) unfortunately the past majority shot it down (2-hats) and the former TM used a portion of it concerning the “Cone of Silence” not introduced by Dodd to later take a shot at Dodd on his talking to a potential vendor insinuating he and any others had broken the LBTS “Cone of Silence” …This writer quickly posted LBTS had no “Cone of Silence” in place and in another lame attempt for the Colon Administration to cover their blunder they produced the Miami backup…A PRR produced the fact that LBTS itself did not have it on the books!… Dodd expressed” it was a shame it was necessary” but it was with “too many hats”…He said he was proud to make a motion…The Mayor concurred with his sentiments and Comm. Sasser made the 2nd for a 5-0 approval of the Ethics Ord….

Resolution 2010-16 this was amending the chapter 30 code of ordinances to allow pet grooming in certain business districts/ provide Zoning relief procedures/Accessory Buildings and Structures /Amending Chapter 30 Article VIII to provide severability provisions …(prev. posts) …no public comment …no Comm. discussion Dodd/Vincent …passed 5-0

Commissioner Comments… The Mayor spoke of the evening being historic with the passage of the Ethics Ord. and the accompanying Code of Conduct…She relayed a story from her regular monthly Pelican Hopper Tues. morning ride and  also what buses can be used for a $3 ride to the airport…She spoke of the budget meeting held prior that evening and implored constituents to contact their Commissioners addressing the millage rate thanking staff for a “tenuous 4 months” and applauding their efforts…

Comm. Vincent brought forth an article he said he read about “Branding” cities…He read from the article and went on to speak about the Chamber …the slogan and what this could bring to LBTS to unite the community …bring economic development and get out the word on LBTS’ assets and strengths…He added he read it “over and over again and was dumbfounded…ecstatic”…
…He stated “If this Commission votes to support the Chamber”… adding the brand it idea moving forth with creative thinking …challenging citizens to brand ourselves as the finest little town”…YIKES!… Last person to introduce “Branding” …the Comm. to his right…Comm. Clottey when she was on her slogan bent…(prev. post) and stating again her marketing skills …

Commissioner Sasser opened with stating he a “had a couple of points, some philosophy and a joke” …He thanked staff and said proud to work with the “team” up there on the dais and that team makes sure they are accomplishing something…He spoke of what’s important the projects and the plan and how he sees things coming from the business world coming into government …stating government being “slow as a pig going through a python” …that was the joke…He stated we need the right data to get the right answers and stated he would be saying “plan” a lot because that’s what he campaigned on …not piecemealing …He stated the need to not throw a wet blanket on efforts…to plan first …which was a nod to stopping efforts of the MPSC in the El Mar /bathrooms committee decisions recently made and now on hold in order to get the Master Plan done first…

Vice Mayor Dodd stated it was “Good to be here” and thanked for all the support and deferrals to await his return…he stated while away he wasn’t idle that he  visited Henley on Thames and attended one of their planning and recreation meetings. They have similar problems since there was a “long discussion on of all things toilets. They have some that need repairing and we are trying to install some. Everyone in Henley was an expert on toilets just as I’m sure we all have years of experience in this field and won’t be afraid to speak out. On the next day the mayor organized a meeting of many of the people who came to LBTS and enjoyed our hospitality. I agreed to come back to LBTS and put the issue on a commission agenda to see if there is support from the commission to revive the sister city program. I feel it is a win-win for both towns – We promote their city and they promote ours. The ball is in our court and I will be seeking the full commission support at our next meeting so that the chamber can start discussions and promote an interchange of ideas.” He went onto his monthly report on his Hillsboro inlet meeting….which met on 21st July and four main issues discussed were… “the new work boats that should be launched this week and be here in about three weeks. The sale of the old boats was authorized in accordance with the bids received… the new boats will be upgraded to a commercial specification regarding fire fighting equipment as well as fuel shut-offs.”…He addressed the millage but misspoke stating the was proposed millage was the same as last year. He meant it will end up being the same from the majority on the dais’ statements (prev. post) but was voted 4-1 for the Int. TM proposed 4.299…He did state that “as the property values do not decline further the inlet commission will hold the rate the same next year as well.”…

Comm. Clottey stated she agreed with the Mayor on Pelican ridership and she herself had actually used the $3 dollar bus rides to the airport stating before the name change on her street it was difficult to get transportation to the airport …HUH?… She liked Frank Herrman’s idea for the parking lot name change …She spoke about hurricane preparedness…and brought up the  people not wanting bathrooms anywhere but on the beach and not as an asset for the businesses…At the budget meeting Comm. Clottey showed her disdain for the Chamber once more and their receiving extra funding for the Welcome Center…In 2000 Prof. Clottey wrote something much different on tourism for Lithuania  …”the authors recommend that the Lithuanian Tourist Board allocate more resources to informing potential tourists about Lithuania and to the development of a relationship marketing program with past visitors….”….Hmmm……

“Tourism Analysis, Vol. 7, pp. 67-73
1083-5423/02 $20.00 + .00
Copyright © 2002 Cognizant Comm. Corp.
Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

RESEARCH NOTE
A Replication of the Lennon, Weber, and Henson Northern Ireland Tourism Study Using Lithuania as the Target Destination

Ron Lennon and Birute Clottey

Andreas School of Business, Barry University, Miami, FL 33161

This study examined the decision variables used by German travel consumers when making certain travel decisions. Data were gathered in March 2000 at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin. ITB is the leading trade fair for the global tourism industry. The authors investigated Lithuania as a potential travel destination. As a result of this research, the authors recommend that the Lithuanian Tourist Board allocate more resources to informing potential tourists about Lithuania and to the development of a relationship marketing program with past visitors because this segment was found to be more predisposed to visiting Lithuania than the average German. Overall, Germans were found to have favorable tourist consumers’ perceptions of Lithuania as a tourist destination and as a safe place to visit.

Key words: Consumer behavior; Tourist decision making; Eastern European travel; Lithuania

Address correspondence to Dr. Ron Lennon, Andreas School of Business, Barry University, Miami, FL 33161. Tel: (305) 899-3507; E-mail: rlennon@mail.barry.edu”

http://www.cognizantcommunication.com/filecabinet/Tourism_Analysis/ta71abs.html

……………..

Old Business was the public bathrooms…This writer prev. posted the NIMBY’s in town …and even after the vote from the MPSC (prev. post) for the El Mar Parking lot as #1 and Bougainvilla Parking lot as #2 …MPSC member Bob Eckblad felt it necessary to send an e-mail though he stated he was uncomfortable doing so…to the committee and the Commission wanting it in El Prado park stating it was a public park and it should not matter what Minto wanted …also stating it was close to the beach…many beachgoers and should contain a baby changing station as well…This writer inquired from a longtime MPSC member if the e-mails being sent from committee members to members and/or Comms. has ever happened before…the reply was an emphatic “No!”…former committees did not even know who would be at the meetings…Such actions along with the Malkoon misrepresentation at the podium when addressing the Comm. (prev. post) …on the A1A project before the majority changed its stance …e-mails…as well as not wanting Comms. to speak at MPSC meetings…has led many to wonder if they are up to the task of the Master Plan as well as giving the Comm. pause on the bathroom project going ahead…due to the members themselves having 2nd and 3rd thoughts on location and need this year…Dir. of Development Bowman gave the background of the process and the presentation given to the Roundtable and then MPSC (prev. posts)…He provided the 2 location choices made by the MPSC (El Mar/Bougainvilla Parking lots) and asked for direction to approve $150,000 for the construction on the bathrooms in that location …He added the letter asked for by the Commission for input of any concerns from the BSO …Chief Llerena stated law-enforcement concerns for adequate lighting …landscaping for visibility from the roadway …graffiti resistant exterior finish hours of operation and maintenance … Comm. Sasser thanked staff and the MPSC but felt the project should be switched on the CIP for the Master Plan revision and acknowledged Comm. Clottey’s comments on the response after the the choices from residents and businesses including the e-mail from Bob Eckblad after the meeting …Comm. Vincent stated he “concurred” with Comm. Sasser and that this was “one of my pet peeved projects”…that bathrooms are important to tourism but stated he had second thoughts on it and nobody was “knocking of staff doors” for it so to be prudent the Master Plan revision should come first… The Mayor added she too agreed and stated that appropriations for the vision process should include “some types of public restrooms” …also stating the need for a plan first which would be discussed the next night at the Roundtable…VM Dodd made a motion to table the project until after the Master Plan revision … The Mayor added it would be part of the process…Next up was affirming Comm. Sasser as the Chairperson for Halloween …passed 5-0…

New Business was to decide on an auditing company for the annual audit from the three presented by the Audit Committee (7 had replied to the RFP)… Int. TM Hoffmann joked this was “near and dear to the Commissioner’s heart”…(prev. posts on past audit “suspect”debacles with the prior administration)…She also took the opportunity to introduce new acting Finance Director Doug Haag…(finally a TM who did the proper intro for a newly hired key dept. head )…Mr. Haag stood to a round of welcoming applause… She stated they had 7 responses but one was non-responsive and was notified of such…The six remaining were turned over to the committee who got to work and used a criteria to recommend 3 to the Commission … 1. Grau & Associates 2. Cherry, Beakeart & Holland L.L.P. and 3.Nowlen, Holt & Miner P.A. … The current Audit firm Marcum Rachlin long used by former TM Colon was rated 5th in the end but came in tied for 2nd on the price…They responded with a $45,000 charge $10,000 below the previous contract with Colon that was done without Comm. approval (prev. posts)…WOW!….The scores were given by the committee and the Commission by State Statute could only choose from those three …Also if the Commission did not go with the first choice they needed to state the reason…The committee consisted of Comm. appointees John Oughten, Ray Wolowicz, Chair Ben Freeney and alt. Patrick Murphy …It was stated an error was made in the RFP for responding to 4 optional years after the 1st year so the audit was for one year only leaving the Commission to either go out with another RFP next year or renegotiating with the company they choose this time…The Mayor gave the three companies 3 minutes to speak and answer questions… Grau and Assoc. came up first and Mr. Grau explained he was a stand alone firm doing only audits of which 90% are governmental followed by non-profits and private sector…He responded that his pricing was appropriate …The company  has 13 employees and came in at $32,000 (prev. yr. $55,000from Rachlin ..prev. posts Miami lakes and others approved audit companies for $35,000 for next fiscal yr)… No questions from Commission…Next up was Cherry, Beakeart & Holland L.L.P. …the representative Mike Weinstein sounded to this writer like a used car salesman …as he spent time on his connection to LBTS living over the bridge and visiting “Louie’s Diner when he was around”…OUCH!… He stated they were a larger firm 600 employees and they have a “big backroom to support city with their audit”…OUCH!… The cost for them was $48,000 with no specified amt. in yr one…No questions came from Commission… Nowlen, Holt & Miner P.A. representative came to the podium and stated he would be in charge …the firm was established in 1961 and they were larger than Grau and smaller than Cherry …30 employees do government and non-profit audits no private sector and asked for questions…They came in at $$52,500 but $5,500 was specified in 1st yr and calculated out due to the error in the RFP…leaving the cost at $47,000 …Mr. Oughten came forward after the Mayor acknowledged him in the hall and stated it was not an easy decision …each firm was respectful and “this engagement must take into account some of the transgressions of the past.”… The VM thanked the Audit Committee and spoke of the constructive changes to the RFP along with their deliberations …He stated it was a personal victory that he pushed for for a long time…The Mayor stated it was an important process and stated the 35% price portion and her concerns about that making the 1st applicant significantly lower than the rest…She recommended they “look at everyone a little evenly”…Comm. Sasser who had prior to these comments stated he was recusing himself from the vote but wanted to participate in the discussion (per the new ethics ord.) agreed with the mayor’s sentiments and added it needed to be somebody the Commission feels comfortable with and that a multi-year contract was important…The Mayor asked if the Commission wanted a few minutes to review it and decide…The Int. TM stated the snafu with the RFP and explained the decision to go ahead with it based on the response and while it gave Grau an advantage Acting Finance Dir. Haag had checked all the firms out and all were good …with some concern over Grau’s low cost he researched elsewhere and found Grau’s charges existing to those municipalities were also low while receiving a good recommendation on services provided ..The TAtty. weighed in to confirm the RFP mistake and the decision to go ahead …The Commission could choose any of the three but if they did not pick #1 Grau they would need to state why … Comm. Sasser asked if all were on a 1 year agreement and the TA stated yes…She added they had the option to renew… The VM again made the motion to approve Grau & Assoc. with a second from Comm. Clottey..It passed 3-1 Mayor Minnet voted no and Comm. Sasser was recused from the vote…Of note included in the RFP per the Audit Committee the Auditor will look into the past years $15,000 purchases by the former TM …to see if anything was purchased “broken up” to meet the TM threshold of not needing Commission approval…unfortunately due to the settlement/release signed last week by the Comm./Colon…now means if any improprieties are found…no action may be taken…UGH!…

The next NB item was the necessity of an Aug. meeting…YEP!…it is necessary and will take place on Aug. 25th with a 5:30 pm Budget meeting/New Town Manager meeting that will allow public input for the budget portion…28 TM RFPs have been received…A 7 pm Reg. Comm. meeting will follow… In discussions on the RFPs Comm. Clottey brought up again the lack of meeting the Charter requirement from some applicants and they should be weeded out before they are included in discussion…The TAtty. being tactful towards “Clueless” who brought this up before and was shot down by the TAtty (prev. post) over the Int. TM educational requirements…The TA stated Ms. Hoffmann’s degrees could be seen as on par with the Charter… The TA stated the Commission should go through collectively and staff with her assistance would come up with a list to rate them…Clottey kept up her stubborn stance and was called on it from the VM in trying to deny an applicant…Comm. Clottey stated she brought this up at the Roundtable (and it was addressed by the TA) and she wanted the Commission to go back and look at the Charter…The TA once again spoke of the “role of interpretation” …ARGHHH….. Please Ms. Hoffmann if you are still considering a permanent position…”Clueless” Clottey is gone in 2012!…

Comm. Sasser put a date certain on for the Commission to go to the TAtty. Weiss suggested change of the Adventura model of one Comm. meeting and one round table …The TA stated a section of the code would need to be changed (as she stated prior thus the concern to set the date) …The Mayor asked for the implementation to be be done for the Aug.meeting…The Mayor also asked about the tradition of Aug. meetings being on or off looked int and incorporated…Actually the off for Aug. meetings occurred after 2004 according to the archives…The TA said that was in the procedures the Comm. adopted and Aug. meetings could be cancelled…

The TM report included the progress report and the TM said she would keep it short.due to the budget..and addressed the 2 incidents that occurred the kayaker who drowned and the flare that was detonated on the beach (prev. posts)…She also addressed the snafu found with the retirement benefits she found she was receiving …She asked Finance Dir. Haag to look into it…it was a requirement from FLOCities and the state… The Mayor asked for Haag to check with the state …a follow-up memo came last week it is a requirement for all Town Managers…She spoke of the projects list and some items not being on it that were asked to be included prior to her employment…She will go over those prior meetings and add them in… Comm. Sasser asked for the districts to be included so it did not end up being forgotten …as well as the Mayor  and the TA including the necessary time frame prior for the study in preparation for the Jan 2012 date for the report by FAU… The VM added updates to the progress report for the Sea Lord and Seagrape…She addressed the sewer rates and SRC sewers (prev. post) …Comm. Clottey again asked about SRC and the north end of towns and not raising their rates …The Int. TM clearly uncomfortable with this line of questioning once again from Clottey while this is being investigated replied the north end pays Pompano Beach directly (therefore they are paying the increases Pomp. imposed since 2003)… and she added they pay a 25% surcharge to Pompano for being outside the municipality… The south end south of pine and SRC pay Fort Lauderdale who took over the billing for the Town and they have not had a sewer increase since 2003 ..The Mayor finally cut it off and stated again they needed to get all the information …let staff do its job …The TM concurred…Comm. Sasser agreed and said this was an emotional issue …needing the correct information …

Of Note…. while looking into the SRC sewer subsidy and who made the decision within Town Hall …(although former TM Colon cannot be charged with any wrongdoing if found due to the 7/28/10 settlement/release …prev. post) …the Town needs to also look into why any portion of town pays through- the- nose to Pompano Beach when we provided the new sewers in the north end that they collect on…

Of Note: … in the backup was the Pier alleyway…it was stated a traffic meeting took place with Int. Asst. TM Bud Bentley last month and a look into the Oriana walkway was needed …STOP!… Get this on in August…Get rid of the entryway to the beach in that alley..The only users are the guys who live in the “beer can Christmas tree” apartment across the road …Make it an open egress for the Pier parking lot…with no restrictions…especially since it was NEVER voted to be closed by a Commission in the first place… and because it should be fully functioning before the drainage project is started next year to rid ourselves of “Lake Colon” once and for all!….

The Town Atty only stated a need to readdress a motion made for the notice of intent for the resolution and it was done by the Commission as instructed ……

Adjourned at 9:11 pm…

They made good time….especially for a well timed marriage proposal for Mayor Minnet that followed at the Blue Moon Fish Co….(prev. post)…

more to come…

Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea July 27 2010 Regular Commission Meeting, Scoops
Posted in LBTS Agendas/Meetings, Local Politics, Public Safety, Scoops, Sea Ranch Club, VFD, local government

MAY WANT TO RE-THINK THAT ONE…..

Dear Readers … One of the best parts of having a blog is the input that comes from those who can provide important information or correct something that may cause us some big time problems  …Case in point…. the post yesterday on the Fire Assessment meeting last Tues. in Jarvis Hall…Vice Mayor Dodd again addressed the problem of the Town splitting revenue with the VFD for fire inspections to put in a Town account in order to purchase future fire apparatus when we have been told for some time fire inspections can only cover the costs of the inspection and administration costs…not make a profit…… Once more it went nowhere …This “Avid Reader” who was one of a few with knowledge of the Fl. State Statutes, who have brought this to our attenetion in the last 2 years, sent the following e-mail after reading about the meeting…It includes the following …”The governing body of a county, municipality, or special district that has firesafety enforcement responsibilities may provide a schedule of fees to pay only the costs of inspections conducted pursuant to this subsection and related administrative expenses.”…This writer responded and thanked him …again…then sent the statute on to VM Dodd who I believe will pass it on to the Town to find out why either the Town is still not informed of the statute … ignoring the statute…or feels it does not apply to LBTS…. I will post the outcome…

The Reader also agreed with this writer and others the budget for the VFD approx. 60 members is too much …

BC-we hear people are still voicing their unhappiness to Commissioners over the amount of trucks and personnel showing up at medical calls and the scuttlebutt that some members are making $1200-1500 per month on these calls… Perhaps we will learn more after the Auditor gives his report and the TM and TAtty. discuss the contract per direction at that Tues. night meeting…

“The 2009 Florida Statutes

Title XXXVII
INSURANCE

Chapter 633
FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL

633.081 Inspection of buildings and equipment; orders; firesafety inspection training requirements; certification; disciplinary action.–The State Fire Marshal and her or his agents shall, at any reasonable hour, when the department has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of this chapter or s. 509.215, or a rule promulgated thereunder, or a minimum firesafety code adopted by a local authority, may exist, inspect any and all buildings and structures which are subject to the requirements of this chapter or s. 509.215 and rules promulgated thereunder. The authority to inspect shall extend to all equipment, vehicles, and chemicals which are located within the premises of any such building or structure.

(1) Each county, municipality, and special district that has firesafety enforcement responsibilities shall employ or contract with a firesafety inspector. The firesafety inspector must conduct all firesafety inspections that are required by law. The governing body of a county, municipality, or special district that has firesafety enforcement responsibilities may provide a schedule of fees to pay only the costs of inspections conducted pursuant to this subsection and related administrative expenses. Two or more counties, municipalities, or special districts that have firesafety enforcement responsibilities may jointly employ or contract with a firesafety inspector.”

more to come….

Tags: Lauderdale By The Sea To Split Fire Inspection Fees For Fire Dept. Vehicle Replacement Allowed Under State Statute?, Scoops
Posted in Local Politics, Scoops, VFD, local government