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01-17-51SpMtg JAI'~YUARY I?TH ~ 19%1. A Special meeting of the City Council of the City of Delray Beach was held in the Council Chambers at 7:30 p.m. with Mayor J.L.Saunders in the Chair~ and City Attorney John Moore~ City ~anager Charles E. Black~ and the following Councilmen present: R.J.Holland~ Jo~m ~. Kab!er~ ~d ?~alter ~. Roth~ a quor~ being present. A letter from Marshall M.De~itt~ resigning as Director of Civil Defense in this City~ was read as follows: ~RSHALL M. DeWITT 1tlO North Swinton Avenue Delray Beach~ Florida January 1~ 19~1. Hon. Mayor and City Co~cil Delray Beach Florida. Gentlemen: It is wit'a regret that I find it impossible for me to continue as Chairman of the local Civil Defense Organization. With the location of my place of business near Boca Raton~ and since at times I cannot be reached even by telephone~ I feel that for such a responsible position in om~ co~m~unity life another person shoed head our Civil Defense. I~ therefore~ tender my resignantion with complete confidence in the organization and its perso~el and with appreciation to them for their ~tiring efforts in setting up an efficient Civil Defense group in Delray )Deach. Respectfully yours ~ Marshall De~.~itt. Mayor Saunders expressed regret that Mr; De~fitt felt he would not be able to continue to head the Civil Defense program~ and recommended the appointment of John R. Tallentire to replace him. Upon motion of Councilman Roth~ seconded by Councilman Holland, and unanimously carried~ the above appointment of ~. Tallentire as Director of Civil Defense was approved. The adoption of an Ordinance to set u~ activities~ establish po!icies~ and delegate responsibility for carrying out the Civil Defense program, was discussed by the Council, and a com~ittee consisting of Mr.M.M.DeWitt, ~irs. Max ~oehle~ and Mr. Tallentire was appointed by the Mayor to work with the City Attorney in 1/l?/fl 14 drafting such an Ordinance for consideration by the Cauncil. An Emergency Ordinance to amend Ordinance No.G-66~ pertaining to auction sales~ was presented by the City Attorney~ and read in full as follows: AN EI'~RGENCY 0RDIN/~NCE OF THE CI~ COOi~CIL OF Ti'Ii CI~( OP DELRAY ~ FLORIDA~ ANENDING o~:~CziON ORDIN~':C~ G-66~ P~RT~!I~I~G TO AUCTIOUS .HfD AUCTIONi]ERS BY PROVID- ING Ti%%T CERTAIN SALES SHALL CONDITIONAL ~ FURTHi!]R PROVIDING FOR THE DISPLAY 0F A SIGN AI~ A RECEIPT CONCERNING SUCH CO},~iTiONiL A~,~ZiNDING SiiCTi0N 11 OF SAID 0~INANCE G-66 PERTAINING TO TriZ 2~0~8 AND DAYS 0F SAL'~[]~ i}~ FURTHER PROVIDING SEV!ZRi~ILI~ CLAUSZ. Mr. J.B.Smith~ a local jeweler~ addressed the Council~ re- questing that the following clause be included in this Ordinance "In case the auctioneer shall state the ~alue of any article sold for more than ~10.00~ such stated value shall be e~idenced in ~iting on the receipt delivered to the purchaser~ as herein pro- vided." This~ he belie~ed~ would protect the purchaser from being misled as to the true ~alue of merchandise purchased. Several merchants in the audience questioned the authority of the Co~cil to adopt this Ordinance as an emergency meas~e~ as the Charter states that an emergency Ordinance may be passed only Sor the preservation oi' public peace~ property~ health or safety~ or for the daily operation of a ~icipal department. City ~ttorney Moore explained that this proposed Ordinance would amend the present Ordinance~ and provide for the i~ediate preservation of the public safety by requiring that a receipt be given by an auctioneer for all articles sold for {}10.00 or more~ and also by providing that merchandise which is ~satisfactory may be returned within ten da~s~ by the purchaser~ and his money will be ref~ded. There were other complaints from the audience that extending the hour of closing auction sales to 11 o'clock p.m. could not be considered an emergency~ and to pass this Ordinance as an emer- gency meas~e would not be in conformity with the City Charter. Mr. !I.D.Ada~s~ also from the audienee~ stated that ir this Ordinance were passed as an emergency amendment~ he would like to go on record as opposing it. Hr. Jo~ Breeze~ representing the Merchants Division of the Chamber of Co~erce~ advised that they were opposed~ as a group~ %o this type of auction being carried on in Delray Beach~ but not including the sales of real estate or automobiles. Mr. Arthur A. Marcus~ operator of the Deltas Beach Art Gallery~ then addressed the Co~cil an'd the audience~ and explained that he intended to operate his business legitimately~ that it would not be possible for an auctioneer to stay in business ~der this Ordinance and not operate legitimately. He stated that this kind of business was his profession~ and that by operating evenings other merchants benefited during the day~ although he carried no merchandise which would be in competition with local merchants. He also agreed to the addition of a clause as sulgested~by Smith~ to require a tag on all articles sold for ~!}10.00 or more~ stating the value of the article. ~,~en %uestioned as to his opinion~ Councilman Roth stated that he was in favor of the amendment to the present 0rdinance~ out that he would not vote for it as an emergency measure~ feel- ing it would be against Charter provisions. City Attorney Hoore then advised that there might be a ques- tion as to an emergency existing if contested in Court~ although this amendment was intended as a protection for the pub!ic~ also that a ~/~ vote of all members of the Council was required to adopt an emergency 0rdinance~ in other words all members of the Council present must vote in favor of its adoption. Mayor Saunders expressed the opinion that it is ¥~ong to discriminate against one person by making him close his business at 6 o'clock~ and that if the present Ordinance is wrong it should be changed without making this man wait 40 or ~ days for an Ord- inance to become effective~ which will practically put him out of business. Mr. Narcus then asked the Council to reduce the time required for an Ordinance to become effective~ if they 2elt it should not be passed as an emergency measure~ considering the length of time he had already been waiting. City Attorney ~oore advised !~im~ how- ever~ that the Charter speci(~ically provides that an Ordinance must be read twice~ with at least ten days between readings~ and will not become e2fective until thirty days after the ~'inal reading. A motion was made b Councilman Roth~ and seconded by Coun- cilman Kabler~ that the foregoing 0rdinance~ as amended to include the clause suggested bM Hr. J.B.Smith~ be placed on first reading. Upon call o£ roll the motion carried unanimously. A petition~ signed by eight property owners on N. Federal Highway~ was read as follows: "City Council - Gentlemen: We the undersigned being the land o~mers of the first block north of Atlantic Avenue on Federal Highway~ engaged in rental business (Apt.) feel that our property has been seriously damaged by the N0 ~{ING. Therefore we wish the Council to consider making the area af2ected 10 I,,~!I~TE P~ING to allow parking for prospect- ive tenants. This would answer our problem as we have parking ['acilities of each rental unit in the rear or side." A~ter discussion~ the Council agreed to allow ten minute parking on the ~{.Federal Hig~,~ay~ from the alley north of Atlantic Avenue to N.l.lst Street~ to relieve this condition. .g representative of 01in Hills~ Photographers~ with head- quarters in Tennessee~ appeared before the Council. He complained that his Company was asked to pay a license fee of ~}%0.00 per year plus a fee o~} ~!}[0.00 for each solicitor~ whereas a local photo- grapher was only req~lired to pay a fee of ~]~;20.00. He claimed they were working under Interstate Co_~!m~erce laws~ and that there could be no discrimination between local and itinerary photo- graphers. He cuoted license fees charged b~? other cities in 'this State~ which were not especially out of line ~.~it'n oar Ordinance~ and no action was taken on the complaint. Mayor Sanders advised the Council that t~e l~ro~ert,y O~,mers Yrotective Association had sug~-;ested that they appoint three ~Jor ~.~ , ~ committees in their organization~ to ~ ~- ~ith the Council~ if the Council desired~ one General oo~nittee to work with the Fact ~,ind- ing Co~m~ittee~ a Tax Valuation Committee to work ~,~ith the ~]qual- ization Board~ and a Zoning Co~ittee to work with the Zoning Board. They wanted no o~ficia! st~nding~ but ~ould work with and help the Council Com~,~ittees in any way possible. ~lfter consideration~ a motion was made by Co~cilman ~Aabler that the appointment of such Co~mnittees by the )~roperty O~ers t-~rotective ~%ssociation be approved~ for the purpose of making reco~endations only~ ~.~ith no official authority. The motion was seconded by Councilman Ho!land~ and upon call of roll carried unanimously, A letter from M '. James M.Cromer, Chairman of the Co~m~ittee of Realtors appointed to study and make reco~m~endations as to land values for the 1951 T~ Ro!l~ was read as follows: Delray Beach~ 2!orida January 16~ 19~1. Honorable Mayor and Co~cil of the City of Delray Beach~ Florida Gentlemen: In December of 1950~ you appointed a Co~ittee of Realtors~ consisting of James M.Cromer~ Ben Adams,~ Clif['ord :~. Baker~ '~.P.Carpenter~ Jr.~ and Robert ~. Gracey~ to advise tT~e Co~cil as to Land Tax Assessments. The Committee has prepared f. or the Council a map showing recommended assessed values based on the customary percentage to actual value. It is our understanding that the Cit]~ Tax Assessor will apply depth and corner factors where necessary. The overall picture has been changed but little; however~ ~.~e believe the recommended assessed Values are more equitable and reflect the increased and decreased values in the various sections of the CitM. If the Co~cil would like to discuss the recommended assessments with the Co~ittee~ we shall be glad to meet with the Co~cil for this purpose. Re spec tfully ~ James M. Cromer~ Chairman City Manager Black stated that assessed values and sales figures had been compared by this Committee~ and put on a map~ which was now ready for review and approval b'~ the Council. He also asked that any changes in cubic footage values be made as soon as possible~ in order to have the Tax Roll completed in time for the Equalization Board hearing in March. The Council agreed to meet at 2 o'clock on P~daM~ January 21st~ to go over this map and make any necessary changes~ before approval at the next regular meeting. The meeting then adjourned to the next regular meeting to be held at 7:30 p.m. on Honday~ January 22nd~ 19~1. Ruth R, mira City Clerk