Loading...
01-31-89SpMtg JANUARY 31, 1989 A Special Meeting of the City Commission of the City of Delray Beach, Florida, was called to order by Mayor Doak S. Campbell in the Commission Chambers at City Hall at 7:05 P.M., Tuesday, January 31, 1989. 1. Roll call showed: Present - Commissioner Patricia Brainerd Commissioner Mary McCarty Commissioner Jimmy Weatherspoon Mayor Doak S. Campbell Absent - Commissioner Marie Horenburger Also present were - City Manager Walter O. Barry and City Attorney Herbert W.A. Thiele. Mayor Campbell called the meeting to order and announced that this meeting has been called for the purpose of considering the follow- ing: 1. Ordinance No. 7-89: Charter Changes. Mayor Campbell reported there was discussion on this item last week and the Commission was concerned that there would be a cost item to the public with regard to this. It was the consensus at the time, pursuant to the recommendation of staff, that if the requisite number of signatures were obtained and they were proceeding along but they did not have them in time for the March election, that that would necessitate an automatic triggering of a special election which could end up costing approximately $10,000. It was the feeling that being the case, there would be no reason then to put the taxpayers to that burden and it would be more appropriate to put it on the ballot for consideration. Mayor Campbell advised they received a supplemental opinion from the City Attorney's Office saying, essentially, that the Commission cannot be mandated to call a special election prior to the next General Election within the municipality. Ms. McCarty stated she felt the Commission would be setting a bad precedent with regard to a Charter change and not going through the proper procedure; they can't be changing the Charter every time a few people want to change something. Ms. Brainerd stated she would be in favor of putting it on the ballot. Mr. Weatherspoon advised there is a mechanism, which if there are enough people who believe the Charter warrants changing, can change it. Since the caveat of this mandatory special election has been removed, then he has no problem with voting this particular item down and allowing those people who feel strongly enough to continue with that process. The City Manager presented Ordinance No. 7-89: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA, PROVIDING FOR CHARTER CHANGES TO ARTICLE V, "ELECTIONS", OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA, BY REPEALING SECTION 5.03(a) "FORM BALLOTS", AND ENACTING A NEW SECTION 5.03(a) TO PROVIDE FOR THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE NAME ON THE BALLOT, BY REPEAL- ING SECTION 5.04, "ELECTIONS GENERALLY" AND ENACTING A NEW SECTION 5.04, "ELECTIONS GENERALLY", TO PROVIDE THAT THE TWO CANDIDATES RECEIVING THE MOST VOTES BE DECLARED TO BE ELECTED TO THE OFFICE OF CITY COMMISSIONER, TO PROVIDE THAT THE CANDIDATE RECEIVING THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF VOTES BE DECLARED TO BE ELECTED TO THE OFFICE OF MAYOR, IN THE FIRST NONPARTISAN ELECTION; TO PROVIDE THAT WHEN NOT MORE THAN TWO PERSONS QUALIFIES FOR CITY COMMIS- SION OFFICES OR ONLY ONE QUALIFIES FOR THE OFFICE OF MAYOR THEN AN ELECTION SHALL NOT BE HELD FOR THOSE OFFICE(S) WHERE APPLICABLE, WITH EACH CANDIDATE DEEMED TO HAVE VOTED FOR HIMSELF/HERSELF, PROVIDING FOR INSTANCES WHEREIN THERE ARE INSUFFICIENT NUMBERS OF CANDIDATES FOR VACANT OFFICES; PROVIDING FOR CANDIDATES FOR A SECOND NONPARTISAN ELECTION WHEN THE CANDIDATES RECEIVE' IDEN- TICAL NUMBER OF VOTES; PROVIDING FOR THE CONDITIONS WHEN A CANDIDATE EITHER WITHDRAWS OR DIES BEFORE THE SECOND NONPARTISAN ELECTION; PROVIDING FOR A METHOD OF ELECTION IN A SECOND NONPARTISAN ELECTION; PROVIDING FOR A REFER- ENDUM ELECTION TO BE HELD ON MARCH 14, 1989; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SAVING CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The City Attorney read the caption of the ordinance. Jay Slavin, Rainberry Bay, gave a brief history of the City elections, stating that about four or five years ago this Commission was elected on an open seat basis, the method used by most of the neighbor- ing communities. This was then changed by the Commission. She believed it is much more democratic to have an open seat election, as then a person runs on issues and doesn't have to specifically say they are running against one particular person. She urged the Commission to go back to the original method of election. Elijah Weatherspoon, 209 S.W. 2nd Street, commented that the focus of our democratic process is to elect a representative to reflect the entire makeup of the community; he felt the change was a very positive one and some very positive things have come out of it. He felt that if someone was afraid to run against certain people then he would have reservations about that candidate and believed that it is for the benefit of the community to keep the format that is in effect at present. Ms. McCarty advised she did not believe the Commission is in the posture this evening to be discussing the merits of one system over another; she felt they are talking about the philosophical position of whether or not if a citizen or group of citizens wants to change the Charter that they must go through the process that is enumerated by the State. To circumvent that would open them up to anyone wanting to change the Charter at any time and having to grant them the same thing. Ms. Brainerd moved for the adoption of Ordinance No. 7-89 on First Reading, seconded by Mr. Weatherspoon. Upon roll call the Commis- sion voted as follows: Ms. Brainerd - Yes; Ms. McCarty - No; Mr. Weatherspoon - No; Mayor Campbell - Yes. Said motion FAILED for lack of a majority with a 2 to 2 vote. 2. Final Plat - Barwick Ranch Subdivision. Gerry Church, City Engineer, presented a zelar of the subject area and stated that in the long term for land development they are looking for a connection which would provide a throughway from Barwick Road to Military Trail, but not a direct connection. Ideally, they would like a route which would service the neighborhood and would be basically a local connector. He also advised that there is an offset intersection at Barwick Road and Palm Ridge Road; this occurred when the school was developed and Sabal Lakes Drive did not line up with the existing road. As this subdivision was reviewed they looked at the potential of realigning this connection because of the hardship it would impose on the developer; it was subsequently rejected and then they looked in terms of how they could access this total neighborhood when it develops. Mr. Church then reviewed the options that exist with regard to easements and rights-of-way and the objections from property owners in the area who wish to leave a rural type setting. Mr. Weatherspoon commented that ideally they would want to realign this road; however, he felt signalization could address the -2- 1/31/89 traffic problem. Mr. Church stated they met with the County with that specifically in mind and signalization would be possible; they also tried to get a commitment from the County so they could commit the road impact fees from this project to ultimately provide for that, if needed. Discussion followed. Mr. Church advised he is recommending one of two things (1) Either they realign the street and make it a proper connection and a standard intersection; on that basis that could con- ceivably develop as a rural type development or (2) acquire right-of- way, live with the intersection, minimize the traffic, but long term think about a road network as delineated on the zelar projection. Mayor Campbell stated he did not believe the owner of the property should be subject to any of his property being taken for which he is receiving no absolute benefit. Also, the intersection and the southern property is not benefiting the property in question at all. He would suggest that in all fairness they do away with the requirement for any future road right-of-way, recognizing only the 20 foot easement to the south, and if they really need to recorrect that problem, then perhaps eminent proceedings need to be commenced. Mr. Weatherspoon concurred, stating that whatever was done he would prefer doing it to the north rather than the south. Mayor Campbell advised they need to move ahead with the plat and believed it would be appropriate to approve the plat at this time, as is, subject to and without the additional requirement on the south end for future road right-of-way. Ms. Brainerd moved to approve the plat with the comments made by the Mayor, seconded by Ms. McCarty. Upon roll call the Commission voted as follows: Ms. Brainerd - Yes; Ms. McCarty - Yes; Mr. Weatherspoon - Yes; Mayor Campbell - Yes. Said motion passed with a 4 to 0 vote. 3. Auburn Trace Joint Venture Contract. Assistant City Attorney Kurtz reported that the contract entered into for the sale of City land required Joint Venture to supply the City with firm commitments on the first mortgage financing and also the equity financing for this project; it totaled approximately 8.8 million dollars. The deadline for this submittal is today. By February 3rd, Joint Venture is to provide the City with a site plan, and it is his understanding that they anticipate having that into the Planning Department by Friday. He stated they did give the City a first mortgage commitment from Southeast Bank for a term of five years and staff will be evaluating that to see if it is sufficient; they will also be in touch with HUD. As to the equity commitment, HUD has a policy that states if the developer's net worth is more than three times the amount of equity they are requiring, that is sufficient. Mr. Hinners has given them statements to the effect that the partnership is worth about 11 million dollars; this is more than in excess of the 3.4 million dollars that would be required. Assistant City Attorney Kurtz stated there is no action that his office is requesting this evening. Upon question by Mr. Weatherspoon with regard to assurance that there is a backup plan if Joint Venture is not able to meet the obliga- tions in totality, the Assistant City Attorney advised the HUD deadline is February 14th; that is why this documentation to the City was re- quested by January 31st so they would have enough time to evaluate it. They will be sending a copy of the financial commitment to HUD tomorrow for their preliminary review; HUD has indicated they would give the City a quick response as to whether they see any major problems. If there are any problems, staff should be in a position to place alternatives on the Commission agenda for the February 7th meeting. 4. Proclamation - Law Enforcement Assistance Foundation (LEAF) Day - January 31, 1989. Mayor Campbell proclaimed January 31, 1989 as Law Enforcement Assistance Foundation Day in Palm Beach County for the purpose of 3 1/31/89 stimulating public interest in community support for this organization. He presented the proclamation to the Chief of Police for appropriate distribution. Mayor Campbell declared the meeting adjourned at 7:45 P.M. ATTE S T: MAYOR The undersigned is the City Clerk of the City of Delray Beach and that the information provided herein is the minutes of the meeting of said City Commission of January 31, 1989, which minutes were formally approved and adopted by the City Commission on ~. /'~ /~.~ . NOTE TO READER: If the minutes that you have received are not completed as indicated above, then this means that these are not the official minutes of City Commission. They will become the official minutes only after they have been reviewed and approved which may involve some amendments, additions, or deletions to the minutes as set forth above. -4- 1/31/89