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10-16-78SpMtg OCTOBER 16, 1978 A Special Meeting of the City Council of the City of Delray Beach, Florida, was held in the Council Chambers at 7:05 P.M., Mon- day, October 16, 1978, with Mayor Leon M. Weekes presiding, Acting City Manager Elizabeth Arnau, City Attorney Roger Saberson, and Council members Charlotte G. Durante, Aaron I. Sanson, IV, and James H. Scheifley present. Councilman Robert D. Chapin was absent. Mayor Weekes called the meeting to order and announced that same had been called for the purpose of il) Considering authorizing Arthur V. Strock & Associates, Consulting Engineers, to prepare pro- gram and plans made necessary by reef damage and to present same to the Department of Natural Resources and other state agencies as needed, and (2) Considering passage of ordinance relative to sewage discharge into regional wastewater treatment facility. 1. The City Attorney advised that this item has been placed on the agenda because of the damage that was done to an area of the reef during the beach restoration project; it is necessary for the City to submit a program to repa±r that damage and monitor the restoration. The City Attorney further advised that we are presently withholding $132,000 from the contractor who did the work until such time as we can determine what the extent of our liability is going to be in terms of repairing that damage, and to hopefully make an amicable arrangement with the contractor to share the cost. The City Attorney stated that this should be viewed as an emergency situation and therefore it would not be necessary to proceed under the Consultant's Competitive Nego- tiations Act. Upon question by Mayor Weekes, the City Attorney advised that the City will be obligated to pay the consulting engineer's fee; how the ultimate disposition of this fee is to be paid will depend upon the City's negotiation with the contractor. Mr. Sanson questioned the extent of and how this damage occurred. The City Attorney replied that the approximate middle figure the City is approaching the State with is $63,000 and that involves the restora- tion of the reef and also the monitoring program. Mayor Weekes advised that when the contractor was demobilizing he dragged an anchor across the reef and caused a gouge in it. The State is requiring that it not only be repaired but it also be monitored. Mayor Weekes stated that there isn't any question that the contractor will be the ultimate one to pay for the damage; he cannot see the City releasing those funds and paying the contractor as long as we have the money in hand, unless we are forced to do it by court order. Mr. Scheifley moved that Council declare that an emergency exists exempting this situation from the Consultant's Competitive Nego-~ tiations Act and authorize the firm of Arthur V. Strock & Associates to prepare a program and plans to repair the reef damage, monitor it, and to receive approval from the applicable state agencies, seconded by Mrs. Durante. I Said motion passed unanimously. 2. The City Attorney advised that this is not actually for the adoption of an ordinance, but to give Council a status report as to the user rate ordinance, industrial cost recovery and industrial commercial waste ordinances required by EPA. There has been some discrepancy in the information received at the Sewer Board and some information that the City has received. The City Attorney stated that it is necessary under t~e EPA regulations to have a user rate ordinance adopted after you reach 80% of construction; otherwise, you receive no further grant funds. The City has reached 80% and we have received a communication from EPA denying the user rate system that the City had proposed through Russell & Axon. The City Attorney further advised that the City Manager had indicated to him that the concern was - what was the cause for the holding of the $188,000 from EPA of City money; the reason for that is because of the user rate ordinance. The City Attorney stated that the City authorized Russell & Axon last week to perform the user rate study and they are in the process of doing it now, completion of which won't be for quite some time. Mayor Weekes stated that we seem to have two things mixed up; Council is talking about the sewer charges levied by the Regional Wastewater Treatment Board to the two cities and that project is over 90% complet~ if we don, t approve the user charges to the Regional facility that is shut off at 90%. There are two different problems; one is the City's problem and one is the Regional Wastewater Treat- ment Facility's problem. Mr. Scheifley advised that the information Council received was from Mr. Startzman, Mr. Federspiel and Mr. Carlson that it was very important that we pass this ordinance on an emergency basis and that Boynton Beach had already done it. The City Attorney replied that this particular thing Mr. Startzman had brought up is the user rate ordinance that must be adopted by both cities; thatwas the question that was raised before and resulted in money being held that is City money. What Delray Beach got turned down on was one aspect of the program that has to be adopted; there are three separate ordinances. Delray Beach adopted one ordinance, sent it to EPA together with the report entitled "User Charge and Industrial Cost Recovery Report" dated July 1978 . The EPA has subsequently sent a letter back to us saying that the user rate portion of that study is disapproved because they do not approve of the fixture rate basis for sewer charges. The City AttOrney further explained that the City was then told that because we were at the 80% construction level, no more funds. Council then authorized Russell & ~on last Monday night to go ahead and prepare a study so that we can develop the user rate system that will be acceptable to EPA, and result in the release of the grant funds. The City Attorney advised that he will talk to Mr. Federspiel and Mr. Startzman to see if we are talking about two separate things, and if we are, we will adopt an ordinance accordingly. The City Attorney stated that the whole discussion arose from a meeting at which Paul Startzman attended that was a Sewer board meeting where he advised the board that it better pass the user rate ordinance. The City was advised by the Daytona Beack office of Russell & Axon that what Mr. Startzman was talking about was the user rate ordinance to continue funding for the two cities and he was advising both cities to pass the ordinance or they would not get their money. Delray Beach passed that ordinance and after it was adopted and sent to EPA they told us it was disapproved. The City Attorney was instructed to take it upon himself to clear this matter up first thing in the morning, get in touch with the Mayor as soon as he gets a resolution of it and a Special Meeting will be called if necessary. Mr. Sanson asked that he be contacted as Chairman of the Sewer Board. The May6r declared the meeting adjourned at 7:15 P,M. ~City Clerk~-~(~ · ATTEST:~ MAYOR The undersigned is the City Clerk of the City of Delray Beach and the information provided herein is the minutes of the meeting of said City Council of October 16, 1978, which minutes were formally approved and adopted by the City Council on · ~ity Clerk NOTE TO READER: If the minutes that yDu have received are not completed as indicated above, then this means that these are not the official minutes of CitY Council. 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. - 3 - 10/16/78