AMENDMENTS TO THE AGENDA

Transcription

1 MINUTES OF THE GLADES COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 AT 9:00 A.M. IN THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING ROOM, GLADES COUNTY COURTHOUSE, MOORE HAVEN, FLORIDA The Glades County Board of County Commissioners met on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. with the following Commissioners present: Russell Echols, Chairman K.S. Butch Jones, Vice Chairman Donna Storter Long Paul Beck Robert Giesler Others present: Julie Mann Braddock, Administrative Secretary Wendell Taylor, County Manager Larry Hilton, Community Development Director Joe Flint, Clerk of the Circuit Court Richard Pringle, County Attorney Jim Cianfrani, President-Muse Community Association Bob Jones, Public Safety Director Avant Brown, Glades County Road Superintendent David Whidden, AIM Engineering Raoul Bataller, Hendry/Glades Sunday News Nena Bolan, Glades County Democrat Gail Jones, Glades County Tax Collector Lorie Ward, Assistant Tax Collector Brenda Choban, Chief Deputy Clerk Sandra Brown, Senior Deputy Clerk Joyce Wilson, Glades County Property Appraiser s Office Charlie Murphy, Okeechobee Radio Missie Barletto, SFWMD Steve Ramunni, Attorney Lakeport Water Association Ray Altman, Altman Fencing 19 citizens PRAYER Vice Chairman Jones gave the invocation. OPENING PLEDGE Commission Beck led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. AMENDMENTS TO THE AGENDA Chairman Echols requested that Item #9 County Purchasing Policy be removed from the agenda and tabled until March 9, 2010.

2 ON MOTION of Vice Chairman Jones seconded by Commissioner Beck the Board removed Item #9 County Purchasing Policy and tabled the issue until March 6, PRESENTATIONS/AWARDS 1. Presentation: Recognize Lorie Ward Gail Jones, Glades County Tax Collector, recognized Lorie Ward, Assistant Tax Collector, for her outstanding service to Glades County and the Tax Collector s Office. She stated Mrs. Ward started work with her office on January 14, She stated she had the pleasure of working beside Mrs. Ward for the past 30 years. She stated Mrs. Ward was an awesome employee and friend. Mrs. Ward was presented with a plaque and inscription was read into the record. Mrs. Ward thanked Mrs. Jones and the Board for the recognition. She stated it had been her pleasure to serve the people of Glades County for the past 30 years and a blessing to get paid for doing something she loved. 2. National Firewise Programs Gerry Lacavera, Fire Wise Mitigation Coordinator, stated Glades County was one of the few counties in the United States that had every community covered and recognized as a Fire Wise Community. He congratulated the Board for the activities they were taking, the action plan they had, and the risk reduction steps they were taking. He stated Glades County was really unique in its desire to have every community throughout the County recognized as a Fire Wise Community. He thanked the Board and the local Division of Forestry for their support. Michelle Steinburg, Firewise Communities Support Manager (National Fire Protection Association), stated the Fire Wise Program began out of a terrible fire season in She stated the fire hazard continued to grow due to more people living in harm s way, population growth and unpredictable climate/weather factors. She congratulated the Emergency Management Team (Bob Jones, Angie Snow, Tosha Reiss and Commissioner Storter Long, and Jimmy Cianfrani). She thanked everyone for their support of the program. PUBLIC HEARINGS There were none. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS 3. A. Approved County warrants. (Exhibit A) General Fund: Intergovernmental Radio : SHIP: Buckhead Ridge Utility: 142 2

3 B. Approved Records Disposition Document from Community Development (Exhibit E) C. Approved Transfer of $10, for Law Enforcement Trust Fund to the Glades County Sheriff s Office. D. Approve Change Order #1 for MCS Contracting, Inc. for tree removal. E. Acknowledged receipt of Barron Water Control District s letter regarding Schedule of Regular Meetings. F. Approved minutes of the January 12, 2010 Regular Meeting. G. Approved minutes of the January 25, 2010 Regular Meeting. H. Deleted items from Road Department Property Records. (See Exhibit B) I. Deleted items from Property Records. (See Exhibit C) ON MOTION of Vice Chairman Jones seconded by Commissioner Beck the Board approved the Consent Agenda items. PUBLIC INPUT ON AGENDA ITEMS There was none. BUSINESS AGENDA 4. Request: Exclusive Franchise for Lakeport Water Association Steve Ramunni, Attorney for Lakeport Water Association, asked that the Board consider granting an exclusive franchise for the area currently serviced by the Lakeport Water Association. He referred to several maps (Exhibit D ) provided in the packet which described the property. He requested that the Board give their consensus to move forward with the franchise and reminded them that an Ordinance would have to be adopted which would require two public hearings. He stated this request had been necessitated by a set of circumstances that had been presented to the Lakeport Water Association which purchased their potable water from the Seminole Tribe. He stated the Seminole Tribe had recently expanded their water treatment plants at a cost of approximately $30 million. He stated the Seminole Tribe had approached the Lakeport Water Association with a request that Lakeport pay a prorated share of these costs. After negotiating with the Tribe for approximately 1.5 years the sum of $4 million appeared to be the principal amount that the Lakeport Water Association would be paying to the Tribe. He stated the funds would either be paid directly to the Tribe over a number of years or using funds from a USDA grant that Lakeport Water Association had applied for. He stated this request was being made in order to protect the area that was currently serviced and to support the debt that the Association would be undertaking in the near future. Commissioner Storter Long asked when this issue would go before the Public Service Commission. Attorney Ramunni stated this item would not be applicable under the 3

4 Public Service Commission. He stated the Association was a not for profit organization and did not fall under these perimeters. Commissioner Beck questioned who owned the Lakeport Water Association. Attorney Ramunni stated the residents, citizens and users within Lakeport were the owners. Commissioner Storter Long stated she did not object to the franchise but questioned why Lakeport Water Association would remain involved if the Seminole Tribe had built the facility and would be providing the water. Attorney Ramunni explained that one way or another, citizens of Lakeport would need potable water and the Lakeport Water Association was the legal entity that had the responsibility to provide potable water services to these citizens. Commissioner Giesler asked where the boundary line would be. County Manager Taylor stated the Indian Prairie Canal would be the boundary. Attorney Ramunni stated franchise would only encompass the current service area. It was the consensus of the Board to allow the Lakeport Water Association to pursue an exclusive franchise as depicted on the maps furnished in the Commissioner s notebooks. 5. Request: Firefighter s Assistance Grant Bob Jones, Public Safety Director, stated he had received official notice yesterday that Glades County had received the Firefighter s Assistance Grant; however, there had been a reduction in the amount of the grant. He stated the County currently had a Life Pack 10 & Life Pack 11 that could be used for trade. He explained that the Life Pack 10 was no longer maintained for maintenance and the Life Pack 11 would no longer be used after the upcoming year. He requested that Life Pack 10 and Life Pack 11 be deleted from the property records and allow him to include them in the trade-in towards the purchase of 2 new heart monitors. ON MOTION of Commissioner Beck seconded by Commissioner Storter Long the Board deleted 2 Life Packs (#10- Property ID#1533 and #11 Property ID#2121) from the property records, declared them surplus to County need and authorized Bob Jones, Public Safety Director, to use them for trade-in towards 2 Life Pack 15 s. 6. Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) Bob Jones, Public Safety Director, requested authorization to purchase five demo Interspiro Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses (SCBA) with Spiromatic S6 and five extra bottles of oxygen. He stated Interspiro had agreed to allow the County to purchase these at a reduced price. He stated the SCBA s were upgradeable and the funds were within his budget. 4

5 ON MOTION of Vice Chairman Jones seconded by Commissioner Beck the Board approved the purchase of five Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses (SCBA) from Interspiro in the amount of $12, from Public Safety s budget. 7. Resolution and Agreement for Maintenance of Bike Paths County Manager Taylor stated the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) had asked that the County sign an agreement and adopt a Resolution for the maintenance of the bike paths around Lake Okeechobee. ON MOTION of Commissioner Beck seconded by Vice Chairman Jones the Board approved Resolution for the post project maintenance of the new bike path trail/nature walk within the Vance Whidden Park and authorized the Chairman to sign both the Resolution and the agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation. 8. Discuss Bids on Resurfacing Plan Avant Brown, County Road Superintendent, requested that the Board allow him to go out for bids on for the Resurfacing Plan. Commissioner Storter Long asked if one cent money could be used for the maintenance of capital items. Mr. Brown stated the funds would come from the within the gas tax funds and the Road Department s budget. ON MOTION of Vice Chairman Jones seconded by Commissioner Beck the Board authorized County Manager Taylor and Avant Brown, County Road Superintendent, to request bids on the Resurfacing Plan. 9. County Purchasing Policy This item was removed from the agenda by amendment. CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS There was no discussion. COUNTY ATTORNEY Commissioner Storter Long stated the County had agreed to maintain the trail on Curry Island. She asked if an agreement had been signed. County Manager Taylor stated the County had not signed an agreement for maintenance. Commissioner Storter Long asked if the Moore Haven Canal project would include maintenance on the County s part. Attorney Pringle stated he did not believe there was any agreement regarding maintenance of the canal. Commissioner Storter Long questioned who would maintain 5

6 the canal. Attorney Pringle stated he believed maintenance would be shared between the County and the State. COUNTY MANAGER There was no discussion. DEPARTMENT HEADS Bob Jones, Public Safety Director, recognized his Emergency Management Team Angie Snow and Tosha Reiss. He stated Marie Chapman had been awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award at the annual Florida Emergency Preparedness Meeting in Dayton Beach. He stated this was the second time Glades County had received this award. He stated he would like to bring this item back before the Board at the next meeting. Mr. Jones stated the Lakeport Fire Department had purchased an F-700 truck back in He stated this truck was coming off of the line and was still title in the County s name. He stated this had been done for insurance purposes. He stated the Lakeport Fire Department was requesting that they be allowed to scrap the truck after removing what equipment could be salvaged. He asked that any funds received from the sale of the truck be given back to the Lakeport Fire Department to be used in the building of a new truck. Commissioner Storter Long asked if this vehicle would be listed on the County s surplus list. Mr. Jones stated the truck would be on the list as soon as the VIN# were obtained and would be for sale at the upcoming auction. Commissioner Beck stated this truck had been purchased prior to some significant policy changes in the County. He stated the truck was purchased by the Lakeport Volunteer Fire Department with their funds and had been titled to the County for insurance purposes. He stated the truck had an aluminum body and tank which could be scraped at.58 cent/lb. He stated there was approximately 1 ton of aluminum on the truck. He stated the funds from the sale of the truck would be used to apply to other needs of the Department. He stated the chassis of the truck would make someone a suitable service truck. Attorney Pringle stated the truck was not on the list of items to be declared surplus and auctioned at the sale. He stated the Board would first need to declare the truck surplus property. He stated since the Board was already beyond the Business Agenda they would need to amend the agenda to include this item. He stated this would enable the truck to be sold at the auction. He stated the funds could be held by the County and disbursed accordingly at a meeting in the future. Chairman Echols stated this did not need to be a standard practice. Commissioner Giesler cautioned the Board against amending the agenda. He asked if this item had to be taken care of today. 6

7 Mr. Jones stated the truck would have to be declared surplus property at today s meeting in order to be sold at the auction. Attorney Pringle stated this would be the Board s last opportunity prior to the sale to declare the property surplus. There was a discussion regarding whether or not to amend the agenda. ON MOTION of Commissioner Beck seconded by Commissioner Storter Long the Board re-opened the Business Agenda and added Item #9 Delete F700 Brush Truck from the Lakeport Fire Department s Inventory so that it may be sold at the County Auction. Chairman Echols reminded the Board that the vote had to be unanimous to amend the agenda. Vice Chairman Jones stated he was apprehensive about the vote. Commissioner Beck withdrew his motion on the floor. Mr. Jones stated he would bring the item back as a regular agenda item at a future meeting. Mr. Jones stated he had given the Board a flyer regarding dry hydrants. He explained how the dry hydrants worked. He stated these hydrants would provide water in certain areas throughout the County. He stated his goal was to install 15 hydrants at a cost of approximately $6,000 for material. He stated the funds were in his current budget. He stated he had already discussed getting easement maintenance/right from several owners. Chairman Echols stated these hydrants seemed to work well and were fairly inexpensive. It was the consensus of the Board to allow Mr. Jones to purchase the hydrants and move forward with the project. Mr. Jones stated one of his tractor and trailer pumper trucks had recently blown up. He stated the truck was approximately 12 years old. He requested approval from the Board to purchase a new pump for the tanker. Mr. Jones gave an overview of the Fire Fighter one class. He stated the participants would finish on Saturday and the exam would be held on the 17 th. He stated the standard had been set at 70% to pass the State exam. He stated each participant had three chances to pass the test. He stated Buckhead Ridge had started the program with 10 students, 2 failed, 6 passed, and 2 incompletes. He stated Lakeport had started with 9 students, 2 failed, 4 passed, and 3 incompletes. He stated Moore Haven started with 8 students, 7 passed and 1 incomplete. He stated Muse had started with 6 7

8 students, 2 passed and 4 incompletes. He stated Ortona had started with 6 students and 6 students had passed. He stated Palmdale had started with 3 students, 2 passed and 1 incomplete. He stated 27 students would be sitting for the Fire Fighter I exam on the 17 th. He stated he anticipated that 10 15% would fail the first exam because of the difficulty. He stated the students could take the exam as many times as they wished. He stated the students that failed, quit or were incomplete could be placed into a Brush Division. He stated the only requirements were that they were certified First Responders and a 40 hour course which could be completed in house. Commissioner Storter Long thanked Mr. Jones and the Public Safety Team for all of their hard work on this program. PUBLIC INPUT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS Claude Castle, resident of Lakeport, expressed concern with the noise from boom boxes in vehicles coming from CR 721 and Lakeport. He stated he contacted the Sheriff s Department and had been told nothing could be done about the noise. Chairman Echols stated he had spoke with Chief Deputy Pottorff about this situation and believed he would be able to help with this situation. COMMISSIONERS ITEMS AND COMMENTS Commissioner Storter Long stated Item #9 had been pulled from the agenda so that Attorney Pringle would have time to review some of the issues. She explained that last month the Board had heard a request from the Muse Community Homeowners Association for funds to build a fence around their park. She stated she had asked who the contractor would be during the last meeting and had been told by County Manager Taylor that he would go with the lowest bidder whoever that may be. She stated she understood that the lowest bid had come in late. She stated there were no purchasing procedures that restricted a late quote (proposal, bid, etc.) She stated she was concerned that a decision had still not been made. She again asked which contractor would be building the fence at the Muse Park. County Manager Taylor stated a decision had not been made and was still under review. Commissioner Storter Long asked when this issue would be resolved. County Manager Taylor stated he would bring the issue back to Board after further review. Commissioner Storter Long stated the Building Department had informed her that no permit was required to build a fence. She stated she was still confused about the issue. She stated she would like to see the project re-bid. She stated written guidelines would have protected all parties involved. She stated the job had been awarded to a contractor and then taken away. 8

9 County Manager Taylor stated he would do whatever the Board wished. He stated he had not awarded the bid nor had he taken one away. Commissioner Giesler, Chairman Echols, nor Vice Chairman Jones had any comments. Commissioner Beck expressed his opinion regarding the Muse Community Park issue. He stated in order to be fair to all contractors when paperwork was sent to Larry Hilton to be published on the website there should be a deadline. Attorney Pringle stated this whole discussion was part of the reason he wanted this item removed from the agenda today. He stated the County had not done a request for bids for this project. He expressed concern with a Community Association (or any other separate entity) asking for responses on their own. He stated these responses were not subject to County laws or regulations. He stated the Board had approved the building of a fence at the Muse Community Park; they did not award the contract to anyone in particular. He stated he understood the hurt feelings and opinions but stated he had not seen anything that was technically incorrect with the way the issue had been handled. Commissioner Storter Long asked again who would build the fence and when. Attorney Pringle stated the Board was the policy maker and had given the County Manager the authority to make decisions within certain thresholds. He explained that the decision about building a fence around the Muse Park was made by the Board regarding County property. He stated the fence would be built at the County Manager s discretion. Ellen Geake, resident of Indian Hills, apologized for not getting on the agenda in a timely manner. She stated the Hendry Glades Community Health Fair would be held on March 14 th at the Hendry Regional Medical Center in Clewiston. She stated the Commissioners had supported the event each year when their donations were requested. She requested that the Board donate funds to help with this year s event. Chairman Echols asked that the request be put on the night meeting s agenda so that a vote could be taken. ADJOURNMENT ON MOTION of Commissioner Beck seconded by Vice Chairman Jones the Board moved to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried by 5-0 vote. There being no further discussion, Chairman Echols adjourned the meeting at 10:19 a.m. 9

10 ATTEST: Russell Echols, Chairman Joe Flint, Clerk of the Circuit Court Approved: March 9, 2010 THESE MINUTES ARE NOT A VERBATIM RECORD. TAPES ARE AVAILABLE FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN LISTENING TO THE ENTIRE MEETING. 10