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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-11-18 Workshop City Commission Meeting Minutes1 . Call to Order Mayor McElyea called the workshop to order at 7:04 p.m. 2. Roll Call MINUTES OF WORKSHOP DANIA BEACH CITY COMMISSION GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND THURSDAY, NOVEMBER I8, 2OO4 C.K. McElyea Robert Chunn Patricia Flury Ivan Pato Tom Ansbro Louise Stilson Bob Mikes Bob Anton Present: Mayor: Commissioners: City Manager: City Attomey: City Clerk: Absent Vice-Mayor: Commissioner City Manager Pato remarked this workshop is to inform the Commission that it is possible to have a General Obligation Bond on the March 2005 ballot. Commissioner Anton phoned him this aftemoon to give his list of items. He advised our first deadtine is December 23'd for the specific projects and values. Tonight he would like to hear what the Commissioners want as important projects to bring to the taxpayers. He has discussed the need for a public education campaign to properly educate the voters, to include direct mailings and placing signs along the highways. Commissioner Flury commented the five-year Capital Improvement Plan is about $29M, with $5M unfunded and $10M from grants. This would reduce the CIP to $15M. She remarked the whole five-year plan could be our entire bond issue. The specific items are the Fire Station, BSO Substation, the beach, and neighborhood improvements. City Manager Pato commented we set aside $1M to refurbish C.W. Thomas Park; Chester Byrd Park was also in the plan for $500,000. The Commission discussed developing a Linear Park on 5tn Avenue, which is not in the CIP. The beach is a park, so any improvements would be included as park improvements. He is looking for input from the Commission on public safety, 3. General Discussion parks, neighborhood improvements, and possibly City Hall expansion and the Library. He suggested combining the Library and City Hall complex. He does not have specific costs, but thinks it is wise to consider a Bond Referendum that deals with the Capital Projects we would have to pay for out ofour General Revenues. Commissioner Flury asked the Finance Director how the Capital Projects translated into the millage rate. She thought we could potentially reduce the millage rate if we took away the Capital Projects. Patty Vamey, Director of Finance, responded we could not reduce the millage rate if we took away the CIP because we did not fund any projects in the CIP for this budget year. The millage rate would go up ifwe funded the projects listed in the Budget book. City Manager Pato commented the Bond issue does not raise someone's taxes, although it will appear on the tax bill. He remarked in order to hold the line on taxes, this year we shifted the time table on some projects. He commented an advantage of a Bond is that you accelerate the reality ofprojects because you can only spend the money on the approved projects. He remarked if the Commission wants us to bundle items into categories we could do that. But, the first question is do you want a Bond referendum on the March ballot, because we need to know tonight. Commissioner Flury remarked it is hard to make that decision tonight because we are missing two Commissioners. City Manager Pato remarked we are only missing one because the one who called him because he is interested enough in the subject, is a yes vote for having a Bond referendum on the March ballot. Some of the items Commissioner Anton suggested are similar to what he just heard, and he asked the City Manager to speak on his behalf. Commissioner Chunn remarked public safety is an issue that keeps coming up. He keeps thinking about the promises that were made to the people in the west lor Fire Stations and other things. He commented he heard that sometimes Bonds contain too many projects and nothing gets accomplished. Mayor McElyea would like to have sidewalks throughout the City, especially in the South East. City Manager Pato advised if a Bond referendum is for sidewalks and neighborhoods it would be applicable City-wide, not just one neighborhood. It has to benefit the entire City. Ms. Vamey commented we could do a special assessment without going to vote if we wanted to do just certain areas. City Manager Pato remarked the real advantage is we can accelerate what is important to the taxpayers. He reiterated we are looking for input from the Commission. He remarked we would need to significantly increase taxes in this City in order to generate the revenues to pay for this out ofthe General Revenues. Minutes of Workhop Dania Beach City Conmission General Obligation Bond Thursday, November 18, 2004 Commissioner Flury would favor a bond for public saf-ety, parks, and a new City Hall, but she does not want to see a Bond get out of hand with everybody's wish list. She is not in favor ofa Bond that exceeds $15-16M. She does think the City Manager should provide the Commission with the dollar amount cost for the homeowners. City Manager Pato responded he has looked at this and a $20M Bond, over a 20 year period, would be about $94 per year for a home valued at $ 180,000-$200,000. If we did the Cily Hall expansion with a new Library it is roughly $1.7M; the construction of a Fire Station $2.2M; C.W. Thomas Park $1M; Chester BJrd Park $500,000; a new Linear Park $1.3M. This is short of the $15M, and is all doable. He remarked we need to put this in a simple format for the voters and limit it to four items. He advised we need to educate the public on what they are voting on and we need to do a goodjob. He commented he has talked to people who can crank it up in a hurry, and the cost would be $40,000 for three months which would be money well spent. The Commission would like this to be added to the agenda for Tuesday night as a discussion item. 4. Adiournment Mayor McElyea adjoumed the workshop at 7:30 p.m. CITY OF DANIA BEACH ATTEST C.K. M dl,u,u-fur,)MAYOR-CO SSIONER LOUISE STILSON CITY CLERK APPROVED: December 14, 2004 Minutes of Workshop Dania Beach City Commission General Obligation Bond Thursday, November 18, 2004