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HomeMy WebLinkAbout31088 - MINUTES - City Commission SPECIAL MEETING, CITY COMMISSION , CITY OF DANIA, FLORIDA, HELD JANUARY 19, 1968 The City Commission of the City of Dania met at a special session at the Commission Room at the City Hall at 2:00 p.m. Present were: Roll Call Commissioners Robert Houston Richard Marant Joseph Thornton Boisy N. Waiters Mayor-Comm. Robert Kelly City Attorney Clarke Walden Chief of Police Donald Parton!- 0 Building Inspector Hubert Walker City Manager Stanley Goldberg Acting City Clerk Jean Moore 1. Commissioner Houston complained that the Thursday night meeting was called off . Mayor Kelly explained that Mr. Walden could not attend. ® Comm. Houston stated that the meeting had been advertised for Thursday night and the attendance could not be as great in the afternoon. 2. Carnival: Police Chief Partons said he had checked the Carnival Company the name of Southern Amusements , and said that he found nothing derogatory against this Carnival. They are licensed by Broward ® County and are presently located at Hamondville Road in Pompano Beach. It was asked how much room would be needed for this Carnival , and the answer was about one acre . The church wishing to hold this Carnival has a Church building in Hollywood , and their membership is made up of residents of both Hollywood and Dania. It was pointed out by the Chief ® of Police that there should be extra patrolmen on duty at the Carnival site. Another location was suggested. Comm. Marant moved that the city grant this church the right to have its Carnival depending upon the location and posilig. the clean-up bond of $100 which must be placed in the hands of the Police Department three days before the Carnival moves into the city. This motion seconded by Comm. Waiters. Voted as follows : ® Houston yes Marant yes Waiters yes Kelly yes ® 3. Charter Boats , Mr. G. J. West is asking for a charter boat license for t e West C arter Company. They rent sail boats for a few days or a week, and there is no fishing. All boats are inspected by the Coast Guard. Commissioner Marant made a motion that a license be granted with the stipulation that no cargo or no fish or any marine life of any type be allowed to be unloaded from that point where any of the vehicles are A docked. This motion was seconded by Houston. Voted as follows: Houston yes Marant yes ® Waiters yes Kelly yes Motion passed . 4. Travel Lodgge , Mr. J. O. Morton whishes to open his Travel Lodge ® on NorTFederiT Highway and wished to discuss whether it was necessary to put in sidewalk at this time. The Commissioners said that they would have to uphold the sidewalk ordinance, and that they could not make an exception without making other exceptions. He was given permission to open by the following Monday and to check with the City Engineer con- cerning construction of the sidewalk. ' 1 A 4y pAM 5. Bartholemew-Concrete Fence It was brought to the attention of the omm ss on a rth ® the Bar on hw olemew who owns the Motel west of Dixie Higay has built a concrete fence around the sidewalk on both ends blocking the sidewalk. People cannot con- tinue on the sidewalk. Commissioner Houston stated that someone should talk to Mr, Bartholemew. The City Manager was requested F. to take care of this . .;: 0 6. Com lete Auditors Report: Mr. Freeman is questioned--We are late ge ng our re pors tack. Can you make recommendations on how we can improve our auditing system? Question as follows: Houston--On schedule A-1 of the report:tehere we have an una pro- _PH_a__t_e3 surplus deficit of $18,478.89. How is that being carried on this year's budget? O Freeman--That $19478.89 is the difference between the surplus whic resulted actually at the end of the fiscal which had been estimated during the' fiscal Year and that Houston--I understand that it was estimated $37'000. It looks like somebody showed $192000, do' you know?Kelly--No sir. In all the budgets in the past, in fact this O figure is what got us in trouble in the past. This unappropri- ated surplus of $136,00o is not there. Houston--It is there, in the accounts and the cash. Freeman--This goes quite a way back. The $155,000 was there at one time. It was spent and then it went into the year's budget as unappropriate surplus , It was a car -over at one time. O Houston--How do you account for the $20 000 some odd dollars in '-, the special assessment fund, the money which was the cemetery fund and other funds like that? F; Freeman--That was there and that was the surplus that we wound up wEE year after year. During the past years this was analyzed in tremendous dteail and it was fully explained to the satisfaction, O and I think what happened was that the $155,000 surplus was re- appropriated two years in a row, only one year it was spent and was not available for reappropriation the second year. Kelly--Which two years was it, Mr. Freeman? rF ean--It would be the current year and August, 1967, the fiscal year ending August 31, 1967. It was all fully explained with O schedules and reports in earlier meetings. This is what happened, You weren 't on the commission at that time. Kelly--We have a cash carry-over. Houston--What is it? Freeman--Your getting into our audit which went through August 31. Ea we are doing is reporting what has happened. O Houston--According to your audit, the cash carryover is $41..000. Freeman--You have to take the asseb* which are available for ex- Pe— nn Iture for the coming fiscal year, deduct the liabilities to be paid therefrom in the coming year, and that would be your cash carry-over. As of August 31, 1967, take the balance sheet, exhibit A, and go through the accounts which would be available for appro- O priation in the next budget. Houston--Would you mind pointing out these accounts which you are talking about. Freeman--Ok, your general account $34,378 is available, total cash Of 1,738 but you have obligations against that cash. You have to determine the amount which is available for reappropriation. O Houston--Reappropriation, that is what we are talking about. Freeeman--You have $41,000 cash, that is what you have on hand which of course you have to keep some operating funds, you can't spend every penny of it, but in general, this is what you have available Plus due from other funds. We have 4,000 in water fund which can be expended, Sanitary sewer fund of $4,468 and $20,000 of special O assessment revolving fund which cannot be expended because you are going to keep the special assessment revolving going. You don't have all the assessments collected, it more or less has to stay there . So far you have $50,000 taxes receivable, so that out of that $50,000 at the end of the year, you have to provide for vouchers payable of $21,916. Houston--Are those vouchers payable after August 31? reeeman--They are the vouchers payable thatvl'ujd be paid in Sept, for is incurred during the month of August. Houston--That doesn't effect the money that is going into the bud-4 Bet, does it, because you are goin to pay those bills in this years t. budget which starts at the end of the audit, or August 31. 2 Freeman--These bills were charged towards last year's budget. e cash will be expended in September. Kelly--The obligation was incurred in the month of August, the x' money was set aside for that month also. Houston--Set aside here is this $21,000, the funds are there, but we are going to pay them out of the funds which are shown here. Freeman--These will not be charged against the 67-68 budget. They have already been charged against your budget. They are just "= unpaid at the end of the year. Therefore, $41,000 cash of that $21,000 is already committed for bills you have already incurred. Houston--So you have to carry that to carry over into this budget. i, Freeman--Well you have the net, the difference between the cash you have and the unpaid bills. Kelly--Mr. Houston, I think that what you are getting at is, that every other year, thei,f unappropriated surplus was carried forth in our budget. It was carried forth like cash, but it was not cash. i It was what was owed from the beach fund, it was what was owed from assessment, etc. Did we carry over anything this year Mr. Goldberg? Goldberg--No. 211 —Not one dime? If we come up with $102000 carryover, this ,. is of in our budget. This isjust surplus which is not put in f , our budget, so I don't care, we didn't appropriate one dime of this surplus in this ,year's budget. ' Houston--That is just what I want to know, how much there was when wewegot through paying these bills and things to use in the budget. ;f Freeman--If you analyze this budget, you could tell. We had $502000. We--Tu--sT had 40 and nine dollars in cash receivables. Now we have to take out vouchers payable, $21,916, mortgage payable $14,000. r Now this is either going to be paid out of your exiMing cash, or it is going to be budgeted in next year's budget. Kelly--It was budgeted. Freeman--If it was, then you don't have to have to particularly co— nsie-r it in your cash. Revenue certificates payable, this is your monthly payment, which may or may not be budgeted in next year's budget. Houston--What monthly payment is that? Freeman--0n the beach enterprises revenue certificates which were ! issued last year. a, Kelly--You don't have to provide for it out of cash. In sidewalk a�treet deposits you have to pay in cash, the trust fund you have to pay out of cash on hand, the payroll taxes you have to pay out of cash on hand, so all the current liability is $54,999.78• It looks like $29,000 will come out of the $41*000 or out of the $50,000 which will leave about $21,000 actual cash carried over into next year. Houston--That is what I wanted to know, $2110000 that has not been appropriated from this budget. Freeman--Right. K-1e Ty=That sounds better than a $160,000 deficit that was mentioned n a newspaper article. Marant--I would like to ask a point blank question, Mr. Freeman, Tn your estimation, what kind of financial situation is the city in right now? Freeman--Your financial situation is the ability to meet your oEl�ga�ions. Again, this is a matter of interpreting, and you have a financial statement for each fund, so you may have one fund in a good financial situation and one in a bad situation. Marant--Can anybody constvue the facts to mean that the City at any Tme was about to go under or go bankrupt? Freeman--With all due respect, this is a judgment decision, we are reporting the facts, but we are not here to criticize. Marant--Do you think, based on what you have prepared for the co 3ssion right now as of August 311 1967, in your opinion as a man who has prepared this budget, how does the city stand? Freeman--All you can do is look at the balance sheet, the balance _ shows that you have $41,000 cash, it was just computed that you have $21,000 available carry-over into next year. So certainly your general fund has the ability to meet its obligations at this time . Now, if you want to determine for the future, you have to start projecting your mortgage payments coming due, and your rev- enue certificates, etc. - 3 - Freeman--You have to look at your sewer fund. Also, the general revenue and you must go much further, you can't say, yes its good or yes its bad. Houston--Mr. Marant is getting into the overall situation of the IE TTere. We have approximately $20,000 to carry over that doesn't show on the budget. Now we have a $65,000 loan that was made at the bank, for the first time we have borrowed money. Freeman--That $11,000 is the third item in the liability section which f you were going to pay the first year's installment out of cash carry over, then you would not have to budget them. Instead ou would put that money in the budget; and therefore, this 11,000 would not be applied. Then you would have to put the 11,000 in the budget for the next time. Kel_lY--Mr. Houston, you made a statement that we have never bor- rowed before. Houston--We borrowed money for projects and things like that, never anytlUig to carry us through on business. Kelly--We borrowed this money, it was actually owed to the general 7U7 , the $65,000 that we borrowed, was it owed to the general fund? Houston--Pier money and parking meter money should have been applied to the past year. Freeman--We are here to report what actually did happen. KeI 1 --When you talk about applying parking meter and pier money, that beach cost us better than �20,000 Just to clean. I personally, don't approve of taking general fund money and paying off a pier. But, this is what we did. We borrowed the money against the pier which came out of the general fund to pay it off originally and which ran the city short of capital. Houston--Let me explain, that was the basis on which the pier was put in on. The revenue from the pier and the revenue from parking funds was supposed to pay off the debt. Marant--But this is not how it was done . ous on--It was paid off ahead of time, but they still had to put in money, and if it weren't for cleaning the beach which we never figured in the budget, the debt would have been paid off. Marant--But that money is entitled to that $65,000 to be paid off. You get $55,000 from the pier and the parking meters. This was to be carried over for a two or three year period. 'e Houston--How much income was there from the pier and the parking meters'.7 It would be $55,000 or more. Marant--This is something we were not involved with and somebhing t is commission wasn't involved with either. Houston--I was against it and objected to it at the time. eve one more question, Mr. Freeman, here is a note on schedule O C-1 "Amendments to the assessment roll have been made on the basis of agreements reached in conference between property owners and reparesentatives of the City but have not been approved by formal action of the City Commission. Freeman--Yes, those have been reflected in the statements. ous on--I would like to know what you are refering to there. ® r'eeman--It is the sewer. . ous on--How many of those are around? Have we acted on them? m refering to the Cl amendments, those are going to have to be approved, and I would like to know how many there are. Freeman--Would one of them be the Mow Job that has to be done? Kelly--Do you have a list of those? It involves about 10. :! Houston--Are those for easements? ��-No. These are all changes since the roll was budgeted on the basis of the original assessment measure required for re- surveying the area and these amendments were made basically on the recommendations from the City Engineer. These agreements were reached in conference with the Utility Committee but never acted upon by the Commission as a whole . Houston--Have you furnished the city manager with a list of those,? I would like to have a list of those submitted to the City Commis- sion. . Freeman--The roll should not be changed until you gentlemen have passed on it . They should go to the records, and .I hope they _ come up with the same thing that we did, of course, we Just had to build this up and with a conference with the City Engineer to find out what had been approved. - 4 - Freeman - Your Utility Committee should go to the old records and ec�TF-what they have changed and hope that we come up with the same figures. I think that you might add that these figures were actually changed on the roll too. It was established by action of the Commission and it should be revised by it. Kelly - There was a certain number of them we brought before the commission. Yes , bit this has nothing to do with the prior approval. Does anyone have any more questions? Schedule F-1 sewer analysis--This figure $33 ,391.37 is the figure that appeared in the paper as a deficit in our sewer fund , and Mr. Freeman, this is only six months revenue. Freeman - Right, the sewer payments of course only operate on a six months of the fiscal year. Marant - This figure was projected on a yearly basis wasn't it? R-e y- This has nothing to do with the budget, it has to do with actual expenditures. Freeman - The $33,000 is the difference between the surplus that was fidgeted according to your original budget in anticipation of the end of the year, and what you actually had at the end fo the year. This is what was printed as the deficit of the sewer fund. This is merely the difference between your results and your es- timated results. Kelly - And that estimated result was strictly a guess , because we nothing to go on as far as prior record, etc. In your records you have a revenue of $68,000 which a portion of that is actually $24,000 as service charges on F-3. $43,000 is the amount we transferred from the special assessment fund. Freeman - Right, you actually transferred $43,000, but it can't be to n as being meaningful because you could have transferred say $80,000 and you would have had a surplus. It all depended on how much you wished to transfer from special assessment fund last year. It turned out that you only elected to transfer $43 ,000, that money is still in the fund. Marant - As far as operations of expenses against the actual revenue , that would be schedule F-5, it shows that we made $4,729 strictly expenses against revenue before financial costs; just general over-head versus the income . Freeman - Of course this is the initial period of operation and can't relied on for future operation. _ Kelly - Our revenue in the first three months here were partial revenue . We only have three months of partial charges in this figure. question was brought up about the auditing fee: Freeman - When our firm took this audit job we expected to go rig t straight through, but we have been called upon to do a great amount of investigation work, and had therefore neglected other clients. Our original fee did not cover all expenses for them according to our standard rates , and we will have to ask for a higher fee of $7,500 or $8,000. Your regular help should be able to take care of the books , and then we could come down and take care of auditing. We suggested a fair amount that our firm and the Commission could agree on. R Goldberg - I refer back to a letter from Lindfors & Waite, of SeptemEer 1965, prior to my administration and any of the members of the Commissions administration. It reads in part: In response to your request we hereby state that the Burroughs F-6303 Governmental accounting machine purchased by the City of Dania May 1965 is of a design which will permit its use for Sewer Fund Accounting purposes such as the billing and record- ing of sewer charges and assessments. It is our understanding that a major reason for the purchase of said machine was the anticipated additional accounting work load due to the creation of the Sewer Fund. 5 - A r ��*r^ Goldberg - From another letter dated January 25 , 1966 from 'yW'iY= Lindfors & Waite I read in part--Because of certain defic- s iencies in the City's accounting records, we found it neces- "z. sary to extend our audit procedures substantially beyond • .' normal requirements. For example, balances forward at Sept- ember 1 , 1964 were not determinable by reference to the record., themselves, files were somewhat disorderly and some- times incomplete, and the transactions of the Sanitary Sewer Fund , involving over $1,000,000.00 in construction costs paid and over $2,000,000.00 overall, were never recorded in the books. In all , we made 103 adjusting entries and consumed 856 hours of audit time, about twice what it should have been. Goldberg - This again is prior to the administration of anyone sitting up here. I have here a rather lengthy and detailed report which I believe was submitted to someone, and I would like to know whom you submitted it to, back in 1964 and 65, the city financing procedures to be followed. And, I would appreciate your answering a question as to whether these procedures were ever followed, and whether or not the lack of this procedure being followed resulted in your having to spend additional time and caused the delay ex- perienced in the past audit. Freeman - What this is , is an accounting system for the Sanitary Sewer operation, involved I believe, in three or four different funds. Houston - When was the book set up for the Sanitary Sewer fund? i you set them up? Freeman - This was the design of the system which, of course, you he your own personnel doing the physical work and setting up the books. Goldberg - This was 64 and 65 , do you know who this was given to? ® Freeman - Certainly, they were given to the City Clerk Auditor, who was responsible to keep the books. This procedure is the one that reflected in your report. Now, there are certain preliminary steps required by the Bond Resolution so far as transfer of cash, and the letter which you made reference to a minute ago brought out the points where they are not being precisely followed. Now again, just as we pointed out before, we have found ourselves having to make most of the entries in the sanitary sewer fund, which is not our job. Goldber - These accounts of 64, 65, and 66 were never posted as A instructed? Freeman - All throughout the entire history of the sewer fund. ouston - Was this brought to your attention before? Go sr - No sir. Houston - Gentlemen, I can see what this going into . It is going into a hearing on the actions of the City Clerk and the City ® Manager, here again I say that it is wrong, and that the City Clerk should be here to defend herself. Goldberg - This is not meant to be criticism, but some statements were ma a in your report are not things of recent origin. It is well that they were put in there, but actually had your report A been written by myself or by any member of this commission, I think the same criticisms would have been put in there, because this is the body who have been raising the questions in the past year or two. These questions were not previously written, and therefore , they were not previously taken care of. Consequently they have been raised, and we are taking care of them. Is this ® not so? Houston - At that time you designated what the duties of both parties were. The City Clerk complained that the City Manager interfered in her office. _ 6 _ ?4 , Goldberg- Mr. Houston, you and Mr. Thornton are misdirecting your criticisms, because these things date back. Houston - I£ you have all the information there, you bring it Tac : w en Mr. Thornton is here. Kelly - Do you verify all these letters Mr. Freeman? Freeman - Yes. R-e l y— Do you have anything else Mr. Goldberg? -oT -er - No sir. End of Audit Report. The question about checks being made out to cash came up, and of course all agreed that this is poor practice. Mr. Kelly had some copies of checks made out to the sum of $100 to the order of cash signed by Mary Thornhill and Joseph G. Thornton; he was Mayor at that time. On the back of this check there was no sig- nature whatsoever, it was strictly made but to cash and deposited. The pay voucher reads : Expenses to Tallahassee for Mayor Thornton and Mr. Lassiter. Mayor Kelly also pointed out that there were other vouchers out of sequence. These checks were handed over to the press. A meeting was set for Monday night at 8:00 o'clock, January 29, 1968. The motion was made by Commissioner ;Marant and seconded by Commis- sioner Waiters. Roll Call: Comm. Houston yes Marant yes Waiters yes Mayor Kelly yes There was a discussion about the Fire Department. The Volunteer Fire Department has no public funds whatsoever; it is strictly a volunteer organizaion, and they work strictly by contract. The Volunteers are paid so much a call. It was stated that Mr. Lassiter received a check for $1,900 for the Volunteers. In Dec- ember the bill was $1664, in September $269, October $855 and November $1182. Houston wanted to know how many emergencies, etc. , so that the people can see what they are getting for their money. Mr. Freeman agrees with Mr. Waiters that some record be set up to show how the funds for the Fire Department are spent. Comm. Houston stai:ad that the fire department had gotten at least $209000 in equipment in the last 20 years. Mr. Freeman suggested a very competent bookkeeper should be hired and the Commission felt that Mrs . Walls was a very competent per- son and that she was doing a good job. Comm. Houston asked for a trial balance to be made monthly. Recall discussed: The signing of the petition was discussed. The first group involved is the purchase of the old Dania Bank. Mr. Walden said that you cannot have separate petitions for each com- missimer. A letter to the City Clerk states that she will pre copies of the original - pare petitions , and will attach copies o£ A any defense statement and then procede as required, and that copies of this shall remain on file at City Hall for a period of 30 days. The 30 days includes Saturdays and Sundays. A question from the audience was asked; may a person have their name taken off the list after having signed the petition. The answer was yes, if the 30 days had not elapsed. The petitions should be open for inspec- tion but not circulated. If not over 25 per cent of the people do not sign the petitions , the information should be kept confidential. It was agreed by all that it be kept absolutely confidential. On the election machine there must be a separate ballot if the elec- tion goes through. The people may have the right to read the peti- tion, or they don't have to sign the petition if they so choose. Mr. Walden suggested that the recall group and commissioners in- volved should have a meeting Thursday to go through the form of recall. Comm. Houstonrasked who had a key to the City Hall. It was suggested that if anyone should get the key from the Police Department to City Hall they should sign a register. 7 - Questions from the Audience Cram' mer On the revenue coming from your sewer, Mayor Kelly, according to my bill which has probably cost me about 40 cents a month, why don't we have to pay the utility tax on the sewer like we do on water and telephone? Houston - They never passed an ordinance to effect this . Zenobia - What about the revenue from the sewers? Houston - The, only people paying the utility tax on the sewer would e Te sewer users , and this would go into the general fund of the City. Mr. Zenobia is in favor of utility tax on sewers , Commis- sioner Houston is against. Discussed sewer arrangements for a house being built on S. E. 4th Street . A question was asked as to whether it was necessary under the contract this owner has to advertise for bids or advertise asses- sments . Mr. Walden advised that if all owners voluntarily consent , it is not necessary to advertise, but if one. of them refuses , then i it will be necessary to advertise. Also discussed, was the last house on Third Street , involving sewers between Third Street and Third Terrace. Mr. Carney was instructed to get amounts . In order that some sewer extension work can be done, a motion was made by Comm. Houston and seconded by Comm. Marant that the sewer construction be extended between S. E. Third Street and 3rd Terrace. Voted as follows: Houston yes Marant yes Waiters yes Kelly yes Motion passed . The subject of paving S . W. loth Street and Dixie Highway was dis- cussed . Mr. Houston suggested that someone contact these people and Let them know how they would be assessed. It was suggested that each of these people sign and waver the hearing. The pav- ing of streets was to be discussed and settled at some future meeting. I; Police Chief Parton said that he had received only one bid on the six damaged police cars . This one was from Stewart's Garage. Corpm. Houston suggested that he call an estimater and offered to see that he was contacted by one on Saturday. Which ever one he accepted should be the one that was most reasonable. is Ben Shine has asked for repairs for his car which he has used for City work. It will take about $150 for repairs. All agreed to repair the car. Mrs . Kennedy asked what would be done about the recreation center situation. Comm. Marant informed her that there was to be a meet- ing of the Rbtary Club on Monday afternoon. She asked about the resignation of J . Roche and was informed that the meeting Monday will be a closed meeting. She pointed out that many parents were quite concerned. And the meeting was adjourned. Mayor Kelly moved that the Commission be adjourned. The meeting was adjourned. Mayor Robert Kelly City Clerk, Jean Moore 8 _