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Charter09-13-07Min City of Longwood 2007- Charter Advi~~ory Committee Longwood City Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, :Florida MINUTES September 13, 2007 7:00 P.M. Present: Chair Joe Durso Vice Chair Jack Ca dwell Member Douglas Damerst Member Susan McMahon Linda F. Goff, Recording Secretary Linda Jacobs, Administrative ;Secretary Absent: Member Tamara Cooper 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Durso called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: August '9, 2007 Member Damerst said on page 4 "know" should be changed to "no". (7 Chair Durso suggested on page 2 the second paragraph be changed to in accordance with personnel policies." Member Damerst moved to approve the minutes as amended. Seconded by Vice Chair Caldwell and carried by a unanimous voice vote with Member Cooper absent. 3. PUBLIC INPUT. None. 4. OLD BUSINESS Chair Durso said he spoke to the Supen-isor of Elections and since there were no questions submitted for him, it was decided he would not attend the meeting tonight. He urged any questions for Mr. Ertel be submitted to the Recording Secretary and she would provide these to the committee members and the Supervisor of Elections. He said the question was raised at the last meeting whether the disaster plan should be addressed in the Charter. The Recording Secretary advised that NU. Drago said the disaster plan was a separate document and did not need to Yee addressed in the Charter. 5. REVIEW OF CHARTER ~ A. Article VI. Financial Procedures. CAC 09-13,-07/1 ~ Section. 6.01- Fiscal Year -Reviewed with no recommendations. Section 6.02 -Submission of Budget and Budget Message Viee Chair Caldwell inquired if the budget for each department had goals. Discussion was held regarding the budget process. Member Damerst said Section 6.04 (1) started with proposed expenditures. He said the model charter starts with proposed goals and expenditures. He referenced another area of the model charter that refers to goals. He stated the City's Charter has eliminated goals. Chair Durso said he was sure the responsibility was given to various departments to set goals and these goals would be inherent. Vice Chair Caldwell said it would be good planning. Member McMahon said they do have a :master plan in place. Chair Durso read Section 6.03 and asked Vice Chair Caldwell if this paragraph addressed his concerns. Vice Chair Caldwell said it very well could. He stated he was looking at the Charter as an administrative standpoint ;end if the base was solid enough to keep expectations high of the administration. Member Damerst said in terms of goal ~rlanning, this did not address his concerns. He said it certainly provides for the explanation of changes; but did not address goals or future planning. He said he would be interested in hearing more from Department Heads. Chair Durso inquired if Section 6.03 addressed any questions or concerns of Section 6.02. Vice Chair Caldwell responded in the ai~irmative. Section 6.03 -Budget Message - Reviewed with no recommendations. Section 6.04 -Budget -Reviewed with. no recommendations. Section 6.05 -Capital Program Member Damerst. said he had questions; but he was not prepared to offer any changes. He said the capital program and budget were submitted in the same day. CAC 09-13-07/2 He stated he did not understand how this; could work. He said perhaps, in practice, ~ the capital program was done prior to submission of the budget. He declared this raised a large flag to him. Chair Durso said the capital program was afive-year pla~i and it was used for the budget. Member Damerst said this was one of the items he would. like to have a discussion on with the Finance Director or the City Administrator. He said he would submit questions for the City Administrator within the next 10 days. Section 6.06 -Commission Action on :Budget -Reviewed with no recommendations. Section 6.07 -Commission Action on Capital Program -Reviewed with no recommendations. Section. 6.08 -Amendments after Adoption Member Damerst said there seemed to be an omission. H:e referred back Section 3..12 for emergency ordinances and inquired where were the emergency appropriation provisions in the Charter.:FIe distributed a memo with a proposed amendment adding paragraph (e) Emergency Appropriations as follows: ~ (e) Emergency Apprvpriations. Tv address a public emergency affecting the life, health, property or public peace, the commission may make. emergency appropriations. S~~ch appropriativns may be made by emergency ordinance in accordance with the provisions of Section 3.-12 of this charter. To the extent that there are nv available unappropriated revenues or a sufficient fund balancE~ tv meet such appropriations, the commission may by such emergency ordinance authorize the issuance of emergency notes, which may be renerwed from time to time, the emergency notes and renewals of any ftscal year shall be paid yr refinanced as long-term debt not later than the last day of the fscal year next succeeding that in which the e»~~ergency appropriation was made. Member Damerst said he would like this; proposal to be voted on by the Committee later when they were discussing their recommendations. He said if this was not done, then the language on 3.12 needed to be amended:. Chair Durso requested the Recording Secretary to submit this to the City Administrator regarding whether there vas a plan for this appropriation. Section 6.09 -Lapse of Appropriations -Reviewed with no recommendations. CAC 09-13-07/3 Section 6.10 -Administration of Budget Vice Chair Caldwell said the sentence in. paragraph (a) where it states "However, nothing in this Charter shall prevent incurring obligations or payment of bills when required due to a natural disaster such as floods or hurricanes..." may be referencing emergency appropriations. .Member Damerst agreed this may be the; emergency appropriations. Mr. Damerst expressed concerns regarding financial audits. The Recording Secretary advised the City was audited annually. Chair Durso requested the Recording Secretary to research if audits were mandated and if so by whom. B. Article VII. Land Planning Section 7.01- Land Planning Agency Member Damerst raised questions whether the Charter functions well for Department Heads. He reiterated he woixld like input .from the Department Heads. Chair Durso encouraged the members tc? submit any questions for Department Heads to the Recording Secretary. Section 7.02.- Board of Adjustment -Reviewed with no recommendations. Vice Chair Caldwell said they come here as citizens to contribute and try to understand the operations and provide i~lput for improvement. He said this may be the wrong venue, but he and his wife received a letter from the City asking if they were aware they needed backflow prevention. His wife came to the City to try and find out what they needed to do. He said she obtained a permit and selected a vendor who, after two seconds, told them they already had one. His wife came back and asked why they needed the permit. Ike reiterated this may be the wrong venue, but wanted to express the experience they had with the City. Chair Durso encouraged calling his District Commissioner. Chair Durso said for the next meeting it may be appropriate to have Mr. Ertel attend. He recommended they review Articles VIII, IX, and X at the next meeting. He said if they needed, they could push Article X to the following meeting. He reiterated that questions should be submitted prior to the meeting. Member Damerst said he would like to give Department Heads and the City Administrator the opportunity to provide input to the Charter Advisory CAC 09-13-07/4 Committee on changes to the Charter th~rt may benefit their work. He stated he would also like their reaction to proposed amendments. He suggested they be asked what changes or additions to the City Charter would be helpful to their department or to the management of the City in general. Vice Chair Caldwell inquired if the Dep~~rtme:nt Heads were knowledgeable of the Charter. Chair Durso said he would think any department head or supervisor would be knowledgeable of the Charter. He stated a lot of charters were structured similarly and if they have worked in other municipal or government jobs, they would be familiar. Member Damerst said there were probat~ly three ways the Department Heads and the City Administrator would be engaged with the Committee. One way would be this general question, second would be any direct questions to them, and thirdly would be their opportunity for input to amendments the Committee is submitting. Chair Durso said to submit specific questions to the Recording Secretary. He stated as Department Heads respond, to let the committee members know,. and the Department Heads could be invited to a meeting. Member Damerst said he would like to €;ive them the option to respond in writing. Chair Durso said if Department Heads rE;spond in writing the committee may have more questions to their response. Vice Chair Caldwell said if they have no questions, he would like acknowledgement that they have no issues. Chair Durso requested the agenda packets be sent out earlier if there are any questions to be included. 6. ADJOURN. Chair Durso adjourned the: meeting at 8:23 p.m. s hair ATTEST: :Linda F. Goff', Recor g Secretary CAC 09-13••07/5