City Commission Meeting Summary - September 24, 2008
The City Commission met in regular session and took the following action:
Item 1 - Sitting as the Pension Plan Board of Trustees, with Police Lieutenant Joni Chase joining the City Commissioners, the Board voted 6-0 to accept and implement the reports on the 2007 Actuarial Valuations of the City of Tallahassee's Defined Benefit Plan and Matched Annuity Pension Program, prepared by Buck Consultants (Option 1 as recommended by the City Treasurer-Clerk/Retirement Administrator)
Mr. Andrew C. Stratton, Principal, Consulting Actuary, Buck Consultants, of Atlanta, GA, appeared before the Pension Board and gave a positive overview of these actuarial valuations.
Items 2-18 - Voted 5-0 to approve the staff's recommendations presented in Consent Agenda Items 2-18, taking the following action:
Item 2 - Approved the reappointment of Terry Barineau to the Construction Industry Review Committee, to a term expiring September 2011 (as recommended by Mayor Marks)
Item 3 - Approved the award of a construction contract for the Tallahassee Regional Airport Terminal Building Emergency Power Upgrades Project (Bid #0144-08-KR-BC) to MetroPower, Inc., of Albany, GA, low bidder, in the amount of $1,771,672, and waived the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) goal for this project (Option 1 as recommended by Aviation)
Item 4 - Approved the 2009 City Commission meeting schedule as proposed (as recommended by the City Manager's Office)
Item 5 - Approved the award of bid for the Economic Development Assistance (EDA) Grant Project for the Frenchtown Infrastructure Improvement, Phase II (IFB #0035-08-JAG-BC) to MetroPower, Inc., low bidder meeting specifications, in the amount of $734,724, and authorized staff to proceed with a contract (Option 1 as recommended by ECD)
Item 6 - Approved a supplemental appropriation of $4 million and authorized General Electric to make required repairs to Hopkins Power Plant HC3 and HC4, with determination of the final liability following the root cause failure analysis on HC4 (Option 1 as recommended by Electric Utility)
Item 7 - Approved the award of a construction contract for the overhead segments of the Eastern Transmission Line (ETL), Phase I and associated work on existing Lines 15A and 15C to MasTec North America, Inc., low bidder meeting specifications, in the amount of $7,623,510; authorized the City Manager or her designee to execute a contract with the selected firm in accordance with IFB #0174-08-RM-BC and to approve contract amendments in an amount not to exceed 25% of the initial contract value; and authorized the Electric Utility to transfer both the expenses and funds from all previous projects into one project (Option 1 as recommended by Electric Utility)
Item 8 - Approved an increase to a task order with R. W. Beck to complete the development of Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) Rates & Charges (Option 1 as recommended by Electric Utility)
Item 9 - Authorized Environmental Consulting and Technology, Inc. (ECT) to conduct a Copper Translator Study at Hopkins Power Plant, in the amount of $75,258; also, authorized an additional amount of $50,000 to cover potential increase in the scope of the study (as recommended by Environmental Policy and Energy Services [EPES])
Item 10 - Approved the selection committee's ranking and recommendation of the following six highest-scored firms for General Contractor Construction Services (RFQ #0088-08-ER-RC), and authorized staff to execute a three-year contract with each firm (Option 1 as recommended by Procurement Services):
- Council Contracting, Inc. (Certified Minority Business Enterprise [MBE])
- Bass Construction Co., Inc.
- Cook Brothers, Inc.
- Warren Building Co., Inc.
- Garrison Design & Construction, Inc.
- Watts Mechanical, Inc. (Certified MBE)
Item 11 - Approved the award of three-year contracts for Fencing Services (IFB #0102-08-JAG-BC) to Perimeter Fence and to B & T Fencing, the two overall lowest bidders meeting specifications, and authorized staff to enter into contracts for the period of September 1, 2008 through August 31, 2011 (Option 1 as recommended by DMA/Procurement Services)
Item 12 - Approved the purchase of an Animal Crematorium (IFB #0187-08-ER-BC) from Crawford Industrial Group, low bidder meeting specifications, in the amount of $83,590 (Option 1 as recommended by Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs [PRNA])
Item 13 - Adopted Resolution No. 08-R-36, requesting an electric easement from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for a traffic control cabinet located adjacent to Florida State University Parking Garage #4 at the corner of Tennessee Street and Macomb Street (Option 1 as recommended by the City Manager's Office/Property Management)
Item 14 - Approved the award of three-year contracts for Consulting Real Estate Appraisal Services (RFP #0139A-TJ-RC) to the following seven (7) highest ranked firms (Option 1 as recommended by the City Manager's Office/Property Management):
- Appraisal Group of Tallahassee
- Boutin Valuation Services
- Brown Bevis Real Estate Appraisers
- Cureton-Johnson and Associates
- Diskin Property Research
- Ketchum Appraisal Group, Inc.
- Weigel-Veasey Appraisers, Inc.
Item 15 - Approved the Varnum Subdivision Plat, containing 1.63 acres bounded on the north and west by unplatted land and on the south by U.S. Interstate No. 10 (S.R. 8), planned for development as commercial office by Elliott Varnum, the owner (as recommended by Public Works/Engineering)
Item 16 - Approved the amended 20008 Transit Development Plan Minor Update, which includes the required fare box recovery report (Option 1 as recommended by StarMetro)
Item 17 - Approved the award of a three-year contract for the period October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2011, for Risk Management Contractual Services (RFP #0185-08-KR-RC) to each of the seven service providers responding to the RFP, and authorized staff to begin contract negotiations; additionally, authorized staff to extend the term of the contracts for up to two (2) additional one-year periods if service is deemed acceptable (Option 1 as recommended by the City Treasurer-Clerk/Risk Management):
- American Investigations Management
- Business Decisions Information, Inc.
- Case by Case Investigations, Inc.
- Global Options Fraud & SIU Services
- ICS Merrill EMSI Investigative Services
- SIU Central
- State Information Bureau
Item 18 - Approved the minutes of the following City Commission meetings:
- June 17, 2008 - Joint City-County Commission Workshop on Cycle 2008-1 Amendments to the Comprehensive Plan
- July 2, 2008 - Joint City-County Commission Public Hearing on Cycle 2008-1 Amendments to the Comprehensive Plan
- August 20, 2008 - Regular Meeting
Item 19 - Voted 5-0 to accept the human services funding recommendations made by the 12 Citizens Review Teams and the Community Improvement Advisory Council; and authorize staff to negotiate and execute contracts for the amounts listed in the FY 2008/09 Grant Funding Summary (Option 1 as recommended by Economic & Community Development [ECD]/Human Services)
The following citizen volunteers appeared before the Commission on behalf of the City's Community Improvement Advisory Council and the CHSP Citizens Review Teams:
- Allen Franklin, of Peter R. Brown Construction
- Kaleema Muhummad, of the Agency for Health Care Administration
- Charles J. (Joe) F. Schreiber, Jr., of McConnaughhay, Duffy, Coonrod, Pope & Weaver, P.A.
Additionally, Mr. Franklin introduced the following citizen volunteers supporting the CHSP Program:
- Jan Smitherman, Capital Health Plan
- Kara Palmer, Economic Development Council of Tallahassee/Leon Co.
- Audrey Heffron, FSU Center for Disaster Risk Policy & Florida Public Affairs Center
- Lewis Johnson, Tallahassee Police Department
- D. M. Gabrielle, Gabrielle Consulting
- Anika Fields, TCC
- Shelley Lewis, Boys Scouts of America
- Nancy Hillger, Boys Scouts of America
- Gwendolyn Fillyau, FAMU School of Pharmacy
- Sue Griner, Boy Scouts of America, Learning for Life
- Renee McNeill, Premier Bank
- Cindy Dick, Tallahassee Fire Department
- Tim Naddy, Elayaway
- Paul Watts, Electronet
- Ben Harris, City, Economic Development
- Beaulah Striggles, State of Florida
- James Moran, FAMU School of Pharmacy
- Judie Miller, Kids Incorporated
- Brant Copeland, First Presbyterian Church
- Phyllis Bush, City Parks and Recreation
- Helen Michel, American Red Cross
- Kathy Grobe, Municipal Code Corporation
- Jennifer Wolf, WFSU
- Cecka Coreen, Florida Housing Finance Corporation
- Sharon Daugherty, YMCA
- Michael Lindert, City, Water Utility
Item 20 - Voted 5-0 to authorize acceptance and expenditure of the $4,000 grant awarded by the American Heart Association (AHA) to Cardiac Science for purchasing four automated electronic defibrillators (AEDs) (Option 1 as recommended by the Tallahassee Police Department [TPD])
Item 21 - Voted 5-0 to adopt Resolution No. 08-R-42 implementing the solid waste collection service level and rate changes, effective October 1, 2008 (Option 1 as recommended by Solid Waste)
Item 22 - Held a public hearing on the adoption of the final millage rate and Fiscal Year 2009 Budget for the City of Tallahassee and the Downtown Improvement Authority (DIA) (brought forward by the Department of Management & Administration [DMA]):
- City Attorney English read into the record: "The proposed millage rate for Fiscal Year 2009 is 3.2115 for the City of Tallahassee and 1.000 for the Downtown Improvement Authority, which is less than the aggregate rolled back rate of 3.3395 by 3.2%. This decrease will result in the reduction of general government services throughout the City." (Resolution No. 08-R-41 was provided to state the percentage that the tentative millage rate is below the rolled-back rate.)
- Allowed public input on the City's final millage.
There were no speakers on this issue.
- Allowed public input on the City's Final Budget:
Joseph Kennedy, II, 560 Miccosukee Road, representing City of Tallahassee general employees, appeared before the Commission and spoke against increasing employee parking fees.
- Allowed public input on the DIA's final millage.
There were no speakers on this issue.
- Allowed public input on the DIA's final budget.
There were no speakers on this issue.
- Voted 5-0 to approve adjustments to the City's final budget as recommended in the agenda item.
- Voted 5-0 to approve the City's final millage rate of 3.2115 mills, Resolution No. 08-R-41AA.
City Attorney English publicly announced: "The proposed aggregate millage rate is less than the rolled back rate by 3.2%. This decrease will result in the reduction of general government services throughout the organization." (If the Commission should decide to amend and recomputed the tentative millage rate, Florida Statute 200.065(2)c requires that the Commission publicly state the City's amended tentative millage rate and the percentage increase above the rolled-back rate, and offset the cost of notifying property owners of the change.)
- Voted 5-0 to approve the City's final budget, as amended
Discussed the potential need for mid-year budget amendments and further reductions in the 2010 budget year.
- Voted 5-0 to approve the DIA's final millage rate of 1.000 mill, Resolution No. 08-R-41AA (Attachment 1 to the agenda item).
- Voted 5-0 to approve the DIA's final budget (Attachment 18 to the agenda item)
- City Attorney English read the title of Ordinance No. 08-O-60AA into the record.
Voted 5-0 to adopt Appropriations Ordinance No. 08-O-60AA (Attachment 2 to the agenda item) (Appropriation Ordinance No. 08-O-60AA reflects all changes to the tentative budget adopted by the City Commission on September 10, 2008.)
Item 23 - Held a public hearing on Pension Ordinance No. 08-O-59, introduced on September 10, 2008, and voted 5-0 to adopt the ordinance, amending the City Code to include a negotiated pension enhancement to the Firefighters' Pension Plan (Option 1 as recommended by the City Treasurer-Clerk/Retirement)
There were no speakers on this item.
Item 24 - Held the first and only public hearing on Ordinance No. 08-O-62, introduced on September 10, 2008, and voted 5-0 to adopt the ordinance, adopting the 2008 Annual Capital Improvements Element (CIE) Update to the Comprehensive Plan (Option 1 as recommended by Planning)
There were no speakers on this item.
City Commission Information and Sharing of Ideas
Commissioner Mustian disclosed for the record that his law firm had held some discussions with representatives of Tallahassee Memorial Hospital (TMH) regarding some potential future refinancing and he stated that before being elected to the City Commission, he had served as Bond Counsel for the City of Tallahassee to TMH.
Unagendaed Speakers:
Mr. Joe Schreiber, 566 Beverly Court, member of a United Way Big Bend/City of Tallahassee project, in coordination with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), announced an event scheduled for October 2, 2008, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the Smith-Williams Neighborhood Service Center, 2295 Pasco Street, in Tallahassee, to help people claim their Economic Stimulus Payment if they have not already done so (with a deadline of October 15, 2008, to file a claim for a payment).
Additionally, Mr. Schreiber commended the City Commission on not increasing taxes.
Mr. Ron Sachs, 114 S. Duval Street, representing the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, appeared before the Commission and expressed support for expanding the City's recycling program to include businesses at no additional cost.
CTC:RM:ecg:09-26-08