everyone welcome it's 1:30 welcome to the town of Highland Beach uh Town commission meeting today is Tuesday March 5th and it's 1:30 in the afternoon and I'd like to call the meeting to order could we have a roll call please commissioner Goldberg present commissioner Peters present commissioner David present vice mayor Stern pres mayor Moore present Town manager laid present thank you okay we could all rise for the pledge Nation indice for all any changes for the agenda no okay seeing no changes we could have a motion I move that we accept the agenda as presented second all in favor say I I I anyone oppose motion carries unanimously uh there are no presentations or PL proclamations are there any public comments I know any uh no seeing no public comments we'll move on uh there are no ordinances consent agenda um any concerns about the consent agenda no okay we could have a motion to approve I have one question about B so are you are you pulling be no I'm not pulling it I have a concern about it before we consent which is the terms of the contract not doing it itself but this is a $93,000 contract and they're guaranteeing it for 30 days so uh it's installed it's done so uh oh it's already been done it's already it's already already been done it's tied to the prior pantropic uh contract and that's for Caterpillar so they're a soul Source contractor for caterpillar that does that work if it's already been done then it's useless yeah so we took Pat out back so then I move we approve the consent agenda second all in favor say I I anyone opposed motion carries unanimously moving on to unfinished business the fire rescue implementation update afternoon everybody mayor vice mayor Commissioners uh so fire chief welcome oh I'm Lela uh uh a commission agenda uh for the construction let's give you that first um as you see we're moving forward um painting is just about done the the curving on the north side of Park lot is done we got the first layer of asphalt done so we're actually doing the Shrubbery and the grass and everything this week uh Aon is going be poured tomorrow with the sidewalks so you should see a little bit Improvement in the look and feel uh fire domestic water and gas will be connected next week so we'll fully and we're going to begin Our rough cleaning which is the first dust removing all the dust that's going to be done this week um all the floors are done except for the elevator Lobby because we we had a delay in the elevator installation so that's on track now camera tops are being put in lights have all been put in and trimmed out we're doing the exterior cameras and lights this week and um locution system is and done installation was finished last Friday we should have to configure it with the county and there was a little issue I'm sure you're aware of last week where they changed our station number at the last minute and uh but we there some yeah we have moved on from that so it's still there's a little bit heartb bir still there but we've moved on so that will uh expedite our configuration which will put us on schedule to do the takeover on May 1 so and that was why we're trying to avoid by delaying the number change as of today and the buiness today we're still one month ahead we should have a TCO next week Friday so moving ahead coffin is looking forward to get off the site as early as mid April and be completely punched out and accepted and be done with it so we're still ahead of schedule and a little bit on the budget a little bit Staffing wise good news I want to introduce you to your fire captains we have four of them here today which is the four that we hired again just before they come up and introduce them well I'll introduce them but uh we had a lot of really really touted candidates go through the process long list but I picked the four we think are the best suited for what what our needs are and you'll see when I go to some of their backgrounds why we picked them but uh we'll start kind of like in alphabetical order so the first person is Alex Fernandez one up Alex is from the city of Miami did 20 years and uh retired uh he has fire and police experience fire sorry fire and EMS experience extensive City of Miami downtown station one so he's got a lot of experience there uh company officer in addition to this experience he's got extensive uh Emergency Management operations he was in the EOC and the EM for several years before he left and so he's got he's going to help us get our and Camp all those plans together and help us with when we do our tabletop exercises for emergency response so he's huge asset at value added to the community this is Alex Fernandez question you want to welcome welcome very impressive all right thank you uh the next person up is Michael benois he comes to us from Indian Rivers Shores 20 years experien as well as a company officer in addition to his fire and EMS experience he also is a licensed law enforcement officer so he's got SWAT SWAT medic all that stuff which is going to be nice to integrate that into our release he's going to be alazon with the chap Harman of his crew so we could actually mail the two Services together and make it a uniform well orchestrated machine so uh great guy he was highly recommended from everybody we talked to and we did a detailed background as you all know on these people so we did not hire just for convenience but uh Michael benan welcome welcome welcome welcome uh Robert Cruz and I worked together in Borton Beach when I was there 25 years as a company officer um in addition to working Borton Beach and all that entails with EMS and buyer and all those things he has extensive background in uh dive rescue so we're looking to do a surface Rescue Team he'll be a subject by expert on that he's also been many many years in urban s rescue so when we start high angle rescue or any of those rescue type operations he's our he's been doing for many many years and uh Robert Cruz Captain welcome welcome and uh our last but not least it's Chris daar 30 years at Del Beach retired last week and he decided to jump right back into the deep end of the pond uh in addition to his fire experience from delway as you know he's worked this station for many years and several times but he has extensive knowledge in uh dive team as well so he he could help with the dive team on water rescue and Marine operations he's got a lot of history of Hazmat so the internal training for HazMat training and Special Operations so these guys come highly highly credential highly experienced wonderful welcome welcome and I think they're gonna be a fine addition to it was worth the wait on all the back and forth because we've got some really really talented people and they will set pace and create a culture we've always talking about to extend to uh the community as whole uh any questions no congratulations wonderful congratulations choice just very impressive they are very very very impressive people so we welcome them to the opportunity we'll take them over to all the Departments later this week and uh the department heads meeting we'll introduce them to the department heads and so uh I think we're on to Good Start on the 11th which is Monday it's coming Monday we start the drivers and then there'll be seven of them to start we have one still in the process uh getting process through the physical and we'll introduce them to you at your next meeting and then on the 18th we'll bring the last 16 five5 paramedics on board and we'll introduce them to you as well when they get there all right any questions we're good thank you thank you welcome to the Highland Beach Family we're really excited to have you here yes so uh piggy back on that April 19th will be our like soft grand opening uh event amongst uh ourselves and a special guest so we will be planning that here um at the station we'll probably have that in the bays and through the building kind of we'll walk through uh event we should have some more details we're coordinating this with the police and fire Foundation uh so they can have a little bit of a fundraising in contact type of environment as well so um more details will follow but hold or mark your calendars April 19 3 to5 uh PM that's on Friday um the issue that uh Chief Joseph alluded to we we kind of have a bitter pill but we're going to swallow it um I will communicate the taste of said pill back through the proper channels but um we are now station 120 instead of 16 so uh We've uh made those changes we didn't have an opportunity to try to re push back fully because of the time to execute we have to get certain things done so we really didn't have an option so it was a it's a bad look on the part of the county but um so be it uh Chief Joseph kept me at Bay and we got to stay focused on the prize uh which is opening on the 1 so uh we'll minimize any uh cost impacts we can um delay them is if if we need to but to make sure we're open and operational again that's the primary focus at this point um I will probably be reaching out uh over the next month or so uh to have a closure meeting uh with the city manager of Del Reay communicate how we're going to uh obtain title to our vehicles which I formally communicated on two uh points in time those are hours under contracts so uh that and planning the the the transition away so um two more months of pain and we're on our own so I'm excited for that opportunity that our dreams are going to come true here and uh have our own uh fire rescue Department uh world class uh great leader with Chief Joseph pulling the team together uh and pushing us uh to our goal here so this is good so it's been a lot of time lot of heartburn and uh stress but we got here and it's going to um it's going to be good just one more update um Del Beach the leadership of body proper G here on the 15th which is next Friday or transition our first transition Mee so moving forward with the actual nuts and bolts of getting things done and they're coming in on this coming Friday to want to see this station walk through take notes ask any questions so our relationship is positive functional functional we got think back all right sorry I have I have a question Chief um except for the one Del Ray um fire that you have have made are there any other Del Ray firefighters uh interviewed or you have one other person interviewed and uh chose to make a different decision uh but we had no other some other people asked about doing an interview but only one other person okay which shows a different time I had one other question uh the um uh the south end of the building you know going in as we drive in there's exposed piping right now what is the plan uh to cover that yeah well we have been making some adjustments to that we probably gonna paint it over it's not going to be as obvious when it's painted the same color as buil but uh but it's not enclosed they would we are putting ballards we're considering putting ballards around it so as not to encroach on the roadway as well as well as the uh the sidewalk so we'll try to protect it but we don't know that we've got to enclose also put some Hedges front something to that effect but again that's kind of limited because we want visibility in case of emergency and we telling the Condominiums and the other departments to make it visible so we we have kind of lead from the front so we can't really obscure it because then we're not leading we're telling one person to do something and doing something different with our building so we got to kind of find that balance between Aesthetics and visibility good okay thank you next item Florida Department of Transportation the trip R project update as we all are aware that's going to be Thursday uh this Thursday March 7th uh 5 to six o'clock is the virtual meeting uh that flyer is out there for anyone that wants to do the virtual meeting um trying to get some more details um I know the vice mayor's been asking I'm trying to get them and their Consultants to tell us exactly what they're doing and they been kind of elusive at best um but basically they said they're going to hold the virtual meeting in here so you can't come to the virtual meeting I wouldn't believe while they're conducting it and start asking questions and participate so it's going to be them doing some type of video casting and Q&A over Zoom at 6 o'cl is the inperson here uh the format as I understand it is that of an open housee so they'll have a series of tables uh with their Engineers either con their Construction and design Engineers to answer any specific questions kind of go over anything you have but kind of spread the group throughout the the room so you can get your questions asked and then move on there isn't like a formal presentation followed by Q&A or public comment it's going to be more an Engaged meeting where you can ask questions related to possibly your condo or your property and or the width or whatever those type of questions they'll be able to answer all those with their uh design team um and again that goes six to seven I'm guessing in my trickle past seven if people have a lot of questions U but that is this Thursday and again that targeted start is the April May timeline so um they're they're ready to go um so that's uh they said 18 months hopefully we'll find out more details as much as they have as to the exact timeline but that will be on Thursday will they be um taping the first presentation so for example if we wanted to look at it at a later time we can see what the questions was I mean we could ask and inquire I'm not sure what technology platform they're using for their meetings if they are going to put it into a recording format and they ask the q&as if they do and provide that to us we'd be more than glad to host that on our website um uh Mark said uh on the back there that he's going to hang around on Thursday and see what they're doing so maybe we can assist and or also duplicate on a YouTube channel um some type a video of that I just don't know how they plan to exactly do that I I understand it's their program but I know a lot of res presidents were also very concerned interested and been a lot of feedback so I think it's important that we're able to document whatever goes on at both meetings certainly certainly so we'll do that and uh I know Mark's listening back there so we'll try to do what we can to get a YouTube um if it's an open house and there's not like there's not a lot of Q&A it's going to be difficult outside of the show that it was there but maybe the virtual one like you said we could get a uh recording of that and at least make that available on to answer any questions they might have and then the important thing for me is when it's it is being constructed um that we give out the F do cont information because we're not building it as much as Pat and Sergio want to receive all of these phone calls which will be directed to them um you know your primary contact will be fot because they're directing that project so we'll have the ability to talk to them on behalf of residents which we love to do it's just we won't be able to start stop modify the project that will require F but will help facilitate those points of contact and we'll be out there at all times any more questions or comments okay moving on uh continued discussion of Milani Park so I'll take uh I'll start on this one so um as we mentioned at the last meeting the uh next step in this whole process was uh for um myself and uh one of the attorneys that we hired to help us navigate this whole uh process he and I um have been meeting with each of the Commissioners um and you know I think the attorney that we hired is excellent and obviously knows the Commissioners um well and you know obviously is very experienced in in this type of thing um he based B on our input he prepared a presentation that you know he thought would be the most impactful for the Commissioners and the presentation I thought was very well done um so our first meeting uh was with commissioner Woodward and also at that meeting was the County Administrator uh Baker also uh the parks and recreational uh director who was here at the February 1st meeting uh jennnifer uh cerillo uh um some other members of County staff and one of the assistant County attorneys and uh one of the first items that we discussed at that meeting was whether or not it was a legally viable option for the county to sell the property because if you recall what had been communicated to us previously was that there was no option uh for the county uh to sell the property and the assistant count uh County attorney did confirm that it is it is in fact a legally viable option for the county to sell um he explained that it was the 3.9 million that the county paid full appraised value for the property back in 1987 um that that 3.9 million one million actually came out of General funds so there was it did was not supported by a bond issue uh the remaining 2.9 Million was supported by a bond issue at the time however that bond has since retired so there actually are no restrictions on uh on that whatsoever so I thought that was uh important information to have that it is a legally viable option to sell the property um and uh so as as I have been meeting with the different Commissioners um trying to get their you know position on on this now mind you I've only gone through half so far so I haven't I haven't completed uh all my meetings and and uh we do have meetings scheduled for the rest of this week um as you would probably expect um commissioner Woodward is in favor of the park which is what she has been telling us uh the other Commissioners I'd say it's um it's well you know maybe perhaps a little open-ended might be the right uh way to say it um the other Commissioners I felt uh really listened to what we had to say you know they I don't know that they um you know since they're not our commissioner they're not as involved as commissioner Woodward um is so a lot of it was educating the other Commissioners on you know the key points about the property um emphasizing that the overwhelming majority of the residents are not in favor um of of the the current plan um you know explaining all the the high you know the high level points as to why it's not a good idea um and and just having a dialogue uh about it so I thought uh they were they were definitely listening um and you know it's hard to gauge exactly where they are um other than commissioner Woodward commissioner Woodward what did um say that she is in favor of the park so I think I'll have I'll have more to update you all on after I finished all um the commissioner meetings but I think this this was a really um constructive step in the strategy meeting one-on-one with each of the Commissioners um and uh I'll have more to report at the at the next meeting questions anything so I you know just to add to that I'll speak from the administrative perspective um administration at the county wants to park they want to bad so they're going to have the position when asked that's similar to that of Woodward to build the park so however um as the mayor was indicated this is a critical process I think not only for this fire and anything in the future is that we've reached out um to have the mayor of Highland Beach meet with each of those elected officials I could have done it but it doesn't have the same weight or uh context to the conversation if I was to do it so this is great uh points of contact conversation and having elected officials uh talk to each other the other part to it that I would just communicate to the public um why that's so important is we've made the conversation from an administrative and now from a basically a political standpoint is uh when we try to ask questions from what we would think is a logical rationalized basis based on cost benefit analysis that doesn't seem to have traction like one would think it is truly a political decision moving forward so that's why it's critical that uh this commission and the County Commission are actively engaged in these conversations moving forward because the you know what we think from a rational basis and the cost benefit and we go into all these details and I can hear the mayor like I told each of you in the mayor can hear asking the question why wouldn't you do it it doesn't make any you know where how does that make sense when all these other options are on the table they're not coming at it from that angle so it's a very political decision on their part which on a county of this size I guess it does kind of make some sense but um that is why it's critical to go through this exercise and again we've been talking with the Milani family seeing if there's something there um their initial proposals seemed a little bit much so I will be reaching out um while the mayor finishes it up I'll reach out to the Milani families and see if you know where they're exactly at and if there is something uh a different version that could be considered I'm not sure uh but all those things those are all the irons that are in there again the process and time there was a commission meeting today this we were not on the agenda they're not talking about Milani Park so we didn't miss an opportunity for those that think that maybe we didn't strike fast enough um again as the mayor indicated we're following the Strategic path each step focused in a short timeline again reaching out to the County Commissioners is not simple um they have a lot of Staff they have a lot on their plates as well in their own District so takes a little bit of time to do that and getting their pulse does help I think as we make our decisions moving forward yeah I really appreciate you know know and as I think about I really appreciate them taking the time to speak with me they're all very busy you know and and they did make time to talk about you know it's a big deal for us but you know for them they have so many other priorities in their own um District so yes I really do appreciate and and they did I felt I really felt like they were listening so I I really did uh appreciate that so it sounded like you got little out numbered the first meeting with Ward you know it was uh unexpected to have so many county staff members in that initial meeting um because the other meetings were just basically the commissioner and us but in retrospect I'm really grateful that all those other com um uh County staff were present because we got some really good answers you know if the attorney wasn't there I don't know that I would have left that meeting knowing for certain that the legal the the uh County does have the legal option to sell the land and not only that there's no restriction on those funds because I guess I you know I was assuming that it would be restricted to only for Parks or something like that but um there there is no know um restriction from a Le and they did emphasize that from a legal um perspective so um and uh yes and then the county staff also as Mar Marshall mentioned maybe to give a little perspective on why the staff is so firm on supporting the um Park is and this has taken me some time to fully understand um there is a compreh iive plan just you know we have our strategic plan they have a comprehensive plan they have certain goals for having a certain amount of parks per per capita and um they break it out into Beach Park versus other types of parks and so they have these goals of having so much access and then the other thing that started to concern me a little bit was they also explained to me that there's a certain level of service within those parks that and the County Administrator started to explain to me that um beachfront parks there there is a prescribed certain level of service and that the 120 spots that are in that settlement plan are what makes up this level of service that's required in the plan for the county um so it gives me a little cause for concern is there even a compromise on the size of the park when the county administrators telling me that the minimum level of service for public access to that Park is 120 spots um I did leave that meeting with a little bit of concern there that you know is there even any potential for a smaller scale Park but um that that is still uh unknown I guess I'd say so maybe the best way to describe that do you think that it's um that that position is insurmountable they're having a comprehensive plan I mean can it be um attack in so far as um it does not add to the beneficial interest to have not from that perspective I could understand that you have a park now they they may feel well we have to have a certain amount of safety certain amount of uh bathrooms as an example but from from the position that um were that were so di Minimus in size and they their one of their arguments and I think that you've really developed Miss mayor for everyone watching just beautiful argument against it uh they were saying that they needed that extra the these premises even it's 5.6 Acres but they needed that together with others to make up a certain um volume for student but in in reality that it is so di Minimus that it has no um mathematical effect so that renders that argument moot so if um given that wouldn't if that is is spoken to addressed in their comprehensive plan and if we could show that that argument doesn't hold water um Plus the fact that the electorate is against it that maybe it would have even though we're we're so tiny I keep thinking of you know we're so tiny but we we have a big Roar um and I thank you for you know all your efforts and meeting with them personally but I I think that uh what was distributed to us your analysis was so um so good so also given the the two arguments that I heard was first from from um um a legal perspective they they had to do it um but they may not have to do it that they couldn't sell it so that that option so that's also Fall Fallen by the wayside so other than this comprehensive plan I don't know if they'll be receptive to dealing with it like you say they have so much on their plate but if there's any other I know we're doing everything that that's possible that we've thought of and with the input um from the public um so I guess the the next thing for me would be um appearing having the volume of people or close to it or maybe more that appeared here in town to face the county to actually go to a County Commission so to the extent that um I have a question um Can the public request um an item to be put on the agenda maybe marel you can you you can uh it's an individual asking for it is it'll take some time I think um us asking at the appropriate time I think will be occurring that this has to be discussed at a public meeting um I think that is forth coming I'm just glad it wasn't today to give us the opportunity to complete these meetings but um residents can ask I never stop a resident from communicating with their District commissioner or the County Administrator that's always an option available uh you go on to the County's website and you could find the Commissioners and um send them an email with your thoughts and why it's important to you know protect the interest of town of Highland Beach those are always options that are on available that are available to the public at all times um so yeah you C you can do that you know I I I don't we don't have a canned letter I don't know that that's appropriate but if folks feel the need to communicate I'd always say start with your District Comm commissioner and then work your way out and if that doesn't doesn't feel like your District commissioner has giving you you know the ear that you want you can go to her colleagues the other six Commissioners that's always an option but can the town make that request we can sure we can can we could make a you know um a motion to to have an agenda put on I don't know that we need to I think it's going to be um and we're tracking that to make sure um because I know that a couple of the County Commissioners probably want to see it resolved be an agenda item rather than just kind of lost in the space of you know meetings and stuff they they do have at least one other Park that does not have a high level of services so it's not like they don't have something that doesn't meet everything because hman Park doesn't have bathrooms doesn't have lifeguards doesn't have anything other than some Park so I think there may well be room for some negotiation and our attorney has looked into the other comp plans in the area from other counties to see is this a common mapped Trend or statistic seems something somewhat unique to Palm Beach County this park number of beach acres per person or a square foot per person is something uh of we're making as a county that we've decided we wanted to have um as the collective so it's hard to find what are those exact measurements level of services there's probably some Park standards but how you apply it across the whole County it's a little bit tricky and has anyone ever found out whether or not people are going to come from other parts of the county to go to this park I I because you know when you hear or you reading the news that there are people in some of the western sections of the park who can't get to the voting place to vote how are they going to come all the way across the county to come to a park well that's uh if you remember from the presentation I know that's kind of one of our arguments we've been making is that there's a huge amount of beach park space available in South County so it isn't as they may claim a park desert maybe a county park desert but it's not a park we got plenty of park space this and that and generally those Western reaches are going due east on the main thorough fares to get to a beach so if you're coming say from laxa hatchee I don't know that you're G to drive almost four miles from the beach of Palm Beach Juno uh West Palm Boon are South and then continue all the way down and then spend 20 minutes migrating this way from 95 it's a long trip it's a lot of time to get here to find that there's no restrooms no lifeguard no food no gas I mean there's nothing here once so no Boardwalk no Boardwalk I mean so it's it's a it's a Destination type Park that doesn't really offer a lot um that these other Parks do why would you you know not my perspective is different but you know with Del re or bokeh beaches where or Del or Deerfield even if you go a little bit further south where you could come off of the park and then you can walk into restaurant shopping food bathrooms uh you know snacks Beach wear whatever you want to do longer Beach to walk around so I mean seems odd that we would get big destination arrivals here regardless of the parking just because it's so further so much further away from those locations I'm guessing we would probably be a service point for the area bokeh West bokeh the county areas there would probably who would come here I would guess but they already have Parks another option y yeah so we're making all those points we're definitely making all those points um and you know that the attorneys the attorney really helping you know prioritize those points and um you know that will be the most compelling to the Commissioners but um and they are listening they are listening so anything else on the line no okay so moving on to the Strategic priorities plan okay so I took some creative Liberty when it came to ranking kind of move things around so you have the Strategic priorities plan I cleaned up some of the things that didn't get um taken out um you have the completed list of 23 and then you have the priorities ranked in order numerical order at the back end after the plan so you can see you know I moved you know fire department implementation is to our number one priority followed by Milani Park these things so we're constantly talking about uh State Appropriations which I'll give you a highlight here shortly which is very exciting you know we still keep on getting Appropriations though um A1A so Charter amendments and with the charter amendments we did add in those past questions would be inclusive to that so you let me know if I rank things in the wrong spots um moved them up too far not far enough um again I added a little bit to the financial management stuff because we are working on moving the 401a and the 457b plans to a new service provider with a financial I put that in there because that's a pretty big lift um that we're going to be going through over the next few months so that was added to it so I did fine-tune a few of them but um the only thing that didn't move uh was gas powered leaf lower regulations I didn't find it a means to move that that up the you haven't really encouraged me to move that one too much and if you people listened to the news the state is talking about not allowing towns to outlaw them okay so it would behoove us to just sit back for a while and see how that plays out okay so for the um Charter reviews uh number five um we have the the March 2024 ballot questions should we put something like you know because we'll spend 2024 talking about what would go on the next year's ballot so I I thought maybe um right now we just have the three questions that are coming up uh this month so yes I also I did put in previous questions too so as you go back I said I limited to three Cycles I think if it's five years ago we wouldn't um it's in the list I hope you it is it's in the beginning under progress and stuff I added you know the project also involves the evaluation of previous Charter amendments with focus on funding limitation question um then in the back where it says progress it says the commission following the March election the commission will evaluate the results U of the election and uh commence evaluating failed referendum questions from the previous three election Cycles so that's going to be something we will be handling that conversation all right uh moving forward too so we're gonna constantly be and then um should we put the sewer lining project as one of a a strategic what I haven't added to that and of course Public Works gets out as soon as they can out of the meetings I have to talk to them to hang out but Sergio is working on the update to the CIP so those items are an accompaniment to this um so that is something um I could pull out those special questions I just haven't yet because I don't know the staff status um on those and some of those are you know it's a supp we're going to appendicies the Strategic plan with our CIP because that's also a budget instrument so um we will see what projects um so we may want to put in here you're right maybe a CP annual CIP evaluation as a a running strategic priority that we always take a look at that to make sure you guys have the opportunity to be like Marshall we don't want to work on that project that's not important move this one up take that one down so we're still working through those final throws so I I do have a put a note on here to add the CIP as a specific scored number item okay that it and then you can go into those and see what those are that's also tied to your budget so you'll budget say in uh the Water uh and Sewer fund you'll be able to take a look at hey these items are necessary paid by the rate payers make sure those are done or you might say Ah that's not as important as something else so each fund has its own you know um CIP is if you will so you know building's got a little bit because it's an Enterprise fund water and sewers Enterprise fund we have the discretionary sales tax um item that kind of really supports Town operations Public Safety kind of goes to that which that's sun setting as you probably read in the newspaper and stuff and I'll give you some updates on that um but we can I'll add that in there as another item and so the bridge at Bello that would be included the bridge in Bello um is right now we're you just approved didn't you just approve that we are backer Woodman yeah so he's they're going to start doing all those items we have to update the 2017 evaluation the sound uh sound testing and looking at the footings on that and then we're going to we put dollars into this year's budget so the CIP is the last piece to fold into and it could be that you may want to pull out individual projects or you may want to put out annualized projects um you have to see what that looks like um that wasn't ready just yet waiting on police to give me their updates so once we get those yeah huh gotcha so uh we'll get those thrown in there um because you're right you had the radios which is significant Pro the uh the camera systems um we're also going to put in projects that may be funded by the the police and fire Foundation uh for uh the security whatever you call that room where you're going to do the camera room Community observation control center whatever we come up with clever title um you know that's something that the uh Foundation may take care of so um CIP is a next piece to this that is a good point to make question Marsh the only question I have is um let's take number 11 and that's the old fire station when you put it in priorities where do you visualize that is that something that should be moved up because that's very sensitive to Residents and activities and so well I put it at number 11 um it is important we're at the moment I reluctant to pull the architect off of uh the the main fire station project um they did do a structural evaluation uh to see what we can do so we're moving forward with this um I just they needed to do that evaluation to make sure what we were envisioning on those concept plans can be built without any massive structural changes then we'll start bringing you numbers um and go from there so um and a lot of it as you had me I believe you had mentioned uh at our prior meetings the referendum results that we get at the end of the month will really determine how we tackle that project if we don't change the funding limitation that might be a ballot question so those two projects then become linked where we can't build the old fire station until we get residential approval to spend whatever the dollar amount is if that that question doesn't get approved so still kind of some some loose ends on there I guess my question is if it's number 11 where do you visualize that as from time perspective being the I understand you're starting that's um that's something I could put in the DI I think that's appropriate as to how um I would probably say the first 14 or we're probably on our radar screen now actively working on making progress um and as we as we move forward in the year and get towards budget you'll start to tell me where those move right right now it might be 11 in two months you might say I think it's the number one priority it just comes right up so um well we'll have to see where that is um I I think we've been so focused on the first two priorities we don't talk much about the others but I think some of those come to some level of closure especially the fire where it's no longer implementing it is now it becomes an operational issue in maintaining that operation so that frees up a lot of administrative time and to start focusing those other items and most of these seem to be working at the same time so you can't all be one right and they they span time too some just keep spilling over I would say like the records uh one public records item where we had always traditionally consider that a physical records project that took a couple of years now we're looking at we have digital record and network type storage items we have to take a look that fall into records retention policies and how do we tackle that project so that morphed and started changing too so but CIP and maybe additional timing language it it would be would be appropriate I'm good with this because as things change the priorities will change and some may get pushed back and some may get pushed ahead and so maybe dropped all together uh I would agree especially since even the number seven is um conditioned to some extent on um what we do in the Fire Marshall duties um there's a lot of um interrelationship between them yeah and I think you like seven is a good one to talk about which is the code enforcement special magistrate yeah we have one member that will be coming off I believe um in the next month and then we have four others that are coming off with three of those termed we're going to have a big absence we have a regular code activity uh meaning we meet monthly to keep things moving along especially stuff related to the building department we need to but we're going to find ourselves that we are going to have a shortage of applicants to fill that space for a period of time regardless of what we decide to do in the long term with code enforcement board or not board or whatever I think we need to really look at putting a special magistrate in place to fill that um fill that void on these type of scenarios where all of a sudden we don't have or we we had times difficulty getting Corum right like where they're on everybody's on well we have to get this business done so I'm thinking we're GNA have a blended or a both option if you will um and again uh we've seen the concern I've seen some concern my risk management hat comes on and my tolerance for the amount of risk at times we take with the community board should be mitigated a little bit so we don't find ourselves exposed to lawsuits and things of that nature um so I think it's something that's a real it's kind of a big conversation to be honest uh you know from a policy perspective where do we want to go as a community uh I think in the short term we need to add a magistrate just in case and then see how that works maybe there then we start playing with what type of cases are appropriate for Community Action versus a special magistrate and that's where the Fire Marshall stuff some of that those items are quite Technical and I would hate to put us in that risk position where uh you know a resident board might be resident favored which is the positive part of it I think at times as it goes to favor of the um the resident but it could miss something quite Technical and POS a significant risk if something were to happen I won't go as far as a building collapse or something but could be an injury some type of smoke situation equipment fire we just got to be careful on how that happens so we should have a very robust conversation how we want to you want to tell me to handle this over the long term I think you're right I think that we can't be put in a position where we don't have enough people for a quarum which means you can't then try and enforce things and then there are all kinds of things that come out of that if you're not going and enforcing code in a timely fashion right so we need to have the ability to bring in a special magistrate and I think it's a good idea to section things out because there may be some things that you don't want personalities to get involved in a decision that it should be done by somebody who's completely impartial and doesn't live here right so that may be paid positions that would be a paid Fe we would' have to pay for the special magist but that would be on as used not right a salary right yeah it would be just just kind of like torivio Donan Ruben Ana I think that's all their names um what I miss one miss the name in there no U so like it's the same thing it's like an hourly rate that you have to pay for the cases and again we do get recover cost of prosecution right the language use cost to prosecution so it does kind of cover our cost for for that and staff time and the special regist so do you think that should be the third priority then I mean if if those qu I iess maybe this should be the third priority because if we have that many people rolling off and it does sound kind of critical I guess I I would uh ask you guys if you would agree if this should be number three no I agree with you yes can't have a void right that's just unacceptable at this point right I think so yeah I think move that one up to number three I think that is particularly since the um two and three are and and four and five are already moving along right and we deal with that almost you know on an ongoing basis right Y and a few of these others you know I think they're going to change like the Dune restoration and management we have the study the draft study we're doing the final checks that's going to result in conversations on do we want to do something as a collective to address it you know so those are that project goes from updating the plan to know and assess the situation to what do we want to do with it that becomes a new strategic so it's gonna these things kind to change a little bit yeah I I like 10 too because the communication between us and our residents are very important the more we can information we can give them and listen to them it's very important and like you said the Dune is going to be big I think with everybody's interest in doing something so that could be moved up like you said I think could making that number four you thinking uh the communication and Community engagement uh which is a 10 right now to move it up to a four so uh do we need to keep this as a standing item on the agenda yes you want to keep it every meeting until you I wouldn't even mind keeping it that okay perpetuity so or we just do I can do once we settle the next time maybe it's the first meeting of every of every month okay okay we have conversation so updating okay good idea so bring it one more time and then the beginning of every month well but okay good plan no new business um so Town commission comments commissioner Goldberg any comments well I I'm very impressed with um uh Chief Joseph's choices today uh they the captains are excellent as you say highly credentialed and experienced and it's uh you know it's just wonderful for this town it reflects who we are and certainly um you know just spotlights how important this is and and the achievement and kind of a culmination of not only this beautiful building but we have excellent por none staff uh and this is just a wonderful bonus for everyone that resides here and visits Highland Beach thank you yeah I just like to say the same thing Chief it looks like you picked some good candidates there and uh I welcome all those new captains uh I know as an ex police officer I always welcome when I got beaten by the you know the rescue truck where the fire engine was there first and I welcomed that so uh I welcome all the new people to it in part of our future thank you uh I Echo that and what one of the things I really love is that there's such a diverse background in outside Specialties so beyond being specialized in what they have to do we have a diver we have someone who's also licensed police officer and with the town that's this size with relatively small staffs the fact that we can cross over gives us a lot of flexibility and that's to me that's a terrific way to go so thank you for your sound judgment Comm yeah hour I Echo those comments thank you very much I'll pause for a second I think I skipped over public comment did you want to make a public comment am I allowed to do that am I breaking a rule on Rami Dalton Place uh So speaking of the fire department just want to throw out I don't know if you considered this or talked about it but I'd certainly like to recommend that you all consider naming Firehouse after Doug Hillman if it wasn't poor Doug I think hopefully you all would agree that I certainly know the backstory there wouldn't be a firehouse right now was through duct home so I I recommend that you consider that thank you I think that's an excellent idea because he's 100% correct there would be no fire house there would be no fire department for Highland Beach other than one that just contracted that do Hill yeah I think we need to have a resolution when we need to do maybe not before the soft opening but before the real [Music] opening and if you're thinking of invited guests may be his son and daughter-in-law and grandchildren to invited to join us I guess I just think it's to me I think it's appropriate to do I'll add that as an agenda item just so we formalize what exactly so I don't miss a step on any of that so thank you for the comment that was uh very good um so uh thank you to Chief Joseph for presenting at the Bello homeowners association meeting he made an excellent presentation and very gracious in um hearing questions and comments and things uh it was very well done and thank you very much for attending I thought it was an excellent presentation um and that's it for me uh Town manager thank you a few updates again I'm glad uh Chief Joseph was able to bring the the captains in we'll be following them with the drivers firefighter paramedics um the final steps of increasing doubling the size of our family if you will so from we traditionally had been about 62 to 64 employees now we're becoming 92 to 95 employees uh depending on that count so very soon we're a big happy family again uh with the whole new Wing uh the the fire rescue department so uh we're going through some of those transitions as well so this is exciting time um you may have heard or read in the post I I don't know that I I forwarded the article so I'll try to find it um the infrastructure Sur tax what we call our discretionary Sur tax it's kind of important to us um where we get that half-cent sales tax uh gets distributed amongst all the municipalities the county and the schools and that's kind of been a little bit of a a back stop for our CIP for the non-enterprise fund operations um that will be ceasing in 25 so we have basically next year will be the last year uh to budget and account for it uh the school board again this goes into the bigger side of politics and Palm Beach County School Board uh is going alone they're going to go for their own sales tax to support infrastructure related to the schools even though you just approved another one they want some more and they're going to go do it alone and the County Commission had a work shop meeting uh last week and have chosen not to move forward uh with supporting us or helping the municipalities move forward so we're not going to have a infrastructure sales tax so what we usually see around 300 three and a quarter David 340 probably this last year that dries up for uh things we use for uh vehicles um Town signs other type of capital projects that those dollars uh will disappear we'll to find other sources uh of funds with that finding other sources uh um so as you know a session um comes to an end here legislative session comes to an end here on Friday uh you probably mostly been hearing about the larger social media issues the overall budget um things things to that nature uh but our appropriation items our two appropriation requests have made it into the final budget so that's a big coup for us um so if you do know the governor give him a call and tell them he should love Highland Beach uh we're in for about $1.2 million of appropriation requests so that would be great and again that is the uh sewer lining project uh along with lift station three the next lift station uh those dollars as well if you recall uh they're funding our current lift station project which will'll get started right at the end of season here uh we'll start that project up so um again Peggy uh doing heavy lifts up in Tallahassee again so um Senator uh Burman also helping us with that uh but we we've we've made way to get those things included um in the budget so that's good so the budget will be approved we'll be in it uh then we're just trying to avoid the veto pen right that that game is the next phase hopefully hopefully it's just if anything a slight reduction rather than a complete removal um but the budget looks pretty solid um I like our odds going into election too so that usually hold on to uh Appropriations a little bit tighter so um that was a uh a good thing uh for us that's it okay next item announcements board vacancies Board of adjustment and appeals board we have one vacancy for an unexpired term ending SE September 21st 2024 um as previous previously mentioned on Thursday March 7th of um which is this week at 5: we have the f.r project virtual meeting and then 6: PM that same day we have the in-person meeting March 12th at 1M we have the code enforcement board regular meeting March 17th at 9:30 in the morning we have the planning board regular meeting so March 19th two weeks from today we have the um elections so the 2024 presidential preference primary and the uniform Municipal elections so we have the ballot questions that are on um uh on the ballot so um that'll be good and uh so normally we would have a meeting uh two weeks from now but we don't have a meeting March 19th um uh but looks like we will have a meeting the 26th it'll be a special meeting for the induction of the three of us and we'll resume our our meeting on the March 26 at 1:30 correct on on that date too uh Town operations is closed library is closed thing's closed you're going to have your Public Safety don't worry we'll be will be operational but there'll be no employees here because we're going to need all the parking uh for the election okay so that's how we made that work yeah we have to just close the building send everyone home of course Lena will be here as well but she'll park at the church and walk over so um but we'll you know keep as many as most of those parking spots open that's kind of how we have to to to get through that well I'm glad we could make that work that's good and then March 21st at 10: in the morning we have the financial Advisory Board regular meeting there are no board action reports and with that I think we can adjourn thank you everyone 236 thank you very much I know it's nice oh