City Council Meeting City of Belleair Beach, Florida

Monday, August 3, 2020 Community Center, 6:00 PM

PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE MINUTES

VIRTUAL MEETING

The meeting was called to order at 6:04pm by Mayor Joseph A. Manzo, followed by a Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.

Roll Call: Present were Councilmembers Robyn Ache, Marv Behm, Dave Gattis, Jody Shirley, and Rita Swope; Vice Mayor Glenn Gunn, and Mayor Joseph A. Manzo, City Manager Lynn Rives, City Clerk Patricia Gentry, and City Attorney Fred Reilly.

1. Approval of Agenda.

MOTION was made by Councilmember Behm and seconded by Councilmember Shirley to approve the Agenda.

Councilmember Gattis requested to amend the Agenda to add Board and Committee Reports for the Communication Advisory Committee Report.

MOTION was made by Councilmember Gattis and seconded by Councilmember Shirley to amend the Agenda to add the Report as Item 12b.

Motion passed 7-0.

2. Citizens Comments. {Each speaker will be recognized once and will be limited to a {3) three-minute presentation on any subject that is not on the Agenda)

Seeing no one, Citizens Comments was closed.

3. Presentation: Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. • Belleair Beach monthly analysis of events

City Manager Rives reviewed the June PCSO statistics: • 1 Larceny • 4 vehicle crashes • 61 citations and warnings

City Council Meeting Monday, August 3, 2020

City Manager Rives will request that Captain Leiner attend City Council meetings as he does at other municipalities.

Public Hearing

4. Consideration of Ordinance 20-02, An Ordinance Of The City Council Of The City Of Belleair Beach, Florida, Relating To Five (5) Proposed Charter Amendments For Submission To Referendum; Providing For Incorporation Of Recitals; Providing For Amendments To Article II, Section 2.02, Article II, Section 2.045(A), Article II, Section 2.06, Article IV, Sections 4.02 And 4.03, And Article IX Of The City Charter; Providing For Five {5) Ballot Titles; Providing For City Clerk To Obtain Spanish Language Translation; Providing For Approval By The Majority Of Electors Voting In The Election Scheduled For November 3, 2020; Providing For A Notice Of An Advertisement Of The Referendum Election To Be Published In Accordance With The State Of Florida Election Code; Providing That Upon Adoption Of This Ordinance The Five (5) Proposed Charter Amendments Shall Be Submitted To The Qualified Electors Of The City Of Belleair Beach, Florida, Voting In The Election Scheduled For November 3, 2020 And Shall Become Effective As Provided By Law; Providing For The City Clerk To Conform And Codify The Charter Amendments To The Charter If Approved; Providing For Repeal Of Ordinances In Conflict Herewith; Providing For Severability; Providing An Effective Date; And Providing For An Effective Date(s) Of Proposed Charter Amendment{s). {Second Reading)

Mayor Manzo read Ordinance 20-02 by Title only.

MOTION was made by Councilmember Gattis and seconded by Councilmember Behm for Ordinance 20-02.

Councilmember Ache thanked City Attorney Reilly for his hard work on the Ordinance.

Councilmember Gattis encouraged the Citizens to vote on the referendum questions on the November ballot.

Councilmember Behm Aye Councilmember Gattis Aye Councilmember Shirley Aye Councilmember Swope Aye Councilmember Ache Aye Vice Mayor Gunn Aye Mayor Manzo Aye

Motion passed 7-0.

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City Council Meeting Monday, August 3, 2020

Mayor Manzo thanked everyone for their work.

Consent Agenda

5. Approval of July 6, 2020 City Council Meeting Minutes.

6. Approval of July 13, 2020 City Council Budget Workshop Minutes.

7. Approval of July 20, 2020 City Council Budget Workshop Minutes.

8. Approval of July 20, 2020 Special City Council Meeting Minutes.

MOTION was made by Councilmember Behm and seconded by Councilmember Swope for the Consent Agenda .

Motion passed 7-0.

Regular Agenda

9. Consideration of Appointment of Alternate Park and Recreation Board Member Jean Bisio to Board member.

• Council appointment of Board Member

MOTION was made by Councilmember Behm and seconded by Councilmember Swope to appoint Alternate Park and Recreation Board Member Jean Bisio to Board member.

Councilmember Gattis Aye Councilmember Shirley Aye Councilmember Swope Aye Councilmember Ache Aye Councilmember Behm Aye Vice Mayor Gunn Aye Mayor Manzo Aye

Motion passed 7-0.

Mayor Manzo congratulated Ms. Bisio.

10. Consideration of Appointment of Tammie Levenda to the Park and Recreation Board.

• Council appointment of Board Member

MOTION was made by Councilmember Behm and seconded by Councilmember Shirley to appoint Tammie Levenda to the Park and Recreation Board.

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City Council Meeting Monday, August 3, 2020

Councilmember Shirley Aye Councilmember Swope Aye Councilmember Ache Aye Councilmember Behm Aye Councilmember Gattis Aye Vice Mayor Gunn Aye Mayor Manzo Aye

Motion passed 7-0.

Mayor Manzo congratulated Ms. Levenda .

11. Consideration of Resolution 2020-12, A Resolution Of The City Council Of Belleair Beach, Florida, Approving The Fiscal Year 2020-21 Non-Ad Valorem Assessment Roll For The Bellevue Estates Island Assessment Area; Directing Certification Of The Assessment Roll To The Pinellas County Tax Collector; And Providing An Effective Date.

• Certification of the assessment roll to the PCPAO

Mayor Manzo read Resolution 2020-12 by Title only.

MOTION was made by Councilmember Gattis and seconded by Councilmember Behm for Resolution 2020-12.

City Manager Rives: • This is the annual certification. The preliminary was in June and

the final will be in September • The current assessments will remain the same until the project

closes at the end of the year, then the assessments will be adjusted in the next fiscal year

Councilmember Swope Aye Councilmember Ache Aye Councilmember Behm Aye Councilmember Gattis Aye Councilmember Shirley Aye Vice Mayor Gunn Aye Mayor Manzo Aye

Motion passed 7-0.

Mayor Manzo thanked City Manager Rives for his work.

12a. Authorize the City Manager to Execute Contract for Law Enforcement Services with the Pinellas County Sheriff for Fiscal Year 2020/21.

• Renewal of the PCSO annual contract

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City Council Meeting Monday, August 3, 2020

MOTION was made by Councilmember Behm and seconded by Councilmember Shirley to Authorize the City Manager to Execute Contract for Law Enforcement Services with the Pinellas County Sheriff for Fiscal Year 2020/21.

• City Manager will check with the PCSO to have Belleair Beach Deputies review their duties that are in the contract

• City Manager Rives will discuss if the amount of time the Deputies spend on Belleair Shore enforcement is in line with what the contract states

• Belleair Shore pays for approximately 45 minutes of each of the two 12-hour PCSO shifts per day - but the question was raised if more time than that is being spent on Belleair Shore patrol and enforcement

• Should the allocation of time and funding in the contract be reviewed

• More time will be spent on the umbrella ordinance in Belleair Shore that Belleair Beach is not being compensated for

• The PCSO is not as visible in the City as they have been in the past - this is a major concern

City Manager Rives will contact Sheriff Gualtieri and Captain Leiner to ask that they attend the August 17, 2020 Work Session.

MOTION was made by Councilmember Shirley and seconded by Councilmember Ache to table the item for further review of the contract and a discussion with PCSO representatives at the August 17, 2020 Work Session. The Public will be invited to ask questions also.

Councilmember Ache Aye Councilmember Behm Aye Councilmember Gattis Aye Councilmember Shirley Aye Councilmember Swope Aye Vice Mayor Gunn Aye Mayor Manzo Aye

Motion passed 7-0.

12b. Board and Committee Reports.

Communication Advisory Committee Chair Leslie Notaro reviewed both items that had been sent to City Council for their review - the Postcard sample requesting Resident contact information, and the Communication Strategy Spreadsheet.

Items reviewed included, in part: • Alert Pinellas - encourage Residents to sign up for the County

emergency notification service

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City Council Meeting Monday, August 3, 2020

• ClickSend telephone communication system • Facebook concerns of Sunshine Law and record retention -

Chair Notaro had discussed these with City Attorney Reilly • How would the success of these different types of

communication be measured • Would additional personnel be needed to implement and

maintain all of the new methods of communication • Next meeting August 13th

Committee Member/Councilmember Gattis reviewed: • A flat-rate messaging system, voice call or text message - less

than 2 cents per message per person • He had successfully tested the system with City Staff, and

another group of 85 recipients • It would have a dedicated telephone number which would be

recognizable as coming from the City, at approximately $3.00 per month

An allocation of funds from the City Emergency Fund for use by the Committee to research and experiment with the different communication platforms was discussed - as some of the communication to Residents will involve emergency information.

Councilmember Swope thanked Chair Notaro, Committee Member Gattis, and the team and stated that she was extremely impressed with what the Committee has suggested for communication between the Citizens and the City.

13. Unfinished Business.

• Discussion of improvements to the North/South walking easements through the City for the Work Session agenda

• Discussion of Marina rental rates is on the Work Session agenda • Seawall code enforcement - City Manager Rives will send the

Marco Island Manual to Marine Engineer Reuben Clarson to review - not many municipalities have codes for seawalls and an inspection process

• Vegetation on properties obscuring the line of sight for vehicles and pedestrians

• Citations for deteriorating docks, and debris from deteriorating docks floating in the water

• Address the sailboat anchored between 22nd Street and the Causeway Bridge - and is it attracting other vessels to moor there

• Posting to form a committee for review of the City Codes in the Fall

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City Council Meeting Monday, August 3, 2020

14. City Attorney.

City Attorney Reilly had no comments.

15. City Manager.

City Manager Rives reviewed: • Updated budget pages have been sent to Council • The Stormwater Fee is progressing • The first millage rate hearing will be at the September 9th City

Council Meeting • The final payment of $5,600.00 for Hurricane Irma has been

received from FEMA • Mr. Bill Lusk will make a presentation of his research on local

marinas at the Work Session • Governor Desantis has extended virtual meetings until

September 1st; virtual budget hearings are extended until October 15th; the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Office advised to continue the City budget hearings virtually as they are part of the Council meeting

• The new Belleair Shore beach ordinance: o City Manager Rives met with a small group of Belleair

Beach residents about the issue o He has spoken with one Belleair Shore Commissioner o He will be meeting with Mayor Schmidt again o His goal is to get some leeway on allowing umbrellas at

the least o Belleair Shore can enforce their ordinances within their

jurisdictional lines o Jody Shirley, Lynn Rives, Glenn Gunn, and Joseph Manzo

attended and spoke at the Belleair Shore virtual meeting to ask that the Town reconsider the ordinance, and asked to form a Task Force from the two municipalities for further discussions

o City Manager Rives will have something posted to the City website home page to update Residents on the status of discussions and to answer the most frequently asked questions

Mayor Manzo advised he has received a letter, that he will forward to City Clerk Gentry tomorrow, from two Citizens that have moved forward with a Notice of Lawsuit to sue the Town of Belleair Shore to invalidate the ordinance and seek to remove the Town as Trustees under the deeds.

Mayor Manzo advised: • This will be the last word he will ever say on this - he went

through ethics clearings on this all the way up to Tallahassee -he is not joining their lawsuit as he wants to preserve his own

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City Council Meeting Monday, August 3, 2020

rights with a lawsuit - he bought his property to be within walking distance of the beach and it has been taken away from him

• He will be bringing his own lawsuit on behalf of himself only, not as Mayor but as Joseph Manzo property owner

• Because of that and because of what he has said, he can no longer participate in these discussions, they will have his letter tomorrow and a judge can decide - but he will moderate the discussions

City Attorney Reilly advised that the language of the Belleair Shore Charter established their jurisdiction and includes "into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the limit of the jurisdiction of the State of Florida", very similar to the jurisdiction line of the City of Belleair Beach, it goes out into the water - their ordinances apply out into the Gulf.

16. City Clerk.

City Clerk Gentry had no comments.

Mayor Manzo advised that he had received a voice mail message from a person saying they were calling because the City Clerk had hung up on them when they called City Hall, but then proceeded with vile, disgusting hate speech which included insults and ethnic slurs regarding his personal heritage among other things. He advised he would not be calling the person back, would copy and send the voice mail to the City Clerk for retention, and possibly send to the Sheriff's Office. This type of call is unacceptable, and he supports any employee who terminates a conversation like this.

City Manager Rives stated that this person has a long history with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and City Hall.

Any further action would be through the PCSO, the City Attorney, and the City Manager.

17. City Council Comments.

Councilmember Ache had no further comments.

Councilmember Behm had no further comments.

Councilmember Gattis had no further comments.

Councilmember Shirley had no further comments.

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City Council Meeting Monday, August 3, 2020

Councilmember Swope stated, in part: She believed it is important that the Council work together and felt it was necessary to set the record straight - she believed that it was unprofessional to make false accusations and threats towards anyone, especially towards other members of the Council. She advised that at the July 6, 2020 City Council Meeting she was accused of allegedly having a conversation with Pinellas County Judge Patrice Moore, which she adamantly denied. She subsequently sent a letter to Judge Moore for clarification, with a link to the July 6, 2020 City Council meeting video. She received a telephone call from Judge Moore after the Judge had watched the video. Judge Moore assured her that she did not have a conversation with Mayor Manzo and June VanScoyoc regarding Councilmember Swope, or any conversation regarding the Sunshine Law after that meeting and would not have had that type of conversation with another colleague. Following the telephone call Judge Moore replied to Councilmember Swope by email and copied Mayor Manzo. Councilmember Swope advised that she had sent her letter and Judge Moore's emails to the City Clerk for public record retention. She wanted to state for the record that she feels they should all work together, to let everyone knew how she felt regarding this issue, and to clear the record - that she had never had a conversation with Judge Moore.

Mayor Manzo stated, in part: That he was going to respond without bringing Judge Moore into this any more than she has to be. Judge Moore says she does not recall it, but June VanScoyoc recalls it with particularity and has asked him to arrange a meeting with the Judge. He stands by everything he said because it was told to him by June - she does not lie and would swear under oath if necessary. This has embarrassed the City in front of the Judge. He stated that Councilmember Swope had been subject to removal at the meeting she cited in her statement as she had attempted to debate a point of order and interrupted him three times when he was speaking. He advised that the new policy we have, thanks to City Attorney Reilly, is that you get three warnings, then he stops, calls a time out, and then we discuss removing that person. That's what happened with Paul Marino and some of these groups sometimes in the audience. He had said she was subject to recall for a totally different incident - for what she had done to June VanScoyoc by removing her from the Park and Recreation Board for retaliation -but Ms. VanScoyoc was going to handle that. He was restating what June told him. He was going to call Judge Moore to give her an opportunity to speak with June and that may refresh her recollection. He would never say something that is not true in a Council session and would never say something that is not true against a judge, it's unethical. This is what was passed on to him and he restated it, they heard it that night, and if he is not mistaken June said that Councilmember Jody Shirley was a witness to this. What Councilmember Swope did that was inappropriate was trying to debate

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City Council Meeting Monday,August3,2020

the point of order and interrupting. He advised to tread very carefully as he is a contract employee by the State of Florida who appears before Judge Moore and that this is interfering with a contractual relationship.

Vice Mayor Gunn stated, in part: He has had conversations with City Manager Rives regarding the Belleair Shore ordinance - there has not been any enforcement action and City Manager Rives is trying to have the ordinance relaxed within the confines of the beach access areas.

He agreed with Mayor Manzo that some of the things going on are an embarrassment but did not like being included in the "we" are an embarrassment to the City. He suggested that there are other avenues of dealing with these things. There are State ethics provisions to make a report and have an outside individual look at the situation.

Mayor Manzo stated he was stunned that Vice Mayor Gunn would suggest ethics. He advised that every one of you would be subject to ethics charges - which are taxable legal costs back to the person that makes the false ethics charge. He stated that he is not going to Ethics on anybody, but if anyone goes on him, he has something probably on everyone on Council and maybe ten things on some of you, and on former Councilmembers, so don't go there. He asked that they not go down that road and embarrass themselves or the City.

Mayor Manzo stated that there are protestors in the City - there is a person on the corner of 6th Street and Gulf Boulevard with a "Support Blue (police)" sign. Cars are honking their horns violating the City and State ordinance. The City ordinances are inadequate to do anything about the person individually. The City needs to address this as a 'reasonable time, place, and manner' issue. The individual is on County property - Code Enforcement PCSO Deputy Doherty and City Manager Rives have spoken with the individual, but they continue.

City Attorney Reilly stated that he would be willing to speak with the individual to defuse the situation, although others have done that without success. First Amendment issues must also be considered.

City Manager Rives and City Attorney Reilly will reach out again to suggest and explore other ways of showing support for law enforcement.

Mayor Manzo reminded all of the August 18th Primary Election.

City Manager Rives asked that any agenda items for the August 17th Work Session by submitted by August 11th.

Mayor Manzo reminded all to fill out the Census.

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City Council Meeting Monday,August3,2020

ADJOURN

MOTION was made by Councilmember Behm and seconded by Councilmember Shirley to adjourn at 8:21pm.

Passed 7-0.

Dcichef L5: U>20 Date Approved

APPROV~~ JA.~or

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Patricia A. Gentry,

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