Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 01-25-1983 Regular — reading text

they wished to handle it. Mr. Bishop moved approval of the project; motion seconded by Mr. Grant and carried unanimously. Debbie Jackson, a member of the media interrupted the agenda to request that the 30 people standing there hoping to be recog- nized and were being ignored, saying they still had not been told the answers to their questions on the nudity ordinance. She said Council represented those people and she felt Council should answer them. The City Manager noted to the Mayor that he had the floor and after his items if the Mayor wished to bring up the matter again it would be her prerogative. Mayor asked the Manager to continue. STAFF CHANGES City Manager presented a request and recommendation for deletion I N THE POll CE and creation of various positions in the Police Dept., indicating DEPT. the attachments provided to Council contained a request for 2 police commander positions at pay grade 19, one to be the Operations Commander and one to be the Services Commander - the pay grades having been recommended by the task force to attract top personnel. Further to add one Youth officer at pay grade 10 and to delete the position of 1 assistant chief at  1- 25- 83 227 STAFF CHANGES, pay grade 16~ delete llt. position at pay grade 14 and POLICE DEPT. delete one community relations counselor position at pay grade CONTINUED 14. He indicated the rest of the task force' report and recommenda- tions fell under the jurisdiction of the City Manager. He recommended these changes to the Council. Mr. Miller moved the recommendation regarding the two new positions of Division Chiefs. Motion seconded by Mr. Bishop. Mr. Miller clarified this was concept approval when Mr. Franklin mentioned a resolution would be required to enact the actions. Mr. Miller explained his motion: there were three recommendations - one regarding I creating of the Division Chiefs, one regarding deleting the assistant chief slot, and the third related to what he thought was a moot issue the juvenile officer and the motion he addressed was only the creation of the two division chief slots. He reasoned he felt no harm in having the assistant chief position remain though they might wish to amend the budget to remove the appropriation for this year but he felt they might decide they would need an assistant chief as well. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Franklin moved to delete the position of assistant chief, the one acting It. position, to downgrade the counselor position from pay grade 14 and call it a youth aid officer at pay grade 10 - all in concept only. Motion seconded by Mr. Grant. Mr. Miller spoke in support of maintaining the counselor position at pay grade 14 saying it had been budgeted but not filled and he felt it had been very effective. He felt the pay grade was need to attract · a properly qualified person. Mr. Franklin spoke in support of the task force report and work saying they had worked this out and juggled with the budget to make it work without any budgetary amendments. Mr. Bishop didn' t see the need for keeping the assistant chief slot but had reservations on downgrading the counselor slot as much as it was being downgraded. Don Armagost, Chaplain of the Police Dept. spoke in behalf of the youth counsel worker. He agreed with Mr. Mi 11 er and Mr. Bishop regarding the pay grade, s ayi ng i. n, his position in working with the dept. if was one of the most important positions in the dept. and needed a highly qualified person. Police Chief said with respect to Mr. Miller, Mr. Bishop and Mr. Armagost' s remarks, the dept. didn' t need a counselor; they needed a sworn juvenile officer that could enforce the law and investigate crime. He indicated he had spent quite a bit of time with the state agencies. He also stated that the reason for the downgrade was because a police investigator' s pay grade was 10 and if the position were to remain at grade 14 then he would need to conform with the organization structure - a sworn rank of It. but felt that was not a wise way to utilize the money. The City Manager asked the Chief if he felt there were duplicative services in the County that could be utilized in place of this position as it was now described. The Chief agreed. The Chief described several programs briefly saying they shouldn' t be competitors - they were I two different professional groups. Mr. Miller said he didn1t disagree with the Chief on the issue of enforcement need; if there one there Council ought to fill it and they ought to fund it and they had contingency to do that. He said he did disagree with the Chief on the conseling proposition and took exception that the other facilities and agencies were meeting the need. He indicated it had been certified to him by educators and juvenile court officials that the City' s program was fulfill ing a very meaningful need in the community and filling some substantial voids that the other agencies with their manning arid funding would not adequately meet. He felt the area of juvenile attention had been neglected far too long  X;>' ,~ 1- 25- 83 228 and was the most significant issue facing the City now. He mentioned the staff had supported the grant system with contemplation that the City would take over the program POll CE DEPT. after the grants expired. Mr. Bishop disagreed with the STAFF CHANGES, Chief because he didn' t think that some of these agencies CONTI NUE D. really got involved and did the job they said they did; noting his personal experience in working with them with teenagers in his teaching position. He indicated many times the counselors did not follow upon their clients, though some of them were good and dedicated. He said he supported the overall plan but felt at grade 10 it would be hard to get a good counselor. Mr. Miller asked Mr. Franklin if he would consent to amending his motion to remove the downgrading of the juvenile position. Mr. Franklin said at this point he was willing to delete from his motion to downgrading of the community relations counselor with the understanding that the staff would not hire into that position until they had time to further study it. He indicated he did not have the information Mr. Bishop had since Mr. Bishop was an educator but he had input from various counselors that they do not have enough work to do. Mr. Franklin restated his motion - that they delete the assistant chief position, 1 acting It. position and add one youth aid officer pay grade 10. Mr. Miller seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. They clarified for the Attorney that this was a vote for the concept and they would consider the resolution later on the agenda. FEE FOR COPIES Manager presented a report for Council IS consideration for impos- AT POLICE DEPT. ing a $ 5. 00 fee for Police Dept. time and efforts in providing information checks for various agencies as allowed under Fla. Statute 119. 07. He noted the memos regarding the reason for the request. Mr. Franklin moved for approval of the item. Motion seconded by Mr. Grant and carried unanimously. TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS Manager presented a request for permission to purchase a traffic controller and cabinet for Highway Blvd. and Eglin Parkway for $ 5, 230. 00 with the spare controller for $3, 740. 00 under state contract. Mr. Grant moved for approval. Motion seconded by Mr. Franklin and carried unanimously. SERVICE PINS Manager reported regarding the awarding of employee service pins, noting a list of several to be presented and reporting that Council had the previous year decided to award them in January of each year. He suggested having the awards made at the Senior Citizens Center as had been done the previous year if Council wished and that the employees families be included. He noted the dates the Senior Citizens Center would be available. A reception type presentation) Council agreed by general consent to hold the presentation at the Senior Citizens Center on Friday, Feb. 4, 1983, at 4 p. m. ENGINEER, HIGH Manager reported reminded Council that the question had come up RISE INSPECTIONS some time back when they were considering the White Sands Retire- ment Center and the Staff had considered the ordinance and at this point recommended that it remain as it is written. He reported that Governor' s Committee for a study of construction industry a was recommending the adoption of a very similar ordinance, in statute form.  1- 25- 83 229 EGLIN HEIGHTS Manager presented a report listing the number of fire hydrants FIRE HYDRANTS in theftglin Heights Subdivision ~ 6 ~ 1n numQer. There was a general discussion of use of water by the' Wright- Ocean Fire District occasionally and the fact that a meter for each hydrant would cost 3, 000~ , The item was noted for the record. HENDERSON ELECTRIC City Attorney noted a