Regular City Commission Meeting - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. Good evening. We're going to get started for our 6.30 meeting. If everyone can please get quiet and get to your seats. The time is, we're going to go at 6.31. City Clerk, please call the roll.

Commissioner Schwartz. Commissioner Simone. Here. Commissioner Rosano. Here. Vice Mayor Caggiano.

Present.

Mayor Serrio.

I'm here and we're going to do the Pledge of Allegiance along with a moment of silence just before, but I want to call up brothers Miguel and Santi to lead us in the pledge tonight. So we'll do a moment of silence and when I tell you it's all right, go ahead and start with the pledge, okay?

A Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic

And wait right there for a moment. Great job. I have to give you a shirt and a city pin for leading the pledge. Thank you. And if you want, we'll take a quick photo right under the TV here.

Mom got it. Don't worry. Hold on. All right. Thank you.

OK, 1A, presentations.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor. I'd like to invite up District Director Kurt Kaiser, and he can introduce his staff that is here to recognize our lift station division leader, Pete Diaz, who was named operator of the of the year.

So we're here tonight to commemorate Pete Diaz, who was named operator of the month, operator of the month, operator of the year. by the Florida Rural Water Association. So Pete, why don't you come on up? So you can see we have a number of Pete's coworkers in the back here, and I'll tell you a little bit about Pete. So Pete is the last remaining member of what is probably at one time the worst crew in the city. And with Pete's leadership and help, he's made it into probably one of the best crews, certainly in the department and possibly in the city. Commissioner, this guy's spectacular. His leadership has turned that whole thing around. You may remember, you were getting letters. You were getting copied on correspondence. So we have turned that group over and turned it around. And now we have a bunch of superstars back here that do what they're asked. And go over and above. And there was a time when... We had gotten rid of a few of those guys, we eliminated all the overtime, and Pete was here by himself. Literally, he was the only one in the group. And he was pretty depressed. And I remember talking to Pete and telling him, hang in there, it's going to get better. We have a plan, you're part of it, and With Gavin's help, Gavin Young is back there in the blue shirt. With Gavin, who's Pete's supervisor, with his help and Martha's help and their foresight, we've turned this group around. These guys are now super. You can see we've got electricians and instrumentation techs back there. These guys all work together. and do what we need. And we've pretty much eliminated emergency response on lift stations. So these guys are doing preventive maintenance now and getting ahead of problems and preventing disasters and emergencies and a bunch of overtime that's not necessary. And I attribute a lot of that to Pete. I credit him with a lot of what we do. I could go on and on with the good work that they're doing in that group. I'll just tell you this quick story. We had a little problem in the plant about a month ago. Happened on a Wednesday, and it took us a couple days to get it in control. I believe it was a Thursday night I was leaving, and I got a call from a neighbor who lives right on the other side of the wall. You know, the plant smells. I mean, I'm sorry to tell you, but my first thought is, yes, you live next to a sewer plant, but let me go out there and see what it's all about. Sure enough, as soon as I went outside, I was like, this is awful. I feel really bad for the neighbors. What am I going to do? It's 6.15 at night. About that time, here comes Pete in from a job they were finishing up. And I explained to him what was going on. He's like, no problem, boss. I can take care of it. Next thing, I got three or four of his co-workers. And I'm not going to give you all the details, but Pete knew the response. And the odor went away. Within 15 minutes, I was able to go over and knock on the doors and talk to the two neighbors. They were completely happy with the way things were at the time. And I attribute... THAT'S THE KIND OF RESPONSE THAT THESE GUYS PROVIDE FOR US. SO I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE GROUP AND ABOUT PETE. AND WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO PETE. I THINK HE HAS ONE OR TWO THINGS HE WANTS TO SAY.

GOOD EVENING. FIRST OF ALL, GOOD EVENING, COMMISSIONERS, CITY MANAGER, MR. KALE, AND STAFF. It's an honor and a privilege to me to wear this uniform each and every day, represent the city of Margate, especially with this American flag on my shoulder. I'm grateful to receive this award, but I truly believe this award is a team effort. It's not just me. I would like to recognize those individuals who made this possible, if I can, please. First of all, I want to start off with our director of utility, Mr. Kirk Kaiser. Kurt, thank you for your leadership, your support, your commitment to our utilities department and to the employees who work hard every day that is gone unnoticed. Kurt, a couple of years ago, we had a conversation. I remember telling you that I wanted to leave. I was not happy because the situation was going through. And I remember telling you that, Kurt, I'm different from a lot of people. I'm going to remind you again. I'm different from a lot of people. The difference is I don't like my job. I love my job. I love what I do. To me, it's a passion. Come to work. And thanks to you, you make this happen, Kurt. I also would like to thank you, Kurt, for getting us all these new equipment that we've been getting, the new crane, the new Vactor. I mean, you make our job much, much easier. Example, you have the city of Hollywood. When they had a flood two years ago, they reached out to us. We helped them out. They took care of everything. City of West Palm Beach, they had a big forest man break. They called us. We reached out to them. And last, I know you have a secret weapon that helps you out a lot, which I'm going to talk about here later. You made a team. It's like a task force team, and we went to Gasparia Island. That's on the West Coast, and we stood there about for a week. All the lift stations were down. Everything is sewer everywhere. We went out there about for a week. We got all the stations up and running. Everything came out perfect. Thanks to you, Kurt. All that was possible. Also, thank you for your leadership, and thank you for everything you do for us. Thank you, Kurt. You're welcome. The next person I would like to say thank you to is my direct supervisor, Mr. Gavin. He's in the back with the blue. Gavin, I would like to say thank you for everything that you have done, Gavin, for the opportunity for me to work with you each and every day. Thank you for trusting me, giving me an opportunity, and to being part of your leadership team. We have done so much for this department, and I will continue to work hard and do my best each and every day. The next is like a group of guys I would like to thank. The guys in the back wearing green. Those are the guys I really believe names should be on this plaque, because those are the guys that each and every day, they work with me side by side. These guys jump in the manholes, the RBCs, the wet wells, contact chamber, and they have the good job. We do the sewer. We don't do water. So they have the good job. So these guys do that. They have no hesitation, come to work with a good attitude, and I appreciate all you guys, especially Rodney Tai, Cambrell, Danny, We got Richard, Jimmy, and Rahim. Thank you guys for all the hard work. And last, I think I left the best for last. I left her for last because she played a joke on me. When I received this award, it played a real good joke on me, so I left her for last on purpose. I don't know if there's any words to describe her in a dictionary, but I came up with some words to say thank you, Martha. Here's what I came up with. Martha, I want to sincerely thank you for your support and your encouragement and this connection with this award I recently received. I am honored and grateful to be recognized. I want you to know how much I appreciate your role in this special moment. Your guidance, encouragement, and confidence in me meant more than what you may realize. It is a privilege to work with someone who realizes and appreciate the hard work and dedication from others. Receiving this award is very meaningful to me, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with you. Thank you for believing in me and supporting my efforts. Thank you, Martha. Thank you for everything.

Pete, if I ever run for anything again, I'd like you to lead my campaign.

Thank you. Pete's the guy. Pete's our department politician.

Thank you. Congratulations. And just to add, the people here tonight, the men and women that aren't here out there working, are really the unsung heroes. I know we love our police and our firefighters, but these guys are also, and women, are heroes as well. When we're inside, when it's storming out, or when it's hot out, or it's raining, you want your toilet to flush.

Your tax dollars.

Yeah, this is the part where your tax dollars at work, but you don't see it. So it's easy to forget about. And I think we take for granted when you turn on the lights or you flush the toilet or you turn your water on, it actually works. And it's because of them. So thank you again. It's well deserved. Okay, we're going to go back to the city manager for employee recognition for years of service.

All right.

Kurt, you're up again here.

I like this one, Commissioner. I want to bring up Mr. Jerry LaBoy to recognize him for 25 years of service to the city of Margate. What I have to tell you about Jerry, I'm going to try to keep compressed, but it's not quite going to do it justice. So Jerry's been here 25 years. He's a GIS coordinator, Geographic Information Systems. So Jerry, I guess I could best explain, Jerry's kind of the interface, the technical connection between Marta's and my vision and ideas and what these guys do in the field, it's our ability to track and log what happens in the field and be able to plan what we're doing next or in four or five years. We can see problems, trends, patterns, and issues out there. Most of the people in the city, most of the residents, may not be familiar with Jerry personally, but most of you are familiar with his work product. Jerry and his partner, John Shelton, they develop all the maps in the city. So when you go on our website and see maps, all that is Jerry's work product. But it's more than just mapping. GIS is an information and data system. It allows us to take... all the data about a particular location and map it and contain it in one place. But more than that, Jerry's big specialty is When somebody has a brainstorm and says, you know, if I had this tool and I could map this data, I could really be productive. And I could have guys in the field with an iPad or a tablet, and they could just enter this stuff as they did it. And then they come to Jerry and explain what they think they might want. And Jerry interviews them for 10 minutes or a half hour, depending. and then comes back to them in a few days with a product that's better than what they had envisioned and imagined. And so with Jerry's help, we're able to do all kinds of really amazing things. And to that end, I'll tell you that we've had, just in Dease, so Jerry works with Dease Development Services. He does all the planning and zoning and land use maps. and a number of other things for Liz. In fact, he sits right outside Liz's office, so Liz has direct access to him. And I've told Jerry, hey, if Liz comes to you, you take care of whatever she needs unless you think there's a problem, then come to me. So he's probably doing things for Liz I don't even know about. But as long as there's no issues and it gets done and Liz is happy, we're all happy. He does stuff for GEO and Public Works, Parks and Rec, Police Department, I believe even Fire Department, right? And everybody that works with Jerry leaves a smile on their face and can't believe what he's been able to do for them. So I'll give you an example. We had a lead and copper mandate, so we had to file some stuff with the EPA. We had to go do a survey and figure out the materials in all the water service lines in the city. And we brought in a company to help us with that. And we started down this road doing asset management. And Jerry was explaining them what we needed. And eventually, we just dismissed them and had Jerry write an application. And we bought a couple tablets and sent our crews out to do the inventory. We finished the inventory. We submitted it to the EPA. about a year ahead of schedule. And next thing, Marta gets a phone call from someone in Washington with the EPA, questioning her if this is a legitimate submittal or not. And Marta asked why, and they said, because you're the first one we received in the whole country. And we're not sure that the data, we're not sure with your tabletop that the data is legitimate. And Marta explained, no, no, no, no. We had an application made. We did all the inventory. And that is a legitimate survey. So we're the first, with Jerry's help, we're the first ones in the whole country to submit our stuff to the EPA. So we've got all kinds of service order systems, work order systems, and asset management tracking. I could go on for hours. I can't do it justice. But Jerry's ability to be sophisticated allows our department to do far more than I can explain here in the opportunity I have in terms of technology and what we do on a day-to-day basis and tracking stuff. And he works with all the departments in the city to allow them to do similar things. So with that, Jerry, thank you. Congratulations on your 25 years.

All right. Next up, we have Building and Code Services Director Richard Nixon celebrating 25 years of service. And if you want to meet me up at the podium, Richard. All right. So tonight we have the privilege of recognizing Richard Nixon, our building and code services director for an incredible 25 years of dedicated service to the city of Margate. For a quarter of a century, Richard has served this organization in our community with professionalism, knowledge and a commitment to doing things the right way. His experience and leadership have made a lasting impact on our city and on many of the employees he has worked alongside over the years. Richard, on behalf of the city of Margate, thank you for your dedication, your loyalty, and 25 outstanding years of service. Congratulations.

I'll keep it real quick. I just wanted to say thank you to the city leadership and for CAEL giving me the tools I need to accomplish my vision and goals for this city. and the building and code services department. And definitely my team. Without them, I wouldn't be able to accomplish half of what I do every day. So I'm very grateful for the people on my team. They're the best in the business, so thank you.

And Richard also has excellent taste in shoes. All right, a couple employees we're also recognizing not here in attendance tonight. Michael Rodriguez, police officer celebrating 20 years of service. Shanika Hardy, lead permit specialist, building department with five years of service. And next, I would like to invite up Miss Jennifer Johnson, our city clerk, to recognize Howard, our clerk coordinator.

So Howard is getting his five-year service award today, and we're very proud of him, and I have a few things to say. So it is my pleasure to recognize Howard Pavillard, clerk coordinator in the city clerk's office, for five years of dedicated service to the city of Margate. Howard began his career with the city five years ago in the Development Services Department, where he served as an office manager. He then brought his talents to the city clerk's office as an office specialist, and through his hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence, he was promoted to his current role as clerk coordinator. Over the past five years, Howard has consistently demonstrated what exceptional public service looks like. He has amazing customer service skills and treats everyone he encounters with kindness, patience, and respect. Whether assisting a resident, supporting a colleague, or helping our office navigate the many responsibilities of the city clerk's office, Howard is always willing to help and does so with a positive attitude. Howard's professionalism, dependability, and genuine desire to serve others make him an invaluable member of our team. We are truly fortunate to have him in the city clerk's office and are grateful for all that he contributes to the city of Margate. So Howard, congratulations on five years of service. Thank you for your dedication and for being such an important part of our team, and we look forward to celebrating many more milestones with you.

Thank you, everyone. I really appreciate the recognition here. And as you've heard a couple times already this evening, it's really the city itself. It's the whole city, from the leadership to directors to our residents that make this place so special. It is an honor to work here. I'm so thankful every day. And I can assure you my family here can vouch for every word I just said. So again, look forward to working tomorrow and we'll see you then.

Thank you. One, I can't believe it's been five years already. Time flies. Howard's the one that calls each of us every single day without fail to make sure that we're on track with our schedules. So we do appreciate that. And I believe he is Simone and mine's unofficial weather guy. He's a real weather guy, but he advises us in an unofficial way, and we appreciate that whenever a storm is approaching.

Always my pleasure.

Mayor, can I say something? Please. My daughter graduated from FAU, and she's a cheerleader. Come to find out that Howard was the one that makes the decision, the weather guy at FAU, to cancel the game or not. So when I heard that about you,

on top of which howard is the only male in an office of females you got to give him credit for that too very true all i'm going to say is when i walk in that office i walk out i've got a bigger smile on my face thank you and thank you all for being part of that thank you vice mayor

And with that, this meeting will be adjourned. We have another meeting, the one I think that most everyone is here for, and that will start promptly at 7 o'clock. Meeting adjourned.