Longboat Observer
YourObserver.com
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013
hot seats
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decision day by Kurt Schultheis | Managing Editor
by Kurt Schultheis | Managing Editor
Two members leave pension board Vote will Both firefighter/paramedics who were appointed to a new pension board have decided not to participate any longer. The town of Longboat Key’s new Firefighter Pension Board is not even three months old and it’s already lost two board members. When the new seven-person board first met May 15, firefighter/paramedic and Longboat Key Fire Rescue District Vice President Keith Tanner didn’t repeat the oath of office and walked out of the meeting after claiming the board went against state statutes. When the board met again June 12, it lost another member. Firefighter/paramedic and board member Matt Taylor walked out of the meeting as soon as it started. “I don’t feel comfortable moving forward with any actions,” Taylor said June 12. “The state is not agreeing with what the town is doing. I don’t feel comfortable being up here.” It turns out neither one of them feels comfortable sitting on the dais any longer, either. Town Manager Dave Bullock told the
Longboat Observer that he had advised both Taylor and Tanner to let the town know how they planned to proceed by July 18. Neither Tanner nor Taylor responded to Bullock, which led Bullock to appoint firefighter/paramedic Jason Berzowski to the board to replace Tanner. Bullock has yet to name the other appointment. The newly reconfigured board consists of five Key residents in addition to the firefighter appointments. Current citizen members are Chairman Gerald Feder, Armando Linde, Shannon Gault, James Pappas and Lee Riley. The board is responsible for overseeing a pension plan that will be frozen Sept. 30. Approximately $200,000 a year in state subsidy money, dubbed Chapter 175 monies, has been given to the firefighter pension plan for years to help fund firefighter pension benefits. The town must now opt out of those funds to freeze the plan. It’s the belief of some firefighters, though, that their current pension plan
extreme makeover
has to be frozen before a new board can oversee the plan, and the issue led to Tanner and Taylor’s concerns about being board members. Town pension attorney James Linn told Taylor the town and the new board are not going against state statues because the town has agreed to no longer accept Chapter 175 funds as it works to freeze the pension plan. To assuage any concern, Linn also recommended the town approve an emergency ordinance that states the town is freezing the plan and no longer accepting Chapter 175 funds. The commission approved that ordinance in May. But the ordinance hasn’t made Tanner and Taylor any more comfortable. They continue to point to a May 16 letter the Division of Retirement submitted to the town that questioned the new pension board and the Chapter 175 funds. Linn responded to the state a week later, providing officials with the emergency ordinance and laying out how the town’s actions are consistent as it works to freeze the current pension plan. “This board has ample legal authority to continue,” Linn said.
by Kurt Schultheis | Managing Editor
The town’s only public boat ramp was extended 10 feet into the water because boaters complained that their trailers were falling into the bay when they attempted to back their larger boats into the water. Kurt Schultheis
Boat ramp smoothes bumpy ride The $95,670 cost to perform Linley Street boat ramp upgrades was offset by a $51,000 grant from the West Coast Inland Navigation District. The town’s only public boat ramp received a big makeover last month, and town residents are pleased with the end result. The 30-year-old Linley Street boat ramp in the Longbeach Village closed mid-May for a much-needed overhaul and reopened July 4, ahead of schedule. The project was originally planned for March but was rescheduled to avoid conflicting with season. “It’s a very popular ramp, especially for Longbeach Village residents who don’t have waterfront access on their properties,” said Public Works Director Juan Florensa. “We had been keeping an eye on it, and it was time to make some upgrades.” Interlocking pavers that previously made it difficult for boaters to ease their boats into the water smoothly have been replaced with a smoother concrete surface. The ramp was also extended 10 feet
into the water because boaters complained for years that their trailers were falling into the bay when they attempted to back their larger boats into the water. “Times have changed, and boats and engines are bigger, and longer trailers are the norm,” Florensa said. “These changes help accommodate the new norm.” The $95,670 cost to perform the upgrades was offset by a $51,000 grant from the West Coast Inland Navigation District. Florensa said it took 18 months to receive a permit from the state. “It was a lengthy process, but the end result was a project that had no impact to the surrounding seagrasses and mangroves in the area,” Florensa said. Town staff worked with Village residents to receive their input on the project and to ensure it didn’t impact them. “We held off on the project until after season,” Florensa said. The town also improved the small
parking area to the left of the ramp. At the request of the Longbeach Village Association, town staff also improved the fish bait-preparation area on the dock adjacent to the boat ramp by installing a sink with running water. “It’s been very well received, and locals love it,” Florensa said. Longbeach Village resident Rusty Chinnis said he gave town staff “big kudos” for the upgrades. “The ramp is flatter and not as steep,” Chinnis said. “It’s much more stable, and we love it.” Longbeach Village Association President Michael Drake also complimented the town in a July 16 email. “On behalf of the entire Village neighborhood, we thank you for a job well done,” Drake wrote. Drake said the association plans to purchase a dock ladder and has also urged the town to replace some rotting wooden boards on the town dock.
It was a lengthy process, but the end result was a project that had no impact to the surrounding seagrasses and mangroves in the area. — Public Works Director Juan Florensa
impact employees, taxpayers The Town Commission’s decision about retirement options will affect town staffers and residents for decades.
The Longboat Key Town Commission will make a decision Wednesday at Town Hall that could cost taxpayers up to $1.75 million and impact the retirement plans of up to 37 of the town’s 43 general employees. Commissioners will decide at a 9:30 a.m. special meeting at Longboat Key Town Hall whether to allow general employees to enter the Deferred Retirement Options Program (DROP) and offer those employees an early-retirement incentive after their pension plan freezes Sept. 30. Commissioners will review two separate scenarios for extending DROP. The first option would allow employees within two years of DROP eligibility to enter the program. That would allow two additional employees to participate in the program at a cost of $3,484 per year to the town, or $104,520 over a 30-year amortization period. Extending the opportunity to a fiveyear opportunity would make eight employees eligible, costing the town $58,332 per year, or nearly $1.75 million over the next 30 years. An early-retirement option that the commission will consider would allow employees to retire at age 50 after 25 years of service and collect a pension. Of the town’s 43 general employees, 37 could qualify for early retirement. If all eligible employees chose that option, it would cost the town $9,818 per year, or $294,540 over a 30-year amortization period. Also at the meeting, town attorney Maggie Mooney-Portale plans to seek direction from the commission on how to deal with a new state law that doesn’t allow the town to use referenda to approve density changes. At its spring session, the Florida Legislature approved a two-page bill that nixes the referendum process statewide and also renders any referendum performed on or after June 1, 2011, moot. For Longboat Key, the bill means the town can’t approve future density changes. The town attorney will give commissioners three options to consider: • The town could file a lawsuit seeking declaratory relief, asking a judge how the new state law applies and how the town should interpret the new law moving forward; • The town could pursue a legislative amendment that clarifies or allows the town to be an exception to the new law; • The town could do nothing and wait for an affected party to come forward who may want to increase density but cannot because of the new law. The town could seek declaratory relief while also pursuing a legislative amendment. “There’s a glitch in that bill, and Longboat Key was an unintended consequence,” Portale said. Portale has already received direction to meet with Legislature committees this fall and try to get the matter resolved when the Legislature reconvenes in February. For more information on Wednesday’s meeting, check www.yourobserver.com for live updates.