Town of Shalimar

Town Commission Meeting Minutes

January 11, 2005

 

CALL TO ORDER – Mayor Gary Combs called the regularly scheduled Town Commission meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. in Town Hall chambers.  He led the "Pledge of Allegiance" to the Flag.

 

ROLL CALL FOR THE RECORD 

          Mayor Gary Combs:  present      

          Mayor Pro-Tem Rik Larson:  present     

          Commissioner Ursel Behnken:  present  

          Commissioner Kevin Reeves:  absent     

          Commissioner Jerry McCallister:  present        

         

Others in attendance:  Town Manager Tom Burns, Deputy Town Clerk Tina Smith, Police Chief John Cash, Ricardo Garcia, Johann Behnken, Mack Kirkland, and Angela Balent from O’Sullivan Creel.

 

PLANNING AND ZONING BUSINESS: There was no Planning and Zoning Meeting in December.  There is a Special Planning and Zoning meeting on January 12, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. – The 9 page summary prepared by the land planning expert, Wendy Grey, was sent out to all of the Planning and Zoning Board Members and will be e-mailed to the Commission.  Manager Burns will organize a packet before the next meeting for all of the Commissioners that will include reports and documentation from the Planning and Zoning Meetings. 

 

TOWN RESIDENTS' TIME:  The town residents had nothing to discuss.

 

TOWN ATTORNEY'S REPORT:

Billboard Lawsuit Update – Manager Burns reported that the status on the lawsuit is the same as last month.  Also, the original applicants submitted 2 new sign permit applications today but changed the use to “Billboard promoting non-commercial speech”.  Manager Burns will draft up the letters to disapprove the new applications.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

I.

 

APPROVE MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 14, 2004 TOWN COMMISSION MEETING – Commissioner Larson moved to approve the minutes of the December 14, 2004 Town Commission Meeting as written.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Behnken and passed unanimously.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

I.

 

AUDIT REPORT -- O'SULLIVAN CREEL – Angela Balent passed out draft copies of the report to the Commission and briefed them on the audit.  She stated that the town is in a very healthy financial position.

II.

 

2005 GOALS LIST – Mayor Combs included a 2005 Goals List and asked the Commissioners to look at the new list and e-mail any changes to Tina and she will post the new list to the web site.

III.

 

POLICE DEPARTMENT UPDATE – Mayor Combs informed everyone of the recent change in the Police Department.  Due to personal reasons, Chief Self resigned as Chief and went to work at the Sheriff’s Department.  John Cash is now the new Chief and John Spohn has been promoted to Sergeant.  Mayor Combs explained that, with Charles’ severance package, he’d be unable to ask for raises for John Cash and John Spohn at the moment but suggested that the town compensate the Police Department for their personal cell phones.  Mayor Combs requested $20 for Chief Cash and $10 for everyone else.  Commissioner Larson feels that the amounts given are too low.  The Commission agreed that they’d try out those numbers for now and see how it works out.  They also agreed that this arrangement could be extended to everyone (not just the Police Department).  Commissioner Larson moved to follow the guidelines set up by Mayor Combs and give $20 to Chief Cash per month and $10 per month to the other officers and employees of the town to help compensate their cell phones.  Commissioner Behnken seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.   

 

MAYOR COMBS’ REPORT:  The next OCLOC Dinner Meeting will be on January 27, 2005 at Two Trees.

 

COMMISSIONER LARSON'S REPORT:  Commissioner Larson took Chief Cash over to the Sheriff’s Department to introduce him as the new Chief.

  

COMMISSIONER REEVES’ REPORT:  Commissioner Reeves was not present.

 

COMMISSIONER BEHNKEN’S REPORT:  Commissioner Behnken had nothing to report.

  

COMMISSIONER McCALLISTER’S REPORT:  Charles Self received all of the money owed to him from the town except the FMPTF retirement.  Also, there are lights in his car that he paid for that he’d like to be reimbursed for.

 

POLICE REPORT:  Right now the town has 3 seized vehicles; a black car that should legally belong to the town around February 2, a red Honda CRV that will belong to the town after 30 days, and a blue Dodge truck.  Manager Burns would like to keep the truck as a back up utility vehicle for the Maintenance Department.  The new police car should be here by January 14th and Sam Roberts will drive it.

Mayor Combs reported that the Police Department has a new database that will allow Chief Cash to do reports better than the old ones were.

 

TOWN MANAGER UPDATE:

The $100,000 12-month CD has been completed at 2.85%.  This rate is a little higher than originally quoted.

The Town has received its insurance plan if anyone is interested at looking at it.  It went up almost 20%.

Manager Burns will get the letters out to the property owners of the burned up house on Cherokee and the little house between Shalimar Yacht Basin and Snug Harbor, Brent Acree.

 

Mayor Combs asked that everyone agree on a date for a Special Commission Meeting in the event that the Planning and Zoning Board makes recommendations during their meeting tomorrow night.  The board agreed on January 24, 2005 as the tentative date.

 

The election is in March and the dates for qualifying are coming soon.  Mayor Combs, Commissioner Behnken, and Commissioner Reeves all need to qualify before the deadline.

  

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

 

JANUARY 12, 2005 -- PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING, 6:00 P.M.

 

FEBRUARY 8, 2005 -- TOWN COMMISSION MEETING, 6:00 P.M.

 Commissioner Larson added that there will be a MADD candlelight dinner on January 21 and everyone is invited to attend.  All three of Shalimar’s officers will be receiving awards.

 

ADJOURNMENT:  Commissioner Larson moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:28 p.m.  Commissioner McCallister seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.