City Commission Regular Meeting Brief for January 25, 2022

COMMISSION BRIEF FOR JANUARY 25, 2022

City Commission Approves Purchase of Smart Camera Equipment
The City Commission had previously approved the conceptual idea of investing in a citywide public safety technology plan.  The City Commission has now approved the purchase of high-end H4 multi-sensor cameras with self-learning video analytics on all sensors.  The cameras, which will be installed at City Hall/Memorial Park, Community Center, Suellen H. Fardelmann Sports Complex, and Flamingo West Park, will ultimately be tied into a Real-Time-Crime-Center (RTCC) to provide actionable field information to on-duty law enforcement personnel.  The total fiscal impact of this purchase is $260,750.44, which will be funded by monies received by the City in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA).

City Commission Approves the Addition of Specific Senior Executive Positions to the Florida Retirement System’s Senior Management Service Class
The Florida Retirement System (FRS) has different classes for Special Risk Class (police, fire, etc.), Elected Officers, General Employees, Senior Management Service Class and other workers.  Although the City adopted the FRS plan, it had not previously established the Senior Management Service Class (SMSC) for department directors.  The SMSC provides a pension multiplier of 2% compared to a 1.6% multiplier for general employees.  The City Commission has now approved the establishment of a SMSC in the effort to attract and retain senior executive staff.  This change for certain positions will become effective at the start of the next fiscal year on October 1, 2022.  The original agenda item also included the potential addition of an Elected Officers Class in FRS, which the City Commission did not motion to move forward. 

City Commission Approves Three Purchase Orders for the Rehabilitation of Sewer Lift Station #46
Sewer Lift Station #46 is located at 8797 SW 56 Place in the Country Address neighborhood. This “can” type station, built in 1980, is significantly deteriorated both structurally and mechanically, and was identified as part of the Utility Department's master planning process as one that needs to be converted to a modern submersible pump station. In addition to its deteriorated condition, these types of stations present problems for City staff in terms of safety because they require employees to routinely enter hazardous confined spaces, which is another reason for converting it to a submersible station.  The total fiscal impact is $158,771.50.  Funds are available in the Water and Sewer Capital Improvement Fund and budgeted for this purpose.

City Commission Approves Renewal of Geographic Information System (GIS) Services Contract
In late 2014, the Utilities Department started the process of converting its records of the City’s water, sewer, and storm drain facilities from paper and Computer Aided Design-based files (CAD) to a GIS format. Storing the City's utility infrastructure records via a GIS provides tremendous advantages over paper or CAD records including protection from loss or destruction, consolidation of information in one place, easier access to records, and much greater analytical functionality. It also facilitates the development of a computerized asset management system in the future, in order to better manage the City's assets and infrastructure.  The City Commission has now approved a two-year renewal of a contract with Florida Technical Consultants, which was originally awarded on May 29, 2019.  The current fiscal year budget includes $60,000 for these services, which includes $20,000 through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA).

City Commission Approves Assignment of Contract from DBI Services, LLC d/b/a Aquagenix to Deangelo Contracting Services, LLC d/b/a Aquagenix
The City Commission has approved the assignment of wetland maintenance of the City’s five (5) wetland ponds to Deangelo Contracting Services, LLC d/b/a Aquagenix.  The City Attorney’s Office reviewed the request of assignment and advised the City could proceed with the assignment.  During the September 23, 2021 City Commission Regular Meeting, funding was approved for wetland maintenance.  There is no additional fiscal impact as a result of this action.

City Commission Approves Commission Internal Auditor’s Review of Managerial Pension Plan
The City Commission has approved a review of the creation and operation of the Retirement Plan and Trust for the Managerial Employees of the City of Cooper City, which was established on November 1, 2002. 

City Commission Approves Resolution 22-1
The City Commission approved a resolution which expresses the support and approval of the proposed Stirling Road Roadway and Drainage Improvement Project for Broward County Transportation Surtax funding.  In September 2019, City Staff submitted three projects related to the improvement of Stirling Road to the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and Broward County for consideration for surtax funding. Two of the projects were for capital improvements (e.g. drainage, road regrading, potential bike lanes, etc.) and the third was for resurfacing of the road. Broward County ultimately approved funding for planning and design of the capital improvement projects, and full funding for the resurfacing. Funding for construction of the capital improvement projects, however, was not approved by the County and not included in its five-year funding plan. Subsequent to the above approvals, City and County staff discussed these projects and agreed that they should be combined into one. Additionally, Broward County has recently expressed an interest in moving construction of the project back into its five-year plan and accelerating it. In order for this acceleration to be approved by the County, the MPO must complete a “readiness review” for the purpose of ultimately supporting acceleration of the project. One of the items required in the readiness review was a resolution of support for the project by the City Commission.  If acceleration of the project is ultimately approved by the County, surtax funding in the amount of $4,556,960 will be made available to the City as soon as the City is ready to award a contract and begin construction of the project.

City Commission Approves Ordinance 22-1 Upon Second Reading
During the October 26, 2021 and November 30, 2021 Commission meetings, the Commission approved a list of projects and initiatives that should be considered for funding using American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funds. In order to expend the funds needed to start these projects and initiatives, the City Commission has now approved a budget amendment.  This amendment considers the initial amounts needed during the next few months to exhaust the first ARPA tranche totaling $8,965,280. Since most of the project costs provided are estimates, a second amendment will be brought to the Commission by no later than September 2022, providing a better alignment between the estimates and actuals. See the list of ARPA projects.

More Information
For more information related to items on the January 25, 2022 agenda, please visit the City’s website at https://meetings.municode.com/adaHtmlDocument/index?cc=COOPERCITY&me=26b53a9d4f9e4428a7423e2a248da8d5&ip=true.  You can also watch a recording of the full meeting by visiting www.CooperCityFL.org/WatchMeeting.

The next City Commission Regular Meeting is scheduled for February 8, 2022 at 6:30 PM.