INDIAN ROCKS BEACH – In an effort to come in line with other county municipalities, Indian Rocks Beach officials agreed at its Aug. 25 meeting to raise parking fines.
The city, which has a large number of parking spaces available adjacent to the beach, raised fines for expired parking meters from $15 to $20. The unanimous vote came after officials heard from city staff that the previous fine was lower than nearly every other jurisdiction in the county.
The Circuit Court Clerk administers collection of those fines, keeping $10 of every citation. City officials anticipate the revenue increase to the city will be approximately $4,500 annually.
Bar owners heard
Bar owners and employees affected by the city’s decision to break with the county’s decision to allow drinking establishments to stay open until 3 a.m. came to city hall to press their case.
Mark Mancuso, owner of Cuso’s and several of his employees told the commission that the city’s decision to keep the 2 a.m. closing time ultimately hurt their business.
Mancuso said, “I’ve seen people leave my place at 1 to go across the bridge to hang out at these other places until 3. We need to be able to compete, to help some of these small businesses.”
Others told of lost income and bars empty by 1 a.m. when just the previous month they were asking patrons to leave at 2.
Brett Phillips of Belleair Beach, said, “With this decision, now I have to watch increased traffic along Gulf Boulevard as people migrate to bars that stay open till 3. It’s not a matter of if, but when there will be a terrible accident and someone will die because of the decision this council made.”
IRB resident Nancy Obarsky told the commission, “If this was 10 years ago we wouldn’t even be having this discussion, but this is now and this needs to be revised before another of these guys goes broke.”
Obarsky referred to the closing earlier this summer of another popular late night watering hole, My Place; although that closing was not at the time associated with the earlier closing hour.
Attorney requests fee increase
City Attorney Maura Kiefer petitioned the commission for an amendment to her contract increasing her hourly rate by $15. The attorney’s current hourly fee is $110.
Kiefer contended that the increase would bring her compensation on par with other localities and increase the cost for the city’s legal services annually between $2,000 and 3,000. Kiefer was not asking for an increase to the city’s legal budget 2010-11 set at $67,950.
The legal budget for 2008, the year Kiefer came on board was $105,553 or nearly double that of 2009 due in large part to the drawn out legal battle over the sudden resignation of former City Manager Al Grieshaber. For a time the city retained two attorneys, Kiefer and former City Attorney Andy Salzman.
Jeremiah Carmody asked the commission to consider Kiefer’s performance on several legal issues including the Grieshaber suit and the dispute with neighboring Indian Shores regarding the boundary at Whitehurst Avenue.
Commissioner Terry Hamilton-Wollin proposed the motion to grant Kiefer an increase, however the motion died for lack of a second.
Mayor R.B. Johnson commented that he felt the time was not right for an increase.
“This is no reflection on Maura but we’re going through a tough budget season when no one else is getting a raise, not that Maura isn’t deserving, but we would appear tone deaf if we granted one now.”
Commissioner Dan Torres pressed Kiefer asking, “How does this affect you, not getting the raise?”
“I’ll have to think about it,” Kiefer replied.
Torres, “Good answer. Um, no offense, I think there is more going on here other than just this raise. I’ve spoken to people: citizens, staff, there’s more than just the raise ... what Jeremiah said ‘performance’, we have to look at performance this coming year. The raise brought up some interesting points; that may be OK, I don’t know. We need to look at this a little deeper over the coming year.”
“Yeah, the reason I brought it up now is that my contract requires that any changes have to be made prior to Oct. 1,” Kiefer said.
“I’m not talking about that part,” replied Torres.
