BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA
February 11, 2020
The following is a non-verbatim
transcript of the BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS MEETING OF SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA, held at 1:30 p.m., on
Tuesday, February 11, 2020, in Room 1028 of the SEMINOLE COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING at SANFORD, FLORIDA, the usual place of meeting of said Board.
Present:
Chairman Jay Zembower (District 2)
Vice Chairman Lee
Constantine (District 3)
Commissioner
Robert Dallari (District 1)
Commissioner
Amy Lockhart (District 4)
Commissioner
Brenda Carey (District 5)
Deputy County
Manager Joe Abel
County Attorney Bryant Applegate
Deputy Clerk Terri Porter
PROOF OF PUBLICATION
Motion
by Commissioner Lockhart, seconded by Commissioner Carey, to authorize the
filing of the proof of publication for this meeting’s scheduled public hearing
into the Official Record.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
PUBLIC
HEARING
Item #3 – 2020-1836
Nuisance
Abatement Resolution/2330 Church Street/L. Randall
Liz Parkhurst, Building Division, addressed the Board to present the
request as outlined in the agenda memorandum. She advised staff recommends
approval of a Resolution issuing an Order to declare the existence of a Public
Nuisance at 2330 Church Street, and require corrective action by March 11; and
authorize corrective action by the County if the nuisance is not abated.
Cheryl Smith, 1401 Mara Court, addressed the Board stating the
property is still listed in her great grandmother’s name. Ms. Smith explained that her mother was the overseer
and has since passed. She has assumed
the responsibility of paying the taxes and is in the process of getting all the
payments caught up. She is almost ready
to find out how she can assume ownership of the property so that she might
build a home on it for herself and her family.
Then she received notice to appear today. If she has to tear it down, she would like to
be able to rebuild on it.
County Attorney Bryant Applegate advised the issue about heirs is
really a private matter, and he would advise Ms. Smith to see a private counsel
to help her through that. A question and
answer period followed between the Board and Ms. Smith. Commissioner Carey clarified that Ms. Smith
is going to make a petition for an adverse possession of the property. She explained that if the County does have to
tear the house down, it would not impact the ownership of the property.
Upon inquiry by Commissioner Carey, Ms. Parkhurst responded that
Marathon Investments Corporation was the tax certificate holder for several
years, so Ms. Smith may have been paying them back. Commissioner Carey said then that somebody
bought the tax deeds and she is now repaying the tax deeds, and that is how she
is trying to go through the process.
Commissioner Carey asked if the house were torn down, would Ms. Smith
be able to rebuild a house if she is able to secure the property. Rebecca Hammock, Development Services
Director, addressed the Board to advise that the property does not meet the
minimum lot size; however, if it is part of an older plat that is vested, then
they could possibly grandfather it and allow one home to be built, if they were
able to meet setbacks for the R-1 zoning district.
Commissioner Carey asked if the house were to be secured and boarded
up for a period of time whether that would solve the public nuisance issue or
is it more that they are worried it will fall down and that is creating the
issue. Bob Pike, Building Division,
addressed the Board to respond that he has not been inside to see it because
the owner would need to grant permission to get on site. From the road, it looks like the back portion
is in a dilapidated state and it is open to the wind in that corner; therefore,
a wind event could possibly take the roof off the structure. He believes if they boarded it up where it
would not create a negative pressure issue, then it could stay in that state as
long as it was secured.
Commissioner Carey confirmed Ms. Smith does have legal access to the
house and Ms. Smith stated she could have it boarded up. Commissioner Constantine questioned Mr. Pike
about the costs associated with fixing up the house and pointed out that it
might be beneficial for Ms. Smith to just let the County tear down the house
and put the lien on it, if she wants to rebuild. Mr. Applegate noted if the Building Official
is okay with the temporary boarding up of the structure to allow time to see if
Ms. Smith could establish clear title to the property, it might be a solution
for now. Chairman Zembower stated he
thinks the Building Official should see if Ms. Smith can perfect ownership and
then get inside the building to get the true nature.
Commissioner Carey questioned Ms. Smith about the payment plan and
timeline with Marathon who bought the tax certificates, and Ms. Smith advised
she will be completely done with the tax certificates within six months and
will be ready to pay 2020’s taxes. Commissioner
Carey wondered if Ms. Smith was in a position to start some kind of adverse
process because she said that will take a while, and Ms. Smith replied that she
is ready.
Mr. Pike responded to a question posed by Commissioner Carey saying
the wind is the big issue along with people trespassing, so if they can get it
boarded up and secured, it looks like it could be saved if Ms. Smith wanted to
do that. Commissioner Carey added she
could tear down the addition in the back and start with a small house.
With regard to public participation, no one in the audience spoke in
support or opposition, and public input was closed.
Motion by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to deny
approval of the Resolution today issuing an Order to declare the existence of a
Public Nuisance at 2330 Church Street, Sanford; and require that the house be
secured within 30 days, based on an inspection by the Building Official; and
give nine (9) months to bring this back with a resolution on the Title, and a
plan on how the owner will move forward.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
Chairman Zembower requested that the Building Official, Bob Pike,
report back after the 30 days with the status of whether the building has been
secured. He asked that Ms. Smith make
sure that Mr. Pike will have access to the building.
NON-PUBLIC
HEARING ITEMS (4-6)
DEVELOPMENT
SERVICES
BUILDING
DIVISION
Item #4 –
2020-1863
Nuisance
Determination Amendment/
2614 Country Club Road/M. Whithouse
Ms. Parkhurst advised due to the rescheduling of the BCC public
hearing meeting dates, the ordered Notice of Determination needs to be amended
to set the public hearing date as March 24, r2020. The property owner will be notified of the
new Show-Cause Public Hearing date.
With regard to public participation, no one in the audience spoke in
support or opposition, and public input was closed.
Motion by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Lockhart, to approve the Amendment to the Notice of Determination of
Public Nuisance that the unoccupied structure located at 2614 Country Club
Road, Sanford, is a public nuisance; authorize the Building Official to serve
notice of its determination pursuant to Sections 168.5 and 168.6 of the
Seminole County Code; and set March 24, 2020 for a “Show-Cause” public hearing,
based upon the Building Official’s certified findings.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
ENGINEERING
DIVISION
Item
#5 – 2020-1875
Fire
Station #11 – Purchase Agreement with FDOT
Jean Jreij, Engineering Division, addressed the Board to present the
request as outlined in the agenda memorandum.
He advised FDOT will convey a deed of a piece of property of about 4,375
square feet in order to construct Fire Station #11 and to convey a deed for Marker
Street. In addition, FDOT will convey an
easement for the retention pond, and the County will convey an easement to FDOT
for drainage for a joint-use retention pond.
Commissioner Carey stated in addition to having to pay the $37,500 to
FDOT for swapping out basically this drainage easement, do they have an
estimate at what it will cost to relocate the drainage. Mr. Jreij replied the drainage is already a
part of the Fire Station #11 construction; the Board awarded this contract at
the last meeting. He will get the
specific line item, and provide the information. Commissioner Carey noted they had talked
about the breakout of the requirement to move the drainage, so she would like
to see that number. She added it is a good
lesson learned that they should have design professionals and engineers looking
at sites instead of necessarily a firefighter selection process, because the
question was whether this site was wide enough from day one to actually put a
fire station there, and the answer from the Chief at that time was in the
affirmative. She opined they need to
make sure they understand completely when they are making decisions what the
total cost is going to look like and not have to renegotiate to move drainage. She added they are lucky this is owned by
FDOT and they are actually able to do this.
With regard to public participation, no one in the audience spoke in
support or opposition, and public input was closed.
Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Carey, to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a Conveyance
Agreement between property owner, the State of Florida Department of
Transportation (FDOT), and Seminole County for property (4,375+/- square feet)
necessary for the construction of a new Fire Station #11 at 2721 S. Ronald
Reagan Boulevard, approximately 600+/- feet north of SR 436; Quitclaim Deeds (2)
for Middle and Eastern Parcels and Drainage Easements (2) for Northern and
Southern Parcels.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
PURCHASING
AND CONTRACTS DIVISION
Item
#6 – 2020-1873
RFP-1932-18 MSA
– Increase Annual Usage
Betsy Cohen, Purchasing and Contracts Division, addressed the Board to
present the request as outlined in the agenda memorandum and advised staff
recommends approval.
With regard to public participation, no one in the audience spoke in
support or opposition, and public input was closed.
Motion by Commissioner Constantine, seconded by Commissioner Carey, to approve an increase to the Board-approved Estimated Annual
Usage for RFP-1932-18, Master Services Agreements for Development Services with
Canin Associates, Inc.; GAI Consultant, Inc.; and Renaissance Planning Group,
Inc.; by an additional $200,000 for the period ending October 28, 2020.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
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Commissioner Dallari indicated the commissioners probably all received
an email from a resident requesting they move the public hearing agenda item
regarding Paola Country Estates Rezone scheduled on February 25 to a later time
in the p.m. They discussed the request,
and it was the consensus of the Board
that they would schedule that agenda item as the last public hearing of the
day.
ITEMS FOR FUTURE AGENDA
The following spoke in opposition to the Econ Wilderness land
swap: Linda Rossel,
2476 Fawn Run; Bernie Hearl, 2476 Fawn Run; Ian
Nelson, 2533 Fawn Run; and Tami Griffith, 2483 Fawn Run. The County Attorney explained that since this
is technically in litigation, the Board should not comment.
Andre Klass, 3250 Retreat View Circle,
addressed the Board to speak about the denial of cancer benefits to a
firefighter, Dustin Schrieber, who recently passed
away.
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There being no further business to come before the Board, the Chairman
declared the meeting adjourned at 2:20 p.m., this same date.
ATTEST:______________________Clerk_____________________Chairman
tlp