BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA
March 13, 2018
The following is a non-verbatim transcript
of the BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MEETING OF SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA, held at 9:30 a.m., on Tuesday, March 13,
2018, in Room 1028 of the SEMINOLE
COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING at SANFORD,
FLORIDA, the usual place of meeting of said Board.
Present:
Chairman
John Horan (District 2)
Vice
Chairman Lee Constantine (District 3)
Commissioner
Robert Dallari (District 1)
Commissioner Carlton Henley (District 4)
Commissioner Brenda Carey (District 5)
Clerk of the Court and Comptroller Grant
Maloy
County
Manager Nicole Guillet
Deputy County
Attorney Lynn Porter-Carlton
Deputy Clerk Terri Porter
Dr. Walt Person, Sanford Church of Christ, Sanford,
gave the Invocation. Commissioner Henley
led the Pledge of Allegiance.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
The
Business Spotlight video for Lake Mary Shuttle was presented.
AWARDS AND PRESENTATIONS
Agenda Item #1 – 2018-0606
Motion
by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to approve a
Proclamation declaring March 2018 as Women’s History Month in Seminole County.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
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Agenda Item #2 – 2018-0597
Motion by
Commissioner Constantine, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to adopt appropriate
Resolution #2018-R-33 recognizing Staff Sergeant Dennis McClellan, United
States Air Force, as Seminole County’s March 2018 Veteran of the Month.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
Staff Sergeant McClellan accepted the resolution and addressed
the Board and the audience to express his appreciation.
COUNTY
MANAGER’S CONSENT AGENDA
County
Manager Nicole Guillet announced the addition of Consent Agenda Item #14A
regarding a request to pursue a grant to help underwrite the cost of the Spring
Hammock Preserve improvements. She also
advised of a deletion, Item #17 will be brought back at a later date.
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Motion by Commissioner Constantine,
seconded by Commissioner Carey, to authorize and approve the following:
Office
of Emergency Management
3. Approve and authorize the
Chairman to execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Seminole County
and the Hindu Society of Central Florida to provide emergency shelter support
during times of disaster. (2018-0607)
4. Approve and authorize the
Chairman to execute a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Meals on Wheels, Etc.,
Inc. for emergency food services during times of disaster. (2018-0608)
Development Services
Planning & Development Division
5. Approve and authorize the
Chairman to execute appropriate Resolution #2018-R-39 establishing the time of
collection/payment for Educational System Impact Fees; and the First Amendment
to the Educational System Impact Fee Interlocal Agreement between the City of
Longwood, Seminole County, and the School Board of Seminole County. (2018-0609)
6. Approve and authorize the
Chairman to execute appropriate Resolution #2018-R-34 vacating and abandoning
an exclusive easement to the benefit of Seminole County for ingress/egress and
utility purposes, as recorded in the Official Record Book of Seminole county,
Book 1806, Page 641, for property located on the west side of E. Lake Mary
Boulevard, approximately one-fourth mile south of E. SR 46. (2018-0577)
Leisure Services
Greenways and Natural Lands
7. Approve
and authorize the Chairman to execute an Interlocal Agreement with the City of
Sanford to fund the Marina Island East and West Boat Basin Breakwater Project
through the Boating Improvement Program for FY 2018, and to execute appropriate
Resolution #2018-R-35 implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #18-036 in
the amount of $43,553.42 through the Boating Improvement Fund to fund the
project.
(2018-0603)
Parks and Recreation
8. Approve
and authorize the Chairman to execute a new one-year Collaboration Agreement
between Seminole County and Orlando Health, Inc. to supply, install and
maintain sunscreen dispensers in the active park locations which include (a)
Softball Complex, (b) Sylvan Lake, (c) Sanlando Park, (d) BOOMBAH Sports
Complex, (e) Red Bug, and (f) BOOMBAH Soldiers Creek. (2018-0593)
Public Works
Engineering Division
9. Approve
and authorize the Chairman to execute an Agreement of Purchase and Sale of
Mitigation Credits with William L. Colbert, Managing Trustee of Colbert/Cameron
Trust No. 1, in the amount of $109,000 for the Five Points Connector Roadway
and Regional Stormwater Pond Project; and authorize staff to execute the
associated United States Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army
Permit. (2018-0554)
10. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute
an Interlocal Agreement between Seminole County and the City of Sanford for the
Sanford Riverwalk Phase 3 from Phase 2 to Terminus to Monroe Road in the amount
of $7,000,000. (2018-0592)
Resource Management
Budget & Fiscal
Management
11. Approve submission of an Application to the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA), through the FY 2017 Fire Prevention & Safety Grant requesting up to
$25,000 for the Smoke Alarm/Carbon Monoxide Detector Program; and authorize the
County Manager to execute any documents associated with Grant Application. (2018-0602)
12. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute
appropriate Resolution #2018-R-36 implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR)
#18-027, through the 17-92 CRA Trust Fund reducing revenues and the Reserve for
Capital Improvements by $185,003, and providing for $11,435,426 in tax
increment refunds from uncommitted Reserves.
(2018-0581)
13. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute
appropriate Resolution #2018-R-37 implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR)
#18-034 through the General, Transportation Trust and Fire Funds, recognizing
$7,169,786 in tax increment refund transfers from the 17-92 CRA Trust
Fund. (2018-0579)
14. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute
appropriate Resolution #2018-R-38 implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR)
#18-035 in the amount of $14,871, through the various Water and Sewer Funds to
restructure and reallocate funding in FY 2017/18 for various Water and Sewer
Capital Projects. (2018-0582)
14A. Approve submission of an Application to the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection Land and Water Conservation Fund
Grant requesting up to $200,000; and authorize the County Manager to execute
any documents associated with the Grant Application. (2018-0615)
Purchasing & Contracts
Division
15. Approve the First Amendment to RFP-602014-15/GMG,
Contractor Services Agreement for Processing and Marketing of Recyclable
Materials, with Waste Management, Inc. of Florida, a subsidiary of Waste
Management, Inc., Pompano; and authorize the Purchasing & Contracts Manager
to execute the Amendment. (2018-0559)
16. Award IFB-603005-17/GCM, Term Contract for
Large Meter Testing, Replacement and Repair Program, to Reed and Shows Meter
Solutions, LLC, Douglasville, GA; and authorize the Purchasing & Contracts
Manager to execute the Agreement. (Estimated
annual usage: $75,000) (2018-0530)
17. Pulled
from the Agenda request to approve the ranking list, authorize staff to
negotiate rates in accordance with Section 287.055, Florida Statutes,
Consultants Competitive Negotiation Act (CCNA); and authorize the Purchasing
& Contracts Manager to execute four (4) Master Services Agreements (MSAs)
for PS-1709-18/RTB, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
Engineering Services. (Estimated annual
usage: $400,000) (2018-0573)
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS CONSENT
AGENDA
Clerk
& Comptroller’s Office
Motion by Commissioner
Carey, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to approve the following:
18. Approve
Expenditure Approval Lists dated February 12 and 19, 2018; Payroll Approval
List dated February 8, 2018; and the BCC Official Minutes dated February 13,
2018. (2018-0601)
Districts 1, 2,
3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
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The
Board noted, for information only, the following Clerk & Comptroller’s
“Received and Filed”:
1. Florida Public Service
Commission Consummating Order #PSC-2018-0076-CO-EI re: petition approval of
curtailable services tariff modifications by Florida Power & Light Company,
Docket #20170216-EI, issued February 13, 2018.
2. Florida Public Service
Commission Consummating Order #PSC-2018-0085-PAA-EQ re: petition for approval
of renewable energy tariff and standard offer contract by Florida Power &
Light Company, Docket #20170226-EQ, issued February 19, 2018.
3. Right-of-Way Utilization
Cash Maintenance Bond in the amount of $7,511.19 for the right-of-way known as
2728 West Country Club Road; PRD SS Sanford, LLC.
4. Right-of-Way
Utilization Performance Bond #58741230 in the amount of $22,924.00 for the
right-of-way known as Lake Mary Medical Building; Hembree Construction, Inc.
5. Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) Program Rapid Re-Housing Case Management Services Agreement
for Program Year 2017-2018 with Community Initiatives, Inc., as approved by the
BCC on August 9, 2016.
6. Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) Subrecipient Agreement for Program Year 2017-2018 with The
Seminole County Coalition for School Readiness, Inc. d/b/a The Early Learning
Coalition of Seminole, as approved by the BCC on July 25, 2017.
7. ESG Subrecipient
Agreement for Program Year 2017-2018 with Community Initiatives, Inc., as
approved by the BCC on August 9, 2016.
8. State Housing
Initiative Partnership (SHIP) Program Fiscal Year 2016-2017 Funding
Certification, as approved by the BCC on January 9, 2018.
9. Fully Executed
Federally Funded Subaward and Grant Agreement with the State of Florida,
Division of Emergency Management, to purchase WebEOC software, as approved by
the BCC on October 10, 2017.
10. Modification #1 to the Federally Funded
Subgrant Agreement with the State of Florida, Division of Emergency Management,
to purchase WebEOC software.
11. Pet Rescue Cooperative Service Agreement with
METTA Rescue Family.
12. Tourist Tax Funding Agreement with Spring
Break Sports, Inc. for the Spring Break Tennis event.
13. Resolution #2017-R-157, Montgomery Parkway
Right-of-Way Vacate, as approved by the BCC on November 26, 2017, and
re-recorded with two proofs of publication.
14. Resolution #2017-R-167, Smith Canal
Right-of-Way Easement Vacate, as approved by the BCC on October 24, 2017, and
re-recorded with two proofs of publication.
15. Denial Development Order #17-30000114, 800
Winona Drive, Jade C & D, Inc.
16. Approval Development Orders #17-30000102, 1040
Middle Lane, Victor Kpogoh; #17-30000103, 1351 San Felipe Court, Joshua Eule;
#17-30000104, 2422 Westminster Terrace, Gregory & Valerie Mobarak;
#17-30000105, Lot 14A Turner Lane, Aleksandr Unchikov; #17-30000107, 2430 West
Lake Brantley Drive, Colby Harkrader; #17-30000108, 2 Village Green, James
& Carol Harris; #17-30000110, 2201 Driftwood Drive, Carl Tinder;
#17-30000111, 556 Brookwood Lane, Daniel & Samantha Jenkins; #17-30000113,
5636 Revelwood Loop, Michael Tucker; #17-30000115, 377 Sugar Sand Lane, Steven
Wagner; #17-30000116, 401 Abbeywood Lane, John & Amy Preddy; and
#17-32000007, Hunterfield Road Communication Tower, City of Casselberry.
17. Addendum #1 to the Old Lockwood Fawn Run
Planned Development Developer’s Commitment Agreement and Addendum #1 to
Development Order #17-20500048; Taylor Morrison of Florida, Inc.
18. Johnson Warehouse Planned Development
Developer’s Commitment Agreement #17-20500029; VI-Con Development Group, LLC.
19. PS-0504-16, Consultant Services Agreement with
CDM Smith, Inc., executed by the Florida Department of Transportation, as
approved by the BCC on January 10, 2017.
20. Second Amendment to CC-0559-15 with Southland
Construction, Inc.
21. Change Order #2 to Work Order #5 to CC-0559-15
with CFE Corp.
22. Notice to Proceed for Work Order #14 to
CC-0559-15 with Central Florida Environmental Corp.
23. Closeout to CC-1414-17 with Hiatt
Construction, LLC.
24. Change Order #1 to CC-1424-17 with Linton
Enterprises, Inc.
25. Work Order #2 to PS-1474-17 with S2L, Inc.
26. M-1844-18 with Crom Engineering &
Construction Service, Inc. (CROM Coatings and Restorations).
27. Second Amendment to Term Contract
IFB-602182-15 with Rainbow Distributors USA, Inc.
28. First Amendment to Term Contract IFB-602798-17
with R2J Chemical Services, Inc.
29. Term Contract IFB-603035-18 with Core &
Main LP.
30. Term Contract IFB-603035-18 with Ferguson
Waterworks, Inc.
31. Work Order #61 to PS-8047-12 with Ardaman
& Associates, Inc.
32. Amendment #1 to Work Order #39 to PS-8186-13
with CPH, Inc.
33. Amendment #2 to Work Order #39 to PS-8186-13
with CPH, Inc.
34. Work Order #43 to PS-8186-13 with Atkins North
America, Inc.
35. Work Order #4 to RFP-8721-13 with VHB Miller
Sellen.
36. Closeout to Work Order #4 to RFQ-9093-13 with
Wharton-Smith, Inc.
37. Change Order #1 to Work Order #36 to
CC-9192-13 with M&J Enterprises International, Inc.
38. Amendment #3 to Work Order #21 to PS-9738-14
with E Sciences, Inc.
39. Work Order #26 to PS-9738-14 with E Sciences,
Inc.
40. Bids as follows:
RFP-1294-17 from Glen Holt Aluminum, LLC; Corinthian
Builders, Inc.; Pat Lynch Construction, LLC; BSE Construction Group; Dager
Construction, Inc.; Linton Enterprises, Inc.; M&J Enterprises
International, Inc.; Tyrell Enterprises, LLC;
BID-603060-18 from Lapin Septic Tank Service, Inc. d/b/a
Lapin Services; Brownie’s Septic & Plumbing;
IFB-603035-18 from Core and Main LP; Ferguson Waterworks;
and
PS-0504-16 from AECOM Technical Services, Inc.;
Carnahan, Proctor and Cross, Inc.; CDM Smith, Inc.; CPH, Inc.; DRMP, Inc.;
England-Thims & Miller, Inc.; GAI Consultants, Inc.; Hill International,
Inc.; Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson, Inc.; Keith and Schnars; Parsons Brinckerhoff,
Inc.; RS&H, Inc.; Rummel, Klepper and Kahl, LLP; SAI Consulting Engineers,
Inc.; Tierra, Inc.; Volkert, Inc.
REGULAR
AGENDA
Agenda Item
#19 – 2018-0610
Tamsin
Bell, Economic Development & Community Relations, addressed the Board to
present the request to consider approval of a Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI)
Funding Agreement with QuantumFlo, Inc., providing an incentive of $2,000 per
job for a total of $50,000 to be split evenly with the City of Sanford, for the
creation of twenty-five (25) jobs; and an Interlocal Funding Agreement between
Seminole County and the City of Sanford, addressing the City’s contribution to
the JGI incentive of $25,000.
Ms. Bell
advised that QuantumFlo is currently located in Volusia County and is one of
the nation’s leading providers in variable speed plumbing technology. They design intelligent software to save
energy and conserve water use. The JGI
Award involves a relocation of QuantumFlo’s headquarters into Sanford, which
involves a capital improvement of at least $2.5 million including the purchase
of 2664 Jewett Lane. She covered further
details as outlined in the Agenda Memorandum.
Commissioner
Henley commented that this program was part of the economic development program
that started a long time ago and has contributed to the status reported in the
newspaper this morning that Seminole County has one of the lowest unemployment
rates in the state. He noted he is glad
they are continuing to be able to create jobs.
Chairman Horan added these are jobs that are moving from Volusia County
to Seminole County. Ms. Guillet stated
they are new jobs and not just jobs that are moving. The Chairman stated there are $2.5 million in
capital improvements as well.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Constantine, Ms. Bell replied they are currently
located in DeBary. Commissioner
Constantine said that one question he usually asks is whether they are in
imminent danger of moving out of the area; and he said it is not, it is just
relocating because there was no space available in DeBary. Ms. Bell advised they wanted a contiguous
operation so they could bring both of their facilities together.
Bob Turk,
Economic Development Director for the City of Sanford, addressed the Board to
advise that QuantumFlo was looking at several locations. One was in Ormond Beach; it was a bigger
facility than what they wanted and they were interested in it, but the cost was
prohibitive finally compared to what they found in Sanford on Jewett Lane. He noted the company is also looking at South
Carolina. There was a facility there and
they were trying very hard to get them to relocate, but they have not made that
final decision yet. He noted the CEO is
out of the country so is unable to be in attendance today, but he wanted to be
here to explain that the decision has not been made no matter what the media
may have reported. It is not a done deal,
but they have definitely done their due diligence on the facility here in
Sanford. Commissioner Carey pointed out
the funds are not paid until the jobs have been created and remain for two
years.
Motion by Commissioner Carey, seconded
by Commissioner Henley, to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a Jobs
Growth Incentive (JGI) Funding Agreement with QuantumFlo, Inc. providing an
incentive of $2,000 per job, for a total of $50,000 to be split evenly with the
City of Sanford, for the creation of twenty-five (25) jobs; and an Interlocal
Funding Agreement between Seminole County and the City of Sanford, addressing
the City’s contribution to the JGI incentive of $25,000.
With
regard to public participation, no one in the audience spoke in support or in
opposition and public input was closed.
Commissioner
Constantine stated he does not have any doubt that QuantumFlo did their due
diligence and that Mr. Turk and the City of Sanford have done their due
diligence. In fact, he does not think
there is another city, with maybe the exception of Lake Mary, that is more
aggressive on these incentives than Sanford.
In talking with staff yesterday, he said he sensed a level of quandary
as to what really matches the criteria, not what they have today, but what they
are looking at for the future. He said
he believes very strongly that they should not be cannibalizing their next door
neighbors; they are in this regionally.
Whether these 25 jobs are relocated here, the people can live
anywhere. If they look at the level of
the people that work in Seminole, a great many of them live in Volusia County
right now and just cross the bridge every day.
He does not know if this particular one meets the criteria of what they
are really looking for. He added he has
no problem with certain incentives, especially when they are bringing them in
from someplace far away and therefore the jobs are going to be created here and
the people are going to be living here, but these 25 jobs whether they come
here, Volusia County, Orange County, or whatever, he does not see this one as
one he really believes is meeting the true criteria of a JGI.
Commissioner
Constantine stated this may meet the criteria that they have right now, but he
really believes that they need to look at the criteria they currently have,
maybe through a work session, to see if it is meeting the needs for the
future. It may have met the needs when
they were in a down economy. But, the
3.6% unemployment rate may mean that they may want to look at different
alternatives and conditions for these QTIs and JGIs. He said in addition, he feels a little
uncomfortable that there are already three companies in Seminole County right
now that are in direct competition with this company. So, they are giving one company an incentive
over another. Commissioner Carey
indicated that any company in Seminole County, if they are creating new jobs, has
an opportunity to come and apply for support for jobs. This is about new job creation whether they
are moving here or whether they are already here. She added they are pursuing clean
manufacturing jobs, which is exactly what this is, a robotic facility. People that are already here are not at a
disadvantage if they want to expand their business.
Commissioner
Dallari opined as the criteria is set today, he believes this is something they
should support. The rate of return is
less than a year and he will support it.
If they want to relook at the policy in place, that is a different
issue, but moving forward he believes it is a good project. Commissioner Constantine added this criteria
has served them well in the past, but just like everything, this has been in
place for a while and conditions change, and it doesn’t harm them to look at
the criteria and give staff direction moving forward. He is asking that maybe the County Manager
set a work session in the future to look at the criteria if no one has any
objections to that. Commissioners Henley
and Dallari agreed.
Districts
1, 2, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
Commissioner
Constantine voted NAY.
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Item #20 –
2018-0583
Mary
Robinson, Planning & Development Division, addressed the Board to present a
request to consider a Special Event Permit for the Seminole County Fair on
March 23, 2018 through March 31, 2018, located at 440 Hickman Drive, Sanford;
James E. Strates, Applicant. She
reviewed the details as outlined in the Agenda Memorandum and noted staff
recommends approval. Commissioner
Constantine thanked staff because he said he asked them to ensure there would
be no exotic live animals being displayed.
Motion by Commissioner Constantine,
seconded by Commissioner Carey, to approve a Special Event Permit for the
Seminole County Fair on March 23, 2018 through March 31, 2018, located at 440
Hickman Drive, Sanford; James E. Strates, Applicant.
With
regard to public participation, no one in the audience spoke in support or in
opposition and public input was closed.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
LEGISLATIVE
UPDATE
Meloney
Lung, Assistant County Manager, addressed the Board stating their lobbyists,
Alex Setzer and Oscar Anderson, are in attendance to give an update since
conclusion of the session.
Mr. Setzer
addressed the Board and noted it was a challenging session but he thinks they
came out pretty good all things considered.
He thinks they fought back a lot on the defensive end and also managed
to come out with some money. They are
now at $3 million out of the $4 million that they are officially owed for the
Department of Juvenile Justice, so they have one million this year in the
budgets and they are hoping that next year they will be able to get the final
$1 million. They felt like they had the
extra million this year but a couple of minor things happened in the end that
made it not happen. He added the budget
was a little tough this year, deficits and the additional $400 million that
they had to find for school safety funding made it a bit interesting to say the
least. He is happy to say they got $1
million in CAD funding which closes that out; that gives them $2 million that was
needed for that project. Chairman Horan
clarified that CAD is Computer Assisted Dispatch for public safety.
Mr. Setzer
stated he has already had a conversation with Secretary Brodeur about seeing
what they can do to waive the rules on the juvenile justice money they were
supposed to spend by June, and they have already talked to the Governor’s
Office about it and will be talking to Cynthia Kelly again about keeping that
money for one more year, and then go back and try to get the extra $1 million
this year.
Mr. Setzer
advised they had a couple of other good wins; obviously, they were challenged
with the rural boundary language that popped up in the last couple weeks of
session. That ultimately did not make it
through. They anticipate that will
continue to be an issue they will have to monitor both on the local and state
level. He added they had a couple of
ancillary things that were good; he just got off the phone with Representative
Bob Cortes. To his credit,
Representative Cortes has been speaking with the Sheriff all last weekend and
this weekend about the money coming down for school safety. He said they will see a little bit of
residual money back into their own budget because as it currently stands, the
County pays for all the school resource officers. Ms. Guillet clarified the County shares the
cost with the School Board to pay for school resource officers. Mr. Setzer stated as the agreement is, and he
is not sure if the Sheriff has communicated this with the Board, he got this
information from Representative Cortes, the Sheriff is going to work to try to
move most if not all of his substations into the schools, which would free up
some resources for the County because they would not have to pay for the
additional school resource officers in there.
Also, the money would come down from the State based on the guardian
program if the individual schools so decide that they want to have a guardian
in each individual school. They don’t
know what that number is but they will see some relief in the budget on that. Commissioner Dallari asked that he thank
Representative Cortes, and Mr. Setzer responded Representative Cortes has been
really out in front on that because he thinks it is a really good idea, and he said
he also credits the Sheriff for doing that because it is a good way to use
resources and save everybody a little bit of money, and keep the kids safe,
which is first and foremost.
Mr.
Anderson addressed the Board stating that Mr. Setzer covered a lot of the hot
button issues and he wanted to talk about a few other issues that they were
tracking for the County during session. To
put the session in perspective he likes to give this information: there were roughly 3,300 bills filed in Tallahassee,
2,700 amendments filed, and at the end of the day, only 200 passed.
Mr.
Anderson noted on the initial list for the County were a lot of these local
preemption bills. Most if not all the
ones that were priorities of the County failed during the legislative session,
whether they were the local government ethics mandate or some of the fiscal
transparency, tree trimming, all of those issues died in the Senate in the end
of session.
In regard
to affordable housing, Mr. Anderson stated that last year there was the
creation of a work group which met all during the fall and they kind of
monitored it to see what kind of issues were coming up. Representative Cortes took the mantle up and
filed the affordable housing bill as a product of that work group. He noted there were a couple of things in
there that they didn’t like at the beginning.
There were mandatory impact fee moratoriums for five years and they
worked with the Legislature and got those taken out. But at the end of the day, it got caught up
in some state lands disposable issues and didn’t pass in the session.
Mr. Anderson
expressed there were a lot of transportation bills as there typically are. They narrow down into what they call trains
at the end of session and pretty much every transportation bill died except for
one, and there is one issue of note. He
knows the Central Florida Expressway Authority was working on some authority to
potentially contract with FDOT about turnpike facilities, and that language
passed (HB 141), so it is on its way to the Governor. Commissioner Carey said there was a question
about whether the Turnpike had the authority to sell an asset, and so that
clarified that the State, in fact, does have the authority to sell an asset if
they so choose.
Commissioner
Dallari asked moving forward for next session, did they have any words of advice. Mr. Anderson replied he thinks the status quo
will remain; they anticipate, based on conversations with all the governmental
lobbyists, there will still be sort of an attack on home rule, at least from
the House side of the equation. He
opined the Senate will look at these things a little more judiciously. He does not anticipate any radical shift from
where they are.
Commissioner
Carey questioned how many House members will be termed out of office this
year. She added it is actually quite a
few. Mr. Setzer responded they would get
that number for her. Commissioner Carey stated
many House members and Senators will be termed out and they will have new
people. It takes a while to understand
the process, and they really need to pay close attention to that and make sure
they get to all the newly elected members as soon as possible, because their
legislative delegation can do everything possible to help this County, but if
they do not have support from across the state, then the bills that are important
to Seminole may fail. She added she
thinks it is important that they reach out very quickly to all the newly
elected; she thinks it is probably about a third of the group. Mr. Setzer said their job will be to hit the
road after session. He opined he thinks
there will be a lot more Senate seats given there is only 40 of them, and that
is where you will see the House kind of being more of a top-down leadership,
and the Senate will have a radical change.
Commissioner Carey remarked the Senate has done a lot of blocking for
them of crazy House bills that have come out.
Commissioner
Constantine stated he thinks this is one of the lowest periods they have ever
had of individuals that have previous experience in local office being in the Legislature. Both Houses now are very top heavy, and most
get wrapped up in trying to please whatever the presiding officer is as opposed
to things that they know are smart. They
need people that have local experience and they don’t have it; they don’t have
experience in making decisions from a standpoint of what it really takes to run
a county or a city.
Commissioner
Carey remarked that what she has observed though in the years she has been
involved in Seminole County is that when they didn’t have term limits, people
got elected to office and they went up to Tallahassee and they had to prove
their leadership to get into a leadership position. And then when term limits came along, every
freshman class that gets elected, they elect who their next speaker of the
house is going to be in six years, and so the speaker ends up having so much
more control, and they saw it this year.
If you don’t play ball, your bills are all going to get killed
today. She noted she reminds them that
if you don’t play ball sometimes, they will get killed when they hit the
Governor’s desk. She said she thinks
that in watching how it has transitioned over the years to leadership, and now
these people get in these leadership tracks, and if they do anything wrong that
the leadership doesn’t like, they are kicked out and so all of a sudden, it
does not become about what is going on here, it becomes about trying to stay in
that leadership track. She opined it has
gotten way off base and it is so different than it has been historically.
Commissioner
Dallari thanked Messrs. Setzer and Anderson for their hard work on both offense
and defense. He said the one bill they
have all been tracking and a lot of residents have been tracking is HB 883,
which had to do with their rural boundary.
He thinks it is appropriate that they thank the individuals that
actually went to bat for them up in Tallahassee, both on the Senate and House
side. Senator Perry in Ocala as well as
Senator Simmons and several of the House representatives here locally have
helped this County. He believes they
should be sending them a letter of thanks.
He would like to get the list from them since they were there on ground
zero. Commissioner Constantine noted
Senator Lee also. Commissioner Dallari
indicated he did not want to miss anyone and Commissioner Carey added it is
across the state. Commissioner Dallari
agreed and reiterated he would like to know who actually helped them from
across the state. Mr. Setzer noted they
can absolutely do that. Commissioner
Dallari said he would like for them to send a “thank you” signed by the
Chairman. Chairman Horan pointed out
they did particularly well this year in light of the fact that the most
influential, out-of-area assistance they got was from Senator Latvala, who of course
was no longer in the Legislature. And,
finding other allies was of course something that is part of their skill set
that they do, and it is interesting to watch that happen knowing where the
influential legislators are and what relationship they have with them and how
they can help. He thinks sending a
letter acknowledging that “they get it” will go a long way.
Commissioner
Constantine stated the Florida Association of Counties was in every single
meeting last week, and that included the other 66 counties, pushing against all
the amendments in 883. He added they
need to thank that group and their Board of Directors because it was across the
board. Every one of them knew it was
directed at Seminole and they all said they have got to help because it could
also happen to them, so they were there 100%.
Mr. Setzer
stated in regard to Commissioner Dallari’s request for advice, he knows that
every local government is talking about this, the one thing he thinks they need
to do as a local government and all local governments need to do is they really
need to find and identify someone in the Senate that is going to be the
standard-bearer for local government.
They had that for a long time in Senator Latvala. He added they got through this year but they
can’t point to any one at this time that is a real roadblock to home rule stuff
in the Senate, because moving forward he believes they are going to need
that. He thinks as the local government,
they need to reach out to the other county commissioners that they know, and that
is something they desperately need moving forward. Commissioner Carey stated maybe that is an
issue for FAC to take up also. Mr.
Setzer said they are going to. Chairman
Horan remarked an organization like FAC, unfortunately, is always playing
defense because they do not have a lot of money to spread around, and he
thought they were particularly adept this year at playing defense. He added he thought the two lobbyists were
fantastic, and their local delegation was very helpful.
In regard
to the rural area, Commissioner Dallari stated he thinks they need to be
talking with the City of Oviedo about bringing back the JPA that they had. He said he is asking for the authority to
actually work with staff and to reach out to the City of Oviedo to bring back
something to this Board. He is bringing
it up now because they are talking about home rule and he believes there is
support there. Ms. Guillet advised they
will coordinate that. Commissioner
Constantine said he believes they have a
consensus with regard to the JPA with Oviedo. He noted that Orange County has been going
through some problems recently too that they may be able to do something in
that whole region of maybe doing real long-term planning.
Commissioner
Carey commented there were a lot of city commissioners sending out messages,
not only in this county but in other counties, about the attack on home
rule. They have a very active group with
the Florida League of Cities and she thinks it would be great if sometimes the
Florida Association of Counties and the Florida League of Cities would combine
forces to go at some of the issues that affect all of them. Commissioner Constantine noted they already
work with the cities and the cities were there with them on 883. Commissioner Carey said home rule is going to
continue and they don’t, as stated earlier with Senator Latvala gone, really
have anybody in the Senate that is going to be their point person to kind of
fight back on the home rule issue, so she thinks it is all the more important
because they were sending messages to the citizens and there is nothing more
important than the citizens calling Tallahassee expressing their displeasure,
and many times they are not even aware of some of the things that are going on
in the Legislature.
DISTRICT
REPORTS
District 4
Commissioner
Henley gave a shout out to staff who presented the program at Lyman High School
regarding the Rolling Hills MSBU. They
had quite a bit of feedback from people who were there about how well they
thought staff handled that and presented it and they wanted to express their
appreciation, so he wanted to relay that to them.
District 5
Commissioner
Carey reported that at the Sanford Airport Authority board meeting last week,
on behalf of this commission, she expressed their concerns over the recent
actions that had occurred with airport staff requesting the moratorium. She was assured by not only the chairman but
the staff that this action would not happen again. They are still trying to set a date to have a
joint discussion between the Airport, the City of Sanford, and the County. She said she will keep the commissioners
updated.
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Commissioner
Carey stated she attended a meeting at the Expressway Authority last week, and
reported they have opened the Innovation Way interchange from SR 528 to
Sunbridge Parkway; it is pretty impressive how you can move around in that area
with the opening of that road. Also, on
March 31st, they will be opening Section 2 of the Wekiva Parkway,
which is a five-mile stretch between SR 46, Round Lake Road, Kelly Road Park,
and CR 437 (Plymouth Sorrento Road).
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Commissioner
Carey reported at the last meeting of the Expressway Authority, they had a lot
of coverage on four items, mostly about the extension of the Osceola Parkway,
and that is the discussion about Split Oak Forest. She said they may have heard that on the
news. There were four projects that the
board was being asked to either move forward or to just accept the
presentations. After four or five hours
of public comment, they voted unanimously to accept and move forward to the
PD&E study for the Osceola Parkway extension and the Poinciana Parkway
project as well. They also agreed to
just accept the studies for the other two projects.
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Commissioner
Carey reminded that during Hurricane Irma, the tolls were lifted so they had a
huge loss of revenue during that particular time. They had expected to become whole again by
the end of March, but she is happy to report that toll revenue is up and they
actually caught up; in February they were a half percent over budget.
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Commissioner Carey advised The
Goldsboro Farmers’ Market has changed locations and will be at the Allen Chapel
AME parking lot at the corner of Olive and Historic Goldsboro Boulevard. The Farmers’ Market is open every Friday from
2:00 to 6:00 p.m.
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Commissioner Carey announced the
Central Florida Boy Scout Golden Eagle Dinner is scheduled for April 23rd,
and that is a date change from the original date of April 5th. They moved the date in order to accommodate
their honoree, Dr. John Hitt from UCF.
District 1
Commissioner
Dallari stated he received an email from a resident that he forwarded to the
commissioners earlier today. It was from
a resident that was telling him that last Friday night, March 9th,
there was a brush fire in Riverwood and the resident lives on Riverwood
Trail. They were informing him that this
brush fire could have turned into a very bad wildfire because of the dry and
windy conditions. They were writing to
thank the firefighters for their rapid response and skill, and because of that
they were able to escape with minor loss.
He asked that the email be forwarded to the appropriate staff.
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Commissioner
Dallari reported he was at the kickoff of the Wekiva Paintout this past
weekend. Tomorrow evening there will be
a live auction of artwork produced in that area, and the proceeds will go to
the Wekiva Trust as well as Keep Seminole Beautiful.
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Commissioner
Dallari noted he will be forwarding an email he received from FWC in regard to
issues and people contacting them about coyotes in Seminole County. He would like staff to research this further
because they talk about in the email the difference between a nuisance and
hunting and trapping. He wants to make
sure the information they are giving out is correct with the right protocol for
coyotes in neighborhoods. Ms. Guillet
advised they have been coordinating with FWC with respect to the coyote
situation. She will send the Board an
update with all of their efforts so that all the Commission Offices will know
what they have been doing. The
Commissioner remarked he’s received a couple of emails in which people have
lost pets because of it in areas that you would not think there would be
coyotes going into neighborhoods. Ms.
Guillet noted it is heartbreaking and they understand it is an issue in their
community.
District 3
Commissioner
Constantine said he agrees with Commissioner Henley; he had the occasion to go
to the Rolling Hills neighborhood informational meeting. There were over 700 people there; he had
never seen so many people in attendance for one issue. He thought that the Leisure Services and MSBU
staff did a great job in explaining it to them.
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Commissioner
Constantine advised he brought together the owners of Wekiva Island, the Weinaugs,
and some of the stakeholders at Sweetwater Springs last week. After sitting down with both groups and their
attorneys for three and a half hours, they came up with 10 points of agreement,
nothing of which is promised by staff or the County, but just between the
Weinaugs and the people of Sweetwater Springs.
He opined that is a great first step.
He reminded that Wekiva Island has wanted to make some changes in their
Development Order. Most of the
discussion was specific to that as well as past concerns. He will be presenting those 10 points to
staff to see if any of them would be something they could work on also.
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Commissioner
Constantine noted there is a Regional Planning Council meeting on the 21st
and on the 22nd there is a Lynx meeting. Also, tomorrow there is an MPO Board meeting.
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Commissioner
Constantine remarked he was contacted by a constituent recently who was very
impressed with what they have done with honoring veterans once a month. He is asking staff if they could get with Ed
Burford, Veteran Services Officer. There
is a distinction known as the Purple Heart Community, and there are certain
things that a county or the cities within that county can do. When they gave him the criteria, it did not
seem like it was too onerous or costly at all.
He thought they could get the collective seven cities and make the whole
county a Purple Heart community, and would just like staff to look into it to
see if that is a potential. Commissioner
Dallari indicated he thinks that would be a perfect thing to do because they
put another name on their Across Seminole County Trail as the Purple Heart
Trail.
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Commissioner
Constantine advised Seminole County received an invitation from the Florida
Wildlife Federation, a private organization.
On April 28th, they plan to give Seminole County its Defender
of Wildlife Award for the things they have done over the last couple of
years. He noted it is not often that a county
would receive that distinction; it is usually an individual. They felt that Seminole has done so much in
recent past to protect wildlife that this County deserved that distinction.
CHAIRMAN’S
REPORT
Chairman
Horan advised he was contacted by AAGO (the Apartment Association of Greater
Orlando), and they have some comments on impact fees. They were not in attendance at the hearing,
so they are going to make a presentation today regarding some of their
concerns.
Hal Kantor
with Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed addressed the Board noting
they represent AAGO, and are going to talk about selected implementation
issues. He said they do have issues with
the ordinance itself but are here to talk specifically about vested rights and
about what they consider to be fairness. He introduced Mark Ogier who is with
ContraVest Development Partners and is also the chair of the Developers Council
association.
Mr. Ogier
addressed the Board advising he has been in business in Seminole County for
over 32 years as an apartment developer, and he thanked the Board for their
pro-business environment in the county. AAGO
would like to be involved and has been in the past on a lot of the issues
facing the County, and they want to be a part of that solution. He displayed a presentation entitled Seminole
County Educational System Impact Fees (received and filed). He stated their members are apartment owners,
developers, investors, suppliers and employees that work for their
communities. Their area covers Seminole,
Orange, Osceola, Lake and Volusia counties.
He read the details on the first slide regarding the number of
communities, apartment units and companies in the membership. He noted the Developers Council is an
association made up of 27 development companies who deal with issues throughout
the Central Florida area. He said they
want to be part of the process, now and in the future. Mr. Kantor stated that basically, they represent
a huge portion of the housing in this community, and they are a stakeholder who
was not at the table. They think they
should have been and they are trying to correct that; they appreciate the
opportunity.
The Vested
Rights Process slide was displayed. Mr.
Kantor stated he would like to talk about two elements of that process. He said the Board adopted this in the
resolution which said that a developer can be vested because he has an existing
contract under certain circumstances. He
read the circumstances listed on the slide (a through e) noting they are very
common, very fair and very business oriented.
He noted it concerns him because this particular commission is known as
being business aware or business friendly, so they say to the development
community, if you have changed your position or if you have spent money, it
would be unfair to take from you what you have anticipated is going to be your
business deal. He opined that is how they
generally look at things. He pointed out
but then they added two provisions that are required to get vesting. One is that the contract for sale and
purchase has to specifically address who is going to pay for impact fees,
Section f(i). Mr. Kantor noted he has
been practicing law for 46 years; he has done hundreds of apartment deals, and
he has never seen a deal where a buyer and a seller agree as to who is going to
pay the impact fees after the seller sells the property to the buyer. He added two circumstances would be
different: one is where there is a joint
venture and the seller is part of it, and the other is where the seller has
some prepaid impact fees and he wants to get paid for them. But, he said, the vast majority of cases do
not deal with that; there is no real basis for this. Mr. Kantor stated that not only do they
require that, but in addition, they require a developer to show that there is
really no profit, that the action makes the project devoid of profit, Section f(ii). He explained there are many different kinds
of apartment developers. There are
apartment developers who buy and hold; there are apartment developers who buy
and flip; there are apartment developers who get investor financing, who get
institutional financing, all kinds of financing, and every deal is
different. The County is asking for
proprietary information from an apartment developer to tell about their
profit. He is being told that they might
be accepting perhaps an affidavit, but that is not what the Code says; this is
what the Code says.
Mr. Kantor
stated that what they are going to ask, and he knows they cannot take official
action today, is to arrive at a consensus to remove these two conditions from
the vesting ordinance and allow additional time to accommodate those who might
be able to take advantage of it.
Randy
Morris, RM Strategies, addressed the Board to speak about the vesting term
stating he has represented dozens of multi-family applications in the cities in
Seminole County and in Orange County. He
explained they run through a production schedule and displayed Realistic
Development Schedule for Multi Family Project.
The important thing to understand is the industry has to deal with seven
other jurisdictions, all of whom have different codes and different implementations
of those codes. He then reviewed the
schedule information on the slide. He
noted Infrastructure Construction is the site work, and the way the resolution
of implementation and ordinance works is they are saying you have to do it at
vertical building permit; you have to pull those vertical permits and get under
construction. The site work itself can
be two to four months assuming you don’t run into major issues on site. He noted these are single-family home
builders who the School Board and their representative spoke to, but they are
talking about apartment buildings. This
is construction all at once. This is
everything running simultaneously for a much larger project, anywhere from 125
to 250 units in a first phase. And then
there is the building permit application itself. So it is 18 to 23 months, and that is the
range they give assuming no snafus, or Comprehensive Plan amendments. Finally, he indicated that he and Mr. Kantor
ran through this timeline, and then the industry looked at it and corrected that
timeline.
Mr. Morris
stated they are asking that they please extend the period of time for an
additional year. He noted the School
Board did not request this vesting; this is this Commission’s vesting concept.
Mr. Kantor
detailed what they are asking is to (1) delete the two subparagraphs that he
identified in Section 30.30 of the Administrative Code; (2) amend Section
105.43 of the ordinance to change the term of vesting from one year to two
years; and (3) amend the application period.
He then displayed and reviewed an edited resolution showing Modification
of Vested Rights Conditions, and stated this is exactly what they are asking
for. Upon inquiry by Chairman Horan, Mr.
Kantor explained they are asking for two Administrative Code changes and one
ordinance change. Modifying Application
Time Period was shown and Mr. Kantor said this is a timeline in the
Administrative Code which would allow people to apply if the Board grants their
request.
Commissioner
Carey reminded when they started this conversation, staff actually recommended
two years because of the process. She
stated if you are buying a piece of property for development, you are going to
try to do as little as possible until you know for sure you can get approvals
for zoning and the property will actually close, because a lot of deals blow up
after the zoning has been done; they can blow up at the closing table. You are certainly not drawing any
architectural plans in detail except for maybe conceptual to get through the
process. She indicated she had staff lay
it out and in one scenario, it is 16 months and in the other one, it is 13
months, but in neither one did they have the Water Management District
permitting and those types of things.
She reiterated their original recommendation was two years. She thinks they had one person at the hearing
that said a year is fine, and that was probably fine for their circumstances,
but they were really not considering the overall process. She opined this is a fair and reasonable
request on this portion.
Commissioner
Carey stated she agrees with Mr. Kantor that very rarely is there anything in a
land transaction that talks about impact fees unless it is a joint venture, and
the price is reflective of what the total cost is for the deal, so it is not
usually something that is spelled out.
She noted she did ask staff to give her a copy of their application,
which they did not really see previously because it was not part of their
documentation. She said she thinks the
request is reasonable and does not have an issue going back and revisiting that
based on the facts she got from staff.
Commissioner
Constantine disclosed he had a meeting with Mr. Kantor on Friday, and he
reaffirmed something that Mr. Ogier told him earlier in a discussion. As Mr. Morris indicated, it may not have been
a timeline that the School Board requested, but in formulating their whole
scheme on impact fees, although GOBA (Greater Orlando Builders Association) was
intimately involved in the entire negotiations, AAGO was never even
contacted. Mr. Kantor noted that they
have responsibility too, however.
Commissioner Constantine agreed and said he knows that Mr. Kantor was not
their lawyer at the time. He said that
is what is happening here now. AAGO is
saying some of these things may work for other people, but they don’t work for
them. The Commissioner said he does not
have a problem with staff revisiting that and bringing back some
recommendations on this.
Commissioner
Dallari stated he thinks the request is reasonable and the presentation is
clear. He thanked Mr. Kantor for
pointing this out and said he just wants to make sure that this is not just for
apartments but they are looking at all of it.
Mr. Kantor explained it is just a distinction between single-family and
apartments, but everybody would benefit.
Mr. Morris added in terms of a general recommendation versus the
specific recommendation that they have, they do not want to interfere with the
timeline and they know the School Board would be concerned with the timeline in
terms of the application process, because that will ultimately delay the income
that the School Board would get. So,
they are asking, if possible, if the Board has consensus to bring back the
specific recommendations at their next meeting, because they have to hold a
public hearing to do this. He pointed
out if they delay too long or have a staff study, then the School Board will be
damaged, and they are trying not to have that happen here. Commissioner Dallari expressed he just wants
to make sure whatever public notice is filed, is filed correctly. Mr. Morris noted they are moving everything
back about 30 days which is not onerous, they don’t think, for the School
Board.
Commissioner
Henley commented that he had an opportunity to talk to Mr. Morris about this,
and he thinks their request is reasonable and he has no objection. Commissioner Dallari clarified that he did
speak with Mr. Morris as well as Mr. Kantor.
Chairman Horan disclosed that he also had a meeting with Mr. Morris and
Mr. Kantor. Commissioner Carey stated
she had a conversation with Mr. Morris, but did not talk to Mr. Kantor.
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Commissioner Carey remarked while
they have Mark Ogier here with the apartment complex folks, she would like to
make him aware that they are trying very hard to work with the apartment owners
in housing their homeless. She said that
anything they could do to help support the Board in helping the apartment
owners understand that this is a guaranteed rent payment from Community
Services when they have a client that they are trying to house would be great. She introduced Olivette Carter who is in
charge of Community Services.
Commissioner Carey added it is an understanding of the situation by the
landlords, because they talk about this in their meetings about how to get
landlords to support what they are trying to do here. She just wanted to make that connection while
he was here to say they probably need some assistance from the top down. Mr. Ogier advised their Developers Council is
very involved with the regional affordable housing workforce housing initiative
that has been underway with Seminole, Orange, and Osceola counties and the City
of Orlando. He advised he attended all
those meetings and has been invited to be on the developers’ panel for the
April 11th meeting that is coming up. They are trying to be involved in that
process as much as they can and they are all trying to come up with solutions,
but one of the things they are trying to work through is that any time you
increase the cost of housing, it is hard to decrease the rent or the cost to
the end-user. That is where the impact
fees and these types of things are a real challenge for their industry, because
it just increases the overall basis of the project, which means the homebuilder
has to sell it for more and the renter has to rent it for more.
Commissioner Carey noted the main
reason she brought this up was to put him and Ms. Carter together, and she
asked for their contact information so as they move forward in trying to work
through some of these challenges, they know how to contact them. Chairman Horan stated he serves on the
Central Florida Commission on Homelessness and would like to amplify
Commissioner Carey’s comments; units are the big problem. He has talked to the County Manager about
whether the County should have a certain reservoir of units, etc. He added working with AAGO would be great for
homelessness and affordable housing. Mr.
Ogier replied they would love to do it.
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Commissioner Carey confirmed with
the Chairman that they should see this at the next meeting; the County Manager
agreed they would come back with some staff recommendations.
Kami Corbett, attorney with Foley
& Lardner, LLP, addressed the Board on behalf of the School Board. Ms. Corbett stated the two-year versus
one-year is a policy decision the BCC can make.
She thinks she made their case at the hearing as to why they were
arguing that there should be no vested rights.
She cautioned them on the changes to the Administrative Code regarding
the vesting rights, because as they discussed on the record, they are not
legally vested from having to pay an increase in an impact fee; there are some
legal principles that are involved that might qualify someone for either an
equitable estoppel argument or a contract impairment (common law vesting). She opined that all the staff did was try to
codify that to give them some direction as to how to evaluate those, so she
would have more concerns about the proposed changes to the vesting
provisions. She said when that comes
forward they can give their comments on those at that time. Chairman Horan said they want to “hit the
sweet spot” here where they don’t impair an existing project that is going to
be good economic development that may provide affordable housing, etc., and at
the same time, doesn’t significantly impair whatever income might be coming to
the School Board. He asked that Ms.
Guillet keep the School Board advised as to what is going on.
Lynn Porter-Carlton, Deputy County
Attorney, stated when she was made aware that Messrs. Morris and Kantor were
presenting today, she asked Paul Chipok, Assistant County Attorney, to alert
Ms. Corbett so she could be here on behalf of the School Board. She also reached out to Mr. Kantor to find
out what his concerns were, and they have come up with some potential language
to address two of his concerns. She
suggested that Mr. Chipok, Ms. Corbett, Mr. Kantor, and Mr. Morris get together
to review that proposed language and work together so they can bring this back
to the Board at their next meeting.
Mr. Morris advised that they did
speak to the Chairman of the School Board on Friday before they would have
spoken to Commissioners Carey or Constantine, so their outreach was
simultaneous and this was not an event that occurred late yesterday
afternoon. Ms. Corbett stated just to
clarify, it was yesterday afternoon that her office received word.
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Chairman
Horan advised he has been asked to execute a Proclamation to be presented April
5th to Dr. John Hitt, President of the University of Central Florida
(UCF), at a special breakfast for him. He
confirmed there was unanimous consent
of the Board.
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Chairman
Horan stated as the Board is aware, they received the judge’s ruling in the
case involving the Clerk on February 28th. The judge ruled in their favor and gave the
specific relief they requested. The
Clerk has taken an appeal before the writ of mandamus took effect and
therefore, it has the legal effect of having an automatic stay of the writ of
mandamus. The County’s lawyers have
already filed a motion to lift that stay and there will be a hearing on
that. They will of course contest the
appeal.
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Chairman
Horan stated communications are coming out from the Clerk in which he is
calling himself the Chief Financial Officer of the county. The County Manager has asked him to get the
commissioners’ thoughts on an Administrative Code change to clarify that the
Chief Financial Officer is in fact somebody who is part of the governing
body. He asked the Board if they would
entertain an Administrative Code change to add the title of Chief Financial
Officer to the Director of Resource Management, which is Edward Bass. He confirmed there was unanimous consent to consider that at the next meeting. He mentioned consistent with that, the
commissioners received a letter from Judge Eaton (not received and filed) in
support of what they were doing relative to the Clerk.
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Chairman Horan
reported he attended the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness executive
session on February 28th. He
stated as the Board knows, their Strategy Action Team is pursuing a due
diligence as to whether or not they should have their own Continuum of Care
(CoC). They also had conference calls
with HUD personnel, etc. That
presentation will probably be given to the Board with the team’s report
concerning their specific recommendations at one of the next two meetings. The Chairman noted he will have his comments
at that time as to exactly what the pros and cons are; he has looked at the
report and the other considerations and discussed it with the other
jurisdictions.
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Chairman
Horan advised he met with Candy Crawford, the executive director of the Mental
Health Association of Central Florida.
They are having their annual dinner where they issue an award to a
particular person who has been very active in the mental health area. The Legacy of Champions award this year will
be given to Dr. Lori Boardman (Florida Hospital for Women), and he said they
have asked him to make the presentation to Dr. Boardman on May 18th
at their dinner. He noted everybody is
cordially invited and the featured speaker is Brooke Shields.
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Chairman
Horan noted he attended the groundbreaking of the Central Florida Regional
Hospital with Commissioner Carey. There
were presentations by staff from CFRH as to why that particular ER, why now,
and what it means to the community and their organization.
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Chairman
Horan stated as they may have seen in the papers, they got word that the Reagan
Center property is under contract to new owners. He met with the representatives of the new
contract, and in light of the passing of Mr. Levy, it looks like his estate is
moving forward on this particular asset.
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Chairman
Horan said he passed along to the commission offices a county directory from
FAC (not received and filed). This
directory is a compendium of all the different commissioners, staff, etc. He noted in talking about thanking people,
there are some people in other counties who really help them out on the rural
boundary issue, for example. The other
county that is the main player is Sarasota County.
District 5
(continued)
Commissioner Carey indicated she brought up the Rinehart Road
project at the last meeting. FDOT has
now had the public input meeting and she notified Mayor Mealor (Lake Mary) that
they would like to go back and look at those two projects again. The two projects include the Lake Emma connection,
which is a problem today, and the interchange at Rinehart and 46A, where they
were talking about putting in the Texas U-turns. The design-build of the reverse diamond (diverging
diamond interchange) is not scheduled to occur until 2027. She said she thinks at the workshop, this
Board kind of gave direction to move forward with the Rinehart/46A project, but
they were also told it was under $4 million just to do that Rinehart Road
portion. Now the estimates are up to
$7.5 million, and this is not something they were anticipating. She suggested that maybe the best thing to do
would be to ask the County Manager to schedule another workshop for them to
discuss these particular projects. She
advised she did reach out to Lorraine Moyle with FDOT who is in charge of these
projects to talk about whether there are other things they could do.
Commissioner
Carey stated there are other things that they could do at the Rinehart
intersection and maybe they would want to go ahead and move forward the Lake
Emma project. It is her understanding
that some of the people there on Northstar, which is where the right-of-way is
shown, are actually talking to the City right now about developing those
lands. If those get developed before
they can make that connection, it will probably be financially unfeasible. So, she thinks the timing is right for them
to go back and maybe huddle again and refocus their efforts.
Commissioner Dallari stated he believes Commissioner Carey is
absolutely correct, and he thinks they need to at least have a work session
with the City and try to figure out how to stage this correctly. Chairman Horan agreed stating at this
particular stage, if it is going to take that long to get the reverse diamond
coordinated with the Texas U-turns, and they are talking about 10 to 15 years,
the $7-some million would probably be better used on the Lake Emma connection. Commissioner Dallari agreed they should have a
work session.
Commissioner
Carey stated it is a much more expensive proposition to do Lake Emma, but it is
a problem today, every day, and if they are going to do it eventually, they
might as well do it immediately and relieve that intersection. She opined it is important to talk to these
people that are the landowners about obtaining the necessary right-of-way now before
they actually get out there and develop the land.
CHAIRMAN’S
REPORT (continued)
Chairman Horan said they lost a good friend and an icon of the
community, Maryanne Morse, who gave 27 years of her life to the job of the
Clerk of the Courts in Seminole County.
He announced details of the funeral service.
ITEMS
FOR FUTURE AGENDA
Commissioner
Henley noted the media has had a lot of coverage lately about the opioid
problem in the state. He would like to
know what the status is in Seminole County and asked if they could have a
briefing on that. One of their neighboring
counties seems to have a major problem and he does not know the status of
Seminole’s situation. Chairman Horan
said that is an excellent suggestion. He
added there is a task force in Orange County that was formed by Mayor Jacobs
more than a year ago, and Volusia County is trying desperately right now to
deal with it. Commissioner Henley
mentioned Osceola County as well.
Chairman Horan stated he knows the Sheriff will be a part of it since
they are on the front lines of that. He
added the Department of Health should probably be included also.
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Sita Chari,
1911 North Street, addressed the Board to display some photographs of the
flooding in their backyard (not received and filed). Her husband, Dr. Chari, addressed the Board
to explain the Board had already received these photos, but Mrs. Chari wanted
to refresh their memories. Chairman
Horan asked about the date the pictures were taken and Mrs. Chari advised the
pictures of the flooding are from September 11, 2017. She said it stayed like that for a long
time. Commissioner Carey and Chairman
Horan questioned whether Mrs. Chari had any current photographs of what exists
out there right now. She replied no but
she can take some. She then displayed a
picture of their backyard taken in the year 2000, and Dr. Chari said it was
beautiful then. Dr. Chari read his
statement into the record (received and filed).
He also displayed and then submitted a copy of an Easement for Drainage
Pipe document, Official Record Book 752, Page 525 (received and filed).
Dr. Chari
stated that during the last meeting, Commissioner Carey had a bunch of
questions to county staff about bringing up the current situation as to the
pond and the maintenance and all these things.
And, probably there was some report to be made to the county commissioners. He said he has no idea if the report was
made, and if it was made, he does not know anything about that. Commissioner Carey stated they would have to
look back to see what comment he is referring to. She noted they have a lot of environmental
cleanups that occur throughout the county.
It might have been about asking for an update on the maintenance of the
pond. Chairman Horan indicated he
believes it related to Dr. Chari’s exact claim and he thinks the comments
related that there would be a response to the claim. He added he thinks there was a response from
Risk Management, and Ms. Guillet agreed there was.
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Chairman
Horan announced there would be a closed Executive Session at 1:30 p.m.
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There being no further business to come before the Board, the
Chairman declared the meeting adjourned at 11:45 a.m., this same date.
ATTEST:______________________Clerk_____________________Chairman
tlp