BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA
April 13, 2021
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, April 13, 2021, in Room 1028 of the SEMINOLE COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING at SANFORD, FLORIDA, the usual place of meeting of said Board.
Present:
Chairman Lee Constantine (District 3)
Vice Chairman Amy
Lockhart (District 4)
Commissioner Robert Dallari (District 1)
Commissioner Jay Zembower (District 2)
Commissioner Andria Herr (District 5)
County Manager
Nicole Guillet
Deputy County Attorney Paul Chipok
Deputy
Clerk Chariti Colon
Work Session Agenda Items #1 through
#3 were heard in the morning.
OPENING CEREMONIES
Pastor Jim Lynch, East Coast Believers Church, Oviedo, gave
the invocation. Mary Sue Weinaug, Wekiva
Island, led
the Pledge of Allegiance.
AWARDS
AND PRESENTATIONS
Agenda
Item #4 – 2021-2632
Motion by Commissioner Herr, seconded by Commissioner Zembower, to
adopt a Proclamation Celebrating Rotary Club of Sanford’s 100th
Anniversary.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted
AYE.
Agenda
Item #5 – 2021-2634
Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Lockhart,
to adopt a Proclamation proclaiming the week of April 11–17, 2021, as National
Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted
AYE.
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Commissioner Zembower left the meeting at this time.
CONSENT AGENDA
With regard to public participation,
no one spoke in support or opposition to the Consent Agenda, and public input
was closed.
Motion by Commissioner
Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Herr, to approve the following:
County Manager’s
Office
Business
Office
6. Adopt a Proclamation proclaiming April
28, 2021, as Denim Day in Seminole County, Florida. (2021-2631)
Addressing
7. Approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute appropriate Resolution #2021-R-44 renaming Happy Acres Court to Iconic
Court. (2021-2627)
Community Services
Community
Assistance
8. Approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute an Agreement with Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, Inc.,
(HSN) for HUD Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Grant funding in the amount of
$35,457 designated to Housing Stability Case Management services for homeless
families in Seminole County. (2021-2619)
Community Development
9. Approve
and authorize the Chairman to execute the First Amendment to Habitat for
Humanity of Seminole County and Greater Apopka, Florida, Inc., HOME Program
Agreement in the amount of $30,000 in order to decrease the Project Budget and
revise the Affordability Period; Hidden Lake Drive. (2021-2625)
10. Approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute the Habitat for Humanity of Seminole County and Greater Apopka,
Florida, Inc., HOME Program Agreement in the amount of $30,000 to construct and
sell one (1) single-family residence located at 1711 W. 14th Street, Sanford,
to a prequalified, low-income household.
(2021-2644)
Public Works
Engineering
11. Approve the removal of the Lake of the
Woods – Stormwater/Water Quality Facility (Lake Jesup TMDL RSF – LOTW) from the
Lake Jesup Basin Management Action Plan list of projects and apply the entirety
of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Grant money to the
Lake of the Woods Baffle Box (Jesup Basin-Baffle Box-LOTW) project currently in
design. (2021-2605)
12. Approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute a Purchase Agreement related to Parcel #162 for 16,325 ± square feet of
land between Sunil Patel and Seminole County for early acquisition of property
needed for the Orange Boulevard Improvement Project (Tax
ID#16-19-30-5AB-0200-0050) for $110,000.00, as full settlement of all claim for
compensation from which Seminole County might be obligated to pay relating to
the parcel. (2021-2609)
13. Approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute appropriate Resolution #2021-R-45 accepting twenty-one (21) Temporary
Construction Easements (TCEs) to allow for the construction of drainage
improvements related to Retreat Road.
(2021-2616)
Resource Management
Budget
14. Approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute appropriate Resolution #2021-R-46 implementing the Budget Amendment
Request (BAR) #21-034 through the General Fund to appropriate transfer budgets
of $91,912.50 from reserves to reimburse expenditures made in MSBU Funds for
fish barrier repair/replacements related to Hurricane Irma in the amounts of:
Howell Lake $66,547.50; Horseshoe $5,415; Spring $6,365; Mills $8,170; and Lake
of the Woods $5,415. (2021-2592)
15. Approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute appropriate Resolution #2021-R-47 implementing Budget Amendment Request
(BAR) #21-044 in the net amount of $659,135 to provide for various Water and
Sewer and Solid Waste operating and capital requests. (2021-2645)
16. Approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute appropriate Resolution #2021-R-48 implementing Budget Amendment Request
(BAR) #21-045 through the General Fund Reserves in the amount of $151,717 to
allocate funds for System-Wide Radio Communications (Motorola) Contract. (2021-2646)
17. Approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute appropriate Resolution #2021-R-49 implementing Budget Amendment Request
(BAR) #21-047 through the 2014 Infrastructure Sales Tax Fund in the amount of
$165,548 from reserves for addition scope of work related to pedestrian walkway
studies on SR 434 at Orange Avenue and SR 436 at Laurel Street. (2021-2623)
18. Approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute appropriate Resolution #2021-R-50 implementing Budget Amendment Request
(BAR) #21-048 through the 2014 Infrastructure Sales Tax Fund in the net amount
of $100,000 to reallocate budget for the ADA/Pavement Replacement Project and
Sidewalk Replacement Project. (2021-2647)
19. Approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute appropriate Resolution #2021-R-51 implementing Budget Amendment Request
(BAR) #21-049 in the amount of $3,000,000 through the Worker's Compensation
Fund reserves to provide additional funding for Workers Compensation claims,
which are expected to be partially offset by Excess Insurance Coverage. (2021-2618)
Districts 1,
3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
County Attorney’s
Office Consent Agenda Item #20
Paul Chipok,
Deputy County Attorney, addressed the Board and presented the request as
outlined in the agenda memorandum. He
advised this has been run past John Stokes, outside bond counsel, and there is
no exposure to the County on this item at all.
Motion
by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Lockhart, to approve appropriate Resolution #2021-R-52 and
approve, solely for the limited purposes of Section 147(f) of the Internal
Revenue Code, the issuance by the Seminole County Industrial Development
Authority (SCIDA) of not exceeding $8,500,000 of its Educational Facility
Revenue Bonds for the purpose of (1) financing the cost of acquisition,
rehabilitation and equipping an educational facility project, described in the
Resolution; (2) funding any necessary capitalized interest; (3) funding any
necessary reserves; and (4) paying certain costs of issuing the Bonds, which is
located in the County and owned by Orangewood Christian School, Inc. (2021-2622)
With regard to public participation,
no one in the audience spoke, and public input was closed.
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Commissioner Zembower returned to
the meeting at this time.
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Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted
AYE.
REGULAR AGENDA
Agenda Item
#21 – 2021-2602
Wekiva
Island Fall Fest
Mary Sue Weinaug, Applicant
Mary
Robinson, Planning and Development Division, addressed the Board and presented
the request as outlined in the agenda memorandum. Chairman Constantine requested clarification
if the event is for two days or four days, and Ms. Robinson advised it is two
days only. The Chairman inquired if
there are any other remaining event days available. Ms.
Robinson responded there is another event in the summer that is still
being put together.
With regard to public participation,
no one in the audience spoke, and public input was closed.
Motion by Commissioner
Herr, seconded by Commissioner Lockhart, to approve the Wekiva Island Fall Fest
Special Event Permit for October 30, 2021, and November 6, 2021, subject to
staff’s recommended conditions included in the attached Special Event Permit.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted
AYE.
Commissioner Dallari confirmed with
Ms. Weinaug that Earth Day is April 22nd and inquired what event
will be happening. Ms. Weinaug responded
they will be going live on various social media platforms and Otis the Tooting
Otter will be there. Chairman
Constantine stated he had requested staff prepare an Earth Day proclamation to
present to Ms. Weinaug.
Motion by
Commissioner Zembower, seconded by Commissioner Herr, to adopt a Proclamation
proclaiming April 22, 2021, as Earth Day in Seminole County, Florida.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted
AYE.
COUNTY ATTORNEY BRIEFING/REPORT
Lynn
Porter-Carlton, Deputy County Attorney, addressed
the Board and reminded that the County received a settlement proposal from the
attorney for River Cross Land Company, which was previously distributed to each
Commissioner. The County is the
Defendant in both federal and state court litigation involving this
Plaintiff. Under Section 286.011(8), the
Board has the option to have a closed attorney-client session with legal
counsel. If the Board chooses to do so,
Ms. Porter-Carlton advised she, County Attorney Bryant Applegate, and outside
counsel Todd Norman with Nelson Mullins Broad and Cassel would attend. Staff would need to prepare and post a
reasonable public notice which must identify who will attend; the date and time;
and advising it will be closed to the public and only legal counsel, each
member of the Board, and a certified court reporter can be present. It will be transcribed and the transcript
would stay closed until the conclusion of the litigation. If the Board does not wish to have a closed
session, that direction will need to be given so legal counsel can take the
appropriate action.
Chairman
Constantine advised he discussed this with Ms. Porter-Carlton and Mr.
Applegate, and they recommended the closed session. The Chairman suggested to them that the Board
might want to do this sooner than the next regularly scheduled meeting and was
advised the availability of the attorneys would be next Tuesday or
Wednesday. The Chairman inquired if the
pleasure of the Board would be to do it Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday
afternoon. After discussion, it was
determined the special meeting to hold a closed attorney-client session will be
held Wednesday, April 21, 2021, at 2:00 p.m.
LEGISLATIVE
UPDATE
Tricia Johnson, Deputy County
Manager, addressed the Board and advised they are a few weeks from the end of
Florida's regular legislative session, and the joint conference on the General
Appropriations Act will begin next week.
Currently, the County has $250,000 in the Senate Appropriations Bill for
the Little Wekiva Restoration project.
Originally, that was allocated in a Senate bill for Lake Jesup, but
Senator Brodeur's office moved it to the Little Wekiva project.
There are three broadband-related
bills that are moving through the House and the Senate. However, there has not been as much progress
with broadband this session as hoped.
The perception is because there is a lot of money floating around at the
federal level for broadband, so the State is moving forward with developing a
task force, putting some policies in place, but not as aggressively as
originally intended.
Impact fees did not move last week,
but they are going to be heard on the 15th on the Senate side. Right now, the Impact Fee Bill isn't too
impactful on the County. However, there
is some language that Florida Association of Counties is watching to ensure is
not removed because it would be largely detrimental to the counties if it was
removed.
The other bill that has brought
counties a lot of anxiety and Florida Association of Counties is fighting is
the Emergency Powers Bill.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like counties are going to be able to
modify this to their favor entirely.
There is language that is consistently being changed, but the bill is
considered a significant preemption on local governments essentially saying
that emergency orders will expire after 10 days if they unnecessarily restrict
constitutional rights. The Commission
would have to modify or extend an order every time an order came up. In the case of a hurricane where an order may
last two weeks to a month, it may not be as impactful. But in the case of a pandemic, it certainly
could be.
Florida Association of Counties has
contended this is the first year in many where they have seen so many
preemptions move so quickly, and they're not getting a lot of support from
either side of the aisle. Typically,
members of the Democratic Party are a little anti-preemption. Either because of the pandemic or political
climate, a lot of these preemptions are moving forward without much of a fight,
which Florida Association of Counties has been struggling with how to navigate
that moving forward. There will be a lot
of movement in the upcoming few weeks and a lot of amendments and committee
substitutes will be placed on bills.
Chairman Constantine advised the
Board that he will be present at Florida Association of Counties, and he has
asked Consensus Communications to start putting together a working paper on the
possibility of a constitutional amendment on preemptions.
COUNTY MANAGER AND STAFF BRIEFINGS/REPORT
COVID RELIEF UPDATE
County
Manager Nicole Guillet addressed the Board and presented and reviewed a
PowerPoint entitled Emergency Rental Assistance Program Update (received and
filed).
Emergency Rental Assistance Program
Ms.
Guillet reminded the County was awarded $14 million earlier this year to
provide emergency rental assistance through a separate allocation specifically
for emergency rental. In the last couple
of days, they have heard that under the American Rescue Plan the County will be
receiving an additional $11.14 million, but that is the extent of what they
know. The assumption is the time frame
for the expenditure of these dollars will track the other time frames in the
plan which requires the money to be spent by the end of December in 2024. The original $14 million is required to be
expended by the end of this year.
Ms.
Guillet reviewed the existing metrics.
She advised they are a little concerned because they are just over 20%
of the fund. The need is not as great as
they saw when they originally got the CARES Act money. They will continue to proactively try to get
these funds out to the community.
Commissioner Herr inquired if staff was engaged with the school district
social workers. Commissioner Lockhart
noted that was a topic of conversation at the Public Safety Coordinating
Council meeting this last week. She
added there are other agencies in the county who really are interested in
having this information as well. Carrie
Longsworth, Community Assistance Manager, advised they are reaching out to the
Families in Need program with the School Board to let them know these funds are
available. They are also trying to
reengage some of the nonprofit partners as well. They have sent out a blast to all of the
agencies that normally are funded by the County. They also have been in some early talks with
the Sheriff's Office to look at providing some information to see if they can
get the word out to the community through some of their family service officers
as well. Commissioner Lockhart suggested
staff also reach out to the agency that used to be 4C and stated she will email
Ms. Longsworth that information.
American Rescue Plan
Ms.
Guillet reviewed the American Rescue Plan, which includes a revenue reduction
element that was not present in the CARES Act funding and also includes a
separate category to make necessary investments in water, sewer, and broadband
infrastructure that was also not present in the CARES Act. The response to public health emergency with
respect to COVID-19 is very broad and somewhat vague. They have yet to receive any guidance from
the Treasury Department on what that specifically means or more details on
exactly how those funds can be applied to the community's needs.
The
County's allocation is $91.5 million, not $92.5 as indicated in the
PowerPoint. The municipalities are also
receiving funding. Their funding in
conjunction with the funding the County will receive is almost $182
million. Ms. Guillet stated they expect
the funds will be distributed directly to the County in two phases. The first 50% of the money is expected
sometime next month, and the second disbursement will be received no sooner
than 12 months after the first allocation.
The City of Sanford will receive their money directly from the federal
government, and the remaining cities will receive their money through the
state. They are expected to get it in
two phases as well. These funds can be
used for any expense occurring March 3, 2021, through December 31, 2024.
American Rescue Plan - Possible Expenditures
Ms.
Guillet reminded they discussed possible categories of expenditures at the last
meeting, and she got with each Commissioner individually to talk a little more
and explore some priorities they might have for the expenditures so staff could
start to put together a plan and understand where the Board, as a whole, wants
to direct these dollars. She distributed
a memo last week following those individual conversations outlining all of the
feedback she received with respect to what their individual priorities might be
for the expenditures of these dollars.
American Rescue Plan - Potential Allocations
Broadband Expansion to Unserved Areas
and Underwriting Services Delivery Costs
Ms.
Guillet stated bridging the digital divide was something that was consistent
with each Commissioner. There were two
different elements she heard from each Commissioner. They were all interested in expanding service
to unserved areas of the county. The
largest area is the East Rural area, but there are also pockets throughout the
county that do not have access to broadband.
The other element that was suggested was there may be a need to
underwrite the cost of broadband services in some areas of the county that have
service but may not be able to afford the service. The two specific areas that were mentioned
were Midway and Goldsboro.
Ms.
Guillet advised she tried to attach dollar amounts to all of the
categories. They did have an estimate
for underwriting service to Midway and Goldsboro. That was to put new infrastructure in to
provide overlapping service to what the service already is. The new service would be between $3 million
and $5 million. She extrapolated out for the other unserved areas. Ms. Guillet expressed the estimate of $17
million to $30 million is really just a shot in the dark. If this is a priority of the Board, the one
thing she would like today is some direction and consensus to start talking to
the broadband providers in the community to see what sort of partnerships there
may be and what their thinking is on how they might be able to fill the gaps in
the county. Then they will have a better
fix on the cost.
Commissioner
Dallari stated since the seven cities and the School Board are also getting
funds, he would like to partner with them so they are all working together for
the same citizens, doing the same good, and benefiting everyone. He thinks the County Manager, the city
managers, and the School Superintendent all need to meet and figure out how
they can all work together. Ms. Guillet
advised she has a meeting scheduled next Monday with all of the city managers,
and she has reached out to the school.
They will be discussing sales tax and the American Rescue Plan. Chairman Constantine inquired how much the
School Board is getting, and Ms. Guillet responded $89 million. The Chairman confirmed with Ms. Guillet that the
School Board has also sent a request to the County for $11 million (received
and filed).
Commissioner
Herr noted this has a date-certain end to it.
She emphasized that while they attempt to cooperate with the cities and
School Board, they don't allow it to get in the way of progress in terms of
execution with the tight timeline. She
does not want to see a loss of potential positive impact with this money into
these communities because the cities can't agree. Ms. Guillet stated her impression of
Commissioner Dallari's comments is to find places where priorities are aligned
to leverage resources. Commissioner
Lockhart inquired if they know what the constraints are with the money that
will be allocated to the School Board.
Ms. Guillet responded the School Board provided a brief summary of what
they expect to spend the $89 million on, and staff will coordinate with
them. Commissioner Lockhart requested
Ms. Guillet forward the summary to her, and Chairman Constantine added to
forward it to all the Commissioners.
Economic Recovery Assistance
Ms.
Guillet advised this is really business assistance. The feedback she received is there was an
interest in providing incentives for business recruitment and expansion and
tourism support incentives.
Under
the tourism incentives, a specific suggestion was airport incentives to recruit
in a new carrier. Ms. Guillet reminded
she distributed a memo regarding County Airline Incentive Funding (received and
filed). After distributing that memo,
the airport sent a funding request of a lump sum of $5 million to be used as
they need. However, she is relatively
certainly that is not going to meet the federal criteria. If there is an interest in working with them
on incentives, she is happy to do that.
This issue came up a couple of months ago in a meeting that Commissioner
Zembower and she attended with the airport president and the chairman of their
board. One of the things she shared with
them is the County would need some sort ability to calculate a return on investment,
just like they do on any other economic incentive. That would be something she would recommend
the Board require if they were going to include some funding for that type of
incentive.
Another
suggestion was construction of soccer fields at Yankee Lake as another
opportunity to bring more sports tourism to the community. It is property the County already owns and
there is a great demand for soccer fields.
It may be a good way to partner with tourism funds for the ongoing
maintenance of that facility.
Ms.
Guillet stated she added general support of the hospitality industry to the
list because they are still struggling to recover. It wasn't something that was specifically
suggested, but there was a request to put in some dollars for tourism assistance. Commissioner Lockhart commented with regard
to the hospitality industry, what she is hearing from people in the restaurant
industry is the reason they are struggling is they can’t find people who will
come to work. If they can keep that in
mind as they develop this, she thinks there's an opportunity to help encourage
people to get back to work.
Commissioner
Dallari noted he recently was able to walk 18 vacant floors of two buildings of
the Colonial Town property area. He
thinks they should be thinking about what to do with all of the potential
vacant office buildings. He doesn't know
if they need to have a task force or if they should be doing inventory, but
they can't turn a blind eye to it. The
amount of square footage that is vacant and is going to become vacant is
astonishing.
Commissioner
Herr stated they need to market segments of whom they are going after. She doesn't think they are going after
businesses that are trying to hire the people that are better off staying home
with stimulus checks. She thinks they
need to be recruiting businesses that will fill buildings. People have figured out they can pay to
cancel their lease and have a better outcome because their employees are just
as productive home. There is a harsh
realization that the old may not be the new.
She thinks that can be filled with better paying positions that they
have in some of the surrounding counties.
They need to be outside of the industries that are the first to take the
hit any time there is any crisis.
Direct Assistance
Ms.
Guillet noted these are the same categories that were under the CARES Act
assistance, and these are things they have already talked to the cities
about. This is one area already
identified as an opportunity to coordinate.
The dollar amounts that she included here are a third of what they
funded under the CARES Act. She took a
percentage of that and included those numbers here based on two things: The diminishing demand they are seeing with
respect to rental assistance requests and anticipated partnerships with the
cities in this particular category. That
is why the numbers are significantly lower than in the CARES Act program. She thinks the need is different now than
what it was last year. While the
categories are the same, the programs may not align.
Ms.
Guillet stated she specifically included mortgage assistance on here because
they know they have rental assistance dollars.
There is a mortgage assistance element of the American Rescue Plan, and
portions of it will be distributed to each individual state. Her expectation is that that will be further
distributed down to the county through SHIP or HOME or one of the other
programs. Her anticipation is they will
get separate funding for homeowner assistance because there is a specific
category in the American Rescue Plan.
Mental Health Services
Ms.
Guillet noted all of the Commissioners mentioned the need to address some of
the mental health care needs in the community.
Nobody had any specific dollar amounts in mind except for the potential
of partnering with mental health providers.
This is probably another area they can talk to the cities about. Commissioner Dallari advised he's been told
there is additional money for mental health in Tallahassee, and there's also
additional money for children through KidCare.
His point is that they capitalize on all existing programs.
Chairman
Constantine advised Florida Association of Counties is working with other
association leaders to see where there are things they can work together. They met with behavioral health providers
yesterday and their leadership team.
They are concerned about a cut in the Senate budget when they should be
looking at increasing. Florida
Association of Counties is looking at how they can fulfill the dollars that
might be lost in the state budget. The
message they gave to them is get their locals to get with their county staff to
show programs that can be done to support them in each county.
Ms.
Guillet advised she reached out to Chief Lisa Spriggs, Seminole County Sheriff's
Office, last week to talk with her about what the Sheriff's Office's needs
might be because they are seeing an increased need for domestic violence
services, child protective services, and substance abuse services. Ms. Spriggs provided an estimate on what they
think their needs related to COVID might be over the next three years (received
and filed), and that number came in at $13 million and change.
Sustainable Homelessness Diversion
Commissioner
Herr discussed this category and stated she has taken a two-prong
approach. She thinks they have an
obligation to figure out the homelessness situation well beyond what they have
done historically. There is one shelter
that has been under-resourced and is now getting back on its feet again. They can take a short-term approach with that
and come up with a much smaller number than the current estimate. But instead of spending it, maybe they invest
it and in perpetuity use the resource that it generates to fund
homelessness. The Commissioner noted she
did speak to County Attorney Bryant Applegate about this. If they create the mechanism and the entity
to manage, they could take $20 million, invest it, and keep the doors open at Rescue
Outreach Mission the way they have been open; but she doesn't think that's what
the Board wants to do because they would have to continue to figure out other
funding. She looks at it like a college
endowment where it would have to be low risk, low tolerance, there would be a
financing mechanism that drives that, and there would be governance around
that. They have a great opportunity to
perpetually fund homelessness. She would
love to be able to say to somebody that is homeless and wants assistance that
there is a place for them to go to; and when they get there, there will be
resources available to help them get to the next stage of their life.
Commissioner
Lockhart stated she likes the big-picture approach, and she think that merits
its own discussion because they don't know what's going to happen at the end of
the day with evictions and foreclosures in the future due to COVID.
Commissioner
Herr noted in order to do this, it's going to take time. In this number, there is immediate funding
that is contemplated to get ROM to the standard that it should be at so they
are not duplicating efforts. Then there
will be the longer-term picture of how they can create an opportunity to
perpetually fund the need no matter what.
Ms. Guillet stated in conjunction with that, this might be able to seed
the affordable housing trust fund. She
thinks the County Attorney's Office is looking at the spend deadline of
December of 2024 and whether or not there is a way to extend the benefit beyond
that.
Communication/Virtual Service Enhancement
Ms.
Guillet stated everyone expressed an interest in a website upgrade. She also heard an interest in expanding the
virtual services they have started to explore as part of COVID, such as virtual
building inspections, which are COVID related.
Community Service Facilities for Underserved Areas
Ms.
Guillet stated she thinks there's an opportunity to improve infrastructure, and
there are some things they are working on right now where they may be able to
provide infrastructure facilities for health services and education services in
underserved neighborhoods in the county.
Water and Sewer Expansion
Ms.
Guillet advised this is a specific item that is mentioned in the Rescue Plan
Act which does not have to be COVID related.
She included sewer to septic conversion in this category. She noted they are doing an infrastructure
bill right now, and there may be opportunities in that bill to cover this sort
of activity as well.
Outdoor Recreational Opportunities
Ms.
Guillet stated there was a significant increase in use and access to parks and
natural lands that have occurred during COVID, so it's certainly a
COVID-related expense. There are a
number of opportunities with respect to trails and recreational facilities that
could utilize those funds, and they could accomplish some of the things that
are currently unfunded in the long-range plan.
Ms.
Guillet completed her presentation and advised she was looking for
feedback. The estimated spend on this is
$153 million to $383, and they are only receiving $91.5 million. There was general discussion of each
Commissioner's support. Ms. Guillet
noted the proposals far exceed the price tag.
She inquired if there was anything that is of less importance or
something they could maybe be moved to the bottom of the list if they are able
to find funding somewhere else. She
wants to try to bring back a plan so the Board understands where these dollars
are going, but she does need to pare it down and would like the Board's
feedback on where they think it might need to be pared down. She expressed the Commissioners don't have to
tell her that today.
Commissioner
Zembower suggested they try to prioritize any trickledown effects that the
money could actually trickle down through the community in helping one entity
but then helps others as that unfolds.
He thinks they should look at the investment idea, and they should be
looking at the big picture.
Commissioner
Herr stated if the feds are thinking about doing something about broadband and
they think it's coming through another avenue, that would be one they could
wait to see where else it could potentially happen. Ms. Guillet stated they can "park"
that one temporarily while they get more information for what else is
happening. Commissioner Herr stated she
thinks the Board should give feedback on what they think the adjustment should
be on, off an adjusted dollar amount in addition to the staging over time. Some of the infrastructure stuff they have on
here could duplicate what other bills are now in the process of doing. Those should be staged later in the
decision-making so they can drop back and use that for something else. She thinks they are going to have to be that
fluid. She inquired if the estimated
numbers contemplate potential staffing changes in order to get this done in the
time frame. Ms. Guillet responded these
numbers are broad for discussion purposes.
Ms.
Guillet requested a "head nod" from everybody that they are
comfortable with staff starting to talk to the broadband providers about what
they can do to expand. No objections were voiced. Commissioner Lockhart advised she shared the
information of the Office of Statewide Broadband and DEO with Meloney Koontz,
Assistant County Manager. That agency
has the contacts of the providers and what their plans are and what their plans
are not in terms of where they are not interested in providing services.
Ms.
Guillet advised she will meet with each Commissioner individually to talk about
this a little more after they have had time to process it. Commissioner Zembower suggested as they
prioritize the list, to put them in columns of probable, plausible, or impossible
for the Board. Commissioner Herr
suggested adding a fourth column of it potentially being solved elsewhere. No
objections were voiced.
FUTURE
AGENDA ITEMS
Commissioner Lockhart advised she
has a two-part item for future agenda.
She expressed that while she understands this proposal may be too soon
for some and not soon enough for others, government mandates cannot last
forever, either because elected leaders remove them or people stop following
them.
Part 1 of Commissioner Lockhart’s future
agenda item is requesting a Board action item on April 27th to rescind the
executive order mandating masks effective Monday, June 7th. Commissioner Lockhart explained the vaccine
rollout began in Seminole County for those most vulnerable on December
28th. Then beginning on April 5th, all
citizens 18 years of age and older were given access to a vaccine, and 16 years
old if it was for Pfizer. To date, over
143,000 Seminole County residents have either initiated or completed their
vaccination course. More than 67% of
Seminole County citizens aged 65 and older have completed or initiated their
vaccines. To date, over 30,000 Seminole
County residents have contacted COVID-19 and carry some level of
antibodies. As of May 3rd, all Seminole
County adults and anyone with a physician's note classifying them as vulnerable
will have had more than four weeks to schedule and obtain their first
vaccine. As of May 24th, those individuals
would have had their second vaccine. By
June 7th, there would have been two weeks for the full protection after the
second dose. Commissioner Lockhart
stated Part 2 of her request would be Board adoption of a Resolution that would
encourage the use of face coverings only in indoor spaces where social
distancing cannot be accomplished. If at
any point circumstances should change and staff wishes to consider
reimplementation of the facial covering order, that must be brought back to the
full Board for consideration and a vote.
Commissioner Lockhart stated the details of the proposed resolution can
be coordinated by staff and with each of the Commissioners individually.
Commissioner Lockhart added when she
was originally sold on the concept of mandatory masks back in June, that was
when hospitalizations were skyrocketing, acuity of cases was severe, treatments
were considered trials, there were no vaccines, and there was never any talk at
that time of herd immunity being a goalpost for removing the mask mandate.
Chairman Constantine inquired if the
Board wished to comment, and the Commissioners expressed their support. The Chairman stated there was consensus to put it on the April 27th
agenda.
Ms. Guillet advised the agenda for
April 27th goes to print on Thursday or Friday, so this may be an item that
comes to them after the agenda gets printed.
Commissioner Dallari requested all data related to this backing it up be
included with the agenda item.
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Commissioner Zembower stated he thought
putting Natural Lands into perpetuity, using a mechanism to do that, was
supposed to be put on the agenda. They
all received recommendations from the County Attorney and three different ways
to do that. It was his understanding
that that was coming forward, but it has not.
The Commissioner requested support for that to be put on the agenda at
the earliest time possible. Commissioner
Herr requested clarification on the timing request for putting it on the
agenda. Commissioner Zembower explained
when he says "as soon as possible," his expectation is within a
reasonable time frame. If that's two
meetings from now or three meetings from now, that is okay. If he thinks it's a really hurried thing, he
will say he would like it on the next agenda.
Ms. Guillet reminded there is a
provision in the policies the Board adopted last fall for future agenda items,
and there is a process for getting items on the agenda. They are supposed to be submitted in advance
of the meeting so everybody has an opportunity to know that is coming up as a
future agenda item. It's the Chairman's
purview with respect to how those policies are applied. The Board can direct staff to handle things
however they want, but there was a procedure adopted for future agenda
items. Under the policy, they're to go
to the County Manager in advance of the meeting so staff can do research and
give all of the Commissioners a heads-up that there is a request for a future
agenda item.
Commissioner Zembower stated he will
get that drafted and submitted, but he thought it was pretty clear when it
first came up that it was his expectation to get it on the agenda.
Commissioner Zembower stated he
would like to look at Code Enforcement as part of the Land Development Code and
understanding what areas may need to be cleaned up or strengthened or brought
up to date. He advised he will make that
request appropriately as well.
Mr. Chipok requested clarification
in regards to the Natural Lands in perpetuity.
There were three various alternatives in there and there were pros and
cons on each one. He inquired if
Commissioner Zembower wanted this back for discussion to determine which
direction they want to go or if they want to do multiple. Commissioner Zembower responded he thinks
they are going to need to have discussion.
Chairman Constantine stated he was
going request a Charter work session as a future agenda item. They have discussed various changes in the
Charter, specifically about audits and everything. It's getting to the point that if they are
going to do something for the 2022 agenda, they have the opportunity to do that
as a Commission. He was going to put
that as a potential Charter amendment.
The Chairman inquired if that satisfied Commissioner Zembower and Mr.
Chipok, and they responded yes.
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Commissioner Herr stated she does
not think the process for future agenda items that is spelled out in the
policies and procedures is incumbent upon the Board. She thinks it's incumbent on the Board to
follow a process that gets built by the County Manager's Office that they
execute upon. The process talks about
submitting something 15 days ahead. The
Commissioner stated that request should be triggered as an auto-email that comes
out advising them of the deadline for a request. She stated she is not asking for a future
agenda item but for a process to be built around this to help the Commissioners
be successful in getting the County Manager to the best possible agenda build. Ms. Guillet requested clarification if the
Commissioner is suggesting a certain time before the regular meeting she should
send an email to everybody asking if they have any future agenda items. Commissioner Herr responded there should be
an all-call for the request coming out of the County Manager's Office.
Public Comment on Items Not Related
to the Agenda
The following submitted Written
Comment Forms in opposition to the facial covering/mask mandate: Carmelo Belardo, III, 602 Spring Valley Road;
Beth Martin, 565 Lake Bingham Road; Margaret Pas, 5384 Factors Walk Drive; and
Sara Reschke, 2200 Cove Court.
The following spoke in opposition to
the facial covering/mask mandate: Gerald
Martin, 565 Lake Bingham Road; Kelly Shilson, 224 Slade Drive; Andrea Sefick,
107 Wessex Drive; and Ron Eddo, 817 Lake Marion Drive.
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Emory Greene, Jr., Midway Coalition,
spoke about the history of the Midway-Canaan City. He stated they have a master plan of specific
things they believe fit directly into the goals, objectives, and opportunities
of the American Rescue Plan. He commented
he would like to meet with the Commissioners individually over the next few
weeks to discuss those further.
DISTRICT REPORTS
District 1
Commissioner
Dallari requested an update on the recent boil water notice in southeast
Seminole County. Terry McCue,
Environment Services Director, advised the samples that were pulled on Monday
for bacteriological testing came back negative.
If samples that were pulled today come back negative tomorrow morning,
the boil water notice will be cleared on Wednesday.
Commissioner
Dallari noted the Commission offices have been inundated with calls from
citizens about not receiving the boil water notice. He requested they discuss what the proper
protocol is. Mr. McCue explained this
boil water notice impacted about 18,000 customers, an estimated 55,000
people. It is the largest boil water
notice the county has encountered since 2015.
The issue in 2015 occurred in the northwest service area, which is a
third to half the size of the southeast region.
The standard practice for smaller boil water notices is to use door hang
tags, which is the only way they can demonstrate information to the customers
that will see it. in 2015, it took a
full day with all-hands-on-deck to walk the entire northwest service area to do
hang tags. Doing hang tags for this boil
water notice event was not something that was practical.
Mr.
McCue stated he sent the Commissioners a text sometime around 9:00 a.m. on
Saturday, April 10th, the day of the event.
Reverse 911 calls started at 8:00 a.m., Noticing to the website went out
around 9:30 a.m. and on all social media platforms later that afternoon; three
message board signs were placed at Red Bug/Tuskawilla, along Chapman Road; and
one at Carillon Elementary by 2:00 or 3:00 p.m.
Commissioner
Dallari stated with the amount of phone calls they have been getting and how
upset people are, it's clear people in this service area do not think the County
is doing a decent job. The Commissioner
mentioned when you connect service with Duke Energy, you have to provide them
with a phone number. He gets text
messages all the time from Duke regarding power outages, etc. The Commissioner suggested the County does
something like that. Mr. McCue clarified
they did contact news media, and customer service voicemail recordings were
modified to reflect this information as well.
Discussion ensued.
Ms.
Johnson advised the challenge associated with this particular boil water
advisory was the amount of people impacted.
The majority of boil water notices they do from a communications
standpoint are a couple hundred of people which make the door hangers easier. A banner was posted on the website by the
afternoon. She stated they have received
calls from people all over the state of Florida thinking they have a boil water
notice because they aren't reading the map correctly or they just see the
banner on the website or the social media post and freak out, so there is a
balance to communicating a boil water notice.
They have to keep in mind it's going to cause some panic. They do have a protocol in place. Unfortunately, that has been more for the
smaller outages, not for something of this scale.
Alan
Harris, Emergency Management Director, advised Alert Seminole has the reverse
calling system, but there are some issues with it. The telephone companies don't provide
unlisted numbers, cell phone numbers geocoded to an address, or voice-over-internet
phones. All they provide is
white-page-listed phone numbers, and that's what gets put into the phone
book. A lot of people don't have
landlines anymore. They have been trying
to do more marketing. They put it in the
utility bills. They have done it at
every one of the hurricane expo events, things like that. They do have an emergency warning system
plan. All of the things that are on that
emergency warning system plan were activated that morning. Unfortunately, of the 55,000 contacts that
could be made, there were only 17,797 contacts in that area. Of that number, 14,339 picked up and hung up
without listening to the message. The
IPAWS, emergency broadcast system, cannot be activated for boil water notice
advisories because that activates everything for the entire county as well as
weather radios. It's not a perfect
system, and it can be improved. Mr.
Harris advised they have been reviewing this, and they will draft an
after-action report related to it with some itemized improvement items. Commissioner Dallari suggested looking into
what Duke Energy does.
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Commissioner
Dallari requested an update on the noise ordinance summons format. It's hung up somewhere right now because they
have to do the formatting of the actual summons or the ticket. Mr. Chipok advised they have worked with the
municipalities and the Sheriff's Office, the Clerk of the Court, and have also
had several zoom calls with the chief judge.
Right now, the form has been completed.
The protocol and draft judicial order have been drafted, and it is now
in for review with the court system.
They are waiting to hear back from the judges and get the green light
and execution signature on the judicial order so they can implement.
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Commissioner
Dallari noted the county's phone system has been having frequent outages. He has been told the issue is with the
carrier Windstream. He requested a
status update. James Garoustos, Chief
Information Officer, advised Windstream is the carrier that provides the
county's local and long distance phone service, nonemergency phone
service. They have had that relationship
for a number of years, and they piggyback off of the School Board contract. The issue was a provisioning mistake Windstream
made. They are moving some equipment in
their central offices and that caused numbers that dial into the county
organization to not work, and it was a ripple effect. Windstream has assured they have fixed
it. Mr. Garoustos stated they are
demanding a full explanation of what has occurred because they were not
notified of this change.
Commissioner
Dallari inquired when that contract expires.
Mr. Garoustos responded they are leveraging the contract from the School
Board, and they are going to go out for a new contract and he will get that
information on when that will happen.
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Commissioner
Dallari stated he has been receiving complaints from citizens in the Carillon
area about some utility work being done in the right-of-way. He would like staff to look into this to make
sure children are able to get back and forth to the elementary school
safely.
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Commissioner
Zembower left the meeting at this time.
District
5
Commissioner Herr expressed her
thanks to Todd Hahn and Tony Nelson with the Engineering Division. There have been citizens who are concerned
about the level of Lake Sylvan. The
Engineering Division has been interacting with the St. Johns Water River
Management District looking for a 90-day emergency permit to lower the weir to
alleviate the high level of the lake. It
was an exceptionally quick response.
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Commissioner Herr thanked Sherri
Harless, Engineering Division, for assisting with a 417 ramp management issue. They were able to contact FDOT, and the
maintenance has been completed.
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Commissioner Zembower returned to
the meeting at this time.
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Commissioner Herr advised there will
be a new funding agreement coming forward in the future for Rescue Outreach
Mission, and she thanked Ms. Koontz; Allison Thall, Community Services
Director; and Ms. Guillet for their assistance.
District
2
Commissioner Zembower reported on
the airport counts and meetings and events he attended.
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Commissioner Zembower suggested at
some point in the future having an education process for the public in regards
to the noise ordinance.
District
4
Commissioner Lockhart stated she
wanted to clarify the How Did We Grow process that is going on at the Planning
Council. She has been provided the
report, and she received clarification at the last East Central Florida
Regional Planning Council meeting. The report
the Board has seen that was done with MetroPlan is the technical report that
looks at the data. What the Planning
Council is endeavoring to do is the marriage of the data with the public
perception with the community outreach.
How Shall We Grow had a huge community outreach component that really
focused on understanding people's perceptions and desires. They have been separated by time more than
they should have been for a variety of reasons.
What is rolling out is the public engagement, public perception piece of
How Did We Grow. Commissioner Dallari
mentioned when they did that report, they also did a value study at the same
time. It's two separate reports. Commissioner Lockhart responded she will ask
about that at the committee meeting.
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Commissioner Lockhart reported at
the Public Safety Coordinating Council meeting, a lot of the focus was on youth
in the community. In a typical year,
there are 5,000 average cases of child abuse reported in Seminole County. In 2020, because of the pandemic and children
not going to school and being around adults who would be reporting, there was
an 800-incident decline. In February
2021, there were 551 cases reported; and in March 2021, there were 521 cases
reported. 80% of children are back to
face-to-face school. There have been 72
sheltering incidents with 110 children.
And of those children who have been sheltered, 22% of them were as a
direct result of the adults in their life abusing opioids. Over the last year, there has been a 43% increase
in opioid overdoses. The Commissioner
thinks this makes the discussions the Board has been having about mental health
services and the support that can be given to agencies in the community that
are dealing with families in crisis all that more important.
District
3
Chairman Constantine reported
Brightline continues to make presentations at the Expressway Authority. The biggest issue right now is, from the
airport to Disney, if they're going to stop on the International Drive corridor. Most of the members feel that is extremely
important. It's just a matter of cost
and alignment. They are supposed to give
the final report in July.
CHAIRMAN’S
REPORT
Chairman Constantine advised Ms.
Hammock has requested the Board appoint two members for the Education System
Impact Fee Citizens Advisory Committee.
Commissioner Lockhart stated the only person she has heard be
recommended was Sean Barth. Chairman
Constantine recommended Carissa Lawhun.
Motion by
Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Chairman Zembower, to appoint Sean Barth and
Carissa Lawhun to the Education System Impact Fee Citizens Advisory Committee.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted
AYE.
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The Chairman advised the Regional
Planning Council has requested the BCC sign their resiliency resolution, but
there were some concerns about it and the County Manager was working on some
changes. Commissioner Lockhart stated
some of the concern is the potential for not knowing what exactly they could be
committing to financially in the case of an event. But if there is a way they can commit to
continuing to work collaboratively and a regional approach and generically join
in the idea that working together is good, she does not have a problem with
that. Ms. Guillet added there were
commitments like the County would support their lobbying agenda not knowing
what that might be and they would commit staff resources. When this first came up, she submitted some
proposed changes to the executive director, but they never made it into the
resolution.
Commissioner Lockhart stated she thinks
it would be important for every one of the Board members to review the document
and see what they may think and have some suggestions from them as well. The Chairman requested staff bring something
back that they feel comfortable with that the Board can look at and then
potentially pass.
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The Chairman advised he received a
request from Embrace Families to send a letter to Congresswoman Stephanie
Murphy on supporting legislation for federal funding to support foster youth
obtaining a driver's license and critical technical assistance and enacting
similar programs. He inquired if anyone
had an objection to him sending that letter.
Commissioner Herr stated she doesn't have an objection but would like to
understand it better. The Chairman
responded he would be happy to get it to everybody; and if anybody then had an
objection, they could state it. He
requested Commissioner Zembower have his aide deliver it to each one of the
members.
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Ms.
Guillet advised they received a grant of $425,000 from the St. Johns River
Water Management District for the Little Wekiva Restoration project, which is
the County's number 1 legislative priority.
Staff has drafted a thank you letter for the Chairman's signature, and
they would like to have that approved.
Motion by
Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Herr, to allow the Chairman to
sign a letter of thank you to the St. Johns River Water Management District for
the $425,000 grant for the Little Wekiva River Restoration project.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted
AYE.
COMMUNICATIONS AND/OR REPORTS
The following Communications and/or
Reports were received and filed.
1. Letter dated April 2, 2021 from James D. Stansbury, Chief of the Bureau of Community Planning and Growth, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, to Chairman Constantine re: Review of proposed comprehensive plan amendment #21-01ESR.
cc: R. Hammock, Development Services; H. Harling, ECFRPC Director.
2. Letter dated March 26, 2021 from Chris Kintner, Community Development Director, City of Longwood, to the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners re: Voluntary annexation of Parcel #06-21-30-508-0000-0630 into the City of Longwood.
cc: N. Guillet, County Manager; C. Gioielli, Longwood City Manager (Acting).
3. Letter dated March 25, 2021 from Luis V. Rodriguez, Director of Engineering and Modeling Division, FEMA, to Chairman Constantine re: Riverside Oaks, Phase 1; Determination of Special Flood Hazard Area.
cc: M. Stehli, NFIP Coordinator
4. Email dated April 8, 2021 with attached letter from Rick Donohue, Embassy Suites General Manager, to Commissioner Constantine re: Request any excess funds from CARES Act funding be used to upgrade sports facilities or to purchase land to build more sports facilities.
5. Email dated April 8, 2021 with attached letter from Frank Cirrincione, Hilton General Manager, to Commissioner Constantine re: Request the BCC continue prioritizing investments in County sports venues.
6. Letter dated April 9, 2021 from Bruce Skwarlo, Orlando Marriott Lake Mary General Manager to Commissioner Constantine re: Requesting that CARES Act federal funding be used to expand current sports venues or add soccer/lacrosse fields on available county land.
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There
being no further business to come before the Board, the Chairman declared the
meeting adjourned at 4:37 p.m., this same date.
ATTEST:_____________________________Clerk___________________________Chairman
cc