BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA
June 23, 2020
The following is a non-verbatim
transcript of the BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS MEETING OF SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA, held virtually, made
permissible pursuant to the Governor’s Executive Orders, at 1:30 p.m., on
Tuesday, June 23, 2020, via Communications Media Technology (CMT) through the SEMINOLE COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING at SANFORD, FLORIDA, the usual place of
meeting of said Board.
Attending
remotely:
Chairman Jay
Zembower (District 2)
Vice Chairman Lee Constantine (District 3)
Commissioner
Robert Dallari (District 1)
Commissioner
Amy Lockhart (District 4)
Commissioner Brenda
Carey (District 5)
County Manager Nicole Guillet
County Attorney Bryant Applegate
Deputy Clerk Kyla Farrell
OPENING CEREMONIES
Commissioner
Carey led the Pledge of Allegiance.
COVID-19
PANDEMIC UPDATE
Alan Harris, Office of Emergency Management, addressed
the Board to report on the emergency management response to the COVID-19
pandemic.
CARES
ACT UPDATE
Agenda
Item #3 – 2020-2109
Nicole Guillet, County Manager, presented and reviewed a
PowerPoint presentation entitled CARES Act Briefing (copy received and filed).
Chairman Zembower confirmed with Ms. Guillet that she is
asking the Board to ratify her signature upon an agreement from the U.S.
Treasury through the State of Florida, Division of Emergency Management. Ms. Guillet added Item #3 has two parts. The first part is the ratification of the
execution of the funding agreement; and the second part is approval of a Budget
Amendment Request to establish a line for the funding so that as soon as the
money comes in, they will be able to start out of that line other than waiting
until the next opportunity they have for a Budget Amendment.
With regard to
public participation, no one spoke in support or opposition to this item, and
public input was closed.
Commissioner Carey stated one of the items under
Requested Feedback in Ms. Guillet’s presentation is consensus on engaging a
consultant for administration. She knows
that they probably do a better job than most in tracking time and expenses out
of the EOC. The Commissioner asked what
would be the purpose of the consultant if staff is having to track all of that
information already. Ms. Guillet
responded it is a lot of financial assistance to track in a short amount of
time and they really have to get it spent.
They will also be coordinating with other local governments because the
funding for the cities and the constitutionals goes to the County, so they need
somebody to be able to work with them.
Additionally, if they’re going to be putting more financial assistance
into the community, they’re going to need help with that because under the $1.2
million they are spending on the small business grants, they’ve had to pull
people out of other departments to provide assistance to Economic Development
because of the volume of calls and inquires in addition to having to review the
1,200 applications that came in for that little bit of money; it’s just more
than staff can handle. Discussion ensued
regarding engaging a consultant.
Commissioner Dallari advised he wants to make sure that
whatever they do, they move quickly and it is very easily administrated and
easy to understand. He doesn’t want any
long and complicated applications because everyone needs to be able to
understand and get their money quickly.
The Commissioner asked whether or not the school system is involved; and
Ms. Guillet answered the school systems have a different stream of assistance
under the CARES Act, but she did talk with the Association of Counties about
whether or not the school system needed to be included. Chairman Zembower
stated he understands they have separate funding, but the County absolutely
should be collaborating with the School Board.
In regard to Duval County, the Chairman advised they have found some way
to assist their zoo. He asked staff to
engage Duval County how they have helped their zoo. As he understands it, it’s because the
property that the zoo resides on is county property. He expressed his concern for the Central
Florida Zoo, and Ms. Guillet noted they will have the ability to assist
non-profits and the zoo would fall in that category.
Commissioner Lockhart stated as far as funding for the
schools, there’s a formula that relates to the Title 1 federal funding
designation. She loves the idea of
coordinating with the school district, but she is glad that there is a funding
mechanism that they’ve thought about.
The Commissioner also loves the idea of getting the dollars into the
hands of the people who need it most in a very simple way. She thinks complicated applications prohibit
some people who probably need the money most from being able to access it, so
she agrees that they need to try to make the application process very smooth
and uncomplicated.
In regard to consensus on engaging a consultant for
administration, Commissioner Lockhart asked about the companies available that
the County would potentially utilize for this type of thing. She asked if there are several different
companies or just one major company. She
understands they do not have to go through the same procurement process but
wonders if there are a lot of choices in this matter. Ms. Guillet
responded there are not a lot of choices.
They are a limited number of folks that are doing this. They’ve talked with one already and are
trying to get some information on others.
She does not want to pick a firm that is not going to have capacity to
provide the County the attention it needs because they are doing all the other
counties, but she also doesn’t want a firm that doesn’t have the capacity to do
it because they are a small firm and it’s really not something that they do. She advised they are going to try to learn
from the counties that have already received their funding and get some ideas
from them. She discussed how other
counties are handling it. Commissioner
Lockhart discussed workforce training in Hillsborough County noted in Ms. Guillet’s presentation and advised she would like to see
that in Seminole County.
Commissioner Constantine advised he supports getting
outside counsel because he understands this is much more complex than getting
normal money back from FEMA. He is
pleased that the County Manager is looking back at what the other counties who
already received funding have done, and he likes the idea of workforce
training. The Commissioner added there
is so much in the presentation that would be to the benefit of the community,
so looking at all of them he believes they have a blueprint for moving
forward.
Commissioner Carey discussed small businesses who fell
through the cracks. She wants to make
sure whatever the County does is meaningful to the small businesses and helps
get them over the hump and not just through the next rent payment or payroll
period. The Commissioner talked about
the application process and provided suggestions to help people through the
process. Ms. Guillet
stated her intention is to have an application that no one has to hire anyone
to help them with. Bringing on outside
help will give staff the capacity to spend more time with applicants. Commissioner Lockhart advised a great
opportunity would be to include the local area Chambers of Commerce. They have a wonderful network and she’s seen
where they are offering opportunities to help walk small businesses through the
process.
Ms. Guillet pointed out a
section in the PowerPoint that shows the allocation is about $175 per capita. And she thinks there were some initial
reactions from some of the cities thinking they would get $175 per person in
the city, and that really isn’t staff’s intent to allocate on a per capita. They want the cities to be whole and have the
resources they need to deal with the impact but there are a lot of expenses
that are countywide. Staff expects to
put a lot of money back into the community through economic and individual
assistance. She thinks each city doing
their own economic assistance and individual assistance program is probably not
the best thing for the community.
Staff’s intention is to have a countywide program for economic
assistance and individual assistance that anyone, regardless of what jurisdiction
they’re in, can take advantage of. Staff
will work with the cities to identify their needs, but their intent is to have
a program that is consistent across the county.
She discussed working and meeting with the cities and how they will
proceed.
In regard to the Constitutional Officers, Ms. Guillet advised because their funding primarily comes from
the BCC, they would be mostly on a reimbursement basis rather than having
everybody try to guess what an eligible expense is. It’s better to keep it consolidated and to
coordinate and work closely together.
Chairman Zembower suggested
staff look at the models around the state where it’s already being done. Commissioner Carey stated she wants to make
sure that Ms. Guillet feels like she has everything
she needs on her requests based on this conversation to get everything
started. Ms. Guillet
responded she feels comfortable that staff can hit the ground running. She knows that the Board has similar
priorities and they all want to help the community and keep the economy
healthy. She feels comfortable
understanding that. She wants to be able
to do that, and they will bring back a more structured plan on July 14 so
everybody understands where the funds are going to be directed. Chairman Zembower
asked for a motion on Consent Agenda Item #3 that the County Manager has asked
the Board to approve including ratifying the signature of the Funding
Agreement.
Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded
by Commissioner Lockhart, to approve and authorize the
Chairman to execute appropriate Resolution #2020-R-71 implementing Budget
Amendment Request (BAR) #20-067 through the newly established CARES Act Fund in
the amount of $20,582,500 to appropriate funding; and authorize the County
Manager to approve any future budget transfers within this allocation; and ratify
the associated agreement from the U.S. Treasury through the State of Florida,
Division of Emergency Management, which has been executed by the County Manager.
(2020-2109)
Districts 1, 2, 3,
4, and 5 voted AYE.
COUNTY INVESTMENT ADVISOR
REPORT
Scott McIntyre, Managing Director of
Hilltop Securities, addressed the Board to present the Investment Advisor’s
Report (received and filed).
Motion
by
Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to adopt the
recommendations of the Board’s Financial Advisor based on the report submitted,
and direct the Clerk to implement said Board-adopted recommendations.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
Item
#1 – 2020-2105
Hylant
Insurance Renewal
Andrea
Herr, Hylant
Andrea Herr, Hylant,
addressed the Board and provided a PowerPoint presentation (copy received and
filed.)
After Ms. Herr’s presentation, Chairman Zembower advised there was a reference made to an RFP that
would impact this program, and he wants to remind the Commission that they are
not to discuss that RFP as the RFP is currently active. Commissioner Carey stated as someone who is
pretty skeptical of all of the technology stuff, she thinks the Teladoc process
is very easy to use and very helpful.
She discussed her experience using Teladoc and added she recommends
everyone try it.
Motion by Commissioner Carey, seconded by
Commissioner Lockhart, to move forward with Hylant’s
recommendations within the presentation.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
-------
Chairman Zembower
recessed the meeting at 3:15 p.m., reconvening at 3:30 p.m.
-------
Agenda Item #2 – 2020-2104
Land Development Code Work Session
Brian Canin, Canin Associates
Rebecca
Hammock, Development Services Director, and Brian Canin, Canin Associates,
presented a PowerPoint presentation entitled New Approaches to the Seminole
County Land Development Code; and Chairman Zembower
requested the Commissioners save their questions for after the presentation.
Chairman
Carey asked about hedge height between two lake-front properties, and Ms.
Hammock explained it would be between two neighbors that are both on lake-front
property living adjacent to each other.
If one of the properties were to grow a tall hedge, it could block the
neighbor’s view of the lake.
Commissioner Carey asked if this was a big problem in the community, and
Ms. Hammock answered it’s a handful of people but can become somewhat time
consuming because they have to get Code Enforcement involved and it creates
fighting between neighbors who pull staff into it. She added they require lakefront setbacks for
different structures but they don’t for fences, so it’s something she thinks
they need to look at if the Board would like staff to. Discussion ensued. Commissioner Carey stated she would like to
better understand what the problem is.
If the problem is truly just a handful of people, maybe it becomes a
civil issue; and the County doesn’t try to legislate to try to solve an issue
between two neighbors.
Chairman
Zembower stated he wants to make sure they analyze
“How Did We Grow?” as part of the equation.
He would also recommend that as this gets developed, they have an
introduction portion so that the average citizen understands what the LDC is
and what it is not, as well as some frequently asked questions and a glossary
of terms. As far as a statement about
clustering and open space not being utilized for the best benefit, he doesn’t
necessarily disagree; but one should understand that sometimes open spaces are
a benefit for water conservation, wildlife, and people’s quality of life. The Chairman thinks they need to look at that
in a very close analysis and where that happens and takes place.
Commissioner
Lockhart discussed being a good neighbor and how most of what they deal with is
because people don’t make good choices with their neighbors in mind. She agrees there should be some sort of
parameter in place because people just don’t think about it. In regard to open space, she would like to
work towards getting away from the clever and creative open spaces where the
developer has planned a five-foot-wide perimeter around the border of their
walled-in development that no one really has access to but technically it’s
considered open space because that really doesn’t benefit the new community as
a whole, so she would like to have more conversation about that.
Commissioner
Dallari stated he wants to make sure they are somehow
addressing pop-up usage and commercial residential areas. He wants to make sure they are encouraging
better, or a reduction of, TMDLs. He
discussed stormwater, solar parking lots, appropriate walkable and sustainable
commercial areas, digital wayfinding, and appropriate transit and location for affordable
housing. He advised he continues to ask
what is the appropriate transit definition for affordable housing, and he has
yet to receive that definition. The
Commissioner is glad they are talking about protecting the rural area and
historical, significant areas. He agreed
with Commissioner Lockhart’s comment regarding open space.
Commissioner
Dallari talked about a subdivision that was mixed-use
because there was one lot that was designated for commercial and everything
else around it was residential. There
really wasn’t any definition of what mixed-use is. He voiced those are some of his concerns that
he would like to have some additional conversations about. Regarding open space, Chairman Zembower stated it does not always necessarily mean it’s
something that the property owners can walk upon or use, it’s used for a number
of reasons; drainage, planting of trees or shrubs, et cetera. There has to be X amount of open space, and
there may need to be a look at how that’s calculated; but just because you
can’t walk upon it or the kids can’t play on it doesn’t mean it’s not open
space.
Commissioner
Carey stated in regard to the recommendation on the updated fence standards,
they need to look at considering a more permanent structure requirement for
subdivision boundaries. She discussed
arbor regulations and noted she hopes they look at Florida-native,
drought-tolerant plantings as a standard.
In the modernization recommendation for the parking, there’s a lot of
great best practices out there and you still have people that have all kinds of
vehicles that they drive. She thinks
they have to have the ability and flexibility for people to design the best
parking lot that suits their use. If
you’re building a Tractor Supply, you probably want some larger parking spots. The Commissioner recommended some flexibility
so that the Code isn’t written so hard as to X number of parking spots for
every so many spaces.
In
regard to Goals and Create Performance Standards, Commissioner Carey stated she
wants to make sure that what they’re doing on the performance standards are
general and they look at best practices.
She discussed Consideration of I-4 Facing Signage and elevation of
property adjacent to the interstate. She
hopes that whatever they do regarding Compatibility Recommendations they don’t
end up making some rule that would cause people who have owned homes for a long
time not to be able to park their work truck in their neighborhood because that
has been a huge issue for a lot of cities that have passed that type of
regulation. Commissioner Carey discussed
religious use in residential areas, accessory dwelling units, “How Shall We
Grow?”, “How Did We Grow?”, water conservation, and flexibility in the Code for
both the consumer and the land owner.
Commissioner
Carey’s last comment was that it seems like they can’t come up with one buzzword
that works for affordable housing and workforce housing. What they need is attainable housing. They have a lot of professionals who don’t
need to be on a bus line but they can’t afford to live in the county just
because the land cost is so high, which makes development cost high. You can go across the river and buy a lot
more house for a lot less money. The
larger they require the lot to be and the more infrastructure that is required
to put in, all goes to the bottom line of the consumer cost of the house. Sometimes it sounds good but the devil is
always in the details, and rewriting Land Development Codes can really be a
hand-wringing experience. Commissioner
Carey asked staff to look at going from four units per acre to one unit per
five acres because there are no transition zones around the rural
boundary. The rural boundary is not
straight. For many of those areas, the
development has gone right up to the rural boundary with four units per acre on
one side of the road and one per five or one per ten on the other side. She stressed they have to look at
transitions.
Commissioner
Constantine stated the citizens feel like there’s too much density. Flexibility cannot mean just increased
density, and that’s unfortunately what flexibility in this county means. He encourages infill, but they need to
encourage infill where the infrastructure is and it’s not going to cause
taxpayers money to build that infrastructure.
The Commissioner thinks they all agree that they need to make the Land
Code more energy efficient and give a lot of opportunities for alternative
energy. Commissioner Constantine
discussed opportunities for attainable housing, maximum use of SunRail, parking and open space, Florida friendly
plantings, protecting water resources, and Planned Development zoning. He advised those are just his general
comments; but when they deal with specifics, he believes everyone will have a
lot more to say.
Chairman
Zembower stated he wants to make sure they are
meeting ADA needs and they meet all of the ADA criteria. He asked staff to make every effort to
distinguish and explain the difference between the FLU map, Comp Plan, and LDC. Discussion ensued regarding the FLU map and
property rights. Commissioner Dallari suggested they could explain the differences on the
County’s website.
Ms.
Hammock advised the next work session is tentatively scheduled for August 11,
and staff will be bringing back more detailed information at that time.
In
regard to public participation, Cindy Haller and her husband, 1731 Beacon Drive,
expressed concerns regarding zoning; Nancy Harmon, 752 Pioneer Way, discussed
the August 11 work session; Wafa Esposito, 5040 Hawks
Hammock Way, talked about shaping the future of the community; and Gabrielle
Milch, 252 Coble Drive, discussed water quality.
Listing
of Speakers and Final Registrants received and filed.
Commissioner
Lockhart suggested short video clips on the County’s website regarding the
topics identified as important for people to have as a base of knowledge.
Commissioner
Carey asked what the schedule looks like for public information meetings. Chairman Zembower
asked staff to put together a schedule and circulate it to the Commission for
comment. He would like to schedule the
public-interaction meetings at least one in every district so the district
commissioner could attend. He feels
there may be more public input in a Zoom meeting that they would otherwise have
in person.
-------
There
being no further business to come before the Board, the Chairman declared the
meeting adjourned at 5:01 p.m., this same date.
ATTEST:____________________________Clerk__________________________Chairman
kf