BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA
July 14, 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, July 14, 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 Clerks Chariti Colon and Kyla
Farrell
OPENING CEREMONIES
Commissioner
Dallari led
the Pledge of Allegiance.
AWARDS
AND PRESENTATIONS
Alan Harris, Office of Emergency Management, addressed
the Board to report on the emergency management response to the COVID-19
pandemic.
COUNTY MANAGER’S REPORT/CARES
Act Funding Update
Nicole Guillet, County Manager, presented
and reviewed a PowerPoint entitled CARES Act Update, Seminole Cares, July 14,
2020 (received and filed). Her
recommendation is to allocate the funds as proposed on page 8 and hold off on
the additional $36 million and allocate it by either replenishing existing programs
or establishing new programs as needed.
She suggests providing a status at every board meeting and discussing
shifting money based on the community needs.
Commissioner Carey expressed concerns
regarding home-based businesses where the owner is the only employee, because a
lot of people have a home-based business that is really just a hobby and they
have a full-time job as well. They will
need to demonstrate business interruption or closure, and they should be able
to show, through a tax return or Seminole County business license, that it is a
valid home-based business. Otherwise,
the assistance funds might run out for valid home-based businesses. Ms. Guillet advised an owner with no
employees can apply for up to $5,000 assistance under the individual program. Upon inquiry of Chairman Zembower, Ms.
Guillet explained businesses are required to have been in business January 1,
2020, and operating as of February 29, 2020, under this program because it is
intended to address business interruption.
Commissioner Carey expressed they should
not disqualify someone who is a true home-based business with no employees from
the small business grant if they can show proper documentation. Ms. Guillet explained the difference of how
funds would be distributed between the Small Business Assistance and the
Individual program. It will be a policy
decision that can be revised as needed by the Board. Chairman Zembower stated he is fine with the
way it is currently structured with the caveat it can be restructured if
needed. Commissioner Dallari suggested
trying it this way for 30 days and then changing it if needed. Commissioner Constantine stated they have to
start somewhere and they can change it later if needed as it's monitored. Commissioner Carey stated she would like to
also monitor how many people apply that are individual businesses such as
hairdressers and nail technicians.
Commissioner Carey stated since they are
going to talk about this at every meeting, they should know by the next meeting
in two weeks how it is working. Ms.
Guillet advised the portal won't be ready for three weeks. It is taking most counties 30 to 60 days to
get started. Chairman Zembower commented
he had previously spoke with staff to put up a list of items that the
applicants will need so they can gather them now and have it ready as soon as
the portal is operational. The Chairman
directed staff to email all of the Commissioners with a measurement of the
applications received before portal setup so they understand how everything is
going, and Ms. Guillet responded they will do so. Commissioner Lockhart advised she would feel
better knowing what the criteria will be for the individual program in regards
to the businesses with no employees.
Commissioner Carey stated she would like the information on the website
with easy links to make it easier for citizens.
Ms. Guillet reported they are working with
federal and state lobbyists to try to understand what kind of FEMA
reimbursement the County would be eligible for, for this particular
crisis. Ms. Guillet discussed the expenditure
deadline and explained there are some things that have been identified
internally and with governmental partners that will take some advanced
planning. She is requesting latitude to
work with their partners on time-sensitive matters due to the expenditure
deadline. To make sure the Board is
fully informed on what is being done and how the CARES Act funding is being
allocated, they are working on a reporting dashboard to provide an update at
every meeting.
Ms. Guillet concluded her presentation
stating she would answer any questions and asked for a "head nod"
that they are moving in the right direction.
Chairman Zembower stated he is not interested in expending staff time to
create a dashboard and would prefer a weekly email update. Commissioner Carey responded a simple dashboard
is always helpful and a visual for the public is helpful as well. She would like to see how many home-based,
individual, and small businesses applied and were rejected with an explanation
of why they were rejected.
Commissioner Lockhart suggested the Small
Business Development Center could be a good resource for workforce development
and also a resource to help fund additional allocations there. Commissioner Carey recommended sending
applicants there to fill out the applications.
Commissioner Lockhart stated her message to staff is they want to make
sure that everything is aboveboard and they are complying with the intent of
the funds, but she does not want them to be gatekeepers to the point they don't
get the money into the hands of the community as quickly as possible. Staff needs to hear from the Board that the
intent is to get the money distributed.
Commissioner Carey stated any appeals
should go to the County Manager. The
Commissioner suggested the small business group at the Port would also be a
good place for people to get help with the packets. Chairman Zembower added Career Source and the
Chambers have also offered to help. Ms.
Guillet advised they have engaged the Small Business Center. Commissioner Dallari stated the bottom
message is they need to act quickly and concisely to make sure the money gets
out to the public.
Chairman Zembower confirmed with Ms.
Guillet that she had the consensus and direction needed from the Board. The Chairman also confirmed with Ms. Guillet
that she was clear of the Board's expectations on reporting back to them.
CONSENT
AGENDA
With regard
to public participation, no one spoke to the Consent Agenda, and public
input was closed.
Motion by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner
Lockhart, to approve the following:
Business Office
1.
Approve and
authorize the Chairman to execute a Letter of Support to Ronald Batory, Administrator of the Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA), for FDOT’s Grant Application for the FRA’s Federal-State
Partnership for the State of Good Repair Program in connection with SunRail
Phase 2 South Capacity Improvement Project. (2020-2119)
Engineering
2.
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a
Purchase Agreement in the amount of $1,400 between property owners Malcolm McGinness and Janet E. McGinness
and Seminole County for property interests necessary for the construction and
maintenance of a sidewalk along a portion of Pressview
Avenue and Highland Street. (2020-2110)
3.
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute the
Interlocal Agreement regarding Cost Sharing in the amount of $220,000 to obtain
Consultant Services between Seminole County, Orange County, Osceola County,
Volusia County, and the City of Orlando; and endorse approval and
implementation of the SunRail Consultant Services Escrow Agreement between the
Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission (CFCRC) and the Seminole County Clerk
of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. (2020-2083)
4.
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a
Purchase Agreement in the amount of $10,350 between property owner Linda Thomas
and Seminole County for property interests necessary for the construction and
maintenance of a sidewalk along a portion of Longwood Hills Road. (2020-2100)
5.
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a
Purchase Agreement in the amount of $1,700 between property owners Lena
Lindstrom and Kristopher W. Hofmann and Seminole County for property interests
necessary for the construction and maintenance of a sidewalk along a portion of
Virginia Avenue and Pineview Street; Warranty Deed. (2020-2101)
6.
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a
Purchase Agreement in the amount of $2,920 between property owner Faramarz Sadri and Seminole County for property interests
necessary for the construction and maintenance of a sidewalk along a portion of
Virginia Avenue and Pineview Street. (2020-2099)
7.
Approve and authorize the
Chairman to execute the Amended and Restated Lease Number 4770 and the Partial
Release of Lease No. 4770 between the Board of Trustees of the Internal
Improvement Trust Fund of the State of Florida, as Lessor, and Seminole County,
Florida, as Lessee. (2020-2107)
8.
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute
appropriate Resolution #2020-R-72 accepting a (1) Drainage Easement, and (2) a
Roadway and Drainage Easement, being donated by the City of Altamonte Springs
to Seminole County related to the roadway improvements and continued
maintenance of Pine Street running northerly off Bunnell Road. (2020-2087)
9.
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a
Construction Agreement, and a Pedestrian Grade Crossing Maintenance Agreement
with CSX Transportation, Inc. and pay them an advance deposit of One Hundred
Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Thirty-Four Dollars ($109,934) for crossing and
signalizing at the Cross Seminole Trail Missing Link. (2020-2112)
Resource Management
Budget
10.
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute
appropriate Resolution #2020-R-73 implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR)
#20-066 through the 2001 Infrastructure Sales Tax Fund in the amount of
$1,994,425 from reserves to provide additional funding for the Juvenile
Assessment Center Expansion Project. (2020-XXXX)
11.
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute
Modification #1 to Subgrant Agreement #G0007 between the State of Florida,
Division of Emergency Management, FY 2019/20 Emergency Management Performance
Grant (EMPG), to reinstate and extend the term of the contract to September 30,
2020. (2020-2125)
Purchasing & Contracts
12.
Approve Work Order #15 (Limited Scope Remedial
Action Plan Implementation for the former Cumberland Farms Store #0980) under
PS-1998-18/RTB, Master Services Agreement for General Environmental Services
with E Sciences, Inc., of Orlando, in the amount of $234,013.32. (2020-2079)
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
County
Attorney’s Office Agenda Item #13
Bryant Applegate,
County Attorney, explained the Tax Collector is selling a vacant lot at 750
Orange Avenue, Parcel #16-21-29-501-0000-0670, in Altamonte Springs. It is on the agenda because the title company
will not issue title without the Board's approval of the sale, and he recommends
approval.
Commissioner Carey
stated she has no objection to the sale but did not see a closing statement in
the documents. The Commissioner inquired
of Mr. Applegate if he had seen a closing statement to see what the sale will
net, and Mr. Applegate responded he did not.
Motion by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Lockhart, to approve Agreement for Sale and Purchase of Property, for
vacant property located at 750 Orange Avenue, Altamonte Springs, Parcel
#16-21-29-501-0000-0670, in the amount of $800,000, between property owner
Seminole County Tax Collector and Flagship Companies Group, LLC. (2020-2130)
Under discussion, Chairman Carey stated
she would like Mr. Applegate to request a copy of the closing statement. Mr. Applegate advised he had a discussion
this morning with Acting Tax Collector Cynthia Torres, who was the assistant to
the former Tax Collector, and their legal counsel. He will distribute the closing statement to
all the Commission offices when it is received.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
WORK SESSIONS
Item #14 – 2020-2126
Annual Urban Bear Management Update
Mike Orlando, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
(FWC)
Mike Orlando, Bear Coordinator with the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, addressed the Board and
presented the Urban Bear Management Update (included in the Agenda Memorandum).
Chairman Zembower inquired since lockdown
due to COVID, has there been an increase or decrease in call volume of bear
sightings or complaints. Mr. Orlando
responded call volume was very low and opined it was due to people being home
and doing a lot of work on their homes and yards which kept bears away. However, since reopening, calls have started
to increase.
Commissioner Dallari commented the
recommendation in the presentation is that the eastern part of Oviedo will be
under the Bear Management Program, and he wants to make sure the Oviedo City
Council is the one actually helping dictate the boundaries. The Commissioner inquired if they have officially
taken a stance. Meloney Lung, Assistant
County Manager, responded they have. The Oviedo City Manager sent a letter, and
staff has made the change to the ordinance which will be presented at the July
28th meeting. Upon inquiry of
Commissioner Dallari, Mr. Orlando stated the FWC is supportive of anything the
County suggests or recommends in making sure people are paying attention to the
fact that they have bears and knowing the right things to do when they have
bears.
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Chairman Zembower recessed
the meeting at 3:17 p.m., reconvening at 3:31 p.m. Deputy Clerk Chariti Colon was replaced by Deputy Clerk Kyla
Farrell.
Item #15 – 2020-2127
Attainable Housing Strategic Plan Follow-up
Ms. Guillet
advised there are some references in the presentation to the mobility fee and
asked the Chairman if she should talk about that now or after the presentation,
and the Chairman advised to do it now because he isn’t sure it’s detailed
enough in the presentation for the public to understand the mobility fee
aspect.
Ms. Guillet noted
the presentation isn’t about the mobility fee but it is referenced and it may
generate some discussion. She stated the
mobility fee is scheduled to go before the Board on August 25. Staff started working on the mobility fee in
2018 as a replacement for the existing transportation impact fee. There have been a number of work sessions on
it, and there was also a mobility fee working group set up with staff members
from all of the cities to make sure that they were engaged. They worked out a system where a developer would
not be charged a mobility fee from the County and the City as well.
There has been a
lot of discussion on this with the Board and with staff. There was a Planning Commission meeting held
in July and the item was tabled by that commission. It is rescheduled to go back to that
commission in August and then before the Board.
Unfortunately, a lot of what is being discussed in the community is not
correct. There is a lot of misinformation
so she thought it would be good to talk a little bit about it. She would like to postpone action on it at
the August 25 meeting as well as any other fee revision that would burden
citizens or the business community. She
would like to postpone it for about six months and see what’s going on with
COVID-19 and make sure that the right information gets out into the
community. Ms. Guillet reviewed what a
mobility fee is and noted it is a way to make sure that taxpayers aren’t
burdened with infrastructure improvements.
She advised it is not a tax.
Discussion ensued.
It was determined
the direction from the Board to Ms. Guillet was to proceed as scheduled. Ms. Guillet stated staff is prepared to
proceed as scheduled. She explained
currently it is structured so that it would become effective January 1. She asked if there is interest of the Board
to adjust that or if they want to adjust it after the fact if they need
to. Mr. Applegate advised at the time of
the ordinance’s adoption, if the Board decides to adopt the mobility fee, they
can decide at that point at the conclusion of the public hearing what date they
want it to be effective.
Rebecca Hammock,
Development Services Director, presented Attainable Housing Strategic Plan
Follow-Up Work Session (received and filed).
Upon inquiry by
Chairman Zembower, Ms. Hammock confirmed Orange County, the City of Orlando,
and Osceola County are involved in the study.
Commissioner Dallari stated he knows they have various key stakeholders
but he wants to make sure they actually ask some residents as well for their
input. One thing he has been talking
about is the transportation element and how to define it. No one has been able to articulate what that
transportation element needs to be and at what distance it needs to be. He wants to make sure that they are
identifying what that definition is.
When they look at inclusionary zones, he wants to make sure they look at
how that’s going to be played out when it comes to transportation and that
those zones are in close proximity to transit.
Commissioner Dallari asked if staff has heard any input from the public
and advised he thinks they should be making presentations to the public. Ms. Hammock replied they could do that if
that’s what the Board wants.
Commissioner
Lockhart stated this is a complex topic and certainly information and input
from the public is great. Along with
asking for input from the public, she would hope they are also offering the
public the opportunity to give educated input so they know how all of these
different elements can ultimately benefit the affordable housing stock in the
community. Chairman Zembower suggested
they have a standing FAQ for each and every one of these issues that come along
that the public can access on the County’s website. Commissioner Carey stated the easiest way to
educate people who are interested is hearing from them and then responding back
to them.
Stakeholder
presentations began with Kody Glazer, Legal Director, Florida Housing Coalition
(presentation received and filed).
Commissioner
Lockhart expressed her concerns regarding inclusionary zoning. However, she does think there is some merit
to having a mixed product, and she is interested in how to incentivize
that. She asked how they can work with
the folks who are just in the marketplace in the regular for-profit realm to
make it a little bit more of a velvet sledgehammer. Mr. Glazer responded it is very important to
have a conversation at the very beginning about what kinds of incentives will
get people interested. A lot of tools
the local government has, they can waive:
things like density, parking, impact fees, even rezoning a piece of land
from agricultural to residential. It
starts with a conversation with the developers, knowing the numbers about the
cost of development locally, and knowing how much it would cost to build
affordable units. Commissioner Lockhart
stated when they talk about working with other organizations and non-profits,
the state college has just implemented a housing foundation and there’s an
opportunity to maybe do something cooperatively with them in the realm of
student housing and affordable housing on some property. She asked Mr. Glazer if he knew how
affordable housing and student housing might possibly live together. Mr. Glazer answered it depends whether or not
the college is willing to front the land or front some of the development cost;
it depends on the partnership.
Commissioner Lockhart asked if he knows of any other partnerships in the
region or in the state that would have an educational provider, someone in
higher education, partnering with local government to do that, and Mr. Glazer
responded he can do some research and get back with her. He discussed school boards using surplus land
for affordable housing.
Commissioner
Dallari asked if there are any examples in and around the state of Florida,
besides Seaside and Baldwin Park, that they should look at and would this also
promote student housing in neighborhoods.
Mr. Glazer stated it really depends on the geographic region what they
want it to be; they can exclude neighborhoods, have it just around mixed-use
corridors. It can be very flexible in
terms of where in the county they target these programs. In regard to examples besides Seaside and Baldwin
Park, Mr. Glazer discussed Lake Nona.
Commissioner
Carey stated when you look at Seminole County, there aren’t really any huge
tracts anymore to be available. While
nobody called it inclusionary zoning or affordable housing or attainable
housing, when they did Heathrow, there was every kind of housing variety there
from $110,000 condominiums to $3 million to $4 million homes. She thinks that’s how they used to develop
subdivisions and they have kind of gotten away from that, but the key is that
the incentive has to be appealing enough to really encourage the private developer
to want to do it. She added having all
the tools in their toolbelt is important moving forward to really reach their
goals.
Chairman Zembower
asked if Mr. Glazer has done any studies to see whether or not there is going
to be a greater need for affordable housing due to the impact of COVID-19. Mr. Glazer replied at the very early stage of
the pandemic when things were shut down quite a bit, housing construction did
swell. Florida has had an affordable
housing shortage for a while now, so one solid way to fix that is supply. They are looking at the number of new homes
being built while the pandemic is going on.
They are also keeping an eye on evictions and foreclosures.
Commissioner
Lockhart advised in a memo she had received May 3 from the County Attorney’s
Office, Mr. Applegate had recommended they pull together a chart of the
moderate-low, very-low, and extremely-low categories; a chart listing median
income, median price of homes, and the median price of one-, two-, three-, and
four-bedroom apartments; along with the starting salaries in Seminole County
for teachers, firefighters, nurses, law enforcement, and service industry
employees. She stated if they could get
that relevant information for Seminole County all on one chart, it would be helpful.
The next
stakeholder, Scott Culp, Atlantic Housing Partners, Inc. and Seminole County
AHAC Representative, provided his presentation (received and filed).
Chairman Zembower
asked Mr. Culp what the percentage is of seniors that take advantage of affordable
rental properties, and Mr. Culp replied they have a number of senior
communities in Florida and they are even part of the workforce. Mr. Culp continued, they see a lot of seniors
on fixed income and taking part-time jobs; and they are also a very strong
contributor to their communities.
Commissioner Dallari asked what the biggest mistakes are that Mr. Culp
is aware of so the County can be aware of them and not repeat them. Mr. Culp answered his biggest personal
mistake would be thinking that the housing solution for the workforce and
seniors was also a solution for the homeless and by providing housing you could
somehow solve some of that. He has
learned through difficult experiences that partnering with the social service
groups, and the people that know that well and those professionals, is
extremely important. The homeless issue
in Florida and all over the nation is a social services issue, it’s a mental
health issue, but it’s not really a housing issue. Commissioner Carey stated she really liked
the idea of calling it “capacity enhancement” because inclusionary zoning does
conjure up all kinds of ideas. The
incentives have got to be really meaningful or otherwise for-profit developers
are just not going to do it.
Commissioner Lockhart stated she was always under the impression that
developers did not like the phrase “capacity enhancement.” She may be looking for a different phrase
because one person’s phrase means something entirely different to another group
of people.
Chip Tatum, Chief
Executive Officer, and Lee Steinhauer, Government
Affairs & Legal Counsel, Apartment Association of Greater Orlando (AAGO),
presented their presentation (received and filed).
Commissioner
Constantine advised Chairman Zembower needed to leave. Commissioner Carey stated the federal
programs have so many requirements and restrictions on them and you have to
have the right location. All of the
demographics have to line up and you have to be able to find a site in that
area. She thinks that having the right
incentives to encourage people to do this is the most important part and having
those conversations with the people that provide that kind of services is how
they will understand what is most meaningful.
Commissioner Lockhart asked if Mr. Steinhauer would
agree that the single-family homebuilder has similar thoughts as the Apartment
Association, and Mr. Steinhauer answered he would
fully agree on the single-family side.
Commissioner Lockhart asked if he is tracking development in communities
where inclusionary zoning is in place since 7103. Mr. Steinhauer
replied they have not seen any good examples currently in regard to
inclusionary zoning ordinances that predate 7103, and they have not seen anyone
who has been able to satisfy 7103 effectively or any new inclusionary zonings
that didn’t predate 7103 being in affect; and Mr. Tatum agreed.
Kelly Pisciotta, Habitat for Humanity, discussed the Cost of Home
Coalition and its three goals. She
wanted to make sure the Board was aware they have a group of business people
who are working on this issue for over ten months at this point. There were no questions from the Board.
George St.
Pierre, Fidelity, was scheduled to present, but Ms. Hammock advised she
received an email from Mr. St. Pierre stating his laptop died. She informed him that there is a call-in
option, but they may need to move on to the next speaker. Commissioner Constantine advised Chairman
Zembower has returned.
Frankie Elliot,
VP of Government Affairs & Foundation Relations, Orlando Regional Realtor
Association, gave her presentation (received and filed). Commissioner Lockhart stated she didn’t
realize they didn’t have the Orlando Regional Realtors Association as a
stakeholder a part of the conversation.
Ms. Elliot replied Ms. Hammock has been great and she has had a great
working relationship with her and Mr. Tatum and Mr. Steinhauer. They always work together on these issues.
That concluded
the stakeholder presentations.
Ms. Hammock
reviewed Next Steps of the Attainable Housing Strategic Plan from her
presentation. She pointed out once they
finalize the strategic plan, staff will present it to the Board for acceptance
at an upcoming meeting.
Melody Frederick,
Community Services Compliance Officer, discussed HB 1339, Required Board
Appointment to Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. She advised it requires a Commissioner to
serve on the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee going forward. As part of that, the Commissioner who is
serving is required to participate in two work sessions each year, and the
participation in those work sessions can be tied to the SHIP funding, so if
there’s not participation from that member, the funds could potentially be
held. On top of that, there’s some additional
reporting and items that they’d have to provide as a result. At some point the Board will need to decide
who would like to serve on the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. Ms. Frederick indicated they have to have
that nomination of that person completed by October 1. Chairman Zembower stated he sat on that
committee before, and wondered if they still have somebody from Planning and
Zoning that sits on that committee. Ms.
Frederick answered they do, but the requirement for a Commissioner is in
addition to that person. Chairman Zembower
announced he is happy to serve on that committee if it’s the will of the Board,
but he’s also happy to let any others serve.
Commissioner
Carey stated she thinks they need to figure out a better name for inclusionary
zoning but that it is a good tool to have and a great tool to use to do an
overlay area where they really want to encourage redevelopment where there is
transportation. She added that the
incentives need to be the right incentives and the only way they’re going to
understand what they are today is to talk to the development community and
understand what really is meaningful.
They need to look at where they want development to occur. Commissioner Carey advised she doesn’t think
that they need a housing finance authority at this time because they have not
had any issues. It is important that
they try to make sure affordable housing is in areas where there are good
transportation options. Regarding impact
fee studies, she thinks they are doing that now. She thinks they should not be shortsighted on
looking for the amount of time they want to be affordable because that’s been
part of the problem. She shared her
opinion about linkage fees. The
Commissioner stated they’ve talked about this for a long time and it’s a hard
problem. It’s really not the homeless
issue; affordable and attainable housing is not the homeless-issue
solution. This is workforce. This is people that need to be able to live
here in our community and not have to commute.
Having a mix of price point and options, whether it be for rent product
along with for sale product and townhomes with single-family homes, that
provides the flexibility to provide a variety of housing options in one
location. Those are some of the things she
thinks they should focus on moving forward with.
Commissioner
Constantine noted on Next Steps, he believes staff needs to reach out to the
citizens and have a work session with the citizens because it’s their future
that they’re dealing with right now with affordable housing. Many of them have a misunderstanding of what
affordable housing, attainable housing, and workforce housing really is. They really need to get out front of
this. Commissioner Dallari agreed they
need to be educating the citizens and getting their input. He added there was a lot of great information
today and they need to move forward with it.
He thinks renaming some of the terms so they don’t have a negative
connotation would be the right thing to do.
He also wants to make sure citizens and realtors are involved.
Commissioner
Lockhart stated she is not as enamored by inclusionary zoning no matter what
they call it in its current form as presented.
Maybe if there’s some other way that it could be implemented on a
smaller scale or in a particular corridor that they identify, but she sees more
heartburn over that than hope. She is
not interested in charging impact fees for accessory dwelling units, she
doesn’t see any reason to go down that path.
Commissioner Lockhart inquired about the draft ordinance, and Ms. Hammock
stated the draft ordinances were originally provided as part of the work
session materials back in February. This
work session was just a follow-up with the industry experts and stakeholders,
but she did resend a copy of the draft strategic plan because one of the
offices asked for it. Ms. Hammock noted
there are no changes from the draft ordinance that was distributed in
February. Commissioner Lockhart is a
little concerned about waiting for feedback from the community at large on this
topic in order to move forward just because it is such a weedy topic. She loves hearing from industry experts and
stakeholders and other folks in the community that they can identify, but she
doesn’t know how they’re going to get feedback that’s necessarily usable for staff
in a short period of time that’s going to be able to be implemented just from
the general public. Chairman Zembower
stated he agrees pretty much with what his fellow Commissioners have said. He would like to see it move along and he’s
happy to participate in any community outreach meetings. The FAQs that they talked about would go a
long way in the public understanding what’s really going on. Commissioner Dallari noted his issue with
inclusionary zoning is how it would affect existing communities.
Chairman Zembower
asked Ms. Guillet if she is clear on what the Board wants and is looking for in
the way of informing the public in a quick, expedient, easy-to-follow format on
this topic. Ms. Guillet replied they will
figure it out. She added she is more
interested in Ms. Hammock understanding what it is because she will be doing
the heavy lifting. She commented she
thinks it’s a great idea to have current topics on the website and FAQs.
With regard to public participation, no
one in the audience spoke, and public input was closed; and the Chairman
adjourned the work session.
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Chairman Zembower noted the time and asked if the Board
would like to proceed with the next work session, and the Board decided to
proceed.
Item #16 – 2020-2128
Infrastructure Sales Tax Assessment
Phil Kutz, Jacobs Engineering
Phil Kutz, Program Manager, and Matt Lamb, Program Principal,
Jacobs Engineering, began a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Seminole County
Sales Tax Referendum Program Improvements – Update” (received and filed). Chairman Zembower asked if the projects that
are listed in the presentation are all sales tax projects, and Mr. Kutz answered they are projects that are listed in the
referendum, master plan, and defined as “not on the list.” There was an extensive question-and-answer
period between the Chariman and Mr. Kutz.
Commissioner
Carey stated the annual validation process is a critical piece of this. By having all of the projects loaded and
ready to go, including the 2040 plan, if they have excess dollars, they know
where to spend then and if they are short, they know what they need to do. Her main concern is that they make sure that
they get into the construction piece of what’s been committed in the third
generation and make sure they get first, second, and third generation done as
soon as possible. The Commissioner
expressed one of the big issues they’ve had is trying to get it pushed
out. Having mandatory procedures and
processes in one depository and being able to have everybody access it and get
any of the information is so important to the success of the project. It also eliminates a lot of redundancy. If the County Manager, Department Manager,
everybody in that department, and leadership don’t require the procedure to be
followed, it is going to fail.
Commissioner Carey stated she is glad to know that they can take Prolog
and run the various reports and whatever somebody might be asking for, but she
thinks it’s incumbent on the County Manager and the departments to make sure
that they have processes, procedures, protocols, training, and mentoring. She thinks they need the integrated process
to make sure they have the experts to get that done.
Commissioner
Dallari stated they need to make sure when changes are made, people have the
right access capabilities so that not just anyone can change numbers. He discussed congestion management. He advised part of the water and sewer
project was a water-wheeling project on how to move water from one side of the
county to another, and he wants to make sure they’re only ripping up the road
once and that they’re taking advantage of the road or corridor once they go
into construction. Mr. Kutz replied he spoke with the Environmental Services
director regarding prioritization.
Upon inquiry by
Commissioner Lockhart, Mr. Kutz discussed P6 and
Prolog. Commissioner Lockhart asked who
ultimately is going to be able to determine whether or not external resources
are qualified, hired, and brought on board.
Mr. Kutz answered the external resources are
the consultants. Any other external
resources are teams they already have in place, like external design managers
and local engineering firms that are doing the design work as well as CEI
services; they are already existing contracts.
They then discussed ten FTEs and who was responsible for filling those
positions. Ms. Guillet stated
Commissioner Lockhart’s concerns are related to the project management side and
not the program management side. It’s a
little bit different, and that’s going to get absorbed into this. They were having some challenges and maybe
some disagreement as to who was qualified and who wasn’t, but it was a
different circumstance than what they’re talking about right now. Commissioner Lockhart confirmed with Ms.
Guillet that they shouldn’t encounter those challenges with this. Commissioner Lockhart noted she agrees with
Commissioner Dallari regarding congestion being heavily weighted in
prioritization moving forward. She likes
that they are proposing to utilize SharePoint because she thinks it is a great
tool and easily accessible for everyone.
She asked when the contract with Jacobs expires. Jean Jreij,
Environmental Services Director, answered they have two contracts with
Jacobs. One will expire in December 2020
and the other will expire April 2021. He
noted it shouldn’t impact the rollout of anything because they will issue work
orders and advertise for a new contract.
Discussion ensued.
Commissioner
Carey stated having seamless continuity in these programs is extremely
important because getting the program rolled out is the primary purpose of
hiring a consultant to start with. She
asked how many design teams they have, and Mr. Jreij
answered they have five consultants and that contract expires at the end of the
year. They just advertised and selected
six to go to the Board for approval at the next meeting.
Commissioner
Carey advised her opinion is Option 2 is the best way to move forward and
discussed why.
With regard to public participation,
no one in the audience spoke, and public input was closed.
Chairman Zembower
asked if staff was clear on direction.
Ms. Guillet replied she would like to hear clearly from the Board if
they want staff to move forward as recommended which is Option 2. Chairman Zembower advised they are not going
to take a vote on it, they will just give consensus of where they are at. He stated he doesn’t have a problem with the
recommendation, but he would like to see a little more detail on Option 2. Commissioner Dallari agreed with Chairman
Zembower. Commissioner Lockhart agreed
with Option 2. Commissioner Constantine
stated he is okay with Option 2, but he would also like a lot more information. Chairman Zembower asked if whoever needs to
can supply the additional information that is being requested. Ms. Guillet answered they will. She explained she is going to work with staff
and Jacobs and they will move in the direction of Option 2. While they are moving in that direction, they
will get with everyone who needs more information just so they can make sure
everybody is on the same page, but it sounds like conceptually everybody is
there.
Chairman Zembower
stated he doesn’t care to know how the process works, how the program works,
who designed it, how to look it up, or anything like that. He wants to see some numbers on what the
investment is, what the return on that investment is for the number of projects
that are getting pushed out, and the time frame. This is going to be an expensive undertaking
so he needs to have a comfort level on what the cost at the end of the day is
going to be versus what actually gets pushed out the door and gets done. Ms. Guillet stated perhaps they could take
the next couple of weeks and bring something back for more of a formal blessing
on July 28.
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Listing of Speakers and Final Registrants received and filed.
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There being no further business to come before the Board, the Chairman
declared the meeting adjourned at 7:42 p.m., this same date.
ATTEST:____________________________Clerk____________________________Chairman
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