BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA
FEBRUARY 25, 2014
The following is a non-verbatim transcript of the BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING OF
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA, held at 9:30 a.m., on Tuesday, February 25, 2014,
in Room 1028 of the SEMINOLE COUNTY
SERVICES BUILDING at SANFORD,
FLORIDA, the usual place of meeting of said Board.
Present:
Chairman Robert Dallari (District 1)
Vice Chairman Brenda Carey (District 5)
Commissioner John Horan (District 2)
Commissioner Lee Constantine (District 3)
Commissioner Carlton Henley (District 4)
Clerk of Circuit Court Maryanne Morse
County Manager Jim Hartmann
County Attorney Bryant Applegate
Deputy Clerk Erin Leben
Reverend
Wayne Thomas, GracePointe Church of the Nazarene, Sanford, gave the Invocation.
Commissioner
Carey led the Pledge of Allegiance.
BUSINESS
SPOTLIGHT
The
Business Spotlight video for Power Grid Engineering, LLC, was presented.
AWARDS AND PRESENTATIONS
Valmarie
Turner, Community Services Director, addressed the Board to present the Audrey
Nelson Community Development Achievement Award to Ellen Parcell. The Community Services Department recommended
and nominated the Heart to Heart Program for all their hard work and their
efforts. Community Services partnered
with Heart to Heart in 2011 and 2012 to help rehabilitate a facility for
low-income women and children. She said
Community Services thought it was such a wonderful project that they chose to
nominate them for this award.
Ms. Turner
stated that this award is given to agencies that do exemplary work with
Community Development Block Grant money.
The award was named after Audrey Nelson, the first Deputy Executive
Secretary of the NCDA.
Ms. Turner
said one of the reasons they decided to nominate Heart to Heart is not only
because of what they do, but because of the heart behind what they do. Seminole County made national headlines as it
relates to homelessness in 2011. There
are a number of nonprofits that work through the Continuum of Care who do an
excellent and wonderful job. She added
that Heart to Heart has done a lot for the young women and children involved in
the program.
Ellen
Parcell, President & CEO of Heart to Heart, addressed the Board to state
they have fulfilled the obligation of the grant that the Board of County
Commissioners awarded. She said they
rehabilitated six free-standing apartments and houses with the grant money. The project itself was $27,400, but they were
able to get an additional $5,000 through BB&T, $3,000 of which they used to
make really great swing sets for the play yards, and $2,500 was donated and
used for in-kind services.
Ms.
Parcell advised that Heart to Heart is a nonprofit organization serving Central
Florida since 1992 and they are dedicated to the needs of homeless and
low-income women and children overcoming abuse issues. Many of the women have had felonies, drug and
alcohol addictions, and are now in recovery.
The program helps women become self sufficient and able to live in this
community independently. She added they
reunite the children with their mothers, provide housing, professional case
management and support, and they invest in their future with education and
employment. She stated all of the women
in the program are working within the first four weeks of starting the
program. She added that the grants, such
as the CDBG and NSP, are key to ending homelessness in the community because
it’s only through housing that they can actually offer stability to the
families in the program.
Ms.
Parcell stated Heart to Heart likes to think of themselves as fulfilling the
national objective for low-income persons including those with special needs
and disabilities. There are quite a few
children in the program who are wheelchair-bound and have special needs. The housing they provide is a sound
investment socially and economically in the community. They feel it is the first step to providing
safety for the families, relieving emotional and financial stress in their
lives, and helping to support the independence of the family through their
program.
Ms.
Parcell advised that 100 percent of the women in the Heart to Heart Program
have experienced severe losses, mental illness, abuse, violence, along with
living in poverty and some have legal issues.
She stated the average age of the women is 29 and of the children is 6
years. She stated the project provides
safe, stable and economic housing, and 100 percent of the families have food,
transportation, and healthcare. All of
the women are working and in the job force with appropriate childcare. She stated 70 percent of the women in the
program are in school, 10 percent are getting their GED, and the other 60
percent are getting a certificate in allied arts, health, or a college
degree. There are women in the program
attending Rollins College, Seminole State College and the University of Central
Florida.
Ms.
Parcell stated 100 percent of the women are poised to be independent and
financially self-sufficient. It is only
through housing that the family has stability, while education and jobs are the
way out of poverty. The PowerPoint Presentation
was received & filed.
Ms.
Parcell thanked the Board for the funding they have committed so they can do
the work to end the poverty and homelessness that is so pervasive.
Commissioner
Carey stated she has had the honor to work closely with Ms. Parcell over the
years. She said she remembers when Ms.
Parcell took over Heart to Heart and commended her on doing a great job. She thanked Ms. Parcell for making a
difference in the lives of the women and children participating in the program.
Ms.
Parcell stated she thinks it is really important that people are making such an
incredible difference in this country regarding homelessness. She is hoping to partner up again with Ms.
Turner and the County to implement some larger projects that can help sustain
this effort nationally.
Ms.
Parcell introduced Joan Randolph, Chairman; Danny Williams, Vice Chairman; and
Bruce Provonost, Treasurer of Heart to Heart.
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Valmarie
Turner displayed a video about the new campaign “Rethink Homelessness” for the
Homeless Plan Program.
Ms. Turner
displayed a PowerPoint Presentation (received & filed) and stated in January
of 2013, they kicked off the Seminole County Homeless Prevention Program. She said within that short time, they have
had over 885 applicants. As of January
30, 2014, they have housed 102 families.
Of those families, 101 of them have received utility allowance, 98 have
also received emergency housing vouchers, which allow them to live in a hotel
temporarily to get them off of the streets.
She added there are an additional 10 families that have been approved
for the program and they are working toward housing for them. There have been 603 families that have been
denied, which is the same number they had at the last report. There are 170 that are currently on the
waiting list. She stated everyone on the
waiting list or who has been denied has received some type of service or
referral. Out of the 102 housed, there
are 9 families that have exited the program; they either did not participate or
fulfill their obligations. There are
four households that have successfully completed the program and there are 89
families currently active.
Ms. Turner
stated they have expended about $530,000.
Their balance is $877,000, of which there is $551,000 currently
encumbered by the leases they have for the 89 families. There is a balance of $340,000. Ms. Turner stated they have been partnering
with Harvest Time International (HTI).
She said the Board was clear about wanting $450,000, a 1:2 match for the
$900,000 of General Fund. To date,
they’ve only expended $130,000.
Ms. Turner
stated they have been working with Harvest Time and they have some areas of
concern, particularly as it relates to the intensive case management. She stated they have HTI on a 90-day work
plan and they are working with them on a viable leverage plan.
Ms. Turner
stated with the remaining $340,000 that they have unencumbered, she would like
to extend the current agreement to August of 2015. She stated she has some budget adjustments,
but they are not asking for any additional General Fund dollars. She would like to increase the Case Management
line item from $298,000 to $408,000 and the utility and emergency housing
vouchers by $5,000 each. They are going
to remove the $100,000 in that particular contract for training and will handle
that program internally. They are going
to increase the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance budget line by $65,000, which
will be coming from HOME funds. Staff is
working with them to include additional community partners. They are currently partnering with Rescue
Outreach Mission and SafeHouse for the $50,000 in emergency shelter funds.
Upon
inquiry by Chairman Dallari, Ms. Turner stated the $100,000 intended for
training funds was CSBG money and they handle that program in her
department. She advised there was a
separate program they’ve been working with and they would be covering the cost
of internal training completely by grant dollars.
Ms. Turner
displayed the new recommended budget and stated that Tenant-Based Rental
Assistance would be approximately $837,000; Case Management would increase to
$408,000; utility assistance and the emergency housing vouchers both increase
by $5,000. She said there would still be
$50,000 for emergency shelter and they still have the leverage of
$450,000. Ms. Turner displayed a map
showing the locations of the current housing.
She stated there are 89 families currently housed.
Ms. Turner
stated that Windy Maldonado, one of the graduates from the program, wanted to
thank the Board in person, but was unable to attend today.
Commissioner
Horan stated he feels putting more funding into case management was anticipated
because when they originally came up with the approach of taking $1.3 million
of the County’s money and trying to address the problem of homelessness, they
discussed what they wanted to prioritize first and case management was
discussed, but they ultimately settled on housing. He feels their approach is intelligent and he
is glad they’ve made those particular adjustments. He commended staff on doing a tremendous job.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Constantine, Ms. Turner stated that 154 children are
currently housed.
Commissioner
Carey stated she is the representative on the Central Florida Regional
Commission on Homelessness and they have studied this very extensively. She stated that housing the applicants is the
first step to a solution. They are all
moving in the same direction in the region, but Seminole County is moving
faster than some of the other regional partners. She said she told Mr. Hillenmeyer, Chairman
of the Board, they have to expend their dollars because they have dates and
deadlines on them and if they don’t get that pushed out into the community,
then they have a chance of losing those federal dollars. She commended Ms. Turner and her team on
doing a great job and said she is looking forward to continuing to work with
their community partners.
Commissioner
Henley stated he thinks with the leadership that has been provided, the
community has rallied to attempt to meet the challenges faced, using programs
like the Red Bag Program. He feels the priority
has to be getting them off the streets and out of their cars and motels and
into housing. He thinks the resources
are being used wisely. He commended Ms.
Turner and her crew for the efforts they are putting forward.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Constantine, Ms. Turner stated they have been
monitoring the Harvest Time International contract and have been working with
them closely. She stated they put some
of their concerns relating to case management in writing. She stated homeless people require seasoned
case managers that are very well-versed in the community and in the resources
that are available in the community. She
said they have had some very strong conversations with Harvest Time
International and they are on a corrective action plan. She stated Pastor John Murphy has committed to
working through those issues. Ms. Turner
said if she sees where they are not doing the job appropriately, she will
request the contract be terminated.
Pastor
John Murphy, Harvest Time International, addressed the Board to state there is
a big learning curve in this program and Ms. Turner and her staff have
constantly given them great advice and direction. He stated they are working hard and they want
to see the program succeed as much as everyone.
He stated they now know what is expected of them and they are going to
give it their best shot to make sure it is right.
Commissioner
Carey stated there is a big demand now for seasoned case managers. She stated she believes they have to find the
right people and get them proper training so they can help these homeless
people. She stated case management is
important, but rapid housing has to be the first step to even get that
started.
Chairman
Dallari stated it is important to get people off the streets, back to work, and
into the mainstream of life. He said one
of the ways they do that is by trying to leverage dollars with private and
not-for-profit organizations. He thanked
Pastor Murphy for his help.
Pastor
Murphy stated that when they entered the contract, they thought they could use
certain things for leverage, but found out later some of those things weren’t
acceptable because some of the people they wanted to collaborate with for that
leverage were receiving dollars from the government. He stated they have learned how to add to
that and believes at the next report, the Board will see a significant
change. He said they have all the
confidence that they can more than meet that leverage.
Nora
Washington addressed the Board to state this program has helped her a lot. She said due to an injury, she resided with
her daughter for assistance. She stated
her doctor advised her she likely wouldn’t work for about a year. Someone told her about the program and it
helped her get an apartment. She thanked
the Board for the program, as it has helped her a lot.
Commissioner
Carey stated success stories like Ms. Washington’s are the reason they support
people that live in this community. She
stated they need to work at all levels including the federal government to try
to streamline the process. She said she
knows they have to be careful because there are a lot of people who would abuse
the system, but there are a lot of people who truly need the assistance.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Carey, Ms. Turner stated she will add the agreement to
the consent agenda for the next Board meeting.
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Commissioner
Constantine stated he knows the members of the Board are big supporters of the
University of Central Florida (UCF) and it is wonderful to have the hometown university’s
coach with them today. He stated it was
a great honor to read the resolution. He
was asked to do some research on the university’s numbers relating to Seminole
County and said that one tenth of the students at UCF are from Seminole County
and 21,000 graduates live in Seminole County.
Motion by Commissioner Constantine,
seconded by Commissioner Carey, to adopt appropriate Resolution #2014-R-49, as
shown on page ______, congratulating the University of Central Florida and the
UCF Knights football team, under the leadership of Coach George O’Leary and
Athletic Director Todd Stansbury, on their outstanding season.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
Coach
George O’Leary displayed a video and addressed the Board thanking them for the
resolution. He stated the people who
should be here to accept it are the assistant coaches, support staff and
players. He thanked the Board for
everything they do for UCF and stated the resolution will be displayed in their
trophy room.
Commissioner
Constantine stated it was an honor being a UCF graduate and that he looks
forward to going to Ireland with UCF later in the year to open up the season.
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Nina
Chatham, Chairman for Wekiva Paint Out, and Mary Weinaug, Co-Chair, addressed
the Board to present information about their event. She stated they are strong supporters of
Seminole County and added Ms. Weinaug is the owner of Wekiva Island and has
lived in Seminole County the majority of her life.
Ms.
Chatham said they specifically supported the county for this event by
partnering with the Hampton Inn in Altamonte Springs, and their artists will be
staying there Friday and Saturday nights of the event.
Ms.
Chatham stated this is the 8th Annual Wekiva Paint Out that benefits
the Wekiva Wilderness Trust and Keep Seminole Beautiful. She said the trust supports the State Park
and Keep Seminole Beautiful organizes river and road cleanups all over the
county.
Ms.
Chatham said the Paint Out is a plein air event, which means painting in plain
air outside. The plein air movement
originated in France, and they feel it is a perfect way to foster a
relationship between people and the environment. She stated there will be 35 artists joining
them this year, both local and from around the country. She said many of the artists teach painting
to other artists and many are award winners, including last year’s National
PleinAir Salon Award Winner. She added
this is becoming known as a national show and they are humbled and grateful.
Ms.
Chatham stated they house and provide food for all the artists all week long
thanks to donations from sponsors, the majority of which are in Seminole
County. She said the gallery is set up
and all major events take place at Wekiva Island. The artists are predominantly housed in the
State Park in the cabins and others stay at the Hampton Inn. She added the artists paint in and around the
park, Wekiva Island, and up and down the river.
The event is from March 3rd through March 8th, and
the artists arrive on the 2nd and depart on the 9th. She said the purpose of their event is to
bring awareness to the protected Wekiva River and support the two nonprofits.
Ms.
Chatham stated when the artists arrive in town on Sunday, they have an artists’
welcome dinner that’s catered by Caffe Positano. She said on Tuesday there is a live
auction. Friday they are partnering with
Seminole Harley Davidson for a ride from their location to Wekiva Island, and
Saturday at noon there is a quick draw event where local artists paint and
compete for prizes. Saturday night they
have a gala that is catered by Carabba’s.
They will also be offering painting demonstrations, workshops, and
environmental lectures. Also, on
Thursday morning they will be hosting a group from the Village on the Green.
Ms.
Chatham said that Wekiva Island, Wayne Densch, Graffiti Junktion, Hark
Productions, Adjectives Market, Advanced Demolition, Heart of Wekiva Cleaners,
All Benefit Auctions, Lake Mary Healthy Living, Fleet Financial, Skip’s, and
Without a Paddle Café are all additional sponsors specifically from Seminole
County.
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Chairman Dallari recessed the BCC
meeting at 10:21 a.m. and convened as the U.S. Highway 17-92 Community
Redevelopment Agency.
U.S. HWY
17-92 CRA
Sonia
Nordelo, U.S. 17-92 CRA Program Manager, addressed the Board to present the
request to approve a U.S. 17-92 CRA Redevelopment and
Construction Grant Agreement with the City of Winter Springs for
Gateway/Streetscape improvements at U.S. 17-92 and Florida Avenue in the amount
of $765,000; to approve the associated Resolution implementing Budget Amendment
Request (BAR) #14-039 appropriating $133,905 in the fund balance revenue and
providing the balance of $631,095 from U.S. 17-92 CRA Fund reserves (Contingency
Projects $400,000; Capital Improvements $158,316 and Development Grants $72,779);
to approve request from the City of Winter Springs in the amount of
$485,000 for the SR 434 Gateway/Streetscape project; and to adopt the
associated Resolution implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #14-038
providing funding from U.S. 17-92 CRA Fund reserves (Contingency Projects
$175,000 and Development Grant $310,000).
Steven
Richart, City of Winter Springs Community Development Department, addressed the
Board to state both projects that Ms. Nordelo presented will help achieve the
goals and objectives of the CRA Master Plan by eliminating blight, reversing
decline and encouraging other economic development.
Mr.
Richart displayed a PowerPoint Presentation (received & filed) and advised
that the SR 434 project features decorative asphalt treatments at the
intersection of U.S. 17-92 and SR 434 as well as safety enhancements. He said it will bring the crosswalks up to
full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. There will also be roadway and median
beautification, and wide sidewalks, which will enhance pedestrian mobility and
safety, and it is budgeted at $485,000.
Mr.
Richart displayed a photograph depicting the site and stated it was a blighted
area that is dated and not pedestrian-friendly.
Mr.
Richart displayed an aerial photograph that depicts a concept overview of the
project area. He said they will have
thermoplastic coating on the intersection of SR 434 and U.S. 17-92 to give an
enhanced safety effect as well as a beautification effect. There will also be gateway landscaping
heading towards the City of Winter Springs.
In addition, there will be a gateway monument, preferably in the median.
Mr.
Richart displayed an aerial photograph depicting the thermoplastic coating on
the intersection and brick pavers on the sidewalks. He said they need to meet with the Department
of Transportation (DOT) to work out the approvals on several aspects of the
project, but he thinks they will be fine.
He expects the gateway monument will be the issue. He said they are planning to design a
breakaway monument that will meet their speed ratings in the median, so it will
have an aluminum powder coat that will look similar to brick.
Mr.
Richart displayed a photograph depicting the eastbound view coming from U.S.
17-92 into the City saying there will be a monument in the center with trees
and landscaping, and on the sides, there will be minor monuments. He stated they have selected an engineering
company to help them with the project and assist them in meeting DOT’s
requirements for the monument.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Carey, Mr. Richart stated they have had preliminary
discussions with County staff and DOT, and until they go into the engineering
phase of this project, they are not able to “nail things down.”
Upon
inquiry by Chairman Dallari, Brett Blackadar, County Engineer, stated he has
not looked at this project in any detail.
He said because these are two state roads, they will have to defer to
DOT on what they would and would not allow for U.S. 17-92 and SR 434. He stated DOT changes the standards often on
what they do and do not allow on the right-of-ways. He thinks the monument and the brick pavers
will be a challenge because typically they do not allow structures on the
right-of-ways.
Commissioner
Horan stated he thinks they can do a lot of streetscape improvements without
the monument. He said they discussed it
at the RPA and it was a concern.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Henley, Mr. Richart stated they are anxious to move
forward with the project, but it isn’t something they can work through if there
were more questions. He stated right now
they have over 10 feet available in that median for a monument. They had discussed potentially widening the
median slightly for more space. If DOT
doesn’t allow them to put the monument on the median, their plan is to
negotiate an easement just off of the right-of-way for the monument. He stated their preference is the median
because it captures the traffic going eastbound and westbound. If they go into an easement off of the
right-of-way, then they have an issue of then needing two monuments. He stated with projects like this, there is
no way of knowing what you’re getting into before you get to the engineering
phase.
Commissioner
Henley stated the area by the Fifth Third Bank on SR 434 is beautifully
landscaped and he would hate to see that torn down for something else.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Henley, Mr. Blackadar stated Florida Avenue is the County’s
roadway, but he wasn’t sure if it was on the five-year program for paving or if
it was one of the items that was going to be considered for the one-cent sales
tax. He stated if it is on their
maintenance list, it will be paved at some point.
Upon inquiry
by Commissioner Henley, Mr. Richart stated Florida Avenue is a county road and
they had intended to ask for a maintenance agreement from the County to take
care of that. He stated there have 138
residential homes going in adjacent to Florida Avenue. He also stated that in the permitting of
those 138 homes, he does not believe their development order requires them to
improve the roadway. He said they are
installing an entranceway to the subdivision, sidewalks and landscaping.
Mr.
Richart stated in this area of U.S. 17-92, there will be a 78 percent increase
of traffic by 2015. Winter Springs has
future plans to do more development in that area adjacent to the Winter Springs
Golf Course. He added that Florida
Avenue needs to be repaved. They would
like to install a stormwater management system, large sidewalks, curb and
gutter. He said the area is currently
neglected and they would like to put a decorative fence and monument at the
corner of the Mitsubishi auto dealership.
They would also like to come out onto U.S. 17-92 and landscape the
medians and bring that area “up to snuff” with other areas of the corridor in
Sanford and in Casselberry.
Mr.
Richart displayed a photograph showing the appearance of the site today. He stated there is nothing in the medians
indicating there is any kind of beautification effort and that Florida Avenue
has been neglected for some time. There
are about 60 homes back in that area off of Florida Avenue.
Mr.
Richart displayed a photograph depicting the changes they would like to
make. He stated that depending on what
DOT will allow, they can do thermoplastic treatments which seem to be lasting
quite a long time. They will be
requesting a left turn out of Florida Avenue onto U.S. 17-92 from DOT. He said they’re not very receptive, so they
might continue with the right turn; however due to the projected increase in
traffic, someday it might be warranted.
Mr.
Richart stated that regarding the medians, no other city has taken up the task
of redeveloping the medians and Winter Springs would like to do that. There are a total of 14 medians on U.S. 17-92
between SR 434 and Shepherd Road. He
believes their effort along with the support of the County will start to spur
redevelopment all throughout this part of the corridor.
Mr.
Richart displayed a map indicating the position of the monument to Florida
Avenue and the Mitsubishi dealership.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Carey, Mr. Richart stated they do not have an easement
yet. They’ve already had some
preliminary meetings with Mitsubishi and the other commercial property across
the street.
Mr.
Richart displayed a picture of what the decorative fence on Florida Avenue will
look like and said they want to filter the view of the dealership.
Chairman
Dallari stated the dealerships they have dealt with before in Seminole County
are usually hesitant to accept landscaping that’s going to be high enough to
block their product. Mr. Richart stated
it would be a point of negotiation.
Commissioner Carey stated that birds and maintenance are also an issue.
Mr.
Richart stated currently on Florida Avenue they are unloading their cars into
the dirt right-of-way, and they plan to put in three or four parallel parking
spaces to the side of the road where there will be a place for people to unload
their vehicles as well as parking. There
will be benches along the sidewalk, street lighting to increase safety, which
will bring up the whole area and make it more usable. Mr. Richart said that if possible, they would
also like to put the overhead power lines underground.
Commissioner
Carey stated that typically if a development is going to be the impact, then
they require the developer to make those improvements if they are the biggest
impact to the road. She felt like the
City of Winter Springs is asking for CRA money to enhance a developer’s
product.
Mr.
Richart advised that the City of Winter Springs has been paying into the CRA
since it was started. He stated they are
not supplementing any money for this project.
Commissioner
Carey stated that by the end of the CRA, the City of Winter Springs will have
paid about $1 million into it. They have
already gotten $584,000 and they are currently asking for $1.2 million. She stated she doesn’t have a problem
supporting a project, but feels they don’t know if they can even do the project
because they haven’t gotten to the engineering aspect. She suggested if they need to do the
engineering first, maybe the City of Winter Springs can invest the money in the
engineering to understand what they’re able to do. She said she feels this project is premature.
Commissioner
Constantine agreed with Commissioner Carey as far as this project being premature. He wants to do everything he can to help the
City of Winter Springs and thinks their concept is admirable. He feels they are trying to tie up the money
before it gets allocated someplace else and thinks a lot of the ideas need to
be put together more tightly; the City of Winter Springs and the developer need
to put together how much they are going to contribute and bring a workable
package back to the CRA and the BCC.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Carey, Mr. Blackadar stated that these projects were not
on the list the County received from the City of Winter Springs for projects
they wanted considered for the one-cent sales tax.
Commissioner
Carey stated she agrees with Commissioner Constantine that they want to do what
they can in the County to enhance the County’s appearance. She would be supportive of a project for SR
434 rather than Florida Avenue since SR 434 gets more attention than Florida
Avenue.
Upon
inquiry by Chairman Dallari, Mr. Blackadar stated there is no reason why they
can’t do the whole intersection rather than half.
Chairman
Dallari stated one of the things the Board has always prided themselves on is
not doing things piecemeal. He said when
looking at an intersection, road or project, this Board has always gone to the
next step to ensure it’s done right so they don’t have to go back. He feels if they are doing an intersection,
they should do all four corners instead of just a piece of it. He advised that even though there are two
jurisdictions, there are ways to complete it and feels they need to look at it
holistically.
Commissioner
Horan stated this discussion identifies a structural problem they have with the
U.S. 17-92 CRA. He said it is true that
Winter Springs and the other partners have been paying into the fund for a number
of years and there is money in the fund right now. He said there aren’t standards as to when
they come and get the money, what kind of projects they are supposed to have,
and the stage at which those projects are supposed to progress before they apply
for the money. He said he was unsure of
what those particular standards are and what they apply to in terms of
allocating money, but this demonstrates a number of the problems that have been
identified in the master plan by the Miller Sellen firm as to whether or not
this particular CRA should be localized and compartmentalized in such a way so
that the money is being spent where it is generated.
Commissioner
Horan stated he agrees with the comments made by the Commissioners, but in
fairness to the applicants, the County needs to establish some sort of criteria
as far as how they are going to look at these things. He stated the City of Winter Springs has put
a lot of work into these projects. He
said he was unsure whether or not they did the right thing with the developer,
as he was not there, didn’t review the development agreements, and doesn’t know
what kind of a development it was. He
said he is not sure there is a way of undoing that right now. He stated regarding that particular housing
project, he feels it is going to open up a nice gateway in that area and will
improve and certainly enhance the property values in that area. He stated he knows for some time the City of
Winter Springs has wrestled with the issue of what to do with that golf course. He said he knows this would also be a
catalyst for commercial development.
Commissioner
Henley commended the City of Winter Springs on beginning to look to try to
improve this area. He said this
situation has been there a long time and didn’t happen overnight. He stated this highlights the need to go back
and revisit the County’s policies. He
advised most of the CRA money that has been spent has gone for landscaping,
signs, and mast arms, none of which created any new developments coming in or any
new capital projects to bring in new people, which is the goal of the CRA. He feels they need to set some priorities.
Commissioner
Henley said he hopes the City of Winter Springs can go back and revisit some of
this and work with Mr. Blackadar since he hasn’t been involved at all. He stated there are three possibilities for
dealing with this project.
Commissioner
Carey stated she feels that if the City of Winter Springs would have had their
engineering department talking to the County Engineer, they might have been
able to have a project that came forward to do a complete decorative wayfinding
approach to that intersection. She said
the County is looking at Lake Mary Boulevard and the other intersections that
come up CR 427. As far as what they
require to come before them, she is unsure she’s ever had a request as a CRA
member that wasn’t very specific; they are usually very detailed and their
policy does require that before granting any money.
Commissioner
Carey stated she would like to see a plan that everybody is on board with. She said she doesn’t want to allocate $1.2
million when they just discussed at the last meeting about needing to look at
infrastructure to get something to really happen.
Commissioner
Constantine stated he feels the County needs to start emphasizing public
infrastructure in the CRA and allow the applicants to concentrate more on the
landscaping, doing it themselves, whether it is private or public. He said he loves the idea of the CRA and the
cities along that CRA trying to figure out the major intersections and coming
up with a plan. He said the different
cities might want different things, but the economy of scale in putting that
together will result in better prices.
Commissioner
Carey stated if the goal is to do wayfinding signs, it’s supposed to be
consistent.
Commissioner
Constantine stated that cities might want variations to the entryways, but
there would be an economy of scale potential that they could put together.
Chairman
Dallari stated he feels the City of Winter Springs has done a phenomenal job
presenting the projects to the Board. He
said they need more information and feels there will be support from the Board
once they have a better understanding.
He thinks the first step in getting this started is to apply for
engineering dollars to do the engineering aspect of it so they can actually see
holistically how the full intersection is going to look and what they will
need.
Commissioner
Horan stated they must be mindful that these projects are consistent with the master
plans that have already been approved for the CRA and the refinement of those
master plans that were done by the Miller Sellen firm that identified the
catalyst areas. He stated that if they
are going to execute these projects and they are on the master plan, they
should tell the cities or the developers the better way to go about it. He said in this situation there are so many
imponderables that he isn’t sure they have the right budget at all. He stated if the engineering is done first,
they can then identify whether there are other funding sources.
Commissioner
Horan added that they know they need infrastructure on Hwy 17-92 in order to
promote development. He stated this is
frustrating, but it is an evolving process.
He said he agrees with the Chairman that there will be support, but he understands
the other commissioners’ concerns about whether or not they are really putting
the right dollars in the right place at the right time because there are so
many imponderables.
Commissioner
Carey stated she does not have a problem allocating $50,000 for engineering to
look at the SR 434 intersection today so they can at least start moving that
forward. She does not think the Florida
Avenue idea will benefit a lot of people.
She believes that building the community alone will start to change the complexion
and makeup of that roadway. She stated
if the City of Winter Springs would like to talk about taking over the
maintenance of that from the County, that is something the County Engineer
could discuss. She said she supports a
$50,000 engineering allocation to the SR 434 intersection because she’d like
the intersection to be looked at so they know what can be done. She suggested they direct staff to work with
the Cities of Winter Springs and Longwood.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Henley, Mr. Richart stated they had hired VHB Miller
Sellen to do engineering work and their approval to move forward was based on
this being approved today.
Chairman
Dallari agreed with Commissioner Carey that the whole intersection needs to be
looked at. He said he knows a portion of
it may not be in the CRA, but they need to figure out how to make that happen.
Commissioner
Carey said she feels that regarding the $50,000 she is suggesting, that between
working with Seminole County staff, City of Winter Springs staff and their
consultant, she believes they could get the entire intersection looked at and
get DOT to buy in also. She stated that
undergrounding utilities are a lot of money and believes that’s why most people
haven’t done it.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Carey, Mr. Richart stated he thinks the $50,000 she is
suggesting is fine. He said their
numbers are based on doing both projects with the same firm.
Mr.
Richart stated the Shepherd Road project the Board approved in 2011 was for
$535,000. He said they followed the
exact same format that was given today, but as they continued, DOT changed
requirements. He said things will change
throughout the entire process and it’s impossible to know what will happen.
Mr.
Richart stated Meritage Homes became interested in buying property that was for
sale off of Shepherd Road because of that project. He said that will bring $33 million in
taxable value to the City of Winter Springs and Seminole County. There are seven parcels involved in last
year’s tax bill and it totaled $19,965.
When it’s built out and on the tax rolls, it’s $660,000. He added most of that goes back into the CRA.
Mr.
Richart said the Board brought up some good issues. He stated they see these as seed projects to
spur other redevelopment. They had a
3,100 percent increase in taxes coming in from the Shepherd Road project
because of the $535,000 investment that the CRA made into them.
Commissioner
Horan stated when they extend Florida Avenue, there is a right-of-way that
would connect and also open up more development along the golf course because
it connects Florida Avenue.
Mr.
Richart advised their long-term plan is to continue Florida Avenue around the
golf course to SR 434.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Carey, Mr. Richart stated the golf course does have a
conservation easement over it. It is one
of their hurdles, but not something they can’t get around.
Upon
further inquiry by Commissioner Carey, Mr. Richart stated they are working
toward trying to get the conservation easement lifted so that the golf course
can be developed, but they don’t know if that will happen.
Commissioner
Horan stated the proposed development would not take up all of the golf
course. He said there may be a future
developer down the road that can also contribute toward improvements.
No one
spoke in support or opposition.
Motion by Commissioner Horan, seconded
by Commissioner Henley to table the
funding request from the City of Winter Springs in the amount of $765,000 for
the Gateway/Streetscape improvements at U.S. 17-92 & Florida Avenue and
associated Resolution implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #14-039
appropriating $133,905 in fund balance revenue.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
- -
-
Commissioner
Carey stated staff may be able to submit an amendment to the SR 434
Gateway/Streetscape Project agreement at the next Board meeting.
Motion by Commissioner Carey,
seconded by Commissioner Henley, to approve $50,000 for the engineering aspect
of the whole intersection of U.S. 17-92 and SR 434, and direct the City of
Winter Springs to work with Seminole County staff and DOT to come back with a
plan that is financially feasible.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
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Ms.
Nordelo presented request to consider approval of a funding request in the
amount of $10,000 to engage an Urban Land Institute Technical Advisory Panel,
to obtain plan and policy critique from commercial developers experienced in
building mixed-use projects in association with the Oxford Road Area
Redevelopment Study, and to consider the associated Resolution #2014-R-51
implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #14-044 providing funding from the
U.S. 17-92 CRA Fund, Contingency Reserve for CRA Special Studies.
Commissioner
Carey stated when they put the ULI (Urban Land Institute) groups together, they
gave some good information because it is the people that are putting their
money into these developments. She
thinks that whatever principles come out of this can be applied to every
intersection up and down Hwy 17-92. She
said SR 434 and Hwy 17-92 happens to be an intersection where this Board has
already approved some pretty generous height and density that has not been
taken advantage of. She believes that is
probably what will be heard from the people in the ULI groups. She said she would be curious to see what
their recommendations are and she believes you can take those principles and
apply them up and down the corridor. She
said it may cause them to want to go back and look at the corridor and see
where else they may want to put height and density in place for future
development. She said if they don’t have
to go through that whole process not knowing the outcome of it and put it on
there as Future Land Use, they have a good indication that they’ll be able to
come in and get those amendments. She
feels it is helpful if this Board is proactive in that role.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Constantine, Commissioner Carey stated ULI will
coordinate all of the meetings and the discussion that is going to occur and at
the end, ULI will have a recommendation as well as the committee.
No one
spoke in support or in opposition.
Motion by Commissioner Horan, seconded
by Commissioner Carey, to approve funding request in the amount of $10,000 to
engage an Urban Land Institute Technical Advisory Panel, to obtain plan and
policy critique from commercial developers experienced in building mixed-use
projects in association with the Oxford Road Area Redevelopment Study, and
adopt the associated Resolution #2014-R-51, as shown on page ______,
implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #14-044 providing funding from the U.S.
17-92 CRA Fund, Contingency Reserve for CRA Special Studies.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
-----
Chairman Dallari adjourned the U.S. 17-92 CRA meeting at 11:29
a.m. and reconvened as the Board of County Commissioners.
COUNTY MANAGER’S
CONSENT AGENDA
Jim Hartmann, County Manager, informed the Board of add-on #7A, Industrial
Revenue Bonds for Masters Academy. He
stated staff would like to pull Item #12, Amendment #1 to the Department of
Environmental Protection Agreement. Commissioner
Horan requested that Item #19, approval to move forward with Nationwide
Retirement Solutions (NRS) unsolicited proposal, be pulled for a separate vote.
Motion by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Horan, to
authorize and approve the following:
Community Services
Business Office
5. Approve and authorize the Chairman to
execute the following Satisfactions of Second Mortgage, as shown on page
______, for households assisted under the County's SHIP/HOME Home Ownership
Assistance Program and the Rehabilitation Assistance Program: Walter Lee
Bradley and Barbara J. Washington; Ronald B. and Barbara A. Browne; Claretha
Campbell; Betty Jo Clark; William Ray and Betty H. Dale; Lafonda T. Elkins;
Rachel Elise Escobar; Edna M. Gordon f/k/a Edna M. Harris; Phyllis M. Hall;
Patricia A. Jenkins; Kathy Loretta King; Lashanna Lowery; Darlene Parker Blair;
Kimberlee A. Pay a/k/a Kimberlee A. Baker; Frances M. Richardson; Susan Kay
Rouis; Curtis and Karen Worth; Sean and Rebecca Sheehan; Anne Marie Smith;
Darren Wendroff; and Lorenzo Williams.
Community Development Division
6. Approve and
accept the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) monthly Snapshot/Report and
properties acquired by Seminole County Government.
7. Approve and
authorize the Chairman to execute the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
Subrecipient Agreement, as shown on page ______, in the amount of $260,000 to
rehabilitate the current Catholic Charities facility a/k/a Pathways to Care in
Casselberry.
Economic Development Division
7A. Adopt appropriate Resolution #2014-R-52, as
shown on page ______, approving the issuance of Industrial Development Revenue
Bonds in an amount not to exceed $11,000,000 for the benefit of The Master’s
Academy of Central Florida, Inc.
Development Services
Planning & Development
Division
8. Authorize the
Chairman to execute the Release of Lien, as shown on page ______, for Case No.
99-78A-CEB, on 117 Salem Street, Altamonte Springs, Tax Parcel
#07-21-30-300-072T-0000, previously owned by Danford M. & Pattie Swain and
Centrex Home Equity Co., LLC and currently owned by Federal National Mortgage
Association.
Environmental Services
Business Office
9. Approve the Release of the original
Water & Sewer Improvements Cash Maintenance Bond for the project known as
Enclave at Bear Lake in the amount of $32,179, M/I Homes.
Leisure Services
Greenways & Natural Lands
Division
10. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute the Right-of-Way
Lease, as shown on page ______, with the Florida Department of Transportation
(FDOT) for the continued operation and maintenance of Cameron Wight Park and
C.S. Lee Park that fall within the existing State Road 46 Right-of-Way within
Seminole County. The term of the lease
is twenty-five (25) years with a twenty-five (25) year renewal option.
Tourism Development Division
11. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute an Agreement, as
shown on page ______, with the University Athletic Association (UAA) in the
amount of $6,341 for the 2014 UAA Baseball and Softball Championships to be
held March 9-16, 2014.
Public Works
Engineering Division
12. Pulled from the agenda request
to approve
Amendment No. 1 to the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Agreement No. S0540 for a no-cost extension of time to September 1, 2015 to
allow the newly constructed Cassel Creek Regional Stormwater Facility
additional time to reach equilibrium to allow for more accurate water-quality
monitoring.
13. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a Mitigation
Reservation and Purchase Agreement, as shown on page ______, in the amount of
$42,500 for the mitigation units required to modify the St. Johns River Water
Management District (SJRWMD) Permit and bring the Kewannee Trail into
compliance.
Traffic Engineering Division
14. Adopt and
authorize the Chairman to execute appropriate Resolution #2014-R-53, as shown
on page ______, to decrease the speed limit from 25 mph to 20 mph on Northridge
Drive from Myrtle Lake Hills Road west 2,200 feet.
Resource Management
Business Office
15. Rescind the following
item inadvertently approved by the Board of County Commissioners on February
11, 2014 due to an omission in the agenda process and to correct the record: Preliminary authorization for staff in
conjunction with Seminole Behavioral Healthcare to submit a request for an
administrative hearing to appeal the Notice of Award for the Florida Department
of Children and Families – Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Reinvestment Grant.
16. Approve and
authorize the Chairman to re-execute the Certificate Regarding Matching Funds
and Certificate of Equipment for Casting and Counting Ballots, as shown on page
______, contained within the Memorandum of Agreement between the Florida
Department of State and the Seminole County Supervisor of Elections to clarify
compliance requirements.
Budget and Fiscal Management
Division
17. Approve and
authorize the Chairman to execute appropriate Resolution #2014-R-54, as shown
on page ______, implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #14-034, in the
amount of $15,641, through the Library Designated Fund to adjust Beginning Fund
Balance, allocate unexpended donated funds carried forward from FY 2012/13 to
FY 2013/14 for the Libraries Upgrades & Enhancement project #70000020,
recognize a donation received from Friends of the Library, and establish
funding for the 2014 Friends of the Library project #90000120.
18. Approve and
authorize the Chairman to execute appropriate Resolution 2014-R-55, as shown on
page ______, implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #14-040 recognizing
$316,119 in program revenue for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) 3
Grant, and to appropriate those funds in order to further the aims of the
program.
Purchasing & Contracts
Division
20. Exercise Renewal
Option #1, as shown on page ______, for PS-5190-05/DRR, Consultant Services
Agreement: Program Management for Capital Improvement Program with CH2M Hill
Engineers, Inc., Orlando, FL; extending the Agreement from March 7, 2014
through March 6, 2015, per Board direction on 2/11/14.
21. Approve
Amendment #1, as shown on page ______, for an increase to Work Order #48 for
Master Service Agreement (MSA) PS-4388-09/VFT, Design of Minor Projects with
Construction Cost less than $1,000,000 with Pegasus Engineering, LLC, Winter
Springs, FL; and authorize Purchasing and Contracts to execute the amendment.
22. Award
CC-9184-13/RTB, as shown on page ______, Small Utility Projects and Pipeline
Renewal, Rehabilitation and Repairs to Affordable Development, a Division of Driveways,
Inc., Titusville, FL; Central Florida Environmental Corp, Winter Springs, FL;
and Stage Door II, Inc. of Apopka, FL; and authorize the Purchasing &
Contracts Division to execute three (3) Master Services Agreements (MSA).
(Estimated Annual Usage is $800,000, and the maximum amount for individual Work
Orders will not exceed $350,000.)
23. Approve an
increase to the Board-approved Estimated Term Usage for Master Service
Agreement (MSA) PS-8186-13/DRR, for Continuing Engineering Services for Utility
Improvement Projects, with a revised Estimated Usage of $5,000,000 for the Base
Three-Year Term of the MSA.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
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Request to move forward with the Nationwide
Retirement Solutions (NRS) unsolicited proposal dated January 16, 2014, was presented. Commissioner Horan stated they had a workshop
in which they received some materials that were not necessarily relevant to the
unsolicited proposal, but generally to the performance of Nationwide Retirement
Services, who has been the administrator of the County’s 457 plan, and also an
annual report effective the end of the fiscal year September 30, 2013. This particular contract ends January of 2015
at which time they have the option to go out with an RFP. He added they can always renew the agreement
before then.
Commissioner Horan stated when he looked at
the agenda item, he noticed there was no staff analysis. He said he has also been consulting with some
experts in this particular area. He
expressed he was uncomfortable about what they are doing. He distributed a document (received &
filed) displaying a summary of the points he wanted to make. He believes Nationwide is a very good vendor
for them and thinks they do a wonderful job.
He stated that as a new employee in 2010, he had direct experience with
setting up his plan. He does not feel
that Nationwide is the problem. He
believes there are a number of problems that need to be addressed before the
County enters into what amounts to a six-year agreement extension with this
administrator.
Commissioner Horan stated the environment
in terms of the administration of these direct contribution plans has changed
quite a bit in the last year. In
addition to there being no staff analysis of this unsolicited proposal, there
is no staff analysis of whether in the present market the County is better off
going out with an RFP when the NRS contract expires in January. He believes they need to evaluate whether it
makes sense to tie themselves down with one administrator right now that’s
using an architecture that the industry is moving away from.
Commissioner Horan stated all they have on
the agenda item is the three-page proposal, which wants to keep the
administrative fee at zero and move towards a target of .25 basis points in
terms of cost. He feels the County needs
to address this in such a way that they have some kind of analysis of what that
means. In the memo that he distributed
to the Board, he addressed a number of different questions with regard to the
proposal that he wants answered because he feels this is the information he
would need to make an intelligent decision on whether or not this particular
proposal is good or bad for them.
Commissioner Horan advised in the proposal,
there is a target on mutual fund revenue of .25 basis points, and he doesn’t
know if that is calculated only using the fixed account or whether it is
calculated using the variable accounts.
He said they have a plan that basically has a wide range of
revenue-sharing situations across the funds, so consequently if they don’t go
to a fixed fee, participants would pay a different amount depending on which
particular fund they buy into. He said
they have not received Nationwide’s funds and the revenue sharing arrangements
they have.
Chairman Dallari explained the reason Mr.
Hartmann brought this up was because he received a document from Nationwide
since the County will be going out to bid within the next month or so and there
would be a cost associated with that. He
said in that letter, it stated they would take their fees to zero as an
additional savings to the participants.
Commissioner Horan stated the
administrative fee is already zero, but he is unsure whether or not this is a
good deal going forward in terms of where the industry is going right now. He said most of the administration of these
plans is going to a level amount in terms of the revenue share and then you
negotiate about the services you need.
Commissioner Carey stated she served on the
committee when they started looking at the investments. There was no investment policy and they
wanted to work on that. There have been
a number of times that commissioners have brought up issues at the annual
meetings and Nationwide has been very good to go back and add plans the Board
wanted to see. She advised with the new
policy in place, there are quarterly meetings where discussion will take place
about the cost and those types of things.
They are proposing the variable rate would have an average of 25 percent
as the administrative fee for the participants, which is less than they had
before. She thinks their investment
committee is going to be asking a lot of the questions and learning a lot as
they go along because that is going to be their fiduciary responsibility to
bring back recommendations to the Board based upon what they find out.
Upon inquiry by Commissioner Carey, Ray
Hooper, Purchasing & Contracts Manager, stated there is a 90-day
termination provision in the current contract.
Commissioner Carey stated the percentage of
their employees that participate in this plan is very small and they have
worked very hard over the last couple of years to try and engage their
employees to save money through the plans offered to them. She added that Commissioner Henley has
advised their administrator that there are different plans that might be more
familiar to their employees and they made the adjustments.
Upon inquiry by Commissioner Carey, Angela
Buchanan, Nationwide Retirement Solutions, addressed the Board to state they
could offer options. She said through
the investment policy, the statement, and the past committee that Commissioner
Carey served on and others, and the new committee, they can work with them to
add any type of mutual fund. If they put
in a Vanguard situation where they don’t give them revenue sharing or
reimbursements back, then they would simply add on an administrative fee of 25
basis points or whatever they work out with the committee to make up that
revenue since they are at zero pricing and have been for the past five years.
Upon inquiry by Chairman Dallari, Ms.
Buchanan stated a basis point is the cost or fee that is associated with
participating in or purchasing of that mutual fund, whether in a retirement
fund or outside in an independent mutual fund.
Commissioner Carey stated if it isn’t
working out, they can always terminate it.
Nationwide has worked very hard with the County to get their employees
to seminars to bring Social Security in and to educate their employees on the
importance of it. She said if they’re
going to have an outside consultant come in and make recommendations, she
thinks they need to go through a process for that.
Chairman Dallari agreed that at this point
there is no issue with moving forward.
He said they have the advantage of the termination clause and the
committee will be reviewing this in great depth and the whole process has now
been defined.
Commissioner Henley stated when he was
elected to the Board 16 years ago, he was the one to question the
contract. He said they were able to get
legislation through committees that would allow their investments to be
invested by the State retirement system, which was doing great at that
time. He said he was concerned about an
exclusive contract. From the school
system he was accustomed to having three or four agencies to choose from
instead of being tied down to one. He
said he thinks things have improved, but when they are talking about the
reductions on the various funds, the small print states they don’t control them
and they are subject to change. He doesn’t
think Nationwide will give them a separate guarantee that those will remain
through the contract.
Ms. Buchanan advised that working through
the committee they have established, they would do quarterly reviews, look at
what those expense ratios are, and if they have changed, then they would bring
them to the attention of the committee.
Using their investment policy statement, they could come in and switch
out those funds or look for lower share classes for the fees.
Commissioner Henley stated that Nationwide
is at a disadvantage on the programs because any one of those particular funds
that become successful drop out because they don’t want to continue to pay to
be listed and they can’t control that.
He says that’s why they have changes from time to time when a fund no
longer wants to pay to be listed. He
feels that this is going to be a continuing problem.
Commissioner Carey stated when she served
on the committee before and they looked at this, the reason they developed
their investment policy was to say if the fund was nonperforming for so many
quarters, it automatically was up for consideration to be removed from the fund
and replaced by something else. She said
they worked to develop an investment policy that would be somewhat clear about
how they were going to do this. She
understands Nationwide has collected their fee by monitoring the fees and
adjusting their percentages to get to net 33 percent. They are proposing to do the same thing on a
quarterly basis in line with their investment policy so it remains constant at
25 percent. She believes the investment
committee’s responsibility in making recommendations to this Board is to
monitor the funds that are being offered to make sure they are performing to a
certain degree so that anybody who is investing their money has a certain
amount of comfort that the funds are all performing to a certain level.
Commissioner Horan stated his point was to
make sure that when the plan participants pick “Fund A” or “Fund B”, they are
paying the same amount. He added that
under the architecture that Nationwide has at the present time, they are
not. He stated the industry is going
towards an architecture where if you buy “Fund A” or “Fund B”, or there’s a
fixed asset, that cost is the same. He
said unless they get that information, Mr. Pennisi and Mr. Hooper can’t make an
intelligent decision as to whether every one of their participants is actually
getting the best value for a particular selection of an investment choice. He stated there is not a proposal to reduce
it to .25 basis points; it says the cost referred to in the proposal is a
target of .25 basis points. The funds in
the current plans have revenue sharing arrangements that vary widely and this
causes the participants to pay a different fee even under the target basis
points. He said they have to know all of
the funds that Nationwide has, their revenue share arrangement on those funds,
in order to intelligently audit where the cost is.
Commissioner Carey stated she thinks if
this Board wants to set the fee at .25 basis points across the board for every
transaction that happens, all they have to do is say that’s what they’re going
to do and Nationwide would administer the plan that way.
Commissioner Horan stated if they had a
list of the zero-revenue fee amounts, they could construct a portfolio of
investment choices from the fixed accounts that would be zero and then they
could charge .25, but they don’t have that information right now.
Upon inquiry by Commissioner Carey,
Commissioner Horan stated under the County Manager procedures, the investment
committee can get an outside consultant if they want. He stated Mr. Pennisi is very experienced and
might be able to handle it himself, but he won’t be able to do anything unless
they have the information that he’s outlined.
He believes if Mr. Pennisi had all the information concerning all the
revenue share of all the funds, he could do an intelligent analysis of exactly
whether or not it’s better to go with all the fixed account choices.
Upon inquiry by Chairman Dallari, Ms.
Buchanan stated when they talk about the investment policy statement, it’s
almost like a marriage with the fees and what they offer to the employees
because it looks at the peer group, fees and management tenure, and that’s what
guides them through what the investments come to look like.
Commissioner Horan stated they need to know
what revenue they’re getting back from the various funds in order to construct
an amendment that makes sense.
Ms. Buchanan stated the fees tied to the
lineup of investments, which is one thing a participant pays regardless of what
plan they are in and that is outlined in the prospectus, are disclosed on
statements and are also part of the quarterly report. She said they are in a position that they have
contracts with every mutual fund house and they can bring in any company that
the investment group decides they want to see.
She advised Fidelity offered zero revenue-sharing funds through Freedom
Funds, and if that is the direction the Board wants to take, Nationwide is in a
position to administer that.
Ms. Buchanan advised that their proposal
states they are reducing the revenue they make today because the assets have
grown. She said they are already at
zero, so the next step is seeing how to change that and make it more beneficial
from a fee standpoint for employees. She
stated what they are offering today is a $60,000 savings and a target of .25
basis points revenue back to Nationwide to cover their administrative
costs. She said they need to work with
the committee because right now the fund letup has not been changed in several
years while the County was working through their ordinance and investment
policy statement.
Commissioner Carey said based on her
discussion with Mr. Pennisi, she thinks that he and his group can see if they
should continue to do the percentage to get to .25 basis point or if they just
say it’s a flat fee. She said she
understands from Nationwide they can do it however the Board wants them to do
it.
Commissioner Horan stated he has no problem
with it as long as they have full knowledge of all of the funds and what the
revenue share is on each one of the funds.
He stated the problem with it is that he hasn’t heard a commitment that
they are going to give them a full list of the expenses. He said without knowing what the revenue
share is on the funds, not only can they not negotiate an intelligent deal, but
they can’t audit whether the deal is being complied with. He said if they give the revenue share
information on all of them, they may identify a portfolio of zero revenue-share
funds that they will include in their plan, and then it’s just the matter of
negotiating the fee for Nationwide’s services.
Commissioner Constantine said he would like
to ask Mr. Pennisi and Mr. Hooper’s opinion on this discussion and what they
feel the right move to make is at this time.
Joe Pennisi, Resource Management Director,
stated when they received the unsolicited proposal they had hoped to be able to
take some time to sit down with NRS and look at a couple of different things so
they would be able to come back and recommend to the Board where they felt they
should go. He stated one issue is to
find out if .25 basis points is the appropriate number. The second issue is how to get to the basis
points in the best possible way. He
thinks if the fixed fee arrangement is an option they can get to, it works for
them very well. He said his concern was
the process of working toward a target of .25 basis points and not being clear
of whether they can get there across the board or if the review committee would
be making recommendations to the Board, and whether the Board would be put in
the position of getting to the .25 by reducing the revenue sharing in selected
funds. He feels that forces them to make
choices that disadvantage certain portions of the participants of the plan
based on where they choose to invest. He
thinks what they would be looking for is some kind of transparency with respect
to the fees and hopefully making the ultimate choices of what investment
options they offer as part of the plan without having to be concerned about
whether or not it paid a certain amount to NRS as the record keeper for the
plan. It’s a matter of transparency, but
ultimately that transparency is in the interest of equity across all of the
participants in the plan.
Upon inquiry by Commissioner Constantine,
Mr. Pennisi stated staff is hoping to sit down with NRS to be able to come back
and give the Board their recommendation as to how they should be responding to
the unsolicited proposal from NRS and then tweaking it if necessary. He said after that conversation, they might
be able to say what NRS has proposed is a great deal and they should accept it,
but they would like the opportunity to have a conversation with NRS.
Upon inquiry by Commissioner Carey, Mr.
Pennisi stated that if they continue this to the next meeting, they would make
it a point to have a conversation with NRS and bring a suggestion back to the
Board.
Upon inquiry by Chairman Dallari, Ms.
Buchanan stated the Board could make an amendment to the contract that the
information requested be reported on a quarterly basis.
Upon inquiry by Commissioner Horan, Ms.
Buchanan advised they will get a full list of all the funds in their portfolio
and the revenue share arrangement that Nationwide has with the fund. Because they are moving into this new
arrangement, they will have full disclosure transparency on a quarterly basis
in meeting with the committee, and they would monitor that because they don’t
want to excessively go over the revenue target they settle on, which they
propose is .25. She said they will need
to monitor that on a regular basis, so they don’t exceed or fall too short, so
as the plan moves and grows over the years, they stay within that. She advised the assets move every day as
people make trades and decisions about their retirement.
Commissioner Horan stated they are the plan
sponsor. They have a statutory
obligation to pick a plan so their participants participate in it in a way
where everybody is paying the same amount for an investment. He stated he would need to know not only what
the revenue share arrangement is with all the funds that are in their platform,
but what the revenue share arrangement is for all of NRS’s available
funds. He added they could construct a
plan that had all fixed amount funds in it and then it just becomes a matter of
negotiating the fee.
Upon inquiry by Commissioner Constantine,
Ms. Buchanan stated they don’t have a problem with what Mr. Pennisi wants to
do. She said they have tried to be fully
transparent all along; they have participated in the process and listened to
the direction of the Board over the years and will continue doing that.
Motion
by Commissioner Constantine, seconded by Commissioner Carey, to continue
request to move forward with NRS unsolicited proposal dated January 16, 2014 to
the March 11, 2014 Board meeting to allow Mr. Pennisi and Ms. Buchanan time to
take into consideration the comments that have been made by the commissioners
and to bring something back to the Board.
Under discussion and upon inquiry by
Commissioner Horan, Mr. Pennisi stated having the information back by the next
meeting will be tight, but if it is the request of the Board, they will fit it
into that timeframe. Ms. Buchanan stated
they have her commitment to get that information to Mr. Pennisi in a timely
fashion.
Chairman Dallari stated a lot of the
information staff is asking for is done through the review process through the
committee and not the contract.
Commissioner Carey
stated the administrative fee portion is a consideration. She said she saw that Nationwide was lowering
their fee to the benefit of their employees.
She added that at the time they went into this, the industry standard was
to do the various plans and the different reimbursement fees, so that was the
direction they went.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
CONSTITUTIONAL
OFFICERS’ CONSENT AGENDA
Motion by Commissioner
Constantine, seconded by Commissioner Carey, to authorize and approve the
following:
Clerk's Office
24. Approval of
Expenditure Approval Lists, as shown on page ______, dated January 21, 27 and
February 3, 2014; and Payroll Approval List, as shown on page ______, dated
January 25, 2014; and the following Clerk's "Received and Filed" –
for information only.
1. Work Order #27, as shown on page ______, to
PS-1020-05.
2. Amendment #2, as shown on page ______, to
Work Order #102 to PS-5120-02.
3. Certificate of No Recall, as shown on page
______, for Orlando Jai Alai.
4.
RFP-601887-13,
as shown on page ______, Term Contract for Consultant Services, Asbestos and
Indoor Air Quality Testing, Professional Service Industries, Inc.
5.
Amendment
#1, as shown on page ______, to CC-8825-13, Shoemaker Construction Company,
Inc.
6.
Amendment
#1, as shown on page ______, to Work Order #10 to PS-2051-07.
7.
Work
Order #7, as shown on page ______, to PS-8186-13.
8.
Letter
dated January 29, 2014 from Chairman Dallari to Mary Lou Andrews regarding her
appointment to the MetroPlan Transportation Study Citizens Advisory Committee
to finish out an unexpired term ending January 1, 2016.
9.
Amendment
#2, as shown on page ______, to Work Order #18 to RFP-7423-12.
10.
Work
Order #4, as shown on page ______, to PS-8146-12.
11.
Work
Order #62, as shown on page ______, to PS-4388-09.
12.
Recorded
Developer’s Commitment Agreement, as shown on page ______, Ganesh Business
Center PD.
13.
Denial
Development Order, as shown on page ______, #13-30000087, Jason W. Brown.
14.
Recorded
Development Orders, as shown on page ______, as follows: #13-30000088, Rafael Patron; #13-30000089,
Johnny L. and Patricia L. Johnson; #13-30000090, Kim J. Lanier; #13-30000091,
Wilson W. Claretti & Donald S. Hetzell; #13-30000093, Congregation Ahavas
Yisrael Corporation; #13-30000080, Marion A. Demaria; #13-30000082, Karl M.
Schweinberg; #13-30000084, Scott Freeburn; #13-30000085, Michael C. Sumner; and
#13-80000086, Robert & Kay Hazzard.
15.
Denial
Development Order, as shown on page ______, #13-30000059, Reza Sedaghat &
Katia S. Ferdowski.
16.
Amendment
#2, as shown on page ______, to Work Order #31 to PS-5190-05.
17.
Amendment
#2, as shown on page ______, to M-390-03, Metropolitan Systems, Inc.
18.
Amendment
#1, as shown on page ______, to BID-601823-13, Sitesecure LLC.
19.
PS-8827-13,
as shown on page ______, Engineering Consultant Services Agreement, Metric
Engineering, Inc.
20.
Letter
dated January 14, 2014 from Chairman Dallari to Mayor Jeff Triplett regarding
his appointment to the Tourism Development Council as the most populous city
(Sanford) representative for a 4-year term ending January 1, 2018.
21.
Change
Order #1, as shown on page ______, to Work Order #17 to CC-8199-12.
22.
Change
Order #1, as shown on page ______, to Work Order #19 to CC-5075-10.
23.
Work
Order #2, as shown on page ______, to PS-6980-11.
24.
Recorded
Satisfaction of Lien, as shown on page ______, 12-14-CESM, Hans and Henriette
Pistor, as approved by the BCC on March 12, 2013.
25.
Recorded
Corrected Satisfaction of Lien, as shown on page ______, 10-03-CEB, Robert C.
Malcomb, as approved by the BCC on December 10, 2013.
26.
Recorded
Release of Lien, as shown on page ______, 11-54-CEB, Betty Drury, as approved
by the BCC on December 10, 2013.
27.
IFB-601852-13,
as shown on page ______, Term Contracts for Purchase of Adult and Larval
Mosquito Control Pesticides, Univar USA, Clarke Mosquito Control Products,
Inc., HPI Products, Inc. d/b/a Allpro Vector Group and Adapco, Inc.
28.
Amendment
#4, as shown on page ______, to Work Order #2 to PS-5116-10.
29.
Work
Order #1, as shown on page ______, to PS-8595-13.
30.
Amendment
#3, as shown on page ______, to Work Order #10 to PS-4736-09.
31.
Amendment
#1, as shown on page ______, to Work Order #12 to PS-4736-09.
32.
Recorded
Special Warranty Deed, as shown on page ______, Bay Valley Foods, LLC.
33.
Florida
Public Service Commission Consummating Order Regarding Petition for approval of
tariff sheets reflecting gas service to customers in the City of Ft. Meade, by
Florida Public Utilities Company.
34.
Amendments
#3, as shown on page ______, and #5, as shown on page ______, to IFB-601516,
Bound Tree Medical, LLC.
35.
Amendment
#1, as shown on page ______, to Work Order #1 to PS-8148-12.
36.
Associate
Tennis Pro Agreement, as shown on page ______, for Scott Runda.
37.
Parks
Contract for Services, as shown on page ______, for Andrea Lukonic.
38.
Assistant
Tennis Pro Agreement, as shown on page ______, for Matthew Gutkin.
39.
Amendment
#1, as shown on page ______, to Work Order #14 to RFP-3261-08.
40.
Change
Order #5, as shown on page ______, to RFP-7687-12.
41.
Work
Order #63, as shown on page ______, to PS-4388-09.
42. Bids as follows: PS-9092-13, CC-9140-13,
RFP-601887-13 and RFP-601803-13.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
Sheriff’s Office
Motion by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to
authorize and approve the following:
25. Approval to
contribute $2,000 from the Law Enforcement Trust Fund to provide funding in
support of the Rising Achievers Program sponsored by the Rotary Club of
Seminole County South.
26. Approve and
authorize the Chairman to execute appropriate Resolution #2014-R-56, as shown
on page ______, implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #14-043 to increase
the Sheriff's Office, BCC Facilities budget by $170,000 utilizing a transfer
from General Fund Reserves, which are currently budgeted at $45,657,396.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
REGULAR AGENDA
Tony
Matthews, Development Services, addressed the Board to present request to
consider a Special Event Permit for the Wekiva Green Camp, LLC, for their
Wekiva Paint Out & Spring Kickoff from March 2 through March 31, 2014. Staff recommends approval of the request.
Motion
by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Horan, to approve the Special
Event Permit for the Wekiva Paint Out & Spring Kickoff at 1014 Miami
Springs Drive from March 2 through March 31, 2014.
Under discussion, Commissioner Carey
thanked Commissioner Constantine for serving as the Honorary Chair because she
thinks this is an important project.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
Commissioner Constantine added that they
are making a lot of progress on putting Wekiva Island back together after the
fires.
Chairman Dallari thanked staff for helping
Wekiva Island get to that point. He also
thanked Seminole County Sheriff’s Office for policing the arsons that occurred
at Wekiva Island.
COUNTY MANAGER AND STAFF BRIEFINGS
The Board noted, for information only, the
Budget Transfer Status Report for FY 2013/14.
COUNTY ATTORNEY BRIEFING
Mr. Applegate stated he distributed a
letter (not received & filed) addressed to the Governor, the President of
the Senate, and the Speaker of the House, in regard to attempting to receive a
reimbursement of nearly $5 million for the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ)
overbilling.
Motion
by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Horan to give authorization to the
County Attorney to send a letter addressed to the Governor, the President of
the Senate, and the Speaker of the House, requesting reimbursement to Seminole
County of nearly $5 million that resulted from overbilling by the Department of
Juvenile Justice.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS’ REPORTS
Chairman Dallari advised the Legislative
Update, Chairman’s Report, and District Commissioners’ Reports will be moved to
the afternoon session.
ITEMS FOR FUTURE AGENDA
Theresa Henderson, 1113 South Park Avenue,
addressed the Board to state in 2006 she invested in property at 1205 West 15th
Street and she has been paying the tax on that property for approximately eight
years. She said without a certificate
from the Property Appraiser’s Office, she is unable to have the house placed in
her name. She said this house was an
abandoned house and she acquired it out of delinquency tax.
Ms. Henderson said she spoke with Robert
Hagey and told him that she would like to own the property. She said she was unaware she would have to
put the property in adverse possession or file a special paper with the IRS in
order to get the certificate she needs to put the house in her name. She said they want her to continue paying the
taxes for another seven years before she can become the owner of that property.
Ms. Henderson said she spoke with several
attorneys and received several different answers. She said one attorney told her he cannot ask
for the deeds for the house without having her certificate. That attorney informed her that tax receipts
would not qualify her for adverse possession.
She stated she spoke with Commissioner Carey and they tried to handle it
together.
Mr. Applegate said he would be happy to
look into the issue.
Commissioner Carey stated there have been
many times she has tried to assist Ms. Henderson. She said this is not something that is the
business of this Board; it is the business of the Tax Collector and the
Property Appraiser. She said she thinks
the County Attorney could give her some advice as to how to go about this. She said she tried to refer Ms. Henderson to
different attorneys, but they had differing opinions.
Ms. Henderson stated she put the house in
adverse possession and she does not understand why the Property Appraiser can’t
override the process.
Chairman Dallari stated there is a
commitment from Mr. Applegate to meet with Ms. Henderson to try and address
this issue. He stated Mr. Applegate will
work with the District Commissioner and will report back to the rest of the
commissioners so everyone will understand exactly what is happening.
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Chairman
Dallari recessed the meeting at 12:08 p.m.; reconvening at 1:30 p.m., with all
Commissioners and all other Officials, with the exception of Clerk of Court
Maryanne Morse who was replaced by Chief Deputy Clerk Bruce McMenemy, and with
the exception of Deputy Clerk Erin Leben who was replaced by Deputy Clerk Terri
Porter, who were present at the Opening Session.
AWARDS AND
PRESENTATIONS (Continued)
Tim
Jackson, Chairman of 1000 Friends of Florida, addressed the Board to state that
this is a statewide, not-for-profit organization that has been advocating smart
growth across the State since 1986.
Information packets (received and filed) were distributed prior to the
meeting. Since 1990, they have been
presenting awards to individuals, organizations and communities that have done
an outstanding job of saving special places and building better communities. He said the award recipients must reflect an
innovative approach to smart growth that has resulted in major tangible
accomplishments that can be replicated elsewhere in Florida. The Bill Sadowsky Award is presented to
public servants at the state level whose work exemplifies a high level of
commitment to growth management and the philosophy of negotiation for which
Bill Sadowsky, the former Secretary of the Department of Community Affairs, was
known. He announced that Commissioner
Lee Constantine is being recognized with the 1000 Friends 2014 Bill Sadowsky
Award.
Mr.
Jackson stated he cannot really do justice to all that Lee Constantine has
contributed to this State and then listed some of his accomplishments including
his leadership and vision, his ongoing commitment to conservation and water
resource protection in Florida, and his distinguished career in public
service. He reviewed a timeline stating
the Commissioner was first elected to the Altamonte Springs City Commission in
1978, being the youngest person elected in the City’s history. Lee Constantine most recently co-founded the
Florida Conservation Coalition which brought statewide recognition and workable
solutions to better protect the State’s imperiled water resources. As a legislator, he sponsored the Wekiva
Parkway and Protection Act in 2004 to protect the river and associated
ecosystems while building a beltway for Central Florida. Other groundbreaking legislation he sponsored
includes Save Our Everglades, Affordable Housing Front-Porch Florida, Growth
Management Reform, The Florida Energy Act, legislation that authorized the
purchase of the SunRail Commuter Rail System, and the Springs and Water
Resources Protection Act. In addition,
he was also a leader in sponsoring legislation that led to unifying the morass
of building codes in Florida by establishing the Florida Unified Building Code
and the Florida Building Commission to implement that Code.
Mr.
Jackson presented the award, a framed photograph of the Wekiva River by noted
photographer John Moran, and Commissioner Constantine expressed his
appreciation and stated that this is a great honor.
Chairman
Dallari thanked the 1000 Friends of Florida and congratulated Commissioner
Constantine.
LEGISLATIVE
UPDATE
Nicole
Guillet, Deputy County Manager, addressed the Board to advise that one week
from today the Legislative Session officially begins.
Ms.
Guillet stated she forwarded the latest draft of the “springs” bill to the
Board a couple of weeks ago. The bill
has not been filed yet; the deadline for filing is at noon on March 4th. She said that version 7 was very similar to
version 6, while it is moving in the right direction, they still have concern
believing that it diverts resources from the water management district and
duplicates efforts. She said it also
places some unfair burdens on utilities for keeping the springs clean; there
are some restrictions on uses adjacent to springs, and there is also a concern
about the switching over of septic tanks to sewer within the spring protection
zones. Although there is an attempt to
make funding available for all of those items, the funding is nebulous; there
is a funding source but the exact amount of money that will be available is
still not clear. She said they will
continue to work with Senator Simmons on those issues. She added that as soon as something gets
filed, they will let the Board know.
Ms.
Guillet advised that Senator Simmons’ Expressway Authority Bill is still moving
forward and there have not been any changes in the composition of the
board. It is now in the last of three
committees and the companion bill in the House is just starting to “get some
play.”
Ms.
Guillet stated other bills of interest include an environmental bill that has
some Home Rule issues and some mandates and a fair association bill. Upon inquiry by Chairman Dallari, Ms. Guillet
advised that if you have fair property you cannot assess impact fees, mobility
fees, or any fees at all. It is getting
“a lot of play” with the Association of Counties because it is a significant
Home Rule issue. She added that there
was a retirement reform bill filed last week from the Community Affairs
Committee in the Senate and there is also a House companion bill. They are still waiting for a report on
that. It creates what they are calling a
“cash balance” retirement system and that would be for new employees in
FRS. She said there has been no
actuarial report on that, but they will watch it closely to see what sort of
impact it may have on the County.
Ms.
Guillet stated as some of the other bills start to get traction, they will keep
the Board up to date on all of the activities, and once the Legislative Session
kicks in, things will start to move pretty quickly.
Ms.
Guillet said they are keeping track of the Legislative Priorities that the
Board put together, and one of those priorities relates to the sales tax, so
they may want to discuss that at the next meeting depending upon the direction
they want to go and how hard they want staff to push that. She added that this is one they would have to
advocate proactively, so they will need direction. Commissioner Carey clarified that the push
would be to use that tax for operations, some portion or all, at the local
jurisdiction’s discretion.
Ms.
Guillet said that at the last Board meeting, Chairman Dallari asked Commissioner
Constantine to work with staff and to lend some of his expertise in moving
things through and getting particularly the appropriations issues addressed in
the Legislature this session. She
advised that she met with Commissioner Constantine and put a plan of action
together with visits to Tallahassee.
There is a cost associated with that and they put together a schedule of
what would be the most effective, which includes up to four trips maximum. They are requesting authorization on a
not-to-exceed travel budget based on a maximum of four trips, one night per
trip if necessary, per diem for eight days, and mileage back and forth totaling
$2,200; plus an additional $500 for hotel and per diem for staff to join him on
a maximum of two of the four trips.
Upon
inquiry by Commissioner Carey, Ms. Guillet advised the Legislative Session
lasts 60 days. Commissioner Carey stated
there is other discussion to be considered, i.e. what they want the message to
be. She added she knows that
Commissioner Constantine goes to Tallahassee for other purposes during the term
of the Session and wondered how much of this he could do during that
period.
Commissioner
Constantine advised there would be no other purpose for travel to Tallahassee
other than for the County and they would be very specific. He said he would also try to limit the time
to one day and at the behest of what Ms. Guillet felt was necessary. The Regional Planning Council advised they
may also share in the expense, and Ms. Guillet will pursue that potential
also.
Commissioner
Horan stated they should stay in communication because he will be in
Tallahassee too, and one reason is for the Florida Association of Counties
(FAC) Legislative Conference which is already budgeted.
Chairman
Dallari asked Ms. Guillet to coordinate when in the Session various folks will
be going up there and what the message will be.
He added that what is going on with Juvenile Justice and the amount the
State owes them is obscene. He added
they need to start positioning themselves with not just Commissioner
Constantine, but with his contacts there, on how to reap some of the money the
State owes them. Commissioner Carey
opined they need to come up with a coordinated effort. The Chairman requested that Ms. Guillet write
up a plan and report back to them.
CHAIRMAN’S
REPORT
Chairman
Dallari advised of a vacancy on the Animal Control Board for a veterinarian and
recommended Dr. Lawrence Pultz from the Town & Country Veterinarian Clinic
in Oviedo.
Motion by Commissioner Carey, seconded
by Commissioner Henley, to adopt appropriate Resolution #2014-R-57, as shown on
page _______, appointing Dr. Lawrence Pultz to the Animal Control Board for a
one-year term ending January 1, 2015.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
DISTRICT
COMMISSIONERS’ REPORTS
Commissioner
Carey advised she had another meeting with Florida Fish and Game, Joe Forte and
staff about the bear-proof trash cans.
She said that Mr. Forte and staff are following up with the two trash
haulers that are involved around the Wekiva Basin. They are trying to come up with a plan that
would be the same for all citizens and coordinate that effort. As soon as they get the answer on that, which
she is hoping is later this week, they will bring that back to the Board.
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Commissioner
Carey stated that at the Seminole County Port Authority meeting, there was some
discussion in taking a look at potentially putting a conference center at the
Port along the waterway. One of issues
that she brought to Matt Brown’s attention is that the City of Sanford and the
County have both looked at conference centers over the years and they haven’t
been able to figure out how to make them work financially. She is not sure that driving through an
industrial port to get to a location in the back would be appealing. In addition, it is under lease right now to a
tenant for another three years and that tenant has several options after that,
and she is not even sure they would be willing to give up that space.
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Commissioner
Carey suggested that within the next month or two, she thinks it would be
appropriate to have the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness address this
Board and give an update on where they are.
Also, their Certificate of Need is held with HSN (Homeless Services
Network) and there has been a lot of discussion and questions about that, i.e.
whether they should really have them holding their Continuum of Care of about
$1.4 million. Chairman Dallari requested
that Mr. Hartmann get with appropriate staff and figure out the appropriate
time to put that on the agenda.
Commissioner Carey said it is not time sensitive, but they are starting
to develop that plan.
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Commissioner
Carey opined that Chairman Dallari did a great job at the State of the County
representing the county and she thanked him for his leadership along with the
business community that supported the event.
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Commissioner
Horan advised the Transportation Disabled Local Coordinating Board met and they
do an annual assessment of transportation disabled services. He said the Board is comprised of about 21
different groups and those groups evaluate the transportation coordinator, LYNX
and MetroPlan, for transportation disabled services. Under all of the core competencies, they were
rated either “good” or “excellent.”
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Commissioner
Horan stated the U.S. 17-92 RPA (Redevelopment Planning Agency) met last week
and they addressed three projects: the
Paw Park Village project in Sanford; the City of Sanford former police
department clean-up site; and a corridor-wide appropriation concerning
landscaping.
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Commissioner
Horan stated that due to other business requirements, Chuck Drago can no longer
serve on the Parks & Preservation Advisory Committee.
Motion by Commissioner Horan, seconded
by Commissioner Henley, to adopt appropriate Resolution #2014-R-58, as shown on
page _______, appointing Matt Criswell to the Parks & Preservation Advisory
Committee serving the unexpired term of Mr. Drago; and to adopt appropriate
Resolution #2014-R-59, as shown on page _______, in appreciation of Charles
Drago for his service on the Parks & Preservation Committee.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
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Commissioner
Constantine advised he attended the special meeting that Congressman Mica held
concerning the Sanford Housing Authority.
As reported in the newspaper today, he was quite concerned about the
money being spent on that, although there were a lot of compliments about the
Seminole Housing Authority. The
Congressman is suggesting that they pursue asking people to consider putting
the two housing authorities together.
Commissioner Constantine stated he believes that the Congressman is
going to have continuing conversations with the Sanford Housing Authority, the
City of Sanford, and certainly the Seminole Housing Authority to see if that is
viable.
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Commissioner
Constantine said that he feels Chairman Dallari did a very fine job at the
State of the County and congratulated him.
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Commissioner
Constantine said that the Zoo has new occupants, two interesting and beautiful
giraffes, and they had a huge spike of interest and attendance. He added he believes on the 15th
of March, they will start a program where people will be able to feed them.
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Commissioner
Constantine stated that Commissioner Henley asked him to represent him and the
County at the Seminole Health Department’s 125-year anniversary and he was
honored to do so.
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Commissioner
Constantine advised that he and Commissioner Carey will be attending a meeting
of the Wekiva River Basin Commission tomorrow.
They have moved the meeting location from the Regional Planning Council
offices to Wekiva Island so that many of the members can see that beautiful site
in Seminole County.
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Commissioner
Constantine announced that this week, the Babe Ruth Little League is opening up
in Altamonte Springs and he will be there.
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Commissioner
Constantine said he will attend the Veterans’ Resource that former Mayor Tom
Walters is holding at the Zoo on Saturday.
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Commissioner
Constantine said he believes they received a letter from Richard Creedon
concerning some valuation and property taxes they paid, and he asked that the
Chairman add that to the agenda for the next meeting. The
Board voiced no objections.
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Commissioner
Constantine advised they were monitoring the 5,000-house development that would
be about the same size as Longwood, and would be right on the border in East
Orange County up against Lake Pickett.
He has heard that it may or may not be brought back again in the near
future, but he believes this would be a good time that they consider and pursue
with Orange County a joint planning agreement of that area, with both Orange
and Seminole Counties. Chairman Dallari
stated he thinks it is appropriate to reach out to Orange County to find out,
not just the status, but how they would go about that. The Chairman asked that staff reach out to
Orange County and report back to the Board.
COUNTY
MANAGER’S BRIEFING
No report.
COUNTY
ATTORNEY’S BRIEFING
No report.
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Commissioner
Carey asked Chairman Dallari and the rest of the Commissioners to sign the
letter that is being circulated on the dais.
Chairman Dallari explained that the letter is in regard to the State
owing Seminole County somewhere around five million dollars from the Department
of Juvenile Justice and they are requesting payment.
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Chairman
Dallari thanked staff and SGTV for all their help at the State of the County. He said they received a lot of compliments
and a lot of those had to do with the hard work of staff.
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Commissioner
Horan stated the Board approved an item today with regard to NSP (Neighborhood
Stabilization Program) funding where staff has done an incredible job of
purchasing a number of houses and expending the funds that needed to be
expended before they were extinguished by the federal government. He wanted to give kudos to the Community
Services Director and her staff and also, to the County Attorney’s office, in
particular Ms. Olga Sanchez de Fuentes, who was the attorney on all the
closings.
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Chairman
Dallari reminded everyone of the joint work session with the School Board in
approximately 15 minutes.
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There
being no further business to come before the Board, the Chairman declared the
meeting adjourned at 2:00 p.m., this same date.
ATTEST:______________________Clerk_____________________Chairman
el/tp