BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA

APRIL 14, 2015

 

     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, April 14, 2015, in Room 1028 of the SEMINOLE COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING at SANFORD, FLORIDA, the usual place of meeting of said Board.

     Present:

Chairman Brenda Carey (District 5)

Vice Chairman John Horan (District 2)

     Commissioner Robert Dallari (District 1)

Commissioner Lee Constantine (District 3)

     Commissioner Carlton Henley (District 4)

     Clerk of Circuit Court & Comptroller Maryanne Morse

     County Manager Nicole Guillet

     Deputy County Attorney Lynn Porter-Carlton

     Deputy Clerk Erin Leben

 

 

 

     Reverend Thomas Eggebrecht, Ascension Lutheran Church, Casselberry, gave the Invocation.

     Commissioner Henley led the Pledge of Allegiance.

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

The Business Spotlight video for Central Florida Box was presented.

AWARDS AND PRESENTATIONS

Agenda Item #1 – A-0634-15

Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to adopt appropriate Resolution #2015-R-69, acknowledging Roy Rogers, Wastewater Plant Operator with Department of Environmental Services, Utility Operations Division, for 11 years of service and dedication to Seminole County Government and its citizens, upon his retirement on April 1, 2015.

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

Mr. Rogers accepted his resolution.

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Agenda Item #2 – A-0613-15

Motion by Commissioner Constantine, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to adopt appropriate Resolution #2015-R-70, recognizing the members of the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office School Crossing Guard Program for their outstanding safety record, exceptional performance and proactive community outreach programs.

     Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

Chief Steve Harriett, Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, addressed the Board to express his appreciation of the crossing guards for their dedicated and faithful service. 

JoJo Sturm, Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, addressed the Board to publicly thank her school crossing guard team for their dedication and service.  She described the many duties and responsibilities of the crossing guards.

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     Maryanne Morse, Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, introduced Dan O’Keefe, Moore Stephens Lovelace, and Jenny Spencer, County Finance Director.  Mr. O’Keefe addressed the Board to present the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the year ended September 30, 2014. 

Mr. O'Keefe advised that while the CAFR is a consolidated picture of Seminole County Board operations as well as all the Constitutional Officers, most everything in the document comes from the Board's side, especially looking at the proprietary funds, a lot of the agency funds, special revenue funds, capital project funds, and debt service funds.  Mr. O’Keefe noted that in the past he has benchmarked Seminole County against other counties, and because this presentation is being done earlier than usual, he cannot get that information for probably another week or two. 

Mr. O’Keefe displayed a PowerPoint Presentation (received and filed) and began by reviewing the Services and Deliverables relating to an Unmodified Opinion on the Financial Statement and Auditor’s Report on Compliance and Internal Control.  He noted the auditors issued a report and did not have any findings related to compliance and especially related to federal and state grants. 

Mr. O’Keefe discussed the Auditor’s Management Letter and the Independent Accountant’s Report.  He then reviewed Auditor Responsibilities; Management Responsibilities; and Internal Controls.  Regarding Compliance, Mr. O’Keefe indicated individual line items within the County’s financial statements have certain compliance requirements that are imbedded in them; for example, the County’s long-term debt is associated with bond covenants a lot of times so the auditors have to audit compliance with those bond covenants.

Mr. O’Keefe reviewed Communication of Significant Matters, Risk-Based Audit Approach, Management Representations, Assigned Individuals, and Audit Schedule.

With regard to Financial Highlights, Mr. O’Keefe discussed the County-Wide Analysis chart and the Fund Financial Statements.  He explained the County adopts their budgets on a fund basis.   Regarding Major Funds, he indicated what is significant about them is they are the funds that the auditors have actually rendered an opinion on. 

Mr. O’Keefe reviewed the General Fund (Pages 22 and 26) chart and stated the Unassigned Fund Balance is more relevant than the top-level net position because it indicates what resources the County has left that they can spend on contingent-type items.  The Assigned Fund Balance represents current obligations that they are going to cover in the next fiscal year, such as open purchase orders, open contracts, things of this nature.  He advised that the Unassigned is everything else.  He then reviewed the General Fund Budget (Pages 82-83) chart and Major Proprietary Funds.  

With regard to the New Accounting Standards, Mr. O’Keefe stated that as a result of participating in the Florida Retirement System, ihe County pays a contribution that is set by the Legislature.  He noted the Florida Retirement System as a whole has an actuarial valuation done, it has a financial position, and it has an unfunded liability.  He explained how the unfunded liability next year is going to be allocated back to all of the members throughout the state and advised that when he does his presentation next year, he will walk the Board through this change and show them what the impact in the financial statements was.  He stated this requirement has been in the commercial sector for over 20 years and it is just now that the government sector has to pick up for that. 

Chairman Carey thanked Mr. O’Keefe for coming in and noted the timing is important because of the County is refunding their water and sewer bonds that will happen later this month.

Commissioner Horan commended the Clerk's Office as well as the Moore Stephens Lovelace firm on the CAFR.  He stated he particularly finds what the Clerk's Office does in the statistical section beginning on page 141 useful.  He discussed the County’s headcount numbers, which show general government employees going from 540 employees in 2007 to now being somewhere in the neighborhood of the 300s.  Employees are being focused more on the County’s core functions and the CAFR really helps him in terms of identifying what the County’s core functions are, how many people are performing those core functions, how much they cost, and he added it prepares him for the budgeting process. 

Regarding the new GASB standard relating to the Florida Retirement System, Commissioner Horan asked, since the number the State gives the County is an actuarially determined number, will that number be audited.  Mr. O’Keefe explained the Auditor General will audit that number and give comfort that it is the right number for Seminole County.  He noted that is going to be a lump number and how the County allocates it through to the other funds will be a decision that has to be made internally.  He added that headcount is the common methodology for allocating that lump number and he cannot imagine doing it any other way. 

Jenny Spencer, County Finance Director, addressed the Board to further explain that the allocation will be similar to how the other Post Employee Benefits are done.  She stated currently the allocation is done based on FTE (Full-Time Employment), so it will be in the same format. 

Commissioner Henley questioned whether or not, should it become necessary in the future for the Board to borrow money, they could loan themselves money from the Enterprise Fund, where they have one fund with $25 million in reserve and pay themselves interest.  Mr. O’Keefe advised that unless there is something that restricts it within a bond covenant, they have that ability.  Commissioner Henley noted that the financial strength of this County did not happen by accident.  Mr. O’Keefe clarified that there are no bonds in the Solid Waste Fund.  He pointed out Seminole County’s Solid Waste Fund is the first he has seen where their closure and post-closure costs are fully funded, and it is rare to see that.

Commissioner Constantine commented that there is $29 million in the Solid Waste Fund and the ongoing cost per year is $12 million.  He stated even if it was not funded next year, it would be fully funded with another $5 million in excess.  Mr. O’Keefe stated when the hurricanes hit in 2004, the County had such strong reserves in the Solid Waste Fund and that really saved the day for Seminole County.  Commissioner Henley noted it allowed the County to recover quickly because they spent $54 million to put the County back together quickly.  Chairman Carey stated it took two years for FEMA to reimburse Seminole County. 

Upon inquiry by Commissioner Dallari regarding how Seminole County compares to other counties, Mr. O’Keefe advised in the past they have done quite well fiscally compared to other counties his firm has audited and he will obtain the CAFRs for the other counties and put together a comparison like he has done in the past and provide that to the Board. 

Upon inquiry by Commissioner Dallari as to his recommendations, Mr. O’Keefe stated he is currently advising entities if they are deep into dependency on federal grants in particular, they have to be a little careful and leery because the federal government's deficit continues to grow, and at some point in time he thinks a bubble is going to break and the federal government is going to start saying they do not have enough money to allocate down to the local governments.  He advised there is a schedule in the back of the CAFR showing the federal programs totaling $15 million.  He stated it is not as bad as some entities he sees but it is good to be aware of it rather than programs just being cut off, which could happen.

Commissioner Horan advised not only could it happen, it is happening, especially in the social services area.  He stated over the past few years, the County has experienced reductions in a lot of the community services programs, which is why it is so important to have a partnership with so many great civic, community and 501(c)(3) organizations, as well as the Sheriff's Office. 

Chairman Carey stated that after the hurricanes the County’s reserves had been depleted because of that and the reserve percentages were very low and very concerning.  She advised the County worked very hard when things were really going well to rebuild their reserves and to build a rainy-day fund so if they had another downturn that they could survive it without needing to raise taxes.  She advised the millage rate in Seminole County for ad valorem taxes is lower than it was ten years ago, the utility tax is one of the lowest at 4% while surrounding counties are at 10%, and there is not a stormwater fee.  Chairman Carey stated Seminole County has one of the lowest tax rates in the State of Florida. 

Chairman Carey thanked Mr. O’Keefe for attending and giving a great report.  She requested Ms. Spencer circulate the presentation around electronically to all the Commissioners and if they have questions at a later time, they can reach out to Mr. O'Keefe one-on-one. 

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Chairman Carey recessed the meeting of the Board of County Commissioners at 10:26 a.m., and convened as the U.S. Highway 17-92 Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA).

U.S. HIGHWAY 17-92 CRA

With regard to public participation, no one in the audience spoke in support or in opposition to Items #4 and #5 and public input was closed.

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Agenda Item #4 – A-0598-15

Sonia Fonseca, U.S. 17-92 CRA Program Manager, addressed the Board to present a funding request in the amount of $25,000 from PRISM International, Inc. to provide business training services to businesses located within the U.S. 17-92 CRA corridor.  Ms. Fonseca presented the request as outlined in the Agenda Memorandum.  She advised approval of this funding request will also allow the businesses to have a platform where they can communicate with each other as well as other businesses in the country in order to share their concerns and discuss different business topics.  Additionally, PRISM is going to provide diversity training modules through licensing to allow the CRA, through its website, to continue to engage and reach out to businesses that visit the website for a period of three years. 

Ms. Fonseca advised both the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and Redevelopment Planning Agency (RPA) recommended approval of this funding; however, although this activity meets one of the outlined goals in the plan, staff does not recommend funding because it is not a budgeted activity and it is not a catalyst project pursuant to the Board-approved definition during last year’s work session.  She advised a representative of PRISM is present today to answer any questions regarding the training itself.

Chairman Carey stated although this sounds like a great project and a great program, it is not one of the goals for the CRA; and they have given very strict guidelines about the limited funds the CRA has left and how the Board wanted to see the funds moved forward.  She explained that her issue with these types of items coming forward is that this Board has already taken a position on how they want to focus the balance of this money in the CRA.  She stated the CRA was not created to provide job training.  She stated the County has other dollars that they use for that; and they already fund job training for small businesses, both through their incubator programs as well as offer training and classes in their libraries.  She added that Economic Development also does quarterly classes for businesses. 

Upon inquiry by Commissioner Dallari, Pamela Lynch, Business Development Manager with Economic Development, addressed the Board to advise the County funds $50,000 towards GrowFL as well as the Florida High Tech Corridor Virtual Entrepreneur Center.  Chairman Carey added that the County provides $150,000 to the Incubator at the Port Authority and to the UCF Incubator program.

Commissioner Horan stated the County has published the business community goals, objectives and guidelines that they use in terms of making their applications.  He opined this application was probably made sometime last summer in 2014 before the Board had discussions regarding focusing the funds on infrastructure.  He stated they have not changed those goals, objectives and policies formally, so when somebody goes to the website or when somebody looks at the CRA goals, objectives and rules that they are supposed to operate by, those are still there.

Ms. Fonseca stated in the application itself, the appeals process is outlined.  She explained that if an applicant brings forth something that they can say relates to something in the Master Plan and staff does not bring it forward to the RPA, the appeal process kicks in and staff is obligated to bring it to the RPA.  She stated if the RPA declines them, they do not come before the CRA.

Commissioner Horan noted the only place the cities get to participate is at the RPA level.  He stated if the policy has been changed, staff should provide new goals, objectives and policy standards so that the public and the business community understand that there has, in fact, been a change.  Ms. Fonseca advised staff has a draft of that in review at the moment.

Chairman Carey agreed with Commissioner Horan and requested that Ms. Guillet provide those changes to the Board as soon as possible, either at the next meeting or the meeting in May, because it is currently sending a mixed message.  She stated these businesses put a lot of energy into these businesses submitting these applications. 

Motion by Commissioner Henley, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to deny the funding request in the amount of $25,000 from PRISM International, Inc. to provide business training services to businesses located within the U.S. 17-92 CRA corridor.

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

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Agenda Item #5 – A-0673-15

     Ms. Fonseca presented a request to approve the Second Amendment to the Interlocal Agreement between the U.S. 17-92 CRA and the City of Sanford, revising the completion date for the design phase of the U.S. 17-92 Beautification Project from Park Drive to First Street within the City of Sanford from April 16, 2015 to April 16, 2016.  Ms. Fonseca presented the request as outlined in the Agenda Memorandum. 

Motion by Commissioner Horan, seconded by Commissioner Constantine, to approve the Second Amendment to U.S. 17-92 Street Beautification Project City of Sanford/U.S. 17-92 CRA Agreement, revising the completion date for the design phase of the U.S. 17-92 Beautification Project from Park Drive to First Street within the City of Sanford from April 16, 2015 to April 16, 2016.

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

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Chairman Carey adjourned the meeting of the U.S. Highway 17-92 Community Redevelopment Agency at 10:35 a.m., and reconvened as the Board of County Commissioners.

COUNTY MANAGER’S CONSENT AGENDA

Ms. Guillet advised that staff has requested Item #8 and #9, HOME Agreements between Seminole County and Habitat for Humanity of Seminole County and Greater Apopka, be pulled from the Agenda.  She advised Item #16, Interlocal Agreement between Seminole County and the Florida Department of Health relative to the Rabies Control Program, and Item #19, Resolution implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #15-064 relating to a 1,000-gallon potable water tank at Seminole County Fire Station 42, have been pulled from the Agenda. 

Commissioner Dallari asked that Item #21, Resolution implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #15-066 through the 2014 Infrastructure Sales Tax Fund to appropriate budget of $1,300,000 from the SR 426/CR 419 Widening Project be pulled for a separate discussion.  Commissioner Horan requested Item #28, request to award IFB-602191-15, term contract for UPS Maintenance, Repair and Battery Replacement to Jantech Services, Inc., Odessa, be pulled for a separate discussion. 

     With regard to public participation, no one in the audience spoke in support or in opposition to the Consent Agenda and public input was closed.

     Motion by Commissioner Horan, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to authorize and approve the following:

County Manager’s Office

Business Office

6.  Approve travel and mileage reimbursement to Commissioner Lee Constantine for travel during January through March of 2015. (A-0686-15)

 

Community Services

Community Development Division

7.  Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute the Seminole County and Bread of Life of Central Florida, Inc. Subrecipient Agreement for Program Year 2014-2015. (A-0642-15)

8.  Pulled from the Agenda request to approve the HOME Agreement between Seminole County and Habitat for Humanity of Seminole County and Greater Apopka, Florida, Inc. to construct four, single-family owner-occupied home units to be sold to very low and low-income households in Seminole County. (A-0653-15)

9.  Pulled from the Agenda request to approve the HOME Agreement between Seminole County and Habitat for Humanity of Seminole County and Greater Apopka, Florida, Inc. to construct two, single-family owner-occupied homes. (A-0654-15)

 

Development Services

Planning & Development Division

10.  Authorize release of Water and Sewer Performance Bond #59BSBGQ7538 in the amount of $223,441.91; and Road, Streets, and Drainage Performance Bond #59BSBGQ7539 in the amount of $287,673.84 for Tuska Reserve; Meritage Homes of Florida, Inc., Applicant. (A-0570-15)

11.  Authorize release of Water and Sewer Performance Bond #800013293 in the amount of $177,958.28; and Private Roads Performance Bond #800013292 in the amount of $464,417.50 for Lakeside Estates; Meritage Homes of Florida, Inc., Applicant. (A-0575-15)

12.  Authorize release of Roads, Streets, and Drainage Performance Bond #SU1128420 in the amount of $454,774.37 for Walden Cove Subdivision; Taylor Morrison of Florida, Inc., Applicant. (A-0583-15)

 

Environmental Services

Utilities Engineering

13.  Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a Utility Work Agreement between Skanska-Granite-Lane, a Joint Venture, and Seminole County in order to have Seminole County utilities relocated at the Contractor’s expense as a portion of the overall construction of I-4 for the project known as the I-4 Ultimate Project. (A-0669-15)

 

Leisure Services

Tourism Development Division

14.  Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute an Agreement between the Sanford Chamber of Commerce, Seminole County, the Economic Development Commission of Mid-Florida, the Sanford Airport Authority and Orlando Sanford International, Inc. in the amount of $4,000 per partner per year for the funding of two visitor information booths at the Orlando Sanford International Airport for a term of three consecutive years from date of execution. (A-0563-15)

 

Public Safety

Business Office

15.  Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute appropriate Resolution #2015-R-71, renaming a segment of Ronald Reagan Boulevard to Sanford Avenue.

(A-0533-15)

Animal Services Division

16.  Pulled from the Agenda request to approve the Animal Rabies Control Program Interlocal Agreement between Seminole County and the Florida Department of Health in Seminole County; and delegate authority to the Animal Services Division Manager to execute the Agreement and approve and execute any future modifications. (A-0662-15)

 

Public Works

Engineering Division

17.  Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute an Interlocal Agreement between Orange and Seminole Counties for the Lake Pickett Hydrologic-Nutrient Budget and Water Quality Management Plan Evaluation. (A-0656-15)

 

Resource Management

Business Office

18.  Approve submittal of an application to the U.S. Department of Justice through its FY2015 Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program, requesting up to $200,000 in grant funding for the Adult Drug Treatment Court, and authorize the County Manager or her designee to execute any documents associated with the grant application. (A-0666-15)

Budget and Fiscal Management Division

19.  Pulled from the Agenda request to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a Resolution implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #15-064 through the Fire Protection Fund to appropriate budget of $32,000 from reserves for the replacement of the 1,000-gallon potable water tank at Seminole County Fire Station 42. (A-0649-15)

20.  Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute appropriate Resolution #2015-R-72, implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #15-065 through the Public Works Grants Fund in the amount of $124,107 to recognize additional grant funding for the construction phase of the SR 46 Gateway Sidewalk Project and to reduce 2001 Infrastructure Sales Tax funds in this project. FPN#417484-1-58-01/58-02/68-01 (A-0618-15)

22.  Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute appropriate Resolution #2015-R-73, implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #15-070 in the amount of ($1,183,285) through the Economic Development Fund to appropriate funding for approved Job Growth Incentive (JGI) Grant Award with Aerosim Flight Academy, Inc. in the amount of $100,000 ($50,000 to be provided from the City of Sanford) to cancel funding previously allocated for Job Growth Incentive (JGI) and Qualified Target Incentive (QTI) awards which have been cancelled, and to true up beginning fund balance. (A-0628-15)

23.  Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute appropriate Resolution #2015-R-74, implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #15-072 through the General Fund to appropriate $19,014 of donations received for the engraving of names at the Heroes Memorial site. (A-0685-15)

Purchasing & Contracts Division

24.  Waive the procurement process (Section 3.556) and award M-602249-15/TLR, Playback System Upgrade for SGTV, to Encore Broadcast Systems, Winter Springs; and authorize the Purchasing & Contracts Division to execute the documents. (A-0621-15)

25.  Approve Work Order #11, Salt Creek Culvert Replacements under PS-8146-12/JVP, Master Agreement for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Services with CDM Smith, Inc. of Maitland, in the amount of $199,823.48; and authorize the Purchasing & Contracts Division to execute the Work Order. (A-0620-15)

26.  Approve Work Order #12, Black Hammock Creek Restoration and Treatment System, Salt Creek Final Design under PS-8146-12/JVP, Master Agreement for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Services with CDM Smith, Inc. of Maitland, in the amount of $143,615.40; and authorize the Purchasing & Contracts Division to execute the Work Order. (A-0632-15)

27.  Approve Work Order #83, Bear Gully Road Drainage and Sidewalk Improvements, under PS-4388-09/VFT, Master Services Agreement (MSA) for Design of Minor Projects with Construction Costs Less than $1,000,000 with HNTB Corporation of Lake Mary, in the amount of $151,448.80; and authorize the Purchasing & Contracts Division to execute the Work Order. (A-0660-15)

29.  Award RFP-602202-15/LJS, Promotional Assessment Testing Process for Ranks of Battalion Chief and Lieutenant, to CPS HR Consulting, Atlanta, GA; and authorize the Purchasing & Contracts Division to execute the Agreement. (A-0602-15)

30.  Award RFP-602203-15/BJC, Term Contract for the Processing of Clean Wood and Vegetative Waste, to Raynor Shine Services, LLC, Ocoee; and authorize the Purchasing & Contracts Division to execute the Agreement. (A-0623-15)

31.  Award RFP-602204-15/BJC, Legal Counsel for Seminole County Public Construction Projects, to Michael C. Sasso, P.A., of Winter Park; and authorize the Purchasing & Contracts Division to execute the Agreement. (A-0625-15)

32.  Approve revision to Agreement for RFP-9948-14/RTB, Infrastructure Sales Tax Program Project Management Contract; and authorized the Purchasing & Contracts Division to execute one Master Services Agreement (MSA) with CH2M Hill Engineers, Inc., of Orlando. Estimated Annual Usage $500,000. (A-0678-15)

33.  Approve Amendment #4 to RFP-600453-08/BJC, Tourism Marketing Services Agreement, with Paradise Advertising and Marketing, Inc., St. Petersburg; and authorize the Purchasing & Contracts Division to execute the documents. (A-0645-15)

34.  Approve an increase to the Board-approved Estimated Term Usage under PS-8148-12/JVP, Master Services Agreement (MSA) for Construction Engineering and Inspection Services for projects less than $2,000,000 by an additional $750,000 annually. (A-0641-15)

       

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

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Agenda Item #21 - A–0619-15

Regarding Item #21, Budget Amendment Request #15-066 through the 2014 Infrastructure Sales Tax Fund to appropriate budget of $1,300,000 from the SR 426/CR 419 Widening Project (Phase 2 and 3) to establish the Countywide Fiber Expansion Project, Commissioner Dallari advised this is a great example of Seminole County working together with the School Board and extending the fiber optic ring to five of the schools.  He commended the Board, staff and the School Board for working together.  He opined these are the types of projects that Seminole County should be doing and he just wanted to make sure the Board had some minor discussion on it.  

Dr. Walt Griffin, Seminole County School Board Superintendent, addressed the Board to thank them for the acceleration of the expansion of fiber optic network upgrades.  He advised the upgrades will really help the last four schools, Geneva, Walker, Wekiva, and Altamonte Springs get on the fiber optic network; and from the school level, it makes a huge difference.  He opined the difference between DSL and fiber optic is the difference between the 20th Century and the 21st Century.

Upon inquiry by Commissioner Dallari, Antoine Khoury, Public Works Director, addressed the Board to advise the project will begin in the next few weeks and the completion date is the end of 2016.

Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to approve and authorize the Chairman to execute appropriate Resolution #2015-R-75 implementing Budget Amendment Request (BAR) #15-066 through the 2014 Infrastructure Sales Tax Fund to appropriate budget of $1,300,000 from the SR 426/CR 419 Widening Project (Phase 2 and 3) to establish the Countywide Fiber Expansion Project.

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

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Agenda Item #28 A – 0596-15

Regarding Item #28, IFB-602191-15, Term Contract for UPS Maintenance, Commissioner Horan stated the reason he asked to pull this item is he had some difficulty with the solicitation as it related to the low bidder being declared non-responsive.  He stated this solicitation involves a preventative maintenance RFP for uninterrupted power system units and explained what those systems do. 

Commissioner Horan stated as part of this solicitation, there were four proposers.  The solicitation asked for preventative maintenance service to be provided.  He stated the bids came in at $157,000 for Jantech, who was determined by the staff to be the low responsive bidder and Computer Power Systems (CPS), who was determined nonresponsive, at $116,000.  He explained why CPS was determined to be nonresponsive. The bid asked for a maintenance price to be put on every particular UPS unit and on a number of those units CPS put in “zero” because for particular units, the battery replacement is inexpensive. 

Commissioner Horan stated CPS was determined nonresponsive on the basis that that precluded the Purchasing Department from awarding on a piecemeal basis or on a unit-price basis for each particular unit, some units to some and some units to others.  So consequently the low bidder by $41,000 was disqualified because they were just going to go ahead and replace the battery every six months in any event because of the cheapness of the battery.

Commissioner Horan explained that the County awarded the contract on a lump-sum basis.  He stated it seems to him that the responsiveness issue is transcending form over substance.  He stated what they are doing is awarding the contract to the proposer who has a $41,000 higher cost and deeming unresponsive the local proposer who was making a nonmaterial deviation from the response.

Chairman Carey advised all of the numbers per unit were not part of this Agenda item so she wants the Purchasing Director to speak to that.  She stated if the contract is going to be “toss the battery and replace it,” there is an associated cost for that.  She stated her understanding of the recommendation from staff was that all the batteries be maintained on a regular maintenance schedule.  She noted there were two firms deemed nonresponsive.

Ray Hooper, Purchasing & Contracts Manager, addressed the Board to explain this bid was primarily for the preventative maintenance of 48 locations throughout the County on UPS stations.  The batteries are incidental to the preventative maintenance services.  CPS submitted “zeros” for 26 locations out of the 48.  He noted this was not a Request for Proposal so the discussions between the vendors are very limited, mostly toward clarification.  He stated when staff tried to identify what CPS meant in their bid, they got an indication that the price was included in the other bid items, which would indicate an unbalanced bid, and an indication that preventative maintenance is not needed, just replacement of the batteries.  They thought they were dealing with a potential vendor that did not understand the scope of services, which was primarily buying preventative maintenance at 48 locations, and deemed them nonresponsive to their solicitation.  He advised the other firm was made nonresponsive because there is a mandate requirement for a two-hour response time and the company had indicated they could not make the two-hour response time. 

Tony Qualls, Chief Information Officer, addressed the Board to state he was not on the evaluation committee for this RFP.  He stated he was asked to go back and review the RFP for technical application to see how things would work.  He stated he actually called the vendor and asked if they understood the scope and what the County was looking for.  He suggested asking the vendor if they understood what they were trying to bid on.  He thinks the County's intent is to ensure that they maintain the reliability of their systems to ensure that the UPS units stay online and that there is an actual requirement to visit each site at least every six months and provide a written report on that site to ensure that the fans are cleaned out, the connectors are clean with no dirt and dust buildup.  He stated the County is trying to get a system in place where they actually improve the service and are not having a radio tower failure, a data center failure, or something like that. 

Chairman Carey stated the County actually had a failure where the dust covered the system and it overheated, so it was not a battery at all.  She advised this contract is about somebody having their eyes on every one of the 48 locations that the County has every six months to make sure that everything checks out and that it does not fail.  Discussion ensued with regard to why the low bidder was disqualified.

Chairman Carey suggested that they continue this item until the next meeting and give the County Attorney’s Office an opportunity to work with Purchasing to review it.  If it truly was a lump-sum bid submitted by CPS, then, in fact, the Board could reconsider that and not find them nonresponsive.  Commissioner Horan requested staff review the situation to determine if, in fact, that bidder should have been declared nonresponsive.  Upon inquiry by Commissioner Dallari, Ms. Guillet advised this is not a time sensitive matter where a decision has to be made today. 

Speaker Request Form from Rick Kuzmich was received and filed.

Motion by Commissioner Horan, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to continue request to award IFB-602191-15, Term Contract for UPS Maintenance, Repair and Battery Replacement, to Jantech Services, Inc., and request staff review the bids to determine if Computer Power Systems should have been determined to be nonresponsive.

Under discussion, Chairman Carey advised that when the County Attorney’s Office comes back with their determination, that is the decision the Board will go with.  Commissioner Dallari pointed out the Board still needs to review it and Chairman Carey clarified they will not take away the decision of the Board.

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

COUNTY ATTORNEY’S AGENDA

Agenda Item #35 – A-0677-15

Lynn Porter-Carlton, Deputy County Attorney, addressed the Board to present a request for a fee increase from Fisher & Phillips, LLP, the County’s Labor Counsel.  Ms. Porter-Carlton advised Mr. Applegate sent a memo to the Board which contained his recommendation that the Board grant the requested increase.  The increase request is to $250 an hour and the firm has indicated in their letter that they have not increased the rates to the County since 2007.

Commissioner Dallari stated he would like to see what the going rate is for the surrounding area.

Commissioner Henley left the meeting at this time.

Chairman Carey stated Fisher & Phillips has done great work for Seminole County but they have been doing it since 1976 and they do not even have a contract.  It has been a continuing agreement.  She stated they have come before the Board in the last couple of years with rate increases.  Their letter indicates that as of October 1st, they are going to come back to the Board to request yet another increase.  She stated she asked Ms. Porter-Carlton to provide the rates the County is paying their other legal counsel.  She noted that many of the firms that the County is working with are all well under $250 an hour. 

Ms. Porter-Carlton stated in 2013 when Fisher & Phillips sent a request for a fee increase, it did not come before this Board because the County Attorney did not recommend moving forward on it.  She added that in the past the Board has considered a fee increase request from this firm and turned it down.  Chairman Carey noted the Board has also approved some rate increases for this firm.  She opined it may be time to go out to the marketplace and just see what is out there.  She stated this may be a great rate for the work that Fisher & Phillips does.  She advised because of where they are today with their negotiations with Public Safety, she does not think that it is a good time for the County to change firms but she thinks it may be time for them to go out for an RFP.

Commissioner Henley reentered the meeting at this time.

Upon inquiry by Commissioner Horan, Chairman Carey clarified that Fisher & Phillips’ rate is currently $210 per hour and they want to raise it to $250 with the intent of going to $275 in October.

Chairman Carey opined that an RFP may be “telling” to the Board and it may be that they come back and hire Fisher & Phillips again.  She stated the Board will then know what the market is for this kind of specialized rate.  Commissioner Dallari stated he would like to see a spreadsheet of all the labor attorneys in the area to know what the rates are.  Commissioner Horan agreed with Commissioner Dallari and opined that what the Board should be looking at is an increase as of the next fiscal year because the County does not have it budgeted for this year.  He stated they have it budgeted at $210 an hour, taking into consideration that they would be using Fisher & Phillips more this year because of the negotiations with the County’s firefighters.  He stated if the Board goes with either an RFP or with some kind of a survey of what the rates are, they really should be dealing with the October 1st date and should not be dealing with the rest of this fiscal year.  Ms. Porter-Carlton advised the only reason this item was brought before the Board was because of the receipt of the letter from the firm saying they were requesting an immediate rate increase.

Upon inquiry by Commissioner Constantine, Ms. Porter-Carlton stated the letter was simply a request, and there was nothing indicating the firm will leave the contract if they do not get the increase.  Commissioner Constantine advised he thinks it is fine to look at the request right now, but he thinks they should tell this firm they will start negotiating at the next fiscal year.  He stated in the meantime the Board can look at the spreadsheets of fees and other things.

Motion by Commissioner Constantine, seconded by Commissioner Horan, to deny Fisher & Phillips, LLP’s request for a fee increase from $210 per hour to $250 per hour; and direct staff to survey the area to determine if they want to go forward with an RFP.

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

 

 

CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS’ CONSENT AGENDA

Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Horan, to approve the following:

Clerk's Office

36.  Approve Expenditure Approval Lists dated March 9, 16 and 23, 2015; Payroll Approval List dated March 12, 2015; and the BCC Official Minutes dated March 10, 2015. (A-0663-15)

 

The Board noted, for information only, the following Clerk’s “Received and Filed”:

1.      Letter to Zane Beard from Commissioner Robert Dallari re:  Appointment to the Seminole County Board of Adjustment to complete a 2-year term ending January 1, 2017.

 

2.      Certified copy of the City of Longwood’s Annexation Ordinance #15-2056 adopted March 2, 2015.

 

3.      Rider for reduction of Performance Bond #3215631 for the Peninsula at Island Lake Subdivision, approved by the BCC on March 10, 2015.

 

4.      Exhibit A, Promissory Note, dated April 1, 2015, City of Casselberry, in the amount of $1,511,245 for the Oxford Road Redevelopment Project.

 

5.      Audit Report of Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Financial Statements Year Ended September 30, 2014, prepared by Moore Stephens Lovelace, P.A.

 

6.      First Amendment to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Fully Executed Agreement with Seminole County re:  Seminole Wekiva Trail Project.

 

7.      Addendum #1 to the Pearl Lake Estates PD Developers Commitment Agreement, #15-20500002; Taylor Morrison of Florida, Inc., Owner.

 

8.      Development Order #15-27500012, Alcoholic Beverage License for 1425 Tuskawilla Road; Tuskawilla Park SC Ltd., Owner.

 

9.      Conditional Utility Agreements for Water, Wastewater & Reclaimed Water Service; Standard Pacific of Florida for the project known as Turnberry.

 

10.    Conditional Utility Agreements for Water, Wastewater & Reclaimed Water Service; Zimmer Poster Service for the project known as Autozone.

 

11.    Customer Agreements for Reclaimed Water Rates and Reclaimed Water Flow, Distribution, Delivery and Spray Easement for the project known as Integra Village/Panther Sanford/Villages LLC.

 

12.    Third Amendment to IFB-601000-10.

 

13.    Second Amendment to RFP-601035-10.

 

14.    Ninth Amendment to RFP-601461-12.

 

15.    IFB-602129-14, Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) Consulting Agreement with Jason C. Sniffen, DO and/or Christopher D. Cooper, MD.

 

16.    IFB-602158-14, Term Contract for Fence Parts, Repairs and Installation Services with All-Rite Fence Services.

 

17.    RFQ-602184-15, Consultant Services Agreement with Research Data Services, Inc.

 

18.    SS-602228-15, AT&T Intrado Viper System Switched Ethernet Services (IT) and Price Schedule.

 

19.    Pet Rescue Cooperative Service Agreements as follows:  A New Beginning Pet Rescue; Central Florida Pug Rescue, Inc.; Coastal Poodle Rescue, Inc.; Eskie Rescuers United American Eskimo Dog Rescue, Inc.; Florida Poodle Rescue; Greyhound Pets of America/Greater Orlando; Poodle and Pooch Rescue, Inc.; RAIN – Rescuing Animals in Need, Inc.; and T.E.A.R.S., Inc.

 

20.    M-0134-15, Basic Agreement with GAI Consultants, Inc.

 

21.    Amendment #11 to Work Order #56 to PS-1529-06.

 

22.    Amendment #1 to Work Order #2 to PS-2144-07.

 

23.    Corrected Work Order #76 to PS-3914-08.

 

24.    Work Orders #80 and #81 to PS-4388-09.

 

25.    Change Order #12 to Work Order #4 to RFQ-5888-10.

 

26.    Work Order #9 to PS-6658-11.

 

27.    Work Order #10 to PS-8072-12.

 

28.    Work Orders #9 and #10 to PS-8146-12.

 

29.    Amendment #1 to Work Order #19 to PS-8186-13.

 

30.    Amendment #2 to Work Order #1 to PS-8286-13.

 

31.    Work Order #1 to PS-9462-14.

 

32.    Closeout to CC-8160-12.

 

33.    Change Order #1 to Work Order #26 to CC-8199-12.

 

34.    Corrected Change Order #4 to CC-8457-13.

 

35.    Closeout to CC-8898-13.

 

36.    Closeout to Work Order #2 and Work Order #5 to CC-9192-13.

 

37.    Change Order #1 to CC-9276-14.

 

38.    Change Order #1 to CC-9753-14.

 

39.    Parks Contracts for Services with Daneen L. Botsko, Megan Weeks, Jeff Bierd, Jr., Colleen Puglisi, Mariella Dorr, Natalie Keene-Krops, and Norene A. Koester.

 

40.    Addendum to the Etor PD Seminole County Development Order, #15-20500005.

 

41.    Addendum #1 to the Old Lockwood PD Developer’s Commitment Agreement (a/k/a Bellevue).

 

42.    Bids as follows: 

     RFQ-602184-15 from Research Data Services, Inc., University of Central Florida, Kerr & Downs Research, and Abt SRBI, Inc.;

     IFB-602191-15 from Jantech Services, Inc. and UP Systems, Inc.;

     RFP-9948-14 from URS Corporation Southern, CH2M Hill Engineers, Inc., Kelly Collins & Gentry, Inc., and Skanska USA Building,   Inc.;

     CC-9859-14 from Gibbs & Register, Inc. and Masci General Contractor, Inc.;

     CC-9942-14 from Prime Construction Group, Inc. and AJC Construction, LLC;

     PS-0033-15 from Architectural Design      Collaborative, Inc., Architecture Studio, Inc., Bentley Architects + Engineers, Inc., GLE Associates, Inc., KTH Architects, Inc., Lunz Prebor Fowler Architects, Paradigm    Engineers & Constructors, KZF Design Studio,     and Pyramid Engineering, Inc.;

IFB-602221-15 from The Battery Bank, Batteries by Fisher, Inc., Cherokee Government Applications, LLC; and Royal Battery Distributors, Inc.

 

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

 

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Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to approve the following:

 

Sheriff’s Office

37.  Approve contribution of $6,000 from the Sheriff's Law Enforcement Trust Fund to provide funding in support of "Project Graduation 2015," an alcohol and drug-free celebration for Seminole County high schools on graduation night. (A-0630-15)

 

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

 

REGULAR AGENDA

Agenda Item #38 – A-0539-15

Rebecca Hammock, Planning & Development Division Manager, addressed the Board to present a request to consider a Release of Lien for Case #12-70-CEB on property located at 1870 Ranchland Trail, Longwood, Tax Parcel #30-20-30-300-0190-0000, Drew Mooty, Owner.  Ms. Hammock reviewed the background timeline as outlined in the Agenda Memorandum and noted that a lien was imposed on April 24, 2014 on property located at 1880 Ranchland Trail, Longwood, Tax Parcel #30-20-30-300-0190-0000.  She explained that pursuant to Florida Statutes, the lien was against the land where the violations existed and upon any other real or personal property owned by the Respondent; therefore, the lien also attached to the adjacent vacant property at 1870 Ranchland Trail. 

Ms. Hammock advised that the property located at 1880 Ranchland Trail is still not in compliance and the vacant property located at 1870 Ranchland Trail is under contract for sale.  The Applicant is requesting a Release of Lien for the vacant property because he is attempting to sell that property in order to have funds to bring the property located at 1880 Ranchland Trail into compliance and pay back taxes.  Ms. Hammock stated that staff is recommending denial since the property where the violations exist still remains out of compliance.  She did point out that if the Board does decide to grant the requested Release of Lien, a lien will still remain on 1880 Ranchland Trail providing the County some assurance that the property will be brought into compliance.

Upon inquiry by Chairman Carey, Ms. Hammock confirmed that the request is to release the lien on 1870 Ranchland Trail and staff’s recommendation is that the lien would remain on 1880 Ranchland Trail. 

Speaker Request Form from David Sweet was received and filed.

Motion by Commissioner Henley, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to approve a Release of Lien for Case #12-70-CEB on the vacant property located at 1870 Ranchland Trail, Longwood, Tax Parcel #30-20-30-300-0190-0000, owned by Drew Mooty contingent upon the Applicant bringing the property located at 1880 Ranchland Trail into compliance by requesting a building permit; and once the property is sold, paying the back taxes owed.

Under discussion and upon inquiry by Commissioner Dallari, Commissioner Henley suggested giving the Applicant 90 days to bring the property at 1880 Ranchland Trail into compliance.  He suggested also giving the staff the authority to grant delays if there is a problem in the closing that calls for a delay rather than bringing it back to the Board.

Commissioner Henley stated the intent of the motion is that the Applicant will have the violations under control within the next 60 to 90 days; and if there is a problem with the closing, then staff would have the right to extend it past 90 days without coming back to the Board.

Chairman Carey stated she wanted to clarify that the motion is within the next 90 days, the Applicant will bring 1880 Ranchland Trail into compliance.  She added if staff needs to extend the timeframe for closing purposes, then staff could continue to extend up to 180 days.

Upon inquiry by Commissioner Constantine, Commissioner Henley stated the Applicant has a contract offer on 1870 Ranchland Trail but he cannot close due to the lien.

Upon inquiry by Commissioner Constantine, David Sweet, 1985 East 4th Street, on behalf of the Applicant, addressed the Board to state the closing date cannot be set until a determination is made by the Board regarding the lien. 

Commissioner Constantine confirmed that the intention is to release the lien on 1870 Ranchland Trail and the Applicant will get a contract and close on that property.  Within the timeframe, the Applicant will need to bring 1880 Ranchland Trail into compliance and pay the back taxes.  He stated the lien will continue to accrue on 1880 Ranchland Trail.  Commissioner Constantine questioned what the cost would be to bring 1880 Ranchland Trail into compliance.  Ms. Hammock advised she does not have an estimate.  She explained the Applicant is claiming he needs the proceeds of the sale of 1870 Ranchland Trail to bring 1880 Ranchland Trail into compliance.  She stated 1880 Ranchland Trail does not have a Certificate of Occupancy and it appears it was converted to a residential structure; so staff’s understanding is the Applicant would need to do a Change of Use and apply for current building permits.  She stated the Applicant has not determined if that is the route he would like to go or if he is going to apply for an agricultural exemption. 

Chairman Carey stated before the lien is released, the Applicant has got to bring 1880 Ranchland Trail into compliance.  The motion is contingent upon bringing 1880 Ranchland Trail into compliance within 90 days, with staff having the ability to extend that up to 180 days, as well as the back taxes being paid for both parcels as a proceed of this closing. 

Ms. Guillet advised that while she understands where the Board is trying to go and appreciates it, logistically, she thinks it is a problem because the Applicant needs the proceeds of the sale of 1870 Ranchland Trail to bring 1880 Ranchland Trail into compliance.  They cannot close until the lien is released, so the Board will have released the lien in order for the Applicant to get the proceeds.  She opined making the release of the lien contingent upon bringing the other side into compliance is logistically problematic. 

Ms. Guillet stated this is a situation where there will still be an encumbrance on a piece of property.  She recommended the Board release the lien on 1870 Ranchland Trail and maintain the lien on 1880 Ranchland Trail.  Then they will still have a guarantee or some sort of encumbrance to try to get 1880 into compliance.  Ms. Guillet stated logistically, what is being suggested will not work because they will need to release the lien before they can get the proceeds to bring the other property into compliance.  Commissioner Henley stated that is exactly what his motion accomplishes; it releases the lien on one. 

Chairman Carey questioned whether Commissioner Henley’s intent was that the release of lien would be contingent upon bringing 1880 Ranchland Trail into compliance.  Commissioner Henley confirmed that is his intent because bringing it into compliance means that the Applicant will apply for a permit on 1880 Ranchland Trail.

Upon inquiry by Chairman Carey, Mr. Sweet stated the Applicant applied for a building permit in 2013.  He advised the plans did pass, but due to other things that occurred after that, the building permit expired. 

Chairman Carey stated the issue is that the Applicant has turned a pole barn into a home without a building permit, and that is a big problem in Seminole County.  She stated she understands the intent of Commissioner Henley’s motion is that the Applicant remedy that before the lien is released on 1870 Ranchland Trail.  She stated the Applicant’s contract will have to be subject to 1880 Ranchland Trail being in compliance in order for the lien on 1870 Ranchland Trail to be released. 

Commissioner Dallari stated that is not what Commissioner Henley said.

Commissioner Henley reiterated that his intent is to release the lien on 1870 Ranchland Trail provided the Applicant pays the back taxes and brings 1880 into compliance by applying for a permit.  Then the Applicant can come back to the Board regarding the amount of the lien that this Board is not releasing at this time.

Chairman Carey noted applying for a building permit will not bring the 1880 Ranchland Trail property into compliance but it will start the function.  She restated the motion is to release the lien on 1870 Ranchland Trail, and leave the lien on 1880 Ranchland Trail, and it is contingent upon the Applicant paying the back taxes and applying for a building permit prior to the lien being released.  Ms. Hammock stated her understanding from speaking with Commissioner Henley was the motion was to release the lien on 1870 Ranchland Trail and then anticipate with the sale of the property that then the Applicant would bring 1880 Ranchland Trail into compliance.

Chairman Carey stated the Applicant needed to apply for the building permit.  The Applicant can bring the property into compliance after the fact but he has to get a permit.  She reiterated the Applicant needs to pay the back taxes and apply for a building permit.  He can “final out” his building permit after the fact, and 1870 will be released so that he can close on 1870.  He can take the money and bring 1880 into compliance.  She stated if the Applicant needs to come back and talk to the Board about anything else on the 1880 property, that will be a subject for a separate day. 

Commissioner Constantine reiterated that Commissioner Henley stated the Applicant would have 90 days to bring the property into compliance after the release.  Chairman Carey stated after the Board releases the lien, the “horse is out of the gate.”  She stated the lien is still on 1880, but if they release the lien on 1870 in order for the Applicant to sell the property and he sells it and still has not brought 1880 into compliance, they cannot go back and unwind the sale on 1870.  She stated that all the Applicant has to do is apply for the building permit and pay the taxes to which the seconder agreed. 

Ms. Hammock stated her understanding was the Applicant cannot pay the back taxes until the sale of 1870 has gone through.  Chairman Carey stated that is not the motion on the floor.  She added they can escrow the taxes on a sale and work through that.

 

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

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Chairman Carey recessed the meeting at 11:20 a.m., reconvening at 11:25 a.m.

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Agenda Item #39 – A-0664-15

Pamela Lynch, Business Development Manager with the Economic Development Division, addressed the Board to present a request to approve a Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) Funding Agreement with Deloitte Consulting LLP and an Interlocal Funding Agreement between Seminole County and the City of Lake Mary.

Ms. Lynch advised that Craig Gaw, a senior manager with Deloitte, is present as well as representatives from the City of Lake Mary and the Orlando Economic Development Commission.  She stated the JGI program is locally administered between the County and the City.  The program operates via agreements, an Interlocal and a Program Agreement, and it is an inducement for new, expanding and relocating target industry businesses. 

Ms. Lynch reviewed the request as outlined in the Agenda Memorandum.  She stated the funding request is for $1,700 per job equating to a total award of $1.7 million.  Monies are to be disbursed after the jobs are created and after the jobs become vested.  She advised the Lake Mary City Commission approved to equally participate providing for a funding split of $850,000 from each jurisdiction.  Upon inquiry by Chairman Carey, Ms. Lynch stated the City of Lake Mary approved this funding at their commission meeting held on August 7, 2014.

No one spoke in support or in opposition and public input was closed.

Commissioner Constantine requested that Ms. Lynch state the four points he has made in the past.  She stated the monies are going to be distributed after the jobs are created, the average annual wage is above what Seminole County's average annual wage is, this was part of a nationwide site selection process, and they should not be in direct competition with other local companies.

Motion by Commissioner Constantine, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to approve the Jobs Growth Incentive Funding Agreement between Deloitte Consulting LLP and Seminole County, providing an incentive of $1,700 per job, for a total of $1,700,000 to be split evenly with the City of Lake Mary, for the creation of one thousand new jobs; and the Interlocal Funding Agreement with the City of Lake Mary, addressing the City’s contribution of $850,000 to the JGI incentive.

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

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Agenda Item #40 A – 0594-15

     Rebecca Hammock, Planning & Development, addressed the Board to present a request to approve a Special Event Permit for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Concert Special Event.

     No one spoke in support or in opposition and public input was closed.  

Motion by Commissioner Constantine, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to approve a Special Event Permit for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Concert Special Event, to be held on May 9, 2015 (Rain-out Day May 10, 2015) at 400 Woodbridge Road, Longwood, within the Springs Association Recreation Area.

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

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Agenda Item #41 A – 0676-15

Edward Bass, Resource Management, presented a request to adopt two supplemental Resolutions authorizing the issuance of the Water and Sewer Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2015A and Series 2015B in an amount not exceeding $164,000,000 and $37,000,000, respectively, to provide for the refunding of the Water and Sewer Revenue Bonds, Series 2006 and 2005.  He detailed what the approval of the two supplemental Resolutions will authorize and advised staff recommends approval. 

No one spoke in support or in opposition and public input was closed.

Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to adopt appropriate Resolution #2015-R-76, authorizing the issuance of the Water and Sewer Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2015A; and appropriate Resolution #2015-R-77, authorizing the issuance of the Water and Sewer Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2015B, in an amount not exceeding $164,000,000 and $37,000,000, respectfully, to provide for the refunding of the Water and Sewer Bonds Series 2006 and 2005, as presented by Mr. Bass.

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

Chairman Carey stated these bonds will be going to the market at the end of this month.

Commissioner Dallari thanked staff and the consultants on doing a phenomenal job.

Upon inquiry by Chairman Carey, Margaret Lezcano, Stifel Nicolaus, advised as of market conditions on Friday, Seminole County’s savings is $22 million over the course of the bonds.

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Chairman Carey reminded everyone there will be a work session in Room 3024 following the afternoon BCC meeting.

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The Board recessed the meeting at 11:35 a.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 absent, Commissioner Lee Constantine who arrived late, and Deputy Clerk Erin Leben who was replaced by Deputy Clerk Terri Porter, who were present at the Opening Session.

PROOFS OF PUBLICATION

     Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Horan, to authorize the filing of the proof of publication for this meeting's scheduled public hearing into the Official Record.

     Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

     Commissioner Constantine entered the meeting at this time.

PUBLIC HEARINGS

LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE

AMENDMENT ORDINANCE

Agenda Item #42 – PH-2015-059

Proof of publication calling for a public hearing to consider adoption of an Ordinance amending Chapters 2 and 30 of the Land Development Code of Seminole County to revise regulations regarding building setbacks from natural water bodies, received and filed.

Jeff Hopper, Planning and Development Division, addressed the Board to present the request as outlined in the Agenda Memorandum.  He advised that staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance.

Commissioner Constantine confirmed with Mr. Hopper that the required setbacks will be 50 feet except for swimming pools, which will be less.  He questioned why this will affect only new requests.  Ms. Guillet advised the requirements were different and in two places:  the Comprehensive Plan reflected 50 feet and the Land Development Code reflected 30 feet.  The Land Development Code was the standard that was used to review development plans so as subdivisions were laid out and as parcels were platted, they were platted based on the 30-foot setback as opposed to the 50-foot setback.  She added that in the interest of not penalizing properties that were developed under the pre-existing Land Development Code, staff is recommending that this be prospective moving forward.

Commissioner Constantine requested information on whatever is in the pipeline that will still be at 30 feet instead of 50 feet.  Tina Williamson, Development Services Director, addressed the Board to advise she is not aware of any specific developments that would be affected at this time.  Chairman Carey stated if it is in the pipeline now, the 50-foot requirement is going to apply.  Ms. Williamson stated that is true so long as they have not been platted or received preliminary subdivision approval by the Planning and Zoning Board.  Chairman Carey requested staff get that information to Commissioner Constantine if there are any in the pipeline at this time.

Upon inquiry by Commissioners Horan and Dallari, Ms. Williamson explained none will be technically grandfathered in because they are not non-conforming uses; they will just continue to comply with the setbacks that were in effect at the time the lots were created.

Chairman Carey added that anything that is built will remain.  Ms. Guillet stated that the standard under which a lot was platted will apply to that lot.

No one in the audience spoke in support or in opposition and public input was closed.

Motion by Commissioner Constantine, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to adopt Ordinance #2015-7 amending Chapters 2 and 30 of the Land Development Code of Seminole County to revise regulations regarding building setbacks from natural water bodies.

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

     Meloney Lung, Assistant County Manager, addressed the Board and advised that Southern Strategy Group continues to work diligently on the reimbursement of over $4 million dollars for overpayment of the cost share in FY2009 through FY2012 for juvenile detention costs.  Representative Bob Cortes is the sponsor for the appropriation request and he has been working hard on the County’s behalf.  Movement is anticipated over the next three weeks as the subcommittees begin to receive allocations for the budgets and they move into large committees.

     Ms. Lung stated regarding the water resources bill, HB 7003 was approved the first week and no movement has happened as yet.  She said that SB 918 is now in the Appropriations Committee and the House and Senate remain far apart at this time.  Ms. Guillet confirmed with Ms. Lung that SB 918 is the Senate version of the water bill.  Ms. Lung advised that Speaker Crisafulli and President Gardiner are both very strong on their bills and are not reaching middle ground at this time.  She said that SB 918 still possibly has some unfunded mandates in it that might affect Seminole County, and Southern Strategy Group continues to work on that.  If it gets on the agenda, she will make the Board aware.

     Ms. Lung reported that HB 391 and SB 896 regarding the relocation of utilities could have potentially cost quite a bit of money for the County.  Because the new language in both the bills is more favorable, this would not impact Seminole as much anymore.  Her understanding is that if it is a road project or a stormwater project, it will not have the impact.  Upon inquiry by Chairman Carey, Ms. Lung stated she does not believe it will affect trail projects but will verify that. 

Commissioner Horan stated there was a very good exchange of information among the Florida Association of Counties Legislative Executive Committee members where a very good analysis was done by Leon County concerning, he believes in the present language, what projects this bill would affect.  Chairman Carey asked Commissioner Horan to ensure that he share this analysis with Ms. Lung and Alex Setzer, Lobbyist.  Commissioner Horan added that he spoke with several legislators about this when he was in Tallahassee, but the problem is that he is not sure the legislators really have a full comprehension of what they are actually trying to accomplish with this particular bill.  He said he doesn’t know where it is going but for some reason it is sliding through the committees really fast without a lot of review or revisions.  He concluded stating they really need to keep an eye on this.

     Ms. Lung stated she put SB 1352 on the list for Southern Strategies last week and this is in regard to deferred comp.  She explained this is a bill that would limit the counties from having a deferred comp investment provider for longer than five years and every time the five-year period is up, the counties would have to go out and competitively bid this.  Chairman Carey and Commissioner Dallari both questioned why they would do this.  Commissioner Constantine stated from what he understands, there was one legislator that got upset with a certain county and decided to write a one-size-fits-all bill.  Chairman Carey confirmed with Ms. Lung that there is not a companion bill at this time.  Ms. Lung advised they will continue to monitor it.

     In regard to the Lower Income Pool funding question and Medicaid, Ms. Lung stated there is no solution yet so she does not know what they are going to do with funding and the budget differential.  She will advise if she hears anything.

COUNTY MANAGER’S REPORT

     Ms. Guillet advised that at a previous meeting, a question was posed regarding EMS off-load times.  She added that this has been an ongoing issue with all of the hospitals and Tad Stone will give an update on where they are and some options for dealing with this issue. 

Tad Stone, Public Safety Director, addressed the Board to present a PowerPoint presentation (received and filed), Seminole County EMS System Hospital Off-load Delays. 

     Mr. Stone displayed Yearly Comparison stating that they found when taking a hard look at some of the data that has been generated, there has been an increase of over 8,000 transports from 2009 to 2014 on an annual basis.  He opined that this has a significant impact because they have not put any additional units on nor have any of the municipal providers, except for Longwood who put a unit on recently.  Also, today many people call an ambulance for “everything under the sun” and the emergency personnel have become the first choice of healthcare within the community, especially when people are challenged with getting to the hospital or do not have a primary care physician.

     Upon inquiry by Commissioner Dallari, Mr. Stone advised that all the fire engines except for those within the City of Sanford are ALS certified, which means they carry a cardiac monitor, oxygen and those types of things.  He will explain later why they have gone to that model.

     Ms. Guillet questioned what percentage of EMS calls result in a transport.  Mr. Stone said he would have to go back and look but would imagine it is close to 60%.  They are running about 62,000 calls for service this year between fire and EMS.  Commissioner Dallari confirmed that the amount of calls for service is higher than the amount of transports.

     Mr. Stone discussed the slide entitled February 2015 and explained the chart gives an idea of where they are taking patients, where they are transporting them to, and the off-load times at the particular facilities.  He said in the system, the County and Cities are dependent upon each other, i.e. Sanford runs calls for the County, the County runs calls for Oviedo; they are completely tied together in central dispatch and medical direction.  The interconnection is important because they are moving units and backing each other up constantly; taking units out of their primary response jurisdiction and moving them to where they need to be. 

     Chairman Carey stated that in looking at the chart, it appears that the biggest issue is with Florida Hospital-Altamonte.  Mr. Stone responded that is where they transfer the majority of patients and also where they have the longest wait times.  She questioned whether anyone had talked with the administrators about how they can solve this issue.  Mr. Stone advised they had several discussions with the hospital administration of all three hospitals within the county.  The latest was with the fire chiefs collectively meeting with the hospital administrators collectively and this was done several months ago.  The hospital administrators asked that they take a look at how they are processing people through the system and Mr. Stone advised they have accommodated that request and provided the available data that they had, but it has made little to no difference as far as the amount of wait time.  Upon inquiry by Chairman Carey, Mr. Stone stated the patient is taken to the closest, most appropriate facility for what they need.  However, if the patient’s physician usually works out of Florida Hospital and that is where the majority of their medical records are, that is the hospital they will take them to.  The crew and patient are notified of the hospital status, i.e. a red status means they are going to be backed up; they will be sitting for quite a while before actually getting off-loaded and moved in.  Commissioner Dallari questioned if part of the problem was that the hospitals are not updating their status correctly.  Mr. Stone stated that it is part of the problem because it is hard for the hospital to update their status when they are full with patients.  Mr. Stone explained that another issue is there may be no staff available to come and get the patient upstairs.  He added this is a nationwide issue and continues to grow and get worse.

     Mr. Stone displayed Time Spent to Offload Patients stating they took a look at what an acceptable time would be to have to wait, and they used 20 minutes.  The chart shows unit hours for one year; a unit is two people.  He explained the current ordinance allows them to charge up to $85 per hour for the crew, but it does not capitalize the rescue, the unit that is there, and it certainly does not take into consideration how they must manipulate the system day-in and day-out by moving units to different parts of the county.  Commissioner Horan stated that what is not calculated is some kind of assignment of value to the equipment costs, the capital costs nor the dislocation costs that may be caused by the disruption.  Mr. Stone explained that is why they have gone to the model of having ALS engines so they can get advanced life support to the patient as quickly as possible, even if it is a fire engine, to provide that level of service and wait for the transport unit to arrive.

     Commissioner Constantine wondered who placed the limit of $85 per hour for the crew to which Mr. Stone advised that is what the current ordinance states.  There is a section in the code that establishes fees and this is part of their fees based on FEMA.  Mr. Stone stated the hospitals are not charged for off-load times; however, there is a transport fee.

     Mr. Stone discussed for Commissioner Dallari a typical transport of a patient to the hospital and explained they must stay with the patient until they are transferred into the care and custody of hospital staff.

     Mr. Stone explained the chart, Time Frame where >20 Minutes Offload Occurs, stating they tried to determine when the peak offload times were occurring for 4 months of the year.  It shows peak times from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., which is when they have patients “sitting on the wall.”  The next chart, Time Frame where >45 Minutes Offload Occurs, shows the peak time starting at 12:00 noon, and Mr. Stone opined it is amazing to see the amount of times they are waiting in excess of 45 minutes to offload a patient.

     Ms. Guillet requested that Mr. Stone talk about the impact and what it means, other than they have 7,000 man hours in this off-load time, from a service delivery standpoint and from a fiscal standpoint, and about why this is a problem.  Mr. Stone stated that the goal should be, for any EMS provider in an urbanized or suburbanized area, to provide a unit to the patient within about five minutes.  After six to eight minutes, there starts to be morbidity/mortality issues.  He added that they have to play a constant “chess game” and it doesn’t happen once or twice a day, it happens 30 or 40 times a day, where a unit has to be moved and then there is an area without a transport-capable unit for an extended period of time.  They are trying to continue to maintain high service levels to reduce morbidity/mortality across the board.

     Chairman Carey stated that people didn’t used to use EMS services as their medical option and what has changed is people are not using emergency rooms for just emergencies anymore.  She questioned how they balance these times when people call to have someone come and take their vitals to see if they really need to go to a hospital rather than going to the doctor or a hospital themselves.  Mr. Stone explained that calls come in on 911 and the dispatchers go through a protocol and they determine, after asking a series of questions provided on a checklist, whether it is an emergent call or not an emergent call.  If it is not an emergent call, they still send someone but it may be just an engine or the next available ambulance without lights and sirens.  The calls are categorized to identify the criticality of the calls. 

     Mr. Stone discussed a bullet-point list of Options.  Ms. Guillet requested that Mr. Stone explain Alternative to the “Green Cot” and Commissioner Dallari asked him to discuss the history of the “green cot.”  Mr. Stone stated that in 2005/06, they kept having backlogs of patients at hospitals, so they used green army cots from shelters to offload patients in order to get the units back in service.  The hospitals had an issue with it, but the fire chief at the time stated he was not concerned with patients already at the hospital, but with 911 calls that he could not get to.  Mr. Stone added that one of the newest discussions about alternatives to “green cots” are collapsible “beach” chairs for any patient that just needs to sit up and doesn’t need to be on a stretcher. 

     Mr. Stone talked about the Reserve Medical Corps and stated he is always cautious to transfer a patient from one level of trained personnel to a lower level of trained personnel, especially if there is any level of advanced life support going on.  They would have to make modifications to the ALS protocols and ensure they have the right person in the right place to be able to hand off some of the patients to.  Chairman Carey stated then in that case, the County’s part-time, on-call personnel would stay with a patient at the hospital and relieve the paramedics.  Mr. Stone explained that would happen only if it is a non-advanced life support patient.

     Mr. Stone reviewed the final option listed, Alachua County Option – Waiting Time with Patient.  He stated the details are from Alachua County’s fee schedule of 2014/15, where they charge the hospitals for wait time.  If they are unable to get their patient to a bed, they charge per quarter hour.  Chairman Carey stated that the backup at the hospital is costing the County which in turn is costing the taxpayers, and it is not fair that the hospitals’ management practices may have an impact on the community.  Upon inquiry by Chairman Carey, Mr. Stone said that Alachua’s wait times did start to drop after implementing this practice.

     Commissioner Dallari stated he would like to have the County Manager meet with hospital administration to try to figure out if there is a way to solve this problem.  He stated that he has had discussions with Wendy Brandon, CEO of Central Florida Regional Hospital (CFR), and they have a pretty good protocol system to get this under control; their numbers are low in Oviedo and Sanford.  Ms. Guillet stated that it will probably not be the most comfortable conversation.  She would like authorization to do that but at the same time, if they go through the pain of trying to resolve the issue with the hospitals, whether they impose a fee on them or put staff in the hospitals or “green cot” or whatever, she does not want to give the Board the impression that if they reduce wall time by half, that will cut $300,000 to $400,000 from the budget.  Chairman Carey stated it is not just the $85 per hour for staff time because that does not count all the costs of moving people around and vehicle time.  She said she would like to see a whole accounting of what it really costs.  Ms. Guillet stated it is really a logistic and service level issue more so than a fiscal issue.  She does not know how much longer staff can continue to keep their heads above water with that; it is only by their talent and their efforts that they have been able to do that. 

     With regard to an accounting of what it really costs, Mr. Stone said it will take a while to see what he can and cannot capture and he will have to make a lot of assumptions.  Ms. Guillet stated she believes they can give a good picture from both the tangible and intangible standpoints on what the benefits would be to the taxpayers of this county and the people they are providing service to.  She added they can give the Board a good idea about what to expect from some of these options.

     Commissioner Horan said from a logistic point of view, he believes there is a way of costing this out and there are probably consultants to do it.  He added if they know logistically, through some kind of an algorithm, what it costs to provide competent people to hand the patient off to who is on-call, then that is something that could be funded by the County, the hospitals, grants, etc. to make the entire system better.   Right now, with just the anecdotal information they have, it is hard to pick out one of those options.

     Commissioner Constantine opined that the fundamental problem is just the attitude of the citizens when it comes to transport and healthcare and trying to convince people that they do not have to call the EMT every single time they “cut their hand.”  He advised that Florida Hospital is seeing a 10% to 12% increase in the amount of patients they are seeing from last March to this March, and they are looking at 92% occupancy and in some cases 110% occupancy.  He agreed with Commissioner Dallari’s suggestion to have preliminary talks with some of the hospital staff directors.  He said it does not have to be an adversarial situation and believes Florida Hospital would be a great place to start because they are also looking at having an emergency room in Lake Mary as they have one in Oviedo and other places, and they know they have this problem. 

     Chairman Carey suggested staff get together some real cost assumptions so that the County Manager has good information to go to the hospitals with and have this conversation because this is a community problem, not just the County’s problem or the hospitals’ problem.  Ms. Guillet and Mr. Stone agreed they could come back with some information sometime in June. 

     Commissioner Constantine questioned if there is the opportunity to get more gurneys, to put them in the hospital with offload patients.  Mr. Stone explained there is a limited amount of space in the ambulance.  Ms. Guillet stated the challenge is having someone take custody of the patient. 

Commissioner Dallari suggested that Ms. Guillet speak to Ms. Brandon since CFR has had success with this and try to figure out what can be done.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Chairman Carey stated the Board had asked her and the County Manager to meet with Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs regarding Lake Pickett North and South.  She advised they had a very good meeting on April 1st.  They met with not only Mayor Jacobs but also with the County Manager of Orange County and their key staff and talked about the Board’s concerns and issues.  The Mayor responded with a letter (see Submissions), but they talked through it and tried to say what they could do immediately that might look at this situation.  They decided to look at their Comprehensive Plans to ensure they coordinate to protect Seminole’s rural area. 

Chairman Carey explained that they took a draft to the meeting of what an agreement could look like but Orange County wasn’t very excited about that, however they took the information and said they would look at it.  The more immediate thing that they agreed to was that they could help with the Comp Plans being cohesive across both sides of the border.  They understand that the Board wants to have a transition, they understand about the transportation and now clearly understand that this County has no plans to widen SR 419.  In one of the proposals, they are actually pulling back the widening of SR 419 on the Orange County side; it will not be widened now all the way to the county line.  The County Managers agreed they would have the Planning Managers meet because the Orange County Planning Manager was out of town for this initial meeting.  There are supposed to be follow-up meetings with Seminole’s Planning Department Director and the County Manager and they understand the timeliness of this.  Chairman Carey stated she expects probably in the next 30 to 60 days to have an update of some kind.  She added that the Mayor knows that this is a number one priority for Seminole County and has agreed that she would continue to try to work with them as best she can.

Commissioner Dallari added they need to be talking about stormwater as well.  Chairman Carey stated they talked about a gamut of things including density, water quality and quantity, transportation, protecting the Econ, Lake Pickett, McCulloch Road and SR 419. 

Commissioner Constantine advised that the Lake Pickett citizens will meet on April 28th and they continue to be concerned.  He suggested they reach out to those citizens on a staff level to keep them informed.  He added the UCF elderly program is coming in soon and that will also affect that area.

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Chairman Carey announced that the SunRail Bells were presented to the City of Lake Mary on April 2nd and the City of Longwood on April 6th.  The presentation to the City of Altamonte Springs will be on April 21st and the City of Sanford will receive theirs on April 27th.

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Chairman Carey reported they had the U.S. 17-92 and SR 436 Flyover Ribbon Cutting on April 6th.  She stated this construction project moved very quickly and they did an excellent job.

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Chairman Carey thanked staff for the great job they did for the groundbreaking for the new Sports Complex on April 7th. 

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Chairman Carey advised they have a request from the Regional Homeless Coalition.  There is a study being done by Barbara Poppe in coordination with Dr. Ron Piccolo that will impact the region.  They are doing the financial piece and then Shelley Lauten with triSect will put together the final report about the cost of homelessness and the impacts to the communities.  She said it is about a $70,000 study and Orange County has agreed to fund it.  They are asking both Seminole and Osceola Counties for $10,000 each.  She advised that Valmarie Turner, Community Services Director, has funding available through SHIP and NSP funds.

Upon inquiry by Commissioner Dallari, Ms. Turner stated they will not be taking away any funding from other projects; it will be coming out of the administrative dollars that are for training and studies, etc.  Upon further inquiry, Mr. Turner advised that Barbara Poppe is retired now, but she did head up the homeless initiative nationally for the President.  She explained that the study being done is specifically for family homelessness.  The studies done before have been for chronic homelessness, and family homelessness has been difficult to quantify and to figure out what the financial impact is on the communities.

Commissioner Dallari expressed his concern that the project has already been awarded and started and the County is being brought in after the fact.  Ms. Guillet stated that this study is relevant to Seminole County because it deals with families and the credentials of those involved are very solid, which is why staff is recommending that they do move that money. 

Commissioner Horan stated he does not have a problem participating in a regional study.  He confirmed that Ms. Turner believes it will be of value to Seminole County and the entire region.

Commissioner Henley opined he would have liked the opportunity to review the survey instruments to get an idea of the type of data they are looking for that might influence the Board’s decision.  After Chairman Carey’s and Ms. Turner’s comments, Commissioner Henley affirmed they are anticipating that they will have actionable results.

Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to approve Orange County’s funding request in the amount of $10,000 toward the study on family homelessness with the contingency that Osceola County also contribute their share of $10,000. 

Under discussion, Chairman Carey stated she believes they should be their own regional partner; she does not know Osceola County’s situation.  She added they are trying to be good partners in the region regardless of what others in the region do.  Commissioner Constantine added that he is comfortable with this since Ms. Turner has recommended that this will be useful to the County. 

Commissioner Dallari amended his motion to remove the caveat of the contribution by Osceola County; Commissioner Henley agreed to the amendment.

Chairman Carey explained that the reason Orange County moved forward with this study without waiting to see if anyone else would help fund it is they need the information to make decisions and they are trying to move this forward as quickly as possible.  The City of Orlando has already done and paid for a study on the chronic homelessness piece, and this County was not asked to pay anything for that, but this County is a beneficiary of that because it is a big problem. 

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.

COMMUNICATIONS AND/OR REPORTS

     The following Communications and/or Reports were received and filed:

1.    Letter dated March 16, 2015 from Therese McMillan, Acting Administrator of U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, to Chairman Carey RE:  SunRail Phase II North project in President’s FY2016 budget request.

 

2.    Letter dated March 17, 2015 from Casselberry Mayor Charlene Glancy to Seminole County Board of County Commissioners RE:  Voluntary Billboard Agreement.

 

3.    Letter dated March 23, 2015 from Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs to Chairman Carey RE:  Lake Pickett North and South development proposals.  C:  Orange County Board of County Commissioners; Ajit Lalchandani, Orange County Administrator; Seminole County Board of County Commissioners; Nicole Guillet, Seminole County Manager.

 

4.    Letter dated March 23, 2015, with attachments, from Keith Glatz, Florida Association of Public Procurement Officials, Inc., to Chairman Carey RE:  Excellence in Public Procurement & Best Practices Awards Program.  C:  Ray Hooper, Purchasing and Contracts Manager.

 

5.    Letter dated March 25, 2015 from Marva Johnson, Bright House Networks, to Commissioner Carey RE:  Upcoming changes to their cable programming lineup.  C:  Nicole Guillet, County Manager; Matt Chesler, Cable Franchising Coordinator; Michel Champagne, Bright House Networks.

 

6.    Letter dated March 31, 2015, with attachments, from D. Ray Eubanks, Administrator of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, to Chairman Carey RE: Seminole County’s proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment 15-1ESR.

 

7.    Letter dated April 1, 2015 from Dr. Davis H. Daiker, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to Chairman Carey RE:  Letter recommending Gloria Eby as Director of the Seminole County Mosquito Control Program.  C: Adriane Tambasco, Medical Entomologist, AES, FDACS; Dale Dubberly, Chief, AES, FDACS; Angela Weeks-Samani, Government Analyst I, AES, FDACS.

 

8.    Letter dated April 6, 2015 from Rich Maladecki, Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association, to Commissioner Carey RE:  Central Florida Hotel & Lodging support for the rebranding of the Seminole County Convention and Visitors Bureau to the Orlando North Convention and Visitors Bureau.

 

DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS’ REPORTS

     Commissioner Horan reported he was in Tallahassee March 24 through 26 and met with their lobbyist and a number of representatives including Representatives Cortes, Brodeur, Metz, Eisnaugle, Harrell and Senator Letvala.  He said they discussed the County’s issue with the DJJ money and they were good discussions. 

     Commissioner Horan stated he also saw a presentation by Jim Boxold, the new Secretary of FDOT.  He stated that he learned for the second year in a row they have a record work program, over $10 billion, and Central Florida is a centerpiece of that work program.  Commissioner Horan spoke with Secretary Boxold briefly and he stated to Commissioner Horan that they should not hesitate to raise an issue above the district level directly to the Secretary; he said that is not a problem and staff does not have any difficulty with that.

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     Commissioner Horan advised he had conversations with a number of different commissioners from other counties at a FAC Conference which confirmed the decision this Board made to drop out of DJJ a number of years ago.  With a lot of these counties right now, the DJJ pretrial detention is being farmed out to contractors and they are starting to compare how much money they are paying to DJJ who is paying these contractors to take care of that particular function compared to how much it costs them just to house somebody in their own jail for that period of time.  He stated it is a five-to-one or six-to-one cost.  He concluded that this Board made a very good decision when they pulled out several years ago and it is largely because they have such a great relationship with the Sheriff, and his personnel do such a great job.

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     Commissioner Horan stated he also attended the Flyover Ribbon Cutting ceremony and learned that it has the longest I-beam support road span in the State of Florida.

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     Commissioner Horan stated the Sports Complex groundbreaking was already reported on but he wanted to say that he really enjoyed having the Ecksteins there and thought that it was really special.

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     Commissioner Horan advised that on April 9th, he attended the Juvenile Justice Advisory Board meeting and learned that recent juvenile arrests in the 32771 area (Sanford) have gone way up despite the fact that the recent authorization of civil citations has brought juvenile arrests way down.  He addressed the issue with the Sheriff’s Department and it is because the Journeys Academy is in this area and when their students get into trouble, they do not give juvenile citations and they do not go to the principal’s office, they get arrested.

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     Commissioner Horan opined that he was very proud to attend the James B. Greene EDC (Economic Development Council) dinner where Commissioner Dallari’s colleague, Ken Potrock (Disney), received the Chairman’s Award for the work he has done on the regional marketing campaign, and Alex Martins (Orlando Magic) while accepting the James B. Greene Award highlighted the building of the Sports Complex as one of the things here in Central Florida that is growing the sports infrastructure.

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     Commissioner Horan attended the MetroPlan Alliance meeting and said they were acting on the recommendation of the Governor’s Task Force that the MetroPlan Alliance would be the entity to be responsible for coming up with the Regional Transit Action Plan.  The discussion centered around whether the resolution and the study should include recommendations concerning a responsible and dedicated funding mechanism and plan.  Commissioner Horan advised that he argued they would just have another nice study that would sit on a shelf someplace unless it was tied to that.

     Commissioner Dallari stated a study was done called the Value Study and it presently is sitting on the shelf.

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     Commissioner Horan reported that the Turnpike Authority has a plan to spend $103 million to put in special toll lanes on SR 417 in Seminole County beginning at SR 434, south of Lake Jesup, and extending to the Orange County line.  The specially tolled lane would make it six lanes.  There is no corresponding plan of the Central Florida Expressway Authority to extend the six lanes into Orange County.  He opined he does not understand why they are doing this now because there has never been a clogging issue on that stretch of the road.  He added he understands that the policy now is that any additional capacity has to be addressed by a toll lane, but it seems they are blindly applying the policy to a stretch of road that does not need it. 

     Commissioner Dallari stated the issue he has is if they put that road under construction at the same time as I-4 and the Wekiva Parkway, they are putting all of Central Florida under construction and there will be no relief at all, anywhere.

     Chairman Carey advised that she brought this up at the CFX meeting which was April 9th.  The Secretary for the Turnpike Authority stated this is a project they are going to move forward quickly.  She added this was not on the MetroPlan list that they presented in December of last year.  She spoke to the Governor about it and also to a number of staff people in the Turnpike Department about this.  She suggested that Commissioner Horan reach out to Secretary Boxold and she will reach out to him as well.  She has already reached out to the Transportation Commission to try to get them to appeal to some of their better judgment in that this is bad timing.  The other and bigger issue is that they have parts of this beltway that are owned and operated by the Expressway Authority and parts that are owned and operated by the Turnpike; she said she understands the history of it and explained that.  But a portion of the Wekiva Parkway is being built by the Expressway Authority and then into East Lake County and Seminole County, it will be built by DOT and operated by the Turnpike.  She is trying to have a discussion to get this under the control and care of one organization.  She added now that they have a seat on the board, maybe the Expressway Authority is the right one. 

     Commissioner Horan suggested they have staff prepare a letter for the Chairman’s signature where this Board identifies their concerns and send it to Secretary Boxold and also to the Director of the Turnpike Authority with a copy to the Governor’s Office.  Commissioner Dallari agreed and the remainder of the Board voiced no objections.  Chairman Carey stated they will get the letter drafted.  Commissioner Dallari added they need to be very proactive because this will affect a lot of people for a long period of time.

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     Commissioner Constantine stated that another issue that will affect their citizens is with the I-4 rest area.  FDOT had a public information meeting on March 31st.  He added that this is something they need to keep an eye on and he has been in discussions with FDOT.

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     Commissioner Constantine reported that he attended the LYNX meeting for Commissioner Henley earlier last month.  They were basically talking about the preliminary budget.  The good news out of that is there is a strong possibility that with the preliminary budgets, they will not be asking for any additional money from the County for the next two years.

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     Commissioner Constantine advised that at the CALNO meeting, all of the cities that were receiving the SunRail Bell were very excited about it. 

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     Commissioner Constantine stated he was excited about the 17-92 Flyover and that it was completed six months ahead of time.

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     Commissioner Constantine commented that the Greene Awards presentation that he and Commissioner Horan attended was a wonderful event with the EDC.

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     Commissioner Constantine reported the recently held event at the Zoo this past Saturday was wonderful.  He added that the new executive director is Phil Fynn and he has ideas about the future of the Zoo in conjunction with that board and he believes this is something they need to be engaged in. 

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Commissioner Henley reported on the concerns of citizens regarding the I-4 rest area expansion.  Most of the concerns are coming out of the Bolling Farms and the Northridge Homeowners Associations.  He advised the HOAs have established a great deal of dialogue with the FDOT District Secretary and they have had several meetings.  It appears that DOT is very sensitive to their concerns and they have set up future meetings so the citizens can have input.  The major concern is the two-story building that will cause them to take down huge oaks that are buffering their community.

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     Commissioner Henley advised that he had a meeting with representatives from the Rolling Hills area who wanted to approach the Board to adopt an ordinance that would allow them to legally use the golf carts on the streets in the Rolling Hills area.  He discouraged them and told them he thought they needed to wait and see what will happen in that area.  He referred them to the County Engineer to get his input and told him he would definitely oppose any golf carts on Palm Springs Drive and the other street that is heavily traveled because it would be an accident waiting to happen. 

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     Commissioner Dallari stated he received a letter from Jay Barfield with the Allied Group (copy received and filed).  He said he spoke with the County Manager and there is some confusion about different pieces of it.  The letter is regarding Soldiers Creek and in Mr. Barfield’s letter, he talks about an additional 9 million gallons of water, an additional increase in the cost of O&M, as well as additional vehicles to haul waste.  Commissioner Dallari requested that staff review this letter and what is actually happening out there and report back.  He stated there are two different stories and he wants to ensure they are doing what is best for the community as a whole.  He added if there are any changes in the actual permit, he wants to ensure the Board is aware of those so they are looking at it from a fiduciary financial standpoint to understand what those costs are.

     Ms. Guillet stated staff will prepare an update for the Board and give a history on this.  Commissioner Dallari stated that when this decision was made, the cost that Mr. Barfield is talking about is different from what the Board was told.  He believes the update needs to be done to be fair to everyone. 

     Commissioner Constantine advised that a senator in charge of the appropriations for this also reached out to him, and probably to the rest of the Board, saying they should look into this other alternative.  Commissioner Dallari stated the deadline is fast approaching.  Ms. Guillet advised that the funding assistance the County is receiving from FDOT is contingent upon meeting their construction schedule.  Antoine Khoury, Public Works Director, addressed the Board to inform them that the deadline is April 15 so they could put the project out to bid to be able to award the project by the time DOT starts the construction on 17-92 because those two projects are tied together.  Upon inquiry by Chairman Carey, Mr. Khoury stated they have not received sufficient information to evaluate an alternate.  Ms. Guillet stated the best thing to do is to have staff prepare a summary for the Board because there are a lot of moving parts. 

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     Commissioner Dallari advised that he will not be present for the Heroes Memorial Ribbon Cutting event on Memorial Day and questioned whether the event could be rescheduled.  The Commissioners discussed their conflicts with this dedication including events being held in their own districts.  Chairman Carey stated that this was coordinated with the City of Sanford’s activities:  the parade is at 10:00 a.m. and the memorial in Sanford is at 11:00 a.m.; most of the VFW, Fleet Reserve and the American Legion have special operations for lunches which is why this is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and to be in coordination with the Sheriff’s Department and the Fire Department.

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     Chairman Carey reported they had the Boy Scouts Golden Eagle Award on April 7th; they raised over $273,000 for the 25,000 scouts they have here in Seminole County.  She said it was an honor to have the Governor in attendance as their honoree. 

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     Chairman Carey stated they had discussed what was going on at the Expressway Authority and with the Turnpike Authority and she will continue to pursue that.  She thinks it’s a bad plan strictly from a construction timing standpoint.

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     Chairman Carey advised that on Saturday, April 18th at 9:00 a.m. the Annual Homeless Veterans Stand Down will be held at the Health Department.  They will have representatives there from Social Security, medical personnel, opportunities for veterans to get assistance with food, clothing, health screenings, V.A. services, social services, showers, haircuts and referrals to any of the other agencies where they may need assistance.

     At 10:00 a.m. the same morning (April 18), Chairman Carey stated there will be the Spring Summit which is a community planning for the success of young African American and Hispanic males; it is a My Brother’s Keeper program, which is a national program.  Many of the Community Services staff will be at the Veterans Stand Down; however, Valmarie Turner has said she will make sure that staff from Community Services will attend this as well to answer any questions and to ensure the citizens know of the programs that are available for them.

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     Chairman Carey announced the Teal Magnolia Luncheon for ovarian cancer on Saturday, April 18th and the Kids House Field of Dreams Gala that evening.

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     Chairman Carey advised she attended a community meeting last night in the neighborhood of Lockhart to talk about street lights.  She thanked staff for being there and stated the Community Services group does an excellent job of trying to get the word out to the community about what is available, what options are out there, and assistance with SHIP funding, with renovations and rehabilitations, and all the other things that are out there.

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     Upon inquiry by Commissioner Dallari, Ms. Guillet responded that the next work session on the Sports Complex will be in two weeks.

COUNTY ATTORNEY’S REPORT

No report.

ITEMS FOR FUTURE AGENDA

Dr. Nallan Chari, 1911 North Street, addressed the Board to read his statement (received and filed) dated April 14, 2015 into the record.  He is requesting that the Public Works Department provide him with a list of 10 property owners that chose to use the MSBU program to complete the needed maintenance on ponds located on their individual properties.

Chairman Carey requested that staff provide Dr. Chari with the information he is requesting.  She added that if Mr. McMenemy, Deputy County Manager, is meeting with Dr. Chari to look at this in the field, she will look forward to an update from staff after that.

Speaker Request Form from Dr. Chari was received and filed.

Written Comment Form from Samuel Duncan was received and filed.

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     There being no further business to come before the Board, the Chairman declared the meeting adjourned at 3:10 p.m., this same date.

 

 

ATTEST:______________________Clerk_____________________Chairman

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