CCMtg05-21-12Min ILONGWOOD CffTY COMMISSIO N
Longwood City Commission Chambers
175 West Warren Avenue
Longwood, Florida
MINUTES
MAY 21 20112
7:00 I.M.
Present: Mayor Irian Sackett
Deputy Mayor H.G. "butch" Bundy
Commissioner John C. Maiangot
Commissioner Joe Durso
Commissioner Bob Cortes
Dan ]Langley, City Attorney
Jon Williams, City Administrator
Nan Winnterstein, ][recording Secretary
John ]Peters, ]]Director of ]Public Works /City ]Engineer
Fran Meli, ][Director of Leisure Services
Sheryl Bower, ][Director of Community Development Services
]Pam Barclay, Director of Financial Services
Sergeant Tim Cooper, ]Police Department
Bill Gulbrandsen, ]Fire Chief
Wanda Broadway, HumanResources Manager
Chris Vintner, Natnner /Stormwater
Craig Dunn, Information Technology Manager
)Patrice Murphy, ]Economic Development/Special ]Projects Manager
Michelle ]Longo, ]Executive Assistant to City Administrator
Absent: Sarah M. Mirus, City Clerk (]Excused)
b. CALL TO ®1CtJ[DIER. Mayor Sackett called the meeting to order at 7:00
p.m.
2. A moment of SILENT NT ME DITA'>cION was followed by the PLEDGE
OF ALLEGIANCE.
3. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS. None.
4. RECOGNITIONS/PROCLAMATIONS.
A. ]Recognizing Commissioner Joe Durso for his dedicated service
to the City as Mayor, May 2011 to May 2012.
Mayor Sackett recognized Commissioner Joe Durso for his service
to the City as Mayor. He then presented him with a plaque and
photographs were then taken.
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5. BOARD APPOINTMENTS.
A. District 95 Nomination to the Parks and Recreation Advisory
Board.
Mayor Sackett deferred the nomination to the next Commission
meeting.
6, PUBLIC INPUT.
A. Public Participation.
Bobbie Corbitt, 730 South Oak Street, said that she had been very
patient with the project and her patience has been getting very thin.
Mayor Sackett said this was a continuing project and asked for an
update on this matter..
Mr. Peters stated all the work in this area had been completed
except for the sod work. He said the sod was ordered and
delivered today, but the contractor made an error in their calendar
and did not deliver it today. He said they sent an electronic mail
apologizing for their error and they wanted to make sure
everything drained properly.
Commissioner Durso said Ms. Corbitt has been exceptionally
patient with this whole process. He said the fact that she had to
keep coming to the meetings was somewhat disturbing to him. He
said in two (2) weeks from now, he did not want her to be here
talking about how there was a delay because they now have to fix
whatever they had to do before the sod went down; whatever had
to be leveled, flattened, straightened out, dug out, and sod put
down. He noted this was the fourth or fifth meeting she had to
come to talk about this project and it was getting old. He stated, so
by the next meeting, they would not have_ to have this
conversation.
Deputy Mayor Bundy said he would like to go one step further and
have the Administrator report back to them at the next meeting that
the project was completed. He said if Ms. Corbitt cannot make the
meeting, they would think it was finished.
Mayor Sackett stated the Administrator said that was doable.
7. MAYORS AND COMMISSION ERW REPORT
District 45. Mayor Sackett said he had noticed the State Road 434
widening had begun and sees things moving in the right direction. He said
it will be a major inconvenience as they were heading to Interstate 4. He
said there were 120 vehicles again this weekend for the "Cruise -In Car
Show, but said there were only three (3) or four (4) food trucks. He said
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this was a good thing they have going because it brings people strolling
through Downtown. He noted it was also Mother's Day that weekend, and
he was Chair of the Ovarian 5K that was held in Oviedo in honor of all
Moms who have passed or were struggling. He noted they raised about
$50,000 with over 600 runners and it went really well. He said he would
Chair it next year. He said he met with Coventry Homeowners
Association, and they were very happy with what was going on in the
City. He said there was not one concern and it was very positive. He said
he understands the vote at Shadow Hill subdivision went with eighty -two
(82 %) percent of the people voting in favor of some sort of special
assessment, which would be coming forward soon. He said the Woodgate
subdivision had a work session to clean up their entryway, and they were
lookiizg at taking control of their subdivision and were going to look at a
special assessment. He said he understands there would also be a new
sign coming, due to the tree breaking it and it partially being our fault. He
said he went to Sabal Point because there were 150 math Olympians
representing fourth and fifth graders. He said these Longwood children
that he brought into his math Olympic teams took second and third place
out of thirty (30) teams. He stated he went to the Mayors and Managers
Meeting that was held in Oviedo and the talk was about the School Board
and what was going on, so no real agenda items were addressed. He said
he attended the retirement party of the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Bill
Vogel, and his replacement was Mr. Walt Griffin.
Mayor Sackett said he went to a very emotional Cub Scout meeting that
was held at Longwood Elementary School. He said they were very
appreciative that the City was renting the Facility, so that all the Cub
Scouts can meet there. He said there was a reception for over 150 people
that went very well. He said he was looking over the Minutes, and he
thought they did make a mistake regarding the Peddlers Permits. He
wanted to know if they killed the hot dog truck or not, and wanted that to
be looked into. He said he presented plaques to the Lyman Crew Team
Seniors. He said Lyman High School was a ninety -six (96 %) percent
percentile School and was in the top 500; and seven (7) of the nine (9)
High Schools in this District made it. He congratulated all seniors and
wished them well.
District #g. Commissioner Maingot said on May 8 he participated in a
Tourism Development Council, to which he was appointed by the County
Commission, and also on the 8 he went to the Wekiva Rural
Management Council Meeting that was held in the Welciva area. He said
on May 10 a Home Business event was held at Longwood Elementary
School which he attended, and on the 10 also, there was the Tourism
Awards Luncheon. He said they were ahead by two and one -half (2Y2 %)
percent over last year, desVe difficulties they experienced in certain
areas. He said on May 17" at Katie's Wekiva River Landing, there was a
special dedication ceremony of the Wild and Scenic River System
Comprehensive Management Plan that has been three (3) years in the
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making. He stated high ranking officials from Washington, State and
County were involved. He said Orange County, Lake County and
Seminole County were all signatories and stated the City's Resolution was
not passed in time for this to be presented, and hopefully, that would
happen this evening. He noted that one of the things he fought for and
was somewhat successful in was the environmentalists wanted to ban all
propeller- driven things on the Wekiva River. He said he had to remind
them that they had to provide for those that pay their taxes and who kept
this going. He said on some of the tributaries, it was limited to canoe
activity, to which he had to agree to, and limited horse power on propeller -
driven boats up and down the Wekiva River. He also congratulated the
Police Department for the arrest they made today.
District ## 2. Commissioner Durso addressed the comments made earlier
about the Cub and Girl Scouts. He stated he believes they tools lemons
and made lemonade in working with the School Board to rent out
Longwood Elementary School for the Parks and Recreation Programs. He
said there have been countless groups that have been happy that the City
was there for them, and it has been of real value to the community. He
said he wanted to remind everyone about the MetroPlan Municipal
Advisory Committee (MAC). He noted he currently serves as the Mice
Chairman, and was about to become Chairman in the next month. He said
they were gearing to start listing projects to be funded through the
MetroPlan organization, and the MAC has a lot to do with the
recommendation list. He said if there were any specific projects or
programs, such as transportation brought forth, please get with staff
because as they roll into that process, he will get with Mr. Williams and
whoever else he wants to bring into the meeting, and see if they could
coordinate an effort as a City in requesting those programs be funded
through MetroPlan. He said his new position begins in July. He said this
past Saturday; he began his day lecturing at Rollins College on behalf of
the Central Florida Partnership. He said he talked with students in civic
and urban planning and spoke on regionalism, and was proud to say
Longwood dominated the presentation and all of those classes were using
the Station and a lot of the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) plans as
a model for future use. He said they were actually teaching Masters' level
planners what to do going forward and noted Ms. Bower gave him some
very detailed drafts, which the students really liked because they stood
around them and peppered him with questions about the different things
that were going on here in Longwood. He said after that, he went to the
Light House Church of Central Florida located on State Road 434 in front
of the Public Works Facility. He said Pastor Kevin Touk had an
unbelievable event of free car washes, free hot dogs and with no
donations. He said there were 20 725 kids from the local schools
volunteering. He stated it was a nice way to give back to the community
and should be commended. He said regarding the Community Garden, at
last check they were ready to plant. He said at the last Longwood Rotary
Club Meeting, they said May 30 was the date to do something, and he
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stated he would make sure he would get the final date and get back to
everyone. He said he also wanted to commend former Senator Lee
Constantine and his staff for conducting another Charity Challenge. He
said there were a number of local charities that benefit from it, including
The Sharing Center.
District 93, Commissioner Cortes said he wanted to thank Leisure
Services staff and Meals on Wheels for putting together the Senior Center.
He said they were there for the kick -off, and had lunch in a nice setting,
and they all look forward to it growing. He said he put a flyer on the dais
from SEMA Action Network and Collect -a -Car Insurance. He said on
July 13"', they would have the celebration of "Collector Car Appreciation
DV ". He said the "Cruise -In" Car Show would be held on Saturday, July
14'. He said they sent out a call for those cities or communities that have
events already to see if they want to join them. He said they have done
some research and they sent an application to see if they would allow them
to be included, he said currently in Florida, Jupiter and Tampa only. He
said it was a national event. He said they would use this as a tool to
promote our "Cruise -In" event and asked for a consensus to use this as a
tool to continue to promote the event and ask the Mayor for a
Proclamation to submit to them.
It was a consensus of the Commission to support this and a Proclamation
to be presented.
District 94e Deputy Mayor Bundy said they had their first Food Truck
event on Saturday, with thirteen (13) trucks there. He said one of the
things that had been suggested was to have some music. He said at the
next event, the Central Florida Society for Historical Preservation has a
great stereo system, and they would put the speakers on the porch and
crank it up. He said he covered for the Mayor a couple of times. He said
one was last week at the Seminole County Republican :Executive
Committee for their State of the City -type event. He said everybody had
brought up SunRail, and he talked about that. He said it seemed they were
ahead of everybody else with planning. He brought up that Longwood
Elementary School had closed last year, and instead of letting the building
sit empty, they have taken over leasing a significant portion of it and were
bringing a lot of programs to the School. He said lie also told them about
the City's "Cruise -In" and Food Truck events, and the Cape Canaveral
Corvette Club may do a road trip in June or July to come to the "Cruise-.
In" event. He said since they were doing several Charter amendments,
there was one he would like to propose. He said he knows the tinning was
very short, but he talked with the Supervisor of Elections, Mike Ertel, and
they still have plenty of time and stated he does not have to get the final
language until shortly before the ballots go out. He said he had the
language set -up and it was for the election of Mayor. He said since the
Mayor was mostly a ceremonial post, he wanted to propose that they
change the City Charter to have the Mayor rotate on an automatic basis
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annually. He said under Section 3.03 (a) of the Charter states "The
Commission shall elect from among its members officers of the City who
shall have the title of Mayor and Deputy Mayor each of whom shall serve
at the pleasure of the Commission ". He said under Section 3.03(b), it
states it was selected by random drawing for the Deputy Mayor's position,
which was done in 1990. He suggested delete the last sentence that he just
read and adding the following language: "The Mayor of the City of
Longwood shall be selected by a random drawing at the first meeting in
May, following ratification of amendment. Thereafter, the Mayor shall
rotate among the five (5) Commission Districts in ascending numerical
order and serve for a term of one (1) year ". He said he would like to get a
consensus to bring that forward as an Ordinance for the next meeting.
Mr. Langley re -read the proposed language as presented by Deputy Mayor
Bundy.
It was a consensus of the Commission to bring forward an Ordinance with
the proposed language by Deputy Mayor Bundy.
Deputy Mayor Bundy said he had lunch today with former Apopka
Commissioner Kathy Till, whose company now works with the Florida
League of Cities (FLC) on advocacy issues, and she has asked him to get
involved with the FLC developing a more formal and effective advocacy
policy, and to help formulate an advocacy platform and training them how
to do it. He said he agreed to help.
Commissioner Maingot noted she has her own advocacy company.
Deputy Mayor Bundy said she was under contract with the FLC through
her consulting company.
Commissioner Durso said when Ms. Till was first meeting the Apopka
Commission, she decided she was going to do this and talked to him about
it and Deputy Mayor Bundy. He said she was contracted with the FLC to
do advocacy work because she was well known and well respected in the
City Commission community. He said he thinks what she was trying to do
was rally Commissioners from all over to try to stand together and move
those policies forward. He said it does.not cost the City anything to be
associated with her, and she has the full backing and faith of the FLC.
Deputy Mayor Bundy said he was not asking permission, he was just
making a statement. He said it was not an appointed position; he was just
getting involved in it.
So ANY ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA. None.
9. CONSENT AGENDA.
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A. Approve the Minutes of the April 30, 2012 Work Session and
the Minutes of the May 7, 2012 Regular Meeting.
B. Approve the Monthly Expenditures for May 2012.
C. Approve the Monthly Financial Report for April 2012.
D. Approve the proposed settlement agreement of $21,500 for 105
South Hamlin Court, which reduces the amount of a code
enforcement lien placed on the property.
Commissioner Durso moved to approve the Consent
Agenda. Seconded by Commissioner Maingot and carried
by a unanimous roll call vote.
10. PUBLIC HEARINGS.
A. Read by title only and adopt Ordinance No. 12 -1986, calling a
referendums of whether to authorize the City Commission to
grant economic development ad valorem tax exemptions
pursuant to Article 11, Section 3, Florida Constitution and
Section 196.1995, Florida Statutes; providing findings,
authority for this Ordinance and for authorization to grant
economic development as valorem tax exemptions; providing
for referendums ballot title and question and direction to the
City Clerk.
Mr. Langley announced having proof of publication for this Item.
He then read Ordinance No. 12 -1986 by title only.
Mayor Sackett opened the public hearing. No one spoke in favor
or in opposition to the Ordinance.
Commissioner Maingot moved to close the public hearing.
Seconded by Commissioner Cortes and carried by a
unanimous roll call vote.
Commissioner Maingot moved to approve and adopt
Ordinance No. 12 -1986 as presented Item 10 A. Seconded
by Commissioner Cortes and carried by a unanimous roll
called vote.
B. City Commission hear an appeal of a decision of the Board of
Adjustment made regarding a variance request from
Northland, A Church Distributed, Inc. located at 530 Dog
Track Road to be allowed to provide parking spaces that do
not sheet the standards of the Longwood Development Code.
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Mayor Sackett announced this was a quasi-judicial hearing and
asked if there was anyone who needed to disclose any ex -parte
communication.
There was no ex -paste communication disclosed.
Mr. Langley said at this time he could swear -in any witnesses that
intended on providing testimony tonight. He then swore -in the
witnesses from City staff.
Mr. Kintner presented the staff report and outlined the background
information on. the Agenda Item and the requirements to grant the
variance request.
Mr. Langley swore -in the Applicant.
Gary A. Moss Director of Facilities for Northland, A Church
Distributed, 530 Dog Track Road, stated he was the Applicant and
outlined the reasoning for why they were seeking the variance. He
said the existing drainage system would not handle the overflow
versus having grass parking. He said that was the reasoning for
extending the existing site, which was already in place. He said
they need the total number of spaces, and was not changing and
was strictly looking to just use that grass area that people were
parking on now, and make it an appropriate match to the existing
overflow parking they have on site.
Mayor Sackett said the next step was to see if there was anything
Mr. Moss does not agree with regarding Mr. Kintner in any way.
Mr. Moss stated they have worked with Mr. Kintner in trying to
put this together and tried to meet the five (5) parameters that the
variance request would require. He said they were somewhat
unique, and he said they may be unique to the overall development
aspect as the new Code stands. He said if they were going to be
changing the building, changing the site, or adding capacity, then
they should have to bring the existing site up to the new Code. He
said but since they were not changing what they have, they just
want to add to it; that, they felt, should be treated separately and
not require that they go back and pave roughly one -third ('/3) of the
site to meet for parking that was used for three (3) hours a week.
Mr. Moss then answered questions from the City Commission.
Connie Owens Tfi3 Civil Engineering Design Studio,
Incorporation, 1513 Grace Lake Circle, said she was the Civil
Engineer representing Northland Church, A Church Distributed,
and stated she was the engineer for the original site expansion.
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She said when they designed the stormwater system as you see it
today, it met capacity. She stated if they added any more
impervious area on the site that goes into the stormwater ponds, the
ponds would not function. She said they were proposing to add
156 grass spaces. She said if they tried to meet the Code, they
could not. She said they would have to modify and enlarge one (1),
or two (2) of the stormwater ponds that exist now. She said there
was difficulty now in trying to meet the new Code, when back in
2007, they did meet the Code.
Mr. Moss and Ms. Owens continued to answer questions from the
City Commission.
Mr. Kintner answered questions from the City Commission.
Mayor Sackett said he was understanding the direction of where
this was going, and the conversation has been very good for a
rebuttal of question, but he said his understanding, was that Mr.
Kintner could meet with Northland if they tabled this because he
sees the way the vote was going to go at this time. He said lie feels
this needed more discussion as to where were the Codes, at what
time, and what was happening there, just so we have a very clear
understanding of where things fell apart. He said they have those
five (5) questions everybody has to contend with when they go to
Board of Adjustment (BOA), and he said he was not comfortable
that those questions have been answered, so he was looking to
table and have more discussion.
Mr. Langley commented on the idea of tabling and stated the
Applicant would need to consent to it because this appeal relates to
their property and to an automatic appeal, so in order to postpone
it, they would need the Applicant's consent. He said otherwise,
they would need to take action tonight one way or the other.
Commissioner Durso said he was not yet a "yes" or "no" on this.
He said he thought the Church makes some valid points. He said
he was impressed that they voluntarily decided to come in to talk
about this, as opposed to trying to get around it. He said that in
itself shows a good faith effort on their part to live within the piles
they were setting. He said he tends to agree that with the
agreement of the Applicant that working with the City to find a
reasonable solution everyone can live with would be a better place
to go. He said there was no reason anybody had to lose here. He
said the City can maintain the integrity of its ordinances, and the
Church can find a solution. He said he feels more discussion, and
more in depth review and actual expenses might help them make a
more informed decision, and feels there was room for more
negotiation.
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Mayor Sackett said following the protocol, the Applicant would
get the last response to that, so maybe that was a time they can see
in his response if that was something he would like to do.
Mr. MOSS stated the site was approved as originally developed. He
said he does not understand why the existing parking was not
grandfathered. He said if they were trying to add another 150
spaces and had to meet the new Code with that, then that was an
acceptable term. He said the bottom line was any time you have to
retro fit, you know it was much more expensive than if you were
starting from scratch. He said that means the site they were leasing
from the City, they would have to pave as well because that was
part of that 392 spaces. He said they were very much open to
meting with Mr. Kintner again, and they will sit down and see if
they can put together a plan, but it just seems very strange that the
existing site was not grandfathered and that they have to modify
the existing site in order to put in an additional parking lot to meet
a new Code.
Mayor Sackett said he believes Mr. Moss was saying he would be
in agreement to meet with the City's team and work through this.
Mr. Moss said they would be happy to, and wants to make this
work. He said they want to do it realistically because if they have
to retrofit one -third ( of their parking lot, that was a huge
expense, and it may not fly because it may not meet with St. John's
Water Management District requirements.
Mr. Langley said if there was going to be a motion to continue this
hearing to a time certain; he would like the Applicant to restate that
he consents to that time certain.
Commissioner Cortes asked a question of procedure to Mr.
Langley. He said on the. appeal process of the variance, it being
quasi-judicial, were they required to either approve or disapprove
to get that portion out of that and anything else can still be worked
out with staff. He said it was a matter of legal procedure, because
if they table, they would have to come back with a variance
decision of "yes" or "no ".
Mr. Langley said absolutely and if they were going to continue, it
would have to be continued to the time certain. The staff, even if
they had a proposed solution, it would come back to the
Commission for another public hearing as a continuance of this
hearing. He said then if they had some understanding they would
jointly like to propose to the Commission, the Commission would
still have to approve that proposal. He said this was what they call
a denovo hearing /public hearing or an appeal. He said they would
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make a decision based on whether they believe that the criteria for
the variance had been met or not. He said they were not bound by
the record below that was in the Code at 10.12.4. He said it says
they make their own determination on the merits and shall not be
limited to a review of the record. He said as part of that, the
variance criteria was clear that the City can impose certain
conditions to lessen the impact of the variance.
Mr. Kintner continued to answer questions from. the City
Commission.
Mr. Moss continued to answer questions from the City
Commission.
Ms. Bower answered questions from the City Commission.
.Mayor Sackett said following the rights within quasi judicial, the
Applicant has a last chance as a closing argument if they would
like to have one.
Ms. Owens said because there was an existing permit on this site,
anything that they do has to go back to St. John's Water
Management District. She said if they add a concrete pad, it had to
go back to them. She stated they had to do that for a shed they
proposed to add in the back that they got a permit for. She said
they got a modification to the permit, so it does have to go back
through St. John's.
Mayor Sackett thanked her and said they would now close the
session. He stated they will go to final Commission action and
vote.
Deputy Mayor Bundy moved to deny the variance as
granted by the Board of Adjustment, and. that they grant a
variance based on the staff input and the provision they can
get this put through St. John's, and that 'St. John's will
approve it to pave 250 of the deficit parking spaces.
Discussion was held regarding the pending motion.
Deputy Mayor Bundy withdrew his motion.
Deputy Mayor Bundy moved to deny the variance as
approved by the Board of Adjustment. Seconded by
Commissioner Maingot.
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Mr. Langley asked Deputy Mayor Bundy if he was incorporating
the Community Development staffs' recommendations on the
criteria not being met.
Deputy Mayor Bundy responded in the affirmative. He said they
were denying it based on the staffs' position that the criteria for a
variance had not been met.
Commissioner Durso said he was going to vote "no" because he
believes there should be some sort of compromise approach.
Deputy Mayor Bundy said that was what he was trying to seek, but
everybody keeps saying they wanted a contingent on something.
Commissioner Cortes said it was a matter of procedure and
believes that was what they were doing here with this motion just
brought forward by Deputy Mayor Bundy. He said this does not
preclude the Applicant and staff to come forward with a different
plan and work it out. He said he was sure this could be worked
out.
Deputy Mayor Bundy said this was not about being willing to help
the Church out and it was a matter of them being willing to accept
less than what was the Code they put in place. He said there has to
be a hook and apparently, there was not one to his satisfaction. He
said even if staff does come up with a compromise, what he was
trying to avoid, even if a compromise was reached, but does not
meet Code, no matter what the staff comes up with, they were
going to have to go through the process all over again.
Motion carried by a four -one (4 -1) roll call vote with
Commissioner Durso voting nay.
1L
REGULAR BUSINESS.
A. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 12 -1310, which
designates a depository, designates authorized signers and
facsimile signatures for the City.
Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 12 -1.310 by title only.
Commissioner Cortes moved to approve Item Number 11 A
as presented, Resolution 12- 1310. Seconded by
Commissioner Durso and carried by a unanimous roll call
vote.
L. Read by title only and adopt Resolution Igo. 12 -1311, which re-
authorizes an lnterlocal Agreement with Seminole County
regarding Community Development Block Grants (CDBG).
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Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 12 -1311 by title only.
Commissioner Durso moved to approve Item 11 B,
adopting Resolution 12 -1311. Seconded by Commissioner
Maingot and carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
C. City Commission discussion on the plan to create a Buy -Local
Longwood Program and provide direction to staff on snow they
would like staff to proceed.
Ms. Murphy presented the staff report and outlined the background
information on the Agenda Item. She then answered questions
from the City Commission.
Commissioner Cortes said he had been proposing this since he has
been here and was happy to see something come forward. He said
they might want to look at. it in several ways. He said they might
be spending a little money going into this, but part of the program
was going to be funded by the businesses that were supporting it.
He said they have a unique component in that they have a great
mix of residential and business. He said the residents were going
to benefit immensely from this. He noted there were about 2,000
businesses in Longwood and they have to pick the top businesses
that would draw in such and provided specific examples. He said
the ones that people use on a daily basis, and most of those will
foot the cost.
Commissioner Durso said he really likes the idea of keeping tax
dollars within the City.
Discussion was held in regards to the proposed Steering
Committee, the data being collected and a reporting mechanism
where businesses can see if the Program was successful or not.
Deputy Mayor Bundy said to begin with the creation of the
Steering Committee; they have influential local business leaders
that were not Longwood based businesses. He said he does not
want anyone involved in this that does not actually have a physical
business presence in Longwood. He said he does not care if they
are hundred (100') feet out beyond the City limits or ten (10) miles
beyond the City limits. He said property owners do not count and
that was not a business, owning property. He said having a
business counts, because otherwise, they really do not have any
skin in the game. He said on membership, they needed to be
extremely careful on your mixture of membership. He said it
needed to be evenly balanced between small business and large
business because if they do not, the large businesses feel they can
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run it because they pay more. He said what you end up with was
the smaller businesses saying they cannot compete, they cannot
win, why should they participate. He said they used to have a
business advisory board years ago that. became a total fiasco. He
said, probably the most important thing he wants to say was, that
the people they recruit, it must be stated up front that they were in
no way representing the City, because they do not work for the
City, and they do not have the authority to do anything on behalf of
the City, and that they do not give orders. He said they were there
to assist, not the other way around.
Mayor Sackett said the purpose of this Item was to give direction.
Commissioner Cortes said to show what feedback they have
gotten, the Orlando Sentinel and Channels 6 and 13 ran this
information and he has received rave reviews. He noted the City
of Orlando has one too, and they actually issue an identification
card to the resident, and they go to the participating vendor and
show the card and they receive their discount or whatever the
vendor wanted to give.
Ms. Bower said as far as the Steering Committee goes, they could
look at something to get the people involved in the beginning and
then sunset it once it gets established because there would not be as
much need to carry it on, have this body and give them bylaws, etc.
Ms. Murphy said she wanted to get it started and get the ball
rolling and she thinks once the Buy -Local Program was in place
and out there, it would feed upon itself.
Mayor Sackett said all the energy that comes from the Historic
Group that had been meeting about signage, etc., which was what
this group needed to look like. He asked what they would see
next.
Ms. Murphy asked if they were still leaning toward the outsourcing
of the Internet.
Mayor Sackett responded in the affirmative.
Ms. Murphy said then they would go ahead with the purchasing
process, and .she would set up a kick -off event before the holiday
season and get the marketing materials and packets put together for
the Steering Committee and get the word out, using them to get the
businesses involved.
Commissioner Cortes suggested for the Commission to give Ms.
Murphy any names who might be interested in helping to do this.
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D. Read by title only and adopt resolution No. 12 -1304, endorsing
the Wekiva Wild and Scenic River Systems Comprehensive
Management Plan.
Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 12 -1304 by title only.
Commissioner Maingot moved to concur and to grant
approval for the actual Resolution itself to go forward.
Seconded by Commissioner Durso and carried by a
unanimous roll call vote.
E. Acknowledgement and confirmation by the City Commission
of a City Celiphome Policy.
Deputy Mayor Bundy moved to acknowledge and confirm
the City cell phone policy as presented. Seconded by
Commissioner Durso and carried by a unanimous roll call
vote.
12. CITY ADMI[MS'1['rATOR'S REPORT.
Mr. Williams said the Commission has previously directed staff to look
into obtaining one of the clones of the "Senator" for relocation to
Longwood. He said the staff, with the assistance of Commissioner
Maingot, had been able to locate those clones, and one (1) of the five (5)
clones was available for purchase if the City Commission desires. He said
the cost to root prune the tree over the next six (6) to seven (7) months,,
remove from the ground, and load on a truck is $7,000. He said it was
$5,800 for the tree to be trucked to Longwood and installed. He said there
was about ninety (90 %) percent chance of survival, but no guarantee. He
said the trees were currently about forty (40') feet tall. He said they
needed some direction tonight so they can go ahead and notify the owner,
so they can begin the process.
Commissioner Maingot said there were only five (5) of them, and can they
imagine the historic value of it in the park. He said it was originally
around $25,000 asking price, so he thinks from a historic point of value of
this clone from the original and how we could locate it in Reiter Park, so
he thinks it would be more than worth the expenditure, especially when
they can locate it where they can have it nicely identified with a historic
marker on it with all the details.
Commissioner Maingot moved to approve our City
Administrator proceed to try to secure one of the four (4)
clones. Seconded by Mayor Sackett.
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Commissioner Cortes said he wanted more information before they go
forward with this. He said he understands the intent, but he has not had a
chance to go over this and $12,000 sounds like a lot of money for a tree.
He said the historic value was understood,_ but he was not ready to vote on
something he has not researched.
Deputy Mayor Bundy said he was concerned about the price as well as the
ninety (90 %) percent chance of non - survival because the weather man told
me there was a twenty (20 %) percent chance of rain today, so they go in
and spend $12,000 of taxpayers' dollars and put it in and a year or two (2)
years later, it dies. He said then they were going to have a park built
around a centerpiece built around a dead tree. He said he was not saying
they should not proceed. He said if the community really loves the
"Senator ", then let the community get involved and help pay for it. He
said he was not going to commit $12,000 of tax dollars. He said he
understands the urgency because once they were gone, they were gone.
He said other than Seminole County, he does not feel there would be a
rush on a forty (40') foot tree that was going to cost $25,000 to relocate
from the private sector, so maybe Commissioner Maingot can reach out to
the community to see if there was any interest in the community stepping
forward to do it, because they have other things that they can spend
$12,000 on.
Commissioner Durso said they just saved $15,000 on the cell phone policy
and you cannot put a price on history. He said he likes Deputy Mayor
Bundy's approach and would commit to working on raising the money to
buy the tree. He said it was real tough to spend tax money on the tree
right now. He said the State and Federal monuments have foundations
that generate money and have events to try to accomplish what they
needed. He said it was a small amount, but he does not want to give back
the money they just saved either. He again said he would start tomorrow
to hit up everybody he knows for even small amounts to off -set the cost of
the tree, because he does believe they should have it.
Commissioner Cortes said he believes they may be able to talk to the State
Attorney's Office that was dealing with the conviction of the person that
did this, and part of their restitution should be to pay for at least part of it,
and also get the community involved. He said then they could get this tree
without paying tax dollars. He said he was definitely for this idea about
the tree.
Commissioner Maingot said they needed to get a photograph of the tree
and some documentation of the original "Senator" and how old it was, and
the tremendous historical value that the tree would be sitting right here.
He said the fact it would be root- pruned in.December, and would have no
leaves on it and was the best time to transplant things. He also said there
was a pretty high water table in that Park and the tree loves that. He said it
can be a tremendous focal point of interest and draw for the Transit
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Oriented Development (TOIL) as well. He said if they can put together a
flyer with the information on it, he feels that would help them in
solicitation of people.
Mayor Sackett asked if everyone was comfortable with that charge that
they have a flyer printed.
Commissioner Maingot withdrew his motion. Seconded
was withdrawn by Mayor Sackett.
Commissioner Cortes suggested creating a committee to start to try to
raise funds to obtain the tree.
13. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT.
1\/tr. Langley said he was contacted by the Seminole County Attorney's
Office about the Allied Veterans case, since the City was their first target.
He said they have had some developments tl rough the course of litigation.
He said it seems like lightening was striking again and they used some of
the discovery they sent out in that case and reincorporated in their lawsuit
and sent it to Allied, and Allied Veterans refused to turn over those
documents that were requested. He said they filed a Motion to Compel,
and a Federal Court Judge issued an order requiring Allied to turn over a
lot of documents. He stated within ten (10) days, Allied filed a Motion to
Dismiss itself from the litigation, claiming they had sold the locations in
Seminole County to another company and the new company does not
desire to continue to litigate. He said there was still an Intervener in the
case that joined in against the County to challenge the Ordinance, so they
were claiming that the lawsuit would continue without Allied.
Mayor Sackett said that is good news.
14. CITY CLERK'S REPORT. No report.
15. ADJOURN. Mayor Sackett adjourned the meeting at 9:09 p.m.
Brian D. Sackett, l ay \
Man Wi ntersteiIln, Recording �cretary
ATTE
Sarah M. Mir us, IVl[MC, MBA, City Clerk
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f
This Pauc Left Mank ffntentionaRlyo
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