CC06-02-14MinLONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION
Longwood City Commission Chambers
175 West WarrenAvenue
Longwood, Florida
MINUTES
June 2, 2014
7:00 P.M.
Present: Mayor Bob Cortes
Deputy Mayor Joe Durso
Commissioner John C. Maingot
Commissioner Brian D. Sackett
Commissioner Mark Weller
Dan Langley, City Attorney
Jon C. Williams, City Administrator
Michelle Longo, City Clerk
Troy Hickson, Police Chief
William Gulbrandsen, Fire Chief
Pam Barclay, Finance Director
Wanda Broadway, Human Resources Director
Chris Capizzi, Leisure Services Director
Richard Kornbluh, Utilities Division Manager
1. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Cortes called the meeting to order at 7:00
p.m.
2. SILENT MEDITATION FOLLOWED BY THE PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE
3. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS. Ms. Longo read the following
announcements.
A. The 71' Annual Father and Daughter Dance will be held on
Wednesday, June 11, 2014 fr,)m 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.,
Longwood Community Building, 200 West Warren Avenue.
The cost is $5 per couple and $2.50 for each additional person.
B. The "Downtown Longwood Cruise -In" Car Show will be held
on Saturday, June 14, 2014 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. in
the Historic ]District of Longwood located off of Church
Avenue.
4. PROCLAMATIONS / RECOGNITIONS
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A. Recognizing the Lyman High School Diamond Gold Winter
Guard for their recent accomplishments.
Mayor Cortes read a Proclamation on the Lyman Diamond Gold Winter
Guard, proclaiming June 2, 2014 as Lyman Diamond Gold Winter Guard
Day. He introduced the Color Guard Instructor, Mr. Stephen Porter, and
each Commissioner presented certificates to each member of the guard.
Photographs were then taken.
5. BOARD APPOINTMENTS
A. District #1 Nomination to the Land Planning Agency.
Commissioner Maingot nominated Brian Dinquel, 289 West Church
Avenue, to the Land Planning Agency. Nomination carried by a
unanimous voice vote.
6. PUBLIC INPUT
A. Presentation. Ms. Donna Bundy with the Central Florida
Society for Historical Preservation (CFSHP) will be giving a
presentation on the options/opportunities for the City to
participate in the Arts & Crafts Fall Festival.
Ms. Bundy, with the Central Florida Society for Historical
Preservation (CFSHP), gave a presentation on the fall festival and went
over survey results provided by 9,000 artists. She said the surveys
are produced by a nationally recognized art festival industry publication.
Discussion took place regarding ways to diversify goods and service to
draw in younger people, the future options for the festival, added a
musical component, and city involvement.
Ms. Bundy said she will take the information discussed back to the Board.
Mayor Cortes asked if anyone has made contact with the Florida
Department of Transportation (FDOT) to see if they would be willing to
run SunRail for the weekend of the festival.
Mr. Williams said he has sent a request to them for their assistance in
running the train during the Arts & Crafts Festival.
Deputy Mayor Durso said SunRail would be willing to run the train if the
cities would compensate them for it. He mentioned partnering with other
cities having events the same weekend.
Mr. Williams said he can put something on the agenda for the next
meeting, or incorporate it in the budget. He thinks the Society is looking
for some sort of decision sooner than later regarding sponsorship.
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It was the consensus of the Commission to bring something back
on the next meeting for discussion.
Ms. Bundy said they have to place our advertising by August 1 '.
Mayor Cortes thanked Ms. Bundy for all the information she brought to
them.
B. Public Participation. None
7. MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS' REPORT
District #5. Commissioner Sackett said he has not seen any action plan
they brought up at the last meeting about Memorial Day services.
Mr. Williams said staff pulled together a list of the media outlets they
currently advertise the various special events. He said he had
conversations specifically with Commissioner Maingot, and they are
going to pursue different venues and offer some free sponsorships to try to
get greater press coverage as requested. Mr. Capizzi has a listing of all the
media outlets and the coverage they do have that they can distribute to the
Commission. He said with respect to utilization of the Hero's Monument,
the VFW did hold a small ceremony in the Longwood Memorial Gardens,
which they have done for the last twenty years. He said they requested an
Honor Guard, and when talking with them he said he would like to have a
discussion about moving the ceremony to the Hero's Monument. He said
they would take it to their Commander and they will see if there is an
opportunity for the move.
Commissioner Sackett said he attended the baseball closing ceremonies
and noticed there was only one quarter of the mulch pile left. He said they
hold the closing ceremonies over three nights and he attended each night.
He said at one of the closing events he saw thirty-six (36) skateboarders
who wanted to talk with him as a group to see what could be an added
feature to the park. He said the playground was full, three games were
going on, but noticed many people still going in the wrong direction to get
out of the park. He said the direction signs need to be fixed right away.
Commissioner Sackett asked at the last meeting about CALNO and
understands there is research needing to be done and will be brought back
at another meeting. He said he will be out of town from June 51 until June
15t' celebrating his 38t' wedding anniversary.
District #1. Commissioner Maingot said regarding utilizing their Hero's
Monument, he is developing a program that will outdo everything in
Central Florida with regards to recognizing their heroes. He said he has
been checking on what other cities around Central Florida do. He said
regarding tourism, in 2013 there were 94.7 million visitors came to the
state, which was a 3.5 percent increase over 2012. He said they spent
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$71.8 billion dollars, generating twenty-three (23%) percent of the state's
sales tax revenue. In Central Florida, $31.7 billion dollars was generated
by visitors. More than 367,000 people provided local and state
governments with $7 billion dollars in taxes. In 2013, over one million
visitors stayed in hotel rooms in one of the forty (40) hotels in Seminole
County, generating $3.7 million dollars in tourist development tax
revenue. In 2013, Seminole County hosted over sixteen (16) county -
supported sporting events. In 2013, they generated in Seminole County
over 20,000 room nights and $11 million dollars in revenue. He said to
date, in Seminole County they are fifteen point seven (15.7%) percent
ahead of the numbers for 2013. He said the Tourism Development
Council (TDC) and County Visitor Bureau (CVB) is moving forward with
the environmental and economic benefits relating to proper planning and
focus on expenditures and activities involved with the CVB and
hospitality. He said they have developed a marketing sub -committee, a
finance sub -committee, and a tour -packaging sub -committee, which never
existed before. He said he thinks before the end of this year, they will
begin to see results.
District #2. Deputy Mayor Durso asked the attorney to give them an
update on the case of Sean Law.
Mr. Langley said on June 5t' he will be filing the lawsuit against Mr. Law,
which is the three-month date from the recording of the certified copy of
the Order.
Deputy Mayor Durso asked if he had any idea of what follow-up action
will follow that filing of the lawsuit.
Mr. Langley said they will serve him and start trying to get hearings
scheduled and attempt to collect those fines and put pressure on him to
come into compliance.
Deputy Mayor Durso said Mr. Law coming into compliance is doubtful
because they have been trying that for years, but he thinks they can hurry
the lawsuit along as best they can. He said for the record, he would like to
ask to move it along as quickly as possible and get him in court and get an
Order against him so they can start to confiscate his assets in order to
make whole the City.
Commissioner Sackett asked where they are on the mortgage company's
involvement.
Mr. Langley said he has not received a response yet. He said these are
very large companies with a lot of mortgages, but he has sent letters and
received one response telling him they sold the mortgage off and did not
have contact information for the new owner of the mortgage.
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Deputy Mayor Durso said on June 5th Mr. Langley will be filing and will
give them an update. He said regarding the SunRail Station, he rode the
train last week and while on the platform, he noticed significant cracks in
the foundation. He said he reached out to Mr. Williams about it. He said
the parking lot that is closest to the water facility has no walkway. He said
people are just walking down the path and walking right out onto the
street. He suggested Mr. Williams get with the County and DOT about
both of these problems.
Mr. Williams said he will contact Mr. Blackadar because they have not
done their final inspection over there.
Mayor Cortes suggested having someone from staff go there and take
some pictures of people coming out of that parking lot and doing exactly
what has been said.
Deputy Mayor Durso also said regarding Ethics training, local government
officials are required to take four (4) hours of Ethics training. He said the
League of Cities staff told him they were creating a curriculum for a class
they will teach during the conference. He said if anyone cannot attend the
conference, they will have the class readily available and will probably
have email classes and have them spread out around the state so they can
go to a regional class and get the four (4) hours. He asked the Mayor if he
thought it would be advisable to have Cathy Till come to give them a
legislative summery.
Mayor Cortes said he agreed and asked if Deputy Mayor Durso could
reach out to her to set this up. Deputy Mayor Durso said he would, and
then informed the Commission of Marilyn Crotty, Executive Director of
the League of Cities, lost her son yesterday. He asked for consensus to
ask Mr. Williams to send flowers on behalf of the City to her.
It was the consensus of the Commission to have the City Administrator
send flowers.
District #3. Mayor Cortes said the state gave orders to the Highway
Patrol to start enforcing the railroad crossings. He sent a video to Mr.
Williams and Chief Hickson that showed the gates going down and then
up, as cars started going through, the gates started to come down at the
same time the train was coming through without the gates being
completely down. He said it was acknowledged there was a definite
problem there, and it will be addressed. He said safety is the main thing
for everyone. He said in East Orlando, they inaugurated one of the first
handicapped playgrounds. He said they have many playgrounds
throughout their City, but they do not have one that is truly for
handicapped children. He said he would like to see something
incorporated at Reiter Park in the future plans. He said he knows there are
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organizations that would like to see this happen and would like to help
fund it.
Deputy Mayor Durso said a lot of his kids fit that mold, and he thinks his
company would be willing to participate in something like that. He said a
lot of the kids he works with are physically and mentally disabled, and
come from difficult backgrounds, and he is sure his company could do
some sort of a joint sponsorship and funnel some money to help this out.
Mayor Cortes said he was a parent of a handicapped child who passed
away when he was five. He took him to playgrounds back then, and he
enjoyed it. He said what he saw last week was a parent wheeling the child
in the wheelchair onto a platform, secure him, and the whole wheelchair
swung. He said the expression on that child's face was priceless. He said
this is not just for the child but for the parent, who can bring their child as
an escape and see them participate in something that is as normal as it can
be. Mayor Cortes asked Mr. Capizzi to meet with the Deputy Mayor to
discuss the possibilities of this. He said he attended as Mayor, last week's
Leadership Seminole Board Meeting and participated with the leaders of
Leadership Seminole. He said they discussed the new incoming
leadership class, and their Police Chief is a graduate of the last Leadership
Seminole class.
District #4. Commissioner Weller said based on conversations they held
last week concerning parking at Candyland Park, they were to get together
with Citizens on Patrol (COPS).
Mr. Williams said the COPS have been talked to about the parking there,
and they are going to be looking at making some adjustments in terms of
the placement of the dumpsters. He said relocating the clay pits there will
not be able to be done. He said they are looking for a long-term solution
because that is something that will be a budget consideration going
forward. He said they are having discussions but do not have a final
resolution.
Commissioner Weller said he met with a group from Skylark Raven
Avenue Park last week, and they had some concerns about drainage pipes
sitting in the park that had been there for a long time. He said they would
like to have that park turned back into a park. He said he contacted Mr.
Williams, who jumped right on it. He said Mr. Williams sent an email to
him that the pipes were being relocated off that property and is sending a
landscaping crew to clean up the park and be made more presentable. He
wanted to commend Mr. Williams for his promptness.
8. ANY ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA. None.
Mr. Williams said regarding Item 9C, the Invitation to Bid is also tied to
Item 11B.
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9. CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approve the Minutes of the May 19, 2014 Regular Meeting.
B. Approve the Monthly Expen ditures for May 2014.
C. Approval of an award and purchase order for Invitation to Bid
(ITB) #01-14 in the amount of $544,794.19 to Blue Ox
Enterprises, LLC, for the Skylark Subdivision Water Main
Improvements Phase I.
Deputy Mayor Durso moved to approve the Consent Agenda.
Seconded by Commissioner Maingot and carried by a unanimous
roll call vote.
10. PUBLIC HEARINGS. None.
11. REGULAR BUSINESS
A. Read by title only, set June 16, 2014 as the public hearing date,
and approve! the first reading; of Ordinance No. 14-2035, which
proposes a multi -year water meter and accessories purchase
agreement contract with Sun State Meter & Supply, Inc.
Mr. Langley read Ordinance No. 14-2035 by title only.
Deputy Mayor Durso moved to approve the first reading of
Ordinance No. 14-203` and set June 16, 2014 as the first
public hearing date. Seconded by Commissioner Sackett.
Discussion ensued regarding the amount of meters that currently
exist, how many are having issues, the age of the meters, and the
time frame for replacement.
Mr. Kornbluh answered questions.
Motion carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
B. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 14-1353, a budget
amendment for the Skylark ;subdivision Water Main
Improvements Phase I.
Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 14-1353 by title only.
Deputy Mayor Durso moved to approve Resolution No. 14-
1353 as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Sackett
and carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
C. Read by title only, set June 16, 2014 as the public hearing date,
and approve the first reading; of Ordinance No. 14-2036, which
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proposes approval of a multi -year Traffic Signal Maintenance
& Compensation Agreement with the State of Florida
Department of Transportation and authorize the City
Administrator to execute all associated documents.
Mr. Langley read Ordinance No. 14-2036 by title only.
Deputy Mayor Durso moved to approve the first reading of
Ordinance No. 14-2036 and set June 16, 2014 as the first
public hearing date. Seconded by Commissioner Sackett.
Discussion ensued regarding the budget impact and if flexibility
has been built into the agreement.
Mr. Williams said they do have the flexibility, and this is done on
an annual basis. He said as additional demand would be created
with additional costs, they would certainly approach them with
providing additional compensation.
Motion carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
D. Read by title only, set June 16, 2014 as the public hearing date,
and approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 14-2037,
creating Longwood City Code Chapter 42, Article VI, Section
42-126, 42-127, 42-128 and 42-129 relating to Temporary or
Transient Sales of Fireworks, Sparklers, Novelties, and Trick
Noisemakers.
Mr. Langley read Ordinance No. 14-2037 by title only.
Deputy Mayor Durso moved to approve the first reading of
Ordinance No. 14-2037 and set June 16, 2014 as the public
hearing date. Seconded by Commissioner Maingot.
Deputy Mayor Durso asked if this was putting us in compliance
with state statute.
Mr. Langley explained what this does is incorporate in their code
that they are implementing the moratorium in the fashion they have
been doing over previous years. He said it establishes the status
quo they have been operating under, but to put it in the Code so
they do not have other arguments that there are exceptions to what
they have been doing throughout the years for vendors selling
things defined as sparklers or noisemakers. He said this does not
affect permanent retail establishments that sell sparklers.
Deputy Mayor Durso said it is maintaining the status quo and is
bringing them into compliance with state law.
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Mr. Langley said they have been in compliance and is just a matter
of codifying it in the Code.
Motion carried by a unanimous rol l call vote.
E. Commission to designate one! (1) official to serve as the voting
delegate at the Annual Florida League of Cities Conference in
Hollywood, Florida.
The Commissioner unanimously designated Commissioner Weller
as their voting delegate.
F. Commissioner Weller discussion on State Road 434 mobile
sign advertising for business's impacted by the construction.
Mr. Williams said based on conversations Commissioner Weller
and he have had, they did some research. They reached out to find
out the estimated time frame to complete the project. He said the
CEI advised that they should be complete by the end of November,
2014. He said they have sent out a request to Flash Right to give a
quote for obtaining a programmable sign for that 180 days, and
that cost estimate is about $7,488. He said there are 123
businesses that are within the affected construction zone, and they
did notify each of those businesses when they did the expansion of
additional opportunity for signage by a direct letter, and they have
had two (2) take advantage of it so far. From the staffs
prospective, it is important to note how they would administer the
advertising of each business and given the time frame and where
they would potentially locate that if a right-of-way was available,
because as the construction is moving along and progressing, they
are looking at a very minimal cost of $7,488 for renting the sign.
Commissioner Weller said when he originally talked about this, he
was not talking about six months. He was thinking of about thirty
or sixty days and if you break it down to thirty or sixty days, you
are looking at about $50.00 a day. He said when they hire the
Economic Development/Special Projects Manager, maybe that
could be one of his/her first tasks. Right now the construction is
really heavy, and there are definitely businesses that are being
impacted. He is looking to keep the sign as generic as possible.
Deputy Mayor Durso said he is not opposed to the six months'
rental. He said the cost is off-putting, so they have to figure out
how to deal with that. If businesses were paying, they would want
their logo on it. He said they might feel the government did this to
me, and now they want me to pay for a sign. He feels they need to
have a bit more of a practical approach financially and how to
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advertise the businesses, because if they are going to pay and be
involved in it, they are going to want their logo involved. He said
if they go with a generic sign, they will wind up paying for it. He
said they should work with the Chamber of Commerce for
sponsorships and to help off -set the costs and see what other cities
are doing. They are not the only one going through this, especially
in Central Florida. He also wants to re -visit a cooperative
agreement with Walgreen's in getting an electronic sign on that
corner where they can allow businesses to sell sponsorships.
Commissioner Weller said regarding the sign itself, they can get
used signs on E-bay. He asked if the City could purchase a sign,
which could be used for a variety of things, and for SunRail also.
Mr. Williams said he and staff have talked about submitting for a
grant to possibly fund this sign. He said they can explore the cost,
but they did that before and took it out of the budget because of
monetary constraints. He said they can bring that back into the
budget, but it doesn't address the need at hand. He also thinks
there is a defmite need for this.
Mayor Cortes asked to get some figures regarding the cost and
look at the marketing capabilities of renting out space.
Commissioner Weller said what he was looking for was just a
generic, not naming any businesses, and figure out how they can
direct traffic.
Commissioner Sackett said he lives by there, and he counted 115
businesses, and it is in its 588t' day. There are 180 days left, so he
is not sure about how the timing would work out. He said the
Walgreen's sign has always been on the list to get done. He said
he has only seen two businesses go out of business since then. He
suggested surveying businesses again about their needs over these
180 days that are left and how can they promote this. He said he
would not support a sign going through there because there is
enough confusion going through. He said people who live there do
know where to turn and where the businesses are.
Deputy Mayor Durso said what he thinks Commissioner Weller is
trying to do is using the sign to drive traffic to a more central
location that they could easily control cheaply. He said maybe ask
Mr. Williams to look into the cost of the sign and what they can do
to drive consumers to a central website and link it to Twitter or
Facebook and allow consumers to go there, and allow all the
businesses' inventories to be there. He said maybe they can allow
businesses to pay to participate in that where they can pay a small
fee and perhaps offer coupons.
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Commissioner Maingot asked about the businesses behind Max n
Meme's, there doesn't seem to be much traffic in there.
Commissioner Weller said he did visit the businesses back there
and they felt a sign would help.
Mayor Cortes asked Mr. Williams if he could ask DOT about
putting up a generic sign to direct traffic.
Mr. Williams stated this would be a budget item.
G. Read by title only, set June 16, 2014 as the public hearing date,
and approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 14-2033,
voluntary annexation of 389 North Highway 17-92.
Mr. Langley read Ordinance No. 14-2033 by title only.
Deputy Mayor Durso moved to approve the first reading of
Ordinance No. 14-2033 and set June 16, 2014 as the first
hearing date. Seconded by Commissioner Maingot and
carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
12. CITY ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT
Mr. Williams said he sent an email earlier today requesting two additional
meetings for the month of June. The first is a Work Session on the second
phase of Reiter Park for Monday, June 231 at 6:00 p.m. They have
identified approximately three hours for that discussion. He said for the
same week, a Special Meeting for the first public hearing to consider the
Weston Park Site Plan, Development Agreement and PD for either
Tuesday, June 24t' at 7:00 p.m. or Friday, June 27t' at 7:00 p.m.
The Commission decided on Friday, June 27t' at 5:00 p.m. for the Special
Meeting.
13. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT. No Report.
14. CITY CLERK'S REPORT
Ms. Longo stated she will be attending the Florida Association of City
Clerks (FACC) Summer Academy from Sunday, June 8' until
Wednesday, June 11t' 2014.
15. ADJOURN. Mayor Cortes adjourned the meeting at 9:01 p.m.
Robert Cortes, Mayor
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ATTEST
Michelle Long C rk
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