CC07-16-2018Min LONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION
Longwood City Commission Chambers
175 West Warren Avenue
Longwood, Florida
MINUTES
July 16, 2018
6:00 P.M.
Present: Mayor Ben Paris
Deputy Mayor Richard Drummond
Commissioner Abby Shoemaker
Commissioner Matt Morgan
Commissioner Brian D. Sackett
Dan Langley, City Attorney
J. D. Cox, City Manager
Michelle Longo, City Clerk
David P. Dowda, Police Chief
Mike Peters, Fire Chief
Chris Kintner, Community Development Director
Chris Capizzi, Leisure Services Director
Lisa Snead, Financial Services Director
Richard Kornbluh, Division Manager Utilities
Tom Kruger, Economic Development Manager
1. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Paris called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
2. MOMENT OF SILENT MEDITATION
3. THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
4. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS. Ms. Longo read the following
announcement.
A. Senior Matinee will be held on Wednesday, July 18,2018 from
1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m.,Longwood Community Building,200
West Warren Avenue. This month's feature is The Greatest
Showman.
5. PROCLAMATIONS /RECOGNITIONS
A. District#1 Presentation of the Business Person of the Month
Award for July 2018 to Dennis R. Smith,President/CEO of
CORA Physical Therapy,located at 765 West State Road 434,
Suite A.
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Commissioner Shoemaker read a brief biography on Dennis R.
Smith and then presented Kelsey Dudgeon, Clinic Manager with
the Business person of the Month Award for July 2018.
Photographs were then taken.
6. BOARD APPOINTMENTS. None.
7. PUBLIC INPUT
A. Public Participation.
Judi Coad, 1695 Grange Circle, Longwood. She said her concern
is in reference to the City's retention ponds,the maintenance and
refurbishing of the ponds to their original functionality. The City
has many retention ponds that it is required to maintain. The
retention pond inside the Markham Hill Subdivision and the two
within the Barrington Subdivision have been left in disrepair.
Markham Hill's retention pond has two drains into the pond. The
back drain is not even visible to the eye due to being consumed by
vegetation and muck. Barrington's front retention pond drain was
buried under the muck and vegetation. Barrington's back retention
pond is overrun by vegetation. I called in reference to these three
ponds and sent pictures. She said with Mr. Capizzi's help, he
contacted the correct person in Public Works. Barrington's front
retention pond drain has been dug out from about one foot of muck
with two channels to the left and right. When it rains, the channels
filled with water, and water did not move out into the retention
pond. It would have to be completely filled to overflow into the
drain of the pond. Work just extended the dam situation. The base
of the pond over the years has filled up with muck, hence, burying
the drain. The same goes for Markham Hill's, except it has not yet
been touched to any degree. She asked how many other retention
ponds have been neglected with no oversight within our City. As
for the State Road 434 beautification project,plants have been
planted,weeds and grass have been allowed to grow all over the
planting areas. Now some areas have had some bark mulch laid on
top of all the weeds. The weeds have just come up through all the
mulch,then Crepe Myrtles were planted. She said the two signs
facing the I-4 direction have Crepe Myrtles right in front of the
signs. Already at night because of the Crepe Myrtles, you cannot
even read the speed sign. Coming down State Road 434 from I-4,
the back of the large sign in the grass area could use a Crepe
Myrtle behind it to hide the big, ugly, silver sign which is exposed.
She stated, now work is starting on the next section without
completion of the previous section. This project has taken several
years to come to fruition, and it is a mess. It is not an enhancement
to our City as it stands. She asked who is overseeing this project.
Mr. Maingot, along with the City Administration, worked very
hard over the years to bring this to our City. I know this project
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plan would not have been with this scenario. I would like to hear
from the dais some response on these situations.
8. MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS' REPORT
District#1. Commissioner Shoemaker said on June 20th, she was invited
to attend The Landings Home Owners Association(HOA) Meeting. They
inquired about the completion of Church Avenue, Reiter Park,the new
Publix,the arrival of the generator, flashing stop sign on Rangeline Road,
and a few other concerns. I updated the residents, and asked Mr. Cox to
follow up with them. I appreciated meeting such a large and dedicated
group of homeowners. I received a phone call a couple days later
thanking me for the flashing stop signs on Rangeline Road. I inquired
with Tom Smith, and was informed those flashing stop signs were
included in the Church Street paving project. I let Mr. Cox know about
this, and he too was not aware. On June 25th and today of course is
budget, and very important decisions to be made. She said staff has
poured their hearts and souls into this, and I thank them, Mr. Cox and
everybody for all the involvement. On July 14th I attended the Car Show
and showed up to volunteer for the Longwood Historic Society, but they
had plenty of help. The Car Show is such a great event for Longwood,
and I was happy to see such a great turnout of cars, trucks, and even a
Volkswagen camper. She said Longwood has recently had too many sad
events. I am grateful to our law enforcement, fire department, city
manager, and all of our great city staff who have the compassion,
dedication, experience and knowledge to cover and serve our residents in
these sad situations.
District#2. Deputy Mayor Drummond said this has been a very eventful
week for Longwood. We started last Monday with the situation at
Connolly's Pub, and he wants to say thank you to Longwood Police and
the Seminole County Sheriff's office. It was very fortunate that no one
was killed and no officers were injured. He said Friday there was a
structure fire at State Road 434 and Savage Court. The Longwood Fire
Department did an amazing job, along with Seminole County Fire.
Fortunately,we don't see a lot of structure fires of that magnitude around
here. The latest incident on Saturday night is still under investigation.
Often we feel isolated and immune from tragedy in Longwood. He said
we don't see a lot of events like this,but we are very fortunate to have
dedicated professionals, with both law enforcement and fire and rescue,
that risk their lives and keep us safe.
District#3. Mayor Paris said he wanted to thank staff for the work they
have done, and wanted to thank fire, police, and all the other agencies that
came to help out in the City of Longwood. He wanted the citizens to
111 know that we are doing our work for you, and the City of Longwood is
going to go about business as usual. He said right now, we are going
through our budget session, and some of you were in here for that earlier,
and know that we are cutting pennies and finding every single possibility
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to make this the most efficient City in Seminole County. I will be
attending our Leadership Seminole Meeting later this month, and I have a
question for a member of our staff to answer. He said some residents have
had tags left on their doors saying they were going to be repainting their
sidewalks with their address numbers. He indicated that he advised the
City was not involved in any way and asked if the City knew anything
about the business leaving this information.
Mr. Cox said he is not aware of anything related to the City being
involved in that and will check on that and follow up.
Mayor Paris said he reached out to the Streets Manager, and he assured me
the City was not involved. I was curious to see if the City knew about it
and see if we could follow up on it and see who the business is and what it
is they are doing for$20. He also asked for a quick update on Church and
Reiter Park at this point.
Mr. Cox read an email from Friday from CFE Construction Company. It
said, roadway crews completed the roadways stabilization on the right
roadway. Continued removing the existing curve on the right roadway
and set three inlet tops. CFE concrete crews continue pouring sidewalk on
the left roadway up to Sandalwood and continue pouring the wall footer
and set the wall forms. Sod crews continue installing sod on the left
roadway between Tiberon Cove and Harbour Landing. Century Link was
onsite as well and removed the communication box that was there. They
have been in communication with Duke Energy regarding the power pole
at a station along the way as well, and they are awaiting confirmation from
that. For this week, concrete crews will begin pouring the wall. On
Monday they will continue with the sidewalk setting inlet tops, and Pace
Concrete will be on site pouring curb.
Mayor Paris asked if they had set a tentative date yet.
Mr. Cox said he did not get that in the email. He said I think we are still
on schedule for September.
Mr. Capizzi gave an update for Reiter Park. He said there are a lot of
things happening within the next two weeks that will determine the time
frame whether the completion of the park will occur in the mid part of
August or will go into September. Right now we do have the sign that
was put on the bathroom, which is nearly complete. The final grading is
happening right now. He said a lot of the weeds have been removed, and
the final grading to put in the last bit of irrigation. He said regarding the
Amphitheater, everything is depending on the roofing because we can't
dry anything and paint underneath until we have that roof taken care of,
which we will know in the next couple of weeks. We are a little behind
schedule as anticipated. The landscaping is behind schedule because the
company that West Construction hired for the landscaping portion of the
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111 contract had lost their horticultural bond, so they are in the process of
getting another landscaping company out there.
Mayor Paris said he understands there are weekly meetings on Reiter Park
on Wednesdays.
Mr. Capizzi said we moved those meetings to Thursdays to accommodate
the architect for the Amphitheatre.
Mayor Paris said he would like to attend the next meeting and physically
talk to these contractors and see where we are, if there were no objections
from the other Commissioners.
Mr. Capizzi said the meeting will be at 3:00 p.m. this coming Thursday.
There was no objection from the Commission for Mayor Paris to attend
this meeting.
District#4. Commissioner Morgan said after a very trying week here in
Longwood,he said how very proud he is of our Police and Fire
departments, echoing fellow Commissioners and the Mayor's sentiments.
This is exactly why and the reason you take care of your heroes. This is
why we take care of our Police and Fire Departments here and why it was
such a huge issue for the three of us during our campaigning during
election season. He said it is very important to us.
Commissioner Morgan said I took a ride along with Deputy Chief Gioielli
this past weekend on Saturday evening. One of the cool things I was able
to see while making the rounds and seeing the other officers within their
zones,was the fact that another campaign promise was making sure our
Police Department had the safest equipment possible. He said when
crossing three intersections and having to run red lights and not worry
about being t-boned at intersections by having running lights on the sides
of our vehicles. That is hugely important in giving them confidence in
being able to get to us in our time of need as fast as possible. New
businesses coming into the City is huge, but if you aren't able to provide
public safety,they are not coming. He said he was very proud of our
Police Department this week. I watched our Fire Department work that
blaze while standing next to the owner of that building until they couldn't
go anymore. We really have the best of the best with our Police and Fire
departments.
Commissioner Morgan said he went to his first Citizen on Patrol (COP)
meeting and was super impressed by their organizational skills. He will
be attending these regularly and is looking forward to his first ride-along
with them. He said Johnny Richardson runs a very tight ship over there,
and he was impressed by how much pride he takes in seeing that
everything is always square and the way it needs to be. He also attended
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his second Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)meeting and
went over some budget concerns illustrated by Mr. Cox and Chief Peters.
He thanked Chief Peters for not letting this come to pass as in years
passed. He found the proper fire liaison for this particular group. He has
a lot of passion for this job. He thanked Andy Inman for stepping up to
this job. He said a lot of former CERT members have rejoined the group,
and he is honored in getting this group up and running again. He said an
idea he has was to have a Small Business Fair for Longwood, open for
Longwood only businesses and be held at the Community Building. He is
still discussing this with Mr. Cox. He said this would be a great way for
them to network. He also wants to do a Longwood Youth City Council.
This came from the Florida League of Cities to see if anyone would have
an interest in this, and he said yes. He wanted to ask Mr. Cox about the
railroad by North Grant Street and Candyland Park and putting in bushes.
Mr. Cox said he has gone there with staff to that particular area, and he
would like to visit with Commissioner Morgan soon and follow up from
there.
Commissioner Morgan said he and Mr. Cox are going to be meeting with
water meter reading companies and technology that we are currently
using. We want to make sure we are using these companies to the max
potential possible. It is very important we are getting the proper gauges on
water meters, especially at these special assessment neighborhoods. We
will be having those meetings set up next week.
Commissioner Morgan also wants to set up a Longwood Social Media
Initiative with Mr. Cox and the City Clerk, to make sure we are using as
many avenues to get our name out there about our many events we have.
He said today 75%of people are getting their news from social media
news feeds. We have to bring the news to where people are, such as
Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. He will be heading that initiative up
with the help of Mr. Cox and Ms. Longo.
Commissioner Morgan said Longwood Elementary Parent Teacher
Association (PTA) contacted him, and he met with them at Zanzibar
Coffee House. He said they are having something coming up called the
Fun Run. It is a walk-a-thon to help raise money for the Longwood
Elementary school teachers who spend money out of their own pockets for
various school supplies and projects. One of the goals is for every child to
have a tee shirt for the walk-a-thon. He provided an email address of
jjsgranny2004@ayahoo.com for anyone to make donations.
District#5. Commissioner Sackett said he has been out of the country for
two weeks in the top of British Columbia almost 4,000 miles away, and he
got news about what was happening in Longwood. I applaud that the man
at Connolly's was injured and not killed. He said it was a tremendous
effort from the Fire Department over the sad state of affairs for Bayridge
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Sushi. He said they were ready to open, and now it is gone. He also
applauds our Police Department for taking care of business on State Road
434. He stated job well done and thanked the men and women of our
departments. He said he hoped CERT and COPs were used because they
are very good at calming people down and dealing with traffic in times of
tragedies.
Commissioner Sackett said he does agree with the comment made earlier
about the State Road 434 medians. I think it is horrible, and I spoke to
Mr. Cox about that, and we need to find out what can be done because the
weeds and grass are taller than the plants. He agrees about the Crepe
Myrtle trees being in front of the sign and should be behind the sign where
they belong. He said we need full time paint on Rangeline Road to get
down that road safely. He thanked Ms. Snead and her team for the budget
prep.
9. ANY ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA. None.
10. CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approve Minutes of the June 4,2018 Regular Meeting.
B. Approve the Monthly Expenditures for June and July 2018.
C. Approve the Monthly Financial Report for June 2018.
Commissioner Sackett moved to approve Item 10A through
IOC as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Shoemaker
and carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
11. PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 18-1465 relating to
the State Revolving Fund (SRF)Loan Program adopting the
planning documents for the Septic Tank Abatement Program
Transmission Main Facilities Plan.
Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 18-1465 by title only.
Mr. Kornbluh introduced Jeremy Jardell, with Barnes, Ferland and
Associates along with Don Berryhill,with The Berryhill Group,
LLC who gave a presentation on the project and answered
questions from the Commission.
Mayor Paris opened the public hearing. No one spoke in favor or
opposition to Resolution No. 18-1465.
Deputy Mayor Drummond moved to close the public
hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Sackett and carried
by a unanimous voice vote.
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Commissioner Sackett moved to adopt Resolution No. 18-
1465 as presented Item 11A. Seconded by Deputy Mayor
Drummond and carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
12. REGULAR BUSINESS
A. Set the Tentative Millage Rate for the 2018/2019 Fiscal Year
beginning October 1,2018,and Authorize the City Manager to
complete the Certification of Taxable Value(DR-420) and
Maximum Millage Levy Preliminary Disclosure (DR-
420MMP) forms via the Department of Revenue's E-Trim
System.
Mr. Cox presented the Item and stated they are proposing setting
the tentative millage rate at 5.50. He mentioned that the tentative
millage rate of 5.50 is 8.19%higher than the roll back rate of
5.0835.
Commissioner Sackett moved to approve the tentative
millage rate of 5.50 for the 2018/2019 fiscal year beginning
October 1, 2018. Seconded by Commissioner Morgan and
carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
B. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 18-1466,
authorizing the City Manager to apply for up to $3,500,000
loan under the State Revolving Fund (SRF) Loan Program to
fund a City Wastewater System Improvement and Expansion
Project.
Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 18-1466 by title only.
Mr. Cox presented the Item.
Commissioner Sackett moved to adopt Resolution No. 18-
1466 as presented Item 11 B. Seconded by Commissioner
Morgan and carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
C. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 18-1467 honoring
50 years of Home Rule.
Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 18-1467 by title only.
Mayor Paris presented the Item.
Deputy Mayor Drummond moved to adopt Resolution No.
18-1467 as presented Item 12C. Seconded by
Commissioner Shoemaker and carried by a unanimous roll
call vote.
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D. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 18-1468 which
amends the fiscal year 2017/2018 budget.
Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 18-1468 by title only.
Mr. Cox presented the Item.
Commissioner Morgan moved to adopt Resolution No. 18-
1468 as presented Item 12D. Seconded by Deputy Mayor
Drummond and carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
E. Read by title only, set August 6,2018 as the public hearing
date and approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 18-2140,
establishing a permanent backyard chicken program.
Mr. Langley read Ordinance No. 18-2140 by title only.
Mr. Kintner presented the Item and answered questions.
Commissioner Sackett moved to approve Ordinance No.
18-2140 and set August 6, 2018 as the public hearing date.
Seconded by Commissioner Shoemaker and carried by a
unanimous roll call vote.
F. City Commission review and approval of a new city logo.
Discussion ensued regarding the proposed new city logo. It was
also discussed to use the current printed materials until they have
been depleted then replace with the approved city logo.
Commissioner Sackett moved to approve the proposed new
city logo. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Drummond and
carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
G. City Commission review and approve the acceptance and
recording of the deed to the City for the donation of Lot 44 in
Skylark in the Woods subdivision.
Mr. Cox presented the Item.
Commissioner Morgan moved to approve Item 12G as
presented. Seconded by Commissioner Sackett and carried
by a unanimous roll call vote.
13. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
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Mr. Cox said he is loving his job and working with you all, with staff, the
community, and the business community. It is great to have this step of
the budget behind us so I can start focusing even more attention to some
other matters. He said we will have challenges, but we will get through
them and deal with them. I think this last week is testament to the strength
of our community in dealing with situations, and some of them can be
serious. We have done that, and I would like to echo all the sentiments to
our staff that have been involved in the number of activities going on and
for their hard work. He said I do want to touch upon CERT, and he
thanked Chief Peters and Battalion Chief Andy Inman for being the
coordinator for that. He appreciates Lori Rice who shared a number of
ideas with him, as well as Commissioners Sackett and Morgan.
Mr. Cox said he would like to recognize Officer Steven Bryant,together
with Corporal Ryan Short who made a stop, recognized a driver did not
have a car seat, took it upon their own to buy one for them, and it made
national news. He said I am reaching out to establish more relationships.
I have been here two months, and the more of these relationships I can
establish I believe will be for the best, including business leaders. I have a
couple of meetings coming up with investors that are making a lot of
headway in our community. Those meetings are coming up this week.
Mr. Cox said this past week, Mr. Kintner and I took a Development trip to
a number of cities including the City of Deland. He said we looked at the
way those communities have done their downtown areas to obtain ideas to
possibly bring back ideas for implementation here in Longwood. We all
have the same goal, to bring up our community, create draws to our
community, and to recognize the districts we have with their unique
qualities. He said I did have a meeting with Seminole County's School
Superintendent, Dr. Griffin. That same day I met with the City Manager
of Sanford,Norton Bonaparte. Tomorrow the Lyman High School
Principal, Mike Rice, will be coming here for a meeting with staff. The
High School is looking at ways they can become more plugged in to our
community and take the relationship to a whole other level. They are
looking at the idea of possibly having a Homecoming Parade in
Downtown Historic Longwood during the last week of October. We will
be meeting with them to see how we can make that happen.
14. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT. No report.
15. CITY CLERK'S REPORT
Ms. Longo mentioned, when transitioning to the new logo, it is staffs
intent to use the current printed materials until they have been depleted
then replace with the new approved city logo.
16. ADJOURN. Mayor Paris adjourned the meeting at 7:16 p.m.
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Ben a is,Mayor
ATTET:
Mic ell CM , F
City Clerk
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