Loading...
CC08-06-2018MinLONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION Longwood City Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, Florida MINUTES August 6, 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 Lee Ricci, Human Resources Director Lisa Snead, Financial Services Director 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 announcements. A. The "Downtown Longwood Food Trucks" will be held on Thursday, August 9, 2018 from 5:30 p.m. until 8.30 p.m. on the corner of Ronald Reagan Boulevard and West Church Avenue. B. The "Downtown Longwood Cruise -In" Car Show will be held on Saturday, August 11, 2018 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. in the Historic District of Longwood. C. Senior Matinee will be held on Wednesday, August 15, 2018 from 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m., Longwood Community CC 08-06-18/1 Building, 200 West Warren Avenue. This month's feature is I Can Only Imagine. 5. PROCLAMATIONS / RECOGNITIONS A. Nominations — Annual Key to the City Award. Commissioner Sackett nominated Angie Romagosa, President and CEO of The Christian Sharing Center Seconded by Commissioner Morgan. Commissioner Shoemaker nominated John C Maingot former Mayor and City Commissioner of Longwood. Seconded by Mayor Paris. Both nominations carried by a unanimous voice vote. B. Recognition of Commissioner Shoemaker's Completion of the 2018 Institute of Elected Municipal Officials held June 8-10, 2018. Mayor Paris read a letter from the Florida League of Cities, Inc. and presented Commissioner Shoemaker with her Certificate of Completion. Photographs were then taken. 6. BOARD APPOINTMENTS A. District #4 Nomination to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board. Commissioner Morgan nominated Lori Rice for reappointment to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Nomination carried by a unanimous voice vote. 7. PUBLIC INPUT A. Presentation: Ed Young, Vice Chair with the Seminole Soil &Water Conservation District to announce they have been selected to host the 2019 Area 3 Meeting and request the use of the Longwood Community Building. Ed Young, Vice Chair with the Seminole Soil & Water Conservation District gave an overview of the upcoming 2019 Area 3 Meeting and made a request to use the Longwood Community Building to host the event and asked for the fees to be waived. Commissioner Sackett moved to approve the use of the Longwood Community Building and asked staff to bring back the details including a date and costs to be waived. CC 08-06-18/2 Seconded by Commissioner Shoemaker and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. B. Public Participation. Jon Ham, 107 Meadowlark Drive, Altamonte Springs. He said he had his truck here at a Car Show in Downtown Longwood in July, 2015, and was confronted by a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member asking him to sign up. He said yes because he has a passion for the fire department to help them out. He said it started to stray away from what it once was and talked to some of the City Commissioners about this. He said he has been here for 40 years and loves the City He saw things going the wrong way but now, things are going back, and he wanted to thank every one of you, including Chief Peters, for helping to get CERT to where it is. It will take time to get it to where it was back in its heyday He said he loves the City and CERT He doesn't care about the hours, he doesn't write them down. He thanked the Commission for bringing Santa Claus to the city of Longwood. The first year, I was the driver He said I did it for the community and the kids. Thank you for bringing -CERT to where it is now He said he wanted to see the Commissioners do the lip -sync challenge 8. MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS' REPORT District #5. Commissioner Sackett said a man in his neighborhood lost his wife suddenly a few weeks ago, and the man showed him an $800 water bill and another $1,000 water bill. He mentioned this neighbor asked the City to come and look at the meter, and nothing was wrong. When you have a bill that is $70 and then it becomes $300, you have to have something in the City on our side that examines your area for some troubles so we can check in and have no surprises. Particularly, two months of surprises. He said I know there is breakage on the lines, but when it is that drastic, there has to be some red flag trigger that says there is a problem. Commissioner Sackett also said, we are going to Florida League of Cities next week in Hollywood, Florida, and all the Commissioners are going. He said when he has gone before, we split up the conference events so all were covered. We owe it to our taxpayers to let them know what was learned and beneficial for our City He made the suggestion they do the same thing this year District #1. Commissioner Shoemaker said to follow up, I have already done my itinerary, and the beach has been scheduled too She said she attended the Community Awareness and Participation Plan (CAPP) Meeting regarding the request for Special Exception concerning proposed apartments being built to a height of four stories rather than three. This concern will be covered later in tonight's agenda. There was quite an CC 08-06-18/3 attendance at the meeting and a lot of words were spoken. On July 28th, I joined the AJ Press family in celebrating their one-year anniversary They were packed with so many patrons congratulating them. She said I thanked them for being part of our business community and wished them much future success. I could not leave without having a cup of their chili, which is the closest to my homemade I have ever found. On August 2nd, I began the Leadership Seminole journey, along with Commissioner Drummond. This program is awesome in so many ways, and I am excited to continue this journey from the Seminole County facts and trivia to the team building and challenges we will experience, this is an absolutely wonderful experience. She gave a shout out to the Leadership Seminole Staff and Crew for a job well done. Commissioner Shoemaker said she purchased her train ticket, and I am ready for my scenic ride to Hollywood, Florida to attend the Florida League of Cities Annual Conference. District #2. Deputy Mayor Drummond said he also wanted to congratulate AJ Press for their first anniversary He said what a great family -owned and operated business. They are quite an asset to the community I strongly recommend the jalapeno hush puppies and the Cuban sandwich. On August 1st, I attended the Council of Local Governments (CALNO), which is a bi-monthly meeting of all the 'local cities in this area, including Soil and Water Conservation District, Ed Young and Seminole State College. We met in Oviedo this last week, he thanked them for hosting the meeting. We exchanged information on senior programs and activities that take place in each community Some of our sister cities are very involved with the seniors in providing activities and programs for them, and we need to work on that in Longwood to try to match some of their achievements. He said last Thursday and Friday was Leadership Seminole, and Commissioner Shoemaker and I had a great time, and he thanked the City for sponsoring him. What a great group of business leaders and partners from Seminole County that are represented at these training seminars District #3. Mayor Paris said he wished Deputy Mayor Drummond a Happy Birthday, which was on August 3rd He said he had the pleasure last Monday to meet with the new President of Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital, and talked about their plans moving forward. He is from Georgia, and I told him we just got a new City Manager, and he looks forward to reaching out to all of them and explaining his vision for South Seminole and how it pertains to the rest of the community around it. He said communities are built around hospitals, and we appreciate them being there, and look forward to helping them and working with them in every way possible. He would not commit to a parking garage in the downtown area, but if you guys could ask him for me as well, I would appreciate it. CC 08-06-18/4 Mayor Paris said he is also going to the Florida League of Cities Conference He said this is not like a vacation trip to south Florida, but is an opportunity for us as elected officials to meet with other elected officials from bigger cities and smaller cities and see how they deal with issues and problems, as well as listen to their staff do presentations. He agrees with Commissioner Sackett that some events are better than others. The good thing is the Florida League of Cities allows us to voice that opinion, so we write what we think worked and what didn't work. He said we can also comment on what should come back as continued education, and what should not. He attended the Rock Lake Elementary Welcome Back Teachers Event this morning. Rock Lake Middle is the only school that has been continuously graded an A -rated school since 1999, and are the only one in Central Florida that has that distinction. District #4. Commissioner Morgan said he wanted to extend his condolences on behalf of the city of Longwood to the family of Humza Syed, a small, non-verbal, six year old autistic boy that lost his life in Heathrow On July 18t', Mr John Maingot, a former Commissioner and Mayor had a meeting with our new City Manager discussing what is going on with the beautification of State Road 434 and the medians. He said out of respect for how many years he served our City and served it well, I thought it right to bring him into this meeting and thought it went pretty well, all things considered. On July 24t', we had a Babe Ruth Baseball Tournament called the Southeast Regionals at Candyland Park. There were eight teams, three of them from the Central Florida area, and one from Longwood made it. He said the night before, they asked me to speak to the 15 year olds that made up this tournament. He gave them a pep talk about dreaming big and working hard for everything you get. The kids were surprised, and it was a very cool event. He thanked Mr Tim McMullan and everybody at Babe Ruth that continue to do outstanding work with our youth. We are shaping these young leaders of tomorrow, and I believe sports to be a huge way of doing that, especially building one's confidence. Longwood did pretty well, but lost in the semi-finals, which is very good for our team. He congratulated the Longwood team for a great season, and said Orlando did great as well. Commissioner Morgan said he attended the CAPP meeting of the Warren Avenue development. He set up a meeting with Southern Realty Enterprises, a land developer, to see what we have in store here in Longwood. He stated, a lot of developers are looking to come into Longwood right now We are on this upswing, and we have to get some momentum behind it and continue moving forward. He thinks everyone will be really impressed with some of the huge changes we have coming to the City in the form of big business and big branding. He mentioned AJ Press and their one year anniversary One thing I do want to say about them is they do an outstanding job of social media marketing. I continue to push that because it is free, and they are on that, whether it is Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and are pushing their product constantly You can CC 08-06-18/5 never market yourself enough or get enough exposure, whatever that brand is. Commissioner Morgan congratulated Judy Putz, of Judy's Dolls, celebrating their 20th year anniversary Judy's Dolls is a staple to our community, and he is looking forward to potentially a big shot in the arm to her business and also Davey's Toys when Reiter Park opens. On July 30th, he met with our City Manager, and Neptune, about our water meters addressing what Commissioner Sackett talked about earlier He stated, Neptune said we have about 6,100 meters, and about 3,000 of them are Neptune. To properly read the meters, with a wand you have to physically touch every meter With Neptune, we can upgrade the meters, slowly go into this process where every one of them will be Neptune, where you don't have to touch every meter to get the proper reading. They can read them with one switch at apartment complexes, which is a huge timesaver The goal is to slowly roll that out. Commissioner Morgan said he also went to Rock Lake Middle Welcome Back for teachers. Dr Rodriguez, the Principal, does a fantastic job with that staff and the kids. They have been an A -rated school since 1999 He is trying to get more people to come out to tram for CERT classes and also for the COPs. He filmed, edited, and directed videos for COPs and CERT to get the word out. On August 11 th, there is the grand opening of Ace Gymnastics Longwood. Commissioner Morgan said regarding Lyman High School anti - concussion football helmets, they have received 14 so far He is thinking of putting on a Professional Wrestling Charity Event, where we don't charge for entrance, we just ask for donations. 9. ANY ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA. None 10. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approve Minutes of the June 18, 2018 Regular Meeting. B. Approve the Monthly Expenditures for July 2018. C. Approve the Automatic Aid/First Response Interlocal Cooperation Agreement between Seminole County and the City of Longwood. D. Approve a purchase order in the amount of $33,000 to McDirmit, Davis & Company for the annual audit for fiscal year 2018 and approve a three year contract for fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 2020. E. Acceptance of the Department of Environmental Protection Agency 319(h) Grant Award and approve Agreement No. CC 08-06-18/6 NF043 between the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the City of Longwood related to the funding reimbursements for the North County Road 427 Septic Tank Removal Project. F Acceptance of Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2017 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program Funding in the amount of $3,489. G. Approve a donation in the amount of $2,395 to Woodlands Elementary School from the State Law Enforcement Confiscation Fund in support of their crime prevention educational materials. H. Approve the Seminole County Emergency Management Addressing Interlocal Agreement between Seminole County and the City of Longwood. Commissioner Sackett moved to approve Items IOA through 1 OH as presented. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Drummond and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Ordinance No. 18-2140, establishing a permanent backyard chicken program. (Request to continue the 2nd reading and Public Hearing of Ordinance No. 18-2140 to the August 20, 2018 Commission Meeting). Commissioner Sackett moved to continue the second reading of Ordinance No 18-2140 to August 20, 2018. Seconded by Commissioner Shoemaker and carried by a unanimous roll call vote B. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 18-1470, which imposes the 2018 Wastewater Assessment Area and adds the Assessments to the 2018 tax rolls. Mr Langley read Resolution No 18-1470 by title only Ms. Snead presented the Item. Mayor Paris opened the public hearing. No one spoke in favor or in opposition to the Resolution No 18-1470 Commissioner Sackett moved to close public hearing. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Drummond and carried by a unanimous voice vote. CC 08-06-18/7 Commissioner Sackett moved to adopt Resolution No 18- 1470 as presented Item I IB Seconded by Commissioner Morgan and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. C. The City Commission to hear a public request for Special Exception (SPE 02-18), to allow a special exception to the Heritage Urban Code at 881 West Warren Avenue. - Mr Langley stated this is a quasi-judicial matter and anyone wishing to speak on behalf or in opposition to this agenda item is requested to step forward, stand and be sworn in. He said if you have not already done so, please complete the form Request to Speak at a public hearing and return to the City Clerk. He said the applicant may have the right to cross examine anyone who speaks for or against the item and those who speak have the right to cross examine the applicant. He then swore in those wishing to speak. Mr Langley asked for disclosure of ex parte communications by the Commissioners. The Commissioners disclosed their ex-parte communications. Mayor Paris said he talked to staff. Deputy Mayor Drummond said hello to one of the people who came here tonight to speak. Commissioner Shoemaker said she attended the CAPP meeting, talked with staff, and residents. She gave little background to what her conversations with the residents entailed. They raised concerns about three-story versus a four-story building, traffic, ability to see into my backyard. Commissioner Morgan said he attended the CAPP meeting. Commissioner Sackett said he has had no meetings with anyone. Mr Kintner presented the Item and went over the basics of Special Exceptions and made reference to the staff report that was part of the agenda packet. He stated the applicant has requested a special exception to allow a fourth story on an apartment building. Discussion ensued and questions were asked and answered. Mr. David Stokes, 431 East Horatio Avenue, Maitland, spoke on behalf of the applicant. He said we are the Civil Engineer on the project and the developer is Wood Partners. They are a national company with a local presence. They build high -end apartments, commonly referred to as Class A apartments, nice finishes, product, amenities, and typically attract a higher -end renter He CC 08-06-18/8 said given the unique encumbrances on the property with the Duke easement, as well as the wetland, which we are intending to leave there and work around, there is also drainage issues which is not part of the Special Exception that need to be maintained in the future. He said trying to keep the building within the foot print of the property is what led them to go taller, so it is a successful project. Commissioner Shoemaker asked if the Commission grant this Special Exception, you will build a four-story apartment complex on that property She asked if we don't grant it, do you plan to build two complexes that are three stories. Mr Stokes said no The plan is to build a four-story building. Mayor Paris opened the public hearing. Roger HER, 107 South Silver Cluster Court, Longwood. He said our family moved into Longwood Groves in 1976 and have been there the entire time We love Longwood because it is a small town, out of the big city There are neighborhoods and communities and neighbors we enjoy having. He said a while ago, we went to a community meeting where we were presented with a two-story office complex that was going to go in there, which everyone was excited about because it looked like the continuation of downtown into Warren Avenue. During Irma was the real test for the water runoff for Longwood Groves. Our pool was inundated with water and it turned brown, and the whole backyard was flooded. The neighborhood in back of us used to be a retention area, and they built a neighborhood there. He said I wrote a letter to Commissioner Shoemaker and the Mayor, going over a lot of concerns we have about the fourth story That is an additional 62 units, but that is still more cars, and the engineer said Warren Avenue is a secondary road and not the size that apartment complexes are built on. There were drainage concerns at that meeting, but there wasn't anyone there to address those concerns If there is any way to add a four-way stop at the exit of Longwood Groves so we can get out because the traffic on Warren Avenue does not go 25 mph. Kathey Parkes, 109 South Silver Cluster Court, Longwood said 99% of the houses that border this property are one-story buildings. I live in the NW corner of that property on the property line of this proposed development. That is a huge building with balconies facing into our properties. The Longwood Club people cannot get any kind of good border of foliage because of the Duke easement. She said part of my property cannot have any wall or foliage because of the Duke easement, so we don't have any kind CC 08-06-18/9 of border possibility I am going to be standing 50 feet away from something that is going to be 50 feet tall looking into my pool area, my backyard, into all of our backyards. She stated I haven't heard back from anyone on any of the concerns that were raised. I don't feel confident about the 179 feet going back to 50 feet or the City protecting us. Mr. Happ made a final statement, stating this is Historic Longwood. Mr. Stokes said I was at the meeting and did a fair amount of talking about drainage. We did answer the questions as best we could. This Special Exception is at the very early stage of the project. We haven't gone through design, preliminary engineering, evaluation, or schematic design of drainage systems. We stopped to coordinate with the City drainage engineer, Pegasus, on these issues. He said because we are so early in the stage, we don't have that extreme detail to give those answers yet. The discussion is more general in nature right now He said we know there is drainage on the property that needs to be addressed. As part of the site plan, we have to address those things with staff, with our permitting process, as well as the water management district. He said regarding drainage affecting adjacent properties, all of our drainage will be held internally, so the parking areas around the perimeter will drain into pipes that come to our pond and then discharge to the northeasterly direction. That is the extent of details we have on drainage right now If we aren't successful tonight, there is no project, and there is no point to continue wasting anyone's time Mayor Paris asked if there would be any way you would be prepared to give a 100 foot setback. Mr. Stokes said he talked with the applicant while sitting down, and we are fine agreeing to the 100 foot setback. No one else spoke in favor or opposition to the Item. Commissioner Sackett moved to close public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Shoemaker and carried by a unanimous voice vote Discussion ensued and comments made. Commissioner Sackett moved to approve Special Exception (SPE 02-18) to allow four stories instead of the maximum allowable of three stories as required by code (Figure 12.2.4 West End District standards), and allow an increase CC 08-06-18/10 in the allowed massing for the third and fourth stories from 75% to 100% for the 3rd floor and 45% for the fourth floor to 100% (Figure 12.2.8.E. Building Type standards Apartment Building) With the following condition that the required setback of 20 feet from the rear of the building is increased to 100 feet minimum along the northern property border as well as the Duke easement border Seconded by Deputy Mayor Drummond and carried by a unanimous roll call vote 12. REGULAR BUSINESS A. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 18-1471, which establishes a fee schedule for all Recreational/Community Facilities and Special Events. Mr Langley read Resolution No 18-1471 by title only Mr Capizzi presented the Item and answered questions. Deputy Mayor Drummond moved to adopt Resolution No 18-1471 as presented Item 12A. Seconded by Commissioner Shoemaker and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. 13. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Mr Cox said we were approached by Utilities, Inc., they will be shutting down their Shadow Hills Facility They are reaching out to us to see if we have an interest in that Facility He said I will follow up on that at a later date. Commissioner Sackett brought up earlier about billing and if someone gets a higher bill. He said we actually do have a system in place now where we look for exceptions, so if someone has an issue, it will usually be a high bill, and it will be caught on that exception report. He said I am surprised the person didn't get a phone call, so we might want to check to make sure we have the right phone number on file with us, especially one that is ten times the usual amount. Mr Cox said I met with Ms. Judi Coad, and we took a look at some retention ponds around that we have problems with, and also some of our entry ways. That meeting was step one of many steps that have to be done. He said we are continuing to work on filings with FEMA. I will be extending the contract with the individual doing the filing for us as she should be wrapping that up around the end of August. He said before, we had problems following our procurement policy when we did those FEMA submittals, so what we have done is we are out for bid to- establish a list of approved contractors. Those should be back on the 23Td, and we anticipate having multiple companies before you in September to award to He said I wanted to report that our Longwood message board, known as the Flea CC 08-06-18/11 World Board. We took a look at that, and it is in working condition, and are working with the manufacturer of the board to get the correct software to be able to program it. He said start thinking about where you want to put it. He said on the parking Downtown, we did a survey regarding this and only got four responses back. One said yes, control it. The other three said no, don't control it. Based on that, it is our intention not to take any more steps on that. We will send out letters tomorrow to that effect. Mr Cox said regarding insurance, which is a big internal thing. We had a letter that went out Friday notifying our insurance providers of our intent to go out for re -bid next year Regarding our budget our staff continues to make great progress on getting the budget finalized for your September meetings. He said we are working on a re -write of our Personnel Policy and a roll -out of our Performance Evaluation System to be coordinated at the same time. He said regarding Reiter Park, we have given it a lot of attention this past week. The Mayor made some suggestions, and we contacted the construction company Their President is now on top of that project and is personally overseeing some things going on, along with some other high-level staff people. He said the right amount of attention is now being brought to that project. They have now identified and named a new landscaper, so they are working with us in getting that rolling. We are about at 60% on irrigation now, and Duke is scheduled to be there at the end of this week to bring in the electric There is more being done on the stage, and the roof on the amphitheater is being replaced. Pavers still have to be added to the splash pad. Mr Cox said Church Avenue continues to have a flurry of activity Today there was a pouring of concrete, and tomorrow they are supposed to be milling. He said paving will be on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday set as a make-up day for rain. He said regarding State Road 434, we have had substantial upgrade to do the plantings in the medians. Some signs had to be taken out and we learned one of the medians does not have water, so I signed off a change order to add water He said the whole project is scheduled for completion on September 14'' He said the Ronald Reagan project, which is not a City project, is on schedule right now and the contractor is getting started now Completion of that project is January 2019 Mr Cox gave an update on Uber Last year the ridership was 1,819, and this year it was 12,804 We have to look at where we have to cap that if we are going to curtail our exposure. Mr Cox said for Economic Development and our Economy, LA Fitness has submitted a site construction plan and it is under review Publix has also announced a site and building plans. Those are also under review That project is still on track for first quarter of 2020 for completion. He said we have had movement on Taco Bell. We had a hang-up with Seminole County about turning lanes, but staff has worked with them CC 08-06-18/12 successfully, and I want to congratulate Mr Kintner, Mr Smith and staff who worked with them to get the positivity of adding the turn lanes we had been proposing, and they have approved it. He said that project is now moving forward, and the developer is working on submitting a revised site plan for the project. That is also on track for the first quarter of 2020 Mr Cox said we received some good economic news. Our top ten employers had a 12% increase in employment this last year They have jumped from 3,333 employees to 3,733, so some good news from our economy site polling. Regarding new housing starts, we heard tonight about interest in a new apartment complex. Beyond that, we also have new housing single family housing permits for this calendar year While we are at 28, we did a total of 31 last calendar year He said we are on a good track to smash last year's record. The WaterView Apartment Building of 23 units is making great progress, as is The Reserve at Wildmere, Phase 2, which is 38 townhome units and is currently under way as well. Mr Cox said the final thing he wanted to share is on Public Relations, which we heard Commissioner Morgan talk about that earlier I have been working with Chief Dowda, and hopefully by the next meeting, I will have something more formal to present and to share with you. He wanted to share from the COP organization that Eugene Gray, one of the founding members, has returned from the hospital recently The Police Department have named Brandon Unsmger as Employee of the Second Quarter He said he would like to schedule a Commissioner and Staff retreat sometime in September perhaps. 14. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT. No report. 15. CITY CLERK'S REPORT Ms. Longo said the Florida League of Cities Annual Conference is fast approaching and will be held August 16 —18, 2018 at The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida. She also noted that qualifying for the upcoming city election will begin at noon on Monday, August 20t' and will end on Friday, August 24t' and this will be for Districts #3 and #5 16. ADJOURN. Mayor Paris adjourned the meeting at 7.51 p.m.. Ben aril, Mayor CC 08-06-18/13 ATTES Mi e e Lo o, C C, FCRM City Clerk 1 1 CC 08-06-18/14