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CC08-20-2018MinLONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION Longwood City Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, Florida MINUTES August 20, 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. None. 5. PROCLAMATIONS / RECOGNITIONS A. Presentation of the 2018 Key to the City Award to Angie Romagosa. Commissioner Sackett read a Proclamation that outlined a biography on Angie Romagosa. He then presented her with the Proclamation and Key to the City Award. Photographs were then taken. B. Presentation of the 2018 Key to the City Award to John C. Maingot. CC 08-20-18/1 Commissioner Shoemaker read a Proclamation that outlined a biography on John C Maingot. She then presented him with the Proclamation and Key to the City Award. Photographs were then taken. 6. BOARD APPOINTMENTS. None 7. PUBLIC INPUT A. Public Participation. Cheryl Brant, 335 N Ronald Reagan Boulevard, Longwood. Her business is the Wild Hare Kitchen and Garden Emporium, the farm market. She said she is here tonight to talk about parking. Here in Longwood she feels we have our best days ahead of us. We have a lot of exciting things going on like all the renovations going on Ronald Reagan Boulevard, and new businesses coming in to some of the vacancies right near me right now However, we are not a City that is without its problems. One of the issues we face on a daily basis is the little small businesses in the historic area that was originally designed one way, and with various changes in the City, parking was eliminated. Things were different at the time those buildings were built. Now, here in Central Florida we are an area where folks use their cars a lot, and we don't have a lot of pedestrian traffic here in the downtown area. I am hoping as things change that will change as things are developed and the City moves forward. We don't have a lot of public transportation that works in a way that people can easily get places without using their cars. That being said, all businesses need a certain amount of parking in order to flourish and do the good work they need to do At this point, the area where my business is located does not have substantial parking. The good news is that there are answers to that. At any given time throughout any given day, although we are in a slow period right now as we all eagerly anticipate the return of the "snowbirds", you can come at any given time of the day and not find a parking spot close to those adjacent businesses where someone could easily step out and shop where we are. She said I am sure you are all very aware of how many businesses have turned over in that little complex where I am located. Many people come into my business and say, "My goodness, you have lasted longer than anyone else." I think that is just orneriness on my part that I insist on lasting. She said I think there is a problem there that has to be solved in order for that little area to flourish. On a regular basis folks come into my store and complain about not being able to find any parking. There is a true loss of dollars on a daily basis not to have this solved. The good news is we have some parking across the street that is fairly substantial and psychologically easier to access for the consumer once we do all the arranging on Ronald Reagan Boulevard. She stated, no one CC 08-20-18/2 knows it is there, it looks like a park or yard. She feels an answer would be to make parking limited on Church Avenue so folks can scoot in and out so all the businesses in that little strip are able to have more customers come to their stores as opposed to people taking up that parking all day long on a regular basis. 8. MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS' REPORT District #1. Commissioner Shoemaker said on August I lth I attended an event and volunteered for a non-profit group named Kids In Support of Soldiers, also referred to as KISS The event was held at the Longwood VFW This is a great program where volunteers pack boxes with magazines, books, coffee, Ramen Noodles, sweets, Slim Jims, and miscellaneous items our military men and women serving overseas have no access to The KISS Organization is contacted by loved ones who provide the name of their family member or friends and request a care package to be sent. The organization was formed by two children with a desire to help Their website is kidsinsupportofsoldiers.org. They meet and request volunteers for the second Saturday of every month at various locations in Central Florida. She said maybe we can reach out to them and see if they want to have a table at one of our events, such as National Night Out. Commissioner Shoemaker said she received a phone call from a resident who was not overwhelmed over Church Avenue's paving/closing. She stated, the resident spoke for others also She contacted Chief Dowda, and all worked out for the residents. Commissioner Shoemaker attended the Florida League of Cities Conference for the first time, and wished to thank the City of Longwood for sponsoring me I attended many workshops and events with my fellow Commissioners, and was able to meet and network with many elected officials. Christine from the Tri-County League of Cities is insisting I start coming to their meetings, and I will try to work that into my schedule in the near future. An enormous amount of information was obtained during the conference The conference was saturated with a Home Rule theme and information, which is of paramount importance in the governance of our City, and one size does not fit all. She said we all have our unique needs. Some workshops were quite full. I expected the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act to be as well, and was surprised at the lack of participants. I took away from this workshop the knowledge that there are many cities and counties struggling with cooperation amongst themselves, school board and local law enforcement. Fortunately, Longwood does not have those issues We are lucky She said I rode the AMTRACK to the conference and highly recommend it. It was more enjoyable than traveling I-95 I found time to Jet Ski on the ocean for the first time and enjoyed it so very much. Truly an awesome experience. CC 08-20-18/3 District #2. Deputy Mayor Drummond said it was a great opportunity to attend trainings, workshops at the Florida League of Cities Conference, which was geared towards city management. There was a Home Rule rally, complete with hats and signs, and it looked like a political convention. The concept of Home Rule is that the needs of the people in the community are best served by the local government. This Commission is accessible, and we hear what is going on, we live here and work here, and know how to represent you. Unfortunately, our State Legislative Representative has just left the building because he would be well reminded of what Home Rule means. I had a chance to meet and network with commissioners, mayors, city managers from across the state. There were a lot of city managers and a lot of mayors from all walks of life. He said some had been in office only a few months, and others had been in city government for fifty years. He thanked the City of Longwood for giving him the opportunity to go there. I feel like I am growing and learning all the time. He respectfully requested to be excused from the September 17t' City Commission meeting because he will be out of town. District #3. Mayor Paris said the Florida League of Cities was a great conference. He said I attended several of the Florida League of Mayors events and spent some time with the Central Florida mayors that were there and saw we were on the same page with a lot of the issues we were all experiencing very similar things. I will actually be going to the Mayor and Managers Meeting tomorrow in Sanford, and we will be discussing the opioid crisis in Central Florida, Seminole County, and nationally and what we can do He said Home Rule was the theme, and is tantamount of importance to small cities and big cities alike that we maintain an amount of control so that the citizens can vote for what they want to see occur We were able to boast that every bill that the Florida League of Cities opposed failed in Tallahassee this year Whether you agree with them or not, that is a very strong statement that can come out that the League does control quite a bit of political power in the state, so it is important that we maintain our voices on there I applied to be on a sub -committee, and I put down my favorites I wanted to be on and I know several of you did so as well. I do believe we will get on those sub -committees, and I would strongly urge you to be very active because we will have a lot of insight and control over the movement the League of Cities does in Central Florida, specifically, Tri-County League of Cities, which is recognized statewide as being very active Mayor Paris noted it looks like things are moving along much quicker and nicer at Reiter Park. From what I understand, we will be one hundred percent for our Birthday Grand Opening, which is very exciting for the citizens, staff, and for myself. Some of us have been in the City for a very long time, and that park has not been fully operational for over a decade, so I am very excited to see it coming back as something bigger and greater than it was when I started with the City CC 08-20-18/4 District #4. Commissioner Morgan said for those of you who know me personally, I am absolutely obsessive compulsive about this job, this role as Commissioner I had an amazing time at Florida League of Cities this past weekend. To have the opportunity to go and sharpen my tools and skills to become a better Commissioner for each and every one of you. I was excited to get there, and he thanked Longwood for sending him there He thinks we jelled together as a team, but one of the things he noticed was that every meeting he realized every one of our Commissioners were seated somewhere in that room. Sometimes he stayed for half of a meeting and went to attend another one, and our Commissioners were all in the same room, including Mr Cox our City Manager He stated, the want to become better is the name of this game if you are going to be a true leader in the City He said he picked the brains of so many different mayors and commissioners with so many years of experience serving their cities, particularly looking for others that had smaller cities like ours. Even though they may be similar in size or number of residents, they are just not Longwood. I say that with a ton of pride and in a way that we may face some of those similar challenges of smaller cities, but I still felt ours are still different. We truly are one of a kind. That is not just a cliche, we truly are one of a kind. A high note we took away was a meeting we had on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The discussion was centered around the shooting and what they are doing for security measures. The biggest thing I took away from this was that we are even more on top of our children's safety and security than I first suspected. We are one of a very few cities that have two SRO Officers at our schools, and these other cities were incredibly impressed by that. He said I am very into transportation and infrastructure That is a sub- committee I signed up for and hope to be chosen for and appointed to I sat in on a very important transportation meeting in the Inter - Governmental Affairs Board Meeting, along with Commissioner Sackett. The theme was Celebrating Fifty Years of Home Rule. Home Rule is taking of your own and not letting big government and special interest groups come into your City and having anything to do with decision making in anything pertaining to your City I did bring it up in a legislative meeting while I was there that I was a little let down that they gave out a Home Rule Award that quite frankly took away our Home Rule herein Longwood as it pertains to our Dog Track. Myjob is to defend you guys and to represent you as your conduit, and you voiced your opinions to me, and I made sure it was heard. Whatever your opinions are about the Dog Track that is our job to govern and make those decisions. When I say our, I mean all of us, the City I thought I did a decent job in bringing that up and protecting our own Home Rule here, because believe me, the next time that happens, I will fight that tooth and nail. Big government is not here in Longwood, and they don't know what the citizens want in Longwood. That is your job to decide these things, and it is ours to help you carry those wishes out. At this League of Cities Convention I was chosen by my fellow Commissioners to represent our City as the voting delegate. It was a very cool experience, and the best CC 08-20-18/5 way to describe it is the world's largest commission meeting. There was nothing controversial in what we voted on. Commissioner Morgan asked Mr Cox about the status of a throwback sign he brought up many meetings back regarding parking signs fitting in with our historic district. Mr Cox said this past week staff looked at additional signage opportunities. He said in addition to your idea, there have been other ideas as well that have been shared. When you get into the Ronald Reagan area and across the street, you will have a different look/feel than our historic district, so the last chapter is yet to be told, but staff did take a look at that this past week and took pictures of all the signs that do exist. Commissioner Morgan asked Mr Cox about his suggestion weeks ago of setting up a Small Business Fair only open to businesses here in Longwood. Mr Cox said there are additional things for consideration with that. Those things have been done in the past, Ms. Longo and Mr Kintner were involved in some of those activities, and there were some challenges with that, but we can set up a timing and hash through that. Commissioner Morgan brought up Code Enforcement and beefing it up He knows Ms. Gelm is incredibly busy, but he is noticing neighbors are getting into it with one another because some are not following Code and others want them to for the betterment of their neighborhood. It is not the neighbor's job to push code enforcement, it is code enforcement's job to push code enforcement. He said Ms. Gelm is only one set of eyes, and we need to think about getting her some help Mr Cox said we actually have a part time person allocated for this coming budget year starting October 1st He also asked if anyone has a property they are concerned about, please give us a call, and we will check it out. Commissioner Morgan said one of the issues he wants to bring up is if you get a citation, these people blow their nose with it and throw it in the trash because there is no follow through. These habitual rule -breakers never get put in front of the Special Magistrate. It has been years, and that has got to change. He said neighbors' property values are going down because somebody doesn't want to take care of their own stuff. This is especially if the owner rents, moves away and the renter doesn't take care of the property It happens all the time. Mr Cox said we have a Special Magistrate hearing coming up this week and has a docket that has quite a few items on it of these things. CC 08-20-18/6 Commissioner Morgan said the meetings get pulled, and asked if this one was going to take place. Mr Cox said if there are addresses that are falling through the cracks, let me know, and we will follow up on it because all properties should be maintained per our law Commissioner Morgan said Lyman High School Football has their gigantic Homecoming game this week. There will be a parade right here where I will be painting himself blue and gold to support our team. Coach Thomas has asked him to give the team a pre -game pep talk. He asked everyone to come and support them. Commissioner Morgan said I brought up at a meeting about bringing a Longwood Youth Council to Longwood. He was able to talk with some mayors from other cities that have successful programs, but was also able to talk with some of the kids that help run that youth council. Their goals are to show young people how local government functions, produce strong civic leaders and voters, show that our City values young people, get fresh ideas, help our young people find their voice, enhance economic development and invest,in Longwood's future. He told Mr Cox he would like to get with him on this and get ideas on how to set this up and move forward with this. He said Florida League of Cities would help him with this also Commissioner Morgan said on August 8th, he and Mayor Paris had a speaking engagement here in Longwood, and afterwards he went to the end of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) meeting, and went inside and saw 20 or 25 brand new members of CERT These new members came from different neighboring cities that don't have something like CERT He was invited to give a motivational speech to the Florida Jets Wrestling Program. This is an amateur wrestling club for kids, and this gives our kids another opportunity to do something productive with themselves that doesn't involve a video game, an I -phone, or messing around on social media. He gave them a speech and welcomed them to our City It is a successful program that boasts two potential 2020 Olympic Champions. He will give updates on that as we go forward. District 95. Commissioner Sackett said contrary to what you said, he thinks Code Enforcement needs a little bit of help In the past, it was too authoritarian and scared people He gave some examples of this. He thinks the part time person would be better particularly in picking up all the signs all over where. they don't belong. He said he notices a bigger issue bothering him more and more, and that is there are lots of lawn mower companies within this City, and the grass clippings end up in the road or blown into the road and they end up in our system. Typically, we are a swale system or we have a place where it will run down into our water collection. He said near Winn Dixie, it is so mucky and muddy over CC 08-20-18/7 there, and water needs a place to go, especially in hurricane season when those grass clippings are blocking places where the water can go We have to educate mowers, not the big ones, but the ones that do our lawns to make sure they aren't blowing their clippings into the grates. Mr Cox said he observed that, and we talked about it at our last leadership team meeting, and he asked the police to remind folks as they go along that grass clippings don't belong in the streets. Commissioner Sackett went to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Meeting and now that they have set up the memorial program, I will be buying a bench to put over in the park because it will be a beautiful place to sit and reflect. He said at the CERT meeting there were 25 people there, two of whom were my daughter and grandson. They are so excited about working together He received emails the next day about how good the meeting was and how they are enthused to be a part of it. Commissioner Sackett noted the opening of school went very well, except buses couldn't get into schools because too many parents were in the car rider line Commissioner Sackett said he attended the Florida League of Cities convention, and he was disappointed in it. It was his fourteenth one and it lacked some parts of the glory of the past, and there weren't that many workshops to choose from. Usually between each cluster of time, there were four places you could go to learn something new topic wise, and this time there was one or two It was overboard on Home Rule, and the part about school safety, I would have admired listening to more about that. He said he was able to get 55 bicycles as a donation for our Christmas donation at the Florida League of Cities. Commissioner Sackett said we need to address parking. That grassland was built out in that fashion for a water runout. So that is why it doesn't look like a parking lot, but it is. He said it needs an attractive parking sign and we need shorter time parking spans. Commissioner Sackett noted, at Florida League of Cities in talking with the Mayor of Parkland, the real problem we have to address in our City is the point of entry, more so than SRO Officers in the schools. He said that is a dialog that is going to be happening more as far as the larger audience is concerned. 9 ANY ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA Commissioner Sackett requests that .Items I OD and I OE be pulled for discussion. 10. CONSENT AGENDA CC 08-20-18/8 A. Approve Minutes of the June 25, 2018 Work Session and July 16, 2018 Regular Meeting. B. Approve the Monthly Expenditures for July and August 2018. C. Approve the Monthly Financial Report for July 2018. D. Approve the Seminole County Public Schools 2018 — 2019 School Resource Officer Agreement. E. Approve a Professional Services Agreement between Richard Kornbluh and the City of Longwood. F. Approve an increase in the amount of $137,998.51 to purchase order #170289 to West Construction, Inc. for providing additional services for completing construction at Reiter Park. Commissioner Sackett moved to approve Item IOA, IOB, 10C and I OF as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Morgan and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. Discussion ensued on Item 1 OD Commissioner Sackett moved to approve Item 1 OD as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Shoemaker and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. Discussion ensued on Item IOE. Commissioner Sackett moved to approve Item I OE as presented. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Drummond and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Read by title only and adopt 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. Discussion ensued and questions asked. Mayor Paris opened the public hearing. Gail Brown, 331 Reider Avenue, Longwood spoke in opposition. She said she is totally against it because if it comes up against Code Enforcement or Health, Code Enforcement is overworked CC 08-20-18/9 now, and chickens' fertilizer is good for gardens, if and when people take care of it. It will burn a garden too She is against it for health reasons No one else spoke in favor or opposition to Ordinance No 18- 2140 Commissioner Sackett moved to close the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Sackett and carried by a unanimous voice vote Commissioner Shoemaker moved to adopt Ordinance No 18-2140 as presented Item 11A. Seconded by Mayor Paris. Comments made by Deputy Mayor Drummond and Commissioner Morgan. Motion carried by a three -to -two (3-2) roll call vote with Deputy Mayor Drummond and Commissioner Sackett voting nay 12. REGULAR BUSINESS A. City Commission to consider a change in the start time of the Special Magistrate hearings and discuss other Board Meeting start times. Mr Kintner presented the Item. Deputy Mayor Drummond moved to implement a change in the start time of the Special Magistrate hearings and also allow latitude for the other board meetings to begin between 6.00 p.m. and 7 00 p.m. at their choosing. Seconded by Commissioner Morgan and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. 13. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Mr Cox agreed with all the comments made about the Florida League of Cities Conference. He was very impressed with the League's taking the opportunity to crystallize for the attendees what Amendment 1 would do, and that is it is shifting the burden from a large group of folks to a smaller group of folks. I thought that was a very insightful way to look at that. He will be setting up meetings with Commissioner Morgan and also Commissioner Shoemaker She asked us to look into a roundup program, which would give folks the opportunity to round up their utility bill and make contributions to certain thing§. We will get together and vet that out and report back to you in the future. CC 08-20-18/10 Mr Cox said he updated City projects and also put that update on our City website. You click on the main page of our website and click on Major Projects and you will see news flash at the top and under that, City of Longwood Major Projects Update. It looks like a spreadsheet now Mr Cox said he wanted to compliment city staff, senior department directors who helped keep that updated on a very regular basis. Also, on the website we put the public portions, along with internal projects Mr Cox said we continue to work on the budget. Next month, we have a lot of activity for the Commission. On September 5th, we have the first hearing, and the month after that we have follow up work to be done. We are looking forward to bringing closure to that project. He said on Church Avenue the first layer of asphalt has now been completed, and we are finishing up driveways, sidewalks, and general cleaning for sodding. We will be setting up a date for final paving very soon. Commissioner Shoemaker said regarding Church Avenue, she drove down it last night, and it had been raining a lot, and there were a lot of puddles. She noticed the drains were blocked, so she is hoping after we spent all this time and money, we are not going to have a flooding issue. She said she is giving it the benefit of the doubt because it isn't done yet, but asked why it is not draining. Mr Cox said he made a note to follow up on this. He is certain that will be corrected with the final layer that is put in. Mr Cox passed out a flyer earlier regarding Reiter Park. First, he wanted to compliment Director Chris Capizzi and his staff on the great work they have put into it. He also appreciates the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board for all their feedback and input into that project. He said there has been a flurry of activity there and the progress has very much improved. The underground electrical lines have been run, transformers have been installed by Duke Energy, the final grading is occurring now, the Amphitheater and bathroom will be reroofed within the next two weeks. He said the concrete pathways are nearly finished, and the splash pad plans have been changed regarding using pavers. We are looking around for a more pleasant surface to run around on. Regarding the landscaping, he has been very concerned about the lack of it. He said Elite Landscaping is the new company found and arrived in Longwood a week ago, and you can see all the work they have done since then. They have shown commitment to our project. We have had Oak, Cyprus, Maple and Pine trees arrive on site last week and are being planted as we speak, as well as several large Date Palms. Smaller bushes and plants will be installed once the grading is finished. We are anticipating the landscaping will be completed by September 5th, so that is encouraging. That leads us to our ability and excitement to be able to carry forth with September 15th, our Grand Opening date. There will be Food Trucks, Vendors, Beer and Wine, soft drinks, bounce houses, a kid's zone, and CERT may be there as a host station with a tent to offer information for emergency needs and lost CC 08-20-18/11 and found. At noon there will be an Anniversary Parade from the Community Building to the Park, and at 12 15 p.m. the plan is to have a ribbon cutting with all the local dignitaries, and we will have entertainment throughout the day We are very much looking forward to a great day on September 15th at Reiter Park. He thanked everyone who has worked on this project and has been patient as we have ever so slowly crept toward this time. Flyers have gone out in our utility billing mailing today about our Grand Opening. Mr Cox said the building plans for LA Fitness have been submitted for review He met with the new CEO of South Seminole Hospital and the Chief Operating Officer, and is very encouraged with the investment they are about to put into the facility and Longwood. He said right now they are looking at $21 million dollars of improvements to their facility He said regarding the Whitehead property located near the corner of Ronald Reagan Boulevard and State Road 434, staff and a potential developer met with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and received good news on the prospect of installing a traffic signal at that site. This will clear the way for 40,000 to 60,000 square feet of new restaurants and retail at that location. We are very excited about that development occurring. He wanted to thank Mr Kintner and Mr Krueger for their hard work on that project. He mentioned that Mr Krueger, our Economic Development/Special Projects Manager, will be attending the International Conference of Shopping Centers conference next weekend. He said what he will be doing is helping securing interested parties for the site I just mentioned, as well as other nearby completed expansions by Richard Grimaldi here in our Heritage Village, and other sites around the City 14. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT. No Report. 15. CITY CLERK'S REPORT Ms. Longo stated qualifying for our City Election began today at noon and will end on Friday, August 24th at noon, this is for Districts #3 and #5 The election will be held on November 6th She also reminded the Commission that the next Meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 51h and not on Monday due to the Labor Day holiday 16. ADJOURN. Mayor Paris adjourned the meeting at 7.39 p.m. 1 CC 08-20-18/12 1 1 ATTEST: Michelle L ngo, C RM City Glerk CC 08-20-18/13 1 This Page Left Blank Intentionally. 1 1 CC 08-20-18/14