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CC02-04-2019MinLONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION Longwood City Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, Florida MINUTES February 4, 2019 6:00 P.M. Present: Mayor Ben Paris Deputy Mayor Matt Morgan Commissioner Richard Drummond Commissioner Brian D. Sackett Dan Langley, City Attorney J. D. Cox, City Manager Michelle Longo, City Clerk David P. Dowda, Police Chief Chris Kintner, Community Development Director Chris Capizzi, Leisure Services Director Lee Ricci, Human Resources Director Lisa Snead, Financial Services Director Shad Smith, Public Works Director Tom Kruger, Economic Development Manager Absent: Commissioner Shoemaker (Excused) 1. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Paris called the meeting to order at 6:04 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 Cruise -In" Car Show will be held on Saturday, February 9, 2019 from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. in the Historic District of Longwood located off of Church Avenue. B. The "Downtown Longwood Food Trucks" will be held on Thursday, February 14, 2019 from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at Reiter Park, 311 West Warren Avenue. CC 02-04-2019/1 5. PROCLAMATIONS / RECOGNITIONS A. Presentation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Good Citizenship Award to Mr. Atif Fareed. Mayor Paris read a Proclamation recognizing Mr. Atif Fareed and presented him with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Good Citizenship Award. Photographs were then taken. B. Presentation of the 39th Annual JOY (Juvenile of the Year) Awards. Santiago Lewis Xavier Bridenthal Shawn Francis Brianna Key Jozef Jacobs Jackson Vasey Jamilet Karina Tolentino Gonzalez Alexandra Kuptsova Nazil Kasimova Pacey Kent Altamonte Elementary School Greenwood Lakes Middle School Highlands Elementary School Lake Mary High School ,(not present) Longwood Elementary School Lyman High School Milwee Middle School Rock Lake Middle School Winter Springs Elementary School Woodlands Elementary School Mayor Paris read the history of the JOY Awards. Each student was announced and presented with a framed certificate. Photographs.were then taken. The Commission recessed at 6:25 p.m. and reconvened at 6:33 p.m. 6. BOARD APPOINTMENTS. None. 7. PUBLIC INPUT A. Presentation. Courtney Reynolds, Program Manager of Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT) reThink Your Commute program, to provide an overview of the Central Florida Carshare Program. Courtney Reynolds gave a presentation on the Central Florida Carshare Program. She explained what it is, how it has changed over the last few years, and how Zipcar works. B. Public Participation. None. 8. MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS' REPORT District #1. No report. District #2. Commissioner Drummond said he attended the Community Awareness and Participation Plan Meeting held on January 24th for the details of a new project CC 02-04-2019/2 1 1 that will include 52 townhomes in the City's Heritage Village. He thanked all the members of the community and staff that were there. It is a very interesting project and looks as though it will move forward. District #3. Mayor Paris asked staff, as a reminder, to start looking into the Charter Amendment Commission for the city. He said we need to be ready for the 2020 election cycle if there are any changes to be made to our Charter. District #4. Deputy Mayor Morgan said this past week he was at South Seminole Hospital with pneumonia and is just now recovering. He said before I got sick, I went to a Seminole County Opioid Council Meeting that was very informative. The following day, I went to Jacksonville to complete my Institute of Elected Municipal Officials training course. On his way back, he attended the Team Longwood Employees Event which included presentations, awards and notifications for all our city employees. He said Mr. Cox worked very hard on this event, and said he has changed the culture here in the city. He also attended, along with Commissioner Sackett, a fundraiser Buddy Ball Banquet the night before he got sick. District #S. Commissioner Sackett said he tries to make some things out of wood with a baseball theme every year, for the Buddy Ball Banquet and they go over quite well. He said some years they raffle them off for $400 or $500. It is nice to recognize the parents of children who really love the idea there is something for the special needs child in this County. Longwood Babe Ruth is one of the original facilitators of that organization. It is a well -run organization, and at our last meeting we recognized Commissioner Reece for really actively making this work in communities. He said we use to have the Team Longwood recognitions in the past. It was a wonderful event will all the departments there. He said everyone did a wonderful job to make this happen. I am sad to say my team did not win the Super Bowl, I am a Buffalo Bills fan, and we never win the Super Bowl. He said in the coming weeks is the retirement of Mrs. Angie Romagosa of the Christian Sharing Center, and I will be participating in that event. We have the State of the County Meeting coming up next week. I will not be able to attend because it is being held on Valentine's Day, and being a school teacher, we have Escape Rooms and all sorts of activities planned for that day. 9. ANY ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA. None. 10. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approve Minutes of the December 3, 2018 Regular Meeting. B. Approve the Monthly Expenditures for December 2018 and January 2019. C. Approval and execution of a Department of Environmental Protection 319(h) grant award Agreement No. NF044, between the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the City of Longwood related CC 02-04-2019/3 to funding reimbursements for the Longdale Septic Tank Abatement Project and authorize the City Manager to execute all associated documents. D. Approval and execution of a Department of Environmental Protection 319(h) grant award Agreement No. NF045 between the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the City of Longwood related to funding reimbursements for the East Longwood Septic Tank Abatement Phase I Project and authorize the City Manager to execute all associated documents. E. Approve a purchase order in the amount of $285,576.09, to Atkins North America, Inc., for construction engineering inspection (CEI) services related to the Altamonte Springs Transmission Force Main Project, and authorize the City Manager to execute any change orders up to the contingency amount of $14,424.91. Commissioner Sackett moved to approve Items 10A through 10E as_ presented. Seconded by Commissioner Drummond and carried by a unanimous roll call vote with Commissioner Shoemaker absent. 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Read by title only, set February 18, 2019 as the second hearing date, and approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 19-2151, a Longwood Development Code Amendment allowing Tiny Homes Communities. Mr. Langley read Ordinance No. 19-2151 by title only. Mr. Cox and Mr. Kintner presented the Item. Commissioner Sackett asked questions regarding the vote since one of the Commissioners was not at the meeting. Mr. Langley explained a two -to -two (2-2) vote would be a defeated motion. Discussion ensued on whether to continue the Item to the next meeting so there would be a full Commission. It was decided to move forward with the public participation portion since there were people present who did wish to speak on the Item. Mayor Paris opened the public hearing. Judi Coad, 1695 Grange Circle, Longwood spoke in opposition. She said at the previous commission meeting, I provided a spreadsheet comparing Seminole County and the cities within the county on the Tiny House or a CC 02-04-2019/4 development. It is now completed, and I would like you to take a look at it. In Longwood prior to 2002, a minimum single family home was 1,000 square feet. Currently, in Lake Mary a single family home was at least 1,100 square feet. A duplex is 750 square feet, and they are not allowing any Tiny Homes. In Casselberry, a single family has to be a percentage of the land but a mobile home is a minimum of 900 square feet, and they have decided to not go the route of Tiny Homes. In Altamonte Springs, a single family home in high density would be 1,100 square feet, and a duplex would be 800, at this time no Tiny -Homes. In Sanford, a single family home would be 700 square feet, and a lot minimum width of 60 feet. Tiny Homes are not allowed at all with a variance. She talked to Seminole County, anda single family home would be 700 square feet. Tiny Homes are only allowed in what is zoned agricultural. She said we all know Oviedo has one Tiny Home. The minimum there is no requirement for square feet, but Oviedo regulates things by 5,000 square foot lots. They have one exception to that. If it is a currently deeded lot in the old city, you could put a Tiny Home on it. They are not allowing a division of their land under these tiny little lots. There are a couple of ways the Commission can decide on this. You can either have both a minimum square footage of a lot with current setback, or you can also have just a minimum of square footage, or go with a combination. As a longtime resident of our city, we are very small, and our land is very good to us. It is like our gold. It is what our city is all about. She thinks there is a Tiny Home community in Kissimmee you could go to visit. I hope you have taken the time to listen to the Land Planning Committee's whole conference. They talked about having Home Owner Associations (HOA), and I know an HOA is only as good as the people running it. There is no way you can control these small homes in any subdivision becoming strictly rental property. The city talked about wanting to provide housing for the lower income. We do that with apartments and rentals around here. We are not taking our land and subdividing it up. Currently all Tiny Homes can be put within our city, but we don't have the right to subdivide the land into little lots. She did a drive around the city to find out where they could be put. There is an empty lot on Marvin. We could subdivide that and put three there. How about Milwee and Warren, we have some property open there in our Historical' District. We could probably put anywhere from four to 15 on that property. There are two beautiful lots for sale on Pond Lake and Wildmere that could also be subdivided to put Tiny Homes on. She asked how the residents are going to feel about that. Across from Church Avenue from The Landings, there is a nice house for sale that backs up to Lake Searcy. You could purchase that and put Tiny Homes on that too. Part of the criteria for these Tiny Homes is they are totally moving their setbacks right up to the front of the property line. We are talking about having a parking lot where they can put their recreation vehicles such as RVs and RV Homes, and trailers. My thought is, if we are talking about low income housing, how are we affording to have that. You only have three choices. CC. 02-04-2019/5 You either vote yes for the whole thing tonight, send it back for revisions on setbacks and minimal houses, or just say, no. I hope you will look at everything and think about it. Brett Hiltbrand, 1819 Misty Morn Place, Longwood spoke in favor. He said I am the owner of Cornerstone's Tiny Homes, a subsidiary of Cornerstone Design Built located here in Longwood. He said he hates the word Tiny Homes right now. We have developed a small footprint, Florida Building Code Compliant Home that is built on a foundation. This is basically not any different than a site built home would be. They are built in quality controlled environment, and nothing is getting wet. The air quality in our homes is far superior than site built homes. Since we started building smaller homes, we quickly realized the reason for wanting smaller homes were sound. We started seeing this was not so much a fad, but a real solution to the excesses many of, us slave over to provide for our families. There seems to be a major misconception of the types of people that desire this simple type of housing. The majority of people that are downsizing are 50 to 70 years old and cashing out of their current homes and electing to buy a brand new, high quality, low maintenance home with a lot less upkeep, and using their equity in their previous home to travel or for retirement. Many of our customers are cash customers with no mortgage whatsoever. Another part of our customer base is younger people starting their lives together and not wanting to spend Florida's average of $1,472 on rent, with no equity. The starter home market is no longer around, which hurts everyone in this room. It is harder for younger people to create wealth through equity in their home, and be able to move on to a larger house. The lower end of the market is what drives the high end of the market as well. There are no buyers in the medium areas and none in the higher areas. These are people we want in our community. I venture to guess everyone in this room is a homeowner and not a renter. These homes would create community involvement, pride and responsibility. We are concerned. about Longwood because we live and work here too. Home sizes have increased over the last seventy years, while family sizes have decreased. The average home in 1950 was 983 square feet, while the average family size was 3.37 people. In 2011, the home grew to 2,480 square feet average home size and the family size decreased to 2.6 people. The United States builds the largest homes per capita in the world, but it doesn't mean there isn't a need for smaller, simpler, Mayberry -type neighborhoods. That is all we are asking. There is a huge demand for this. The more diverse inventory of houses is very much needed. There are plenty of $400,000 houses in the market, but no new homes under $150,000. This type of home is priced well under current, new market home prices, but the square foot price is what the real estate appraisals are based on, and is much higher than larger homes. In Longwood, I promise the smaller footprint homes won't ruin anybody's property values. It will CC 02-04-2019/6 probably raise them. Nobody wants to hear the words manufactured homes in Longwood. That is not what this ordinance is promoting. Any small footprint home must meet or exceed the Florida Building Code, and not HUD Standards, which the words manufactured homes suggests. We won a bid to supply this type of housing in Monroe County to replace 1,400 homes destroyed in the Keys by Hurricane Irma. We have had over three dozen houses survive in the path of Hurricane Irma with absolutely no damage. You won't be picking up pieces of these homes out of the streets after a storm. Longwood can join the ranks of Brevard County, Cities of Rockledge, Wildwood, Frostproof, Monroe County, Sarasota County, and many others in the development of small footprint communities. We are proud to live and work in a town that is forward thinking enough to spend the effort to look into this creative and new throw -back lifestyle. We have been tested in Hurricane Harvey in Texas and in the Bahamas as well. These homes are not manufactured, tin eyesores. Deborah Poulalion, 1367 Cor Jesu Court, Longwood spoke in favor. She went house hunting two weeks ago, and was shocked at how difficult it was to find a small, affordable home in good condition. She is single and does not need a big place. Most of the smaller homes are old and not in good repair, and the new homes are too big and cost too much. That is why this Tiny Home proposal would be a very positive opportunity for the city of Longwood. It gives small households an option to purchase a high -quality, new home that is the right size for one or two people. Some people may be concerned that a Tiny Home neighborhood may be poorly maintained because people who purchase the homes may not have the money to maintain them. I think there are several factors that would effectively address this concern. First, these homeowners have the same incentive to protect their investment as any of the rest of us that own homes. Second, the city of Longwood has the same authority to require appropriate maintenance for the tiny houses as it does for regular size homes. I have seen this authority in action on my own street where two homes were cited for failing to be maintained, and under threat of a fine, they suddenly found the money to fix everything. I greatly appreciate this. Third, these Tiny Home communities would need a HOA for the shared spaces and to collect fees to properly maintain property value. I think most homeowners associations are very diligent about this because the people own their homes. Even though Longwood does not have any Tiny Home communities, I noticed something very similar on Wayman Street. There are nine duplexes that share a common area called The Hacienda, next to a Day Care Center and on the edge of a standard neighborhood. It is attractive, and is in good condition, and I think people do not realize it is affordable housing. It is duplex housing and is classy and cute. If you pull them apart, it would be Tiny Houses. She said think about all the people who would benefit from these Tiny Homes, such as retirees who want to simplify their lives, anyone CC 02-04-2019/7 living on a moderate, single income, teachers, hairstylists, retail workers, food service employees and maintenance workers. Also, single parents with one child, disabled folks living on a fixed income. She thinks Tiny Homes would be a good fit with the "Quirky" charm that is Longwood. We are not Heathrow or Winter Park. We are a community of regular, working-class people. We understand that one size does not fit all, and ultimately, I think Tiny Homes are the right size for Longwood and trust that our commissioners and city employees will do a great job in defining the ordinances to make Tiny Homes a great asset for us. Amanda Godinho, 248 Bald Eagle Run, Lake Mary spoke in favor. She said she was born in the Longwood area and is a local real estate agent with LemonTree Realty in College Park. The main reason she is in favor of the Tiny Homes is the current market and the type of buyers she has seen in the last year. She has a slew of buyers that have looked under the $200,000 price range, and even closer to the $150,000 price, and they live in Longwood and Seminole County. Most of the time I have to tell them I am so sorry, you are going to have to find something in Deltona or a different area because you will not get that range in Seminole County. If you do, you will be competing with cash investors and dealing with a home you won't have qualified financing for. It has been a challenge for buyers in that price range. Tiny Home communities gives a new community feel where people are looking for neighbors of like-minded individuals, and they are looking for their own yards. They don't want to share walls. They want their own carport or garage. A couple of markets they would be good for would be Millennials who want to move out of their parents' house and be on their own but maybe the cost of a condo just isn't in the budget for them. Also single parents and retirees on a fixed income like Social Security. She thinks it would bring a lot more people to the community and more money to support the local businesses and the local economy. No one else spoke in favor or in opposition to the Item. Commissioner Sackett moved to close the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Drummond and carried by unanimous voice vote with Commissioner Shoemaker absent. Commissioner Sackett moved to continue the first reading of Ordinance No. 19-2151 to the February 18, 2019 Commission meeting. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Morgan and carried by a unanimous roll call vote with Commissioner Shoemaker absent. 12. REGULAR BUSINESS CC 02-04-2019/8 A. Approve a change order in the amount of $341,482.23 to the Central Florida Environmental Corporation (CFE) purchase order #18-00300.related to the Church Avenue Paving Project. Mr. Cox and Mr. Smith presented the Item. Deputy Mayor Morgan moved to approve Item 12A as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Drummond and carried by a three -to - one (3-1) roll call vote with Commissioner Shoemaker absent. B. City Commission approval to Host the Reiter Park Rumble Fundraiser Event in March 16, 2019 at Reiter Park. Mr. Cox presented the Item. Deputy Mayor Morgan reviewed this event and how it is a Fundraiser for anti -concussion helmets for the Lyman High School Football Team. Commissioner Sackett moved to approve Item 12B as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Drummond and carried by a unanimous roll call vote with Commissioner Shoemaker absent. C. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 19-1492, which amends the fiscal year 2018/2019 budget to adjust cash brought forward estimates, cover purchase order roll overs, provide for cemetery lot repurchases and project budgets, and for the Altamonte Force Main Project Grant Award and SRF loan proceeds. Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 19-1492 by title only. Mr. Cox and Ms. Snead presented the Item. Commissioner Drummond moved to adopt Resolution No. 19-1492 as presented Item 12C. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Morgan and carried by a unanimous roll call vote with Commissioner Shoemaker absent. D. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No.19-1493, related to a Qualified Target Industry (QTI) Tax Refund Incentive for United Parcel Service (UPS). Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 19-1493 by title only. Mr. Cox and Mr. Kruger presented the Item. CC 02-04-2019/9 Commissioner Drummond moved to adopt Resolution No. 19-1493 as presented Item 12D. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Morgan and carried by a unanimous roll call vote with Commissioner Shoemaker absent. 13. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Cox said the Mayor asked for a list of companies that had or had not been paid regarding Reiter Park, and West Construction has been having meetings, and they are working on it. There was a request for a fence around the Splash Pad. We are looking into that. There was a question about a plaque in memory of an individual at the Skate Park. We are working on that by coming up with a program on how to handle those types of things. Regarding the Splash Pad at Reiter Park, Aqua Works has been working on the issues and the Health Department is scheduled for tomorrow. When that is finished we will be approved and schedule the final walk through of the Park. We have hired two attendants for Reiter Park that will work in shifts and be available to make sure things run in an orderly fashion at the Park. We did have some flooding with the heavy rains and we are working on plans to add additional drains and working on cost estimates. He said Ronald Reagan Boulevard will start to have the inside lanes paved and will start tonight for three nights. There will be lane closures for the paving. They have utilized 90 percent of the time on the project and 35 percent of the money that was allocated by Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). That is an FDOT project, not one of Longwood. They will finish the inside paving and start paving the outside lanes soon. He complimented Ms. Longo our City Clerk, on resuming the quarterly Longwood Newsletter. It is very high quality, and he appreciates her doing that. He said they will be having a presentation on Code Enforcement coming before the Commission on proactive vs reactive. He thanked everybody regarding the Employee Event this past Friday. There Was an Event Committee that worked very hard to put it all together. He congratulated the winners of the awards from that evening. He named the different categories and the winners for each. He congratulated Mayor Paris for being named Vice President of Operations for Seminole Chamber of Commerce. 14. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT Mr. Langley said in August, 2018, the City received a lawsuit from Floyd Goodall concerning alleged inverse condemnation concerning flooding allegations. The City's insurance company has been defending this claim. Public Risk Management Attorney, Don Roper has been defending this claim. We have received a settlement offer and I need to confer with the Commission in a closed door session. This would also have Don Roper present to strategize about the litigation and discuss the offer that has been presented to the City. This would be in accordance with 286.011 Sub - Section 8, which allows the commission and its lawyers to meet in a closed door session. We probably need about 20 to 30 minutes. The Plaintiff has asked that we CC 02-04-2019/10 1 1 respond to their offer in such a period of time that we may need to schedule this before our next Commission meeting. Mayor Paris asked that Ms. Longo contact each of the commissioners and see what date/time works. 15. CITY CLERK'S REPORT. No report. 16. ADJOURN. Mayor Paris adjourned the meeting at 8:18 p.m. l3 ar' , Mayor CC 02-04-2019/11 1 This Page Left Blank Intentionally. 1 1 CC 02-04-2019/12