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CC10-21-2019MinLONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION Longwood City Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, Florida MINUTES October 21, 2019 6:00 P.M. Present: Mayor Matt Morgan Deputy Mayor Brian D. Sackett Commissioner Abby Shoemaker Commissioner Richard Drummond Commissioner Ben Paris Dan Langley, City Attorney Michelle Longo, City Clerk David P. Dowda, Police Chief Mike Peters, Fire Chief Chris Kintner, Community Development Director Chris Capizzi, Leisure Services Director Shad Smith, Public Works Director Craig Dunn, Information Technology Director Phil Kersey, Building Official Absent: J. D. Cox, City Manager 1. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Morgan called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. 2. MOMENT OF SILENT MEDITATION 3. THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 4. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS. Ms. Longo read the following announcements. A. The Longwood Historic Society will host its second annual "Monster Dash 5K" on Saturday, October 26, 2019, from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in the Historic District of Longwood located off of Church Avenue. All proceeds will go to benefit historic preservation in Longwood. Prizes will be awarded for best Halloween costumes. Register online at www.historiciongwood.com. CC 10-21-2019/1 Mayor Morgan announced our City Manager is out due to a health concern and will be back on Wednesday. Mayor Morgan moved to approve David Dowda, Police Chief as the Temporary City Manager. Seconded by Commissioner Paris and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. 5. PROCLAMATIONS / RECOGNITIONS A. District #4 Nomination of the Business Person of the Month Award for November 2019. Mayor Morgan nominated Country Kitchen for Business Person of the Month for November 2019. Nomination carried by a unanimous voice vote. 6. BOARD APPOINTMENTS A. District #2 Nomination to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board. Commissioner Drummond deferred the nomination until the next meeting. B. District #3 Nomination to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board. Commissioner Paris deferred the nomination until the next meeting. 7. PUBLIC INPUT A. Public Participation. None. 8. MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS' REPORT District #2. Commissioner Drummond said Lyman High School's Homecoming parade was awesome. He thanked Principal Rice and everybody that participated in it. The weather was beautiful for the Caribbean Crew Concert. He had a Council of Local Governments in Seminole County (CALNO) Meeting hosted by the City of Lake Mary. They have a beautiful Commission Chambers and we had a presentation by the Florida Central Zoo who is getting ready for their Asian Lantern Festival. They have a big display called "Into the Wild" featuring hand-crafted lanterns in the shape of animals and different scenes set up. You can find further information online about it, and it will run from November 20th until January 12th. He went to the Food Truck Event last week and saw CC 10-21-2019/2 Commissioner Paris there. The Farmers Market on Sunday is always so great. During National Night Out, he heard there were 1,000 cookies served. Both of our parks are beautiful and I am glad to see we are getting so much use out of them. District #3. Commissioner Paris said people are always asking when their area is going to be put in the Septic Tank Abatement Program, and also, for the sewers. He said he would like for the Temporary City Manager and staff to put together a timeline with a map that shows what sections will be worked on. He asked if this could be placed on the website. He also asked if we could have a representative look into when Ronald Reagan Boulevard (County Road 427) will be doing their punch out. He is aware this is not a City contract, rather it is a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) contract. He wants to make sure we are taking care of Longwood's interests, buildings, and grass. Mr. Smith said he was part of a substantial walkthrough last week. I submitted a list of my own concerns. The FDOT had an extensive list of concerns and the County had some concerns since ultimately the maintenance of Ronald Reagan Boulevard is theirs for the stormwater and asphalt part of it. Those lists are going over to the contractor and we are waiting for a reply which may take around 30 days. A couple of the items that are quite big will have to be fixed. We had a meeting about this today and discussed it with the County. District #4. Mayor Morgan said on Friday, October 11th, he received a call from a resident regarding the Lewis House. We have had a lot of exposure regarding the Lewis House on FOX 35, Channel 6, and the Orlando Sentinel. This resident owns the property directly across the street from Judy's Dolls. They were looking to sell the property, and want to give the City the opportunity to house the Lewis House there. He thought that was an amazing gesture by Craig and Suzanne Ebaugh, longtime residents. He has a meeting scheduled with them and Chris Kintner. On the same day, he had an opportunity to speak at 0-Pod which is Sheriff Lemma's new program to help inmates incarcerated at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility. This is for inmates who have been sentenced for one year or less or been court -ordered by a judge because they are struggling with addiction. They have the option to go to this place where they get treated for their addiction to opioids. They have everything in there from doctors to classes, to specialists. Sheriff Lemma leads what I believe is one of the most fundamentally sound and aggressive drug treatment plans for those who are battling opioids. That same day, he had a meeting with a business owner regarding him wanting to build onto more parts of their property. He will pass this along to Mr. Kintner. On October 12th, he went to the Marching Band CC 10-21-2019/3 Festival at Hagerty High School to support our Lyman High School Marching Band. On October 14th, I had an early morning meeting at Zanzibar Coffee House where I was asked to fill out paperwork to be appointed by our Governor, Ron DeSantis, for what is called The Early Learning Coalition. This is a really big deal for me because it relates to early childhood education. That evening, I met with our County Commissioner, Bob Dallari, FDOT, and SunRail to talk about what is going on with our traffic light on State Road 434 and Ronald Reagan Boulevard. The trains are coming through in a much more frequent pattern than they had in the past. Every single time a train comes into that station, even when it is not crossing over Ronald Reagan Boulevard or State Road 434 but coming from the opposite end, both of those traffic arms go down automatically. The statistics are off the charts for how many times they are going down and causing traffic in our City. They have actually slowed down the inflow pattern of the trains coming into our City. They have pushed back the separation of both trains coming in which will decrease the amount of time the traffic arms go down. The next step is to not have those traffic arms go down every single time a train enters the train station. Hopefully, we will then start talking about "Green Banning". On October 15th he had a Mayors and Managers Meeting. He said this was a really good meeting about our School Board Inter -Local Agreement and was held in Seminole County. That evening I had a really good meeting with Ron DeSantis' representative within our District, her name is Chelsea. Our City Manager was sick and we will reschedule that meeting to get our Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money in a much faster capacity. He wanted Chief Dowda to make note that in some of our special assessment neighborhoods, sprinklers are going off for far longer than they are supposed to. We need to have someone go out and look at the timers once again. Also, in the Markham Hills neighborhood, there are lights that need replacing. He said he was hoping that the Request for Proposal (RFP) process related to Reiter Park would move along much faster. He noted Advent Health was going to contribute $50,000 and partner with the City for things at Reiter Park. His concern was that with the RFP process would take a long time. This will be discussed later in our meeting under Agenda Item 12F regarding the banners at Reiter Park. He said we appoint people on boards to do housekeeping on things like this. We need to utilize these boards more, especially the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. District #5. Deputy Mayor Sackett said he is glad to hear about interest in the Lewis House and about the property across from Judy's Dolls. He would caution talking to anybody about our Request for Proposals for the Lewis House because we do not know how they will take our word on that. Personally, I would love to see the Lewis House on the corner in the park near the Fire Station as a little ice cream stand with a little Historic CC 10-21-2019/4 Museum in there. I am overly concerned that Ronald Reagan Boulevard (County Road 427) is delayed. We have to fine these people. When they come in behind project dates, they owe something for that. That is a major inconvenience to our town. The roads are wet and it is under construction with bad driving conditions. That is tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars as far as I see it. I learned that our Reiter Park has not been signed off yet. If that is true, I would encourage Chief Dowda, our Temporary City Manager, to put a fine on this $5 million park. He asked if the park has been signed off on. Mr. Langley addressed this issue saying that City Staff has accepted the condition of the park as of March. The only thing that is not closed out is the final payment. There are requirements that the contractor has not met for the final payment. The park improvements are complete. Some of the outstanding items are giving the City assurances that all the sub- contractors are paid for and surety bonds consent to final payment and the two-year warranty bond. We received a draft of that recently, so we are getting close, but there is some paperwork they have to complete to show that they are paying their subs and providing us with all the warranties. Deputy Mayor Sackett said he would like to do a proposal at our next meeting to know what is going on for fines for these people. Regarding the Truck or Treat Event, it was a phenomenal event. I believe there were 2,000 to 3,000 people there. During a Certified Emergency Response Team (CERT) meeting I found out they were a little low on candy, so I bought them 18 pounds of candy to keep the kids of the City happy. He heard people from Altamonte Springs and Maitland saying it was the best one they had ever been to. The lines were long, but people were happy. He asked how donations and the budget for CERT and Citizens on Patrol (COPS) work. Chief Dowda clarified their budget is set up to accept donations, which adds to their account. Deputy Mayor Sackett asked what have we lost and gained since we have started using the new system with the County for EMS calls. Chief Peters said it has changed a little bit. We are sending the closest unit regardless of its affiliation. Our call loads have changed some. Some places we ran all the time but we have also picked up calls in other areas. It is pretty early to do those studies, but we are collecting those statistics now. He said we will be looking at the call volumes and adjusting accordingly. CC 10-21-2019/5 Deputy Mayor Sackett said we have elite service in this whole County, and I want to make sure they are not cutting back on our service. He said he would love to get some sort of report twice a year on these numbers. Chief Dowda said he believes Chief Peters can incorporate that into his reports. Deputy Mayor Sackett said regarding the lights on Rosedale Avenue, he believes most of the lights are up, but the main one is missing. He would like that one up and noted it is still dark where the bus stops. He also said he believes Duke Energy was the one responsible for killing all the plants along Rangeline Road, and they still have not cleaned it up. He went to the Farmers Market and has not seen the Fish -Man and misses the shrimp and crab meat. He also said if we see a Scout in the audience, we should have that Scout lead the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. District #1. Commissioner Shoemaker said she has been busy with two tax seasons a year. It was a treat for me to go Trunk or Treat and an awesome event this year. She said she ended up volunteering. We were giving out registration numbers for the costume contests, and we had to make more numbers because many kids entered. She said so much work goes into these events, and she cannot thank staff and everybody involved enough. She saw a lot of original costumes and it was an awesome event. 9. ANY ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA. None. 10. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approve Minutes of the August 19, 2019, Regular Meeting. B. Approve the Monthly Expenditures for August, September, and October 2019. C. Approve the Monthly Financial Report for September 2019. D. Approve an amendment to the Inter -Agency Agreement between Seminole County Sheriff's Office and the City of Longwood for Criminal Justice Computer Services. E. Approve an Interlocal Agreement between Seminole County and Seminole County Municipalities regarding E911 Protocols. Approve an Interlocal Agreement between Seminole County and the City of Longwood for Computer -Aided Dispatching Systems Mobile Services. CC 10-21-2019/6 n 1 1 G. Approve a purchase order in the amount of $59,680 to CDWG for the purchase of an Exagrid model EX4000E data backup appliance. H. Approve a purchase order in the amount of $95,000 to Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. for water and sewer related materials. I. Approve a purchase order in the amount of $55,000 to Hydra Service Inc. to provide for pumps, parts, and repairs related to the City Lift Stations. J. Approve a purchase order in the amount of $130,000 to Sunstate Meter and Supply Inc., as suppliers of City residential and commercial water meters and related materials. Commissioner Paris moved to approve items 10A through 10J as presented. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Sackett and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. 11. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Read by title only and adopt Ordinance No. 19-2164, amending Chapter 78 Article II of the City Code regarding communications facilities in the public right-of-way. 12. A. Mr. Langley read Ordinance No. 19-2164 by title only. Mr. Smith presented the Item and answered questions related to his confidence in what is being presented along with what Stealth design means. Mayor Morgan opened the public hearing. No one spoke in favor or opposition to Ordinance No. 19-2164. Deputy Mayor Sackett moved to close the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Shoemaker and carried by a unanimous voice vote. Deputy Mayor Sackett moved to adopt Ordinance No. 19- 2164 as presented Item 11A. Seconded by Commissioner Paris and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. REGULAR BUSINESS City Commission approval of a Request for Proposals which seeks proposals for the transfer, rehabilitation, and relocation CC 10-21-2019/7 within the Historic District of the J. D. Lewis and N. J. Lewis House. Mr. Kintner presented the Item and answered questions related to what a developer would provide for proof as to their financial capacity, timeline of the RFP, and the contribution Habitat for Humanity was going to provide. Mr. Kintner noted the Habitat for Humanity money/contribution would stay with the park not tied to the Lewis House. Commissioner Drummond moved to approve Item 12A as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Paris and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. B. City Commission approval of a Request for Proposals regarding the redevelopment of City properties in the Heritage Village and the potentially associated relocation of City facilities. Mr. Kintner presented the Item. Deputy Mayor Sackett moved to approve Item 12B as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Drummond and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. C. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 19-1504, the FDOT Highway Maintenance Agreement for State Road 434 and U.S. Highway 17-92. Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 19-1504 by title only. Mr. Smith presented the Item. Commissioner Paris moved to adopt Resolution No. 19- 1504 as presented Item 12C. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Sackett and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. D. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 19-1513 which establishes a Business Facade improvement Grant Program. Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 19-1513 by title only. Mr. Kintner presented the Item and answered questions related to how many grants will be offered and in what amounts, and also if there is a matching portion to this grant. Mr. Kintner said they have a total of $30,000 set aside and the most you could get for CC 10-21-2019/8 each one would be $10,000. There is a matching amount of 50% of the total project amount. Commissioner Drummond moved to adopt Resolution No. 19-1513 as presented Item 12D. Seconded by Deputy Mayor Sackett and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. E. City Commission to hear a request contesting the Building Official's determination of an unsafe building at 324 East Church Avenue. Mr. Langley went over the process of this Item. He said the Building Official has declared a building structure unsafe, and the tenant/occupant of the structure has appealed that determination to this Commission. Even though this is not under the Public Hearing section of your Agenda, this is a Public Hearing for the purposes of the appeal, in the sense that the person that is appealing has the right to a hearing. They are the only party involved, other than the City, Staff, and Building Official, and not open to everyone. The tenants who are appealing, the appellate, can provide evidence, testimony, and call any witnesses other than themselves during this process. You would probably want to have a process where the Building Official of the Community Development Department explains the situation and then give the appellate an opportunity to present their reasons to grounds for appeal. I would suggest you give them more than the typical three minutes and some leeway. After that, you can have the Building Official come back up for rebuttal. If the Building Official does speak, I would suggest you give the appellant one last opportunity to address whatever the Building Official said during the rebuttal. He said since it is a hearing, we typically swear in witnesses and asked if the Commission would like him to swear in witnesses and those who are to testify. It was the consensus by a unanimous voice vote of the Commission to swear in witnesses and those who will testify. Mr. Langley swore in those wishing to speak and testify. A lawyer representing the owner would like to speak on behalf of the owner of the property. Mr. Langley recommended to the Commission to allow him an opportunity to speak since the owner of the property is also CC 10-21-2019/9 affected. He noted it is the tenant's appeal, and so they are the real party of interest. Mr. Kintner presented the Item. He said we are here because the Building Official found the building at 324 East Church Avenue represented an unsafe and dangerous condition and provided notice of that to the property owner and tenant on October 4, 2019. He made a visit, spoke to the tenant, delivered the notice, and said they needed to vacate the premises by October 14th. In that time period, the tenant, as they are allowed to do, made the request for this hearing. Ultimately, our primary concern is the determination that the building is unsafe for anybody to be in there. There are repairs that need to be made, and I understand the owner is moving in that direction, but even in the time those repairs are being done, it is the Building Official's determination that no one should be in there. Mr. Kersey, Building Official, said he came across permits dated back to 2015 initiating some repair of wood rot in the overhanging of the structure. The structure was built in the mid-1930s if I remember correctly. It has a very extreme overhanging E-system on it, some three to four feet. Inevitably, there seemed to be no action. I did reach out to the contractor on record, which is my legal avenue in dealing with these things and a way for them to get back on it. The contractor did say there were some issues. Somewhere around August, they did get sent a Notice of Violation for the expired permit which is legal protocol. By the middle to the end of September, they started to do some work back on the property. He noted there are two lots. One is a registered duplex where the residents live in, and the other is the garage. On the 24th, I noticed workers had started removing the roof which exceeded their scope of permitting. Unfortunately, it exceeded their license capability for the State of Florida. I stopped by due to those reasons and became aware of the unfortunate state of the home. He referenced the pictures which were part of the agenda item and explained the holes in the roof were actually underneath the shingles. There was visual evidence of a structural failure and he reviewed what those were. He said unfortunately, it is very evident that part of the house has started settling, if not a deterioration of the floor system. I did not feel it was safe to go underneath the home at that time. It is also evident that at some point the rear porch has been removed from the house and there is a three to four -foot step right out of the back door, which is unsafe. I was not privy to the fact that it was a duplex on the 24th until I did some more research. Seminole CC 10-21-2019/10 County recognizes a duplex but does not recognize the dual At this time, there is only a addressing that is going on there. meter on one side in Unit A and it is the only one registered with Duke Energy. The other unit is being powered by extension cords. This is a violation of both the National Electrical Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code. Extension cords are for construction purposes, and they can result in an immediate fire hazard to any structure. It was also noticed on that same day that the refrigerator is in the back yard in the dirt, and is plugged in and working. Unfortunately, I have had to come to the conclusion that the house is by definition in "dangerous condition". This makes it unsafe for habitation due to the structural integrity of the roof system, the wall system, the foundation of the house, the floor system, the electrical issues, and the violations of Fair Housing. There is some burden put on the owner in regards to Fair Housing, and some is the tenants. You have to have hot water in the kitchen and a way to keep food at a temperature in the refrigerator. You have to be able to cook and keep the house closed up to keep the weather and bugs out of the home. As you can see in the records and emails, there was a time around the 24th I reached out to our Dan Langley, expressing I had to come to this conclusion. This is not easy, and I do not doubt that my decision is going to affect the tenants. I have spoken with the tenants and handed them some information for assistance. On October 41h I hand -delivered the letter to the tenant and also sent it to the owner by certified mail. I brought this information again tonight to give to them and implore them to reach out. The homeowner has made it apparent to me that his plan is to possibly fix the house. The other route would have been condemning it for demolition which I do not believe it is the City's responsibility. I believe it is the homeowner's responsibility to fix what is obvious. Questions were asked about the contractor hired to do the roof work and if they were licensed, the status of the roof, and if the tenants are still in the residence. Mr. Kersey addressed the questions and said in order to do any reroofs in the State of Florida, you are required to be a certified roofing contractor and the contractor hired is not legally licensed to do a reroof. He stated he directed the contractor to stop work because of his license, and because of the state of the roof. It is an occupied building, and if they continued to move around on the roof, it was going to continue to add stress to the system. This is an unsafe condition with someone in there. It is not the CC 10-21-2019/11 appropriate time to be repairing it. He also advised the Cards are still residing in the residence. Discussion ensued on the condition of the home and it was questioned if Mr. Kersey was able to go inside the house. Mr. Kersey said anytime someone pulls a permit on a property he has the legal right to enter the property because of the permit. In this case, the work was exterior and the permit was not detailed or had anything to do with the interior of the home and he did not want to push to go inside. He said he had enough information from what could be seen on the outside to make his determination. Mr. Robert Card, the tenant who lives at 324 East Church Avenue spoke. He said we moved in there ten years ago and has been through this three times already. The place needed to be fixed when we moved in, and we have been paying rent ever since. All the landlord would do was fix a few windows or do a little bit of yard work. He noted he was not here to contest the situation of the house but explained they needed time to find another place. He explained how they were caregivers for a family member staying at their house and it was foreclosed, then they moved to a trailer park, and how they had to then move to where they currently are. He expressed how they have been through a lot and his wife is not in the best of health. He also noted he expected things to be done when you pay rent. He did address the refrigerator and said they bought it to replace the one that broke and it was put out back until his son could help put it in the house. I was trying to do the landlord a favor by buying another refrigerator because he is out of state. It was noted he has paid a lot of money helping with a lot of little things, that he is a good tenant, and feels it is not fair they are asked to leave because they have nowhere to go and would be homeless. Mayor Morgan asked Mr. Card about the condition of the home when they began renting it. Mr. Card said they noticed a little bit of rot in the corner of where the bathroom is. He said there has been no movement or cracking of the floors. We need time to find a place we can afford. He said they have been making calls but nothing has become available or we just cannot afford it. CC 10-21-2019/12 Discussion ensued on places for the Card's to contact for assistance and time to give the tenants to move out. Mr. Christopher Torch, the attorney for Mr. Houser, the property owner spoke. He said the owner contacted me a few days ago when he learned of the Order to Close. He does not oppose the Order to Close. He is very mindful of the tenants' condition. They have been in the property for a very long time. I suspect when they started to do the original repairs from a permit that goes back to 2009 and again in 2015, at some point they were trying to restore some wood rot and that is when they discovered the extent of the deterioration of the roof. He agrees that the property needs repair and he is trying to do that. He had hired a contractor for that purpose. Apparently, he did not understand he needed a certified roofing contractor to continue the work on the roof. If the Commission wants to grant 30 days, Mr. Houser would not object to that amount of time. He is certainly mindful the property does need repair and does not want there to be a risk to the tenants, but understands that they need some time. He is also not charging them rent for the month of October and is willing to give them some moving assistance funds to help them find a place to store equipment and store their property up to he is willing to work with the $500. The situation is something City and the tenants about, but it is a question of the amount of time that is given. Certainly not longer than 30 days because the structure does need a significant amount of work, and they should not be living there. Discussion continued on the condition of the home, when work can begin on the house, the amount of the assistance provided by the owner, the amount of additional time to provide to the tenants to move out, rent payments, and providing a Hold Harmless agreement for the tenants to sign if they are allowed to stay an additional 30 days. Mr. Card readdressed the Commission and again stressed he felt it was not fair and the only concern is the roof. He also expressed they have nowhere to go and need time to find a place. Deputy Mayor Sackett moved to affirm the Building Official's determination as presented in his October 4, 2019 letter, update the Order with a comply by date of November 26, 2019, have the City Attorney draft a Hold Harmless Agreement for the tenants sign by Friday, November 20, 2019 which has them accepting the risk of CC 10-21-2019/13 being in the structure, and holding the City and its officials harmless from any personal injury or property that may come about by remaining in the structure which has been deemed unsafe. Seconded by Commissioner Drummond and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. E. City Commission to approve the purchase and installation of seasonal banners at Reiter Park and staff requests direction on placement, color, design, and verbiage for the banners. Mr. Capizzi presented the Item and answered questions related to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board's preference in banner design and if the banners have to be all the same design. Commissioner Paris moved to approve the purchase and installation of seasonal banners at Reiter Park and leave the decision up to Staff on the design. Seconded by Mayor Morgan and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. 13. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Chief Dowda said the construction on Ronald Reagan Boulevard (County Road 427) and Church Avenue is substantially finished. They are working through their punch list. There is still a small area that may need resurfacing and cleanup will still need to be completed. The liquidated damages to date are accumulating at $1,665 a day. Right now, it stands at $350,000 and they are being penalized for their delay. The light at Rosedale Avenue and Highland Street has been called into Duke Energy. There has been a work order submitted as of the 18th of this month and the light is broken. We will look into moving the bus stop into a better and quicker option. Bay Ridge Sushi has received its Certificate of Occupancy and the owner plans to open up in November. 14. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT. No report. 15. CITY CLERK'S REPORT. No report. 16. ADJOURN. Mayor Morgan adjourned the meeting at 8:29 p.m. C ' Matt Morgan, Mayor CC 10-21-2019/14 1 C CC 10-21-2019/15 This Page Left Blank Intentionally. 1 C CC 10-21-2019/16