CC11-15-2021Min LONGWOOD CITY COMMISSION
Longwood City Commission Chambers
175 West Warren Avenue
Longwood, Florida
MINUTES
November 15, 2021
6:00 P.M.- •
Present: Mayor Brian D. Sackett
Deputy Mayor Tony Boni
Commissioner Abby Shoemaker
Commissioner Matt McMillan
Commissioner Matt Morgan
Dan Langley, City Attorney
Clint Gioielli, Acting City Manager
Michelle Longo, City Clerk
..David Dowda, Police Chief
Chris Kintner, Community Development Director
Judith Rosado, Financial Services Director
Shad Smith, Public Works Director
1. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Sackett called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
2. OPENING INVOCATION. There was no volunteer invocation speaker
present at the meeting,therefore a moment of silent meditation was
observed.
3. THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. Commissioner McMillan led the Pledge of
Allegiance.
4. COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS. Ms. Longo read the following
announcements.
A. Annual Rotation of the Deputy Mayor.
Ms. Longo announced the Rotation of the Deputy Mayor would go
from District#1, Commissioner Shoemaker to District#2,
Commissioner Boni.
Ms. Longo read the following announcements.
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B. Longwood Movie in the Park will be held on Friday, November
19, 2021, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Reiter Park, 311 West Warren
Avenue. This is a free event and the movie will be Home Alone.
C. The Longwood Arts and Crafts Festival will be held on Saturday,
November 20, 2021, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday,
November 21, 2021,from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.Artists and
crafters will line the streets in the Historic District of Longwood
located off Church Street.There will be food, beverages, and live
entertainment.This is a free event and additional free parking is
available at Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital.
D. The Longwood Christmas Parade will be held on Saturday,
December 4, 2021, beginning at 3:00 p.m. and will make its way
through the Historic District of Longwood.
5. PROCLAMATIONS/ RECOGNITIONS
A. Recognizing Commissioner Abby Shoemaker for her service to
the City as Deputy Mayor, November 2020 until November 2021.
Mayor Sackett recognized Commissioner Shoemaker for her
service to the City as Deputy Mayor. He then presented her with
a plaque and photographs were then taken.
B. Proclaiming December 3, 2021, as E. W. Henck Day in the City of
Longwood.
Mayor Sackett read the Proclamation and on December 3, 2021
partnering with the Longwood Historic Society there will be a
small event including former Mayors of Longwood to celebrate E.
W. Henck.
C. Proclaiming December 21, 2021, as Torah Day in the City of
Longwood.
Commissioner Morgan read the Proclamation and it will be
presented to the recipient on the 21st
6. BOARD APPOINTMENTS. None.
7. PUBLIC INPUT
A. Public Participation.
Mike Seamon, 345 East Florida Avenue, Longwood. He spoke about the
item related to towing. He stated he has been a resident for twenty-five
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(25)years and represents the towing industry the Professional Wreckers
Operators of Florida (PWOF). He said prices have to increase and his
request is to match Seminole County's new rates recently adopted.
Towing in Longwood and Seminole County is all the same. He noted they
are working on Orlando and Dade County right now. The increase in
rates also helps provide raises for staff.
Rick Moquin, 1041 Talmo Street, Longwood. He said he has been a
resident in the Longwood area since 1958. He stated up to a few years
ago Lake Talmo has been a clean and pristine lake. He was not sure if it
was Seminole County or the State that cleaned the ditch that runs from
U.S. Highway 17-92 into the Lake. The problem they have been having is
no one has serviced the lake for more than five (5) years. With all the
rain they have had this year everything that is on U.S. Highway 17-92 and
the State Road 434 area runs into the lake. The runoff looks like oil and
gas which forms a film on the lake. He said there is a pipe and he thinks it
has some kind of filtering system that has not been serviced. He thinks it
needs to be looked at.
Mark Jones, 3220 Chardonnay Court, Longwood. He spoke about towing
and said he is a contract tower with the city of Longwood. He mentioned
some of the same points as Mike Seamon regarding price increases. He
noted tow trucks run on diesel and that does increase costs. He said they
are about$1.29 away from the historically high prices in 2008 for diesel
fuel when it was approaching$5.00 a gallon. He noted everyone is
feeling that when you buy milk at the grocery store because all the goods
are brought to the store by diesel trucks. The towing industry is not
exempt from the same hardships and the unfortunate thing is their prices
are capped and regulated. Often with accidents,the tow bill does not get
paid when dealing with insurance claims and those who do not carry full
insurance coverage. The individual would have to pay and often do not
pay the towing bill. For city fleet vehicles, as contract tow companies,
they absorb the cost when they have to tow a fire truck for example. He
said they have been impacted by many of the same hardships as the
residents.
Jim Maloney, 255 West Magnolia Avenue, Longwood. He said he has
lived here for thirty(30)years. He noted in August 2019 he brought up
the music in the park and it was addressed slightly. He has attended a
meeting and spoke about it as well. On May 14, 2020, he emailed
everyone regarding the noise and just recently emailed. He was not sure
how it was constructed or how it was looked at but the sound on his
street for about four to five houses is like a car with the loud bass music
driving by. He spent a lot of money renovating his house and hates to
think it would be wasted if he can not enjoy it understanding he will lose
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his backyard. It is extremely loud and anyone is welcome to come to
listen anytime. He has suggested a baffle on the back of the bandshell,
some sort of wall to break the noise. He noted it is pretty bad and all he
can hear is the bass in the house. He spent money on windows to cut the
noise because of the increased traffic on his street from the light being
added on County Road 427. He appreciates what the city is doing with
the park but asked that those on his street be taken into consideration.
He said a lot of the neighbors have the same issue but they do not want
to come to a meeting and speak as they feel nothing will be done. He
said the easiest solution would be to lower the sound, it does not need to
be that loud.
Judi Coad, 1695 Grange Circle, Longwood. She said resolution number
21-1582 code related, needs to adhere to and match the criteria set in
the land planning document under the Charter section, residential
protection objective 1, policy B and C which has been provided to the
Commission in previous meetings. She said policy B states continually
evaluate the city code enforcement program in order to ensure
aggressive and efficient service to the residents. This evaluation is to be
undertaken by the City Administrator. Policy C states maintain a strong
code enforcement program by ensuring adequate staff to meet existing
and anticipated growth-related demands. This is not overseen by our
City Administrator at this time and the term aggressive service does not
mean reactive which is what this Commission has done in the past. The
current reactive policy requires the residents to be the policing arm of
the City, pinning residents against residents, and it has not worked. All
residential and commercial properties need to be treated equally per our
City Charter and Codes that are currently on our books. This is one of the
items taxpayers pay their taxes to have accomplished, not about personal
issues that Commissioners may have with the codes or any other rules.
But the rules are to be adhered to and enforced equally to all City
properties. She said she believes being selective opens up the City to
legal action. The lack of oversight of code enforcement has allowed
many projects to be done within the city residential area that requires
permitting to protect not just the homeowner but the City as well. An
additional officer has been in the budget in the past and dropped. The
issue of vehicle cost is a maintenance issue, not an enforcement issue.
The Homeowner Associations (HOA) versus no HOA residential areas is
also a non-issue because all residential areas require the same equal
treatment and service. The HOAs are also not an arm of the City to do
the enforcement. She said residential and commercial per this resolution
both deserve the same type of service. Code enforcement's job is to
protect both of the parties and there will always be complaints which is
the nature of the job. As it stands, the residential areas currently have
been swept under the carpet. Having an active system of dealing with all
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the properties for enforcement and education is what our City needs to
have in place. If there are codes the City Commission does not like then
review them for changes. She said the word is not in the resolution
"may" it is "will" enforce the codes on behalf of all the taxpayers.
R. MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS' REPORT
District#4. Commissioner Morgan asked the City Manager if he had
already contacted Mr. Maloney regarding the noise in the park.
Mr. Gioielli responded that he had and still working on options to try and
mitigate the loud noise including turning down the sound. He said he
thinks one of the issues is there was a private event at the park and
because of weather conditions it went long and was probably too loud.
Commissioner Morgan said even if it is an outside vendor, have staff on
hand and know how to make sure we are holding everyone to
accountability to the decibel level and the times.
Commissioner Morgan said on November 3 the Boys and Girls Club had
their annual Faces of the Future Breakfast at the Sanford location. This is
a big fundraiser for the organization and was successful. He thanked
everyone from Longwood who attended. The same day he went to
Tallahassee and he and the City Manager met with Chairwoman
Stevenson and State Representative David Smith on House Bill 2225,the
million dollars for Longwood for a new Fire Station. He felt the City
Manager did a good job with the preparations to have available when
asking for the funds. Last year when the City was looking for funding it
made it to the Governor's desk however it was vetoed because of COVID.
November 5 he had a S.C.O.R.E. meeting, Seminole Collaborative Opioid
Response Efforts, which he is a part of. This one dealt with outlets
teenagers could use for addiction and noted addiction is high right now
with COVID. November 6 he attended the Kids House Gala which was
held in Reiter Park. He noted he has been helping them out with
outreach in the community to share what services they offer. The Kids
House Gala is their largest fundraiser and did very well this year.
November 7 he went to Lyman High School and was invited by Jamilah
Maika. He said Jamilah Malika, who works with older teens has started
an organization called USA UNITES. They work with high schools and
utilize the performing arts teaching youth how to build and maintain
healthy relationships with themselves and others. November 10 he went
to Longwood Elementary to speak to a group called Young Men of
Promise. They can then join Young Men of Excellence as they move into
middle school. He spoke with them about basic skills of dealing with
people and a good first impression, for example giving a firm handshake
and looking someone in the eye. He also spoke about what it was to be a
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City Commissioner. That same day he had a meeting with the City
Manager and Kim Colgrove. She is the President of the Ladies 327 in
Sanford. They spoke about sponsorship and partnership opportunities.
Leisure Services, Chris Capizzi and Ryan Rinaldo were also part of the
meeting. He wished a belated Happy Veterans Day to all veterans. He
also mentioned the senior living community Village on the Green which is
in unincorporated Longwood and he attended their Veterans Day parade.
He noted it was a very moving event to see everyone who came out to
thank those that served. November 12 he attended the ribbon cutting
for Daniels Bakery. November 13 was the Ceilidh In The Park event,the
Chili Cook-off, and the 10th Anniversary of the Car Show. They were all
well attended and he noted the street was full from the Car Show all the
way to the Park. He thanked Leisure Services and the Parks and
Recreation Board. He noted it was a great honor to present the award to
former Longwood Mayor and State Representative Bob Cortes for his role
in starting the Car Show in Longwood.
District#5. Mayor Sackett said on November 6 was his daughter's
wedding and it went very well. He attended the ribbon cutting at
Daniel's Bakery it is a nice store. He mentioned the owner is looking for a
larger space for ovens and asked for staff to connect with her. Longwood
Babe Ruth Baseball had its championship weekend. He would like to
arrange a meeting with the City and the Board to discuss how to make it
a viable organization in the City of Longwood. He went to the Farmers
Market on November 13, which happen to be his birthday and a busy
day. That same day he went to Extreme Sports on E.E. Williamson Road
for their 10th anniversary and Family Fall Festival. He said they have
seventy-five (75) children for their afterschool program, and two hundred
(200) children in their summer program and looking for a better facility.
He asked Mr. Gioilli to look into helping them find a location. He
attended the Ceilidh In The Park event and it had great music and was a
good event. He went to the Chili Cook-off and tried all of them. The Car
Show had a great turnout and thanked Bob Cortes for bringing it to
Longwood. He said he is looking forward to the Arts and Crafts Festival
on November 20 and 215t and commented how it has improved in the last
couple of years. He noted there is a workshop for ARPA Funds on
November 30. On December 4 and 10 there will be a parade and a
Celebrate the Season event. He noted the opening invocation has a limit
of two (2) meetings per calendar year for a speaker and thought the
resolution could be amended to expand the distance to incorporate more
churches in unincorporated Longwood. This was just his suggestion. He
spoke about the noise in the park and was glad the City Manager spoke
with Mr. Maloney. He brought up the city limits and how many people
are not aware they reside in the unincorporated area and his thoughts on
proactive annexations. He then discussed code enforcement and how he
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heard from people that did not want to bring anything up because they
did not want to use their name. He also mentioned work being done
without permits on the weekends and asked for this to be looked into.
Mayor Sackett also mentioned the homeless situation and the ones he
mentioned to the City Manager and Police Chief were addressed. He said
he received a call from someone who wished to build something unique
on State Road 434, which includes food trucks and beer vending, and he
needs some assistance. He noted the project is being downsized due to
financial backing being difficult for commercial ventures. He spoke with
Dave & Buster's himself and to get them to go into the old Pic N Save
property they would need 100,000 people in the city of Longwood during
the daytime. With sadness, he reported the wife of Mr. Archie Krige the
science teacher at Lyman High School passed away suddenly on Friday.
District#1. Commissioner Shoemaker said she wished she would have
been able to make it to Tallahassee and noted they had the best
cheerleader there in Commissioner Morgan. She attended the ribbon
cutting for Daniels Bakery and they had provided samples which were all
very good. She missed the Ceilidh In The Park event but did attend the
Car Show and Chili Cook-Off which were very nice. She thanked the Parks
and Recreation Advisory Board and Leisure Services. She also mentioned
the Chili Cook-Off being her idea which she initiated when she served on
the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. It has been a fantastic event
and hope it has brought in a lot of money. She said Longwood is doing
things right with all the events. She also received the email about the
noise and feels for Mr. Maloney. She made some suggestions to have
someone on call who could receive a text to be notified and then go out
to investigate and address the noise.
District#2. Deputy Mayor Boni said he agrees Longwood is going in the
right direction and they will get the sound issue resolved. He thanked
Commissioner Morgan and the City Manager for going to Tallahassee on
behalf of the City. He also attended the ribbon-cutting at Daniels Bakery
and has been there a few times and spoke with the owner. He noted
they are looking for commercial space with commercial ovens because
several restaurants want their bread it is that good. He had the Philly
cheesesteak before the ribbon-cutting and said it does not look like one
because she uses her bread which is more like flatbread and said this is a
Longwood cheesesteak. Then she changed the name to Longwood
cheesesteak. He noted she is a great addition to Longwood.
Deputy Mayor Boni said the past weekend was filled with fun,fruits,
veggies, kilts, chili, cars, and birthdays. The Farmers Market was great to
walk through and he picked up fruits and vegetables and the prices were
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very reasonable. It was his first Scottish Festival and said there were a lot
of kilts worn. The music and dancing were outstanding and fun to watch
and listen to. He thanked the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and
Leisure Services for a great Chili Cook-Off, he was a judge. The Seminole
County Republican Executive Committee won first place and the
Longwood Historic Society won second place. He received one complaint
the restrooms in the Chambers were male/female (unisex) and a couple
of ladies were walked in on. He said next year he would like to have it
posted male and female so that does not happen. He also noted there
were a lot of people there. It was also great to honor Bob Cortes for the
10th Anniversary of the Car Show. He enjoyed looking at all the cars.
There was a lot to celebrate and it was also Mayor Sackett's birthday.
Deputy Mayor Boni thanked all the Longwood residents for all the emails
and social media posts over the last few weeks. He let everyone know he
read all of them and appreciates the community is active and wants to be
heard. He said he is a face-to-face communicator and sent out a post to
meet at this favorite coffee shop Two Bells on Fridays from 8:00 a.m.
until 9:00 a.m. He noted the response he received was that he picked a
time that the working people could not attend. He apologized for his
oversight and he also works Monday through Friday 8:00 am until 5:00
p.m. and understands. He replied that he has secured the Chambers this
coming Thursday and Thursday, December 2 from 5:30 p.m. until 7:00
p.m. and hopes this accommodates everyone's schedule. He does want
to hear everyone's thoughts and the reasons behind them. If anyone can
not make these dates, you can attend a Commission meeting on the first
and third Mondays of each month. The majority of the emails sent to
him were about the apartments on Ronald Reagan Boulevard where the
old dog kennels were and apartments in general. He said on his
campaign trail to his position he met a lot of residents and he was asked
questions he did not have answers to. He has done his research and
asked a lot of questions to get the answers he felt confident to bring back
to the residents. He called back or stopped back by in some cases and
provided the answers he found. In some cases, he received a thank you.
This was his campaign strategy and stated he is not a politician he is a
resident like everyone else who was asked to step up. The only promise
he made was with his corporate and small business experience he would
do the research, get the facts on the issues and decisions placed before
him, and make the best decision from those facts. He shared some of the
research he did on the apartments and categorized them as the top five
reasons the emails comprised of. 1) Crime is increasing because
apartments only bring in riff-raff and drug dealers, all the police calls are
going to the apartments. 2)Traffic is unbearable because of all these
apartments. 3) The apartments will use all of our water. 4) Our schools
are already at Capacity and this will burden them. 5) We the City only
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look for apartments to bring into Longwood only for the revenue. With
the help of the City Manager and staff, he put together some statistics.
This is what he bases his decisions on. He was surprised by the numbers.
1) Crime is increasing. He said he did the report from 2015 and crime has
decreased every single year to almost 30%from where it was in 2015.
The first apartment complex came on board in 2016 and looking at a
roughly 24% increase from 2016 to today. He can not say whether this
increase or decrease is due to the apartments but he can say with
confidence the decrease in crime has happened because of the
outstanding police department in Longwood. Regarding the comment
"all the calls are going to the apartments",the study was done on two (2)
apartment buildings and two (2) single-family home developments over a
one-year time frame. The single-family homes had more calls. There
were 316 calls in that one year to single-family homes and 117 calls to
apartments. He said the people who move to these apartments in
Longwood are not riff-raff,they are not criminals, they are Longwood
residents that work, own businesses, and raise their families. 2)Traffic.
The traffic study that was given to him was for three (3) major roads in
Longwood, Ronald Reagan Boulevard (CR 427), State Road 434, and U.S.
Highway 17-92. He said it all shows we are not near the daily capacity of
these roads. He noted traffic is bad but we cannot blame it on the
apartments there are a lot of other circumstances. There are six cities
around us that are growing at a faster rate than we are and they drive
through Longwood. He noted on some of these roads traffic has
decreased from 2016 to today. 3) Water consumption. He said the city
of Longwood is at about 26%of its capacity or allowable use of water and
about 30% capacity of its sewage. There is not a Longwood well that only
Longwood gets to pull from and we are not near the daily usage capacity
of the water. 4) Schools at capacity. He said he does not have the
specific data from the County School Board yet but was told that
Longwood schools are not at full capacity. 5) Revenue. He said
apartments do bring in revenue to the city of Longwood. He noted we
are not seeking the apartments. They are coming in by developers and
being put on land that is already deemed for them. For approximately
every 260 apartments it will bring revenue equal to about half a millage
point in tax, ad valorem tax. There are two other ways he knows of to
get that much revenue into the City, one would be the annexation of
unincorporated Longwood and this gets voted down. He said the
proactive approach of annexation would need to come up with positive
reasons for the approximate 2.73 millage rate increase that they would
be taking on if they move into the city of Longwood. This is the number
one reason that people are voting it down. The second way is to raise
property taxes. He said he promised to do his research and wanted to
share it. He also said he does not believe apartments are innocent of
these five reasons. He said these are all legitimate issues, but not at the
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exponential rate of apartments we have,to be causing a problem.
Apartments are not going away it is a national trend and the way people
choose to live. There are 1,000 people a day moving into Florida and
1,500 a week are moving to Seminole County. Why Seminole County, he
stated, is because we have the best schools and a great place to raise a
family. He knows everyone is upset with apartments and he is upset and
not 100% in favor of apartments but you have to look at the bigger
picture when it comes to them. He said the industrial land that has been
proposed for apartments, can be stopped by the Commission, we can nix
the zone change. He said if apartments are going to be put in the City he
feels the best location is surrounded by industrial on the edge of the
town. He said a line was drawn in the sand and specifically with the
developer and he does not trust that they will develop commercial on the
lots at the front of the property. They did agree to the deed restriction
for those lots, which provides 20,000 square feet of retail space. He said
this will come back to the Commission on December 6 and to him a win in
the industrial area. The 20,000 commercial/retail space will stimulate
commercial growth in this area. He has not made a decision but these
are the facts that he will be making his decision on and hope this helps
everyone.
District#3. Commissioner McMillan thanked everyone for the
compliments on the Ceilidh in the Park event, the Saint Andrews Society
was happy to be there. He thanked everyone who has asked him about
his dog, who is doing well. He did not make the whole Scottish event but
did make it to the Car Show and Chili Cook-Off. He thanked Deputy
Mayor Boni for his breakdown and response on the apartment issue. He
said this marks his one year in office and despite the challenges of COVID
and subsequent economic disruption including rising inflation he sees
Longwood is moving in the right direction. In the run-up to his swearing-
in,the big issue was the historic district redevelopment proposal and that
debate ran its course, and his first vote as a Commissioner came in during
Commissioner Morgan's report when we closed out the Request for
Proposal (RFP) on that proposal. He said there were some interesting
ideas in there and that proposal was unrealistic and required the City to
forfeit too much property and too much control over what was going to
happen in terms of economic development. The idea of putting in six to
four-story apartments on the Police Department property drew the most
opposition. It never did get to a formal plan and it was rejected however
it did focus his attention on what was going on in the historic district and
economic development in total and potential for what can be done in the
district. He said he believed it was Commissioner Shoemaker during
those debates who commented that it would be best to slow it down and
proceed step by step focusing first on the Fire Station. He said tonight we
will be voting to close on the property that the City has under contract on
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Warren Avenue. This will be for a new Fire Station which is needed in a
location essentially the same in response time. The property will be
acquired with money from reserves for less than what was being
proposed from the developers that brought that previous proposal.
Instead of the City paying rent for their facility the other half of the
building is occupied and generating income. We went from leasing our
facility to owning our property and receiving revenue from tenants. The
old Fire Station can be converted to a restaurant or some other amenity
to compliment Reiter Park. If the City retains the property, it will be
income-producing and have the ability to control what is going on in the
park. He said he was unable to make it to Tallahassee to lobby for funds
and believes we received the FEMA Grant for part of the construction.
He stated this is a major shift forward from a year ago when he started.
Instead of accepting proposals that would have put others in charge of
our development in our historic district and turning our city government
into a tenant situation, Longwood is very close to being in a strong
position to control the development of our historic district and will be
able to address a long-needed public safety need at the same time.
Acquiring property-producing income, allows us to have options to
decide what we would want to do with the police station property and a
new police station. It is a strong position to be in as opposed to a year
ago.
Commissioner McMillan said regarding apartment buildings, which he
believes do not belong in the historic district, we have taken concrete
steps to put the city in control when we were not a year ago. There has
been a lot of things that have happened in the past year including Alta
.Longwood opening in the Spring. It is beautiful and they were awarded
the quarterly beautification award. He said he drives Warren Avenue
often and has not seen a significate increase in traffic. When he does see
an increase in traffic it is due to the events. Alta Cypress has broken
ground and coming along and looking better than expected. The Addison
broke ground,the one near Wawa. He said these projects are at
different stages of development, are happening fast, and have a lot
happening at once. In the last year, he feels we are taking control of our
future. At the request of Commissioner Morgan, staff has presented the
land use map and taken steps to revise it in over a decade and restrict
where apartments can be built. In regards to preserving our rural
character,the City did create several months ago the country estate zone
and passed a horse ordinance which will allow a low-density residential
property including equestrian properties to come into our City legally. He
pointed out this country estate designation specifically in the ordinance
excludes apartments. We did not have this a year ago. He said the other
two proposed projects we have coming up, he is seeing the change from
a year ago where applicants are now offering in one case a deed
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restriction and the other a land-use agreement for commercial use.
Further, on the one-year look back,Township Plaza is finally coming
together and looking better than it has in over thirty (30) years with a
freshly paved parking lot. A new Tastee Treats has been approved near
the Acme Comics and LA Fitness plaza. Despite COVID, we saw a healthy
budget with solid reserves, completed Union negotiations with Fire,
Police, and Blue Collar, adopted a contract to improve our Business Tax
Receipt revenue, moved forward with water meter improvements, and
kept the millage steady. He would love to see this come down and this
would take annexations and entice people to become part of Longwood.
We now have a full-time public information position that is pushing out
the city message on social media so people will know what is happening
in the City. He said our City culture is growing and we are having
successful events including events during COVID. He mentioned a few of
the events like the Scottish event, Flag retirements with Heroes Strong,
and the addition of mailboxes to drop your flags in for retirement. He
said there were long-needed upgrades approved for Candyland Park and
the addition of the Pickle Ball courts. Tonight, if all goes well the
finalization of the Lewis House to go into the cemetery, will be
completed. He sees a Longwood city government that is more responsive
and improving communication, facilitating responsive economic
development of long time distressed properties, having cultural events
that make people want to be a part of Longwood, and having strong
partners, like the Longwood Historic Society, Heroes Strong,The Sharing
Center, and Orlando Health. He said he is also grateful that the
invocation was restored to bring in the faith leaders of the community.
He thanked city staff for the work they have done in his first year it has
been a great experience to represent his hometown as a Commissioner.
All this was being done while a special election was taking place with the
resignation of Commissioner Drummond.
Commissioner McMillan reported on the true, good, and beautiful. For
the "true" he said he will go with a tax fact that is relevant to economic
development. Single-family residences have an exemption called the
Homestead exemption. Homes under a certain value currently$25,000
would not pay any tax at all. There is a layer aspect as you get to $50,000
then $75,000 and he mentioned it because of the increase and property
values. At some point, he feels there will be a move to increase that
exemption and has seen ballot initiatives on this and in 2018 where it was
rejected and the provision in 2020 made it easier to transfer as you
moved from one house to another,that homestead exemption. The
change would come from the legislature and voters. If tax bills spike as
the real estate market and assessments go up and other pressures there
will be pressure to increase at the state level that exemption. It affects
us and local governments rely on that tax base and when.you make
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properties more exempt it shrinks the value and you get less money to
fund local government. Having a diversified tax base helps because the
demands on the services side are still going to be there. It helps to have
industrial, commercial, homestead residential, and non-homestead
residential to be diversified. For the "good", he saw respect throughout
the City on Veterans Day. He thanked all those that served. For the
"beautiful" was the band at the Car Show,they were called "The Crome
57 Band". They gave a beautiful performance. He also highlighted it is
the 400th Anniversary of Thanksgiving from 1621 to 2021.
9. ANY ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA. None.
10. CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approve Minutes of the November 1, 2021, Regular Meeting.
B. Approve the Monthly Expenditures for November 2021.
C. Approve the Monthly Financial Report for October 2021.
Commissioner Morgan moved to approve the Consent
Agenda Items 10A through 10C as presented. Seconded
by Deputy Mayor Boni and carried by a unanimous roll call
vote.
11. PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. Read by title only and adopt Ordinance No. 21-2212 annexing
and amending the corporate limits of the City of Longwood for a
voluntary annexation by S. Brent Spain for the property with
Parcel ID: 05-21-30-523-0000-OOBO and 05-21-30-523-0000-00A8
located at 1580 and 1590 South Highway 17-92.
Mr. Langley read Ordinance No. 21-2212 by title only.
Mayor Sackett opened the public hearing. No one spoke in favor
or opposition to Ordinance No. 21-2212.
Commissioner Morgan moved to close the public hearing.
Seconded by Commissioner Shoemaker and carried by a
unanimous voice vote.
Mr. Kintner presented the Item and noted the applicant will move
into the land use phase where they will seek asite-specific
comprehensive plan amendment that provides a density
limitation of not more than fifty (50) dwelling units and a •
maximum building height of forty-five (45) feet and three (3)
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stories for residential uses. The Future Land Use Amendment is
not part of this item and would be reviewed by the Land Planning
Agency and City Commission at future meetings. This item
approves the annexation and the property coming into the City.
He then answered questions.
Commissioner Morgan spoke about why he was in favor of this
project involving apartments. He said this property is going to be
developed into apartments regardless of whether they annex into
the City. If they do not annex they have a higher probability of
turning it into two hundred (200) plus unit apartments and would
be governed by Seminole County, using our schools, first
responders, and should be paying the taxes for Longwood
services. He said working with the developer allows the
Commission who said they would limit apartments to fifty (50)
and they would be contributing to the City tax base.
Commissioner Morgan moved to adopt Ordinance No. 21-
2212 as presented Item 11A. Seconded by Commissioner
McMillan and carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
12. REGULAR BUSINESS
A. City Commission to consider the Orange Blossom Trail/State
Road 441 Brownfields Coalition Memorandum of Understanding.
Mr. Luis Nieves-Ruiz, Economic Development Manager with the
East Central Florida Regional Planning Council (ECFRPC) gave a
presentation on the Brownfields Program. He reviewed what the
council does and how the City was a participant in the HUD
Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program. It
received $422,386 to complete the Longwood SunRail Station
Area Plan. They do strategic planning and grants, health and
regional food system, economic impact analysis, and community
redevelopment and revitalization. He noted they now have a
Federal Brownfields Program and went over the program
benefits. He spoke about the Brownfields Assessment Grant
award and that Longwood is one of their partners. They will
receive $600,000 over a three-year period for the area of
OBT/U.S. 441 and 86%will go directly to pay for community
services. The Council will meet to review potential brownfield
areas and five high-priority sites. He went over what tasks they
are currently working on and reviewed the Inter-local Agreement
which was being presented to the Commission for approval.
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Commissioner Morgan moved to approve the Orange
Blossom Trail/State Road 441 Brownfields Coalition
Memorandum of Understanding. Seconded by
Commissioner Shoemaker and carried by a unanimous roll
call vote.
B. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 21-1581,which
approves a budget transfer from reserves in the amount of
$112,000 to design and construct the Lewis House Gazebo at the
Longwood Cemetery.
Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 21-1581 by title only.
Mr. Kintner presented the Item, reviewed the budget transfer,
what was included, and where the amount came from.
Discussion ensued on the history of the house and retaining the
historic plaque.
Deputy Mayor Boni moved to adopt Resolution No. 21-
1581 as presented Item 12B. Seconded by Commissioner
Shoemaker and carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
C. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 21-1582, updating
the City's Code Compliance Policy.
Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 21-1581 by title only.
Mr. Kintner presented the Item and noted the language regarding
"aggressive" code enforcement is located in the Comprehensive
Plan, not the City Charter. He mentioned this distinction because
the City Charter can only be amended by the voters of the city of
Longwood and the Comprehensive Plan can be amended by the
City Commission. He went over the two changes to the existing
policy.
Discussion ensued on proactive and reactive Code Enforcement,
education, and the addition of proactive patrolling.
Mr. Langley clarified having citizens call Commissioners with
anonymous complaints because they are a function of the city, a
111 policymaker. If they are conveying those anonymous complaints
to the staff that is not truly something they can take action on
under Florida Statute. The other point he made was to be careful
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about directing the staff because that is not a function of the
Commission to direct a staff member.
Mr. Kintner also discussed the effective date of any change that is
made. Specifically dealing with notification of going proactive and
providing some time before citing people.
Commissioner McMillan moved to adopt Resolution No.
21-1582 as presented. Seconded by Commissioner
Shoemaker and failed by a two-to-three (2-3) roll call vote
with Mayor Sackett, Deputy Mayor Boni, and
Commissioner Morgan voting nay.
Discussion ensued on changes to the resolution to remove the
following crossed-out language in the section below and make the
effective date January 1, 2022.
Residential Compliance Approach
• Single-family areas of the City will not generally have daily
patrolling and will be addressed on the basis of complaints
received(reactive).
o Where an address has two or more violations in a
6-month period, the Code Compliance Officer will do
periodic, proactive checks of the address beyond the
standard follow-up inspections associated with the initial
violation.
o While the residential approach is reactive, the code
compliance J,fi„ , ..rl n v
st take t t th t
arc identified in the course of addressing a complaint,
completing a follow up inspection, or in the course of other
duties
o Staff may elect to make an exception to the
of pro active patrolling. These pro active patrolling periods
city wide to address a particular code.
o Single-family areas are generally defined as those
within Low Density Residential or Medium Density
Residential zoning districts, or those areas having the
appearance of a single-family neighborhood in another
zoning district
Deputy Mayor Boni made a motion to approve Resolution
No. 21-1582 as presented with the the following changes:
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remove the language under the section Residential
Compliance Approach "not generally" and "will be
addressed on the basis of complaints received(reactive)" in
the first sentence, remove the second and third bullet in
the subsections, and have an effective date of January 1,
2022. Seconded by Commissioner Morgan and carried by
a three-to-two (3-2) roll call vote with Commissioner
Shoemaker and Commissioner McMillan voting nay.
D. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 21-1583,adopting
Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) Facilities Plan for the
East Longwood Area Septic Tank Abatement Program Phase 2
thru Phase 6.
Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 21-1583 by title only.
Mr. Smith presented the Item.
Commissioner Morgan moved to adopt Resolution No. 21-
1583 as presented Item 12D. Seconded by Commissioner
Shoemaker and carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
E. Read by title only and adopt Resolution No. 21-1585,which
amends the fiscal year 2020/2021 budget.
Mr. Langley read Resolution No. 21-1585 by title only.
Ms. Rosado presented the Item.
Commissioner Morgan moved to adopt Resolution No. 21-
1585 as presented Item 12E. Seconded by Deputy Mayor
Boni and carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
F. Read by title only, set December 6, 2021, as the public hearing
date, and approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 21-2213,
which revises Chapter 86 Article Ill (Towing of Vehicles) of the
Longwood City Code of Ordinances.
Mr. Langley read Ordinance No. 21-2213 by title only.
Chief Dowda presented the Item and clarified this is only
addressing the sign placement and not fine increases.
Commissioner Morgan moved to approve Ordinance No.
21-2213 and set December 6, 2021, as the public hearing
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date. Seconded by Commissioner McMillan and carried by
a unanimous roll call vote.
G. City Commission to consider an Agreement regarding partial
Waiver and Release of Covenants and Restrictions regarding the
451/455 West Warren Avenue Property.
Mr. Kintner presented the Item and noted the agreement
maintains in place Orlando Health's existing first right of refusal if
the City ever tries to sell the property. He also provided an
update on where the City is in the purchase and closing of the
property. The City is obligated to close upon the property on or
before December 22nd once the due diligence period expires.
Deputy Mayor Boni moved to approve and authorize the
Mayor to sign the Agreement regarding Partial Waiver and
Release of Covenants and Restrictions regarding the
451/455 West Warren Avenue Property. Seconded by
Commissioner Morgan and carried by unanimous roll call
vote.
13. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
Mr. Gioielli said the ARPA WorkShop will be held on November 30, 2021,
at 5:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers. He said at a previous meeting
the Mayor brought up the speed limit on West Church Avenue between
Milwee Street and Rangeline Road. The roadway is rated for up to thirty
(30) miles per hour (MPH) and currently at twenty-five (25) MPH zone
staff does have the ability to increase it to thirty (30) MPH. He asked for
Commission input.
Discussion ensued on the change in the speed limit. It was noted if it was
increased to thirty (30) MPH that the zone would be between Rangeline
Road and the Tiberon Cove subdivision,then drop down to twenty-five
(25) MPH up to Florida Avenue where there are houses close to Church
Avenue. It was confirmed there are bike lanes.
Commissioner Morgan moved to raise the speed limit on Church
Avenue to thirty (30) MPH from Rangeline Road to the Tiberon
Cove subdivision then drop to twenty-five (25) MPH. Seconded by
Mayor Sackett and failed by a two-to-three (2-3) roll call vote with
Deputy Mayor Boni, Commissioner Shoemaker, and
Commissioner McMillan voting nay.
Mr. Gioielli said they were contacted by the Florida Department of
Transportation ( FDOT)to discuss the 434 and Ronald Reagan Project and
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part of the conversation will include the slip lane. He had a meeting with
the Ladies 327 non-profit organization and confirmed with the City
Manager for Sanford what an asset he finds them to be. Ms..Colegrove
and her over twenty-four hundred members have proposed partnering
with the City on existing and new projects. They would like to provide-_
support during the Farmers Market and possibly provide a bounce house-_
for children while parents shop. He said they would also like to provide
food at Movies at the Park, and a couple of new events they would like to: '
propose being a Jazz and Wine Festival, Bunko for seniors at the -
Longwood Community Building, and Blue Grass and BBQ Festival.
There were no objections from the Commission for partnering w,ith,this"
organization.
Mr. Gioielli said the Gibbs Retail Study should be released soon and staff
plans to hold a workshop to allow the Gibbs group to present the study
to the public. He said regarding the new Fire Station, FEMA has approved
Phase 1 of the Grant request which will provide approximately$116,000
for the design phase of the project. He plans to bring the agreement to
the Commission for approval. He noted he hopes to get more grant
funding for Phases 2 and 3. Regarding the Flag Retirement, Mail Boxes
should be delivered this week and he is looking for input on the next
steps for the design. He said there will be cost associated with this and
would like to use the Commissioners Community Relations funds for it.
Also asked how the Commissioner would like to address the art design.
Discussion ensued on the art design if it should be painted or have a
wrap, have a contest for the Lyman High School art students, and review
of all the options.
Mr. Gioielli said the balcony at the Community Building is complete and a
usable feature. He also report last month was the highest gross month in
revenue for the building since they started tracking in October of 2017.
September was the third-highest since October of 2017.
14. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT. No report.
15. CITY CLERK'S REPORT
Ms. Longo said city offices will be closing at noon on Friday, November 19
in preparation for the 2021 Longwood Arts & Crafts Festival. Next week
the City will be closed on Thursday, November 25, and Friday, November
26 for the Thanksgiving Holiday. She wished everyone a happy and safe
Thanksgiving.
16. ADJOURN. Mayor Sackett adjourned the meeting at 9:19 p.m.
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Minutes approved by City Commission: 12-06-2021
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Brian D. Sackett,pa or
ATT ST:
ichelle Lon M , CR1Ve
City Clerk
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