Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutIII(A) Approval And Acceptance Of Minutes Of City Commission Regular Meeting Of August 3,1999, Work Session Of August 2, 1999 And Work Session Of May 20, 1999 Agenda‘.F ItemIII A 8-17-99 j-jli Ll L" MINUTES OF THE OCOEE CITY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING HELD AUGUST 3, 1999 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the regular meeting to order at 7:18 p.m. in the Commission Chambers. Commissioner Anderson led in prayer and Frances Watts led in the Pledge of Allegiance. The roll was called and a quorum was declared present. PRESENT: Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioners Anderson, Howell, Johnson and Parker. Also present were City Manager Shapiro, City Attorney Rosenthal, Fire Chief Strosnider, Planning Director Wagner, Public Works Director Robert Smith, and Acting City Clerk Green. ABSENT: None. PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS-None CONSENT AGENDA • The consent agenda consisted of Items A, B and C. Mayor Vandergrift, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Motion carried 5-0. A. Approval and Acceptance of Minutes of City Commission Special Session of June 8, 1999; ISO Workshop of July 14, 1999; Minutes of City Commission Workshop of July 19, 1999; Minutes of City Commission Special Session of July 20, 1999; and Minutes of City Commission Regular Meeting of July 20, 1999. B. Approval and Acceptance of Quarterly Report- Third Quarter. C. Approval and Authorization for Mayor and City Clerk to execute Modification of Interlocal Agreement between Orange County and the City of Ocoee for Animal Control Services. • Under old Agreement there was no means for the City to collect revenue for citations written by the City within our City limits. The modification now makes it legal for the City to collect the revenue for the citations. COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS/PUBLIC Kae Armstrong, 351 N. Bluford, spoke at length about an arrest made on May 19, 1999 by Ocoee Police Department. City Manager Shapiro advised her to provide documentation to Ms. Psaledakis in Human Resources so her concerns may be handled appropriately. COMMISSIONERS ANNOUNCEMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE Commissioner Anderson asked that Agenda Item VII D, Olympia PUD Final Subdivision Plan, be considered first under Other Business. Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting LJ [6-A August 3, 1999 Commissioner Howell congratulated the Big League Team of Ocoee Little League for winning the Southern Region Baseball Tournament played recently in Easely, South Carolina. Mayor Vandergrift: 1. Announced the Grand Opening of Beech Center on August 12, 1999 at 4:00 p.m. 2. Announced the Big League Team would be traveling to Tucson on Saturday, August 7, 1999 to participate in the Big League World Series. PUBLIC HEARINGS CONTRACT FOR SALE AND PURCHASE OF C&W TRUCKING FROM CREEDEN FAMILY LIMITED PARTNERSHIP City Attorney Rosenthal directed attention to his memorandum in the agenda packet which includes a copy of the Notice of Public Hearing, a Summary of Proposed Agreement of Purchase and Sale, the Staff Report previously distributed by Mr. Smith, and a copy of an Ethics Commission opinion regarding the payment of a brokerage commission in connection with this transaction. He said the provisions of the City Charter require that the purchase of any real property in excess of $1,000,000.00 must receive a majority vote of the members of the City Commission at an advertised public hearing. He said notice has been given in accordance with the provisions of the Charter. He said the City has submitted a proposed Purchase Contract and today Mr. Rosenthal had received a phone call from the attorney for the seller who had some minor comments on the Purchase Contract, none of which seemed to be a problem. As there was no signed purchase contract before Commission for this meeting, he suggested they hear Mr. Smith's report and open the public hearing. Mr. Rosenthal recommended that Commission take no final action but continue the public hearing to the next City Commission meeting. He said if there was any direction from City Commission not to proceed, Staff would want that direction tonight rather than continuing the public hearing. Public Works Director Smith presented the staff report for the proposed purchase of a 12.1 acre parcel located on the west side of Maguire Road, approximately 1,000 feet north of the intersection of Maguire Road and Enterprise Street for a new Public Works facility. The purchase price of the parcel owned by the Creeden Family is $1,127,540.66. He explained that seven acres is the absolute minimum land area required to house Public Works in the future and that the C&W property is the only site that has met all criteria and was determined to be acceptable by Mr. Smith, Chief Mark, Mr. Wagner and Mr. Shira. Mr. Smith pointed out that this parcel is available and usable today. Mr. Smith distributed a letter from Mr. John M. Rife, Jr., the owner of a 28 acre parcel immediately to the north of the existing Industrial Park site. Mr. Rife's letter included his proposal for sale of the entire 28 acres, undeveloped, at $1.50 per square foot for a total of $1,829,520.00 and for a 10 acre tract, developed, at $2.00 per square foot for a total of $871,200.00. Mayor Vandergrift asked if it would be feasible to keep the garbage trucks at the current site and have a second site for the Public Works facility. Public Works Director Smith said yes, 2 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting El August 3, 1999 �� LLI���ll IUD LIT but cited advantages found by other cities in having all public works facilities co-located in one area. City Manager Shapiro added that staff had talked about two smaller facilities in different locations in the City, but they felt that it would be in the best interest of the City if there was one large facility that housed everything. Discussion ensued. The public hearing was opened. Mr. R. P. Mohnacky, 1820 Prairie Lake Blvd., asked if there was any Orange County land zoned agricultural that would be a satisfactory site. Public Works Director Smith explained that they had looked out to McCormick Road in the north, to Apopka-Vineland Road in the east, to the Beltway in the west and to Windermere in the south. He said there are some areas in certain locations that would meet the criteria, but those areas are zoned residential. City Manager Shapiro added that the City would not have the right to put the facility in an agricultural area when it should be in an industrial area. Discussion ensued. Commissioner Johnson pointed out that he had been a licensed real estate agent with Palm Tree Properties but had inactivated his license when he decided to run for office. He said his license was active again, but he was now with Gosselin Realty. Following lengthy discussion in which the Mayor and Commissioners expressed their views and concerns, it was decided to continue the discussion to the August 17, 1999 meeting. Commissioner Howell, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, moved to continue the public hearing for the Contract for Sale and Purchase of C&W Trucking from Creeden Family Limited Partnership to August 17, 1999. Motion carried 5-0. Clerk's Note: The Southern Region Big League Champions, the Big League Team of the Ocoee Little League, arrived along with their coaches and parents. RECOGNITION OF SOUTHERN REGION BIG LEAGUE CHAMPIONS/GRANT FOR WORLD SERIES TRIP- (Not on Agenda) Coach Gary Hood, along with Coach Derick Anderson and Coach Zack Prettyman, presented to Mayor Vandergrift a plaque for the City from the Ocoee Little League for devoted and invaluable service. Mayor and Commissioners commended the coaches, the team members and their parents for the team's success and wished them well as they head to the Big League World Series in Tucson. The players introduced themselves to the Commission. Mayor Vandergrift, seconded by Commissioner Johnson, moved to waive procedure and grant $1,000.00 toward the trip for Ocoee Big League for the World Series in Tucson, Arizona. Motion carried 5-0. Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting August 3, 1999 ii n Recess: 8:52 p.m. to 9:10 p.m. OTHER BUSINESS Note: Item VII D. was taken out of order for consideration at this point in the meeting.. OLYMPIA PUD FINAL SUBDIVISION PLAN, PROJECT#LS-98-007 Planning Director Wagner presented a summary of the staff report for the proposed Final Subdivision Plan for the Olympia PUD, a 37.8 acre multi-use development with six commercial lots, a public library site and a public elementary school site. The project is located at the southeast corner of Clarke Road and Silver Star Road. Mr. Wagner said that all of the development in the commercial portion of the site as well as the library site will have to follow the State Road 50 Activity Center Development Standards, and, in fact, will comply with all the updated Commercial and Industrial Development Regulations. Mr. Wagner said it is his understanding that final negotiations between the Library Board and the Developer have resulted in the execution of an Agreement so the project will move forward as originally planned. As had been unanimously recommended by the DRC on July 20, 1999 and the Planning and Zoning Commission on July 28, 1999, Staff recommends approval subject to the eight conditions as outlined in the Staff Report which must be satisfied within the plan set before a Pre-Construction meeting will be scheduled. He said the surrounding property owners within 300 feet had been notified of the Planning and Zoning and City Commission meetings and signs had been posted on both Silver Star Road and Clarke Road inviting those who are interested to attend and make comments. Mayor Vandergrift announced that although this was not a Public Hearing, the Commission would allow comments and questions from the audience. Mr. Erik Houston, Program Director for Orange County Public Schools for new school construction, Mr. Steve Weidenbeck, civil engineer with WBQ Engineers, and Mr. Scott Beeney, Program Manager, with O'Brien-Kreitzberg Inc., were present for OCPS to answer any questions the Commission or residents may have. Mr. Houston said they were working to address the concerns expressed in a recent meeting with the Silver Bend Homeowners Association and felt they could resolve most of the issues with them satisfactorily. Commissioner Anderson asked for the record what the School Board's opinion was that within the PUD there would be alcohol within 1,000 feet of the school. Mr. Houston responded that he was not the person to ask that question and would defer to a higher authority for the answer. Ms. Martha Lopez-Anderson, 2438 Alclobe Circle, on behalf of Silver Bend HOA, said they perceived some promises were made by OCPS in the quarterly meeting for Silver Bend HOA concerning establishing a landscaping committee, trying to save as many trees as possible, 4 Ocoee City Commission Regular MeetingL August 3, 1999 addressing concerns from the Borysiewicz regarding drainage, and she asked for information about their budget for the landscaping package. Mr. Houston addressed the following concerns: 1) Drainage - provided details of their contacts and efforts to address the Borysiewicz's concerns and the offer stands to accompany them to SJRWMD to further assist them in mitigating their concerns to the extent it is possible to do so. 2) Landscaping Committee/Budget - said there is an open, standing offer to work with a committee to pinpoint specific locations for specific trees or types of trees. He said they are spending twice the normal amount for an elementary school site on this school site. He said he will send Ms. Lopez-Anderson the requested budget information which has just become available. 3) Fence - said they had designed a berm along the Silver Bend perimeter based on recommendations from the last public hearing at the City. Currently the plans call for this berm, but when they met with the HOA the majority of members that were at the meeting said they did not want the berm, but would rather forego the expense of the berm and put it into landscaping. Mr. Houston asked for a letter from the HOA clarifying their preference about the berm, and explained their willingness to provide in-fill fencing. 4) Tree removal - said they had walked the site with the City, designed the site based on recommendations from the City, redesigned to save an area between the school property line and the library line that abuts the Silver Bend neighborhood property. He said many trees would have to be removed, but they have saved the trees that were marked on the site to be saved. Mayor Vandergrift stated that the landscaping architect for Ocoee Middle School had been asked to make a presentation at the September 7 Commission meeting. Mayor encouraged community involvement through donations of trees/plants for landscaping for both schools. Mr. Eddie Entrekin, with Olympia Development Group, Inc., confirmed they have reached a written agreement and amendment to the contract with the Library and are in full agreement with recommendations from DRC and Planning and Zoning Commission and request the Commission's approval for the Subdivision Plan. Ms. Lavon Williams, 1763 Rachel's Ridge Loop, representing Wedgewood Commons HOA, said their main concern was making certain that access from the school property into the Wedgewood Subdivision would be limited. Ms. Dorothy Field, Orange County Library System, is pleased an agreement has been reached with Olympia for the new Library. She said they look forward to working with the community, and that she is present to address any concerns. She confirmed there would be a groundbreaking for the library. Ms. Lopez-Anderson thanked the school board staff and the developer for cooperating and encouraged developers to communicate. 5 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting [1. August 3, 1999 Mayor Vandergrift also thanked everyone for their cooperation with special thanks to Planning Director Russ Wagner and the Planning Department. Mayor Vandergrift emphasized the POWR program for water conservation, in particular the school and library plan. Planning Director Wagner said there would be a retention pond and fountain in front of the library and the development is being tied into a reuse system. He said this will be the first project that falls under the updated land development regulations and there will be a dramatic difference in the amount of landscaping. Mayor Vandergrift asked if the issue with sidewalks had been resolved. City Manager Shapiro explained the DOT will not build the sidewalks at this time because they will be added when the road is expanded. The City has tried to contact Scott Gold to get an easement on his property to be used as a walkway. Discussion ensued. Mr. Houston said they want sidewalks for the safety of the children and will support the City in any decision. Mayor Vandergrift, seconded by Commissioner Johnson, moved to approve the Olympia PUD, Final subdivision Plan, Project#LS-98-007 subject to staff recommendations as outlined in the Staff Report. Commissioner Anderson moved to amend motion to have no sale of alcohol in the PUD within 1,000 feet while school is in session. Motion died from lack of a second. Motion carried 5-0. CHANGE ORDER Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 AND 5 FOR BEECH CENTER Public Works Director Smith presented the staff report. He explained that Change Order Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 are construction change orders to the existing Beech Recreation Facility and Change Order 5 is for the design, planning, programming and construction criteria package for the planned addition to the building (Phase II). He said Nos. 1 thru 4 were for minor changes except for the change in site for the temporary soccer field. He said the permanent soccer field would be a part of Phase III. Discussion ensued. 9:45 p.m. - 9:55 p.m. Mayor Vandergrift left the dais and Mayor Pro Tern Anderson chaired the meeting in his absence. Commissioner Johnson, seconded by Commissioner Howell, moved to approve staff recommendations for Change Order Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 for Beech Center. Motion carried 4-0. The Mayor was not present for the vote. PUBLIC WORKS FUEL SYSTEM - CHANGE ORDER No. 1 AND FINAL PAYMENT AUTHORIZATION Public Works Director Smith presented the staff report. 6 f Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting L =� � August 3, 1999 Commissioner Johnson. seconded Commissioner Howell. moved to accept staff recommendations for the Public Works Fuel System Change Order No. 1 and Final Payment Authorization. Motion carried 4-0. The Mayor was not present for the vote. GROUNDTEK- CHANGE ORDER No. 1 (This item was pulled from the Agenda INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD City Attorney Rosenthal presented the staff report for the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Ocoee and the School Board of Orange County for the School and Park Site north of Maguire Road and adjacent to the proposed Ocoee Crossing Subdivision. The plan has been approved by the Orange County School Board and agreements have been executed. The School Board will proceed with the purchase of the Christensen/Dye Site and the City of Ocoee will contribute 40% of the purchase price/$475,000.00 toward the purchase of the site. The City would also be responsible for 40% of the closing costs. After the School Board acquires the property, they will finalize an agreement with the developer of the Ocoee Crossing Subdivision for a swap of a portion of the property so the configuration of the subdivision plan will be consistent with the Ocoee Subdivision Plan that has been approved. At the same time, the City will finalize a developer agreement which will come back to the City Commission for approval. The City and the School Board will then move forward and jointly design a master development plan for a Park site. Ocoee will have financial responsibility for the design of the 11 acre Park. This agreement also provides after 20 years either party would have the option to terminate the joint use of the Recreation Improvements. Discussion ensued. Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Howell, moved to approve the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Ocoee and the School Board of Orange County and authorize execution thereof by the Mayor and the City Clerk and furthermore, authorize execution of all documents necessary to implement the terms and conditions of the Interlocal Agreement. Motion carried 5-0. REQUEST FOR PUBLIC HEARING RE RELOCATION OF FIRE STATION ONE Fire Chief Strosnider requested a Public Hearing for the Relocation of Fire Station One. Mayor Vandergrift, seconded Commissioner Howell, made the motion to request a Public Hearing re Relocation of Fire Station One at the September 7, 1999 Commission Meeting. Motion carried 5-0. APPOINTMENTS/REAPPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS. Education Commission - Fill Vacancy for Clifford Koch,whose term expires August, 2001. Commissioner Howell, seconded by Mayor Vandergrift, moved to appoint Dennis Chen to the Education Commission for a term to expire August, 2001. Motion carried 5-0. Planning and Zoning Commission,3 year terms of Harold Switzer and Kimberly Christoefl expire September, 1999. Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting August 3, 1999 j L Mayor Vandergrift, seconded by Commissioner Howell, moved to reappoint Harold Switzer and Kimberly Christoefl to the to Planning and Zoning Commission with terms to expire September, 2002. Motion carried 5-0. Board of Adjustments - Fill Alternate Vacancies (2) for terms to expire May, 2001 and May, 2002. It was consensus to table this appointment to seek applicants from Districts 1 and 3. STAFF REPORTS -None. COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS Mayor Vandergrift: 1. Homeowners would like to know why the water pressure has decreased around Center Street. City Manager Shapiro will check with the City Engineer. 2. Announced the Big League team will be practicing at Bob Sorenson field Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Citizens or businesses who wish to contribute for the team's trip may call the Mayor's office at 656-2322 extension 169. 3. Announced the Grand Opening of the Beech Center on Thursday, August 12, 1999 at 4:00 p.m. Commissioner Howell: Linda McWilliams called asking if there would be a vote tonight regarding the netting at the Bob Sorenson Field. City Manager Shapiro will discuss the issue with Recreation Director Nordquist and Ms. McWilliams. Commissioner Anderson: 1. E-mail asking about access to SunTrust from the eastbound lane. Planning Director Wagner responded that the amended Final Subdivision Plan for SunTrust provides for temporary bollards to be placed preventing left turns. The future plan for the intersection is for seven lanes with two thru lanes in both directions, dual left turn lanes and a right turn lane. 2. E-mail from Gary Thomas asking about the City of Ocoee's preparation for Y2K. _Mayor Vandergrift said he thought the City was somewhere between 90-95%ready, and the new phone system should bring the City to 99%. Commissioner Anderson asked about staffing for the holiday and City Manager Shapiro responded that staff was in the process of determining how many additional employees would need to be available. 3. Said it was important for the Mayor to attend the Big League game if the team makes it to the World Series. City Manager Shapiro responded that any member of the Commission who wished to attend could do so without Commission approval. 8 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting August 3, 1999 ,. G n Li Commissioner Johnson: 1. Expressed concern that not enough citations were being issued for parking in fire lanes. City Manager Shapiro will report back with information about tickets issued for this offense. 2. Expressed concern about inadequate staffing on fire trucks, citing a recent observation of a four person truck only staffed with two individuals. City Manager Shapiro suggested that the need should be discussed with the Fire Chief in the budget workshops. Mayor Vandergrift suggested considering reserves as is done in Orange County, but City Manager Shapiro said the Fire Department does not want reservists. 3. Asked about Temporary Manpower on McKey. City Manager Shapiro said in a meeting today he had advised Mr. Flippen and Captain Wilson to meet with the gentleman who is running the office to explain the City's position. 4. Asked about the status of Union negotiations. City Manager Shapiro will arrange a meeting with Labor Attorney Reynolds Allen as soon as possible. 5. Asked about the Study for the design of Starke Lake/Municipal Campus. City Manager Shapiro responded that funds are available and it was consensus to ask Mayor Vandergrift to serve on the RFP Committee for it. 6. Asked about a place to keep animals (for animal control). City Manager Shapiro said it was a complicated issue and Commissioner Anderson suggested checking with a local veterinarian for a solution. 7. Noted item in Data Gram about conference in Del Ray Beach on September 8-10 for Main Street Program. Commissioner Parker: Announced RSVP line is 656-2218. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10:35 p.m. APPROVED Attest: City of Ocoee Marian Green, Acting City Clerk S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor 9 Agenda 8-17-99 DRAFT Item III A Subject to Board Appro\ral MINUTES OF THE OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION HELD AUGUST 2, 1999 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the work session to order at 6:07 p.m. in the Commission Chambers. PRESENT: Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioners Anderson, Johnson, and Parker (departed at 6:55 p.m.). Also present were City Manager Shapiro, Finance Director Horton, Finance Supervisor Carter and Principal Planner Lewis. ABSENT: Commissioner Howell. REVIEW AGENDA FOR August 3, 1999 REGULAR MEETING Commissioner Parker 1. Had a question about the Lake Olympia PUD. City Manager Shapiro advised her that there are currently two issues concerning the development: A. Lake Olympia and the library do not have a written agreement yet, but they will by tomorrow. Staff is concerned about passing a final plan without the library. If there is no written agreement by tomorrow, City Manager Shapiro will recommend tabling the plan. B. The widening of Silver Star will occur in 1-2 years, but the staff is concerned about putting in a sidewalk now that will have to be torn up. City Manager Shapiro is talking with the adjacent property owner about obtaining a walkway easement for an asphalt walk for the time being. City Attorney Rosenthal expressed concern over the legal issue of stopping the final subdivision plan at this stage and whether it is consistent with the developer agreement. Commissioner Parker 2. Had a question about the new public works facility regarding space and the additional property needed. City Manager Shapiro stated that Public Works Director Smith would be available tomorrow to answer her questions. The reason that it is on the agenda at all is due to the charter requirement that all land purchases over $1 million required a public hearing. He also stated that there is another piece of land by Maguire Road and Professional Parkway that will be required for drainage that will also be on a future agenda because it is over the $1 million price limit. A discussion ensued among Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Anderson, Commissioner Johnson, City Attorney Rosenthal and City Manager Shapiro as to the City's methods of negotiation, contracts, appraisals, surveys, engineering concerns, available funds and purchases of real estate. OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION AUGUST 2, 1999 Commissioner Johnson 1. Had a question regarding the Beech Center change orders. He suggested rebidding the Groundtek mowing contract. A discussion ensued among Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Anderson, Commissioner Johnson, City Attorney Rosenthal, City Manager Shapiro, and Finance Director Horton concerning the various change orders to the Beech Center and the bidding process in general. Commissioner Anderson 1. Wanted to know if Groundtek is billing the City properly for weekly and bi-weekly mowings. Finance Director Horton responded that Public Works Director Smith approves the invoices for payment and can report how this is calculated. 2. Wanted to know why the interlocal agreement for animal control with Orange County stated that Orange County would enforce animal control from 4:00 pm until 8:00 am, since our control officer works until 5:00 pm. City Manager Shapiro responded that our animal control officer transports all animals from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. to the Orange County shelter, so the county covers that one hour for us. Commissioner Johnson suggested building an animal shelter. Mayor Vandergrift 1. Stated that after this meeting he is going to attend the Education Commission meeting and on Thursday he will be meeting with a representative from the Orange County School Board concerning school construction in Ocoee. 2. Wanted to know how the $400,000.00 appropriated for the POWR campaign was budgeted. Finance Director Horton and City Manager Shapiro responded to his questions. 3. Was concerned about having the sprinkler system checked around City Hall, since various landscaping plants are dying. Commissioner Anderson _ 3. Had various questions about the budget, long distance telephone charges and the temporary labor hired by the City. Finance Director Horton and City Manager Shapiro responded to his questions. Commissioner Johnson 2. Wanted to know why the City has to pay for additional staff to assist Animal Control Officer Sherman during her period of disability, and if the Department Supervisor or the County could cover calls for her instead. City Manager Shapiro responded to his questions. 2 OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION AUGUST 2, 1999 3. Wanted to know when new seats were going to be purchased for the Commission Chambers. City Manager Shapiro responded that the seats had already been budgeted for and would be installed soon. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:13 p.m. ( APPROVED Attest: City of Ocoee Marisa Dawson, Administrative Secretary S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor 3 -� a Agenda 8-17-99 L11� {F Item III A MINUTES OF THE OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION HELD MAY 20, 1999 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the work session to order at 7:08 p.m. in the Commission Chambers. PRESENT: Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioners Anderson, Howell, and Parker. Also present were City Manager Shapiro, City Attorney Rosenthal, Community Relations/Projects Director Shira, Special Counsel Braulio Baez, and Deputy City Clerk Green. ABSENT: Commissioner Johnson. DISCUSSION RE CABLE TELEVISION Community Relations/Projects Director Shira explained that the workshop was fashioned to let Commission know what staff has been working on with Attorney Braulio L. Baez, of Leibowitz & Associates, P.A. Mr. Baez has been working with Time Warner about the City's cable television franchise renewal. Mrs. Shira said the purpose of this meeting is to share what they have been working on, to outline some issues which staff thinks are important and which they think are important to Commissioners, to get from Commission a sense of"are we on track," and to let Commission know what to expect from upcoming meetings. Mrs. Shira introduced Attorney Baez who said his purpose was to give a general overview of the renewal process, to update Commission with specifics on the progress so far, and to conclude with some of the issues that they have identified as critical and important to the City and are therefore to be included in negotiations throughout the renewal process. Mr. Baez said Time Warner is authorized to operate a cable television system in the City of Ocoee in accordance with the terms of a franchise granted to CableVision originally in Ordinance No. 786 which is set to expire July 3, 1999. He said federal law provides both formal and informal processes for franchise renewals, and those apply to the City's franchise with Time Warner. He said generally the renewal efforts proceed along both lines. The parties usually like to proceed along the informal track, but each of them seek to reserve their rights under the formal track in case anything goes wrong. He said to date the City and the Company have been proceeding mainly through the informal track. Mr. Baez briefly explained the three phases of the formal cable television franchise renewal proceeding. The first phase begins when the formal renewal process is invoked. It consists of the City having public hearings in order to carry out an ascertainment process. The first purpose of the ascertainment process is to gather information to ultimately determine what the key issues are for the City and the community and what the cable related interests and needs are. The second purpose of ascertainment is to enter into an evaluation process of the cable operator's performance (issues of compliance) under the existing franchise. When Iii3LU1 OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION MAY 20, 1999 ascertainment process is completed the City can issue an ascertainment report and request a renewal proposal from the cable operator. The second phase of the process begins once the formal renewal proposal is received from the cable operator. At that time the City enters into an evaluation of that proposal for purposes of deciding whether to renew the franchise or to issue a preliminary notice of non-renewal. The third phase involves a full evidentiary hearing whether the City Commission sits as the fact finder or not. The evidentiary hearing is a fairly drawn out process much akin to a trial. Standards that have to be considered: whether the cable operator is substantially complying, whether the operator's service is reasonable in light of the community's needs, whether the operator has the legal, financial, and technical capabilities to provide the services, facilities and equipment which are proposed in their formal proposal, and whether the proposal itself is reasonable to meet the future cable related needs of the community. Mr. Baez pointed out again that formal procedures have not been pursued thus far. He said the City and Time Warner have been proceeding with informal renewal negotiations. While it did take a while for these good faith negotiations to begin, as evidenced by Mr. Fogarty's presence today, they are engaged in discussions and Mr. Baez fully expects to take the informal process to a satisfactory conclusion. As part of the City's ongoing inquiry, the City had performed a .financial audit of the franchise fee payments over 96/97 which found approximately $17,000.00 underpayment. Mr. Baez said the company still disputes some of the numbers that came up to that total. He said the results of the audit form part of the informal renewal negotiations. And further, he said staff has been gathering information to determine the City's priorities in the renewal process. Mr. Baez said issues identified for focus by the City include: Definition of gross revenues - Gross revenues that are generated by the franchisee from the operation of their cable system within the City become the basis upon which franchise fees are calculated. They represent compensation to the City for access to its rights-of-way. Federal law limits the percentage which a franchising authority can charge on gross revenues to 5%. The City's current franchise fee is set at 3%. Real debate lies in the determination of what services that are provided through that cable system are going to comprise the pool of revenues upon which the franchise fees will be calculated. He said two big issues are: (1) Open-access and internet services being provided through the cable system; inclusion of revenues for internet service are currently being negotiated all over the country, and (2) The thornier issue of the lease of excess capacity on the cable systems - i.e. lease to telecommunications companies. He said debate ranges on whether that lease of excess capacity is a cable service that will be subject to franchise fees. He said it has the potential for representing a lot of revenue in the future. Enhanced program customer service requirements - Local franchising authorities can require 2 M PH OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION MAY 20, 1999 more meaningful customer service requirements than minimum standards established by the FCC and have the ability to "put teeth in" these customer service requirements in the way of fines and other liquidated damages mechanisms. Mr. Baez said they have sought to include these mechanisms in the drafts they are discussing. This is in its most basic sense an incentive for the cable operator to stay true to the customer service requirements and to provide the level of service and attention to the residents that the City feels is appropriate. Mrs. Shira gave examples of complaints she has received from cable television customers. She said when she receives a complaint she calls Time Warner as though she was the customer and lately has been getting Time Warner representatives who don't know where Ocoee is, let alone what the particular issue might be. She said she needs to have communication from Time Warner about things happening in Ocoee. Mrs. Shira says she gets blindsided by brochures the customer has received that she knows nothing about. She said Time Warner needs to let her know about outages in the City so she can respond when citizens call her. Mayor Vandergrift asked how many calls per month had been received on average Mrs. Shira said she had received 20 to 30 calls in the last two months. Mrs. Shira said it needs to be the responsibility of Time Warner to notify someone at the City about problems with outages, providing service to a new subdivision, etc. Mr. Baez said they are seeking to fold all the issues which Mrs. Shira has raised into customer service requirements - include reporting requirements to the City. He said one of the points that they seek to get across is that, in a time of change, the City can be the cable operator's best friend. As the City is going to get a fair amount of calls, there needs to be a requirement to keep the City as involved and as informed as is possible. If the requirement is not met, then there are enforcement remedies available to the City. He said there are things that are happening now which will cause a spike in customer calls to the City. At the end of March the FCC's jurisdiction over rates for upper tier of services went away so the companies have less constraints in changing their rates for those types of systems. He said the City winds up being one of the focal points for complaints. He said the City needs to be aware of any construction that may cause calls. Then it will be easy to defuse complaints by responding that the City knows and the cable company is on top of it. Mayor Vandergrift asked if other Cites are requiring this notification in their franchises. Mr. Baez said some of the more modern franchises are including them. Mr. Shapiro said because of the engineering utilization permit, the City would be aware of where they were digging, but not why. Mr. Baez explained two high concept provisions: "state of the art" and "most favored nation." 3 -1 M OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION MAY 20, 1999 He said "state of the art" is some definition of what is state of the art in terms of facilities and technology. He said the purpose is to set the bar or create a target for the company to attain throughout the life of the franchise. He said the "most favored nation" concept seeks to give the company a push in the direction of "state of the art." These provisions conceptually seek to keep the City's system and services in as constant a state of improvement as is feasible given circumstances. The benefit to a small City is that it keeps the City moving with the times, and this is important to businesses which may consider moving to the area as well as to, provide the benefits to the current residents. Mrs. Shira asked if a big city like Orlando or Orange County negotiates something with Time Warner that they are going to do for them and we are right next door, does that give us any ability to say well you are doing it right over there why shouldn't we also get that. Mr. Baez said generally that is the idea. There are technical circumstances that may prevent that from happening, but the motivation that you want to give the company is to keep the City's technology level in cable services and service level moving in a state of forward movement. Mayor Vandergrift asked if the representatives for Time Warner should be given an opportunity to speak at this time and City Attorney Rosenthal pointed out that this was not a public hearing nor a negotiating session with Time Warner. Mr. Baez said an issue important to the City is public, educational and governmental channel access (PEG). He said local authorities typically require one or more subscriber channels to be held back and placed in control of the City or an educational institution for their use in order to do community programming, disseminate information, and to deliver services to the residents. He said the change from County and City channels to only one government access channel in Ocoee would be addressed. Mr. Baez said one of the main purposes of the renewal,negotiations is to establish channels of communication between the franchisee and the franchising authority in order to serve the purpose of delivering benefits to the community. He said the City can only do this if it is up to date, informed, and knows what is going on with its cable system. Mr. Baez addressed the audit report and the $17,000.00 underpayment. He said generally Time Warner has agreed to most of the elements on it, except underpayments which the auditor identified which were related to an issue called "fee on fee." There was a time when the computation of franchise fees included franchise fees - the 3% was based on the entire bill including the franchise fees. There was an FCC decision that negated that concept, and most cable operators stopped paying on the "fee on fee" for a period of two years. A federal court ultimately reversed that finding the "fee on fee" to be proper. And Time Warner has offered 4 7.2 LIT OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION MAY 20, 1999 to pay it on a prospective basis - from the time the decision came down forward. He said the issue that remains is what to do with the payments held back for those two years based on the FCC decision. Discussions are continuing in an attempt to resolve that issue. Mr. Baez mentioned migrating of channels to a la carte services which results in reduction in number of channels available on upper tier but no reduction in rate so it is effectively a rate increase. Mrs. Shira explained that basic service is not what most people consider basic service. She said what most people have in the range of channels without the premium channels is called standard service. When the current change takes effect, for customers to get what they are getting now will cost more money. Referring to a rate comparison provided by Mr. Spencer, Mrs. Shira asked if the comparison of Ocoee's rates to those for Orlando and Orange County was an "apples to apples" comparison. Commissioner Anderson asked if the City Commission could establish a minimum amount to be on basic in the City without establishing a programming scenario. Mr. Baez explained his understanding of what the law requires for basic service is that there be locally available broadcasting channels, i.e. CBS, ABC, NBC, independents, government and educational access. He does not believe the Commission may require a specific tier of channels. He said the basic package is what you can receive on an antenna. Mr. Baez said the City cannot dictate programming Commissioner Anderson said if we sign a franchise in good faith we need to have a baseline. City Attorney Rosenthal said the standard is established by federal law rather than local law. City Manager Shapiro said that after they talked with Ms. Pickett and Mr. Spencer, the City did a receive a map showing where and when the services were being cut on. He said they were more than happy to help us with the sound issues in the building and there is no question that the fiber optics have created a much better picture. Mayor Vandergrift recalled some background and history of cable service in the City. Mr. David Spencer, Vice President and General Manager of the Orlando Time Warner Office, said he and Mr. John Fogarty, attorney from the Time Warner corporate office, were present to listen to Commission's issues and to respond to their questions. 5 OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION J'1) ridnm MAY 20, 1999 . Attorney Fogarty presented their perspective on some of the key issues which Mr. Baez had outlined for Commission. Distinction between basic and standard (FCC refers to as CPST) service. He explained this distinction is now required by federal law, and the number of channels on basic and the number of channels on CPST is not an area treated in franchises. He said federal government does require that all the local broadcast channels and the PEG channels are on basic. The FCC has also encouraged cable providers to keep basic service limited to those channels so that it provides a very low priced alternative for those on limited incomes. Gross revenue and franchise fee - He said Time Warner is agreeable to providing the maximum franchise fee the law permits (5%). He said they have not problem with a change from 3% to 5% franchise fee, but would be more than happy to keep it at 3% as the customer is concerned about the total amount paid to Time Warner each month. Commissioner Anderson commented that this fee would be passed through to customers so that Time Warner would not be incurring any additional expense. Customer service requirements - Time Warner is pledged to meet the customer service standards of the FCC and they have their own internal standards which they try to meet. He said if the franchise required Time Warner to exceed the FCC standards, the cost of doing that would be passed through to the subscribers. He said the FCC had considered carefully when they set that standard what is good customer service and what is affordable customer service. He said they are very committed to customer service State of the Art/Most Favored Nation - Mr. Fogarty said they are committed to providing an up-to-date advanced cable system that will provide the customers in Ocoee with a wide range of programming options with high quality signal and to maintain the system throughout the franchise term at a high level of operations that is consistent with the general standard throughout the industry. He said what they cannot agree to do is to say that when improvements are introduced in the industry that Ocoee is always going to be first, as they have 3,000 franchises around the country. Mr. Fogarty said what needs to be done now is to try to get the kind of language that puts this all down in writing, but hopefully we are all in agreement that we have a common aim and are not very far apart on where we want to be at the end. He said they are willing to work with the City to get it done in a way that will be good for the City and will be good for the customers here. Recess: 8:08 p.m. - 8:25 p.m. Commissioner Parker - Had no questions. 6 16) OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION -] MAY 20, 1999 Commissioner Howell, noting from the news a big complaint across the country about cable TV rate hikes and poor service, asked how much the rate service in Ocoee has gone up in the last five years. Mr. Spencer said he did not know but would get the answer for him. Mrs. Shira said the FCC allows an increase of a percentage each year. Commissioner Howell recalled billing problems with cablevision when it was CVI and customer service personnel were not helpful. He said they had told him if he was unhappy with them he could buy a dish, and that is what he did. Commissioner Anderson said although the Commission has no control over this, he would like information on rate indreases over the last five years for standard service and premium service. Commissioner Anderson asked if night calls are answered by Time Warner or an answering service. Mr. Spencer said they are answered by Time Warner employees as their call center in Orlando is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The FCC standard on answered phones is that 90% of the calls must be answered within 30 seconds. Mayor Vandergrift asked what is the level of service requirement from call to getting service back in. Mr. Spencer said if they have a service interruption, but not a complete loss of service, the goal they strive for is to complete 95% of them by the end of the next day. If the subscriber is completely without service, the goal is to restore service that same day. If there is an outage affecting multiple residences, the goal is within 11/2 hours. He personally receives a page on everyone of those that goes beyond two hours. Mr. Fogarty said Time Warner's goals are beyond the FCC standards. Commissioner Howell said on a recent pay-per-view the service went out and it did not come back until near the end of the program. He asked if there would be reimbursement for that. Mr. Spencer confirmed that credit would be given in that situation. Mr. Howell asked what the policy is on that, and if replay could be reordered. Mr. Spencer said most of the bigger events, such as wrestling matches, have the live event and immediately following they have a replay, and then within two to four days they have another replay. If something goes wrong with the service and you want to watch that, then you can watch the replay. It will be necessary to call in unless it is a programmer problem. Commissioner Anderson asked if there were a reason why local channels 2, 6, and 9 are not on 2, 6, and 9 on cable. Mr. Spencer explained that it had to do with engineering and federal rules. He said, from the engineering standpoint, it is the general practice to offset in order to 7 OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION L�-\ L`J MAY 20, 1999 find problems before the customer sees them. He said this practice stems from the early days of cable. Mr. Spencer said there are federal rules now called "must carry rules" and broadcast stations choose either "must carry" or "retransmission consent." They have certain rights to channel placements and that was benchmarked when they started these rules and they had the right to stay on the channel they were currently on or elect to go to the channel that they broadcast on. They are where they are today because of the history and because of federal "must carry" and "retransmission consent" rules and what channel they have elected through those federal regulations. Mr. Fogarty explained that the broadcasters have a choice on what channels they want to be on based on certain criteria. Commissioner Anderson asked if, for example, Time Warner has a letter from Channel 6 saying they do not want to be on Channel 6. Mr. Fogarty said we would have some sort of election from Channel 6 if they chose "must carry" to indicate what channel they want to be on. Mr. Fogarty said by selecting "must carry" a station says to the cable operator you have to carry us, or by selecting "retransmission consent" a station indicates to the cable operator you cannot carry us without our consent. Commissioner Anderson asked if Channels 2, 6, 9 had the option to be on cable on those channels but chose to opt out of it. Mr. Fogarty said if they chose "must carry" status they should have elected the channel that they are on. Commissioner Anderson expressed concern about lengthy contracts (10 and 15 years) in times of great technological changes and in light of the rapid growth in the area. Mrs. Shira pointed out that ten years is the maximum length for franchises now. Mr. Fogarty said Time Warner does not view ten years as a long term contract. He said the industry is changing, there are a lot of developments going on, but they are not generally in areas that are based on the franchise. These are technology driven developments. He doesn't think the franchise is intended to or is going to impact those. He said the standard term throughout the industry would be in the 10 to 15 year range. Mayor Vandergrift pointed out that companies would be less likely to invest funds on advanced technology for a five year contract than a ten year contract. City Manager Shapiro pointed out that one of the reasons why there may be difference of 8 OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WOR K SESSION MAY 20, 1999 opinion is there is still a lot of negotiation to do and reminded about what Mr. Baez said about "state of the art" and that there are tradeoffs associated with state of the art versus term of contract. Commissioner Anderson asked Mrs. Shira if there were a reason why the City did not RFP this. Mrs. Shira said anybody can come in and ask for a franchise. Mr. Shapiro explained that RFP is not necessary for this as it is available to everyone, other companies could come in and lease out wires on Florida Power or the phone companies and they would have to negotiate a franchise through the same process. Mr. Shapiro said you never want to be in a situation where you have three franchise companies in a City with three different rates. Commissioner Anderson asked if when road runner comes in it would be an additional charge and Mr. Fogarty responded yes, as it would be an optional service. Mr. Baez clarified that when we throw out the word "competitive" it is not to suggest there is any other cable modem service available. Mr. Spencer said by the end of this year they will have all systems in Seminole and Orange Counties upgraded and they will be on the new channel line-up. He said their goal is to provide a line up and to service their product for a price that wins out over their competition. Mr. Shapiro pointed out that the City probably would not make the July 1 deadline (for franchise renewal), and would prefer to negotiate the best possible contract rather than accomplish it by July 1. Mr. Baez said he would prepare for an extension for the current franchise and Mr. Shapiro said it would be brought to Commission some time in June. Mr. Baez said, as is set out as part of the formal process, there are avenues for the company to challenge the decision not to renew a franchise. He said the outcome of that would depend on what the record of your considerations amounts to and what the reasons for your denial would be (evidentiary hearing). Mr. Baez said their approach to this renewal is to address a master ordinance that applies to every cable provider that eventually would be desiring to come in and from that would flow the franchise agreement. The federal law does not require a City to have a franchise but allows a City government to require a franchise for access to its rights-of-way. Mayor Vandergrift asked Mr. Baez if in the industry there was a move away from franchises to a per mile rental for right-of-way. Mr. Baez said the per linear mile concept is not usually found with providers who provide this type of service (whether telecommunications, cable or otherwise). 9 rThl MI /LA OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION MAY 20, 1999 Mr. Baez pointed out that there is an effort going on statewide on the part of telecommunications companies and, to some extent, the Florida Cable Association, to address the issue of establishing a unified telecommunications tax. He said the intended purpose of that tax is to eliminate, or fold in franchise fees, public service tax, and the gross receipts tax that flows to the state. The overall impact would represent a scaling back of cities' franchising authority. Mayo Vandergrift said there is an industry ploy by the heavier duty industries, such as the power companies, to get a law passed that said cities can't put in underground utilities and spread the cost out across the entire industry. He said there is nothing today that can stop Time Warner, Florida Power, or anyone from going out in some of the subdivisions that have underground cabling now and put in poles for overhead cables. There is not any real control over that and the point is that they are using this law. He said that when Florida Power was asked about putting in a 69 KVW line down Clarke Road underground they said the City would have to pay for it. With the technology that Time Warner is putting out now, we are used to seeing it strung on the poles, but wouldn't it have been a great step for us to bury a line that large underground to help the looks of the City. This is a law that the state has passed on the benefit of the utilities that flies in the face of compact communities. Mr. Baez said he is not aware of that law, but he does come from a telephone and electric background, and the Public Service Commission does have requirements as far as their rules that require electric and telephone utilities to underground their facilities in all new subdivisions. As the facilities come up for replacement due to wear and tear they have to underground them as well. When a City requests it, in the interim, when it is not due to be undergrounded by virtue of its replacement, then the utilities do have the right to get the incremental cost. Mr. Shapiro said we do that now under subdivision regulations. Mr. Shapiro said when there is a large KVW line that is not serving a particular development, but serving a quadrant of the City, that is when the power company said the City had to pay for it and would have to have the ugly overhead lines. Mayor Vandergrift asked if there were any chance that Time Warner were going to close down the service plaza in Ocoee and consolidate to the plant on American Boulevard. Mr. Spencer said in Ocoee they have a regional construction department and walk-in service with agents available during normal business hours. They own the building and have no plans to change the customer service aspect. Internal use as to whether it is a construction department or training facility can be changed from time to time. Mayor Vandergrift suggested that Time Warner should consider partnershipping with the City in paying for some of the incremental widening of that portion of Maguire Road near their facility. 10 P OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION ) N MAY 20, 1999 Mayor Vandergrift said that Ocoee residents need to have access to the Orange County Government Channel as well as the local channel. He said a network was needed that would cover all the cities in West Orange County. Mr. Shapiro pointed out that this is a very serious issue to staff and they have made it clear to Time Warner, that while we cannot demand it, that we certainly consider that an issue that may decide what kind of a franchise we have. He said as leaders in West Orange and as Ocoee is becoming the second largest City in Orange County, we need to know about Orange County government and the people surrounding Ocoee want to know about Ocoee's government. Mayor Vandergrift said he would like to see networking that would include the schools on a rotating basis. Mayor Vandergrift asked if Time Warner can control having commercials broadcast at the same volume as the programs and if all channels could be the same. Mr. Spencer said they should and do have some control. He said there are regulations in terms of volume levels as to what they can and cannot do with commercials. He said Time Warner runs checks on those very frequently. If there is an audio variation in decibel loudness that is noticeable between channels, call Time Warner to let them know what channels they are. Commissioner Anderson asked about the "parental control option." Mr. Spencer said that feature is built into the smart box at no extra charge (and is not available without the smart box). He said the feature allows locking out of any or all channels or programs by rating or channels by time of day. Mr. Anderson asked if it would be possible to bleep out four letter words. Mr. Spencer said there was nothing commercially available today to allow the consumer to do that to an audio program. There are several efforts going on industry wide in terms of program ratings that alert consumers to what type of material is in programs, both video and audio. Mr. Fogarty said that Time Warner is not legally entitled to interfere with broadcast signals. Mayo Vandergrift asked if we should be able to get a university on this side of town, if negotiating for the government channels now should include three channels as opposed to two. Mr. Baez pointed out that now would be the time to talk about it but pointed out that it is a double edged sword as anytime a subscriber channel is set aside for PEG use it is a loss of revenue to the City. In response to questions from Mayor Vandergrift, Mr. Spencer explained some technical aspects of the new fiber optics and noted that it is a rapidly evolving technology. Commissioner Anderson asked if in future the fibers are bi-directional if the City would receive two fees. Mr. Fogarty responded that franchise fees are based on revenues for cable 11 OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION Lr C� d Li' L _J MAY 20, 1999 service. Mr. Baez pointed out that the City received franchise fees on services that are provided over the cable system. If what Commissioner Anderson is describing constitutes a separate service for which they can charge, then there would be franchise fees. 9:35 p.m.- Mayor Vandergrift left the dais and Mayor Pro Tem Anderson chaired the remainder of the meeting. City Manager Shapiro commented that there would be negotiation as to what is meant by "cable service." ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m. APPROVED Attest: City of Ocoee Marian Green, Deputy City Clerk S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor 12