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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem #01 Approval of Minutes MINUTES OCOEE CITY COMMISSION August 5, 2008, at 7:15 P.M. REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING I A. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the regular session to order at 7:15 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of City Hall. Commissioner Keller gave the Invocation and Commissioner Hood led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. City Clerk Eikenberry called roll and declared a quorum present. Roll Call: Commissioner Hood, Commissioner Anderson (absent), Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Keller, and Commissioner Johnson (absent). Also Present: City Attorney Rosenthal, City Manager Frank, City Clerk Eikenberry lB. PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS Presentation - Acknowledgement and Appreciation from Ocoee Little League to the Parks and Recreation Department - Commissioner Hood Earline Stirgus of Ocoee Little League thanked the Parks and Recreation Department for their continued support, with the kids and keeping the fields in great condition. Commissioner Hood said after difficulties last year, there were some changes and the League is in good shape this year; he acknowledged Dave Dunham as the new incoming president. Proclamations - Mayor Vandergrift ~ National Night Out - August 5, 2008 ~ The First Days of School Celebration - August 18, 2008 ~ Ocoee Firefighter Appreciation Week - August 4th - August 10th Lindsey Marcum, Muscular Dystrophy Association spoke on behalf of MDA and thanked the Ocoee Fire Department for all of their efforts collecting money for a worthy cause. She noted that they are always on top in the money raising efforts and she looks forward to working with them again during the fall boot drive. Presentation on Disabilities Forum by our Human Relations Diversity Board Louis Fazio passed out a booklet on containing some initial research that had been done and noted that there are approximately 4,000 residents in Ocoee who fall under the ADA requirements. He said Ocoee should be proactive and establish that all residents are included in the governmental process. He asked the Commission to consider budgeting $3,000 in seed money to start the process. He said this money will help to look into such things as TDDs for hearing impaired and using sign language interpreters at public meetings. Mayor Vandergrift asked if we have any matching grant funds. He said there is also grant money that is out there that they will be striving for; they have a meeting with the Center for Independent living next week. Board Member Lester Dabbs added that the board has discussed many of the ideas but kept coming back to the fact that there is nothing in the budget to comply with handicapped laws that are 25 years old. Ocoee has always been known for doing the right thing, and that would be to address adding some resources. Mayor Vandergrift asked that staff bring this to us during the budget hearing process. City Commission Regular August 5, 2008 I C. COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS/PUBLIC None I D. COMMISSIONERS ANNOUNCEMENTS Commissioner Hood 1) announced the Ocoee Middle School orientation dates beginning August 13,2008, 2) reminded those driving early in the morning to do to cautiously because the younger kids are going to be at the bus stops this year and they may be more active than the older kids were, 3) said Ocoee Knight Fever (orientation) will be held on August 14, 2008. Free physicals will be given to those playing sports at the high school this year on August 6,2008. 4) announced the new Head Coach for baseball is Eddie Doyle, who was formerly the Assistant Coach; he wished well to Coach Interkin who accepted a job at Weikiva. 5) said Pop Warner football started, Fall baseball is starting next month. There will be a lot of kids out running around who are involved in sporting activities and he urged drivers to keep their eye out for them. Mayor Vandergrift reminded everyone that there are four high schools that serve Ocoee; West Orange, Wekiva, Olympia, and Ocoee High School. If anyone has information on any of the high schools, please keep us informed and he will put it in the gazette. Commissioner Keller noted that there are some night meetings that only the farthest door to the north is open and that is not a handicapped door. Commissioner Keller - said there will be a car wash on August 16, 2008 for the 8th grade class raising funds for their trip to Washington D.C. I E. CONSENT AGENDA. 1. Approval and Acceptance of the Regular City Commission Minutes July 15, 2008. (City Clerk Eikenberry) Approved on Consent. Motion carried 3-0, with Commissioner Anderson and Commissioner Johnson absent. 2. Appointment to the Board of Adjustment. (City Clerk Eikenberry) Michael Elliott, who is currently an alternate member on the Code Enforcement Board, has indicated he would be interested in also serving on the Board of Adjustment Board. Staff recommends that the Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners appoint Michael Elliott to serve a three-year term on the Board of Adjustment with a term ending May 2011. Currently there are no other applications on file to fill the board openings. Approved on Consent. Motion carried 3-0, with Commissioner Anderson and Commissioner Johnson absent. 3. Appointment to the Community Grant Review Board. (City Clerk Eikenberry) One application was received from Ms. Julie Jackson Butler with interest in serving on the board. Staff recommends that the City Commission appoint Julie Jackson Butler to the Community Grant Review Board with term ending March 2011. Currently there are no other applications on file to fill the board openings. Approved on Consent. Motion carried 3-0, with Commissioner Anderson and Commissioner Johnson absent. Page 2 of7 City Commission Regular August 5, 2008 4. Approval of Agreement between the City of Ocoee and Valencia Community College. (Fire Chief Firstner) The City of Ocoee Fire Department will utilize its facilities to provide clinical experiences for students enrolled in the College's emergency medical services program, utilizing the approved program of study. The term of the agreement is through December 31, 2010 and may be extended by agreement of both parties. Approved on Consent. Motion carried 3-0, with Commissioner Anderson and Commissioner Johnson absent. 5. Award of Bid #B08-01 Lift Station #7 Rehabilitation and 16" Replacement Force Main to Clarke Road to GWP Construction, Inc. in the amount of $1,020,470.80. (Purchasing Agent Tolbert) The Engineering Department and Finance Departments have reviewed all bids submitted for the subject work. Staff recommends awarding the project to GWP Construction, Inc. as the most responsive and responsible bidder for the amount of $ 1,020,470.80, and authorize the Mayor, City Clerk, and Staff to execute the required contract documents. To fund the project, staff recommends that the City Commission approve the allocation of $1,196,493.90 from the 2003 Utility Bond fund (Account 414-535-00-6302), which will provide $1,020,470.80 for the construction contract, $125,000.00 for construction engineering and inspection services and geotechnical testing services, and $51,023.10 (5% of construction cost) for contingencies. An additional amount of $51,023.10 would remain in the bond allocation for this project as a reserve and may be added to the adopted project budget by the City Commission at a future date. Due to a bid protest, City Attorney Rosenthal asked that this item be pulled from the Consent Agenda and heard separately. City Attorney Rosenthal said that there was a bid protest filed by Emerald Utilities and Site Development Inc. The city is still within the time frame to respond to the protest. He asked if anyone was present from Emerald Utilities who wished to speak. There was no response. He added, from the legal standpoint, they have reviewed the protest and consulted with staff and does not feel there is any impediment to having the City Commission proceed with the bid award at this time. He also noted that the City will have to formally respond to the protest and then follow the remedies under our bidding procedures. He also noted that the staff initially had questions with GWP Construction as to whether or not they had the relevant experience and licenses to proceed. After investigating, the staff concluded that they were qualified. Commissioner Keller, seconded by Commissioner Hood, moved to approve the award of Bid #B08-01 Lift Station #7 Rehabilitation and 16" Replacement Force Main to Clarke Road to GWP Construction, Inc. in the amount of $1,020,470.80. Commissioner Hood asked what the protest was about. City Attorney Rosenthal read the protest letter into record that had been addressed to Purchasing Agenda Joyce Tolbert: "We are formally protesting the recommendation of award to the referenced project. We believe the licensing information necessary for the project was misleading and did no attempt was made to clarify the project requirements. We protest the rejection of our bid and would like to discuss this matter with yourself and other staff representatives. We thank you for your quick response to this matter." Page 3 of7 City Commission Regular August 5, 2008 City Attorney Rosenthal explained that the bid documents stated that the bidder had to have all appropriate licenses, which included a general contractor's license or an underground utility license, and a licensed plumbing subcontractor. Emerald Utilities has the underground utility license, but did not have a plumbing license or plumbing subcontractor. The bidder that is recommended has the underground utility license did their proposal with a licensed plumbing subcontractor. Motion carried 3-0, with Commissioner Anderson and Commissioner Johnson absent. 6. Approval of Funding $6,500 for the July 2008 Cycle of the Quarterly Community Grant Program. (Community Relations Manager Wright) The Community Grant Review Board met on July 23, 2008 to discuss the 20 applications received during the third cycle of the Quarterly Community Grant Program (formerly the Community Merit Awards Program). The total amount requested from the 20 organizations this grant cycle is $10,000. The Community Grant Review Board voted to fund 16 organizations in the amount of $6,500 to stay within the allotted funding for the current grant cycle. Staff respectfully requests that the Mayor and City Commission approve the Community Grant Review Board's recommendation. There is $7,500 allotted for this quarter of the Community Grant Program There is an additional $2,250 available that rolled over from the previous grant cycle held in April 2008. The total amount requested from the 20 organizations this grant cycle is $10,000. The Community Grant Review Board voted to fund 16 organizations in the amount of $6,500 to stay within the allotted funding for the current grant cycle. Approved on Consent. Motion carried 3-0, with Commissioner Anderson and Commissioner Johnson absent. Loraine Hoffman, Assistant City Manager from Ocoee Middle School thanked the Commission on behalf of new Principal Sharon Gabriel for their continued support and grant awards. She also thanked the City Employees for their involvement in donating the backpacks and school supplies to underprivileged kids. I F. PUBLIC HEARING 7. Prestige Academy. (Advertised in the Orlando Sentinel Classified Legal on Thursday, July 24, 2008). (Senior Planner Howell) A. Special Exception The proposed Prestige Academy child care facility is located on the north side of SR 50, across from Health Central hospital. The subject property is zoned C-2 (Community Commercial), and is proposed to occupy the northern third of the existing Coan Eye Care building. Staff recommends that the Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners approve the Special Exception for the Prestige Academy child care center located on the north side of SR 50, across from Health Central Hospital, subject to the five Conditions of Approval provided on the attached site plan. Senior Planner Howell gave a PowerPoint presentation on this item. Mayor Vandergrift opened the Public Hearing. There being no one wishing to speak, the Public Hearing was closed. Page 4 of7 City Commission Regular August 5, 2008 Commissioner Hood, seconded bv Commissioner Keller, moved to approve the Special Exception for Prestige Academy as recommended by staff. Motion carried 3-0, with Commissioner Anderson and Commissioner Johnson absent. I G. FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE 8. Citrus Oaks. (Senior Planner Howell) A. Small Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment The subject property is located on the southeast corner of the intersection of SR 50 and Citrus Oaks A venue. The subject property is approximately 2.13 acres in size and is the site of an existing professional office building that was permitted by the City in 1998. Of the 2.13 acres, approximately 0.96 acres are proposed to be re-classified from Professional Offices & Services to Commercial, with the remaining acreage retaining a Future Land Use Designation ofConservationIFloodplains. The entire property is being simultaneously rezoned to PUD-Commercial. Staff recommends that the Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners consider adoption of Ordinance 2008-009 of a Small-Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment for approximately 0.96 acres of the Citrus Oaks Center located on the southeast corner of the intersection of SR 50 and Citrus Oaks A venue from a designation of Professional Offices & Services to Commercial, with the remainder of the property retaining a Future Land Use designation of ConservationIFloodplains. City Attorney Rosenthal read the title of the ordinance. Mayor Vandergrift announced the second reading and public hearing will be held on August 19, 2008, at 7:15 p.m. or as soon thereafter as may be heard. B. PUD Rezoning/Land Use Plan The subject property is located on SR 50, which is the main arterial road and commercial corridor in the City of Ocoee. The subject property is located across SR 50 from the West Oaks Mall, and from "big-box" retailers ranging from Best Buy, PetSmart, Michael's Arts & Crafts, Toys R' Us, and Borders Books & Music. The existing shopping center that is located to the east of the subject property contains a multitude of commercial uses that range from a restaurant to an optometrist office. Based on the above analysis, it is anticipated the proposed rezoning from Professional Offices & Services (P-S) to PUD-Commercial is a logical extension of the commercial zoning designations that are found adjacent to north and east of the site, and will not pose additional impacts on the surrounding roadway network. Staff recommends that the Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners adopt an Ordinance rezoning the Citrus Oaks Center from a designation of Professional Offices & Services (P-S) to PUD-Commercial including the Land Use Plan, subject to the execution of the attached Development Agreement. City Attorney Rosenthal read the title of the ordinance. Mayor Vandergrift announced the second reading and public hearing will be held on August 19, 2008, at 7:15 p.m. or as soon thereafter as may be heard. I H. REGULAR AGENDA 9. Approval to amend the language of the Community Grant Review Board Bylaws. (Community Relations Manager Wright) The purpose of the Community Grant Review Board (formerly the Community Merit Awards Program) is to review grant applications submitted from non-profit organizations as part of the City's Quarterly Community Grant Program and they forward their funding recommendations to the City Commission. The Community Grant Review Board held a workshop on June 23, 2008 to discuss amending their bylaws. The Community Grant Review Board voted to add the following language to their bylaws: (1) Change "Community Merit Awards Board" to "Community Grant Review Board", (2) "Groups that are eligible to apply for a grant are Page 5 of7 City Commission Regular August 5, 2008 Ocoee non-profit organizations and civic groups, and non-profit organizations and civic groups outside the City limits which benefit residents of Ocoee", and (3) "Only one entity from each organization is eligible to apply for a grant, per cycle," A conversation took place between the Commission and CGR Board Members Jim Sills, Kristine Bauske, and Laurie Nichols. Board members asked for guidance from the Commission as far as their intentions for this Board. They said there are some gray areas when it comes to various sections one organization/school applying for multiple grants in the same grant cycle, and there is also an issue of who should receive the grants because not all that apply are actual non-profit organizations. Consensus of the Commission was that the board should hold a workshop and try to fine tune the resolution, creatina specific criteria they can use to divide the available money and determinina eliaibilitv as far as "non-profit" oraanizations. The Commission could then hold a ioint workshop with the Board, if necessary. I I. STAFF REPORTS City Manager Frank asked the Commission if they wished to support the Chamber of Commerce's annual Hobnob dinner, buy purchasing five tickets as we have done in the past. Commissioner Hood, seconded bY Commissioner Keller, moved to approve the purchase of five tickets, in the amount of $150, for the Chamber of Commerce annual Hobnob dinner. Motion carried 3-0, with Commissioner Anderson and Commissioner Johnson absent. I J. COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS Commissioner Keller 1) there is a pot hole on Johio Shores Road, just south of AD Mims, 2) said the traffic light at White Rd and Clarke, turning left off white NORTH onto Clarke, it usually goes from arrow to green; if there is no one in the through lane the light stays red and you can't turn without sitting through Clarke Rd. traffic again. Public Works Director Krug said it should detect if there is someone waiting to turn. 3) traffic light at Blackwood, going east on 50, left light will allow 4 cars to pass through and there are usually 8 cars waiting. If possible, that needs to be extended because traffic is piling up in that left turn lane. 4) said that the trees are hanging low on Clarke Road on the sidewalks, it makes it difficult for those on bikes, and 5) reminder of the car wash on August 16, 2008, for the kids trying to fund their trip to Washington D.C. Commissioner Hood- said school is starting on August 18, 2008, and reminded everyone to drive safely and watch for the kids at the bus stops and sporting events, etc. Mayor Vandergrift - 1) said tomorrow morning he will be at the West Orange Girls Club, he will be taking a helicopter ride and throwing golf balls. He said you can buy golf balls for $25- $30 and the one who comes nearest to catching them will split the cash, the first one is for $1000. 2) thanked police officers for National Night Out, and for getting all the kids out of danger when the lightening came. I ADJOURNMENT Page 60f7 City Commission Regular August 5, 2008 The meeting was adjourned at 8:49 p.m. Attest: APPROVED: City of Ocoee Beth Eikenberry, City Clerk S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor Page 7 of7 MINUTES OCOEE CITY COMMISSION July 16,2008, at 6:00 p.m. CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - CHARTER SCHOOLS I I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the workshop to order at 6:00 p.m., in the Commission Chambers of City Hall. Roll Call: Commissioner Hood, Commissioner Anderson (arrived at 6: 17p.m.), Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Keller, and Commissioner Johnson (absent). Also Present: City Manager Frank, Acting City Clerk Sibbitt, Oakland Town Manager Maureen Rischitelli and Lisa Waldron Fiscal Coordinator and Operations Manager. I II. DISCUSSION REGARDING CHARTER SCHOOLS USA Mayor Vandergrift stated that no action can be taken this evening. He then stated that previous minutes reflect the motion that was made for further action. Mayor Vandergrift stated that the Chairman of the School Board Education Commission, who had the information regarding Charter Schools, has stepped down and an application needs to be filed by August 1,2008. Maureen Rischitelli, Town Manager of Oakland, spoke about how and why their Charter School was implemented. She explained that Chancellor Beacon proposed to Orange County that they would build a school for the grades of K thru 9 for an estimated $9 million dollars and house approximately 700 students. Maureen Rischitelli explained that Chancellor Beacon then morphed into Imagine Schools as the management company. She then reviewed the initial financing of the School. Commissioner Hood questioned the financing. Maureen Rischitelli explained that the proposed repayment plan, which was never established, and was to be an amortization for over a period of twenty years. She then explained that when the Town of Oakland stepped in, they reviewed the Operational Management i.e., lunches, buses, and facilities. Maureen Rischitelli stated that in the third year Imagine Schools focused on the curriculum. She explained that a management company has a different mission than what is needed for education. Maureen Rischitelli stated that half the staff was lost to Orange County which is a concern for the parents. Lisa Waldron, Fiscal Coordinator and Operations Manager for the school introduced herself. She then gave an overview of her responsibilities. Lisa Waldron explained how Amendment 1 and other tax cuts are affecting the School financially. (Commissioner Anderson arrived at 6:17 pm). Mayor Vandergrift inquired if they have a sinking fund. Maureen Rischitelli explained that per bond requirements, funds were placed Y2 in the SBA account and ~ in a Money Market account. She stated that the Town of Oakland had to use funds to pay the bond due to the issue with the SBA. Mayor Vandergrift inquired if they had their own buses. Ms. Rischitelli stated that "surplus" buses from the County were used. Ms. Waldron stated that Charlie Hood, with the Transportation Department of the Department of Education, is the person that needs to report on the buses and Page 1 of4 transportation costs. Financial discussion was made. Mayor Vandergrift inquired about the racial make-up of the school. Ms. Rischitelli stated they have 75% white and 25% black/other, with 28% of students on a free or reduced lunch programs. Commissioner Anderson inquired on an innovative idea of having school days Monday through Saturday's. Ms. Rischitelli explained that the schools (Public and Charter) needed to work together to be effective and affective. She also stated that the routine with parents and other siblings is involved. Commissioner Anderson stated that up north had 20 extra days and those schools reported increased education. Commissioner Keller stated he sees problems with buses and teachers. He stated that there would be other major issues to contend with. Commissioner Keller stated he does not think that is the way to go. Ms. Rischitelli explained three ways 1) teachers/principles, parents and children all getting what they need, 2) look at the private sector for before and after school care, 3) other free things for the "buy in" (ie, FCAT Parade). Ms. Waldron stated there are a lot of schools that have alternate scheduling for classes and attendance. She also stated that Orange County is working with High School students who work after school that are affected by the new time change of school. Commissioner Anderson inquired as to when the application for the school had to be submitted. Ms. Rischitelli stated by August 1 st. She explained that the City of Ocoee could ask for an extension due to the fact that the request is transitioning - not for a new school. Commissioner Anderson inquired if teachers could be hired directly or only through the union. Ms. Rischitelli stated she hires directly, not through a union. Ms. Rischitelli stated that Charter schools do make a difference in a child's life. Ms. Waldron stated starting salary for their school is $32,600.00 and no one at the school hits the $40,000 per year mark in their school. Commissioner Anderson inquired as to how past and current Oakland Commissioners supported the school. Ms. Rischitelli stated unanimously. Mayor Vandergrift questioned the total amount of the Bond. Ms. Rischitelli stated that the original amount was $9 million and they have a balance of $7 million. Mayor Vandergrift stated that funds come from the State. Ms. Rischitelli stated that the funds came from FF &E. She explained that they receive a check monthly in the amount of $270,000.00 from the Orange County who receives it from the State. Ms. Rischitelli stated that $59,000.00 is taken off the top for the bond. Ms. Rischitelli stated that a transitional school is also an option. Mayor Vandergrift questioned Ms. Rischitelli if she knew of any school that has gone through that process. Comments that were made suggested that DOE would need to be contacted for an accurate answer. Mayor Vandergrift questioned the price per student that they receive. Ms. Waldron stated every thing they need is on the FDOE website under Revenue Workshop. She also stated that much of the supplies needed could be received from Orange County Public Schools. Mayor Vandergrift asked Commissioner Keller if he would consider being the "point" person to contact the County regarding filing an application. Commissioner Keller volunteered to contact Evelyn Chandler. Ms. Waldron stated that all the step by step information regarding the application is on the DOE website - FLDOE.org Ms. Rischitelli stated that more than one person needed to be involved. Commissioner Anderson questioned a hypothetical scenario that if a new school is built by the County within the City's boundaries and there are no students, no teachers, or no parents could that school be taken and utilize as a Charter School. Ms. Rischitelli stated the Concurrency plan needed to be addressed. City Manager Frank stated that the Charter School would not count for concurrency Page 2 of4 purposes. Discussion followed. Laura Keller inquired about how many volunteer hours are required of the parents. Ms. Rischitelli stated 20 hours for one child and 30 hours for two or more. Commissioner Anderson stated that if the City is going to do this, then the City needs to move forward. Commissioner Keller stated his feeling as if they put Evans on the comer where they are proposing, he knows they will not have a problem filling a Charter high school. Ms. Waldron stated the problem with a high school charter school conversion is that it takes two years for the school to receive accreditation so that the credits are acknowledged by a University. Commissioner Anderson stated that this would be the time to begin the conversion of the high school especially with current talk of Evans High School. Commission Anderson explained that a vote of 5-0 is needed throughout the entire process. He also stated that the citizens will need to be fully and accurately informed of what process will be taken. Commissioner Keller questioned what kind of support the Charter School has within the Town. Ms. Rischitelli stated that the School has an Advisory Committee that consists of the Vice-Mayor, 3 Business Owners, and 3 Parents. Discussion followed regarding the application submission and funding for the Charter School. Commissioner Hood stated that this will be a tough sell to people within his district; the residents in the area do not have children and can care less. Ms. Waldron stated that Commissioner Hood could use the Green School concept to help sell the school idea to those residents. She then stated that he could also ask the residents "what they would like to see within the school" which would cause a type of involvement. Mayor Vandergrift inquired how many children from Tilden School walk pass the charter school. Ms. Waldron stated that no children walk past the school the children walk to Tubb Street and catch the buses there. Commissioner Hood questioned that if the children who lived within a 2 miles radius walked to Tubb Street or if they can ride the bus to school. Ms. Waldron stated that those children could not ride the bus. She stated her concern with the children using the West Orange Trail to get to and from school. Commissioner Hood stated he would also like to see the Jessica Lundsford Act enforced to include a 2-4 miles radius of any school. Mayor Vandergrift thanked everyone for coming. He stated that he has sent the links regarding Charter Schools in a e-mail for everyone to research. Mayor Vandergrift read a letter he received in 2001 from a Citrus Elementary student. He then stated that another special meeting will need to be called prior to the submission. Ms. Rischitelli stated they can call to find out if there are any conversion schools. She then stated that the advice she could give would to be self reliant. Commissioner Hood thanked the ladies for coming out and commented on how passionate they are about what they do. Commissioner Anderson inquired if they would be filling an application for all the schools. Commissioner Keller stated that it depends on what the requirements are. Commissioner Anderson questioned Mayor Vandergrift that if staff is needed, could he contact the City Manager for staff assistance so the deadline could be met. Ms. Richitelli stated that the "cut and paste" process will help very much. General discussion closed the workshop. Page 3 of4 I III. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:19 p.m. Beth Eikenberry, CMC, City Clerk Page 4 of 4 S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor MINUTES OCOEE CITY COMMISSION JULY 28, 2008 AT 5:00 p.m. CITY COMMISSION SPECIAL SESSION - CHARTER SCHOOLS I, CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the workshop to order at 5:16 p.m., in the Commission Chambers Conference Room of City Hall. Roll Call: Commissioner Hood (arrived at 5:27p.m.), Commissioner Anderson, Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Keller, and Commissioner Johnson (arrived at 5:32p.m.) Also Present: City Manager Frank and City Clerk Eikenberry. II. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING FILING THE APPLICTION WITH ORANGE COUNTY FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Anderson, and Commissioner Keller made general discussion regarding salaries, benefits and the application. Commissioner Keller handed out copies of the application. He then stated that July 1 st was the deadline for technical review, which was missed. Commissioner Keller stated that uniforms would be required. Commissioner Anderson stated he liked the idea of uniforms. He also stated that when he attended school, he had guidelines that had to be met, ie, haircuts, certain shoes and uniforms. Commissioner Hood stated that children needed to express their individualities. He then questioned which school/s are being applied for. Mayor Vandergrift stated that at the past meeting, agreement was made for all the schools. Commissioner Hood stated that this process is trying to be completed within four days. He then commented that the City's own Educational Advisory Board is\\was not in attendance at this meeting. Mayor Vandergrift stated that Mr. Godek, the Chairperson had recently quit and that he tried to contact him to find out why. He stated that he believes that there maybe an issues due to Mr. Godek's wife being a school principal who is not in favor of Charter Schools.. Commissioner Hood stated that more public input is needed as far as interest in Charter Schools. He then stated his concern with moving forward quickly. Commissioner Hood questioned if this could be placed on a referendum in March of 2009 for the people to decide. Mayor Vandergrift stated that there will be a referendum of the teachers and the parents. He then stated that another School is being built on Ingram Road which will house students from Apopka. He also stated that students in Ocoee should also have the same opportunity to attend a school within the City. Commissioner Johnson stated he does not have an issue with school but feels this should be put before the residents to vote on. Commissioner Hood agreed and stated that he did not like the "rush" idea. Commissioner Anderson stated that he somewhat agrees with Commissioner Johnson and Commissioner Hood. He explained that the "buy-in" of the teachers and parents needed to be determined first and then go to the tax payers. Mayor Vandergrift stated that the application needed to be completed prior to getting to that point. Commissioner Keller stated that there are pros and cons. He stated that community support is needed although there is a past survey that could be used. Commissioner Keller stated his concern with the insurance and no quote being available yet. Commissioner Hood questioned if the staff should be pressured to carry the load. Mayor Vandergrift stated his concern for the City becoming west Pine Hills. Commissioner Johnson questioned what the problems with the current schools are. Commissioner Keller stated that there are no problems but the concern the encroachment of Evans. Discussion ensued regarding past history of the schools, education, and taxes. Commissioner Hood questioned where the funds come from to pay for the school if the school fund is depleted. Commissioner Keller stated from the tax dollars. He stated that the school would need to be self funded. Commissioner Keller stated that his children attend Claracona Elementary which has a great number of students. He stated he would like to have his children attend a smaller school. Location of schools was discussed. Commissioner Keller stated that one school needed to be designated for one district. Commissioner Anderson stated that the final decision needs to be by the teachers and parents. Mayor Vandergrift stated he would vote for a tax for the City to have it's own School Board. Mayor Vandergrift voiced his concern with working with the Orange County School Board. Commissioner Johnson stated he did not believe that the County is difficult to work with. He then stated that the time needed to be taken to work the application correctly and effectively. Mayor Vandergrift recessed the meeting at 6:02 p.m. Commissioner Anderson questioned if the application is complete. Commissioner Keller stated no. He stated that uniforms, Human Resources, and budget number are still needed. Commissioner Hood stated that the teachers should be paid more than what Orange County pays their teachers. Commissioner Keller stated that this will hurt his district but he wants it done right. Commissioner Anderson questioned if Lake Wales needed to have their vote tallies submitted with their application. Commissioner Keller stated that a vote could not be in by the time the application is submitted. Citizen Rosemary Wilsen stated she was disappointed that the Education Board was not present. She also stated that the budget is the top concern. Commissioner Keller stated that he does not have student numbers, number of teachers, and other information that he needs for the budget. He stated that once those figures were in, he could estimate the cost very closely. Commissioner Keller stated that the difference between Pembroke Pines and the City is, the City has the building - it doesn't need to be build one. Commissioner Anderson stated that with Evans being just outside the JP A, it could be acquired and converted into a community school. Commissioner Keller stated the problem would be that the school is out of the city limits. Mayor Vandergrift stated that Lake Wales has accomplished that same scenario. Commissioner Keller stated that at decision to move forward immediately or wait needs to be determined. Commissioner Johnson stated that the Education Board needed to be present. Commissioner Hood stated he would like to have a referendum in March first. Commissioner Anderson stated that the teachers and parents needed to vote first. He explained that if they don't pass it - there is no reason to move forward. City Manager Frank stated that the maintenance dollars for the school is also important. Commissioner Keller stated that the School Board should be maintaining the building, which is why they get 5%. Commissioner Johnson stated that the Education Committee needed to be revamped. Discussion was made regarding the proposed Evans school. Mayor Vandergrift stated that the City ofOcoee will not have a Charter School in 2009. Commissioner Keller stated the along with other minor items, HR, budget and insurance information is needed to move forward. Commissioner Anderson stated that the City should wait until the Evans building process has began. Commissioner Keller stated that he saw Kat's (OCPS School Board Member K. Gordon) zoning map for the future and it went deep into Ocoee. He stated that he has a public records request which should include the map. Commissioner Anderson questioned City Manager Frank if Rose Hill has been discussed. City Manager Frank reported that there has been some discussion, a possible lP A amendment. Some discussion followed. Commissioner Keller stated he agreed with Commissioner Anderson regarding having a referendum with the teacher and parents first. He explained that if there is not a positive result, there would be no need to move forward. Commissioner Anderson stated that the Lake Wales submission needed to be reviewed due to the fact that he believes the result from the vote needed be done before the submission. Commissioner Keller reviewed a time frame for next year processing of the application. Discussion followed regarding the future elections. Commissioner Hood suggested appointing a person from each District to a Charter School Board Committee, and that person needs to be passionate about the Charter School. Consensus of the Commissioners to create a Charter School Board Committee. Commissioner Hood stated that everyone needed to come to the next meeting with a name. He stated he would like to appoint Julie Butler, but he will talk to her first. It was agreed that the Commissioners would have their appointment submittals ready for the 2nd meeting in August. Mayor Vandergrift said this may be a good time to consider dissolving that the current School Advisory Board. He added that the Board was formed to have them familiarize themselves with the operation of the School Board and keep us apprised. Commissioner Hood stated that he occasionally watches on OGTV and the current Ocoee School Advisory Board gets way off track and he thinks it would be better to form a Board to discuss and research only the issue of Charter Schools. Commissioner Anderson stated that their monthly discussion would be the Charter School only, not pot holes etc. Discussion followed. Mayor Vandergrift stated that he will meet with the Education Committee next week and advise them that if they are interested in being on the Charter School Board Committee, then they need to contact their Commissioner for their district. The meeting was adjourned at 6:58 p.m. Attest: APPROVED: City of Ocoee Beth Eikenberry, City Clerk S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor Budget Workshop OCOEE CITY COMMISSION Ocoee Commission Chambers 150 North Lakeshore Drive, Ocoee, FL August 13, 2008 MINUTES 7:00 P.M. I I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the Budget Workshop to order at 7:07 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of City Hall. City Clerk Eikenberry called roll and declared a quorum present. Roll Call: Commissioner Hood, Commissioner Anderson, Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Keller, and Commissioner Johnson. Also Present: City Manager Frank, City Clerk Eikenberry, Finance Director Horton, Senior Accountant Brosonski, and Accountant Rosenberg. II. Introduction - Finance Director Horton Finance Director Horton advised the proposed budget for FY 2008-2009 is balanced with a 4.5775 millage. This generates approximately $10,000,000 in non advalorem revenues. The proposed millage rate is lower than the calculated roll back rate which is 4.7371. Ad valorem revenue is the largest component of the general fund revenues. Inter governmental revenues, franchise fees, and utility taxes are the next largest components. The proposed general fund budget for FY 2008-09 is $32,290.120, which is a slight decrease from the current year budget, less than 1 %. City Manager Frank asked Ms. Horton to describe the handout which was distributed this evening, which has new information that brought the millage rate down. Ms. Horton said the tentative millage rate noticed to residents through the property appraisers office is 5.1457, but the proposed budget was balanced at the 4.5775 millage. After talking to the HR Director and City Manager, we were able to find a $338,000 to reduce the budget, so the millage is going be reduced from 4.5775 to 4.4202. The other items on this list are not in the proposed budget, but they give you what the required millage would be to include them. I III. General Fund Finance Director Horton reviewed the General Fund Expenditure Categories as exhibited in a pie chart: Personnel 65%; Operating 21.3%; Capital Outlay 5.7%; Transfers 8.0%. She stated that the proposed budget has a 1.5% COLA and a 1.5% merit for non-union employees. The June CPI was 5%. Mayor Vandergrift complemented staff on the personnel budget which generally runs about 70% for government. Finance Director Horton said the proposed Expenditures are summarized by departments. The majority of the departments decreased their budget for the FY 08/09 year. The smaller administrative departments had minimal changes to their budgets (City Manager, Community Relations, Commission, City Clerk, Legal Department, Finance, Information Systems, and Human Resources) so they are not going to be included in this presentation. The public safety departments make up about 36% of the General Fund Budget. Ocoee City Commission Budget Workshop August 13,2008 General Government Expenditures Finance Director Horton said these funds are those not solely and directly linked to any specific department. They are electric and water for city hall, insurances, debt services payments for general fund, financing issues, and some lease payments in contingency are all recorded in this department. This department is proposing a 12% increase next year. She summarized the following expenditures: Personnel Services Insurance Operating Expenses Increase in Electricity and Water Contingency Health Center (Full year $240K) CRA Contribution Transfers Out Capital Reserve Fund ($87,335) $ 99,720 $ 190,000 $ 110,000 $ 485,550 $185,000 Commissioner Keller clarified that the Health Center expenditure does not include the additional $72,000.00 for the additional operating hours? City Manager said that is correct, it is not included. I IV. Staff Presentation and Discussion regarding FY07/08 Budget The following department budgets were introduced by the Department Director or designee. The following are questions, conversations, and directions initiated by the City Commission during or after the PowerPoint presentations (attached): COMMUNITY SERVICES - Craig Shadrix Mayor Vandergrift asked if there was any indication as to how many building permits we will pull this year and inspections we needed to do? Community Services Director Shadrix said he can't say exactly, but we are slightly above last year. He added that we have projects coming online that will provide a small boost to the lull we are experiencing right now. Mayor Vandergrift said we were growing to about 450-500 permits in past years. Mr. Shadrix said we are little below that. City Manager Frank said it is in the range of 250-275. Mr. Shadrix added that revenue overall is slightly even or a little above. Building Official Jones said revenue exceeds expenses in the building department by approx $300,000. They currently have revenue of 1.4 million and expenses of 1.1 million. Commissioner Hood asked that they please put all this down on paper to present at the next meeting. He further requested a copy of the inspection records, how many permits were pulled, and also the revenue reports. ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT - David Wheeler Commissioner Anderson asked about the cost of personnel services and inquired about the contract with Al Butler. City Engineer Wheeler explained that CIP Manager Butler was a part- time contract employee in the previous year but he is now a full-time employee with the City. Finance Director Horton explained that under personnel services the two positions that were 2 Ocoee City Commission Budget Workshop August 13, 2008 not filled is not shown as budgeted for the entire year. They had frozen the positions and had only budget them for a portion ofthe year. POLICE DEPARTMENT - Acting Chief Goclon Commissioner Keller said he noticed that they had the increase of water and electric for one additional building in the General Fund and also noticed that there was one in the Police Department budget. He inquired if they are getting more then just the Police Station or is the City acquiring an additional building. Finance Director Horton explained that what is being shown is for the new Police Station but what is also happening is that the Police Department is currently being charged for the water and electric on their existing building. The City will continue to pay that because they will be relocating some other departments to the Police Department next door to City Hall. Commissioner Keller expressed his concern on the electric and water doubling for the new Police Station. Finance Director Horton explained that the new Police Station is twice the size of the current Police Station so they did anticipate that the electric would go up by 15%. Mayor Vandergrift said it was stated that they were not buying as many police cars this year and he has not noticed any in the budget for this year. City Manager Frank apologized and explained that they are not buying any police vehicles out of general fund but will be purchasing vehicles out of impact fees. Mayor Vandergrift further inquired if they were purchasing any hybrids and was told by City Manager Frank that he has discussed this with staff. Commissioner Keller inquired if they were going to keep the two Deputy Chief positions. City Manager Frank said it will remain the way it is right now but there may be some changes proposed that would be presented before the budget hearings. FIRE DEPARTMENT - Chief Firstner Fire Chief Firstner said with budget constraints everywhere this year they no longer have any kind of re-supply of equipment with Health Central Ambulance. Mayor Vandergrift inquired if they are able to buy through the clinic. City Manager Frank said they are currently working on that. Commissioner Anderson said they had spoken about being able to charge back to the insurance companies for ALS calls and inquired as to where they stood with that. Fire Chief Firstner said there is a cost recovery program but that is for auto accidents only. Maitland and Winter Park are currently on that program. He further said that as for ALS emergency type calls that are not auto related; there is not anything in place to allow them to charge back. Commissioner Anderson inquired if there is a law that does not allow them or is there just no one out there doing it. Fire Chief Firstner said that only transport agencies are charging for their services and they incorporate all their costs into the transportation fee as well. He said he will look into the legality of it but he is not aware of any other Fire Department that is doing this. City Manager Frank inquired if the Commission is asking for the Fire Department to start sending bills to citizens who had ALS services. He further said there is no reason that they can not do it but if they are going to start spending time sending bills to citizens he would like to make sure that the Commission is approving this. Mayor Vandergrift said he would like for them to do a study first and see if it is economically feasible or not. City Manager Frank said they could propose something but they will not know what type of collection rate they are going to get. He further 3 Ocoee City Commission Budget Workshop August 13, 2008 added that if they take on billing the citizens who use the ALS services it is going to take the effort of employees having to go through the billing. Typically transport agencies collect about 60% of what they bill out and Medicaid reimbursement is significantly less. He added that he personally does not believe they will make money doing this and it is going to costs us another staff member to do the labor. Commissioner Anderson said from day one they had always talked about the cost recovery in using ALS and agrees with the Mayor that they should do a study. Mayor Vandergrift briefly added that when Commission ask for information to be sent back to them to please e-mail ALL commissioners as soon as possible. Commissioner Johnson commented that when they look at the fire budget they are not looking at it for what it is because of union negotiations. He further said that he would like for it to be understood that fire, police, and general employees should get the same budget increase; if there is an increase in merit or COLA, everyone should get the same increase. Mayor Vandergrift said that is the expressed opinion of ONE commissioner. Commissioner Hood inquired from the City Manager as to what the fire budget was based on. Fire Chief Firstner said that he can not answer this from the personnel standpoint but from the operational standpoint the fire budget reflects everything that they are currently doing now with no projections on any type of proposed economics and negotiated contracts. Human Resources Director Carnicella said they will attempt to try to stay within the parameters being discussed for general employees, if that does not happen it will be discussed at the executive session, and then bring a collective bargaining agreement forward at a public meeting. They will hopefully be able to bring in a 3-year bargaining agreement that will represent what they think they might be able to do over a 3-year period. Commissioner Johnson inquired if that will happen before this current budget process is over. Human Resources Director Carnicella said he does not believe that is possible, but he will try. Commissioner Johnson had asked for information on inspections for which copies were made and distributed. He then said with the 900+ businesses in Ocoee that have to be inspected he wanted to look into changing the one part time inspector to a full time inspector. Commissioner Keller said he recalls the conversation last year and also agrees that this is a need position since it will generate revenue and pay for itself. Commissioner Hood said he has spoken at length with the City Manager about adding a Fire Station in District 1 and inquired about the costs. City Manger Frank said cost will really depend on whether they are looking to put a rescue engine or an ALS engine or a full fledge station verses a rescue station. He can estimate a cost of $.5 million for rescue station to $1.4 million for full station. Fire Chief Firstner said the last time it appeared on the candidate list in 2006 the total cost for a new fire station in that area was about $1.5 million. Mayor Vandergrift inquired what the cost would be to man the station ever year. Fire Chief Firstner said they would have to manage the station with a four man engine crew and that would cost about $.5 million a year in salary. Commissioner Johnson inquired as to what if they used the house that the City purchased by the softball field. Fire Chief Firstner said that would be a good location but he does not have any figures on what it would cost to convert that house to a usable fire station. Commissioner Hood said he would like to include a Fire Station in District 1 for $850.000 in the tentative budget. Mayor Vandergrift said he would like to also include 4 Ocoee City Commission Budget Workshop August 13, 2008 Robocop and both can be added to the ballot to see which residents would like to vote for. City Manager Frank asked for clarification as to what type of station. Commissioner Hood said if they use the Rogers property they could have a full fledged station. Mayor Vandergrift said if they get figures before the next meeting to please e-mail the Commission. PARKS AND RECREA TION/CEMETERY - Parks and Recreation Director Hayes Parks and Recreation Director Hayes said the major changes in the budget for the Parks Division is the elimination of two currently vacant positions, a slight increase in pest control and the addition of the stormwater assessment fee. Mayor Vandergrift inquired as to what pest control he was referring to. Parks and Recreation Director Hayes explained it is pest control for the insects in athlete fields and parks. Commissioner Anderson inquired about the stormwater assessment fee. Finance Director Horton explained that the stormwater fee for the City properties are now being included because when they converted everything over to the TRIM bill they found out that there were errors in the billing. They have gone back and corrected all those errors and it is now being reflected in the budget what the true costs are for all those properties. Parks and Recreation Director Hayes briefly explained some improvements to Central Park including the demolition of the tennis courts. Mayor Vandergrift inquired if we had just spent $.5 million on Central Park and said he would like to see other parks in the city improved so that they are usable. City Manager Frank clarified that approx. $400,000 was spent on improvements to Central Park. Commissioner Anderson said he thinks that the proposed budget for Central Park is to complete what they have started. He further inquired about the capital outlay which went from $110,000 to $220,000. Parks and Recreation Director Hayes said what happened is that they had some projects in this year's budget such as making improvements in the playground area around the Beech Center where those dollars have been shifted to the Parks Division because of similar improvements going on in the park so for budgeting purposes they elected to lump them all under that Division. Commissioner Anderson inquired if they were all Park Division improvements. Parks and Recreation Director Hayes said yes they were. Commissioner Keller inquired why the budget is going down under the Parks Division for their electric. Finance Director Horton said it is because they are not anticipating them to meet the budget this year but instead come in below the amount the have shown. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT - Public Works Director Krug Commissioner Keller inquired about the gate out at the Public Works facility where the police cars are parked. Public Works Director Krug said they have money in this current budget year which will allow them to install a gate system out their. They are waiting to make sure they get the same kind of card reading system that they will be installing at the new Police Station which is why they are holding off on it for now. Mayor Vandergrift inquired why they removed the horticulturist since he was told by a previous City Manager that they had to have one on board in order for them to use anything such 5 Ocoee City Commission Budget Workshop August 13, 2008 as round-up. Public Works Director Krug said he has not heard of that before but did advise the Mayor that they are using eco-friendly weed killers. Commissioner Hood inquired as to what the costs were last year for the Holiday decorations. Public Works Director Krug said last year it was about $42,000 and this year they are expecting it to be around $46,000. Commissioner Hood inquired why they were asking for $60,000 in the budget. Mayor Vandergrift said at the last budget they voted to mow the City right-of-ways once a month but since they do not know how much rain they are going to get he feels that instead of changing what they voted on maybe they can respond a little bit quicker. Public Works Director Krug said they are fortunate that the contractor for the last two month remaining on this contract have done the extra mowing at no cost because it saves them a lot more time. Commissioner Anderson inquired if there is any way they can mow the grass a bit shorter. Commissioner Hood said you have to be careful because cutting it too short can weaken the root structure and if they do not get enough water on the grass it can cause the grass to end up burning up and dying. Mayor Vandergrift inquired why the Clarke Road resurfacing was not shown in the budget. City Manager Frank said there is no money. Public Works Director Krug said to do the entire Clarke Road from Silver Star to A.D. Mims would be about $875,000. He further said the $300,000 they have in their right now they can do some patching but it probably would not do the whole road. City Manager Frank said they could break the Clarke Road improvements into a two-year project and do northbound one year and southbound the following year. Commissioner Keller said the traffic calming city wide shows $20,000 and he recalls that it costs $5,000 a speed table. Public Works Director Krug said the speed tables work great and he loves them but they are costly. They have found some other contracts that they can piggyback off of with that would cost $28,000 plus the stripping. That would save them about $2,500 per speed table. Commissioner Keller said that would still only allow for them to install six speed tables and he would like to see a few more then six. He further said he would like to keep the budget at $40,000 for speed tables if that is what they had in the budget last year. Public Works Director Krug said there is an increase in the Fleet Maintenance budget due to increase on fuel. They are looking at hybrids. Commissioner Johnson said there was an article in the Orlando Sentinel last week that said the life usage of brick streets is about 50-100 years versus asphalt which is 15 years. Mayor Vandergrift said that is why he strongly recommended to the Building/Planning Department to try and work out something with the developers to put in brick streets in developments. Mayor Vandergrift inquired as for the $25,000 for a directional sign if they could rent some instead and how often do they use them. Public Works Director Krug said they can rent them but they are used quite a bit and generally when they have one it can only catch one direction of traffic so a lot of time they need another one. If they needed a second for emergencies it is rare that you can get it as quick as you want when you rent them. Commissioner Anderson inquired how much they were used on a weekly basis. Utilities Director Smith said he could have used 6 Ocoee City Commission Budget Workshop August 13, 2008 6 over this weekend for main breaks and further added that on off hours you can't find a rental. Commissioner Keller added that they had this sign on the budget last year and they keep cutting it out to bring back the following year. Public Works Director Krug said it is also proactive thing and not just for reacting to emergencies. They can use it to do safe work out in the medians or allow the Police Department to use it for some of their activities. Mayor Vandergrift said he has a real problem with buying equipment that will just be sitting so he would like to look into a year lease. Public Works Director Krug said he would look into it and will get a price. Commissioner Hood inquired if they had come to a consensus on cutting service back and Public Works Director Krug informed him that a questionnaire will be going out to residents to get feedback from them. W A TER/W ASTEW A TER, UTILITIES- Director Charles Smith Director Charles Smith noted that we using a few hundred thousand gallons less per day putting us below our CUP this year, so our water management is working. Commissioner Anderson asked, even though we are pumping less potable water, if we are being compensated by pumping more reclaimed water. What is our profit because we are using reclaimed water? Mr. Smith said reclaimed costs are less because it is built into the sewer rate structure plus a small amount of revenue, so there should be some incremental savings by pumping more reclaim, but we are not seeing a decrease in cost to produce what we are trying to produce citywide. Commissioner Anderson asked about the beginning cash balance in the FY 08-09 proposed budget being only $10,000 this year instead of $211,035 projected for last year. Finance Director Horton explained that if you look on Charge for Services, you can see where we were anticipating getting $8,123,325 and that revenue number has been projected down to $7,593,520; the top number is not related to what Mr. Smith is talking about. Utilities Director Smith said we are seeing interesting trends and use of water in Ocoee, which show that our water conservation program is working, and we are also seeing less capital fees being collected because of the slow down in the building market. He added that the General Fund is not the only fund with a shortfall this year. Utilities Director Smith discussed the 83 main breaks, 35 of which were major. He said it has been difficult getting to some of the other construction projects when they are constantly pulled off the job. In this budget they are proposing using some contractual services for those Capital projects in the hill area. Mayor Vandergrift asked cost to start expanding a spine system of water and reclaimed water to address the one third of the City where there is no sewer service. Mr. Smith said they are negotiation with the County to secure a larger reclaimed water supply. Two years ago when he put an estimate together, the costs to supply sewer to a residential property was approximately $26,000 - $32,000 per lot. Mayor Vandergrift said he just had to replace his septic tank and with the added cost of redoing the yard, it was approximately $10,000. Mayor Vandergrift said we had a program that allowed us to set up the spine line, if you pass an ordinance saying that anyone having problems with their septic tank would have to hook onto our sewer line, which would be cheaper than replacing the septic tank. Mr. Smith said we do not have the money to do that and we would have to figure out who would pay for that. Commissioner Keller asked what the life expectancy is for lines that are installed and not used. Mr. Smith said there were a few areas where "dry lines" were installed and one had to abandon the system once they were 7 Ocoee City Commission Budget Workshop August 13, 2008 getting ready to use it. He said when the system is not in use, it can get damaged by construction, cable companies, etc., and there is not urgency to get the repairs made and they are often left in a state of disrepair. Commissioner Keller said he would like to see us off put the whole city on sewers and eliminate the septic systems, but short of that if we leave them sitting we may have a lot of cost to repair the spine lines. He felt it would be better to do small areas at a time and offer residents incentive to get on public sewer system. Mayor Vandergrift said he argued about putting public sewers in Brentwood years ago. He added that we have a six inch water main that runs from Palm Avenue down Ocoee Apopka past the Westyn Bay area and then down Clarcona Ocoee Road, and that has never been used. Mr. Smith said that line is used to provide system continuity and provides pressure flows up in that area. He said when they looked at putting a line under Maguire Road at the turnpike, they looked to see ifthere was a shortfall in that area of pressure, supply, or fire flow, and found that that line was much needed if we were not going to do improvements somewhere else. Mayor Vandergrift said that line was put in with the speculation of serving Westyn Bay and that area. Mr. Smith said we have Eagle Creek coming in and Glad Tidings is hooked to it. Mayor Vandergrift said that line was put in twelve years ago with no concept of hooking anything up to it. City Engineer Wheeler said we used the excess revenue from the early nineties; if we had not done that we would have had to rebuild the public system, loop the system, provide for excess pressure and fire flow etc. He added that there is no excess revenue at this time. Commissioner Anderson asked what capacity we have in our system now, how many more homes could we put on our system at this time. Mr. Smith said the plant is currently receiving approximately 1.6 million gallons per day and the current capacity is three million gallons. There are some internal processes that we can add to it that would take it to four million. We can't go passed 1.8 million in effluent disposal. Every home that we connect to reclaim increases the capacity at the plant towards that goal of four million gallons. Commissioner Johnson asked about the effects of the reclaimed that have already been added. Mr. Smith said Waterside, Silver Glen, Reflections, and Reserve are all connected now and we will have to turn in a report to FDEP in the next six months. We anticipate the capacity being increased to 2.0. C Commissioner Johnson said he wants us to research a process being done by Orange County described what some other cities are starting to do where they take in septic pump trucks and pump the septic out of the tanks into the sewer facility; we could make a million dollars by just handling 20%. He said Orange County has it on Sand Lake Road and Mount Dora is ready to go to it. Mr. Smith said he is in favor of any idea that would increase revenue, for example they recently we negotiated a credit for our sludge hauler to bring their sludge press water back to us. He said it is more profitable that doing the houses. Utilities Director Smith continued his presentation. There was discussion regarding installation of FlexNet meter reading system. Commissioner Johnson asked about the Kruger system. Mr. Smith said it is a steady state system, you will always have inflow and outflow that you try to keep the same. Commissioner Johnson said isn't it supposed to shut off when the oxidation is right instead of running 24 hours per day. Mr. Smith said he is not aware of it, but he will discuss it with him later. Utilities Director Smith said the only major piece of equipment we are getting is a hoist truck to pull the pump out at the lift stations. Commissioner Hood asked if this was going to be a vehicle that goes home with someone every night. Mr. Smith replied that the on call person for sewer will take it home. 8 Ocoee City Commission Budget Workshop August 13, 2008 Commissioner Hood asked if we are still getting fluoride in water. Mr. Smith said we still have it; it is getting more expensive and hard to get. He heard the County stopped putting it in their water put he wants to research that topic further and bring it back to them. Commissioner Keller asked, with all of these main breaks, do we need to consider a bond issue or something to get this fixed? Mr. Smith said it is average to have a few major main breaks per year, but in Ocoee we had approximately 35. Commissioner Keller asked if our system is so old we are going to be getting some serious trouble. Mr. Smith said he things more resources should have been put into replacing some of the pipes over the last twenty years; for example most municipalities in the early nineties pushed to remove asbestos concrete pipes in their system; we haven't removed many of them here. Commissioner Johnson said one of the problems is that we bought some existing sewer systems such as Prima Vista utilities, etc. Utilities Director Smith said over the next ten years there is going to have to be a commitment to replace a lot of lines, particularly those made with substandard materials. We also need to move meters in the rear of residents' yards which makes the repair process difficult. Commissioner Johnson said they started that process in Brentwood years ago and we were supposed to keep going. Mr. Smith said we are making some headway, but need to continue getting all the meters moved. Commissioner Hood said until we quit having breaks, all of our manpower is going to be tied up on repairs, what we need is a four man crew who do nothing but replace/upgrade existing lines. He added the problem is here now. Commissioner Keller said that is why we brought this subject up, so they can have a discussion about what needs to be done. Mr. Smith said they are working hard to come up with a cost estimate to repair the mains that are substandard. We are trying to rank the projects because the wish list is way too high. We would like to take a percentage of those projects and provide it to the rate sufficiency consultant who is doing the work, with the other capital projects, and sometime around November sit down and discuss the financial impact. Commissioner Johnson said if we went ahead and got a bond issue, put the lines in where new Commercial businesses will be coming in such as along Highway 50, we can get the money back as they come into the City and put it back into the fund. Mayor Vandergrift asked if radio read meters that are out now can tell us when people are using water and how much. Mr. Smith said the FlexNet system reads the meter on the hour and broadcasts the information every five hours. We can set the meters up to broadcast more often in problem areas. The more reads that you do, the more frequently the battery would need to be replaced in the units which is not expensive, but labor intensive. Commissioner Anderson said we need to look at what we have and come up with a model; maybe there are alternate loops that we can do or we may need to abandon parts of the system and put lines in a new location. Commissioner Anderson asked if you put the radio reads around the system and it shows a flow out of a facility, you would know there is a leak in the system. Mr. Smith said that software can predict low level leaks, larger leaks, etc. There may be a delay before we get the report. They are now developing that system with pressure inducers on that so on a real time basis it will show when someone is having low pressure. Commissioner Anderson said there needs to be follow-up on the routine maintenance issues such as the team of people that are working on the sidewalks. Public Works Director Krug said we have a crew that is currently using part of the operating funds to work on sidewalk repairs. Commissioner Keller said if we wait until November to figure out what our needs are, we will have already set the budget. He said he would like to see us set some money aside to begin this work. Mr. Smith said there has been some set in the budget, but the enterprise fund gets 9 Ocoee City Commission Budget Workshop August 13, 2008 revenues that are generated from the fees, not ad valorem taxes. If we need to generate more money, that would come in the form of a rate increase. Mayor Vandergrift said we have gone over our allotted time, so we will continue next time. He said if anyone did not get there question in tonight, see if you can get it answered by contacting the director. We will try to wrap up the next budget meeting in an hour. The back up meeting date of August 20th is the same as the Evans School Board Meeting and he will be attending the Evans meeting. Commissioner Keller said he will be at the Evans meeting also. Mayor Vandergrift said there is a clean up day tomorrow at Ocoee High School. Mayor Vandergrift complimented the staff for changing the street signs to show the number range. The Mayor also asked that the minutes be emailed to everyone as soon as possible. I IV. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:11 p.m. Attest: APPROVED: City of Ocoee Beth Eikenberry, City Clerk S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor 10