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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem #01 Approval of Minutes CITY COMMISSION SPECIAL SESSION Ocoee City Hall, Commission Chambers 150 North Lakeshore Drive Ocoee, Florida January 26, 2009 Minutes 7:00 p.m. I I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the special session to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of City Hall. City Clerk Eikenberry called roll and declared a quorum present. Roll Call: Commissioner Hood (absent), Commissioner Anderson, Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Keller, and Commissioner Johnson (absent). Also Present: City Manager Frank, Assistant City Manager Croteau, City Clerk Eikenberry, City Engineer Wheeler, Utilities Director Smith, Parks and Recreation Director Hayes, Police Chief Brown II. DISCUSSION AND DIRECTION FOR ALCADE & FAY, LOBBYISTS FOR THE CITY OF OCOEE. (The purpose of this meeting is to create prioritized list of projects for request of Federal Funds in categories where available funding was identified) Assistant City Manager Croteau said she would do a quick run through of the projects. Commissioner Anderson said first he would like to get information on Randall Morris from Alcalde & Fay. Ms. Croteau stated that some information was sent out in November. She added that Mr. Morris is just he local representative who will give us local support if needed; the Washington contacts we will be going through from now on are L.A. "Skip" Bafalis, Maurice Kurland, and Jim Davenport. She said Mr. Bafalis was a Congressman in the 70's and 80's representing the Winter Park area. Discussion followed regarding how the forms will be filled out and the credentials of the lobbyists. Commissioner Keller said Mr. Kurland was Chief Legislative Aide for a Congressman in Texas who was in charge of the Appropriations Subcommittee, so he has a good understanding of the appropriations process. He is also one of the attorneys allowed to argue before the Supreme Court. Ms. Croteau said that when Commission voted to give the City Manager direction to hire a firm they researched this firm and have more information on them in the office if anyone wishes to see it. She added that they have done good work for some small cities; Windermere used them very successfully to lobby for traffic circles. She said it is a non partisan firm. Commissioner Keller said they have given us one republican representative and one democrat. Commissioner Anderson said we have a long standing relationship with Senator Martinez and he thinks we would do better talking to him and Rep. Nelson. There was discussion regarding the previous motion by Commission to hire a Federal Lobbyist Firm. Assistant City Manager Croteau recapped the presentation given by Alcalde and Fay with regard to what funding sources are available and what sized projects they recommended that staff attempt to push through in the coming year. City Commission Special Session 20f5 Assistant City Manager Croteau stated that the areas of possible Federal Funding were: 1. Transportation ( 2009 Transportation Bill; Highway Bill- occurs every 5 years.) 2. Law Enforcement / Homeland Security 3. Community/Economic Development 4. Utility/Sanitary Sewer 5. Housing and Urban Development (Parks) Alcalde and Fav SU22estions: Promote four or five projects as follows: · Transportation Projects - 20% match One major- $10 million Two smaller - $1.2 million . Water and Sewer Projects - 45% match Project in the $2 million range Funding Generally $750,000 . Parks Project Multi-use park Assistant City Manager Croteau then reviewed possible projects in these categories that had been identified by staff. . Transportation Projects between $7.5 and $20 million- 20% match Maine Street - $15 million Maguire Road Phase V - $7.5 million * Reconstruct Bluford - $17.5 million Realign Silver Star -$11 million Widen Story Road - $12 million Widen Marshall Farm Road - $10 million . Transportation Projects between $1 and $7.5 million- 20% match Wurst Road Extension - $1.25 million * Clarke Road Expansion - $2.25 million * Old Winter Garden Road Extension - $5.5 million . Water/Waste Water Projects West Service Area Master Lift Station and Force Main - $5.25 million* Reclaim Inter-connect with Orange County - $2.3 million * . Parks Projects Rogers Property - $2.3 million * Central Park Skate Park $145,000 Tennis Complex at Tiger Minor Park $530,000 . Stormwater Projects Peach Lake Manor Neighborhood Storm water Improvements $2.7 million . Law Enforcement Technology Interoperable Radio Equipment - $325,000* *Staff recommended the following projects: Maguire Road Phase V - $7.5 million Wurst Road Extension - $1.25 million Clarke Road Expansion - $2.25 million West Service Area Master Lift Station and Force Main - $5.25 million Reclaim Inter-connect with Orange County - $2.3 million Rogers Property - $2.3 million Interoperable Radio Equipment - $325,000 City Commission Special Session 30f5 Assistant City Manager Croteau advised that the next steps were to have a letter signed by the Mayor for each of these appropriations and to get a delegation together for the Legislative Session on February 24 and 25, 2009. She said Commissioner Keller had expressed an interest in going. Commissioner Keller said he believed Commissioner Johnson may be interested also. Mayor Vandergrift said he feels that cameras throughout the City would be a better option than the radio equipment. He felt it would make the community safer and be on the cutting edge. Commissioner Anderson said he would like to look into citywide broadband internet connections for the community. He said although the cost would be a large number, this would save residents $40 per month. He also felt we should look at sidewalks and trail areas throughout the city; these are the things that make us more of a community and they are safety issues. He thinks that it would be a priority for Federal dollars if we explained that children have to walk to school and in areas where there are no sidewalks. He also said he thinks they should look into all forms of energy efficiency. He discussed the soil erosion into our lakes and said we need to stop erosion into Starke Lake and Peach Lake and the one near Saw Mill. He said he would like to see our parks ADA and Special Needs approved. He said he understands the main issue is sewer and water lines on the north end of the city. He said he looked at renewable energy in Leesburg where trash is burned and it generates electricity. He felt the Federal Government would support innovative ideas that save energy and educate the community. Commissioner Keller said these are all good ideas, but what we need to look at tonight is projects that are already in the hopper. Commissioner Anderson said that he does not want the Federal dollars to determine what project becomes our priority; we should choose what the priority is. Commissioner Keller said this is a starting point, until bills start going in, it is hard to determine which bills to push. Assistant City Manager Croteau said the same day that Alcalde and Fay were here, on January 20,2009, there were 100 Bills filed in the legislature. Mayor Vandergrift said he is probably going to vote against this at this time. He said this was a poorly presented piece of government work from staff. He said he has been pushing to try to get grants since he was elected; the upper staff members should be looking for grants and trained in grant writing. He said he felt this should have gone out to RFP, but we no longer have time. He said there are things that were not communicated to the Commission and they have to make this decision. He said we may be just rushing on this because somebody knows someone and that is just flat politics. He asked staff where the $60,000 is coming from to pay for the lobbyists. Assistant City Manager Croteau said she believed there are some from salary savings and some from the fuel savings. There had been earlier discussion that the CRA may cover some of this expense. Commissioner Anderson said the fuel savings should have been addressed when we changed the rates. If we are saving money on the rates, it should have been passed on. City Manager Frank said this is general fund fuel dollars; it is not coming from Solid Waste. Mayor Vandergrift asked about the new temporary fire station and why we did not try to get Federal money for that. Ms. Croteau said the lobbyists did not think it would be possible to get money for that. Mayor Vandergrift said that a newspaper article claims that about 60% of the federal funds are not going to be spent this year or for the next three years so he does not understand the rush. Commissioner Anderson said $60,000 is a lot of money to give to a Federal lobbyist and he feels that they should select projects that the residents want. He inquired as to what monies have been received by the City in the last 5 years. City Commission Special Session 40f5 Commissioner Keller said we need to get the money while it is available in the Federal Budget. We have already voted to hire the lobbyists; we need to give them a direction on what they projects they should go after. He added that the Mayor voting no at this point would just be saying we don't want the lobbyists to go after anything. He felt that maybe our list is not the best one, but given more time next year and having Congressman Grayson here in City Hall we can establish a better list. He said he thinks staff has come up with a pretty good list of projects that have been a priority for a long time. There is nothing more important than the NW sewer project. While it is true that we did not have time for an RFP and had to make we had to make fast decisions; we still have a good list of items to move forward this year. He said he hoped they would not just allow the lobbyist to go after whatever they want to. Commissioner Keller said they hired experts to assist them; they need to use their experience and professionalism to get as much money into the city as possible. He said they must remember, if they get this money in, any amount received will free up dollars for other projects in the City. Commissioner Keller said when the Special Session is opened he will make the motion to go ahead and move forward with these items recommended by staff. Commissioner Anderson said that we have already hired the lobbyists and identified one project for them to move forward with. We probably should have had a retreat a long time ago, now he thinks we should wait until after the election. City Manager Frank said it has been scheduled for early March. He said he agrees that this list is not the best, but we need to move forward with some things. There was discussion about the contract, to which City Manager Frank said we can get out of the contract with a thirty day notice at any time if we are not happy with services we are receiving. Commissioner Anderson said lobbyists will generally put forth a good effort in the beginning because they want us to renew the contract. City Manager Frank said we felt we needed to hire experts and learn from watching how they do business and hopefully get some Federal dollars for some of our large projects that have been unfunded for so many years. We may be able to do it on our own next year, but for now need their assistance. For some reason, there is a perception that staff has ulterior motives; we do not know these people, we just know they are very qualified. It has worked will with other cities such as Windermere, Winter Park, and Winter Garden. Our only motive is to attempt to get Federal dollars for the City of Ocoee just as other cities have done. Commissioner Anderson said at this time we have to move forward on something; we can cancel the contract in a few months if we want to. He stated he is uncomfortable with the lack of information they have received. City Manager Frank said, yes, it is true that we have had to move forward with this much quicker than we would like to but it was stated from the beginning that if we were going to do this we have to move forward quickly. They have had a very tight time frame trying to get this set up; anything any Commissioner would like to see is available in his office and can be provided. Commissioner Anderson asked what the time frame is for submitting the bills and knowing where we are at. Assistant City Manager Croteau said once we go to Washington on February 24 and 25,2009, we will know if we have viable projects on the table. Commissioner Anderson said he wants staff to keep them updated. Mayor Vandergrift discussed the importance of grant writing and also questioned staff if they knew where the matching funds will come from on these appropriations. Ms. Croteau said the Maguire Road project, for example, will come from mitigation payments from Developers, some from the CRA, some from General Fund, and some from Impact Fees. City Commission Special Session 50f5 Mayor Vandergrift opened the Special Session. Commissioner Keller, seconded by Commissioner Anderson made a motion to direct Federal Lobbvists, Alcalde and Fay, to move forward with the followinQ proiects: West Service Area Master Lift Station and Force Main - $5.25 million Maguire Road Phase V - $7.5 million Wurst Road Extension - $1.25 million Clarke Road Expansion - $2.25 million Reclaim Inter-connect with Orange County - $2.3 million Trails as first preference, if not the Rogers Property - $2.3 million Interoperable Radio Equipment - $325,000 Community Cameras Motion carried 2-1 with Mayor VanderQrift opposed and Commissioner Johnson and Commissioner Hood absent. Commissioner Anderson said he is concerned about some of the Federal money not being available until the third or fourth year of the bill and wondered if we would have to keep the same lobbyists to keep that money coming in. There was discussion regarding who was going to attend the Washington delegation. Commission Anderson stated that he feels that any Commissioner who wants to go should be able to go. Commissioner Anderson said, in an unrelated note, he thinks we should work on CRA projects that we have been talking about for three years, such as Plant Street extension. City Manager Frank said they have been discussion that, they were waiting for the new County Commissioner to get in so they could start meeting with him; they knew that outgoing Commissioner Jacobs would not support it. I III. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9: 11 p.m. Attest: APPROVED: City of Ocoee Beth Eikenberry, City Clerk S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor