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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-19-04 Minutes MINUTES OCOEE CITY COMMISSION Held October 19,2004 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. Pastor Queener of the Church of God of Prophecy led the Invocation and Police Chief Goclon led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. City Clerk Eikenberry called roll and declared a quorum present. Roll Call: Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Anderson, Commissioner Howell (absent), Commissioner Johnson, and Commissioner Parker. Also Present: City Manager Frank, City Attorney Rosenthal, and City Clerk Eikenberry I B. PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS Swearing-In Ceremon e. New Fire Chief and Pinning of Bugles and Bars for Other Recently Promoted Fire ep eIltPersonnel. (Mayor Vandergrift) Mayor Vandergrift gave a synopsis of the career of Fire Marshal Benjamin "Butch" Stanley, and congratulated him on his promotion. Fire Marshal Stanley was pinned by his wife. Mayor Vandergrift gave a synopsis of the career of Assistant Fire Chief Peter A. "Pete" McNeil, and congratulated him on his promotion. Assistant Fire Chief McNeil was pinned by his wife Mayor Vandergrift gave a synopsis of the career of Fire Chief Richard Firstner, and congratulated him on his promotion. Chief Firstner was sworn in by City Clerk Eikenberry. Chief Firstner was pinned by his wife and daughters. Recognition of the U. S. Army Corp of Engineers for assistance during the hurricanes. (Mayor Vandergrift) Members of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers were presented with a certificate and a fruit basket in recognition of their efforts of "Operation Blue Roof," which assisted Ocoee residents and others throughout Central Florida who sustained roof damage. Proclamation ~Florida City GovernmentW.eek. (Mayor Vandergrift) C. C:\Documents and Settings\rharris\Desktop\ArborDay2003.htmCOMMENTS FROM CITIZENS/PUBLIC - NONE I D. COMMISSIONERS ANNOUNCEMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE Commissioner Parker - asked residents to watch OGTV and tell us how we are doing at communicating and with our programming. Please fill out the survey on our website at www.ci.ocoee.fl.us and let us know what you would like to see on the website and OGTV. Commissioner Johnson - said he would like to get an estimate of people who attended Founder's Day, he thinks that was the largest ever. The event had a great turnout and was a great Regular City Commission Meeting October 19,2004 - 2 - Commissioner Anderson - said they owe a special thanks to Commissioner Johnson for his hard work and being there throughout the entire event; announced a parade and fall festival at Victory Christian Academy at 601 A. D. Mims Road, November 13,2004. Mayor Vandergrift - read letter from the Principal of Ocoee Middle School thanking the City for their efforts throughout the hurricanes, especially to the Mayor and Police Chief Goc1on and officers who were at the shelter during the storms. I E. CONSENT AGENDA Passed on Consent. Motion Carried 4-0. with Commissioner Howell absent 2. The Trustees of the General Employees' Retirement Trust Fund request this Commission to certify the appointment of Thomas Hendrix, Sr. to fill the position of former Trustee Thomas Ison, Sr., with term ending September 30, 2006. Passed on Consent. Motion Carried 4-0. with Commissioner Howell absent Eikenberry) Staff recommends that the Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners reappoint Gordon Applegate, Mary Barber, Anthony Caraway, and Veronica Royce to serve another two-year term to end October 2006. Passed on Consent. Motion Carried 4-0, with Commissioner Howell absent In the past years, funds that may be used for the Over 65 Program were placed in Contingency and have historically been transferred to the appropriate line items during the first month of the fiscal year. It is recommended that funds for the amount of$85,840 be transferred from Contingency to the Over 65 Program. Passed on Consent. Motion Carried 4-0, with Commissioner Howell absent olice It is recommended that the Honorable Mayor and Board of City Commissioners authorize the Mayor and Chief of Police to sign the Police Municipal Inter-local Voluntary Cooperation Mutual Aid Agreement. Passed on Consent. Motion Carried 4-0. with Commissioner Howell absent 404. CQnOOlling>Contrac*, asing Staff recommends that the City Commission award three (3) Continuing Contracts for RFQ #0404 to DRMP Dyer, Riddle, Mills, & Precourt, Professional Engineering Consultants (PEe), and PBS&J Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan, as the top three (3) short-listed firms, and to authorize Staff to proceed with contract negotiations with the selected firms, and authorize the Mayor, City Clerk, and staff to execute all necessary contract documents with these firms. Per State of Florida CCNA Act Statute 287.055, if contract negotiations are unsuccessful with the top-ranked firm, staff shall terminate negotiations, and initiate negotiations with the second-ranked firm, and so on, until an agreement is reached. Passed on Consent. Motion Carried 4-0. with Commissioner Howell absent Regular City Commission Meeting October 19,2004 - 3 - 7 The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is currently designing the widening of SR 50/Colonial Drive from SR 429/Westem Beltway to Good Homes Road. This project is planned to begin within 5-6 years. The Ocoee section of this roadway includes the following five signalized intersections: Maguire Road, Old Winter Garden Road, Blackwood Avenue, Clarke Road, and the West Oaks Mall entrance. The FDOT standard for signalized intersections is concrete and steel strain poles. The City of Ocoee wishes to upgrade these signalized intersections from this standard to mast arms. In order to include these upgraded intersection signals in the current FDOT plans, the City ofOcoee must execute a Memorandum of Understanding with FDOT. City Attorney Rosenthal read the title of the resolution. Passed on Consent. Motion Carried 4-0. with Commissioner Howell absent 8. Additional $4,070 AutllofiZation'for Director Zaitooni) Orange County maintains all traffic signals for the City through an inter-local agreement. The current invoice is for two years (FY's 02-03 and 03-04), which was budgeted at $18,000 in FY 03-04. Due to the increase in the number of signals maintained from 18 to 21 traffic signals, $4,070 additional funds are needed to pay the invoice at $22,070. Passed on Consent. Motion Carried 4-0. with Commissioner Howell absent Consent Agenda Vote: Commissioner Parker, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, moved to approve Consent Agenda Items #1 - 8. Motion carried 4-0, with Commissioner Howell absent. I COMMISSIONERS ANNOUNCEMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE (continued after Consent Agenda) School Rezonina Issue Mayor Vandergrift presented his map for the school rezoning boundaries and a signed petition and asked the Commissioners to support this and adopt it as the City's Plan, which includes all of Ocoee. The next rezoning meeting will be October 26, 2004, 6:30 p.m. at West Orange High School. Commissioner Parker stated that the entire process has been confusing and there are multiple sources of information with conflicting information. We will be going through this process many times as future growth occurs. She suggested the City adopt a Policy that every time there is a rezoning issue a staff person be appointed as a Point Person to attend the meetings and keep the Commission appraised of meeting schedules and information. Commissioner Johnson said there is some opposition on the south side of Ocoee about dividing it and moving it away from West Orange High School. He said he would vote in favor of a City Plan, as long as there is the opportunity to present this again and address those issues. Mayor Vanderarift, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, moved to adopt the Mayor's Plan as the City of Ocoee Plan for School Rezoning, with the provision to opt out, to be considered by the School Board with the other options beina presented. Motion carried 4-0, with Commissioner Howell absent. Regular City Commission Meeting October 19,2004 -4- I F. PUBLIC HEARINGS - NONE I G. REGULAR AGENDA oar n Should the Honorable Mayor and City Commission consider reduction of fines and release of lien on Code Enforcement Board Case 03-001219 and 03-002902, Mark and Katrina Johanson, property located at 1602 Little Spring Hill Drive, Ocoee, Florida. Building Official Phelps gave the history of this Code Enforcement Board Case. Commissioner Anderson. seconded by Commissioner Parker. moved to approve reduction of fines and release of lien. and added the provision that it must be paid within 30 days. Motion carried 4-0. with Commissioner Howell absent. erg Members have made a motion for Mayor to address the Commission on changing the quorum requirement from 1/3 to 50% plus one. t Commissioner Anderson. seconded by Commissioner Parker. moved to approve the amendment to Article 8 of the Human Relations Diversity Board By-laws. chanaina the Quorum reQuirement as reQuested by the Board. Motion carried 4-0. with Commissioner Howell absent. City Attorney Rosenthal said he would bring back a revised resolution to formally implement the amendment. lree or ZaitooDJ) On September 7, 2004, and prior to Hurricane Jeanne, City Commission approved up to $200,000 for hurricane debris removal. Staff estimates that an additional $130,000 will be required to complete the storm debris removal. The additional $130,000 (for a total of $330,000 to date) will be funded from the Solid Waste Fund Balance, currently about $400,000. City will be filing for reimbursement from FEMA. Public Works Director Zaitooni said that FEMA usually reimbursed at 75% rate, the Finance Department is checking into it. Mayor Vandergrift wants to apply for FEMA reimbursement for the loss of shoreline, and Commissioner Anderson asked about replacing washed out streets and brick streets. Utilities Director Wheeler said there is an offline program through the Department of Transportation for non-DOT roads such as the road around Starke Lake and the brick roads. Public Works Director Zaitooni said, in the preliminary report to FEMA, $400,000.00 damage was included in the report for damaged streets. Commissioner Johnson said we should look into getting a seawall around this end of Starke Lake to prevent further damage and road depressions. Public Works Director Zaitooni discussed the need to select a date to sunset the removal of storm debris for no charge. Regular City Commission Meeting October 19,2004 - 5 - Mayor Vanderarift, seconded by Commissioner Johnson, moved to set the date for November 7, 2004 for endina the free debris removal service. Motion carried 4-0, with Commissioner Howell absent. Commissioner Johnson, seconded by Commissioner Parker, moved to approve the use of an additional $130,000.00 from the Solid Waste Fund Balance for debris removal, and filina for partial reimbursement from FEMA. Motion carried 4-0, with Commissioner Howell absent. On October 5, 2004, City Commission directed staff to evaluate and bring back options for use of Old Fires Station #1 and other potential options. This staff report is to request a budget not-to-exceed $10,000 for Herbert Halback, Inc. (HHI) for a conceptual study and layout for the Old Fire Station #1 and City Hall complex, including the Community Center. Public Works Director Zaitooni said he would like to hire HHI for a conceptual layout of the Old Fire Station #1 and the City Hall complex. Commissioner Parker said we need to address what we are doing with the Fire Station first, and she asked about the asbestos problem, to which Mr. Zaitooni said the interior of the building was found to have 1 % asbestos in the floor tiles. Commissioner Johnson suggested the Community Center be used for the Building Department, Planning and HR could expand inside City Hall, the Senior Center can be moved to the old church building where we have $400,000.00 allocated for remodeling, remove the Fire Station and open up the parking lot at the City Hall Complex, and use future CRA money to rebuild a Police Department. Commissioner Parker said the Fire Station should be tom down for parking because it is not a useful building, it causes a dangerous visual obstruction for ingress/egress to City Hall, and it is does not fit the architectural design of the rest of the complex. Mr. Zaitooni asked if we are looking exclusively at this option do we want more than one option. Mayor Vanderarift, seconded by Commissioner Johnson, moved hire Herbert Halback, Inc. to present various options of conceptual desian of the Old Fire Station and City Hall complex. Motion carried 4-0, with Commissioner Howell absent. The developer of the Forest Ridge Subdivision and various residents question the billing of the "Readiness to Serve" fee for reuse if they do not activate the connection. The developer also questioned the charging for the reuse connection if the homeowner does not activate the connection. Commissioner Parker, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, moved to approve staff recommendations to exempt homeowners from the payment of reclaimed water "Readiness to Serve" fee, and do not exempt the developers fees for reuse connections or refund monies paid to install reuse meters. Motion carried 4-0, with Commissioner Howell absent. Regular City Commission Meeting October 19,2004 - 6- The Public Utilities - Engineering department requests that the City Commission approve the contracting with JMHC, Inc. to install a portion of the proposed relocated and up sized force main and up sized reuse mains through the Ocoee Commons PUD development, which is currently under construction. Commissioner Anderson, seconded bv Commissioner Parker, moved to approve the contract with JMHC, Inc. Motion carried 3-0, with Commissioner Johnson away from the dais and Commissioner Howell absent. IH. STAFFREPORTS-NONE I I. COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS Commissioner Parker - regrets she will not be able to attend, but offered best wishes for the Dedication Ceremony for the Veteran's Memorial Interchange tomorrow, she thinks it is a great tribute to those who have made our freedom possible; reminded residents to fill out the survey that can be found on OGTV cable channel or the "News to You" City Newsletter; said the Ocoee Lion's Club is holding its annual Turkey Shoot on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Commissioner Johnson- said he would like to send Richard Gonzalez a Certificate of Appreciation for the donation of the trees by the School; asked Police Chief Goclon to explain the traffic enforcement issue inside gated communities, and Chief Goclon explained that Florida Statutes require a contact with the HOA to enforce traffic inside gated communities, and he is working on updating the contract and including an automatic renewal provision so that it does not have to go before the Commission every year. The new contract should be ready for the next Commission Meeting. Commissioner Anderson- thanked staff for the great job on the Founder's Day event this weekend Mayor Vandergrift- showed the photo on the front of the brochure for tomorrow's Dedication Ceremony for the Veteran's Memorial Interchange saying it is the largest interchange in the state, four tiers high. He read a tribute to Veterans from the brochure. I ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m. Attest: APPROVED: City of Ocoee ,<7 ~7 III ~~ :~~ L/h; s. Scott Vandergrift, May