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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-17-95 MINUTES OF THE CITY OF OCOEE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR "-" MEETING HELD January 17, 1995 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the regular meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the commission chambers. Commissioner Foster led in the prayer and Mrs. Frances Watts led in the pledge of allegiance. The roll was called and a quorum declared present. PRESENT: Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioners Glass, Gleason, Foster and Johnson. Also present were City Manager Shapiro, City Attorney Rosenthal, Administrative Services Director Beamer, Planning Director Wagner, Personnel Director Psaledakis, Police Chief Mark, Recreation Director Beech, and City Clerk Grafton. ABSENT: None PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS Mayor Vandergrift announced that his State of the City address had been video taped and would be broadcast both before and after the regular meeting this week and next week. LYNX BUS SERVICE ANNOUNCED \..,.. Mr. Paul Skoutelas announced the ground breaking for the new LYNX bus service in the City of Ocoee to be held February 3 at 10:00 a.m. at the Withers-Maguire House, with two weeks of free rides over the route beginning February 6. Mr. Tom Rochon gave an overview of the route (which is called Link 25-0coee/Silver Star) and advised that the buses would run every hour, with the first bus leaving from Ninth Street in Winter Garden at 5: 15 a.m. and arriving in Orlando downtown bus station at 6:26 a.m. The first bus from Orlando to Ocoee will leave downtown bus station at 5:55 a.m. and arrive at Ninth Street in Winter Garden at 7:08 a.m. At Mayor Vandergrift's request, Mr. Skoutelas agreed to provide free bus service to the ground breaking. Mayor Vanderlffift. seconded bv Commissioner Glass. moved to extend the free bus service for two additional weeks at a cost of $1.000 per week. Commissioner Gleason protested that this was neither agendaed nor budgeted and so was an unfair matter to bring up. Commissioner Gleason. seconded bv Commissioner Foster. moved to table consideration of the motion to extend the free bus service until the February 1 rel!Ular Commission meetine:. Motion carried 4-1 with Mavor Vandere:rift votine: no. Mayor Vandergrift asked for a work session on the bus service. No action was taken at this time. At Commissioner Gleason's request, Mr. Skoutelas explained that a special service for the disadvantaged is the A-Plus Link which is a fixed route bus service to those who are within '-' Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting '-" January 17, 1995 three-quarters of a mile of the regular route. Door to door service is provided and will be initiated upon a call from the customer. CONSENT AGENDA The consent agenda consisted of items A and B. Mayor Vanderlffift pulled item B for discussion following Citizen Comments then moved to approve item A as presented. Motion carried 5-0. A. Acceptance and Approval of Minutes of the Re.:ular Meetinl: held January 3. 1995. COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS/PUBLIC Mr. John Resnik, 407 Abbey Ridge Court, asked for volunteers for Founders' Day which will be October 14, 1995. Their next meeting is January 26 at 7:00 p.m. at the Woman's Club. Mr. Bart Rostiser, 98 E. Circle Key, announced that he and his wife are leaving town due to the bad circumstances in their neighborhood. Commissioner Vern Combs, 310 Sabinal, advised that NELCO CENTRAL is sponsoring a dart tournament to benefit the Ocoee Recreation Department and he would be leaving 20 tickets for the grand prize drawing (for a week at the Islander Beach Resort in New Symma Beach) for \..,.. each Commissioner to distribute. Mrs. Frances Watts, 43 Shell Key Court, said she attended the public hearing for Lake Lotta and was concerned about the trees that would be cut to burn. She asked if those trees could be made available for citizens or the City to replant. Judge Spencer Cross, Lakeshore Drive, raised several questions: 1) He asked about the status of the opening of Lakeshore Drive, reiterating that the standing water comes from the City Hall roof and the ground sprinklers rather than from the lake. As Mr. Shapiro had stated at another meeting that the plans had been approved by all the necessary agencies, Commissioner Johnson said he wanted the plans checked to see if there was something wrong with the diagram or the landscaping. Judge Cross said he could have verification of the plans done on a state and federal level very quickly. Mayor Vandergrift said that using swales on the City Hall side of the road would prevent the roof run-off and sprinkler wash from standing in the road. Mr. Shapiro responded that those sources were not the problem, that it was the lake water that caused the concern and there is an under drain problem that should be resolved soon. He said the professionals had advised that the under base of the road should be dried out before opening it for use or it would move. He stated for the record that the reason the ruts were beside the road was because an ambulance tried to go around the barricades and had to be towed out. '-' 2 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting "-'" January 17, 1995 2) Judge Cross recommended that the professional staff be hired by the Commission rather than the City Manager. 3) He asked Mr. Shapiro if he had considered hiring an attorney on staff as municipal law is the simplest law there is and an attorney with a law clerk as an assistant could save the City thousands of dollars each year. He said he had offered his entire law library for the City to use. Mr. Shapiro responded that two or three lawyers in the Foley & Lardner firm are kept busy at all times on the City's business and that about 80 % of the fees are paid by the developers. Commissioner Glass said it was likely that Judge Cross was not aware how complicated the state has made the role of municipal attorneys and he invited him to his office to be brought up to date. He said that he would be monitoring the fees very carefully, that the City's attorneys were very good, and that it was inappropriate to denigrate them. Mrs. Hilda Ems, president of the SALT Council, advised that the American Senior Citizen Alliance firm living trust had been unfair to senior citizens and her organization would be searching for victims. She asked for anyone knowing about a citizen victimized by this company to let her know by calling 656-2683. "-'" Mr. R.P. Mohnacky, 1820 Prairie Lake Boulevard, talked about Lakeshore Drive low spot and gave advice on raising the road. He asked (1) about the economy of the new garbage containers, (2) if the new police vehicles are better than the previous ones, (3) commented that the crisis reports for the Lake Lotta Mall/Center were overdone, and (4) asked if there would be an entrance on White Road. RECESS 8:50 P.M. TO 9:03 P.M. PUBLIC HEARINGS - None OTHER BUSINESS Consent Agenda ITEM III B- Acceptance and Authorization for Mayor and City Clerk to execute AGREEMENT ON WATER/SEWER REVENUE MAINTENANCE FEES WITH BARRY GOODMAN ET AL. This item was moved from the consent agenda by Mayor Vandergrift at the beginning of the meeting to give an opportunity for discussion. When asked for confirmation of details Administrative Services Director Beamer explained that the Prima Vista Agreement will be extended from 15 years to 20 years (2007 A.D.) so that the developments in the planning now may come to pass. She also said that the holdings in the past had been 40% of our ERU capacity but that, due to the expansions done to the plant, that percentage is now lower. The key elements of the agreement include: 1) conversion of all sewer and water capacity to gallons utilizing the 350 gallons per day for each one Equivalent Residential Unit; 2) a formula for payment that allows sewer and water revenue and maintenance fees to be calculated on the basis ~ 3 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting '-" January 17, 1995 of 270/350 and 300/350 with change only occurring should a new gallons per day standard be adopted by the City Commission; 3) an increase by five years the sewer capacity allocation thereby amending its life from fifteen to twenty years; and 4) a payment schedule for all outstanding sewer and water revenue and maintenance fees in keeping with payment requirements established for Concurrency Management. Mavor Vandere:rift. seconded bv Commissioner Gleason. moved to accept staff recommendation from Ms. Beamer dated January 13. 1995 to 1) approve the ae:reement. 2) authorize the Mavor and City Clerk to execute and 3) instruct the City staff to add this document. where applicable. to the Development Orders for both the Lake Lotta Mall and Lake Lotta Center. Motion carried 5-0. ... '-" Commissioner Gleason interjected at this point remarks regarding calls he had received from citizens who were disturbed about Mayor Vandergrift's remarks published in the Sentinel involving Amber Ridge and his thought that the City should go ahead and pay for the problems, then find out who is responsible later and attempt to get the money back. There was concern about where the money would come from and the cost of recovering the funds from the company at fault. Commissioner Gleason proposed that, in order to avoid such a situation developing again, all future residential and commercial development that comes before Commission be required to present a report giving past experience of that developer and also his engineering firm in the City of Ocoee, Orange County and the State of Florida. Mayor Vandergrift responded that it was not unusual for the City to step in and give assistance where it was sorely needed in emergency situations and he cited the Sawmill sinkhole as an example. Commissioner Gleason repeated his concern about using taxpayers' money to correct problems created by a developer. ... FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES. SECOND READINGS AND PUBLIC HEARINGS WILL BE JANUARY 26, 1995 AT 7:00 P.M. Ordinance No. 95-02, Lake Lotta Mall Rezone. Ordinance No. 95-02 was presented by title only for the first reading. Mayor Vandergrift announced the time and date of the second reading and public hearing. Ordinance No. 95-03, Lake Lotta Center Rezone. Ordinance No. 95-03 was presented by title only for the first reading. Mayor Vandergrift announced the time and date of the second reading and public hearing. .~ 4 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting "-" January 17, 1995 COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT FY 93-94. Administrative Services Director Beamer introduced Eldon McDirmit, McDirmit, Davis & Lauteria and Company, who reviewed the Comprehensive Financial Report, calling attention to the fact that they had given the City an unqualified opinion which is the highest opinion that can be given the City's financial statements. (The Certificate of Excellence in financial reporting will be presented at the next meeting.) The report is on file. There was discussion regarding the inadequacy of the computer system currently in use and City Manager Shapiro advised that staff is preparing the information for a new system to be considered by Commission soon. Mayor Vanderlffift. seconded bv Commissioner Johnson. moved to accept the Report as presented. Motion carried 5-0. DISCUSSION ON PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON. City Manager Shapiro explained that, with the change in the entire structure of Congress, several Commissioners had indicated an interest in attending this conference. R.P. Mohnacky asked if this could be done electronically and Mr. Shapiro advised that tapes of the speeches may be available but that the benefit comes from being involved with the people present and talking with them before and after the sessions. '-' Commissioner Foster. seconded bv Commissioner Johnson. moved to authorize staff to make arrane:ements for any Commission members who desire to attend and staff also as authorized bv City Manae:er. Motion carried 5-0. STAFF REPORTS City Manager Shapiro advised that the Worker's Compensation rate is down from 1.8 to .76 as a result of Personnel Director Psaledakis' efforts and the employees keeping a safe workplace. Mayor Vandergrift said he would like to see a program put in place to recognize employees who have made significant achievements such as this and also to recognize employees who have tenure with the City. COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS Commissioner Gleason: 1) Noted that an Orlando Sentinel article reported that Eatonville had called for help in restructuring their police department from the Ocoee Police Department and the Apopka Police Department. Commended Chief Mark and his staff. 2) Announced that Personnel Director Psaledakis had been authorized to institute the RSVP line in the City. 3) Said that residents in Silver Glen had asked where their park is on the schedule. '-' 5 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting '-" January 17, 1995 4) Said the State of the City address was accurate and a good report, but he would have preferred that it be a part of the meeting rather than be broadcast separately. He expressed concern with the issue of town meetings and the remark that the Commission is opposed to the idea, and also concern that no mention was made of the regular meetings that are available to citizens. He stated further that Mayor Vandergrift should attempt to communicate with staff and if he is not getting through to them and receiving the information he is requesting, he should report that to the Commission as that would be a serious breach of the City Manager's responsibility. Commissioner Glass: 1) Commended Chief Mark for his handling of the situation when he reported phone calls from PKP I regarding shootings there and Chief Mark had already increased patrol. Chief Mark gave a brief report on the incidents. 2) Commented that there is money available to be lobbied for in Washington at the National League of Cities Meeting and he wished the travelers well, but he does not plan to go. 3) Referring to the possible solutions suggested by citizens regarding the problem in PKP, he said the Youth Protection Ordinance was implemented in June 1994 in Orlando and was challenged but has survived so far. He is monitoring its progress. 4) Said he was sorry to see Mr. and Mrs. Rostiser leave, and he encouraged other citizens ~ to take part in the meetings as Mr. Rostiser had. 5) Will give a report on the Summit on Intergovernmental Relations when the information is all in. 6) It's Girl Scout cookie sale time, and he is prepared to take orders. There was discussion here about a work session to talk about crime watch in Pioneer Key Parks and Chief Mark advised that he has a meeting scheduled with the crime watch captains on February 8 in the commission chambers. (Clerk's Note: The location has since been changed to the Police Department Training Room.) Commissioner Johnson: 1) Asked where the lights are for Flewelling Avenue. City Mana.:er Shapiro said he would report in writing. 2) Said it takes citizen participation to clear up problems in neighborhoods. 3) Said it was hard to work with people who ask for help and then try to get him out of office. 4) Said to Mayor that he must cooperate with all sitting at the table and also that he should talk to City Manager before the meeting instead of using the meeting to list all the details that could have been taken care of routinely. 5) Noted that there were 150 code enforcement citations written in Pioneer Key Park in the beginning, and there are problems in that area. '--' 6 Ocoee City Commission Regular Meeting ~ January 17, 1995 Commissioner Foster: Said it was good to be back and he thanked Commission for keeping the City going in his absence. Mayor Vander~rift: 1) Said he had asked for a call-in service similar to the RSVP service two years ago and it went nowhere; and that he had talked about issues Commission should review but cannot get through to anybody. 2) Suggested that the utility bill payment box be lowered, as it is too high for drivers of low vehicles. 3) Noted that there is a dead spot in Sawmill for the Police Officers' radio communication. 4) Asked how soon Amber Ridge will be fixed. Mr. Shapiro said that it (Amber Ridge) may be a litie:ation issue. but that Clarcona-Ocoee Road will be fixed. The information will go out to the Homeowners' Association. Mayor said that John Fergus on Dovetail still has not heard from a staff member. 5) Reminded all of the public hearing for the Lake Lotta Mall and Lake Lotta Center on Thursday, January 26 in the commission chambers. ~- ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m. "-" Attest: APPROVED: City of Ocoee ~ 7