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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-06-97 MINUTES OF THE JOINT CITY COMMISSION MEETING APOPKA/OCOEEIWINTER GARDEN HELD MARCH 6, 1997 Mayor Land called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Apopka Commission Chambers. He offered the prayer and led the pledge of allegiance and asked each mayor to open his own city's seSSIOn. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL OF EACH CITY COMMISSION CITY OF APOPKA - Mayor Land CITY OF OCOEE - Mayor Vandergrift CITY OF WINTER GARDEN - Mayor Quesinberry PRESENT: City of Apopka: Mayor Land and all Commissioners except Arrowsmith, who was to arrive later, and Assistant City Administrator Douglas. City of Ocoee: Mayor Vandergrift indicated that the City of Ocoee was meeting in committee and was represented by the Mayor and Commissioner Anderson with Commissioner Glass expected momentarily. Also present were City Manager Shapiro and City Clerk Grafton. City of Winter Garden: Mayor Quesinberry, Commissioners Graham and Harriman, City Manager Holden and City Clerk Pryor. Six Cent Gas Tax - Jack H. Douglas, Jr. Mayor Land called on Jack H. Douglas, Jr., Assistant City Administrator for Apopka to give the presentation regarding the six cent gas tax. Apopka Assistant City Administrator Douglas explained the agreement with Orange County regarding the allocation of gas tax funds to the cities of Apopka, Ocoee and Winter Garden. The increase would be brought in over a three-year period, but those cities that had been losing over the last ten years would immediately get their increase. He referred to Section 4 of the handout stating he was unsure what it meant regarding the City of Orlando and Lynx but said it bore watching. Ocoee City Manager Shapiro commented on Section 6 and related the problems the Ocoee City Commission had with it. The main problem was that the language would decrease the cities' ability to make decisions regarding bonding. Therefore, the City was opposed to it. Mr. Douglas talked with Micky Miller, Planning Director for the City of Orlando, about the impact of the statement that related to bond issues. The agreement had already been adopted by Orlando. Mayor Land stated the City of Apopka could live with it the way it was written as the position of Apopka was pay-as-you-go. In the event bonding were needed, Apopka could pledge a back-up amount of money. He asked if Mr. Shapiro would represent the group to see if a change could be negotiated within a short period of time. Mr. Shapiro stated he had spoken with Orange County Commissioner Freeman as he had a problem with the language. He said he would talk with them but opined that it probably would not be changed. JOINT CITY COMMISSION MEETING APOPKA/OCOEEIWINTER GARDEN MARCH 6, 1997 Mayor Vandergrift asked about the effective date, and Mr. Douglas stated that, once notified by June 1, it would go into effect in July. Mayor Vandergrift asked if it would be appropriate to write the Orange County Commission regarding the sentiments of the Ocoee City Commission. City Manager Holden asked about Section 4, page 6, regarding the Lynx funding. Discussion followed. Tax Equalization - Hollis Holden Mr. Holden drew attention to the section regarding tax force members among whom are Mr. Holden, Winter Park Mayor Joe Terranova, and Eatonville Finance Manager and Acting Town Manager Larry Williams. Commissioner Glass arrived at 7:28 p.m., and Mayor Vandergrift declared Ocoee had a quorum. Mr. Holden said the original focus for the tax equalization discussion was the Sheriffs Office, Lynx Transportation and the parks system. The main issue had become the Sheriffs Office. An inequity exists in sheriffs services in Belle Isle, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, which do not pay MSTU for sheriffs services. If those three communities were treated like the rest of the county and were required to pay the MSTU, they would contribute over $9 million to the Sheriffs budget. Resolving this issue was a priority before anything else was done. He felt the other issue that might slow the process was that the Sheriffs Office did not have the means to collect data to support an argument to change the 85/15 split, that is, 85% of the funds come from unincorporated Orange County and 15% come from countywide revenues. Discussion followed. Sales Tax - Seventh Cent - Jack H. Douglas, Jr. Mr. Douglas indicated the handout included a summary from Orange County explaining the tax. The proceeds can be used only for capital items. Two committees had been set up, but Orange County Chairman Chapin had asked to slow down the process, which originally was that a proposed program was going to be presented between March and June, which was not a realistic time frame. A 15-year program or less would be recommended for the tax. The proceeds could be bonded, but the proceeds could not replace revenue that had been allocated for capital needs. He indicated there was a possibility of a November 1997 or March 1998 referendum regarding the seventh cent. Mayor Vandergrift asked about funding for the Lynx Transportation System. Discussion followed. 2 JOINT CITY COMMISSION MEETING APOPKA/OCOEEIWINTER GARDEN MARCH 6, 1997 Legislative - Mayor John H. Land Item #1 of the legislative agenda was Ocoee's sharing the cost of constructing a flyover at Maguire Road and Old Winter Garden Road in connection with the Beltway and possibly the Florida Turnpike. Mr. Shapiro, for the record, stated, "This has been a discussion that has been going on with the three communities down in that end and the county regarding the need for some way to connect everything in that area. We're all very concerned about State Road 50, with the level of service. We feel that there is going to be no way of getting this thing reasonably done without having some connection. I don't think we've got to the place yet on where this tax is going or how it's going to work, if this is going to be state statutes involved in it. I think our issue is trying to at least set the, to the legislature that there needs to be funding set for this kind of a problem. The City of Ocoee in their Commission Meeting the other night approved the funding of $2.25 million before this project if the State can come in and agree to fund this project the rest of the way or an alternate group of people whether it's the County, State, cities. We're not far enough ahead to say that is the flyover. There's a picture over there if you want to look at it as to where it's going to go. All that was was an attempt to begin to spur the conversation amongst the cities and the County and the Expressway and the Turnpike and everyone else. After today we have one more meeting. Members of the City of Winter Garden, Town of Windermere and Ocoee were there, and what we ended up saying was, let's get the planners and the engineers to sit down with the State road department and the Expressway and see if we can't come up with the best plan for everyone, but let's not forget that we need to right now at least tell the people over at the Legislature that they need to look to fund us. And also let them know that there's money up front to do some of the planning that they agreed. And that's all we're trying to say. So when you look at that plan for the record that isn't the plan necessarily that anybody's going to end up with. It was the first plan that came into someone's mind. We liked it a little bit because of being involved in things that were happening. It's not in stone, and it's going to be a joint planning process amongst everybody, but we would like to hope that we will at least afford the ability to the Legislature and say this is an important issue down there and that all of you who think it's important down there and would you please fund a portion of this for us or at least say you're going to spot this in your budgets in the next several years until you get a vote." Item # 2 was the cities' agreement on Western Beltway Part A and Part C as a priority, which Mayor Land reviewed. Mayor Vandergrift stated he supported the Apopka Bypass but also supported Part B, Lake Mary to Apopka. Mayor Land said Apopka would support Ocoee. Item # 3 - Six Cent Gas Tax - had already been discussed. Item # 4 - Mayor Land spoke regarding the clean-up of Lake Apopka and the buying of the muck farms. 3 JOINT CITY COMMISSION MEETING APOPKA/OCOEEIWINTER GARDEN MARCH 6, 1997 Item # 5 - The final funding of the IF AS Consolidated Research Center located on the eastern edge of Lake Apopka. Item # 6 - Mayor Land addressed annexation and enclaves, and the need to be able to describe a property as provided by the Property Appraiser's Office. There was consensus to approve the items as discussed. Commissioner Glass abstained on Item 3 due to a conflict of interest. Mayor Land asked about experience with JP A (Joint Planning Area). Mr. Holden stated Winter Garden was just starting the discussion. Mayor Vandergrift stated the County still assumed the cities were encroaching on their territory. Mr. Shapiro said there is a framework if both parties want to agree. If both parties do not want to agree, there is a method of proving who might be wrong or what happens and why. Discussion followed regarding next meeting. Mayor Land expressed appreciation to Windermere for being present at the meeting. Mayor Vandergrift talked about the school system. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:43 p.m. APPROVED City of Ocoee j ::J S.-Vr (/4 s. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor 4