A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

july 20, 2010

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 9:00 a.m., in the Board of County Commissioners’ Meeting Room, Lake County Administration Building, Tavares, Florida.  Commissioners present at the meeting were:  Elaine Renick, Vice Chairman; Jennifer Hill; Jimmy Conner; and Linda Stewart.  Welton G. Cadwell, Chairman, was not present.  Others present were:  Sanford A. “Sandy” Minkoff, Interim County Manager; Melanie Marsh, Acting County Attorney; Wendy Taylor, Executive Office Manager, County Manager’s Office; Neil Kelly, Clerk of Court; Barbara F. Lehman, Chief Deputy Clerk, County Finance; and Susan Boyajan, Deputy Clerk.

INVOCATION and pledge

Reverend Karen Burris of Morrison United Methodist Church gave the Invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Agenda update

Commr. Renick asked to move Tab 14 to be dealt with at the same time that they discuss Tab 19.

Mr. Sandy Minkoff, Interim County Manager, mentioned that the Citizen Question and Comment Period had been moved to the beginning of the Agenda.

Ms. Melanie Marsh, Acting County Attorney, stated that she wanted to pull Tab 15 off the County Attorney’s Consent Agenda.

MINUTE APPROVAL

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Stewart, and carried unanimously by a 4-0 vote, the Board approved the Minutes of June 15, 2010 (Regular Meeting) as presented.

CITIZEN QUESTION AND COMMENT PERIOD

Mr. Vance Jochim, a resident of Tavares who writes a blog called fiscalrangers.com, mentioned that they had several issues where they were setting future meetings for different tax assessments, and he recommended that the Board spend some time looking at the background of the justification information that staff may give the Commissioners.  He specified that there was nothing to substantiate the scope or size of why a 13 percent increase in attorney’s fees was being requested from Fisher & Phillips LLP, and he suggested that the Board specifically look at that.

Commr. Renick noted that that item had been pulled from the Agenda because a number of Commissioners had some questions about that issue.

CLERK OF COURTS’ CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Renick, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Clerk of Courts’ Consent Agenda, Items 1 through 4, as follows:

List of Warrants

Request to acknowledge receipt of list of warrants paid prior to this meeting, pursuant to Chapter 136.06 (1) of the Florida Statutes, which shall be incorporated into the Minutes as attached Exhibit A and filed in the Board Support Division of the Clerk’s Office.

Request to acknowledge receipt of copy of Ordinance 2010-05M annexing a parcel of land into the city limits of Clermont (Deper, LLC Property).

Request to acknowledge receipt of Tourism Development Council Resort Tax Upgrade and notice of next meeting for Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. in Board Chambers of the Administrative Building in Tavares.

Request to acknowledge receipt of Notice of Public Hearing from the City of Mount Dora to consider the adoption of an ordinance amending the Redevelopment Plan of the Northeast Community Redevelopment Agency on July 20, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall, 510 N. Baker Street, along with cover letter.

COUNTY MANAGER’S CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a vote of 4-0, the Board approved the County Manager’s Consent Agenda, Tabs 3 through 13 as follows:

County Manager

Request for authorization to fill two (2) Equipment Operator III positions and one (1) Equipment Operator I position in Public Works/Road Operations. The total fiscal impact of filling the positions is $89,345.

Fiscal and Administrative Services

Request for approval to (1) declare the items on the attached list(s) surplus to County needs, (2) authorize the removal of all of the items on the attached lists from the County’s official fixed asset inventory system records, and (3) authorize the Procurement Services Director or designee to sign vehicle titles.  No Fiscal Impact.

Growth Management

Request for approval to award and execute contracts for Landscape Architectural Services to Bellomo Herbert and Company, Inc., Herbert/Halback, Inc., Native Florida Consulting, Inc. and Woolpert, Inc. in conjunction with the County’s needs. Fiscal Impact can not be determined at this time.

Public Resources

Request to approve budget change request of $64,901 to transfer funds from Regular Salaries to Contractual Services at 3 branch libraries to pay temporary workers. Fiscal impact is $64,901, budgeted in Library System Fund.

Request for approval to accept the grant from The Nature Conservancy in the amount of $10,000.00 for Florida scrub-jay habitat improvement at the county-owned scrub site north of the Royal Trails Community. Staff requests approval of Resolution No. 2010-82 for Unanticipated Revenue. Staff and that the Chairman initial hand-written change to grant agreement requested by County Attorney and approved by The Nature Conservancy. Fiscal impact is $10,000.00.

Public Safety

Request for authorization to reallocate available funds to the City of Eustis in the amount of $12,493.00 for reimbursement of allowable expenses for 9-1-1 services under FL Statutes 365.172 Emergency Communications number "E911."

Public Works

Request for approval of and chairman's signature on the attached interlocal agreement between the City of Minneola and Lake County to utilize Lake County's contracted debris-hauling company(s) and monitoring consultant to collect and dispose of eligible disaster debris from the public streets and rights-of-way of the Municipality. The fiscal impact is uncertain at this time due to the severity of the disaster; however, only debris eligible for reimbursement from Federal and State agencies will be collected. The Municipality will be responsible for their proportionate cost share which is anticipated to result in no eventual fiscal impact to the County.

Request for authorization to release a maintenance bond in the amount of $184,587.91 posted for Sawgrass Bay Boulevard Phase 2. Sawgrass Bay consists of 629 lots and is located in Section 14, Township 24 South, Range 26 East. Commission District 2. There is no fiscal impact.

Request for approval of award for the purchase of one (1) skid mounted landfill gas blower assembly, including Underwriters Laboratory (UL) onsite certification to Gasho, Inc. in the amount of $34,779.

Request for approval of budget transfers to fund the cost of leachate disposal ($425,000) and leachate truck loading pump repairs ($60,000) at the Central Landfill. There is no fiscal impact.

Request to award RSQ 10-0018, On-Call Engineering for the Solid Waste Management Division to Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc. (CDM) and HDR Engineering, Inc. (HDR) in conjunction with the County's needs. Fiscal Impact can not be determined at this time.

COUNTY ATTORNEY’S CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Conner, and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the County Attorney’s Consent Agenda, Tab 16 as follows:

Request for approval of Stipulated Final Judgment between Lake County and Bieu M. Le for needed right-of-way for the completion of the CR 466-Segment B Road Widening Project.  The fiscal impact is $90,000.

presentation

leesburg Veteran’s memorial project

Mr. Don Van Beck, Executive Director of the Veteran’s Memorial at Fountain Park Project, noted that the designation of the Leesburg Veteran’s Memorial was a misnomer, which should instead be the Lake County Veteran’s Memorial, but the City of Leesburg gave them the property for the project.  He specified that the memorial was 60 feet in diameter, seven feet high, and 2800 square feet, and he commented that it was one of the largest memorials in the southeast United States.  He opined that it would have a positive fiscal impact on the County, because there would be a number of people who come to the County just to see this memorial.  He related that the memorial would hold 30,000 names, with 7,000 names currently collected which were on their computer base, and they would be adding names twice a year.  He pointed out that everything has been donated so far, including the surveying and architectural drawings, and he mentioned that they had a groundbreaking ceremony on May 22, which could be seen on their website at lakeveterans.com.  He stated that the floor of the memorial would have 12,500 bricks for people to memorialize anyone they wish to at a cost of $60 per brick.  He explained that this would be an instructional type of monument where children and adults could learn what had happened during the wars and all of the people that died protecting their freedoms.  He pointed out an alcove on the right which would contain a touch-screen computer that would bring up all the information about a veteran whose name is entered into the computer, including the location of that name on the wall.  He mentioned that the memorial would be lit at night and that everything would be engraved rather than on plaques to avoid theft of those plaques.  He noted that the original cost of the memorial was estimated at $526,000, but they now expect the cost to be a lot less than that.  He reported that they had an office on Main Street in Leesburg that was donated to them which was opened from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day, and they could be contacted in person at that location, by mail, or through their above-mentioned website.  He commented that the veterans would appreciate anything the Board could do to help them in this endeavor.

Commr. Conner mentioned that he and Commr. Hill were at the groundbreaking ceremony.  He asked the Board to consider supporting this project, and he commented that he believed it was very worthy of their support.

COUNTY MANAGER’S DEPARTMENTAL BUSINESS

fiscal and administrative services

setting of millage rates and public hearing dates

Mr. Doug Krueger, Fiscal and Administrative Services Director, explained that this agenda item sets the TRIM rates and the date, time, and place for the first public hearing and tentatively the second public hearing, and he specified that the first public hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, September 7 at 5:05 p.m., with the second hearing tentatively set for Tuesday, September 21 at 5:05 p.m. in Commission Chambers.  He reported that the proposed rates for Fiscal Year 2010 were equal to the current rates, with the exception of a proposed reduction in the county-wide ambulance municipal service tax by .0798 mills and increase of the general fund by that amount so that overall there would be no change in the county-wide millage rates.  He specified that the millage was 4.7309 for the general fund; .3852 mills for the Ambulance MSTU; .1101 mills for the Public Lands Debt Service; .4984 mills for Stormwater, Roads and Parks MSTU; and .3222 mills for the Fire Emergency Medical Services MSTU.  He explained that a drop in the tax base this year of about 10.8 percent would result in a $7 million decrease in tax revenues.  He requested that the Board approve those rates as proposed.

On a motion by Commr. Stewart, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a vote of 4-0, the Board approved the millage rates proposed to be included on the TRIM notifications for the Fiscal Year 2010-11 budget and the public hearing dates and times for September 7, 2010 at 5:05 p.m. and September 21, 2010 at 5:05 p.m., as well as approval to advertise these public hearings.  There is no fiscal impact.

resolution initiating process for fire rescue assessment roll

Mr. Krueger stated that this agenda item was to adopt the resolution to begin the process for the Fire Rescue Assessment Roll and to allow them to advertise and hold the public hearings on those rates.  He specified that the proposed residential rate is $175 for unincorporated residents and those in the municipalities that were in the Fire District, with the rate for the enclave in the Villages of $82.85, and there were varying rates for the industrial and commercial properties.  He noted that the proposed rates were the same as the current rates and supported a Fire Rescue budget of $23.1 million.  He requested approval of the resolution.

Commr. Renick emphasized that there were no changes in the rates.

On a motion by Commr. Stewart, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a vote of 4-0, the Board approved Tab 19, the request to authorize and execute Resolution No. 2010-84 which initiates the annual process for preparation of the Fire Rescue Assessment Roll, authorizes publication of the advertisement for the public hearing, provides direction to notice all affected parties of the proposed rates and directs the imposition of Fire Rescue Assessment fees for the Fiscal Year beginning October 1, 2010.

public works

resolution for solid waste assessment

Mr. Krueger pointed out that the Solid Waste Assessment was the same as the current rate of $184, which supported a budget of $22.1 million.  He explained that the resolution initiates the process for advertising, holding the public hearing, and establishment of these rates for the FY 2010-11 budget.

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously by a vote of 4-0, the Board approved the Initial Assessment Resolution No. 2010-83 for Collection, Management, and Disposal of Solid Waste and Recovered Materials for FY 2010/11, including a proposed maximum residential assessment of $184 and establishing a Public Hearing date of September 14, 2010.

letter to FDOT requesting funding support for SR 19 and CR 450E

Mr. Jim Stivender, Public Works Director, explained that this was for a letter of support for the Florida Department of Transportation to get road improvements at the intersection of SR 19 and CR 450E in Umatilla, which is the road to North Lake Park.  He added that they have been working with Umatilla on the traffic pattern and road improvements, and this was a letter of support to try to acquire state funding for that project.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a vote of 4-0, the Board approved Tab 20, the request for approval and signature on a letter to the Florida Department of Transportation requesting funding support for Lake County to design and construct the improvements at SR 19 and CR 450E (Collins Street) in the City of Umatilla.  Commission District 5 – Federal/State Grant Fund. (No Fiscal Impact at this time.)

public hearing

ordinance repealing chapter 11, section 11-1 relating to hospital liens

Ms. Melanie Marsh, Acting County Attorney, placed the proposed ordinance on the floor for its first and only reading by title only, as follows:

AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA; REPEALING LAKE COUNTY CODE CHAPTER 11, SECTION 11-1, ENTITLED “LIENS FOR HOSPITALS SUPPORTED OR AIDED BY LOCAL TAX REVENUE”; PROVIDING FOR INCLUSION IN THE CODE; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR FILING WITH DEPARTMENT OF STATE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

Ms. Marsh explained that this ordinance was being brought to the Board to remove an old provision from the Lake County Code which has since been superseded by a special law dealing with Lake County only.  She stated that the special act sets up a process for a hospital to create a lien for services provided to an individual that would specifically go against any judgments that they may win, and she noted that there was a notification period of 180 days.  She added that this would repeal an ordinance that was inconsistent with a special act of the Florida Legislature.

Mr. Vance Jochim, a resident of Tavares, stated that he understood that the part that was repealed and was inconsistent gave the same right to attorneys to get the liens.  He commented that some people question why the hospitals should have that lien when they were nonprofit and were getting $12 million from the Hospital District to pay for people that do not have money to pay their bills.

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a vote of 4-0, the Board approved Ordinance No. 2010-38 repealing Chapter 11, Section 11-1 of the Lake County Code relating to Hospital Liens.  No Fiscal Impact.

other business

appointment to the board of building examiners

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously by a vote of 4-0, the Board appointed Mr. John Wood as a Business Member to the Board of Building Examiners to serve an unexpired term ending January 14, 2013.

REPORTS – COUNTY MANAGER

construction at judicial center

Mr. Sandy Minkoff, Interim County Manager, reported that construction at the Judicial Center has begun, resulting in the closing of the Judicial Center parking lot, and he stated that the real construction should be starting in about 30 to 45 days.

REPORTS – COMMISSIONER HILL – DISTRICT 1

update of county phone directory

Commr. Hill stated that she noticed that the County staff phone directory still needed to be updated as a result of the many organizational and staff changes recently, as well as some constitutional officer changes.  She asked the departments to send in their changes and for staff to update that directory.

master gardener building opened

Commr. Hill mentioned that the Master Gardener Building had opened, and she congratulated all the gardeners and volunteers who helped make that possible.  She commented that it was great to see a good public-private partnership come together to complete this successful project.

reports – commissioner renick – vice chairman and district 2

update of attorney general’s position of edc subcommittees

Commr. Renick asked Ms. Melanie Marsh, Acting County Attorney, to update the Board regarding the Attorney General’s position regarding the EDC (Economic Development Commission) committees.

Ms. Marsh explained that the Attorney General’s Office came down with their most recent opinion indicating that the subcommittees of the EDC that had been set up for infrastructure and those types of issues do fall under the parameters of the Sunshine Law.  She pointed out that this issue was raised the latter part of last year when her office had rendered an opinion to the Board that those subcommittees were not subject to the Sunshine Law because they were established by a private entity and not by the Lake County Commissioners, which was similar to an Attorney General’s Office opinion at that time regarding Florida Great Northwest EDC.  She related that out of an abundance of caution, they had advised staff starting in October 2009 to stop assisting the infrastructure subcommittee, which has not met since February, and that the EDC was reviewing that opinion and had not determined whether they were going to seek any other reviews of that.

water strategy steering committee recommendations

Commr. Renick stated that the Water Strategy Steering Committee, a group consisting of seven counties, three water management districts, and DEP (Department of Environmental Protection), had experts come in from across the nation to give recommendations which would ultimately go to the Congress of Regional Leaders for their support after being reviewed by the Steering Committee.  She noted that the initiative was to be unified as a region in deciding what to do regarding water concerns, with conservation as the main issue.

reports – commissioner conner – district 3

concern regarding reserves

Commr. Conner commented that he was concerned about the amount of reserves that they were using to balance their budget, and he thought they should look at what they would do in the future and get to the point where their revenues and expenses are level.  He reported that at the last Florida Association of Counties meeting, the former head of the Department of Revenue for the State of Florida showed charts giving a 30-year history of revenues and population growth in Florida, and he opined that any financial recovery would be slow and in small increments, so waiting for revenues to increase is not going to be a solution.  He asked the Board to do more than one-year planning as they go through the budget process.

REPORTS – COMMISSIONER STEWART – DISTRICT 4

grand opening of eustis mcdonald’s

Commr. Stewart mentioned that she went to the grand opening of the McDonald’s in Eustis representing the Commission, which had a lot of fun activities planned for the next month.

volunteers for camp challenge and camp boggy creek

Commr. Stewart stated that Camp Challenge for disabled and physically challenged campers located in Mt. Plymouth and Camp Boggy Creek in Cassia for children with medical needs were two worthy organizations in Lake County that were looking for volunteers with time or money.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:36 a.m.

 

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welton g. cadwell, chairman

 

 

ATTEST:

 

 

 

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NEIL KELLY, CLERK