A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

september 11, 2012

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, September 11, 2012 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:  Leslie Campione, Chairman; Jennifer Hill, Vice Chairman; Sean Parks; Jimmy Conner; and Welton G. Cadwell.  Others present were:  Darren Gray, County Manager; Sanford A. “Sandy” Minkoff, County Attorney; Wendy Taylor, Executive Office Manager, County Manager’s Office; Barbara F. Lehman, Chief Deputy Clerk, County Finance; and Shannon Treen, Deputy Clerk.

moment of silence and pledge

Commr. Campione called for a Moment of Silence and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

presentation on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy

Mr. John Jolliff, Public Safety Director and Fire Chief, gave a presentation in remembrance of September 11, 2001.  He stated that the cowardly act was carried out by 19 terrorists who took control of four commercial airlines and that American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center North Tower at 8:46 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center South Tower at 9:03 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m., and United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m., and it was suspected that the Capitol or the White House was the target for Flight 93.  He mentioned that Flight 93’s cockpit recorder revealed that the crew and passengers attempted to seize control of the aircraft and because of their brave actions, Flight 93 never reached its intended target.  He pointed out that the World Trade Center South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m., which was 56 minutes after impact, and the North Tower collapsed at 10:28 a.m., which was 102 minutes after impact.  He indicated that the collapsed towers become a massive pile of entangled steel and concrete that entombed thousands of innocent victims and the hallowed ground became known as Ground Zero.  He reported that the death toll was as follows: the World Trade Center, 2,995; the Pentagon, 189; Somerset, Pennsylvania, 44; the New York Fire Department, 343; the New York Port Authority, 37; the New York Police Department, 23; and the New York Emergency Medical Services, 8.  He also noted that there were over 3,000 children who lost a parent as a direct result of the tragic event.  He expressed that they should never forget that all gave some and some gave all with many who were still sacrificing 11 years later through permanent injury or illness.

employee awards

Ms. Susan Irby, Human Resources Director, presented the following employee awards:

FIVE YEARS

Richard Frantz, Maintenance Technician I

Public Works/Environmental Services Division

 

Theresa LaFlamme, Animal Shelter Technician I

Conservation & Compliance/Animal Services Division

 

TEN YEARS

Rebecca Gullion, Library Assistant I

Public Resources/Library Services Division

 

FIFTEEN YEARS

Mary Seiter, Animal Control Officer (Not Present)

Conservation & Compliance/Animal Services Division

 

Mr. Jim Stivender, Public Works Director, presented the following awards for twenty years, twenty-five years, and thirty years, commenting briefly about each employee’s service to the County:

TWENTY YEARS

Fred Schneider, County Engineer

Public Works/Engineering Division

 

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS

Marlin Stewart, Equipment Operator III

Public Works/Road Operations Division

 

THIRTY YEARS

Richard Roof, Senior Laboratory Analyst

Public Works/Environmental Services Division

 

board/committee certificates

Ms. Irby presented the following awards:

Arts & Cultural Alliance

Dan Vincent, for service from 2011-2012

 

Capital Facilities Advisory Committee

John Buxman, for service from 2010-2012

Jim Richardson, for service from 2010-2012

Carol MacLeod, for service from 2010-2012 (Not Present)

 

Children’s Services Council

Charles F. Crane, for service from 2001-2012

 

Elder Affairs Coordinating Council

Rhonda Apfelbeck, for service from 2007-2012 (Not Present)

 

Library Advisory Board

Tamera Rogers, for service from 2007-2012 (Not Present)

Beth Sindler, for service from 2004-2012 (Not Present)

Laura Pierce, for service from 2010-2012 (Not Present)

Dusty Matthews, for service from 2010-2012 (Not Present)

 

Solid Waste Alternatives Task Force

Curtis A. Binney, for service from 2010-2011 (Not Present)

Lindell Ray Dorsett, for service from 2010-2011 (Not Present)

Richard Grier, for service from 2010-2011 (Not Present)

Dan Gorden, for service from 2010-2011

Donald R. Taylor, for service from 2010-2011 (Not Present)

Brenda Boggs, for service from 2010-2011 (Not Present)

Chloe Sallin Gentry, for service from 2010-2011

Peter Tarby, for service from 2009-2011 (Not Present)

Agenda update

Commr. Campione requested to add a Proclamation declaring 2012 as the 50th anniversary of Lake-Sumter Community College, as well as the Central Florida Area Workforce Investment Consortium interlocal agreement to the agenda under her report.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved to add the Proclamation for Lake-Sumter Community College and the interlocal agreement to the agenda.

Commr. Campione asked to pull Tab 4 and Tab 7 under the County Manager’s Consent Agenda for discussion.

Mr. Darren Gray, County Manager, mentioned that Addendum No. 1-IA was added to the agenda under the County Manager’s Consent Agenda.

Mr. Sandy Minkoff, County Attorney, noted that Tab 35 was listed under his report but it should be listed under the County Attorney’s Consent Agenda.

MINUTE APPROVAL

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Minutes of August 14, 2012 (Regular Meeting) as presented.

citizen question and comment period

Mr. Ralph Bowers, City Manager for Fruitland Park, asked for the Board’s consideration on Tab 18 and he thanked County staff for their cooperation and help as well.

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Mr. Rick Ranize, a resident of Fruitland Park, discussed Tab 18 and stated that at the last commission meeting when this was discussed, three police officers all voiced their opinions on how unsafe it would be to drive a golf cart on Dixie Avenue.  He added that Dixie Avenue was a very narrow street and the speed limit was 30 mph and that the City of Fruitland Park had not completed any kind of survey to see what the average traffic speed was.  He opined that having golf carts on Dixie Avenue was unsafe and that the Board should consider the safety aspects before approving.

Commr. Cadwell Dixie mentioned that the whole traffic pattern of Dixie Avenue was going to change once the construction of 466A was started.

Commr. Campione asked if there was a possibility of leaving Dixie Avenue out until the patterns change.

The Board decided to pull Tab 18 off of the County Manager’s Consent Agenda for discussion.

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Mr. Doug Tester, a resident of Eustis, asked the Board to reconsider the elimination of the Prescription Assistance Program because it would be a drastic cut to not only his family, but to the other 300 people in Lake County that used the service.  He noted that without disability and insurance, it would be an added burden and at least three jobs would be affected by the cut.

CLERK OF COURTS’ CONSENT AGENDA

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

List of Warrants

Request to acknowledge receipt of the 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.

Southwest Florida Water Management District’s FY 2013 Meeting Schedule

Request to acknowledge receipt of the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Fiscal Year 2013 Schedule of Meetings and a map depicting the District’s boundaries, as required by Section 189.417, Florida Statutes.

Florida Forest Service’s FY 2011-12 Annual Report

Request to acknowledge receipt of the Fiscal Year 2011-12 Annual Report for the Florida Forest Service’s Cooperative Forestry Assistance Program and Fire Management Program in Lake County, which identifies major forestry activities throughout Lake County from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012.

Florida Public Service Commission Bulletin

Request to acknowledge receipt of the Florida Public Service Commission Bulletin announcing an application by Harbor Waterworks, Inc. for a certificate to provide wastewater service in Lake County and for authority to begin collecting Commission-authorized rates and charges, as well as a notice of a customer meeting for September 5, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at Harbor Hills Country Club Meeting Room, Lady Lake.

Cascades at Groveland Community Development District’s FY 2012/2013 Budget

Request to acknowledge receipt of the Cascades at Groveland Community Development District’s Fiscal Year 2012/2013 Final Adopted Budget in accordance with Section 190.008(b), Florida Statutes, which has also been posted on the Lake County website.

COUNTY MANAGER’S CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the County Manager’s Consent Agenda, Tabs 5 through 21 and Addendum No. 1-IA, pulling Tabs 4, 7 and 18, as follows:

Community Services

Request for approval to apply for the Shirley Conroy Rural Area Capital Equipment Grant for one (1) bus for the Transportation Disadvantaged (Paratransit) program in the Fiscal Year 2012-2013 budget, approval and signature of the supporting Resolution No. 2012-109, and acceptance and implementation of the grant if awarded. Also, request permission to purchase the vehicle if the grant is awarded under the State Transit Research Inspection Procurement Services Program. The fiscal impact is $72,196.00 (County Portion: $7,219.60 / Grant Funded: $64,976.40).

Conservation and Compliance

Request to authorize the County Manager to return remaining fund balance for Storage Tanks contract program to Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The fiscal impact is $45,684.65.

County Manager

Request for the Board to (1) declare the items on the attached list(s) surplus to County needs and (2) authorize the removal of all of the items on the attached lists from the County’s official fixed asset inventory system records.

Facilities Development and Management

Request to approve award of contract 12-0438 to Advanced Communication Solutions (Lake Mary, Florida) for the purchase of a new NEC SV 8500 telecommunication system for the newly constructed Emergency Communication and Operations Center (ECOC), and authorize the procurement office to execute all related contractual documentation. The fiscal impact is $86,997.50.

Growth Management

Request for approval of the nominations of Sue Cordova as Chair and Robert Cronin as Vice-Chair of the Enterprise Zone Development Agency. There is no fiscal impact.

Request for approval to advertise ordinance related to Farm Signs.  There is no fiscal impact.

Human Resources

Request that effective Fiscal Year 2013 the Employees Benefit Fund be changed from a special revenue fund to a budgeted item within the County Manager's Office. Request that attached changes to the Employee Benefit Fund policy be approved.

Public Resources

Request for retroactive approval to submit an application for an American Library Association (ALA)/Dollar General American Dream Starts @ your library grant application. Approval for County Manager to sign grant agreement if awarded. The anticipated fiscal impact will be $9,400.

Public Works

Request for approval of and authorization for the Chairman to sign Resolution No. 2012-110 providing for certification of the assessment roll for the Special Assessment for the paving, grading, curbing, and drainage of Diane Drive and Lisa Drive in Lake County. There is no fiscal impact.

Request for approval of contracts for Traffic Sign Materials to eight (8) vendors and authorize the procurement office to execute all related contractual documentation. The fiscal impact is estimated at $150,000.

Request for approval of contracts for Asphaltic Concrete to two (2) vendors and authorize the procurement office to execute all related contractual documentation. The fiscal impact is estimated at $310,000.

Request for approval and authorization for Chairman to execute a satisfaction and release of lien for six (6) special assessments. Commission Districts 2, 4, and 5. There is no fiscal impact.

Request to approve and accept the attached list of public right of way deeds that have been secured in conjunction with roadway and/or stormwater projects. There is no fiscal impact. Commission Districts 1, 2, 4, 5.

Request for approval and signature of Resolution No. 2012-112 authorizing the posting of 25 MPH speed limit signs on McKinnon St (1706) in Commissioner District 1, Section 16, Township 22, Range 24. There is no fiscal impact.

Request for authorization to award CR 565A Widening and Resurfacing Project No. 2012-04, Bid No. 12-0030, to C. W. Roberts Contracting, Inc., in the amount of $1,198,952.40, and to encumber and expend funds in the amount of $1,198,952.40 from the 1156.5056660.860674 Road Impact Fee Benefit District 6 - Infrastructure - Construction (Expense) Fund. Commission District 1.

Community Services - Addendum No. 1-IA

Request for approval of the annual State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) report for past years housing activities and funding and Chairman’s signature on the certification.

COUNTY ATTORNEY’S CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the County Attorney’s Consent Agenda, Tabs 22 through 25 and Tab 35, as follows:

Request for approval of Amendment to Lease Agreement with Scott A. Strong Family II, LLC for Tax Collector Office Space located at 1340 Citizens Boulevard, Leesburg.  The fiscal impact is $34,656.00.

Request that the Board order the 2012 tax roll be extended prior to completion of the Value Adjustment Board hearings. There is no fiscal impact.

Request for approval of Agreement for Sale and Purchase for property located on Roger Giles Road adjacent to the North Lake Community Park in Umatilla; authorization for the Chairman to sign all closing documents and approval of a Budget Change Request transferring funds from Renewal Sales Tax Capital Projects, Non-departmental, Improvements Other than Buildings, South Lake Regional Park Fund for this purchase. The fiscal impact is $178,600.

Request for approval of outside counsel firms and their use on an as needed basis for County purposes.  There is no fiscal impact.

Request for approval of sale of County owned property located at 31503 Lakeside Drive, Deland previously declared surplus to adjacent property owner, Paul D. Kimball; authorize Chairman to execute the deed; and approval of Resolution No. 2012-113 releasing the petroleum and mineral rights pursuant to Section 270.11, Florida Statutes. The fiscal impact is $800 (revenue).

community services

agreements for van pool services

Commr. Campione noted that through a request for proposal (RFP) process the County obtained bids for operating a Van Pool Program and clarified that the program would not involve any County funds.

Ms. Dottie Keedy, Community Services Director, explained that Lynx had been providing the service mainly to the employees of Coleman Federal Prison and when Lynx asked the County to help fund that program, the Board directed staff to issue an RFP to see whether there were companies willing to provide the service at no cost to Lake County.  She indicated that VPSI, Inc. and Enterprise Leasing Company both responded and that those companies would run and market the program and the County would not be required to subsidize the program.  She mentioned that the County would still be able to count those trips as part of the federal government transportation funding reporting which meant that the County could receive future funding from those additional trips.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried by a 4-1 vote, the Board approved the request from Community Services for approval of agreements with two firms (VPSI, Inc. and Enterprise Leasing Company) for provision of Van Pool services for Lake County residents on a non-franchised basis. There is no immediate fiscal impact.

Commr. Conner voted “no.”

county manager

East Central Florida Regional Planning Council agreement

Commr. Campione stated that the agreement was a request from the regional partnership to seek funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to prepare a study to come up with a plan for stations that would be along the SunRail.  She noted that page 2 of appendix 2 of the agreement concerned her because it discussed social equity and after researching the definition of social equity she found it was similar to social justice which was based on the concepts of human rights and equality which involves a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation and income or property redistribution.  She pointed out that she had been researching the United Nations’ Agenda 21 and the concept of sustainable development and how that related to federal, state and local policies, and social equity and social justice was at the heart of the Agenda 21 issue.  She expressed that she wanted to draw the Board’s attention to the matter because sometimes it seemed as though they were buying into concepts that they may not personally agree with.

Commr. Cadwell suggested that Commr. Campione sit on the Council instead of him so that she could make sure all of her concerns were addressed.

Commr. Conner commented that he was very sensitive to the concept of redistribution of income because too much of that was currently happening in America, so he would have reservations about the agreement.

Mr. David Heath, Deputy County Manager, pointed out that the agreement was drafted so that Commr. Cadwell was listed as Lake County’s primary contact and Ms. Amye King, Growth Management Director, was listed as the alternate.  He suggested that if Commr. Campione was going to be the primary contact, then Commr. Cadwell should be the alternate.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried by a 3-2 vote, the Board approved the request from the County Manager for the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council HUD Sustainable Communities Consortium Memorandum of Understanding, and approved for Commr. Campione to be the representative on the Council and Commr. Cadwell to be the alternate.

Commr. Campione and Commr. Conner voted “no.”

public works

golf cart operation within the city limits of fruitland park

Mr. Jim Stivender, Public Works Director, explained that allowing golf carts within the city limits of Fruitland Park had been debated with the City for almost a year.  He noted that there were several roads in the agreement that were proposed to be transferred to the City of Fruitland Park and that Dixie Avenue had been a big discussion, but he looked at how the partnership with the City of Tavares in allowing golf carts there had worked and he felt that if the same principles were applied and the City of Fruitland Park was taking the lead, then the County should work with them and agree to the arrangement.

Commr. Cadwell commented that people were using Dixie Avenue to avoid the construction on Highway 441 and 27, so once that construction was completed the traffic should ease up on Dixie Avenue.

Commr. Conner asked if they could receive a law enforcement assessment before voting on the item since safety was the main concern.

Mr. Ralph Bowers, City Manager for Fruitland Park, stated that the request was submitted by the majority of the governing board of the City of Fruitland Park for an agreement with the County and that the City would accept responsibility for governing the use of the roads once golf carts were allowed on them.  He added that the city would be cut in half if Dixie Avenue was not put in the mix.

Commr. Conner asked which government entity would be responsible if an accident happened on Dixie Avenue.

Mr. Minkoff replied that the decision of whether or not to allow golf carts would be a legislative decision and as long as the roadway was safe, there would not be any liability for the City or the County.

Commr. Conner asked if Mr. Stivender thought that Dixie Avenue was safe for golf carts.

Mr. Stivender responded “yes.”

Commr. Campione mentioned that the City of Fruitland Park held meetings and received input from their residents and that it was their responsibility to set the speed limit and put the necessary markings on the road, so the County should defer to the city’s local government and home rule.

Commr. Conner noted that he would reluctantly support the motion; however, he would still feel more comfortable if they could receive a law enforcement evaluation on the safety aspects of Dixie Avenue.

Mr. Stivender commented that he was concerned about the speed limit, but since Dixie Avenue was in the downtown area there would be enough law enforcement to monitor the traffic.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the request from Public Works for approval and signature of Resolution No. 2012-111 designating County roads within the city limits of Fruitland Park as appropriate for golf cart operation and signage in accordance with Section 15-15, Lake County Code.  There is no fiscal impact. Commission District 5.

public hearings: rezoning

rezoning regular agenda

cup #12/9/2-2 – simpkins-roper rock on adventures

Mr. Steve Greene, Chief Planner, stated that the zoning case had been properly advertised and explained that the request was to conduct outdoor recreation activities within the Agriculture Zoning District on approximately 647 acres located south of the Clermont area.  He added that the property bordered west Orange County, but the primary access was through Old YMCA Road.  He noted that the proposed activities included foot races, obstacle courses, bicycling, kayaking, paintball, fitness expo events, and jet-skiing and water jet pack activities and that the applicant intended to hold four events with more than 2,000 participants, four other events with between 1,000 and 2,000 participants, and 10 events with 500 or less participants.  He also mentioned that the applicant was requesting to hold two events that would be conducted over a two day period.  He indicated that the events would not exceed 12 consecutive hours and that they would take place between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.  He pointed out that the proposed uses were not directly defined in the Land Development Regulations (LDR), but the uses were similar to passive parks and recreation and the LDR’s allowed similar uses as long as the uses were not more obnoxious or detrimental than the comparable uses of commercial amusements or hunting and fishing resorts.  He related that the property was designated as Rural Future Land Use Category and the Comprehensive Plan allowed outdoor sports and recreational clubs with a Conditional Use Permit (CUP).  He explained that provisions were included in the ordinance to ensure mitigation of adverse impacts on adjacent properties such as setbacks, landscaping, buffering, screening, and noise attenuation.  He stated that the proposed use was compatible with the existing or planned character of the neighborhood, but the ordinance included conditions to mitigate the impacts by limiting the uses to specific locations on the property and limiting the duration of high-attendance, intensive events.  He noted that the applicant intended to use bottled water and porta-lets since the property did not have water or sewage and that Emergency Management recommended a 60-day notification prior to holding any special event and for emergency service provisions to be coordinated through the scope of the Incident Action Plan.  He mentioned that staff received an email of concern from Orange County and two letters of opposition.  He indicated that the Planning and Zoning Board approved the request with conditions regarding the 60-day advance notification and the provision for coordination with Public Safety for emergency service provisions.

Commr. Parks disclosed that he had spoken with Mr. Johnny Simpkins, the applicant, and Commissioner Scott Boyd from Orange County.  He then asked if the four special conditions listed on the memo from Orange County were included in the ordinance.

Mr. Greene replied that staff did not include those in the ordinance.

Mr. Johnny Simpkins, the applicant and owner of Rock on Adventures, addressed the Board showing pictures of the Monster Dash event that was held on May 26, 2012.  He stated that all of his events were family oriented and the events got people who were not hardcore athletes involved.  He noted that he always tried to include Lake County vendors at the events and that he had invited a local brewery to the Monster Dash, but there had not been any issues with having alcohol at the event.  He indicated that he did not plan on having any motorized events and that he only included jet skis in the request so that he could use the jet pack.  He pointed out that traffic should never become an issue because there was around 100 acres of pasture that could be used for parking and with his plan there would be six to eight people directing the vehicles into the property so that traffic was never backed up on Old YMCA Road.  He mentioned that Orange County had expressed concern about the traffic and had suggested putting in a left turn lane at the intersection of CR 545 and Old YMCA Road; however, he could not afford to do that so he proposed having several police officers to help with the traffic.  He related that he was a member of the Florida Trail Riders and each year they held between 25 and 35 events, so he understood the importance of addressing traffic and emergency services issues.  He stated that he agreed with the conditions in the ordinance, but he was now concerned about the additional conditions proposed by Orange County.  He asked the Board to waive the 60 day notification requirement for the first two events since one was scheduled in September and the other was scheduled in October and then he would comply with that requirement going forward.

Commr. Cadwell asked if he would comply with all of the other regulations in ordinance.

Mr. Simpkins answered that he would comply with the Lake County requirements, but not the additional requirements from Orange County.

Commr. Parks commented that Mr. Simpkins had been in business for 25 years in Lake County, had an excellent reputation, and would live up to his promises.

Commr. Campione asked how many other events had he held in the past.

Mr. Simpkins replied that he had held five events total and that he has had excellent reviews on them.

The Chairman opened the public hearing.

Mr. Gary Rodgers, Project Manager for Orange County Engineering, asked if the County was going to consider their restrictions.

Commr. Conner answered that they would not require the applicant to put in a turn lane.

Commr. Cadwell commented that they could include language in the ordinance stating that the County would readdress the turn lane in one year.

Mr. Rodgers requested that the Board include that before it was approved.

Commr. Parks noted that Orange County would receive copies of the special events permits.

Mr. Rodgers pointed out that the applicant had already pulled a permit for the September 22, 2012 event, but based upon the approval he may not approve any more permits for Orange County road usage for that event.  He added that he wanted to make sure that Orange County’s interests were addressed because safety was their main concern and the applicant had the potential of having 2,000 participants, not including vendors and personnel, accessing those roads.

Commr. Cadwell asked if Orange County would have a problem with waiving the 60 day notification requirement for the first two events.

Mr. Rodgers replied that he did not have a problem waiving the requirement for the first event, but their concern was whether Orange County’s requests would be included in the approval.

Commr. Campione noted that they wanted to address the safety concerns, but they also wanted to allow good events to happen in Lake County that were good for economic development and for the people.  She added that they were trying to reach a reasonable solution and were asking for some cooperation so that they all got the intended outcome.

Mr. Gray stated that he would reach out to the Orange County Administrator’s Office to discuss Lake County’s willingness to cooperate.

There being no one else who wished to address the Board, the Chairman closed the public hearing.

On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved Ordinance No. 2012-58 and CUP #12/9/2-2, Simpkins-Roper Rock on Adventures, which was a request to conduct outdoor recreation uses within Agriculture (A) Zoning with the conditions that the 60 day notification to Orange County be waived for the first two events, the Chairman would respectfully ask Orange County to waive the 60 day notification of the Traffic Maintenance Plan for the second event, and the left turn lane would be addressed with Orange County after 24 months and would continue to be monitored during that period of time.

RECESS AND REASSEMBLY

The Chairman announced that there would be a ten-minute recess at 10:35 a.m.

public hearings

fire assessment

Mr. Steve Koontz, Budget Director, explained that the Fire Assessment was based on the 2011 Fire Assessment Study conducted by Tindale-Oliver and that it could not fund advanced life support (ALS) services since an MSTU funded that portion of the fire service operations.  He noted that the residential rate was $181, the initial rate resolution, which set the rates that were shown on the TRIM notices, was approved on July 24, 2012, and the fire assessment would generate about $16.5 million in revenues.  He also mentioned that the public hearing was properly noticed.

The Chairman opened the public hearing.

Mr. Vance Jochim, a resident of Tavares who writes a blog called FiscalRangers.com, asked for an explanation as to the reason the County used a fire assessment rather than including a fire fee in the general fund since many homes had homestead and were not paying general fund taxes to cover fire expenses.

Commr. Conner answered that the fire assessment fee was across the board and was more evenly distributed than a millage rate or a property tax.

Commr. Campione commented that the fee had been in place for many years and that it was not exempt from any homestead exemptions or tied to property values.

Mr. Koontz noted that the analysis was completed when the fire assessment was first instituted back in 1999 and it addressed improved structures and made it equitable since vacant land did not require the same kind of fire services.

There being no one else who wished to address the Board, the Chairman closed the public hearing.

Commr. Campione mentioned that the rate was not changing; it was the same as last year.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved Resolution No. 2012-114 to impose Fire Assessments against assessed property located in Lake County, Florida for the Fiscal Year beginning October 1, 2012; approved the rate of assessment; approved the assessment roll; and provided an effective date.

solid waste assessment

Mr. Koontz pointed out that the Solid Waste Material Assessment was for trash pickup in unincorporated Lake County and that there had been no change in the fee since Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, which was at $184.  He indicated that the initial rate resolution, which set the rates that were shown on the TRIM notices, was approved on July 24, 2012, and the solid waste assessment would generate about $12.4 million.

The Chairman opened the public hearing.

There being no one who wished to address the Board, the Chairman closed the public hearing.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved Final Assessment Resolution No. 2012-115 for collection, management, and disposal of solid waste and recovered materials for FY 12/2013 which includes an annual assessment of $184.00. The fiscal impact is $12,420,000.00.

COUNTY MANAGER’S DEPARTMENTAL BUSINESS

county manager

Interlocal Agreement for the Conserv II property

Mr. Gray stated that he and Mr. Wayne Saunders, City Manager for Clermont, had been working on the interlocal agreement for about one year.  He explained that the property was located south of the City of Clermont, east of Highway 27 and that it was included in the sector plan study area.  He added that the joint agreement stated that Clermont and the County would jointly review any rezoning requests or planning of the property, roads and parks.  He noted that 200 acres of park land was designated for public use and it was included in the agreement.  He stated that the City of Clermont has had discussions with Orange County and the City of Orlando, who jointly own Conserv II, about the use of reclaimed water and Clermont had indicated in the agreement that they would like to receive a minimum of 4.2 million gallons per day (mgd) of reclaimed water and that other South Lake cities would need at least a minimum of 4.0 mgd of reclaimed water.  He pointed out that the interlocal agreement would help when they started negotiations with the City or Orlando and Orange County because it would show that Clermont and the County were one entity.  He also noted that the City of Clermont approved the agreement two weeks ago and after the Board’s approval, a meeting would be set up with the City of Orlando and Orange County for further discussions about the Conserv II property.

Commr. Campione commented that it was important to have all of the entities on a unified front and expressed that she appreciated Clermont working with the County on the agreement.

On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the request from the County Manager for approval of the Interlocal Agreement with the City of Clermont for the Conserv II property. There is no fiscal impact.

Facilities Development and Management

renovations to the lake county animal control facility

Mr. Kristian Swenson, Facilities Development and Management Director, gave a presentation to discuss the assignment of existing Contract 11-0203D from Harkins Development Corporation to Harkins Development LLC for the Animal Services Expansion Project.  He explained that the project features included 48 new heated kennel spaces, an increased parking area, stormwater improvements, expanded septic system, enclosed area for food preparation and animal check-in, fire protection enhancements, and landscaping.  He stated that within the procurement process there were three main ways to build a project and those included design bid build; design build; or to use a Construction Manager (CM) and he noted that the County typically used either the design bid build or the CM process.  He described the design bid build process specifying that the County hired an architect independently, the architect designed the project without input from the construction community, and the County then reviewed the plans.  He added that the County then bid the project and advertised to all contractors and that the County typically awarded the low bid regardless of subcontractor qualifications or locale.  He then described the CM contracting process stating that the County hired a CM based on their qualifications as well as an architect, and the CM worked with the architect to provide design review comments.  He noted that the CM then advertised the project and would then provide a breakdown of all subcontractor bids received with their recommended bidders.  He added that the CM set the maximum price to build the project, but the County would only pay the actual price up to that amount.  He indicated that the County had used the CM process various times for projects such as the parking garage, the Judicial Center expansion, and the Road Operations Center expansion.  He then discussed the guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for the Animal Services expansion and pointed out that staff evaluated the four on-call CM’s and chose Harkins Development due to their previous veterinary clinic experience.  He related that in June the Board approved a GMP of $901,564 which included $739,548 of subcontractor costs; $77,975 of allowable general conditions such as fencing, security, and temporary utilities; and $84,041 for a CM fee.  He pointed out that local participation was a requirement so Harkins Development solicited 121 local subcontractors in which 24 bids were received and seven were the low bidders.  He added that the total value to local subcontractors was $218,216, which was approximately 30 percent of all the subcontractors.

Ms. Melanie Marsh, Deputy County Attorney, continued the presentation discussing the contract and noted that the CM contracts required written County approval before assignment and while processing the documents for the GMP, the County was notified by Harkins that they had gone through a name change and had reorganized their company.  She indicated that the CM assigned the contract to the new entity, Harkins Development, LLC, without the County’s prior approval, but that the new entity and its parent corporation, Kenny Construction Company, would both warrant the project and the County would be receiving performance and payment bonds.

Mr. Swenson concluded the presentation stating that staff considered various items of whether to approve the assignment of the existing contract, such as the experience the County had with Harkins during the preconstruction services, the fact that the project was ready for construction, the potential delays for the project if it was not constructed, the performance and payment bonds on the project, and that there was 30 percent of subcontractor value to local subcontractors.

Commr. Campione asked if the local solicitation requirement was a threshold.

Mr. Swenson responded that the solicitation requirement required that there were five solicitations per discipline and three of those needed to be local solicitations.  He added that the point was to receive low bids locally and that it was good exposure to subcontractors within the community that were capable of doing the work.

Mr. Minkoff commented that the County took the lowest bid in order to comply with the statutes to have a bid construction job unless there was a reason why the lowest bid should not get the work.

Commr. Campione asked if the CM made that determination.

Mr. Minkoff replied that the CM would have to get department approval if the low bid was not chosen.

Mr. Swenson noted that the CM provided the County with a book listing all of the bids and the recommendation, and if the low bid was not chosen then the County would inquire as to the reason why.

Commr. Campione mentioned that although she understood that the County was making an effort to solicit local businesses, she wished that more than 30 percent of the work was going to local businesses.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried by a 4-1 vote, the Board approved the request from Facilities Development and Management to approve assignment of existing Contract 11-0203D from Harkins Development Corporation to Harkins Development LLC and related assignment of recently approved task order for renovations to the County's Animal Control Facility. There is no fiscal impact.

Commr. Campione voted “no.”

Growth Management

conversion of existing pre-paid impact fees

Mr. Gregg Welstead, Conservation and Compliance Director, gave a presentation regarding the request from a developer to convert existing prepaid impact fees to impact fee credits.  He stated that the roads/transportation impact fees were adopted in 1985, the school impact fees were adopted in 1991, the fire impact fees were adopted in 1996, and the library and parks impact fees were adopted in 2004, but the roads/transportation and school impact fees were currently suspended.  He indicated that there were three types of prepaid impact fees and those were impact fee prepayments, impact fee credits and concurrency reservations.  He described the impact fee prepayments and noted that they were first allowed in 1996 and prior to April 2008 they were valid for single-family permits when issued from that day forward, but after April 2008 the impact fees were limited to one year and after that year those prepayments were converted to a credit.  He also mentioned that the payments were non-refundable and non-transferrable and that the outstanding prepayments were currently 1,431 for $4.92 million.  He described the impact fee credits and explained that a developer would construct a public project, such as a road with right-of-way or stormwater ponds, and the excess fees paid to construct the project would then be converted into a credit.  He noted that the credits were transferrable within the impact fee district and that the outstanding value of credits to developers was about $5.4 million.  He described the concurrency reservations and pointed out that they were instituted in 1995 and at the time of platting the developer paid the concurrency reserve capacity.  He related that the initial fee was $675 per lot and in 2009 it was raised to 50 percent of the impact fees per lot.  He indicated that the credit for the fee was applied at the time of permitting and that the outstanding concurrency reservation fees were about $4.082 million.  He explained that Mr. Jim Bible from Showcase Homes recently made a request to convert the prepaid fees to impact fee credits meaning that the credits would no longer be tied to a specific lot and that the credits would be freely transferrable within the impact fee district.  He then showed a chart listing the breakdown of the impact fee prepayment balance noting that schools had the majority at 81.6 percent.  He also showed another chart depicting the number of prepayments each certificate holder had, but mentioned that the certificate holders were not required to inform the County if they transferred ownership so those number may not be correct.  He stated that since the transportation and school impact fees were currently suspended until spring 2013, the Board would then need to make a decision on whether to continue the suspension, to change or eliminate them.  He noted that the prepayments ran with the land, there was a potential benefit to the owners because the owners could sell the property at a reduced price and some of that revenue could go back into the economy, and there was a potential impact to School Board planning in the future.  He also mentioned that there was a potential negative impact on the value of credits with market saturation and if the impact fees were renewed, transferring the credits across the impact fee districts could result in a reduction in cash flow until available credits were exhausted.  He explained that an administrative process must be developed prior to adoption that addressed whether the credits could be transferrable, if they could be mortgaged, what the value of the prepayments were prior to April 2008, the ownership and title of the prepayments needed to be verified, and what the impacts to the School Board were.  He pointed out that the options for the Board were to maintain the status quo and do not authorize the transfer to credits, authorize the transfer without restriction, or wait until the impact fee discussions in November to make a decision.  He indicated that if the Board decided to authorize the transfer, it would require a change to the impact fee ordinance and would take approximately four to five months to bring back the ordinance.  He also noted that a public hearing and a notification to all affected owners would be required.  He related that staff’s recommendation was to wait and make a decision during the impact fees discussion in November.

Commr. Conner asked how many lots were included in the request from Showcase Homes.

Mr. Welstead replied that there was a discrepancy in the records because the County’s records showed that Showcase Homes had 133, but Mr. Bible claimed they only had about 80.

Commr. Campione commented that the key was to find a way to give relief and hopefully that would result in generating economic activity in Lake County.

Mr. Bible explained that Showcase Homes owned 84 lots and had been trying to sell some but no one was interested because there were impact fees on the lots.  He added that it costs them almost $60,000 a year to hold on to those properties because of property taxes, homeowner dues and maintenance of the lots.  He indicated that they have only built three houses in the past three years and that they were trying to raise money to stay in business in Lake County and support the community.

Commr. Campione asked about whether the credits could be mortgaged.

Mr. Minkoff replied that the credits would be encumbered by the mortgage so a title search would need to be completed.  He noted that they could make an easy change so that if Mr. Bible sold some lots he could just transfer those into credits rather than allowing all 1,431 to be freed at one time.

Mr. Bible mentioned that he was proposing that they transfer those at the time of closing when a lot was sold.

Mr. Minkoff commented that he could change the ordinance to state that if a lot was sold while fees were suspended then those could be transferred into credits.  He added that he could bring that back to the Board for approval to advertise by the first meeting in October.

The Board reached a consensus to have the County Attorney bring back an ordinance to allow the conversion of prepaid impact fees to impact fee credits.

public resources

update on the parks and trails program

Ms. Wendy Breeden, Public Resources Director, stated that she, along with Mr. Bobby Bonilla, Parks and Trails Division Manager, would be giving an update on the parks and trails program and would discuss the park land acquisition strategy.

Mr. Bonilla first gave an overview of the program and listed their goals which were to protect and improve the quality of life, preserve and protect the natural resources and unique character, promote eco-tourism, and increase the level of service.  He pointed out that the County had increased the number of park acreage from 672 acres in 2006 to 3,083 acres in 2012.  He gave an overview of the passive park recreation and listed the 12 public lands properties, which included the Ellis Acres Reserve, the Lake May Reserve, and the Pasture Preserve.  He then listed the 11 resource based parks, which included Ferndale Preserve and P.E.A.R. Park, and listed the 15 boat ramps, which included the Astatula Boat Ramp, the Lake Saunders Boat Ramp, and the Palatlakaha River Park and Boat Ramp.  He mentioned that the County had held over 350 nature based events over the past five years and that most of the events were held in order to comply with grant requirements.  He then gave an overview of the active park recreation and listed the 15 active parks, which included the North Lake Community Park, the Minneola Athletic Complex, and the Paisley Community Park.  He showed an inventory of the infrastructure comparing what the County had in 2006 versus 2012 and what was projected for 2013 and 2014.  He gave an overview of the linear park recreation, which were the trails, and noted that there were 139 miles of blueway trails, or water trails, and those included Blue Creek Run, Lake Griffin Run and Helena Run.  He stated that there were 15 miles of paved trails and those included Hancock Trail, North Lake Community Park Trail and South Lake Trail.  He indicated that there were 26 miles of hiking or unpaved trails and those included Ferndale Preserve, Lake Idamere Park, and Lake May Reserve.  He then pointed out that the County maintained seven cemeteries and those included Evergreen, Rigdon, and Woods-Boyd.  He related that the parks and trails operating budget was currently $3,625,632 and in FY 2013 it would be $3,636,970 and that the public lands operating budget was currently $528,148 and in FY 2013 it would be $373,242.  He noted that each maintenance staff was responsible for 134 acres and that they currently had six vacant positions.  He stated that the County began developing the parks and trails master plan in 2003 with a 10 year purpose to improve the existing small parks throughout the County.  He then gave an update on the major park projects and pointed out that the County received a $2 million grant for P.E.A.R. Park to purchase the front 50 acres and two ball fields, playgrounds, shelters, a trail, a dog park, parking, and pickleball and basketball courts were put on those acres.  He explained that the second phase of East Lake Community Park was currently being constructed to include multi-use fields and ball fields.  He indicated that the Minneola Athletic Complex (MAC) would include additional multi-use fields, an additional little league field, and a trail system throughout the park and that the County began the maintenance of the MAC in October 2011 and the design construction bid documents were 60 percent complete.  He also noted that all of the athletic fields were open for public use and that there were 24 different organized leagues, groups and associations at the complex.  He related that the National Training Center (NTC) multipurpose fields were at the design level with the City of Clermont and that they were hoping to have the design completed in November and the fields should be available by summer 2013.

Ms. Breeden continued the presentation and stated that the public lands program was funded out of the general fund and had been cut by over 52 percent over the past two years.  She noted that the public lands property management plans were under review, site assessments were being made of all of the properties, and seven of the properties were in various stages of planning.  She indicated that only $2 million remained unencumbered for property enhancements and that the 11 public lands properties totaled over 2,000 acres with a staff of one park ranger to 1,000 acres, so close attention of the properties was not possible at that time.  She mentioned that the public lands had increased in demand and had become popular destinations for hikers and birders.  She pointed out that the operational costs for the parks and trails program was funded from the parks and stormwater MSTU and that the funding had decreased which had created a strain on operations and the division’s ability to respond to maintenance and restoration issues, as well as grant requirements in a timely manner.  She related that P.E.A.R. Park and Ferndale Preserve were the two properties under the Florida Communities Trust (FCT) grant and that the County must meet the ongoing grant requirements every year.  She added that great improvements had been made at P.E.A.R. Park, but management plans for Ferndale Preserve were behind schedule due to the funding limitations.  She explained that there had been an increase in demand for County parks by the residents and sports groups and that the capital projects funding for active parks had been limited to $350,000 per year.  She noted that staff had been diligent in making sure that the capital projects were spread throughout the County and that park development was limited to a phased approach.  She then discussed the proposed park land acquisition strategy and stated that the County lacked funds to develop new parks and although there was limited cash budgeted for capital projects, the real estate climate was currently favorable for acquiring property.  She indicated that there were opportunities to acquire parcels adjacent to current park properties for future development, as well as opportunities to partner with other agencies through interlocal agreements.  She added that it was also an excellent time to land bank properties that fulfilled the parks and recreation master plan.  She pointed out that the available land included the City of Clermont sprayfield property, the Conserv II property, 18.5 acres contiguous to North Lake Community Park, and the Northwest Lake Community Park.  She explained that the sprayfield property would be an opportunity for future regional park development and that it would be a partnership opportunity with the City of Clermont.  She noted that the 18.5 acres contiguous to North Lake Community Park would provide future growth and opportunities for larger sports tournaments.  She mentioned that the City of Fruitland Park had expressed interest in partnering with the County to designate its city-owned park as Northwest Lake Community Park with the end goal of securing adjacent privately owned property for expansion.  She related that growth in the northwest area of the County was projected to increase by an estimated 58,000 by 2030 and that the park had the potential of providing for indoor events if the adjacent property could be secured.  She explained that staff wanted to research and submit opportunities and partnerships that met the criteria for land banking, that were consistent with the master plan, that could connect to an existing park, and that promoted recreation, sports and tourism.  She then summarized that with the goal of providing a quality and well balanced parks and recreation system, the County adopted a parks and recreation master plan, a trails master plan, and enacted the public lands program which included active and passive recreation opportunities.  She noted that over the past five years the County had been aggressive in implementing the County’s park goals with successful participation and that while the County did not have sufficient funds to build new parks, the County could take advantage of the real estate market to acquire park lands while continuing efforts to identify alternative funding sources.

Commr. Campione mentioned that there had been a suggestion to sell off some of the land and use that money to pay down the debt service and she asked if that was legal.

Mr. Minkoff replied that the bonds did not allow prepayment for the first ten years, but that advance refunding could be done; however, there would be a significant interest rate cost to do that.

Commr. Campione asked if the money could be put towards improved trails or trail acquisition.

Mr. Minkoff responded that there was not a mortgage on any of the properties so the property could be sold, but the proceeds would have to be used for the same purposes that the bonds were originally sold for and trails were considered an allowed purpose.

Commr. Hill asked what the acreage amount was that tripped a park into being a regional park rather than a community park.

Mr. Bonilla replied that it was 100 acres or more.

Commr. Hill asked if the North Lake Community Park would now be considered a regional park with the recently added 18 acres.

Mr. Bonilla answered “yes.”

Commr. Conner mentioned that he thought that Woodlea Park had been designated as a regional park instead of a community park and asked if staff could research that.

Commr. Campione asked if tourism dollars could be used for infrastructure improvement for regionals parks when big sporting events took place at those parks resulting in overnight stays at hotels.

Commr. Cadwell replied that the Tourist Development Council had discussed that before, but it was difficult to quantify it; however, once the County started marketing their own fields they should be able to quantify that and use tourism dollars.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Park Land Acquisition Strategy with the understanding that staff would bring forward park land acquisition opportunities for consideration and approval by the Board of County Commissioners.

public works

floodplain ordinance

Ms. Mary Hamilton, Interim Environmental Services Division Manager, gave a presentation regarding the floodplain ordinance changes that were required for consistency with the 2010 Florida Building Code (FBC) which became effective on March 15, 2012.  She explained that floodplains were low lying areas along rivers, streams or coastlines that were subject to flooding and that they were regulated by Federal Title 44 which protected people and their property, reduced flood loss, ensured federal flood insurance was available, and minimized adverse environmental effects.  She stated that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was established by Congress in 1968 and the program was administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  She indicated that the initial Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) was in April 1982, which was also when Lake County joined the NFIP and mentioned that the County was using the FIRM panels from July 3, 2002.  She noted that Lake County participated in the voluntary Community Rating System program (CRS) that gave an insurance premium discount based on credits received in four major categories and specified that a class 10 was the worst case so there would be a zero percent flood insurance discount and a class one would receive the maximum discount of 45 percent.  She remarked that the County was currently a class seven as of 2008; therefore, the unincorporated properties in the County received a 15 percent flood insurance discount.  She stated that the current floodplain regulations resided in Chapter 9 of the Land Development Regulations (LDRs) and items within the current Code included administration and enforcement of the floodplain program; a violation, variance and appeal process; and development in flood hazard area provisions.  She pointed out that some items outside the jurisdiction of the Building Code would remain in the LDRs, but the new Building Code included floodplain regulations such as specific design standards detailing flood resistant materials, inspection requirements upon placement of the lowest floor, and a Certificate of Occupancy including a statement validating that the lowest finished floor was above the base floor.  She indicated that the floodplain regulations that would continue in the LDRs included reviewing applications and plans to determine whether development would be located in floodplain areas, interpreting flood hazard boundaries, providing flood elevation and flood hazard information, and issuing floodplain development permits for development other than that subject to the Florida Building Code.  She explained that revising the floodplain regulations was the final step in adopting the new FIRMs and that the current remapping process would be effective December 18, 2012 with new flood maps.  She stated that their next steps included finalizing and distributing the draft ordinance, the request to advertise the public hearing was scheduled for October 9, 2012, the Planning and Zoning Board would review the ordinance on October 31, 2012, the tentative public hearing to adopt the ordinance was scheduled for November 20, 2012, and the Florida Building Commission would need to review the ordinance.

other business

appointment to the elder council

On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board appointed Mr. Joseph Wynkoop, representing District 2, to the Elder Council to complete an unexpired term ending January 31, 2013 and to serve an additional two-year term ending January 31, 2015.

reports – county attorney

appointments on canvassing board

Mr. Minkoff explained that the Supervisor of Elections, Commr. Hill and Judge Neal served on the Canvassing Board and because the Supervisor of Elections was on the ballot that year, she was disqualified from serving for the general election.  He noted that the statutes provide that another County commissioner be appointed to replace the Supervisor of Elections.  He pointed out that Commr. Conner was disqualified because he was on the ballot and that the Chairman was also disqualified because she was involved with the presidential campaign.  He recommended appointing a commissioner and an alternate since a Canvassing Board member was required to be in the building any time ballots were being handled and because of the large number of absentee ballots, there would probably be a span of three or four full days that a member would need to be present.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board appointed Commr. Parks to serve as the Canvassing Board member and for Commr. Cadwell to be the alternate.

Medicaid litigation

Mr. Minkoff reported that he would proceed with disengaging the County from the lawsuit regarding the Medicaid litigation.

reports – county manager

legislative package

Mr. Gray mentioned that the Board needed to approve the legislative package that would be presented to the State Legislative Delegation and during their trip to Washington, D.C.  He indicated that some of the issues included in the package were the funding for Wellness Way, the State libraries, mosquito control, the Transportation Disadvantaged program, and the South Lake Trail.

Commr. Campione asked when the deadline was to have the package completed.

Mr. Gray replied that the Legislative Delegation usually met at the beginning of January before session started so it would need to be ready by then.

Commr. Campione opined that the gun issue, the Agenda 21 concept of sustainable development, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules and their impacts to local property owners should be included in the package.

Commr. Parks commented that the Capital Facilities Advisory Committee may have recommendations in December regarding education.

Mr. Gray noted that the gun issue was already included, but he could add the additional concerns and if anything else came up in the next few months, those could be added as well.

Commr. Hill mentioned that she was concerned about the regulation of firearms and ammunition because it seemed it would allow implementation of local ordinances and every city would have different regulations.

Commr. Campione pointed out that they needed to let the legislature know which areas the County was having problems with and that a statewide solution should be put into place.

Mr. Minkoff stated that they could rephrase that to ask the legislature to create some additional rules to eliminate the concerns the County had with the shooting near the houses as opposed to local regulations.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the legislative package.

federal legislative package

Mr. Gray noted that the federal legislative package included items from previous years, but they could add the additional concerns about Agenda 21 and the EPA rules.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the federal legislative package.

reports – commissioner parks – district 2

Awards Luncheon

Commr. Parks mentioned that he enjoyed attending the William C. Schwartz Industry Innovation Awards Luncheon held on September 6, 2012 where Skybolt from Leesburg was honored.

proclamation regarding the national training center

Commr. Parks asked to add a proclamation to the agenda honoring the National Training Center and the efforts of Mr. John Moore and Dr. Dot Richardson for recruiting Olympic athletes.  He added that there were 12 athletes and a total of 8 Olympic medals were won including four bronze and four silver medals.

On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board added the proclamation to the agenda.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved Proclamation No. 2012-116 honoring the National Training Center and the efforts of Mr. John Moore and Dr. Dot Richardson for recruiting Olympic athletes.

comprehensive plan amendment

Commr. Parks suggested inserting language in the Comprehensive Plan as an amendment under Policy I-1.1.9 Protection of Private Property Rights to add Lake County’s vision on sustainability and their initiatives.

Commr. Cadwell commented that they should add the amendment during the normal cycle.

Commr. Campione agreed and pointed out that the language needed some work because she wanted to make clear that as a community they recognized that the transfer of property rights was inconsistent with the County’s values and she wanted to spell out the specific statements that were in Agenda 21.

Commr. Parks noted that it was based on the will of the people and that they needed to have adequate public input from the citizens.

Commr. Campione mentioned that they should consider holding a workshop and have a public meeting on the topic.

The Board reached a consensus to hold a public hearing, formulate the language and then insert it into the Comprehensive Plan.

reports – commissioner conner – district 3

awards luncheon

Commr. Conner also mentioned attending the William C. Schwartz Industry Innovation Awards Luncheon and noted that Skybolt was very appreciative of the support that the County had given to them.

The Big House Sports Complex

Commr. Conner reported that he, along with Mr. David Heath, Deputy County Manager; Mr. Scott Blankenship, Economic Development and Tourism Director; Mr. Adam Ashton, Lake County Manager for the Central Florida Sports Commission; Mr. John Drury, City Administrator of Tavares; Mr. Robert Wolfe, Mayor of Tavares; and Congressman Daniel Webster recently toured The Big House Sports Complex in Tavares and that it was state of the art with three stories, indoor volleyball and basketball.  He expressed that that was a good opportunity for the Economic Development Department to bring in some events to Lake County.

REPORTS – COMMISsIONER campione – CHAIRMAN & DISTRICT 4

proclamation regarding White Cane Safety Day

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved Proclamation No. 2012-107 observing October 15, 2012 as "White Cane Safety Day" in Lake County.

contract for david heath as county manager

Commr. Campione recommended that Mr. Heath’s contract be effective on September 26, 2012 and that Mr. Gray would be available through October 15, 2012 to assist Mr. Heath with anything he needed in performing his duties.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Cadwell and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved for Mr. Heath’s contract to start effective September 26, 2012 and for Mr. Gray to be available to provide assistance until October 15, 2012.

comprehensive health care advisory committee

Commr. Campione mentioned receiving a request from Dr. Tully Patrowicz about having the Board discuss with the hospital districts about putting a comprehensive health care advisory committee back together.

proclamation regarding lscc’s 50th anniversary

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved Proclamation No. 2012-108 celebrating Lake-Sumter Community College’s 50th Anniversary.

Central Florida Area Workforce Investment Consortium

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the interlocal agreement for the Central Florida Area Workforce Investment Consortium.

RECESS AND REASSEMBLY

The Chairman announced at 1:05 p.m. that the Board would recess until 5:05 p.m. for the Public Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget.

public hearing

Fiscal Year 2013 Budget

Mr. Gray stated that this was the first of two public hearings on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 Budget as required by Florida Statute and specified that it was for the millage rates and budget overseen by the Lake County Board of County Commissioners.  He noted that the tentative budget including the proposed millage rates and the change from the rollback millage rates would be presented.  He defined the rollback millage rate as a rate when applied to next year’s tax base, excluding the new construction that would generate the same revenue as was raised in the previous year.  He added that the rates were typically lower than the current millage rates, but because the tax base was reduced by nearly $1 billion, the rollback tax rate was higher than the current millage rates.  He indicated that at the conclusion of the public comment period, the Board would adopt the tentative tax rates and the tentative budget including any adjustments, and that the Board could also direct him, as the County Manager, to bring back further adjustments to the Board at the second public hearing on September 25, 2012.  He then gave a presentation of the budget and explained that the Board held four budget workshops since December 2011 and the five-year financial model was completed and presented in December as well.  He stated that the departments and the constitutional officers were directed to reduce their budgets by five percent and that the County had been challenged in keeping the reserves at or above the 15 percent Board policy.  He related that there had been a 6.2 percent decrease in property values for FY 2013, which equaled a 34 percent decrease since FY 2008, and a 29 percent decrease in the general fund budget as well as a reduction of 152 positions since FY 2008.  He explained that the proposed FY 2013 general fund budget was $120 million and that the County departments represented 25 percent of the general fund budget, judicial support represented three percent, transfers and non-departmental represented 15 percent, and the constitutional offices represented 57 percent.  He indicated that staff’s philosophy when approaching the budget was to reduce the size of County government, to provide the best quality service at the lowest possible cost, to maintain the current level of service, and to cut expenses and stabilize the property tax revenues by implementing the rollback rate to balance the budget.  He pointed out that the public lands-voted debt millage was being increased to .1900 in order to have adequate coverage for the principal and interest payments.  He noted that the total County proposed FY 2013 budget, which included the general fund and special revenue funds, was $387 million and that was a 7.8 percent decrease from the current year.  He remarked that the Emergency Communications and Operations Center (ECOC) was currently under construction and was expected to be completed during FY 2013 and that the Courthouse Expansion project was expected to be completed and occupied at the beginning of 2013.  He mentioned that the County had a successful implementation of online permitting, they were expanding the Business Opportunity Centers, and they had a fresh focus on tourism drivers such as sporting events and bird watching festivals.  He discussed some of the budget challenges including the Medicaid expenses, the Transportation Disadvantaged funding, the Courthouse operations and maintenance costs, the decline in property values, and keeping the reserves at 15 percent.  He also noted that the Cagan Crossings Library was a challenge because Polk County had drastically reduced the amount of funding they provided the County for use of that library.  He added that they would have to reduce the operating hours as well as some positions and that they would be implementing a fee for Polk County residents to use that library.  He stated that the inmate medical expenses were projected to exceed the FY 2012 budget and that there was an item on the September 25, 2012 agenda to transfer $200,000 from reserves for those additional expenses.  He then showed a slide comparing the millage rates of surrounding counties and pointed out that even with the rollback millage rate, Lake County was the lowest.  He also indicated that the Florida Association of Counties surveyed all of the counties in the State and that Lake County had the 9th biggest decrease in property values by percentage and had the 10th lowest aggregate millage.

Mr. Koontz continued the presentation discussing the general fund projections and pointed out that Scenario 1 was a revenue decrease scenario and was without the rollback millage rate.  He noted that the assumptions for the taxable values included a property value decrease of 6.2 percent, a revenue decrease of three percent, and an expense decrease of five percent for FY 2013 and FY 2014.  He indicated that it also included the additional excess fees from the Clerk, the five year update of Transportation Disadvantaged funding, the impact of Medicaid to revenue sharing, the constitutional office submittals, and the decrease in solid waste transfer for FY 2014.  He explained that there would be a $17.2 million gap between the expenses and revenues in FY 2013 and that the fund balance was projected to be about $34.5 million leaving about $17.3 million in reserves.  He remarked that the reductions in the County departments and constitutional offices when coupled with the projected ad valorem revenue declines would not maintain the reserves at 15 percent and he noted that for FY 2013 the reserves would be at 14.4 percent and at 7.4 percent for FY 2014.  He pointed out that Scenario 2 was a revenue neutral scenario and it was the same as Scenario 1, but the revenues for FY 2013 would stay the same as FY 2012.  He stated that there would be a $12.8 million gap between the expenses and revenues in FY 2013 and that the reserves would be about $21.7 million.  He indicated that the reductions in the County departments and constitutional offices when coupled with the same ad valorem revenue as FY 2012 were projected to keep the reserves at 15 percent and he specified that the reserves would be at 18.1 percent in FY 2013, at 15.2 percent in FY 2014, and at 11 percent in FY 2015.  He then reported that the Lake County General Fund Countywide Millage was 5.0786 per $1,000 of taxable values which was an increase to the current rate and equal to the rollback rate, the Lake County Ambulance MSTU was 0.3853 which was equal to the current rate and a 6.84 percent reduction from the rollback tax rate of 0.4136, the Lake County Stormwater, Roads, Parks MSTU was 0.5412 which was an increase to the current rate and equal to the rollback rate, the Lake County Fire Rescue EMS was 0.3222 which was equal to the current rate and a 7.65 percent reduction from the rollback tax rate of 0.3489, and the total proposed millage was 6.3273 which was an increase to the current rate and a 0.86 percent reduction of the rollback rate of 6.3823.  He noted that the Lake County Public Lands-Voted Debt was 0.1900 and was an increase to the FY 2012 adopted rate which was 0.1101.

Commr. Campione asked if the rollback millage rates were for the general fund Countywide millage and the Stormwater, Roads, and Parks MSTU.

Mr. Koontz answered “yes,” adding that the others were kept at the FY 2012 level, except for the public lands-voted debt.

The Chairman opened the public hearing.

Ms. Marilyn Bainter, a resident of Eustis, explained that in a perfect world government would tax only those absolute necessary services, but at the end of the day the government was made up of people that were elected and anxious to please their special interest constituents regardless of the cost to others.  She stated that people preferred not to make changes or even reevaluate their purpose or motive and while the County had made reductions in staff, program reductions have not been discussed.  She recalled that in 2002 a panel of business leaders were appointed by the Board to fix the County’s budget, determine what programs and services were needed, and then prioritize those and that a report was written and made at Lake-Sumter Community College.  She also recalled that in 2007 the legislature mandated each County to cut their budget and Lake County was one of the counties that was cut nine percent, but the County Manager at the time had bragged about how her creative financing resulted in only a two percent cut.  She indicated that also that year the Golden Triangle Republican Woman’s Club studied the County’s budget for several months and recommended certain programs that the County could cut that only applied to small percentages of the residents.  She pointed out that those same programs were still being funded today and that the County had added additional programs requiring more funding.  She related that the Florida Statutes allowed counties with a special hospital district to recover part of the cost of the mandated social programs from those districts and in a time when the County was considering tax increases, every possibility of recovering some of the costs should be addressed.  She expressed that it was the Board’s responsibility to look at the currently funded programs and be willing to cut them if they were not serving the majority of the citizens or were a duplicate of the state or federal government.

Mr. Vance Jochim, a resident of Tavares who writes a blog called FiscalRangers.com, opined that there was room to reduce the budget and not increase the millage rates.  He pointed out that the Sheriff’s budget reductions was about half of what the County departments have sustained and that even though the departments have taken a lot of hits already, the County was subsidizing programs such as LakeXpress and bought public lands without setting aside money to develop or operate them.  He added that the County was now going to start a land banking process for parks and trails, but there was still no money to operate those.  He also mentioned the Courthouse operations and maintenance and noted that that was another example of the County buying something for capital without setting aside money to pay for the operating costs.  He pointed out that the unemployment rate was at 9.9 percent, there were 3,000 homeless kids in the school district, and home values have dropped, but the County still wanted to raise taxes by increasing the millage rate.  He suggested that the County stop buying land and buildings and start selling some of it to meet the budget and to use some of the money from reserves for that year and then see what would happen after the November election.

Ms. Heather LeBlanc expressed that she supported the rollback millage rates.

Mr. Nicolas Ratsma stated that he owned nine rental properties and it was getting harder to keep the rentals full because he has had to increase the cost of rent since the cost of operating a rental business had increased as well.  He mentioned that Lake County was a republican county, but it was not behaving like a republican county.

Mr. Larry Brooks noted that he was opposed to the millage rate increase because it was not right to make the residents pay more when the property values have already decreased.  He related that it was not rational to increase the millage rates just because other counties’ rates were higher and that the Board should commit to live within the current budget and not add additional impacts to the residents.

Ms. Pam Lee read for the record information she received from the County Manager and noted that Lake County had an 11.2 percent unemployment rate, the personal income per capita was $32,697 per year, and that 78 percent of the residential properties fell within the $0-$150,000 range.  She explained that the individuals making that amount of money typically lived from paycheck to paycheck, so any form of tax increase would hit them very hard.  She mentioned that one of the highest paying taxpayers in the County was the electric company and raising millage rates would cause the electric bills to increase as well.  She indicated that the disposable income for individuals would vanish, subsequently causing retail and other businesses to suffer.  She pointed out that the legislative department consisted of five commissioners and three administrative support personnel and the current budget was $707,506.  She also noted that according to the chart from the Office of Economic and Demographic Research from the State, the salaries for FY 2011-2012 were as follows: $129,769 for the Clerk of Circuit Court, the Property Appraiser, and the Tax Collector; $111,268 for the Supervisor of Elections; $138,364 for the Sheriff; and $73,496 for each County Commissioner.

Mr. Patrick Giannini, a resident of Fruitland Park, stated that after he sold his business and retired in 2010, he started investing in distressed and foreclosed properties to provide clean, safe and affordable housing to lower income families.  He mentioned that the Board’s decision to raise taxes would greatly affect the families that lived in his properties and pointed out that spending was the problem at every level of government.

Mr. Dan Robuck noted that when times were good the County spent too much, built too many buildings, and borrowed too much money and now they had to pay the debt service and the operating costs for those buildings.  He indicated that the citizens were already hurting because their incomes have been cut and that the County was not serving the citizens by raising taxes.  He mentioned that the constitutional officers needed to share in the same percentage of cuts and he suggested that the County appoint a group of business leaders to look at the budget to determine what items could be cut to try to save money.

Mr. Kent Weber expressed his support for the rollback millage rate and explained that some departments could not afford another cut to their budget, especially the Animal Control Department.  He pointed out that that department had taken over animal control services for 10 other cities in the County meaning more animals, but less of a budget.  He emphasized that many concerned citizens have discussed with the Board some solutions for that department and that the shelter was a huge problem and it needed to be fixed soon before it got worse and cost the County more money.

Mr. Ralph Smith stated that by raising the millage rate the citizens would be paying approximately 10 percent more on property that has been devalued.  He noted that property values and income were tied together because some people made a living on rentals and when the property values declined, the tenants want to pay less.  He urged the Board to not raise the millage rate that year.

Ms. Cheryl Hilty explained that she worked with individuals who have retired from up north and the first question she received from them was what the millage rate was for Lake County.  She indicated that many of those individuals buy elsewhere because the County’s millage rate was so high.  She expressed that she was opposed to raising the millage rate adding that Lake County was a small county and she did not understand why the citizens had to pay such high property taxes.  She then asked what the County’s bond rating was.

Mr. Gray replied that Mr. Koontz would provide that information to her.

Mr. Fred Costello, a resident of Clermont, pointed out that with the gross taxable property values declining by 34 percent since the 2008 peak and with reduced tax revenues there would be a $17 million general fund shortfall if the millage rate did not increase.  He added that the County would need to make up the shortfall by increasing the millage rate, taking funds from the reserves, reducing expenses, or finding new sources of revenue.  He remarked that even with the proposed millage rate increase, about half of the County’s taxpayers would actually pay lower taxes.  He specified that the key goals and challenges of the County included keeping the citizens safe, maintaining adequate levels of service to all citizens, keeping businesses and jobs in the County, attracting new businesses and jobs to the County, and providing the best possible and practical standard of living and quality of life for all citizens.  He mentioned that the background data indicated that County operations and services provided to the public were now in proper balance with the size of the steadily increasing population, the operating efficiency levels may now be close to optimal, the extraction of funds from the reserves could limit future options and negatively impact the County’s bond ratings, and the implementation of an expense reduction strategy could reduce the citizens’ quality of life and commercial competitiveness.  He requested that the Board explain and publish their positions on the County Manager’s proposed millage rate increase and if voting no to provide a list of expected cuts the County planned to implement and an explanation of how those cuts would not reduce the quality of life in Lake County, or risk the ability to keep and attract businesses and jobs to Lake County.

There being no one else who wished to address the Board, the Chairman closed the public hearing.

RECESS AND REASSEMBLY

The Chairman announced that there would be a five-minute recess at 6:13 p.m.

Fiscal Year 2013 Budget (cont’d)

Commr. Campione expressed appreciation for all of the comments that were made and pointed out that 59,705 parcels out of 320,000 parcels would see an increase in taxes using the rollback millage rate, meaning that 56.16 percent of all parcels in the County would be affected.  She added that 55 percent of single-family homes, 55 percent of mobile homes, and 85 percent of commercial parcels would be affected.  She explained that she was not in favor of a millage rate increase that would have such a drastic impact and opined that they continue with the current millage rate and review programs to decide which ones could be eliminated.  She noted that the public lands millage was decided on by the voters of Lake County and that the land was purchased and financed through bonds.  She remarked that it was important to preserve and protect their bond rating and she thought that millage was out of their discretion.  She added that if property values increased then they could lower the millage rate, but they needed to bring in enough money to pay off those bonds.

Commr. Conner stated that he did not want to increase the millage rates, but he would not criticize anyone who did because the County has made a lot of budget cuts, cut positions, the employee have done furloughs and overall they have downsized government.  He noted that the Board had a great working relationship with all of the constitutional officers and although he did not want to jeopardize those relationships, the Board needed to be more aggressive in asking for additional budget cuts for next year.  He opined that they could keep the current millage rates and still function and he preferred to leave the public lands millage rate level if at all possible, but he did not want to adversely affect the bond ratings.

Commr. Parks commented that the numbers of how many people that would face a tax increase was unacceptable to him because too many people would be negatively affected.  He remarked that if they were going to do a tax increase that it should be the will of the people.  He stated that they needed to discuss what effects increasing the millage rate would have on business development efforts, because business values and property values were enhanced by some amenities such as parks and recreation.  He expressed that he did not support the rollback millage rate and would love to get businesses involved with their budget to try to find additional cuts.

Commr. Hill asked if the Board would need to amend the reserves policy if they decided not to do the rollback millage rate and the reserves went below 15 percent.

Mr. Gray answered “yes.”

Commr. Conner pointed out that by the time they reached the end of the fiscal year it was possible that they would not spend as much as what was budgeted and they may not even go below the 15 percent.  He added that their financial advisors told them that the County’s reserve policy of 15 percent was much higher than most counties, so they could reduce it to 13 or 14 percent.

Commr. Hill asked what additional cuts they would be faced with if they did not do the rollback millage rate.

Mr. Koontz explained that the revenues would be reduced by $4.5 million and the MSTU that funded the operations for the parks, trails and stormwater would be reduced by $313,000, which was a total impact of about $4.7 million.

Commr. Cadwell stated that they have spent eight months talking about fiscal responsibility for the future and that was the reason they advertised the rollback millage rate.  He noted that they quadrupled the Economic Development Department over the last year to promote Lake County, help the existing businesses expand, and bring in new businesses and at the same time deplete the government and community infrastructure.  He added that he understood that it was tough for everyone, but he thought they would be doing a disservice if they did not do the rollback millage rate.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried by a 4-1 vote, the Board approved to maintain the Lake County General Fund Countywide Millage rate at 4.7309 mills.

Commr. Cadwell voted “no.”

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried by a 4-1 vote, the Board approved to maintain the Lake County Ambulance MSTU rate at 0.3853 mills.

Commr. Cadwell voted “no.”

Commr. Parks mentioned that he would like to see what the impact would be to the operations of parks and stormwater if they did not do the rollback millage rate.  He added that he planned to work with the business community within the next two weeks before the September 25 meeting to see if money was being wasted or if the County could do something different and if not, he would vote to keep the millage rate the same at the next meeting.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried by a 3-2 vote, the Board approved to maintain the Lake County Stormwater, Roads, Parks MSTU rate at 0.4984 mills.

Commr. Cadwell and Commr. Parks voted “no.”

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried by a 4-1 vote, the Board approved to maintain the Lake County Fire Rescue EMS rate at 0.3222 mills.

Commr. Cadwell voted “no.”

Commr. Conner asked what additional revenue would be generated by increasing the public lands-voted debt from 0.1101 to 0.1900.

Mr. Koontz replied that the 0.1101 generated about $1.7 million and the 0.1900 would generate about $2.7 million.  He noted that they had been taking money out of reserves for the past two or three years to pay the debt and that by increasing the millage it would make the County more financially stable and would keep their bond ratings up.  He mentioned that they planned to continuously review the millage and would lower the rate as soon as they could.

Commr. Conner asked how much would be left in the public lands-voted debt reserves at the end of the fiscal year.

Mr. Gray responded that there was not any money in there and that they would not be able to meet the debt service payment for next year.

Commr. Conner asked about the bond rating.

Mr. Koontz explained that he and Ms. Barbara Lehman, Chief Deputy Clerk, County Finance have had multiple conversations with representatives from Fitch ratings and Moody’s ratings and the main thing they looked for was the County’s ability to cover the debt service.  He stated that those representatives also looked at the fact that the public lands-voted debt was approved at 0.33 mills, but the County was only assessing at 0.1101 mills, that the County was not bringing in the revenues necessary to cover the debt service payments, and that they were consistently using the reserves to make those payments.

Commr. Conner asked if the County’s bond rating would be adversely affected if they did not increase the millage rate.

Mr. Koontz replied that he would expect that their rating would be lowed another notch.

Commr. Conner mentioned that they did not have a choice on the matter and that increasing the millage rate to 0.1900 was needed in order to pay the debt service instead of keeping it the same and pulling money from reserves and risking lowering their bond rating.

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved to set the Lake County Public Lands-Voted Debt rate at 0.1900 mills.

Mr. Koontz summarized the changes of the budget based on the millages the Board approved and noted that the Medicaid payments would be included in the budget to better track the payments and the additional funds returned from the Clerk’s Office was recognized.  He added that there were additional personal service reductions, updated fund balance projections, and an updated PO carryforward estimate.  He added that the total changes to the FY 2013 recommended budget were $3,199,412 and that the Board would need to decide whether to reduce expenses or reduce the reserves.

Commr. Conner suggested balancing the budget through reserves and then have the County Manager bring back a variety of alternatives for reducing expenses.

Mr. Gray agreed and recommended starting the budget process early in the first quarter of the new fiscal year and go through scenarios of reducing the budget to figure out how to make up the $4.7 million.

Commr. Campione stated that she was ready to have a discussion and put things on the table that would have to change in order to make up that gap.  She specified that they currently funded $4.5 million for the libraries and they should explore ways to make operational changes such as decrease the hours of the libraries, have them open only on certain days, and possibly provide for volunteer positions.  She indicated that they also needed to discuss cuts to the parks operations, the jail operations, and whether they could completely eliminate LakeXpress.  She noted that they received a proposal from Rural Metro to privatize Lake EMS and recommended they explore that as a possibility because the proposal stated Rural Metro could operate EMS at $2.7 million as opposed to the current $4.5 million the County was spending.  She related that they would need to ask for another five percent or greater cut from the Sheriff and constitutional officers for next year.  She mentioned that it was imperative to make those kinds of decisions in the first quarter of next year because those changes would need to be in place in order to balance the budget and not increase the millage rate next year.

Commr. Conner commented that Marion County combined their EMS and their fire department and he suggested looking at that as well to see what the most cost effective way to operate was.  He also mentioned that shared service areas for the fire department was an area where they could save money and even improve the level of service.

Commr. Cadwell stated that they got by that year and they would get by next year, but they really needed to implement some of those cuts or look at other revenue sources.

Commr. Campione noted that they also needed to modify the reserve policy since the reserves would go below the 15 percent.  She opined that 15 percent was too high and that the State only required them to budget 95 percent which was about a five percent reserve level.  She indicated that a reserve level between seven and 10 would be sufficient.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried by a 4-1 vote, the Board approved to adopt the changes to the FY 2013 Recommended Budget totaling $3,199,412.

Commr. Cadwell voted “no.”

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried by a 4-1 vote, the Board approved to adopt the FY 2013 Tentative Budget totaling $383,021,804.

Commr. Cadwell voted “no.”

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the public hearing for final adoption of the FY 2013 millage rates and budget on September 25, 2012 at 5:05 p.m., or as soon thereafter as possible, in the Board of County Commission Chambers, 315 West Main Street, Tavares, Florida.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 7:09 p.m.

 

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leslie campione, chairman

 

 

ATTEST:

 

 

 

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NEIL KELLY, CLERK