A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

may 7, 2013

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, May 7, 2013 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; Jimmy Conner, Vice Chairman; Timothy I. Sullivan; Sean Parks; and Welton G. Cadwell.  Others present were:  David Heath, 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; Neil Kelly, Clerk of Court; and Susan Boyajan, Deputy Clerk.

INVOCATION and pledge

Mr. Jim Briggs from the Baha’i Group of Lake County gave the Invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Agenda update

Mr. David Heath, County Manager, stated that he needed to pull Tab 3 regarding the grant for LifeStream for criminal justice mental health and substance abuse, because the state still has not reinstated the program.

employee awards

Ms. Susan Irby, Human Resources Director, presented the following employee awards and commented briefly about each employee’s contribution to the County:

five years

Douglas Draper, Firefighter/Paramedic (not present)

Public Safety/Fire Rescue Division

ten years

Magin (Scott) Catasus, Environmental Specialist

Conservation & Compliance/Code Enforcement Services Division

Twenty five years

Mr. Jim Stivender, Public Works Director, presented the awards for twenty-five years of service to the County to Delores Collins, Office Associate II in the Solid Waste Division of Public Works and to Cynthia Heffler, Assessment & Customer Service Supervisor in the Solid Waste Division, and commented extensively on their service.

Mr. Stivender then presented the award for retirement after 28 years of service to Mr. Dennis Warren, Roads Superintendent in the Road Operations Division of Public Works, and commented on his service to the County.

minute approval

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the Minutes of January 22, 2013 (Regular Meeting) and March 26, 2013 (Regular Meeting) as presented.

citizen question and comment period

Mr. Vance Jochim, a resident of Tavares who writes a blog about fiscal issues, commended Mr. Heath and Mr. Sandy Minkoff, County Attorney, for attending the Historical Society meeting, and he related that the Historical Society elected three or four new officers, all of whom were well esteemed.  He opined that it worked out well and believed that the County should continue to fund the history museum.

CLERK OF COURTS’ CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Sullivan, seconded by Commr. Cadwell and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Clerk of Courts’ Consent Agenda, Items 1 through 3, as follows:

List of Warrants

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

Certificate of Authorized Officer of Covanta Energy for FY Ended December 31, 2012

Request to acknowledge receipt of a Certificate of Authorized Officer of Covanta Energy for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 stating that Covanta Lake II, Inc. is in compliance with all indenture covenants, pursuant to Section 8.04 of the Loan Agreement dated November 1, 1988 between Covanta Lake, Inc. and Lake County.

Ordinance from City of Tavares

Request to acknowledge receipt of a copy of the City of Tavares Ordinance No. 2013-01 regarding the Domestic Partnership Registry, including a cover letter stating that the City Clerk’s Office will begin implementing the Domestic Partnership Registry on April 30, 2013 with any forms and any amendments to be recorded at the Lake County Clerk of Courts in Tavares.

COUNTY MANAGER’S CONSENT AGENDA

Commr. Parks commended Ms. Jennifer Dempsey for the Children’s Memorial Garden at Lake Idamere Park in Tab 5, and he commented that she gave so much to the community and that this will benefit all of the citizens of Lake County.  He added that he was also glad that the Wellness Way Sector Plan contained in Tab 4 was moving forward.

Commr. Campione asked how quickly the process for the Wellness Way Sector Plan will start and what the expected completion date was.

Mr. Heath responded that the first deliverable of the draft was in six months, and there would be an opportunity for the Board to review it before the final contract.

Commr. Parks expressed frustration regarding Tab 6, which was the continuation of the HCP (Habitat Conservation Plan) contract, about the bureaucracy of the federal government, which took six months to inform them of the delay.

Mr. Heath elaborated that the County needs two years to get the Habitat Conservation Plan done, but they do not want to spend money if the federal government was not going to support it with funding.  He related that the federal government refused to do a two year extension and would only do a one-year extension; however, it takes them ten months to process that one-year extension, so what the Board is approving today will expire at the end of June.

Commr. Cadwell opined that they needed to terminate that, since they do not have the staff for that project or even to maintain what they have right now.

Commr. Campione explained that the concept behind that was to help with mitigation on the local side by not requiring applicants to go through the entire permitting process with the federal government, which could take two or three years.

Mr. Heath stated that he would schedule a work session for the Board in July to discuss this issue and to fully explain it to the Board, and he opined that he did not think it was worth the effort for two months’ worth of time left in the agreement.  He then clarified that he would tell staff to hold off on doing anything regarding this matter.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the County Manager’s Consent Agenda, Tabs 3 through 9, pulling Tab 3 as follows:

Growth Management

Request for approval to award contract 13-0206 for development of a Wellness Way Sector Plan to Littlejohn Engineering Associates (Orlando, FL).  The fiscal impact is $224,925.51.  That value includes $50,000 provided by the BCC with the balance provided by the South Lake Community Planning Fund, Inc.

Public Resources

Request for approval to designate 1.5 acres at Lake Idamere Park for the development of a Children's Memorial Garden and for staff to bring forth an agreement between the County and the Cornerstone Hospice Foundation. There is no fiscal impact. Commission District 3.

Request for approval and signature of the amended grant agreement for Lake County's Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP contract 12083). Request approval for staff to request a two (2) year extension of the amended grant agreement with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC) which expires on June 30, 2013. The fiscal impact is $169,513 ($102,049.50 Grant; $67,523.50 Non-Federal In-Kind Match).

Request for approval for Chairman and Commissioners to declare and sign Proclamation No. 2013-47 designating June 2013 as Tobacco-Free Parks Month. There is no fiscal impact.

Public Works

Request to approve the award of 13-0430, Pavement and Base Repair Contractor, On-call to Paqco, Inc. (Leesburg, FL) and authorize the Procurement Office to execute all supporting documentation.  The fiscal impact is estimated at $200,000.00 (Expenditure).

Request from Public Works for approval and signature on Resolution No. 2013-48 establishing the speed limit at 40 MPH on Crawford Road (1403), Commissioner District 1, Section 1, Township 22, Range 24. There is no fiscal impact.

COUNTY ATTORNEY’S CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Sullivan, and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the County Attorney’s Consent Agenda, Tabs 10 through 12 as follows:

Request for approval for County Attorney to execute the Joint Motion for Entry of Stipulated Order in Case No. 2012-CA-3412A, Lake County vs. R.E. and Gloria Oswalt, et al, an eminent domain case involving a portion of property located on CR 565A for completion of the South Lake Trail – Phase III (A).  The total fiscal impact will be $24,599.99.

Request for approval and execution of the Settlement Agreement between Lake County and Geico General Insurance Company, as Subrogee of Kathleen M. Higgins and the Estate of Virginia Sellitto.  The settlement amount is $145,000.00.  There is no fiscal impact as the full amount is covered by insurance.

Request for approval of automatic renewal of all exemptions and agricultural classifications allowed under Chapters 193 and 196, Florida Statutes.

presentations

audit presentation by moore stephens lovelace

Mr. Neil Kelly, Clerk of Court, introduced his finance staff who worked on the audit and the CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report), including Barbara Lehman, Toni Riggs, Cyndi Richardson, Connie Rodgers, Jo-Anne Drury, Tracy Zeller, and Kristy Mullane; and he thanked them for all of their hard work on that.  He also mentioned that Karen Huffman, Kevin McDonald, and Courtney Vincent, who were not present, have also worked on the CAFR.  He pointed out that the County has received the Certificate of Achievement for the CAFR for 31 years, due to the hard work of prior and present generations of staffs.

Mr. William Blend from Moore Stephens Lovelace stated that he would go over some required communications and financial statement highlights, specifying that the CAFR consists of 217 pages and a lot of information, and he invited anyone who had a question or needed clarification about anything contained in the report to contact their office.  He explained that service and deliverables from them were the auditor’s report on financial statements on pages 13 and 14, and he reported that the County received an unqualified opinion, which is the highest level of assurance that any firm can provide to the Board, meaning that the financial statements are free of material misstatement.  He related that in addition to that, they have provided an auditor’s report on compliance and internal control over compliance to each major federal program and state award program on page 213 and 214 and noted that there were no internal control findings in relation to compliance with that.  Also, they have provided the auditor’s report on internal control over monitoring, which is on pages 217 and 218.  He reported that no internal control findings which are really significant deficiencies or material weaknesses were reported, and the auditor’s management letter mentioned one finding related to fleet management inventory.  He commented that their responsibility basically is to perform their services in accordance with all of the standards that were listed in the report, and they evaluate compliance over significant issues such as debt covenants as it relates to the financial statements.  He explained that the audit approach is risk-based where they evaluate the financial statement and operations of the County and audit to that risk.

Mr. Blend went over some financial highlights, looking at the presentation of the County’s financial statements on a full accrual basis, and he opined that he believed that the ratio of current assets over current liabilities of 4.76 in their governmental activities and 2.45 in the business activities to be healthy ratios.  He pointed out what their asset values and liabilities are and reported that unrestricted net assets, the available amount for spending, on a government-wide level is 18.2 percent and 1.3 percent for business-type activities; the change from the prior year on both sides was a loss of $5.5 million on governmental and $.6 million on the business-type activities.  He pointed out that they audit the major funds, which are listed in the report, and the accumulative other non-major funds, such as the enterprise Landfill and the fiduciary funds.  He related that the County has assets of $39.5 million in their general fund, with liabilities of $6.3 million; prepaid or non-spendable assets of $.6 million; $17.8 million in funds that are designated for specific purposes; and unassigned funds of $14.8 million, for an unassigned fund balance to total expenditures for the year of 12.3 percent.  He also reported that the net change in the general fund was a negative $6.5 million; however, the budget to actuals shown on pages 42 and 43 shows that the County budgeted for a $13.5 million reduction in their general fund, and the difference was because of a slight increase in revenues and transfers in as well as a reduction in expenditures of about $5.8 million due to cost-cutting measures.  He pointed out that both the funds for the operating revenues and expenditures in the business-type landfill fund also had a reduction or an operating loss, but that loss was ultimately offset by net transfers, so the net change in assets was actually reduced.  He related that next year there will be financial reporting for inflows and outflows to enable the categorizing of more things, as well as the new pension standards in a couple of years, which means that the dollars and liability for the FRS program for the County will at some point show up on the books on a full accrual basis.  He concluded that the Board needs to take action to receive and accept the CAFR as presented.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Conner, and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2012 as presented.

presentation by myregion.org

Mr. Jacob Stuart from myregion.org stated that he was representing Central Florida Partnership consisting of seven counties that make up Central Florida, defined by the metropolitan center of Orange County and six counties which share a border with it, and he explained that those seven counties are being measured by their economies or the gross regional product rather than in population and land area.  He commented that the federal government today is driving new products and services to the local government.  He pointed out that those seven counties makes up the 19^th largest economy in the United States, and Florida is the 19^th largest economy in the world.  He also predicted that Florida would jump ahead of New York in 2016 to become the largest state in the United States.  He indicated that he would talk about regional cooperation, and he showed a brochure that was in the backup materials from the Central Florida Legislative Delegation (CFLD) which presented a team made up of 10 senators and 26 House members that represent one or more precincts.  He commented that half are freshman who have not served until this session in their current position, and he opined that they have to advance their agendas and priorities, staying together as a cohesive area.  He related that they are working together and would be coming back to the Board for another meeting of the CFLD when those members will be moving from freshman to sophomore.  He also mentioned that they have had a wonderful fellowship with Commr. Cadwell in the Central Florida Congress of Regional Leaders over the years, and he explained that each of the municipal organizations in each of the counties designate a mayor to be part of that, in addition to the two School Board members that are from the Central Florida Public School Board Coalition.  He commented about how far they have come in their cooperation and willingness to talk about opportunities, water, labor, and education.  He assured the Board that what Lake County does is hugely important to the other six counties.

Commr. Cadwell pointed out that everyone has an equal voice in that forum.

Mr. Stuart commented that everyone talks as one about the region, noting that they have no jurisdiction other than the power of a good idea, but he assured the Board that they are moving some things forward that are very important.  He mentioned that the Entrepreneur’s Academy was moving across their region as well as the country, and Lake County is now fully engaged in encouraging entrepreneurs.  He related that there will be complimentary or scholarship positions in their Entrepreneur’s Academy which would cover the fees associated with participation for those chosen by the Board as a way for them to cheer on success of men and women who they know would benefit from this program.  He told the story of an entrepreneur from China whose dream was to succeed in America.

Commr. Campione asked if they can choose one recipient from each of the five districts in the County for the Entrepreneur’s Academy scholarships.  She asked for anyone interested to contact them at the Board office or go to their Business Opportunity Centers in Eustis, Leesburg or Eustis to apply.

Commr. Cadwell suggested that they choose someone that is already participating in that program to receive the scholarship.

Mr. Stuart elaborated that the value is two days in a seminar setting to help the entrepreneurs navigate the ecosystem, which could be daunting at first.  He then commented that the County is a wonderful partner in the Open for Business initiative, a team that has helped to set the standards of having counties and cities work together.

Commr. Campione commented that she believed the Congress of Regional Leaders is a great opportunity for elected officials to get together, express their own positions and point of views, and to have that kind of dialogue, while recognizing that they all are autonomous.  She mentioned that there was a Central Florida Education Summit scheduled for June 5 with regard to the common core state standards at the Hyatt Regency, Orlando International Airport.

Mr. Stuart added that 17 community partners including Lake-Sumter State College and the South Lake Chamber would participate in that summit, and he noted that Florida ranked second only to Finland in fourth graders reading on grade level due to a huge transformation going on in Florida schools, which is expected to raise graduation rates in the future.  He mentioned that the seven counties in this region are starting to discuss what that means for their region and to Florida, including setting higher standards for their children so they could compete better in jobs and colleges when they graduate.

COUNTY MANAGER’S DEPARTMENTAL BUSINESS

school concurrency

Ms. Amye King, Growth Management Director, related that this presentation would give the Board some background regarding school concurrency, noting that public school concurrency is based on the idea that school facilities must be available to accommodate students from new residential developments at the time a home is occupied, which is the same concept that applies to other types of public facilities such as roads and parks. She recapped that Lake County was one of the six pilot projects to adopt concurrency into their Comp Plan as provided by the passage of new statutes in 2005; however, the Planning Act of 2011 which resulted from HB 7207 made school concurrency optional in the Comprehensive Plan. She noted that seven local governments in Florida have opted to rescind school concurrency requirements from their Comp Plans.

Mr. Harry Fix, Director of Planning, Lake County Schools, handed out to the Board a part of the annual report that is distributed every year at their annual meeting which looks at how they are doing by concurrency service area, noting that the report shows that they are doing fine in that regard.  He related that he would discuss three types of capacity that they use for planning purposes, including functional capacity, commenting that schools start to feel overcrowded at about 80 to 85 FISH (Florida Inventory of School Houses) capacity.  He explained that FISH capacity is the way that the state has the school system look at every room and determine the capacity of the school based on the designations of those rooms that the state mandates and includes both permanent and portable capacity.  He related that concurrency capacity, which was the kind of capacity they were now discussing, was based on the level of service that is in their interlocal agreements and is defined as 100 percent of permanent FISH capacity; however, if the core dining capacity is available in excess of FISH capacity, the school capacity shall be increased up to 125 percent of FISH capacity.  He opined that this county probably has the most liberal capacity for concurrency throughout the state, and he added that they also look at concurrency capacity in adjacent concurrency service areas as well.

Commr. Campione asked him to go through the handout he presented, and she asked how the number of concurrency service areas in this county compares with other counties.

Mr. Fix responded that it was acceptable for a county to initially only have one service area countywide, but after five years the number had to be increased; however, some smaller, less populated districts with slow growth went to two to keep it simple.  He explained that Lake County created multiple concurrency service areas (CSA) to maintain flexibility, and they see this as a planning tool.  He opined that the way they have it laid out has worked very well, and they have not run into any problematic issues; they have also become very good at making attendance boundary changes to make sure they are keeping up with their commitment to the County through the interlocal agreement.  He recalled that when they first started drawing the concurrency service areas, they decided to start by dividing the high school attendance boundaries in half to use as a beginning basis, with a few adjustments made, and he related that they did a concurrency service analysis for the five-year planning period and decided that the adopted level of service standard would be maintained throughout the planning period for most of the CSA’s; however, in CSA 7, the LOS standard was found to be exceeded throughout the planning period at the elementary school level, and a future addition was planned for Treadway Elementary School, but the addition is delayed beyond 2017, and an attendance boundary adjustment may be necessary for Treadway in order to meet adopted LOS standards when boundary adjustments are made in 2014 for the rebuilt Eustis Heights Elementary School.

Mr. Fix then explained that the next pages of the handout were regarding their concurrency service analysis by every concurrency service area, which was a good snapshot of each school and enrollment projections over a five-year period as well as suggested solutions for each one shown on those charts.  He also clarified that they were borrowing capacity in some instances from one concurrency service area to help out in another, especially in South Lake, and he assured the Board that all of that activity was always carefully tracked and documented.

Commr. Campione commented that going forth, their task would be bringing and keeping everyone together and on board, since concurrency is no longer mandated by law but would be optional. She mentioned that the cities are concerned that their capacity may be given up to another area, and she believes being able to track that is an important part of this.  She expressed concern about more cities pulling out of the agreement now that they have an option to opt out and with the downturn in the market, which would result in the termination of the agreement.

Mr. Fix explained that the School Board was always looking for solutions ahead of time regarding concurrency issues, and when they get to the point where they could find no solutions, such as for very large DRI-type developments, then they would look at other options in the interlocal agreement such as proportionate share mitigation; however, he noted that so far that has not been an issue.  He stated that he appreciated Commr. Campione’s concerns and commented that he wanted the County to keep the agreement in place, since it has been working well even through the downturn.

Commr. Cadwell pointed out that the County had asked the state to allow it to become a pilot program.

Commr. Conner recapped that they went to the state as a community at that time, and Senator Alan Hayes was instrumental in Lake County being eligible for school concurrency.  He emphasized that they have a concurrency agreement with every municipality in this county, which is a monumental accomplishment.  He commented that they needed to do anything they could to sustain it, such as to make concurrency more flexible, since he believed it would be a big step backwards to bail out of concurrency as a county.

Commr. Campione opined that the issue was complicated since it dealt with 14 municipalities, and they could be seeing a trend of the municipalities pulling out of this.

Mr. Fix clarified that although Mount Dora has stated that they did not want to be part of the interlocal agreement, all of the other cities have indicated that they still want to be part of it, though a couple of cities have taken it out of their Comp Plan.

Commr. Campione commented that the capacity numbers look good right now.

Mr. Fix pointed out that there was one concurrency service area that was a problem regarding Treadway Elementary, with the solution being the attendance boundary change.

Mr. Sandy Minkoff, County Attorney, related that he collaborated with Mr. Steve Johnson, the School Board Attorney, to make sure that they were in accord.  He pointed out that the interlocal agreement and concurrency are not the same thing, since concurrency only made up one subject out of about 20 contained in the interlocal agreement, and the interlocal agreement was required for the cities, the County, and the School Board by 163.31777 F. S., whereas concurrency is currently not required.  He commented that state law encourages that all entities be included under one agreement.  He explained that school concurrency was addressed in a separate section of the statute and was no longer mandatory, but provides that at least 80 percent of the population has to be included if they did have school concurrency; also, it would need to be included in the interlocal agreement.  He stated that their current interlocal meets all of the statutory requirements, includes concurrency and a promise by all entities who signed it that they would keep concurrency in their Comprehensive Plan, although the Cities of Tavares and Leesburg have repealed it from their Comp Plan but have indicated that they still would support concurrency.  He reported that the City of Mount Dora, however, sent a notice to the Board indicating that they wanted to terminate that agreement and to circulate an agreement only between themselves and the School Board.  He opined that the County was not currently in accord with the agreement, because entities have taken actions that contradict their promises in the agreement, which would require the County to discuss the terms contained in the present agreement and which is the precipitating reason they were bringing the subject up that day.

Ms. King related that her understanding is that Fruitland Park and Umatilla have also rescinded their Comp Plan Amendments and have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the School Board, but there was debate about whether or not this MOU legally constitutes the foundation for concurrency.  She indicated that since the actions of the three cities withdrawing their amendments would require a renegotiation of that interlocal, the Board needed to make a decision about whether school concurrency will continue and if so, whether any changes need to be made; other discussion items also include the number of concurrency service areas, the process regarding reservation, and the issue of de minimus, which is the minimum number of lots that can be developed without triggering concurrency.  She opined that another item that should be discussed is mitigation, which is relief of over-capacity issues through payment or physical improvements provided by a developer, in order to make sure that it is a fair and predictable mechanism for developer-funded improvements or contributions and provides an equitable and predictable way for reimbursement of the upfront costs.  She added that another issue was capital facilities planning for roads and sidewalks to the schools and siting.  She related that the next steps are to begin discussions with the School Board and the cities, renegotiate the agreement, bring the agreement before the Board for review and approval, and a discussion on school impact fees scheduled for August 13.

Commr. Conner asked if there was a provision in the agreement necessitating that they readdress concurrency at this point in time.

Ms. King responded that there was no provision in the agreement indicating that.

Commr. Sullivan explained that his understanding was that because some cities have terminated their interlocal agreement, the County was not in compliance regarding that agreement.

Mr. Steve Johnson, School Board Attorney, further explained that no one has breached the interlocal agreement yet at this point and noted that there was a provision in the interlocal agreement for any of the parties to opt out by giving 120 days’ notice before the end of the year.  He related that Mount Dora had indicated some time ago that they had an issue with the agreement without specifying what that issue was and indicated that they wanted to make some changes, and the City was informed at that time that the interlocal contained the procedure to make changes, which included notifying the other parties of the problem in order to give them an opportunity to review that comment; however, the City of Mount Dora indicated it was unhappy with that suggestion, and he received a letter from the City indicating that they were going to exercise their right to terminate under the contract, which he noted they were entitled to do.  He also stated that the cities of Fruitland Park, Leesburg, and Umatilla had indicated that they believe the statutory changes in 2011 gave them an opportunity to take the public education facilities element out of their Comprehensive Plan, but they pointed out that that did not affect or impact in any way their agreement under the interlocal.  He explained that they were currently operating under the assumption that the only party that does not want to participate in the concurrency agreement is the City of Mount Dora, which has presented them with another proposed interlocal agreement which essentially follows the six required elements of the statute.  He commented that the original agreement was unique regarding the level of participation and planning amongst all the cities, the County, and the School Board, and was difficult to get signed; and he opined that if they start to make changes to it, it would be extremely difficult to get all the parties on board a second time.  He noted that the School Board is continuing to operate under the current interlocal agreement.

Commr. Campione expressed concern that the agreement will not be consistent with the law if they do not change it and that they could not operate under an agreement that was not accurate and correct.

Mr. Johnson opined that each individual city is responsible for its own actions and requirements under the agreement and the law, and it was not the School Board’s responsibility to make sure every party to that contract is following what they are supposed to do under their Comp Plan.  He also believed that there was some leeway under the contract for a party to make or consider changes to it without voiding the agreement.

Commr. Campione opined that they should make housekeeping changes and then try to get all of the signatories back on board with what they currently have.

Mr. Johnson responded that he did not have a problem with housekeeping changes, but he believed that attempting to renegotiate the contract would be difficult and problematic.

Commr. Conner opined that there would be a slippery slope between housekeeping changes and renegotiations which could have the unintended consequence of putting concurrency in jeopardy, and he did not see the level of problems with staying under the current agreement that concerned Commr. Campione.  He commented that the agreement has worked well up to this point, and he did not want to escalate the problems if they did not need to.

Mr. Minkoff mentioned that there is a whole different level of cooperation between the County and the School Board since entering into the interlocal agreement.

Commr. Campione recalled that the City of Mount Dora was never happy about the school that was built in Sorrento, since the City wanted a school to be built in downtown Mount Dora, although there were good reasons why that did not work out.  She indicated that she has communicated with the City, and she elaborated that the heart of the issue for Mount Dora was autonomy to be able to proceed with a development order and to make decisions about how to shift capacity to meet concurrency rather than being subjected to decisions that were made by other parties and completely out of their hands.

Commr. Conner commented about how onerous and difficult the school site selection process is, and he recommended that they do not take action until they hear from Mount Dora and identify what the problem is.

Mr. Johnson stated that he has not gone through and analyzed exactly how the changes in the law in 2011 impacted the interlocal agreement, what might need to be changed, and what impact if any the three cities that removed the element from their Comp Plan would have.  He suggested that he and Mr. Minkoff go through the contract to look for what changes they think absolutely have to be made and what changes might be made and come back before the Board with a list of anything that would need to be discussed.

Commr. Campione indicated that she believed that was a great course of action.

Commr. Sullivan also thought it was a great idea and commented that the County has to move forward to make adjustments due to things that are happening to make sure they are in compliance.

Mr. Gregg Beliveau of LPG clarified that Leesburg, Fruitland Park, and Umatilla have elected to delete the element only, but still plan to retain concurrency and the interlocal agreement and could coordinate with Mr. Johnson and the School Board to go through those procedures and process.  He noted that those cities still had references in the intergovernmental coordination and the capital improvements elements and have maintained the relationships and their seat at the table.  He pointed out that the level of service is still referenced in their Comp Plan documents, but it is just in a different element in another section of the Comp Plan.

recess and reassembly

The Chairman announced at 11:00 a.m. that there would be a ten-minute recess.

County manager’s departmental business

public works

discussion of renewal of the six cents local option gas tax

Mr. Jim Stivender, Public Works Director, stated that he would provide a presentation regarding the six cent local option gas tax.

Commr. Conner emphasized that this was about renewal of an existing tax and not about a new tax.

Mr. Stivender noted that the six cent local option fuel tax has been in effect since the mid 1980’s; was levied in two-cent increments in 1984, 1985 and 1986; and will expire in 2014, 2015, and 2016.  He mentioned that his staff has been researching and working on this issue for about three or four years, and he clarified that levying these taxes would require a majority vote of the Board between January 1 and June 1 of the year of expiration.  He explained that the Florida Statute formula is based on transportation expenditures over the last five years for the cities and the County, and he specified that currently that breakdown is 71.28 percent for the Counties and 28.72 percent for the cities.  He stated that the County’s share of the first two pennies that were renewed in 1994 was close to 61 percent, but the other pennies are at 69 percent, which averages out to 66.38 percent for the County’s share, which he pointed out was less than the State Statute allows them to do.  He related that the funds are used for the revenue stream to provide core road maintenance activities, including pothole repair, mowing, tree trimming and removal, striping the roads, sign and signal maintenance, and drainage improvements.  He mentioned that the renewal of each of these taxes would be for an additional 30-year term using an adjusted distribution formula with the municipalities, to be reassessed every ten years.  He illustrated on a chart that the population of Lake County has grown by 46 percent, and the road miles maintained has increased by 15 percent; also, the bridges maintained by the County has increased by 42 percent, and the traffic control devices have increased by 1,063 percent, since the County was now an owner-vendor of those for all of the cities except for Groveland.  He stated that staff analysis showed that the current formula provides more revenue to the cities of 33.52 percent than the 28.72 percent that Statute provides, and a reduction in the County’s share would decrease the Public Works’ maintenance operations.  He related that the next steps were for the Board to direct the County Attorney’s Office to bring back an ordinance to reauthorize the first two pennies of the Local Option Gas Tax in January 2014 and to negotiate with the cities to maintain the current County share of 66.38 percent.

Commr. Cadwell commented that the County could not give up any more money and that this percentage was non-negotiable.  He pointed out that the default percentage would actually result in a smaller amount for the cities, which could be a negotiating point.

Mr. Stivender responded that he has been unsuccessful so far in negotiating with the cities to make that happen, and he had made a good-faith offer to keep everything the same.  He commented that this funding was important, since they rely on it for day-to-day activities, and after being approved by the Board, the renewal has to go to the State for incorporation into their formulas.

Commr. Campione asked if the cities will need to work out the distribution among themselves by January in order for the Board to be able to adopt it.

Mr. Minkoff responded that they would like to try to negotiate with the cities between now and January to hopefully have an agreement, but they would have until May 31 to do that, and the cities could enter into the agreement after they approve the renewal of the tax.  He elaborated that if there is no agreement, they will use the statutory distribution formula of 71 percent for the County.

Mr. Heath added that they want to make sure the Board agrees with this approach before meeting with the city managers on Thursday, May 9.

On a motion by Commr. Sullivan, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board moved to continue with the next steps as presented by staff to renew the local option gas tax for 2014, which were to bring back an ordinance to reauthorize the first two cents of the Local Option Gas Tax in January 2014 and to negotiate with the cities regarding maintaining the current County share of 66.38 percent.

other business

appointment of members to the children’s services council

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Cadwell and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board appointed the following members to the Children's Services Council to serve a two-year term beginning May 15, 2013:   Ms. Rene O’Day (District 2) and Mrs. Jerry Bressin (District 3); and reappointment of Ms. Linda Lewis (District 1), Mr. Michael Matulia (District 4), Ms. Sandra Stura (District 5), and Ms. Trella Mott (At-Large)

appointment to parks, recreation, and trails advisory committee

Commr. Cadwell commented that although there are two people interested in representing his district, he has not been able to talk to them yet, and he wanted to postpone the appointment for District 5.

Commr. Parks also indicated that he wished to hold off on his appointment.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board appointed Mr. David Clutts (District 3) and Mr. Kenneth Weld (District 4) to the Parks, Recreation and Trails Advisory Board to serve a two-year term ending May 20, 2015.  The Board will bring back the appointments for District 1, 2, and 5 at a later date.

reports – county manager

Mr. Heath gave an update on the internal issues that the Historical Society has been having, relating that they have elected a legal set of officers.  He recapped that the Board authorized Commr. Conner at its March 12 meeting to send a letter to each of the board members of the Historical Society indicating that they needed to resolve the issue and come up with a legal set of officers and asked the Clerk’s Office to do an audit of that organization.  He reported that both factions within the Historical Society had their elections on April 26, and he opined that the election that was held by the group that elected Mr. Rick Reed and Mr. Grenier was conducted more consistently with the Clerk’s audit that was published that week.  He related that they also dismissed the office manager and locked and secured the building, except for allowing access to the Sheriff.  He strongly recommended that the Historical Museum remain closed to the public, giving limited access to Mr. Reed and Mr. Grenier to the office, until such time as they could come back to the Board with a business plan relating to the findings of the audit, securing of the inventory, and going forward with staffing to make sure that the museum would not be open for long periods of time with no supervision, which he believed would be a 30 to 60 day timeframe.  He related that those officers would then be coming before the Board to present their vision, and he pointed out that the improvements to the Historic Courthouse will start in the fall, and they needed a plan to secure and maintain all of the artifacts and exhibits during the construction.

Commr. Cadwell suggested that the building be closed for 30 rather than 60 days.

Commr. Campione stated that they needed to be cognizant when securing any of the items in the foyer lobby area during the construction for the renovations for the Sheriff’s Office as well as after the Sheriff takes possession of the space in that building, and they could include that concern during discussions with the Historical Society.

Commr. Conner thanked Mr. Neil Kelly, Clerk of Court, and his office for doing the audit in a thorough and timely manner, noting that it brought to light a lot of the problems that needed to be identified.  He presented copies of an editorial done by the Daily Commercial which opined that the new leaders of the Historical Society were responsible and level-headed.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Cadwell and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the recommendations of the County Manager to recognize the new group of officers, renegotiate the agreement between the County and the Historical Society, and authorized staff to move forward with those recommendations.

impact study fee

Mr. Heath recapped that there was a discussion at the last BCC meeting about the possibility of developing a higher impact fee for South Lake, and the Board was interested in expanding the area of the study of that issue rather than limiting it to a small area of its sector plan.  He reported that staff has negotiated a fee with Duncan and Associates to do a study for higher impact fees for the expanded South Lake area for $28,050.

reports – commissioner parks – district 2

letter supporting close the gaps legislation

Commr. Parks asked the Chairman to write a letter supporting legislation entitled “Close the Gaps” for an appropriation for funding a continuous coast-to-coast trail system across the state of Florida, commenting that it was an important project that would bring economic benefit.

On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Cadwell and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board moved to put this item on the agenda.

Commr. Campione commented that the Board has received several presentations about this issue, and they could market their county as part of this trail system once that is done.

On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board authorized the Chairman to write a letter supporting the Close the Gaps legislation.

food drive

Commr. Parks referenced a newspaper article from the Daily Sun regarding the food drive which has spurred Lady Lake and the Villages residents to contribute, and he mentioned that all of the constitutional officers support this food drive and that food collection is underway.  He added that in order to spur on some competition to give to this worthy cause, a trophy and prizes will be presented to the department or constitutional office that collects the most food.

proclamation recognizing dr. sheila smalley

Commr. Parks related that Dr. Sheila Smalley was a principal at one of their humanities and fine arts charter schools in Leesburg.

On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Cadwell and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board moved to add the proclamation to the agenda.

Commr. Cadwell commented that the Board needed to have a discussion about a procedure to bring forth regarding proclamations which honor individuals, and he did not want to minimize what a proclamation should mean from the County Commission.

Commr. Sullivan expressed a concern that they would overlook someone if they start presenting proclamations honoring the great people in their community or that it would start to lose its impact, and he opined that they needed to be more exclusive moving forward.

Commr. Parks suggested that they have a discussion of this item during a retreat, and he assured the Board that he would be careful about what he brings forward until that time.

Commr. Campione commented that the Board members should come to the retreat with some ideas for guidelines of how the Board would limit it.

On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved Proclamation No. 2013-45 honoring Dr. Sheila Smalley’s community involvement and appointment as Pastor of the Macedonia Church of the Living God in Leesburg.

Mr. Minkoff mentioned that they are waiting to see if the Governor signs legislation which would prohibit the Board from taking any action at a meeting if the public has not had an opportunity to comment on the issue, which might greatly limit what the Board could add to the agenda in the future.

Commr. Cadwell commented that the legislation might require them to have more special meetings for emergency items.

Mr. Minkoff responded that emergencies and administerial things would be exempt.

Commr. Campione commented that they could still discuss things under their reports as long as they do not take action on them, since she believed it was important that they do not lose the opportunity to have good spontaneous discussions about those things.

REPORTS – COMMISSIONER conner – vice-CHAIRMAN AND DISTRICT 3

proclamations

Commr. Conner requested that the Board approve all three proclamations that were under his business together, and he noted that the presentations of those proclamations would be made at a future time.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved Proclamation No. 2013-49 for the Montverde Academy's Boys Varsity Basketball team finishing their 2012-2013 season with several National #1 Rankings, Proclamation No. 2013-50 for the Montverde Academy's Boys Varsity Soccer team finishing their 2012-2013 season with several National #1 Rankings, and Proclamation No. 2013-51 proclaiming May 2013 as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.

reports – commissioner cadwell – district 5

presentations of tdc capital projects

Commr. Cadwell reported that the Tourist Development Council (TDC) heard the initial presentations of three capital projects on Monday, May 6, and the TDC will meet again on May 20 and make a final recommendation to the Board.  He mentioned that staff recommended the approval of two of the projects and denial of one of them.

REPORTS – COMMISsIONER campione – CHAIRMAN & DISTRICT 4

law enforcement memorial

Commr. Campione reminded everyone about the upcoming Law Enforcement Memorial service which would be held at 6:00 p.m. that night in front of the Historical Courthouse.

teen court recognition dinner

Commr. Campione mentioned that she attended the Teen Court recognition dinner and event for everyone involved in the program.  She commented that Teen Court was a great program and that they were doing great things in Lake County as a result of the volunteerism that they have and the fact that they were engaging young people in that process of diversion from incarceration and helping to turn lives around.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 12:05 p.m.

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leslie campione, chairman

ATTEST:

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NEIL KELLY, CLERK