A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

july 9, 2013

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, July 9, 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; Niki Booth, Office Associate V, County Manager’s Office; Neil Kelly, Clerk of Court; Barbara F. Lehman, Chief Deputy Clerk, County Finance; and Susan Boyajan, Deputy Clerk.

closed session

Mr. Sandy Minkoff, County Attorney, recapped that he had asked for a closed session at the last meeting to discuss litigation, which is authorized by F.S. 286.011.  He explained that the only discussions can be settlement negotiations or strategy sessions once they adjourn into closed session, and the entire session will be recorded by the court reporter, who will record when they begin, when they end, all of the discussion, and the names of everyone who is present.  He noted that none of the session could be off the record, and he had a copy of the advertisement showing that the required notice of the closed session had been given.  He stated that after they terminate the closed session, they will reopen the public meeting.

INVOCATION and pledge

Commr. Conner gave the Invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Agenda update

Mr. David Heath, County Manager, related that there were several changes to the Agenda, including pulling Tab 9 which deals with the Special Master contract to bring back at a future date as well as Tab 35 dealing with the RFP for public transportation, since they received a protest from MV and had to go through the protest process before bringing that back to the Board.  He also noted that he was moving Tab 21 regarding the LAP Agreement with FDOT for shoulder work on CR 450 from the consent agenda to his reports in order to discuss the language for that agreement.  He added that he was changing the flow of the agenda in order to accommodate people’s schedules so that they could leave the meeting in a timely manner, and he recommended moving Tab 41 immediately after employee awards, Tab 34 regarding the inmate medical award right after the County Attorney’s Consent Agenda, and then Tab 36 after Tab 34 regarding the probation program.  He stated that the final change would be to hear the presentation under Tab 40 from Mr. Johnson from the School Board regarding school concurrency right after Tab 37 and before discussion of the budget.

minute approval

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the Minutes of the BCC Meetings of April 9, 2013 (Regular Meeting), May 8, 2013 (Special Meeting), and June 4, 2013 (Regular Meeting), as presented.

employee awards

Ms. Christina Brandolini, Human Resources Manager, presented the following employee awards and commented briefly about each employee’s contribution to the County:

five years

Kimberly Clemmer, User Support Analyst (not present)

Circuit Judges

 

Ryan Fickett, Firefighter/EMT (not present)

Public Safety/Fire Rescue Division

 

Erin Hartigan, Assistant County Attorney II

County Attorney’s Office

 

ten years

Sandra Kintzler, Welcome Center Worker (not present)

Economic Development & Tourism

 

Katherine Spurgeon, Branch Supervisor

Public Resources/Library Services Division/Astor Library

 

Allison Thall, Health & Human Services Division Manager

Community Services/Health & Human Services Division

fifteen years

Melanie Marsh, Deputy County Attorney

County Attorney’s Office

 

Twenty years

Commr. Cadwell presented the award for twenty years of service to the County to Ms. Jodine Hanson, Commissioner’s Aide, County Manager’s Office/BCC Administrative Support and commented extensively on her service.

thirty five years

Mr. Jim Stivender, Public Works Director, presented the award for thirty-five years of service to Andrew Duncan, Mosquito Control Inspector, Public Works/Environmental Services Division/Mosquito Management and commented extensively on his service.

retirement

William Nicodem, Fleet Management Supervisor (22 years) (not present)

Facilities and Fleet Management/Fleet Management Division

employee of the quarter

Mr. Steve Earls, Information Technology Director, presented the award for Employee of the Quarter to Richard Helfst, Senior GIS Analyst, Information Technology/Geographic Information Services Division.

supervisor of the quarter

Mr. Jim Stivender, Public Works Director, presented the award for Supervisor of the Quarter to Debbie Fore, Landfill Supervisor, Public Works/Solid Waste Division.

T.E.A.M. of the quarter

Chief John Jolliff presented the T.E.A.M. Award to the Lake County Fire Rescue Instructors, who were Lieutenant Charles Blinko, Lieutenant Robert Thicket, Firefighter Robbie Staub, Lieutenant Jason Rivera, Lieutenant Danny Wilson, Lieutenant Ryan Dupont, and Battalion Chief Danny Miller.

pink heals campaign presentation

Mr. Brian Gamble explained that they wanted to introduce the Board and the residents present at the meeting to the national campaign that they have been part of, and he played a video explaining more about the Pink Heals campaign which showed firefighters visiting cancer patients and survivors in distinctive pink fire trucks in order to give the survivors a hug, lift their spirits, and acknowledge their battles against cancer.  The video also emphasizes that they were one of the few nonprofits that do not ask the chapters for any kickbacks to the national organization.

Mr. Gamble related that the County and the city departments have been involved in Pink Heals for the last three years, and he mentioned that being part of this effort would not cost the County anything but was all about giving back to the community.  He related that they have formed a Lake County 501c3 nonprofit charity on a local rather than a national level.  He specified that there will be two stops in the Lady Lake-Villages area and Leesburg, with a ceremony at each stop to celebrate women and life.  He stated that Lake County has donated one of their older trucks which will be painted pink through the money raised and dedicated on October 10 at their first stop in Lady Lake, and he invited the Commissioners and staff to this ceremony.  He requested an endorsement from the Board, the ability to communicate with employees about the event coordinated through the County Manager, a proclamation proclaiming Lake County PINK for October, and to allow other government agencies to embrace the program.  He added that they would be sponsoring the program while wearing their Pink uniform shirts for the month, which was a huge part of the program and gave them an opportunity to talk about the program to citizens who come up to them to ask about their shirts, and they would coordinate with Chick-fil-A to sell the shirts as well.  He mentioned that there will be an opportunity for the families of victims or the survivors to sign the truck, which will stay in Lake County.

Commr. Parks thanked them for what they were doing and pointed out that they had started the campaign on their own initiative for this important cause.  He commented that they had the Board’s support.

CLERK OF COURTS’ CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Clerk of Courts’ Consent Agenda, Items 1 through 9, 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.

Deer Island CDD Operating Budget for FY 2014

Request to acknowledge receipt of copy of the Deer Island Community Development District’s Proposed Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2014, along with a cover letter dated May 30, 2013.  The District’s public hearing is scheduled for August 19, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. at the Deer Island Clubhouse, 18000 Eagles Way, Deer Island, Florida.

Audit Report of IT Records Management

Request to acknowledge receipt of the BCC-110 Audit of the IT Records Management audit report.

Property Placed on the Lands Available List

Request to acknowledge receipt of Property Placed on the Lands Available List.  Lake County has until September 16, 2013 to purchase property from the Lands Available List before it is available to the public.

Cascades at Groveland CDD Proposed FY 2013-14 Budget

Request to acknowledge receipt of Cascades at Groveland Community Development District Proposed Fiscal Year 2013/2014 Budget.

Founders Ridge CDD Proposed Budget for FY 2014

Request to acknowledge receipt of Founders Ridge Community Development District Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2014.

Proposed Budgets for Village Center CDD for FY 2013-14

Request to acknowledge receipt of copy of the proposed budgets for the Village Center Community Development District for the Fiscal Year 2013/2014, which is being submitted in accordance with Chapter 190.008(2)(b)(c), Florida Statutes.

Cascades at Groveland CDD Annual Financial Audit Report

Request to acknowledge receipt of copy of the Cascades at Groveland Community Development District’s Annual Financial Audit Report for the Fiscal Year ended September 30, 2012, along with a cover letter dated June 17, 2013.

BCC-109 Audit of MV Transportation Contract Audit Report

Request to acknowledge receipt of the BCC-109 Audit of the MV Transportation Contract audit report.

COUNTY MANAGER’S CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the County Manager’s Consent Agenda, Tabs 3 through 27 as follows:

Community Services

Request for approval to award contract 13-0213 for construction of a Yalaha Community Center to Pillar Construction Group (Clermont, FL). The fiscal impact is $252,546 (expense) to be expended from CDBG grant funding.

Request for approval of reallocation of funds from River Counseling, Inc. to Education Foundation of Lake County. The fiscal impact is $3,500.00 (Expense/Funded by General Fund).

Request for approval of Resolution No. 2013-71 amending Resolution Number 1997-45, creating the Lake County Human Services Grants Advisory Committee. There is no fiscal impact.

Request for approval of an amendment adding certain services to, and extending the initial term of, the contract with Graphics Direct, Inc. for Revenue Sharing Transit Advertising.

Request for approval of the FY 2013-2014 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Proposed Projects and Annual Action Plan. The fiscal impact is $964,089.00 (Expense - Fully Grant Funded).

Conservation and Compliance

Request for approval to submit application for Byrne Grant funding for the Sheriff’s Office to purchase Mobile Fingerprint Scanners and Hand Held Thermal Imagers; request approval for distribution of funds to local jurisdictions applying for funding per the attached schedule; and request signature on grant documents including application, certificate of acceptance, EEO certifications and subsequent grant documents. The total fiscal impact is $108,817.  The portion distributed to the County is $37,851 (Revenue); however this money is a pass-through to the Sheriff’s Office. There is no local match.  Grant funding will be appropriated as part of the Sheriff’s 2013-2014 Budget.

Facilities Development and Management

Request to award two (2) contracts for as-needed Alignment, Balancing, Suspension and Steering Repair Services for Lake County Vehicles, and authorize the Procurement Office to execute all supporting documentation.  The fiscal impact is indefinite in nature at this time.

Request for approval of award of thirteen (13) contracts for As-Needed Parts and/or Repair Services for Lake County Fleet and Other Operating Equipment and Vehicles, and authorize the Procurement Office to execute all supporting documentation. The fiscal impact is indefinite in nature at this time.

Request for approval of award of three (3) contracts for as-needed 24 Hour Road Call Tire Services for Lake County Vehicles, and authorize the Procurement Office to execute all supporting documentation.  The fiscal impact is indefinite in nature at this time.

Fiscal and Administrative Services

Request for approval to apply for the FY 2013 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program Local Solicitation. The FY 2013 allocation for Lake County is $42,315.

Human Resources

Request for approval of the updated HIPAA policy effective July 9, 2013.  There is no fiscal impact.

Request for approval to award contract 13-0026 for Third Party Administrative Services for the County’s Workers' Compensation and Employer's Liability Program to Ascension Benefits & Insurance Solutions of Florida. The fiscal impact is $90,308, FY2014 (Expenditure).

Public Resources

Request for approval of the Overall Master Plan for the City of Clermont's Lake Hiawatha Preserve, formerly known as Inland Groves Park. There is no fiscal impact.  Commission District 2.

Request for approval and signature of "Amended and Restated Memorandum of Understanding between The University of Florida Board of Trustees, a public body corporate of the State of Florida for and on behalf of Florida Cooperative Extension Services, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Lake County, Florida."  There is no fiscal impact.

Public Safety

Request for approval for the Fire Rescue Division to submit an application to the United States Fire Administration Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. The fiscal impact is $326,088.95. The County portion will be 10% or $32,608.90; the Federal grant funding is 90% or $293,480.05.

Request for approval of the agreement between Lake County, Florida and AA & SABA Consultants, Inc. for Use of the Lake County Fire Rescue Training Facility.  The fiscal impact is estimated revenue of $18,000 annually.

Public Works

Request for approval to re-award contract 13-0417, Roadside Mowing and Litter Removal (Area C) to Reed Landscaping & Lawn Care, Inc. (Ocoee), and approve termination of the existing contract for those services.  The fiscal impact is estimated at $57,195.00.

Request for approval of 1st Amendment to the Agreement with the City of Groveland regarding the Bible Camp Road project. There is no fiscal impact.

Request for approval to execute a Right of Entry Agreement with Family Dollar Stores of Florida to allow Lake County to transition the driveway to meet the new road grade of the future C466A Road Project.  There is no fiscal impact.  Commission District 5.

Request for approval to execute an Encroachment Agreement between Duke Energy and Lake County, for construction activities as shown on the North Hancock Road Extension Plans, dated 4-5-2013.  There is no fiscal impact.  Commission District 2.

Request for approval to 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.

Request for approval of Resolution No. 2013-73  authorizing the installation of STOP signs with “All Way” plaques on Grand Highway (1445), northbound at the intersection of North Ridge Boulevard (City maintained) and southbound at the intersection of Pitt Street (City maintained) in the Clermont area, Commission District 2, Section 19-20, Township 22, Range 26.  There is no fiscal impact.

COUNTY ATTORNEY’S CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Cadwell and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the County Attorney’s Consent Agenda, Tabs 28 through 32 as follows:

Request for approval of extension of Revocable Non-Exclusive License Agreements between Lake County and the cities of Mount Dora, Eustis and Tavares regarding property located on Frankie's Road near the County's Animal Control Facility to keep animals on a temporary basis.  There is no fiscal impact.

Request for authorization for Chairman to sign the letter to the Florida Department of Emergency Management to close out the contract regarding the EOC. The Florida Department of Emergency Management requires a letter from Lake County to cover the scope of work requirement contained within the contract, indicating upon completion of the EOC or the Certificate of Occupancy, the EOC will be dedicated for emergency management purposes and shall remain capable of being fully activated within one (1) hour of detection of an emergency.

Request for approval of waiver of Lake County's right for reimbursement of $20,720.24 HCRA payment involving Jennifer Parker Aspinwall.

Request for approval of Agreement between Lake Emergency Medical Services, Inc. (LEMS), Lake County and the City of Tavares relating to Advance Life Support Services.  The fiscal impact is $59,201.03 (Tavares only).

Request for approval of Amendment to Antenna Site Agreement with SBA Properties, LLC, regarding the tower site located at 19430 E. 3rd Street, Umatilla.  The fiscal impact is undetermined.

COUNTY MANAGER’S DEPARTMENTAL BUSINESS

community services

agreement with armor correctional health care

Commr. Campione related that the RFP process for inmate medical care has been going on for a while and that she and the Sheriff met with the CEO’s of the hospitals to discuss the billing rate that was being charged for inmate medical care hoping to strike an agreement that would bring those rates down and tie it to something specific such as Medicare, since the Sheriff’s research indicated that other hospitals and communities were doing that.  She reported that fortunately Leesburg Regional Medical Center (LRMC) has agreed to do that, and she commented that she was hopeful that some of their costs would decrease over the next couple of months in this current budget cycle as a result of those meetings.

Sheriff Gary Borders recapped that they started putting bids out for both onsite and offsite inmate medical care about a year ago, which total about $4 million a year, in order to look for ways to save money on those costs.  He stated that the committee that was put together to help make this decision selected ARMOR, although they are still in the negotiation stage with them and have not yet entered into this agreement, and he noted that their goal was to provide effective and efficient care as well as to save money.  He opined that most of the cost savings will be for offsite care, which is covered by the County.

Ms. Allison Thall, Health and Human Services Manager, stated that she would give the Board a broad spectrum overview of the process they had gone through, and she pointed out that the financial responsibility for all medical expenses provided to an ill or injured inmate in the County detention facility is governed by Florida Statute 951.032.  She noted that the provision of inmate medical services is usually performed under one of two management styles, which were a “Self Op” structure where the Sheriff employs or subcontracts with individuals who are providing both the onsite and offsite medical care to the inmates and a style which allows a private corporation to contract with the Sheriff and the County for the administration and management of these services, and she related that the Sheriff has indicated that his detention center has been a Self Op facility for at least the past decade.  She mentioned that the Lake County facility retains an authorized capacity of 960 inmates, and approximately 10 to 15 percent or 90 to 100 inmates require some level of medical care at any given time throughout the year.  She explained that under the Self Op structure, the Sheriff and the County work together to provide, manage, and pay for all of the health care consumed by the inmates, with the County budgeting and paying for all of the provisions of the offsite medical care, onsite fixed medical care such as x-rays and lab work, and pharmacy costs at a current cost of about $1,731,480.  She stated that the Sheriff provided funding for all of the staff and the subcontracted providers for all of the in-house care; supervised an in-house clinic, infirmary and sick call area; and provided the medical case management for each inmate for services provided offsite, at a total cost for the Sheriff of $2,230,610 for inmate care.  She provided a graph depicting the County’s share of those costs over the past three fiscal years, noting that their budget has remained at roughly $1,750,000 and has had expenditures ranging from $1.2 million in 2010/11 to $1.6 million last fiscal year, and she commented that they anticipate that will remain consistent this year.

Ms. Thall related that last year faced with rising health care costs and mandatory budget cuts, the Sheriff began to look for a new way to provide health care to inmates, and she opined that the Sheriff has been very proactive in seeking rate modifications from the local hospitals and health care providers.  She reported that currently the three hospitals in the county have contractually agreed to charge the County at a discounted rate of 50 percent of billed charges for inmates who are receiving inpatient and outpatient care at their facilities, and the Sheriff and Commr. Campione met with the CEO’s of the two nearby hospitals to discuss the possibility of negotiating a lesser rate, resulting in a 150 percent of Medicare reimbursement for all inpatient and outpatient services provided to inmates at LRMC, which represents a significant cost savings of about 44 percent in inpatient care and 66 percent in outpatient care at LRMC.  She stated that the Sheriff has also been deliberating the merits of developing an RFP to subcontract the administration and management of inmate care to corporations that specialize in the area of correctional health care and were experts at adjudication and cost containment through negotiation with area healthcare providers as well as to offset the liability that is affiliated with the Sheriff, and he engaged a consultant who specializes in the competitive bid process of transitioning a Self Op facility over to a private contractor.  She specified that the RFP for inmate services was released by the Sheriff in July of 2012, and the RFP committee reviewed the proposals on October 2012.  She went over the timeline of the RFP process and noted that the targeted contract approval date was July 30 with an anticipated start date of October 1 for ARMOR. 

Ms. Thall pointed out that the agreement with ARMOR is a three-party agreement with ARMOR, the County, and the Sheriff; and ARMOR would provide all onsite medical care utilizing their own staff, expand the use of the onsite infirmary, manage the daily sick call, maximize the benefits and funds that may evolve with the national and statewide health reform, manage all offsite medical care, establish a local provider network and negotiate preferred provider rates for the hospitals and physicians, provide care coordination and case management, and administer and dispense all medications to the inmates.  She noted that the County’s primary role in this agreement is funding for both the onsite fixed medical costs and the offsite medical care as well as the pharmacy needs, and the Sheriff would be responsible for funding the onsite administrative costs which will also be performed by ARMOR.  She added that in addition to all the personnel and the health service that ARMOR will be providing, they will also establish a plan to achieve a national commission on correctional healthcare accreditation within 12 months of commencement of the contract and will implement a multidisciplinary approach to behavioral health and related treatment, will customize and apply a correctional electronic medical records system within the jail, and strive to maintain their evidence of success by employing a combination of expanded onsite care, effective utilization management of offsite services, and provider contracting and comprehensive training.  She mentioned that staff has thoroughly analyzed the perspective benefits of contracting with a private organization, and she opined that employing a company that specializes in correctional healthcare will result in more efficient management, review, adjudication, and resolution of inmate medical claims; offer competitive pricing options due to strong negotiating skills; reduce the Sheriff’s Office liability; and offer potential cost containment.  She explained that the next step is to place the final agreement on the BCC agenda for July 30 for approval.

Commr. Cadwell asked how the prescriptions were currently filled.

Sheriff Borders responded that they contract to get their medicines in bulk by mail on a regular basis.  He added that they hoped to see savings by providing more medical care onsite rather than sending the inmates outside of the building.

Commr. Campione added that ARMOR will negotiate with the hospitals and the providers offsite as well and were in a much better position to negotiate rates that will ultimately save the County money.

Commr. Conner asked about the impact to the current employees.

Sheriff Borders assured him that the current employees will be offered positions with the inmate medical provider which was coming on board.

Commr. Campione opined that although the level of service will be addressed, the inmates will be released when they are ready to leave and not staying there longer than they need to be there, and this was the perfect opportunity to have an outside company with expertise take care of those issues.

Sheriff Borders noted that they are not considering outsourcing in any other area and believe that medical is the only area where outsourcing could work for them.

Commr. Parks opined that they will be able to maintain the same level of service.

conservation and compliance

probation officer positions

Mr. Jim Stivender, Interim Conservation and Compliance Director, stated that he would provide an overview of the Probation Services Division in general as well as what the County is dealing with in regard to caseloads, with an emphasis on the key judicial system changes which impact that system.  He noted that Florida Statutes authorizes the Board to handle probationary responsibilities and establishes a fee schedule for those services, and he listed some other functions that the division handles, such as pre-trial intervention programs, the weekend work program, sex offender task force, domestic violence task force, restitution and fee collection, and teen court.  He displayed a graph showing the caseload from 2009 to 2013 which showed that the caseload stayed steady at 150 to 200 new cases per month from 2009 through 2012; however, it has spiked in 2013 to about 338 new cases per month due in part to a new ruling that sentences could no longer be suspended and that offenders would have to go through probation instead.  He pointed out that probation was much cheaper at a cost of $1.37 per case per day than the cost of incarceration of $58 per day at the Lake County Jail, but he commented that it was important for staff to have a reasonable caseload in order to keep an eye on the offenders for crimes such as DUI offenses, possession of drugs, battery, domestic violence, and theft.  He noted that every county in the 5^th Judicial Circuit had a lower number of average cases per officer except for Sumter, which only has one case worker, pointing out that although the average caseload is 184 cases per officer in other counties, Lake County is at 264 cases per officer.  He related that staff analysis shows that the County would need 3.5 more officers to get to the Circuit average of 184; however, he was only requesting the addition of two new limited-term positions now for 24 months effective immediately, which they calculate would bring the average caseload to 211.

Mr. Steve Koontz, Fiscal and Administrative Services Director, gave an overview of how probation services is funded, noting that the fees are collected for services per the adopted fee schedule, including a monthly supervision cost of $55, and was administered through the general fund, and he reported that the fees collected nearly offset the cost of providing services.  He illustrated on a bar graph that the revenues and expenses were fairly even in 2010, 2011, and 2012, but they were now seeing a spike in revenues with the increased caseload which would result in about $70,000 in available revenue in FY 2013 and a projection of $157,000 in FY 2014.  He commented that they were being conservative by asking for only two new positions immediately until they can monitor the trends going forward, which would cost $23,000 this year and $94,000 in $2014, and the projected revenues should more than cover those costs.

Mr. Walter Forgie, Supervisor of the Lake County State Attorney’s Office, commented that the Probation Division does an excellent job and was responsive to his office, and he provided some context into the change in the law that occurred in January. He explained that suspended sentences were given as a more expedient form of justice to avoid a defendant that committed a relatively minor offense having to go through probation.  He commented that the change in law caused a tremendous increase in the number of cases that are referred to probation of about 90 percent, and he opined that he did not see a foreseeable change of that situation in the near future.   He also commented that he believed the request for two new probation positions was entirely reasonable given the 90 percent increase in cases and that the Board should be proud of the service the Probation Division provides for the County.

Mr. Michael Graves, Public Defender for the 5^th Judicial Circuit, mentioned that he has had substantial contact with county probation throughout Central Florida during his 31 years practicing law and opined that the Lake County probation office provides the finest service to the community of any other probation office that he has had contact with and were responsive to everyone.  He pointed out that the courts rather than the probation office controls how many cases the county probation office has, and he mentioned that he had helped to develop the suspended sentencing option specifically for the purpose of allowing county probation to concentrate its efforts on those cases that were necessary for public protection as well as the public good such as restitution, costs, and fines that help drive their system.  He opined that the only way that that they will return to the days of the County having the authority to impose suspended sentences is through statutory amendment.  He explained that probation allows for supervision to make sure offenders are solving substance abuse problems and not putting public safety at risk, and restitution could only be collected through probation; also, without the consequence of incarceration or the jurisdiction of the court, he believes they would see a substantial decline in the collection of fines, fees, and court costs.  He commented that they could not accomplish any of those goals, however, with 250 cases per probation officer, and probation was cost neutral when done well.  He added that the County can afford the addition of the new probation officers and that the community will benefit from it.  He stated that he appreciated the hard work and the long hours provided by the staff of the Probation Division.

Commr. Cadwell pointed out that the probation officer was also a counselor to help keep the offenders from going back to the jail, where it will cost the County more.

Mr. Heath commented that almost a quarter of the probation caseload consisted of more serious cases such as theft, domestic violence and assault; and he was surprised that the Lake County Probation Division has been able to operate as well as they have considering that their caseloads are higher than even the counties that have outsourced their probation functions.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the request to fill 2 new, limited term, probation officer positions; Unanticipated Revenue Resolution No. 2013-74; and for staff to perform related budgetary and personnel actions, as well as provide an update on recent legislative changes that have significantly impacted probation program operation and caseloads.

recess and reassembly

The Chairman announced at 10:30 a.m. that there would be a ten-minute recess.

public hearing

village center cdd certificate of public convenience

The Chairman opened the public hearing regarding the Village Center Community Development District’s renewal of the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity through September 30, 2015.

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

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved a renewal of the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity through September 30, 2015 for the Village Center Community Development District. There is no fiscal impact.

Discussion of follow up issues regarding school concurrency

Mr. Steve Johnson, School Board Attorney, recapped that the last time he was before the Board, they had discussed the fact that the City of Mount Dora had requested to be removed from the interlocal agreement for school concurrency, and an issue was raised about whether the changes made to the law in 2011 would require any changes to their contract.  He related that he met with Mr. Minkoff to discuss this issue and review the new law, and they both came to the conclusion that a one or two page simple amendment would suffice similar to what he had previously drafted when a couple of the cities had requested a memorandum of understanding stating that the parties all agree that any municipality or the County can eliminate the public schools facilities element from their Comp Plan without breaching the agreement.  He suggested that he and Mr. Minkoff personally contact the 14 municipalities and discuss this with them, and he pointed out that this change would not impact those municipalities that have already signed the memorandum of understanding, which contains essentially the same language.  He added that they would probably include in it that they would not deal with any issues about cities withdrawing until they got to a point where less than 80 percent of the citizens would be covered under the interlocal agreement, which was one of the provisions in the statutory amendment.

Commr. Campione commented that she felt a lot more comfortable getting those types of housekeeping things done regarding the agreement to ensure it was enforceable, intact, and met the current statutes.

Mr. Johnson pointed out that the revised statute specifically provides for less than 100 percent of the municipalities participating, as long as it is at least 80 percent, and Mount Dora’s withdrawal from the interlocal agreement would not push them over that threshold.  He mentioned that it has increased cooperation and communication between the planning agencies for all of the cities and the County more than anything that had come before, and no one has indicated that they wanted to stop that cooperation and sharing of information.

Commr. Campione stated that she has heard that there is some confusion regarding reservation of capacity and that some developers have the impression that a reservation of capacity has been made as a result of the fee paid to the School Board; however, the County has a different procedure for how they go about reserving capacity, and she believed they should meld those together in the event that development picks up.

Mr. Johnson responded that there has not been an explosion of construction to deal with, but he has been getting input from some attorneys representing developers who are concerned about being able to develop long term, since currently the reservation for capacity is for only one year at a time.  He indicated that they are open to new ideas that would make the whole idea work easier, but it would have to be balanced against the School Board’s interests to be able to have the seats available.  Also, he expressed concern about one developer tying up all of the capacity in the whole county for a long term period which would not enable other development.

There was a consensus from the Board for Mr. Minkoff and Mr. Johnson to work on an amendment to the agreement and bring that back to the Board for approval.

public safety

fire assessment update study by tindale-oliver

Mr. Koontz related that this presentation was an overview of the fire assessment study done by their consultant, Tindale-Oliver, which made some adjustments to the fire assessment rates, and he noted that they were due to have another full update in 2014.  He stated that the two things they would be looking at would be the data for the ALS versus the non-ALS calls as well as the distribution of calls from the different land uses.  He commented that everything looks like it should, but there are some trends that they need to look at, which would probably be addressed next year with the full update, and they were recommending that they keep the rates the same.

Mr. Steve Tindale with Tindale-Oliver & Associates, recapped that their last update was in 2011, and he emphasized that they were clearly recommending that the County keep the rates the same at this time, since the information he will be providing will be trends that the County will see in a year from now so that the County can prepare for those changes ahead of time.  He reported that the ALS vs. Non-ALS was stable, but the demand and land uses have shifted from residential to nonresidential; also, the assessable budget and number of units were fairly stable.  He noted, however, that although the calculated rates for residential will be fairly stable because it was such a large percentage of the total, they are seeing a trend of a fairly dramatic increase in percentage of other uses because of a smaller number of those units.  He reported that their study done two years ago showed the distribution of incidents of ALS versus Non-ALS at about 80 percent, which has remained steady and which provided a cushion from the 75 percent Non-ALS per the 2011 policy decision.  He illustrated on a chart which showed the distribution of the total resources by land use that there has been a small change in the residential type calls from 87.7 percent to 85.5 percent in the last two years, and he noted a dramatic change in the institutional land use, which was one of the smaller categories, during that time period from 4.7 to 6.3 percent and a 39 percent change in the cost allocation for institutional uses from FY 2010-11 and FY 2012-13 in the assessable budget.  He commented that Lake County should start seeing an uptake in the number of units, although that number has stayed fairly stable until this time.  His calculation of the rate schedule showed a fairly large rate change for hotel, commercial, institutional, and industrial uses.  He concluded that there are no land uses being overcharged, and they were fine with the maintenance of the current rate at this time until the full update.

Mr. Koontz related that the next steps were to bring back the Initial Fire Assessment Resolution with the same rates as FY 2012, have the public hearing for those fees on September 10, and then bring the full update of the Fire Assessment Study next year.  He requested that the Board accept the interim update study that was provided in the agenda.

On a motion by Commr. Sullivan, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the 2013 fire assessment update study for Lake County that was done by Tindale-Oliver & Associates, Inc.  There is no fiscal impact.

citizen question and comment period

Mr. Vance Jochim inquired about two audits that were on the agenda.

Commr. Campione related that they would be putting those audits on the agenda for a workshop, because it would be very difficult to discuss those if they do not give themselves sufficient time to delve into the details, since there is a lot of information to consider.

Ms. Linda Bystrak, a resident of Leesburg, President of the Oklawaha Valley Audubon Society, and Lake Soil & Water Conservation District board member, mentioned that she has traveled around the state to a lot of water meetings, including one at UCF to hear a speaker from DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) who related that there was no longer enough rainfall to replace the amount of water used in Florida.  She also indicated that the Floridian aquifer has a fresh water layer and a salt water layer, and that there was at least one well in the Orlando area that had gone so deep in search of water that it hit the salt water layer.  She also expressed concern that there was less water conservation education than there was four years ago, although each resident uses an average of 150 gallons per day in Lake County as opposed to an average of 90 gallons per day per person nationally.  She opined that this was not the time for Lake County to be decreasing their funding and efforts regarding water conservation.

Commr. Parks added that staff from the St. Johns River Water Management District and consultants that represent some of the cities that apply for the Consumptive Use Permits acknowledged at their South Lake County Water Initiative meeting that withdrawals to their east where there is a much higher increase in population than Lake County are affecting them.

Ms. Peggy Lindsey, a resident of Leesburg and a member of PEAR Association and the Audubon Society, expressed extreme concern regarding the County’s cuts in staff and services, especially those in parks and libraries, and she thanked Commr. Cadwell for his stand on those issues.  She also commented that she would be willing to pay more in taxes to keep County staff employed and that County employees did a wonderful job.  She specified that she was opposed to losing the Soil & Water position, noting that that would result in the loss of the Envirothon, which is a benefit to the children in Lake County schools.

Mr. Frank Paulhamus, a resident of Eustis and an employee with the Lake Soil & Water Board, related that the County had helped him in the past substantially increase the yield on his farm, improve the fertilization of his land, and check the moisture of the soil, which he passed on to future generations as an employee himself.  He requested that the Board keep Lake Soil & Water alive, and he commented on the great job that the current employee in that position is doing.

Ms. Suzy Daubert, a resident of Tavares and the District Conservationist for the United States Department of Agriculture and Natural Resource Conservation Service for Sumter and Lake Counties, listed some functions of the Soil & Water District, such as providing services when the Dust Bowl, Hurricane Andrew, and the BP Oil spill threatened endangered species and the environment.  She stated that although the Board was trying to cut the budget where it will result in the least impact to the citizens of Lake County, cutting this position will result in substantially more impact to the county than expected.  She specified that her organization relies on locally-led conservation efforts, and Soil & Water was one of their strongest partners to assist local farmers through outreach, technical services, emergency responses to natural disasters, and boards which advise them on local resource concerns.  She displayed a chart illustrating the funding trends during the last three years, including $862,000 in federal money coming into the County to assist private citizens for farmland and conservation lands, and she pointed out that the County has spent only about $165,000 to staff the Soil & Water position but has gotten $862,000 in return, which she noted was a 523 percent return on their investment which contributed to clean, drinkable, swimmable, fishable waters and for food eaten from their farmlands.  She asked for the Board to continue to support Lake Soil & Water, and pointed out that it will be difficult to put it back into the budget once it is deleted as a line item.

Ms. Betsy Farner, a resident of Leesburg and the Chairperson for the Lake Soil & Water Conservation District, stated that she and others were there in support of the Office Associate IV position that she opined was the glue that held their board together, and she noted that the employee who currently holds that position is a 20-year Lake County employee.  She was concerned about their mobile irrigation lab which helps conserve hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a year in Lake County.  She commented that they needed to start living more sustainably and more environmentally aware, and the conservation efforts that their board performs far outweigh the expense of this soon-to-be-cut position.  She also pointed out that their board members were unpaid volunteers, but the need for this one full-time staff member is very crucial for their board to function.  She stated that although she realizes that funding is a problem for every government agency, they were asking the Board to fund that position and to be proactive about the environmental concerns in Lake County. She specified that the Envirothon is a very important event that this position organizes every year to teach children how to live more sustainably, and she listed some of the other responsibilities of the job which would be hard to accomplish without that employee such as data entry, bookkeeping work, and the treasury report.

 Ms. Nadine Foley, a resident of Umatilla who served over 12 years on the Lake Soil & Water District, commented that the organization would not be able to keep up anywhere close to the level that they have been able to if the County loses this final position, since two positions have already been cut, and although their efforts have not been highly publicized, there were years where the group was bringing in nearly $1 million in matching funding grants.  She also commented that it is distressing to her as well as unnecessary to see the possibility for all of those efforts fading away.  She asked for the Board to keep this one position that has been the glue that keeps the volunteer board together and active in working with many conservation organizations as well as keeping the Lake Soil & Water District viable, and she was hoping to one day gain back the District Coordinator position again, who provided a lot of things to people who are applying for the matching grants.

Mr. Heath explained that he has tried to concentrate on the level of service throughout all of these work sessions in terms of what the impact would be to the residents of the county, but they have asked the departments to reduce expenses by six percent and to absorb the FRS increase; however, there is nothing else to cut in some departments except staff.  He pointed out that the budget he submitted to the Board is proposing to eliminate 12 full-time and three part-time positions as well as five vacant positions.  He specified that the salary, benefits, and associated operational costs is about a $58,000 expense for this position, and the other option under the Agricultural Extension Division to meet its six percent reduction would be to eliminate the Master Gardener program.  He assured the Board that he takes any layoffs very seriously, but cutting this position would allow the division to meet its budget guidelines.  He noted that he has a plan for providing some basic support to the Soil & Water Division and for the remaining staff to pick up some of the basic functions such as the minutes for the Soil & Water board, administer the grant, and the Envirothon, but the poster contest and the tree giveaway would not be continued.

Commr. Cadwell asked whether staff will still be able to manage the mobile water lab.  He commented that there were tough decisions to make during these tough times and pointed out that the County was trying to still provide a support system to keep that board functioning.

Mr. Heath responded that they were cutting the Office Specialist IV position and not the program itself, and they were still planning on continuing the mobile water lab as well.

Commr. Cadwell commented that other counties have let the program disappear, but that is not what they want to happen in this county, and the Soil & Water District would not be able to sustain itself if it does not get the support it needs.

Commr. Sullivan commented that there were too many budgetary priorities and not enough revenue to support them, and he thanked the speakers for their input.

budget work session for fy 2014 budget

Mr. Heath related that the County needed to set the tentative millage before July 30 and that he transmitted a proposed budget to the Board last week.  He stated that Mr. Koontz will make a concise presentation to relay where they are right now regarding the budget and the proposed millages.

Mr. Koontz noted that the purpose of this workshop is to give an overview of the FY 2014 recommended budget, and the preliminary values on June 11 indicated that they had gone up .21 percent, which was an increase of about $150,000 over last year and was significantly more than the 3 percent decline that was projected.  He related that they had gotten the constitutional officers’ budgets on June 1, which reflected a .8 percent or $400,000 overall decline.  He reported that the FRS impact for the Sheriff was about $991,000, and he noted that the total impact to the general fund due to FRS changes was almost $1.5 million, with the total impact across all County funds close to $2 million, which was absorbed by the department cuts.  He gave some detailed information regarding Medicaid expenses over the last five or six years from FY 2009, noting that it was fairly constant at about $2.5 million over the last four years; however, because of a change to an outpatient-based formula, there will be about a $1.5 million increase over the previous years’ expenses.  He specified that the impacts of the two state mandates total over $3 million, which would translate to an increase of .2062 mills needed to recoup the cost of those mandates.  He summarized that the County departments had reductions of 5.3 percent, and the reserves would be at 6.3 percent, which was about $750,000 lower than the 7 percent minimum reserve per the Board’s policy.  He opined that there will be challenges in the future to balance the general fund, even with slight revenue increases projected in future years.  He recapped the options that were brought before the Board to meet the reserve requirement, which were to further reduce County department budgets to 10 percent or to use $750,000 to $1 million of the infrastructure sales tax to make some of the debt service payment for the Courthouse Expansion project and other projects.

Commr. Campione asked what the total debt service was on the Courthouse.

Mr. Koontz responded that it was just under $5.8 million and was a 30-year note ending in 2037.  He recapped that the Board had discussed at a previous meeting adding back reductions to Code Enforcement, Mosquito Control, Community Service Grants, the Historical Society, LASER, and Trout Lake Nature Center, and he mentioned that one additional item was added in the budget for a financial analyst position for the Facilities Department which has a major impact on that department’s ability to do necessary analysis of the allocation of utility bills and other necessary information.  He recapped that staff was directed to prepare a recommended budget using a slight millage increase to bridge the gap in order to maintain a 7 percent reserve, specifying that a proposed millage increase of .0656, which was a 1.4 percent increase over the FY 2013 adopted millage of 4.7309 or a .7 percent increase over the rollback rate, would bring in the $969,236 total funding needed and would result in a FY 2014 proposed millage of 4.7965.

Commr. Conner commented that that would be a minimal increase.

Mr. Koontz reported that the certified values on July 31 were slightly higher than the initial estimated values from the Property Appraiser which they received on May 31, resulting in about $150,000 in additional revenues added to reserves.  He reported that the total operating budget is $116.7 million, including the purchase order carry-forwards, and the total reserves are currently $8.4 million or 7.2 percent.  He listed items that were not budgeted, including the Sheriff’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Program, employee raises, or FY 2015 budget challenges.  He pointed out that the Parks portion of the Parks and Stormwater MSTU Budget had some serious challenges, including no reserves, declining revenues, current park maintenance obligations, and future obligations.  He related that regarding the Stormwater portion, reserves were reduced to maintain current operations, there were five stormwater projects in various stages of development, and there is no funding for new projects or enough to maintain normal operations in the future.  He reported an overall reduction of expenditures of $330,000 in the Parks and Stormwater MSTU budget, and he commented that reductions in park repair and maintenance will adversely impact current park operations.  He recapped that there was Board direction to look at increasing the millage in that fund in order to generate an additional $400,000 to address some needs, take out the operations and maintenance reductions, allow some reserves to address future projects, and maintain current funding for Stormwater projects.  He recommended a millage rate increase of .0520 of a mil for a total Parks and Stormwater MSTU millage of .5504, which was a 10.4 percent increase over the current millage or 9.1 percent increase over the rollback rate.  He also reported that there was $70,000 extra in reserves for the Public Lands Voted Debt than anticipated after they had raised the millage from .11 to .1900 last year, and he opined that they should be able to roll back the Public Lands millage by 2015, since they should have a set level of reserves by then in case of any reduction in values.

Mr. Koontz mentioned that despite a slight reduction in revenues, the Fire MSTU was a healthy fund right now and included reserves of about $3 million, some of which would go toward funding for some capital and automatic aid that they had been discussing.  He also mentioned that they had made some changes to the Ambulance MSTU and have been working with Lake EMS to fund the Option B Budget, which reduced the reserves in that fund to about $365,000, provided about $5.3 million to fund the operations from the MSTU, and will use about $200,000 in infrastructure sales tax for capital needs.  He added that Lake EMS had a meeting later on that day to discuss the particulars of their budget.  He showed a chart of a millage comparison for FY 2013, the rollback rate for FY 2014, the proposed FY 2014 rate, and a change from this year from 2013; and he pointed out that the overall aggregate change over the rollback rate is about .75 percent based on those millages, which is what would be advertised.  He then illustrated on a chart the millage impact on different types of properties for a general fund millage rate increase of .0656 and a Parks and Stormwater increase of .0520, which showed that a residential home valued at $100,000 would see an $11.66 increase.  He concluded that the next steps would include setting the tentative millage rates before July 30 and the public hearings on September 10 and 24.

Mr. Heath elaborated that since he would like to transmit the necessary paperwork to the state by the following week, he needed direction at this time if the Board wanted to do something different than what was proposed.  He also suggested using up $200,000 out of the sales tax in order to meet Lake EMS needs without raising the Ambulance millage; however, he wanted to make sure the Board agreed with that before moving forward.

Commr. Conner stated that he supports that and believes that using sales tax money for ambulances would be a good use of it.

Commr. Sullivan commented that he agreed with that assessment, and he opined that this was a great working document to get through this difficult process.

Commr. Parks suggested that they vote on the things that were added to the budget that were previously discussed, such as Mosquito Control, Children’s Grants, and LASER, since the Board should have a clear idea of what would be included in the budget before they consider the revenues that would be needed.

Commr. Conner commented that since the Board has already agreed to add those back in, a vote on that would not be necessary.

Commr. Campione expressed concern about the unfunded mandates that the Board has been hit with which will impact the general fund, such as the Medicaid changes and FRS mandates, and added that the cost of operating the new courthouse will also be a large ongoing expense.  She pointed out that the Board had three choices, which were to add four percent to their existing cuts, which would force them to cut services they were not comfortable eliminating; the millage increase presented that day; and the sales tax option regarding the courthouse debt service on a one-time basis, which she commented would only be a fraction of that fund.  She opined that using the infrastructure sales tax money for the debt service would be a prudent way to deal with that issue this budget cycle without passing it on to property owners through higher millages, and she pointed out that it would be used for allowable infrastructure.

Commr. Conner commented that although he had originally expressed reservations about using the sales tax, he was more open to that option after giving it a lot of thought and wanted a healthy discussion about it.  He pointed out that the County has done a fine job managing its finances and keeping the millage rates steady while cutting the budget and dealing with the unfunded mandates over the last several years.  He asked that the Board find common ground through discussion and noted that he could be flexible on this issue, especially if it meant not raising the millage rate.

Commr. Parks expressed concern about losing the infrastructure sales tax if the Board’s use of it was perceived negatively by the public and it was not reinstated, but he stated that he does not want to raise millage rates unless they have to.  He indicated that he wanted something to come off the infrastructure tax project list that is not public safety or infrastructure-related if they use that tax for that purpose, and he suggested possibly using that in combination with a rollback rate.

Commr. Cadwell commented that the County will be raiding their reserves as they had done last year if they go ahead with the plan to use infrastructure sales tax for some of their needs, which will only be a temporary fix, and he related that he has heard from conservative citizens who believe they should slightly raise the millage rather than use up their reserves.

Commr. Campione pointed out that the trend is that the values are increasing, and they were seeing commercial development, which will result in an increase in the tax base in the future.  She commented that she had a problem philosophically with raising the millage.

Commr. Cadwell opined that the long-range chances of a new South Lake park being built would be hurt by using this infrastructure sales tax as proposed.

Mr. Koontz mentioned that he plans to discuss the infrastructure sales tax again in October, including the projections through 2017 and the options regarding that.

Mr. Heath pointed out that the budget for 2014 is complicated, but the budget for FY 2015 will be worse, and he was planning have a work session with the Board during the first meeting of next fiscal year regarding the sales tax.

Commr. Sullivan commented that he was very concerned about using sales tax revenues for the purposes they had proposed, because he believed this was only a temporary solution which only postponed the major triage they would have to do next year.  He mentioned that he was very comfortable raising the millage for the Parks & Stormwater MSTU, because they have expanded the services and projects greatly in that area and needed to maintain those.  He also stated that he was comfortable with moving forward with the budget as presented.

Commr. Parks expressed support for raising the Parks & Stormwater MSTU, since he believed it was important to have enough revenue for those projects and the maintenance of future and present parks, and he asked the Board members for their votes for that as liaison to the Parks & Recreation Board.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried by a vote of 4-1, the Board approved to advertise a millage increase for the Parks and Stormwater MSTU of .5504.

Commr. Campione voted “no.”

Commr. Cadwell made a motion to accept staff’s recommendation in regards to the millage increase for the general fund, which was seconded by Commr. Sullivan, and failed by a vote of 2-3.

Commrs. Parks, Campione, and Conner voted “no.”

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried by a vote of 3-2, the Board approved the use of $975,436 from infrastructure sales tax towards expenditures for the courthouse expansion debt service in order to balance the budget and not to increase the general fund millage.

Commrs. Cadwell and Parks voted “no.”

Commr. Conner stated that the Veterans Memorial Organization asked him to bring forward a budget item of $6,200 for names of Lake County veterans to be put on the board at the Historic Courthouse.  He requested that the Board add that minimal expense to the budget.

Commr. Sullivan stated that he fully supported that and believed it was a great thing to do.  He noted that he could not vote on that request since he is a board member for that group.

Commr. Campione commented that it was a good thing to do, and she suggested that they use some of the Historical Society funding that they were setting aside.

Mr. Heath recommended that they could increase the sales tax transfer from $969,000 to $975,000.  He also requested that the Board take action to proffer up the sales tax to the EMS board.

On a motion by Commr. Sullivan, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the request to use $200,000 in from the infrastructure sales tax money for Lake EMS needs.

other business

appointment of members to public safety coordinating council

On a motion by Commr. Sullivan, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the appointment of the following members to the Public Safety Coordinating Council:  Joe Winkler (State Probation Circuit Administrator representative), Tony Deaton (Director of County Probation representative), Jonathan Cherry (Director of a Local Substance Abuse Treatment Program representative); and Bernadette McDonald, Mike Stone, and Norbert Thomas as three representatives from County and State Jobs Programs and other Community Groups who work with Offenders and Victims.

reports – county manager

lap agreement for shoulder work on cr 450

Mr. Heath related that Mr. Jim Stivender, Public Works Director, and Ms. Melanie Marsh, Deputy County Attorney, were in contact with FDOT representatives regarding the LAP agreement for shoulder work on CR 450, who indicated that it was withdrawing its objections, and he asked for approval of the agreement as it appears in the agenda.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board gave approval to award the contract for the Department of Transportation (FDOT) Local Agency Program (LAP) Project, CEI Services for CR 450 Paved Shoulders to Tierra, Inc. in the not-to-exceed amount of $151,648.00.

introduction of new hr director

Mr. Heath introduced the new Human Resources Director, Robert Anderson, and commented that he had a massive amount of experience.

continuance request of rezoning case

Mr. Heath related that the applicant and the opposition in a rezoning public hearing scheduled for July 30 which would generate a great deal of interest regarding Professional Dirt Services were both seeking a continuance, so he continued that case until August 27 at 9:00 a.m.

update regarding lynx routes

Mr. Heath gave an update on where the County was in regard to the LYNX routes and recapped that several months ago the Board approved a modification of the agreement the County has with LYNX to end Route 55 serving the Four Corners area effective June 30.  He related that staff has been working with LYNX on the possibility of LYNX picking up that route with other funding sources.  He explained that staff was looking into using a portion of some additional funding for transit that they were getting from the federal government to help pay for that route; however, LYNX has informed the County that they were going to discontinue the service within the next ten days unless the County paid for the remaining portion this year for the route as well as next year.

Ms. Dottie Keedy, Community Services Director, announced that she had new information indicating that LYNX will continue Route 55 in the Four Corners area if the County will enter into an agreement to use some of the federal money they will receive for the expanded Orlando urban area.

Commr. Parks commented that the County needed to look into having representation on the LYNX board to work out issues like this in the future.

Mr. Heath responded that that would require legislative action, and he commented that they will stay in contact with LYNX to work out any issues with them.  He explained that they had planned to use the extra $396,000 for the South Lake route that would link Mascotte and Groveland.

Commr. Cadwell commented that most of the riders of Lynx Route 55 do not live in Lake County, and he was concerned about cutting out the Mascotte and Groveland route for that.

Commr. Sullivan asked whether they would still be able to expand that route into Groveland and Mascotte if they use those dollars as the funding source for Route 55.

Ms. Keedy responded that they should still be able to do both routes, since they should only have to use $70,000 for that route.

Mr. Heath noted that he was just providing a status report to the Board at this time, and he asked for the Board to let staff negotiate with LYNX and bring back the agreement to the Board as well as provide the documentation of the ridership rather than take any action at this time.

Mr. T. J. Fish, MPO Executive Director, added that they were still waiting for LYNX to communicate formerly to FDOT and the Federal Transit Administration that Lake County can receive a portion of the Orlando Urbanized Area funds, although he is optimistic that staff can bring this to a closure.

reports – commissioner parks – district 2

public meeting regarding wellness way sector plan

Commr. Parks reported that he has met with Governor Rick Scott regarding the Wellness Way Sector Plan, and the first public meeting for that would be July 31.

Enforcement on water authority properties

Commr. Parks related that he was concerned that the recently passed bill that enabled enforcement for pollution and vandalism violations on the Lake County Water Authority properties would not apply to the County lands.

Mr. Minkoff elaborated that the bill made it a felony to take artifacts from Water Authority land but that the County would need to deal with that issue on County land using trespass or County ordinances, which would not be considered a felony violation.

Commr. Campione added that the County’s ordinances would not cover the Water Authority’s property, which was why it had to go through the legislature.

REPORTS – COMMISsIONER campione – CHAIRMAN & DISTRICT 4

Commr. Campione asked whether the Board would consider working with the TDC (Tourist Development Council) and Commr. Cadwell to have a joint meeting in order to hear a presentation from Mr. Fred Linhart on the Orlando Soccer Stadium project and find out more about what the other surrounding counties are doing in that  regard.

Commr. Cadwell noted that it would be similar to the kind of meeting at UCF when they opened the medical hospital, and he wanted to make sure they had a chance to be on board if that was what they wanted to do.  He suggested that they invite the Sports Commission to a Board meeting.

Mr. Heath related that Commr. Campione suggested inviting them to the next TDC meeting as well as any Commissioners who wanted to attend.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 1:09 p.m.

 

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leslie campione, chairman

 

 

ATTEST:

 

 

 

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NEIL KELLY, CLERK