A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
august 4, 2015
The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, August 4, 2015 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: Jimmy Conner, Chairman; Sean Parks, Vice Chairman; Timothy I. Sullivan; Leslie Campione; and Welton G. Cadwell. Others present were: Bill Veach, Deputy County Manager; Sanford A. “Sandy” Minkoff, County Attorney; Wendy Taylor, Executive Office Manager, County Manager’s Office; Neil Kelly, Clerk of Court; Barbara F. Lehman, Chief Deputy Clerk, County Finance; and Susan Boyajan, Deputy Clerk.
INVOCATION and pledge
Pastor Tim Travis from The Father’s House gave the Invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Agenda update
Mr. Bill Veach, Deputy County Manager, stated that he would like to pull Tab 8 from the Consent Agenda and have it heard with the presentation on Tab 15.
Commr. Campione asked to pull Tab 3 from the Consent Agenda in order to have a brief discussion about the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant).
Commr. Parks indicated that he had some serious questions about Tab 17 regarding the costs for the Four Corners After School Busing program that might require it to be pulled from the agenda.
Commr. Campione suggested that they discuss those questions and whether or not they need to pull Tab 17 when they get to that item, and she pointed out that since this program is regarding transportation for extracurricular activities once school starts, it is time sensitive.
Commr. Conner recommended that they postpone that item until the next BCC meeting on August 18.
Commr. Cadwell commented that he was a supporter of that project, but he will not object to it being postponed in order to learn more about the inner workings of the agreement as long as it is not postponed beyond August 18 and as long as there is a commitment by staff to keep working on moving forward with it.
Commr. Conner announced that they will postpone Tab 17 until the next BCC meeting and will have a vote on it at that time.
MINUTE APPROVAL
On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Sullivan, and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Minutes of the BCC Meeting of July 7, 2015 (Regular Meeting) as presented.
employee awards
fifteen years
Mr. Robert Anderson, Human Resources Director, stated that they would recognize Mr. Stephen Gladwell, Compliance and Monitoring Associate with the Code Enforcement Division of the Department of Community Safety & Compliance, who has achieved a significant milestone in his career of 15 years with Lake County. He elaborated that Mr. Gladwell began his career with Lake County on July 11, 2000, and he thanked Mr. Gladwell for his service before he was presented with the award honoring his service to Lake County.
citizen question and comment period
No one wished to address the Board at this time.
CLERK OF COURTS’ CONSENT AGENDA
On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Clerk of Courts’ Consent Agenda, Items 1 through 6, 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.
CRA Annual Report from Downtown Clermont Redevelopment Agency
Request to acknowledge receipt of copy of the Downtown Clermont Redevelopment Agency’s CRA Annual Report, which summarizes the agency’s financial information for the fiscal year 2013-2014, along with cover letter dated July 15, 2015.
Fiscal Year 2015-16 Proposed Budget from Arlington Ridge CDD
Request to acknowledge receipt of Fiscal Year 2015-2016 proposed budget for the Arlington Ridge Community Development District, along with cover letter stating that the public hearing for said proposed budget has been scheduled for Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Fairfax Hall, 4475 Arlington Ridge Blvd., Leesburg.
Notice of Application Approval for Transfer of Water Certificate-Black Bear Waterworks
Request to acknowledge receipt from Black Bear Waterworks, Inc. of a Notice of Application Approval for Transfer of Water Certificate Black Bear Reserve Water Corporation Water System in Lake County, Florida, dated July 8, 2015.
Final Adopted Budget of Estates at Cherry Lake CDD
Request to acknowledge receipt of Final Adopted Fiscal Year 2015/2016 (the “Final Adopted Budget”) which was approved by the Board of Supervisors of the Estates at Cherry Lake Community Development District (the “Board”). Transmittal of the Final Adopted Budget is being made for purposes of disclosure information, and posting on the website of Lake County pursuant to Section 189.016(4), Florida Statutes.
Annual Financial Audit Report for Greater Lakes/Sawgrass Bay CDD
Request to acknowledge receipt of copy of the Annual Financial Audit Report for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2014 for the Greater Lakes/Sawgrass Bay Community Development District.
COUNTY MANAGER’S CONSENT AGENDA
On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the County Manager’s Consent Agenda, Tabs 3 through 14, pulling Tabs 3 and 8, as follows:
Community Safety and Compliance
Request for authorization for the Lake County Board of County Commission Chair or Designee to sign Certificate of Participation for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) in the amount of $89,055 for FY 2015/2016 Program and name Stephanie Glass, Teen Court Specialist as Program Coordinator. This is a pass through grant going to the Sheriff and municipal law enforcement agencies.
Fiscal and Administrative Services
Request for approval and authorization for the Chairman to sign Resolution No.’s 2015-74 through 79 providing for certification of the non-ad valorem assessment rolls for the Greater Groves Municipal Service Benefit Unit, Greater Hills Municipal Service Benefit Unit, Greater Pines Subdivision, Picciola Island Subdivision, Valencia Terrace Subdivision and Village Green Subdivision; providing for certified copies; providing for adoption of resolutions; and providing for an effective date. These non-ad valorem assessments are collected by the County on the property taxes of the homeowners within the subdivisions and fund general improvement maintenance services and street lighting within the respective subdivisions. The required maintenance services are the responsibility of the subdivisions. The total amount to be collected for these MSBUs is $804,490.47.
Public Resources
Request for signature and approval of Interlocal Agreement between Lake County and the City of Tavares, Florida, relating to Contribution of Funds for Improvements to the Woodlea Sports Complex. The fiscal impact is $200,000 (Expenditure). Commission District 3.
Request for approval to utilize the State of Florida Contract for Library Materials for purchases on an as-needed basis. The State Contract covers suppliers of printed books, magazine subscriptions, and audio visual materials such as microfilm, music and video DVDs, as well as electronic and web-based books, reference materials, etc. There is no immediate fiscal impact, and any expenditures will be within budget.
Public Works
Request for approval of an agreement with Kimley Horn & Associates for additional professional services associated with the CR 466A Project, Phase III, in Fruitland Park. The fiscal impact is $207,004 (Expenditure). Commission District 5.
Request for approval of an agreement with the City of Minneola and Hanover Smoak, LLC for the Construction of Fosgate Road, a 2-lane city urban collector road, from Grassy Lake Road west to US 27 for a length of approximately 6,600 Linear Feet (1.25 mi.). The fiscal impact is ($2,806,016.55) (Credit to future fiscal year Impact Fee Revenue). Commission District 2.
Request for approval of Resolution No. 2015-80 authorizing raising the speed limits from 35 MPH to 40 MPH on Hammock Ridge Road (0945) from east of Lakeshore Drive (1040) to Hammock Reserve Lane and from 40 MPH to 45 MPH from Hammock Reserve Lane, to east of Roper Blvd (1048A), in Commissioner District 2, Section 5&6, Township 23, Range 26. There is no fiscal impact.
Request for approval and authorization for the Chairman to sign Resolution No. 2015-81 providing for certification of the assessment roll for the Special Assessment for the paving, grading, curbing, and drainage of Diane Drive and Lisa Drive in Lake County. There is no fiscal impact. Commission District 3.
Request for authorization to execute Second Amendment to the Interlocal Agreement between Lake County and the City of Umatilla for Orange Avenue Redesign and Rehabilitation Project. The fiscal impact is $177,300 (Expenditure to be split over two years). The project is located in Commission District 5.
Request for approval to advertise an Ordinance to correct the effective date of the local option fuel tax set forth in Ordinance 2015-1, pertaining to the re-imposition of the three-cent, four-cent, five-cent, and six-cent local option fuel tax. The ordinance also corrects the expiration dates of the three-cent, four-cent, five-cent, and six-cent local option fuel tax set forth in Ordinance 1985-15 and Ordinance 1986-4, and amends Section 13-27 and Section 13-28, Lake County Code, to make them consistent with the corrections. There is no fiscal impact.
cdbg consolidated plan and fy 2015-16 annual action plan
Commr. Campione explained that she had pulled this CDBG plan from the Consent Agenda for discussion, because she had an email from a constituent asking about the CDBG funding and expressing concern about possible conditions attached to that grant money. She mentioned that they have been able to do a lot of great things in Lake County with the CDBG funding such as improvements to sidewalks, blighted areas, and dilapidated houses, as well as down payment assistance; and she commented that the CDBG projects typically help increase property values and enhance the neighborhood by improving conditions that may be blighting it, as well as improving the living conditions of those living in those homes or neighborhoods. However, she received some information regarding some of the changes to the HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) rules requiring a certain level of affordable housing in areas that otherwise would not be affordable, which she wanted to discuss with the Board. She related that as part of Florida’s Comprehensive Planning process, Lake County has incorporated rules and requirements about affordable housing and actually inventories the housing stock in the county, and she opined that the rules the County has in place has resulted in a blending of all types of housing absent of extreme pockets that keep people from living in a specific area. She specified that the State of Florida imposed requirements for the designation of affordable and workforce housing when the Villages did their DRI years ago, and the Villages has addressed that. She opined that the new rules for the CDBG funds will not create an issue in Lake County by the changing of certain types of development patterns, and the Board can address any issues by the type of rules they adopt and the proper parameters that are in place that protect everyone, although she believes it is possible for the rules to be abused in a way that creates problems in other regions of the country. She concluded that she is in favor of taking the CDBG money for the purposes that Lake County uses it for, which she believes would outweigh any of the negative factors.
Mr. Vance Jochim, a resident of Tavares and writer of a blog regarding governmental fiscal issues, noted that there was a component to “affirmatively further fair housing” within the section regarding certifications in the CDBG plan which would entail conducting an analysis of impediments to fair housing choice, which he opined was a huge requirement. He further related that for the last three years, he has been following news stories regarding consequences caused by this condition of the grant, and he opined that the County might be forced into doing things it did not intend to do by approving the CDBG grant which would potentially damage the property rights of residents who own upper-income homes in Lake County by addressing any disparities that the federal government would mandate, although he believed that it is possible most of the county may be under the thresholds. He specified that there have been test cases and lawsuits in Westchester County, New York, against a pilot program. He opined that there should have been a discussion of this grant as well as a public hearing rather than approving it under the consent agenda, and he questioned how these regulations would affect development of properties in the Wellness Way Sector Plan.
Commr. Sullivan, as liaison to the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, stated that although he is aware that they need to look very hard at any strings and ties there are to anything that they take from the state or federal government, Lake County’s need for affordable housing is so great that it will take many years to get to the thresholds that are put forth, based on the household income and the number of housing units over 30 or 40 years of age in Lake County, as well as other factors. He added that affordable housing has always been a part of their housing plan as they move forward.
Commr. Campione suggested that they have a workshop with Ms. Cheryl Howell, Housing Division Manager, Community Services, to discuss this issue and learn more about it in order to understand exactly what those thresholds are and to what extent they would be expected to change anything in the future, noting that they could take action if there is a problem a year from now. She reiterated, however, that she did not think it would be a problem in Lake County.
Commr. Sullivan responded that he believed that was an excellent idea and would enlighten some people who were interested in learning about this issue.
Commr. Parks also stated that he was in favor of that and expressed his appreciation to Commr. Campione for bringing up this issue.
Commr. Cadwell explained that the focus of HUD regarding housing changes yearly depending on the Secretary, which also results in changes to the rules and particular parts of the housing portion of that agency.
On a motion by Commr. Sullivan, seconded by Commr. Campione and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the FY 2015-2019 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Consolidated Plan and the FY 2015-2016 Annual Action Plan. The fiscal impact is $1,124,715 - Fully Grant Funded (Expense).
public hearings
transportation construction program for 2016-2020
Mr. Jim Stivender, Public Works Director, stated that they will be giving a presentation regarding the 2016-2020 Transportation Construction Program and Road Impact Fee Transportation Construction Program, including discussion of potential corridors for study to the Central Florida Expressway Authority and the Kurt Street agreement.
Ms. Lori Koontz, Road Operations Division Manager, stated that the County maintained a total of 1,392 miles of road, most of which was asphalt with a small number of miles of clay, double surface treated, and concrete, as well as a .15 mile snippet of brick. She reported that the Road Operations Division received 3,400 requests in 2014 for maintenance issues such as pothole repair, drainage concerns, road grading, and tree trimming; and a little over 3,000 of those became work orders that the Public Works staff fulfilled. She explained that they annually inspect and inventory the County’s asphalt roads before rating them on a 1 to 10 PASER rating system, with a 10 being an excellent, newly constructed or resurfaced road; 5 being a fair road showing aging and in need of strengthening; and a rating of 1 being a failed road in total need of reconstruction. She elaborated that these ratings determine the ranking for surface improvements according to the budgeted funds, with a level 6-rated road considered for micro-surfacing and a 4-rated road considered for resurfacing with a one-inch asphalt overlay, and she displayed photographs comparing roads with different ratings. She summarized that they consider roads with a ranking of 6 or below in critical need of improvement, and she presented a bar graph showing the percentage of the ratings for the total road inventory by year from 2010 through 2014, noting consistency of those percentages over the last few years. She related that 689 miles of roads have been identified as needing improvement, and although there are 230 miles of 6-rated roads which would cost $10 million to improve, they have $275,000 in their FY 2016 budget available to do so. She also pointed out that although they have 293 miles of 5-rated roads which would cost $22 million to improve, there is currently no money in their 2016 budget to improve those roads, and she noted budget shortages for repairs to 4-rated and clay roads as well. She added that the micro-surfacing projects are funded by gas tax, and the resurfacing projects are funded by renewal sales tax. She presented an analysis showing that 46 percent of the County-maintained roads are in the area of critical concern with a rating of 6 or below without sufficient funding to address those improvements, and she pointed out that the more deterioration occurs, the higher the cost to maintain and repair those roads, resulting in costs of up to more than six times higher to make those repairs after four years than to do so immediately.
Ms. Koontz explained that the Special Assessment program requires 50-feet of minimum public right of way, and the estimated cost and petitions are prepared by staff. She elaborated that supporting petitions must be received from 55 percent of the property owners owning 55 percent of the front footage, and after the Board approves the project, staff advertises for bids and identifies a funding source. She related that the property owners have 30 days to pay in full after construction is completed with no interest, with unpaid balances placed on the resident’s tax bill as a non-ad valorem assessment with an interest rate not to exceed 2 percent over prime for a period not to exceed 10 years, and the Board determines the interest rate and installment period within the not-to-exceed parameters. She specified that two current approved special assessment projects are Granville Avenue in Clermont, which has recently been completed, and Colley Drive in Tavares, which is expected to be completed in August of 2015. She related that they have estimated that there are over 1,900 non-County maintained roads, a good portion of which have insufficient right of way, and those with adequate right of way to provide sufficient access that are deemed impassable for emergency vehicles are made passable by Public Works. She reported that the County has expended close to $79,000 so far this year and a total of over $514,000 since 2011 on maintenance of non-County maintained roads from its gas tax budget.
Mr. Stivender went over some of the funding sources for various types of projects, including the Transportation Trust Fund made up of the gas taxes, which is their main funding source for road maintenance including pothole repair, and renewal sales tax capital projects. He mentioned that the road impact fees have been reinstated, and he presented a chart of historic funding of transportation revenue dating back from 2009, pointing out that they received slightly better overall revenue than last year, most of which was in the impact fee area. He displayed a map showing the road impact fee collections fund balance as of July 1 by district, noting that the South Lake area’s impact fee is higher than the other two districts’ fee in response to the requests from that district’s residents in order to be able to build more roads. He mentioned some current projects in three areas of federal and state grants, road impact fees, and infrastructure sales tax; and he mentioned that sidewalks and projects associated with schools were prominent in the federal and state grant programs. He related that the CR 565/Villa City Road widening and resurfacing project will be done with old impact fees in the south district in Groveland, and they are ready to start construction on the Hartle Road connection project and Fire Station 90. He stated that the CR 44C/Eudora Road and Sylvan Shores sidewalk retrofit project next to Triangle Elementary is underway using infrastructure sales tax and should improve the pedestrian access in that particular area. He next discussed the partnerships for some of the upcoming projects, including the interchange and North Hancock road construction, and he specified that the Turnpike is putting $30 million into this project and that Family Dynamics is required to build 1.2 miles of two-lane highway to the north to connect to CR 561A. He summarized that the three segments to that project are underway in some form and that the County is ahead of schedule on their part of the project. He stated that a lot of traffic signals or potential signals are involved with this project, with some additional future signals and the removal of a signal proposed. He spoke about projects that affect and are associated with this project, pointing them out on an overhead map, including Phase I of Grassy Lake Road to North Hancock Road and Phase II from US 27 to Grassy Lake Road, and he stated that they had gotten $2 million from the state earmarked for this project.
Mr. Stivender discussed the construction and funding partnerships for CR 466A near the Villages, and he reported that Phase II of this project is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in 2016. He related that the right of way acquisition of Phase I is still pending due to challenges in negotiations of those, but they hope to get those completed by November of 2015 and for construction to start in January 2016 and be completed by December 2016. He mentioned that they hope to be able to complete the right of way for Phase III by April 2017, but he pointed out that there is still no available funding for construction of this phase. He commented that he expects to see a major change in the flow of traffic by the end of this project. He also discussed the future CR 19A project using road impact fees, and he explained that all the major commercial buildings by the license tag office have turn lanes off of CR 19A except for Dillard Road, so they were connecting all of those turn lanes and adding a turn lane at Dillard Road, which should improve the flow in and out of that facility and in general along the 19A corridor. He presented a list of the federal and state grant projects, including shoulders for CR 466A, a sidewalk on Abrams Road in the Eustis area, Citrus Grove Road, and the Lake-Wekiva Trail going to the Wekiva, for a total amount of $7,654,000 in grant money. He pointed out that since they could not rely on one source of funding for construction of some of the projects, they are using road impact fees for CR 466A, Citrus Grove Road, the intersection at CR 455 and CR 50, the CR 468 and Lewis Road intersection, Lake Ella Road, PD&E studies for both CR 437 and Round Lake Road, and the Fosgate Road extension in Minneola to connect from the elementary school to US Hwy 27 to improve the flow of traffic and play a major role in solving the transportation problem in that area. He also showed a map of the above-mentioned project locations.
Commr. Cadwell asked for information regarding the Eagles Nest Road intersection.
Mr. Stivender responded that they worked on the access for Eagles Nest a few years ago for the traffic light which was installed by FDOT to go in, but there is no road to the west. He related that they have a plan for a direct extension west to a development property, but they are waiting for that land to be developed in order to acquire the right of way to build the road. In the meantime, they were evaluating a piece of property that the County acquired on a former pine tree sales lot that was an old piece of railroad right of way in order to construct a road from the light to the existing Lake Ella. He then listed some projects that were on the renewal sales tax list for 2016, including Camphor Road and Juniper Street, the Griffin View Drive and Harbor Hills Blvd. intersection, improvements to solve a flow problem at the intersection of Hwy 27 and Hartwood Marsh Road, addition of sidewalk and road widening on Johns Lake Road tied to Lost Lake Elementary, Old Hwy 441 resurfacing, Orange Avenue in partnership with the City of Umatilla, and countywide resurfacing and sidewalk retrofit programs. He mentioned some of the projects on the 2016 list that were also rolled into the 2017 renewal sales tax project list, including the Hartwood Marsh and US 27 intersection, Johns Lake Road, and the countywide resurfacing and sidewalk retrofit programs. He summarized that they had items identified in the program associated with several sidewalk and school locations, including repair of sidewalks. He discussed what they will plan to do for the first five years after the renewal of the sales tax from 2018-2022, noting that they plan to resurface 75 to 95 miles of road, construct 7.5 miles and repair 2.5 miles of sidewalks, complete about nine projects at intersections, install traffic signals at those intersections, complete one water quality project at Magnolia Lane in the Lake Harris Basin, and replace 75 vehicles and equipment, including some for the Sheriff’s Office.
Mr. Stivender recapped that Ms. Laura Kelley, Executive Director with the Central Florida Expressway Authority, gave a presentation to the Board on July 7, 2014 about their 2040 master plan and asked the Board to look at potential corridors for study. He displayed a map of general corridors that could be studied, which were the northwest corridor encompassing SR 429 to I-75 to provide better access to I-75, the southern corridor connecting SR 429 to US 27, and the western corridor to connect the Turnpike to I-75 and to relieve traffic on SR 50; and he pointed out that he was removing the Green Swamp area and the Ocala National Forest from consideration regarding corridors. He recommended that they present those three corridors to the Expressway Authority as generalities of how traffic would flow back and forth across Lake County and how the county’s residents would travel either up through Marion and Sumter Counties or into Orlando in the other direction and what they would build to make it work. He discussed the Kurt Street resurfacing project, which was on the renewal sales tax project list for 2016 through 2018, noting that the receipt of sales tax does not end until December 31, 2017, which will give the County money in 2018 to finish the Kurt Street project, and he recapped that the County started to discuss the Kurt Street resurfacing project in 2007. He reported that his staff discussed the details of this project with the Public Works Director of the City of Eustis, studied the condition of every segment of the road, and then worked on the priorities. He reported that the first of three phases of the project would address the sidewalks in relationship to Eustis Heights Elementary using existing vendors, and then they will work on the resurfacing and repair of the road. He specified that the County had an interlocal agreement with the City of Eustis to split the estimated cost of $900,000 over three years with the City for this project, with the City maintaining Kurt Street after completion. He requested approval of the Transportation Construction Program, authority to submit the above-mentioned corridors for study to the Expressway Authority, and approval of the agreement with the City of Eustis for Kurt Street.
The Chairman opened the public hearing.
Mr. John Frame, a resident of Lady Lake and member of the Property Owners of Harbor Hills, opined that they had a serious problem at the south entrance to the Harbor Hills community turning onto Griffin View Drive and pointed out that many residents of that community have had close calls with accidents at that intersection. He recapped that there was an engineering study done in 2010 at that location indicating that turn lanes were needed, but it was determined at that time that there was not enough traffic to warrant a signal. He commented, however, that since that time, traffic has increased as the community has continued to grow, and a new engineering study has been done indicating that they should get started on improvements that would make this intersection safer. He thanked Mr. Fred Schneider, County Engineer, who he opined was professional and worked to protect their tax dollars. He added that Mr. Schneider has been working on studying this intersection and indicated that this project could be done without any eminent domain requirements at all. He encouraged the Board to get started on the project at that intersection as soon as possible.
Mr. T. J. Fish, Director of the Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), related that he wanted to tie this road program in with what the MPO is currently doing for the County, and he mentioned that since the Board members were on the MPO, they were part of the update of the MPO’s long-range transportation plan to 2040, which he emphasized has to be cost-feasible. He commented that the impact fee is working to provide funding for needed projects in South Lake County, but the number of permits issued and impact fees collected in the northeast part of the county indicates that the impact fees should be similar to the south part, especially with the Wekiva Parkway expected to be open in Lake County in 2019. He specified that projects such as SR 437 and Round Lake Road are very key to the network around the Wekiva Parkway, but so far the study is the only phase that is currently funded for those roads. He assured the Board that the MPO will continue to work to bring in the state and federal grant dollars, and he noted that they have been very fortunate with the appropriations the last few years. He reported that there was only $14 million statewide in the grant budget for FDOT, which was not a lot to spread around the entire state. He opined that County staff has done a phenomenal job with a very limited amount of resources, and he added that they have been getting public input about what the needs are, which are numerous.
Commr. Campione stated that the impact fee study in South Lake was based upon the specific needs that they knew they had in regard to the interchange, and she asked whether they would do the same thing once they get the PD&E Study back on Round Lake and SR 437 or if they should start looking at that now.
Mr. Schneider responded that the impact fee study was done on the entire South Lake area rather than being road specific. He elaborated that although certain roadways were calculated in the study, the overall impact fee was calculated on the entire district. He added that they looked at how much would be generated and what those roads would cost, and they could also look at how much proposed developments would generate in impact fees to help cover those costs. He commented that they could also do that in north Lake County without another study.
Commr. Campione commented that although she is not a large fan of impact fees, the impact fee is for the addition of capacity, and those specific projects are for that purpose. She specified that people from across northwest Lake County will use those roads to get to the Wekiva Parkway once it is finished, and they should be ready as that parkway is constructed.
Mr. Cliff Cail, a resident of Lady Lake, stated that he would yield his time rather than reiterate what has already been said, and he thanked the Board and County staff for doing a fantastic job on the south gate at Harbor Hills.
Commr. Cadwell commented that looking at doing something similar in the north part of the county to what they did in the south part makes sense.
Mr. Stivender explained that they collected $2 million in two years in the south district, and revenue needs to be generated to build roads associated with the opening of the Wekiva Parkway in 2019 prior to that.
Mr. Sandy Minkoff, County Attorney, commented that they were getting close to needing to update the impact fee studies, and they could look into breaking them up to do them countywide as well as by district if they wish to do so at that time.
Commr. Cadwell asked Mr. Stivender to let him know how much they would have collected in the north district if they had the same rate as in the south part of the county.
Mr. Stivender responded that it would almost be the same amount, which is four to five times as much as they currently are collecting or $2 million as opposed to $400,000.
Commr. Sullivan suggested that they need to start working on that as soon as possible.
Commr. Campione commented that she was initially opposed to the higher impact fee that was adopted in South Lake due to concern about it being a deterrent for bringing in good commercial companies into Lake County, and she suggested that they look at raising impact fees at a lower rate in the north part of the county, such as double rather than quadruple the rate or $1,000 per house.
Mr. Schneider pointed out that the last study gave them four different fee levels.
Commr. Sullivan suggested that they review the study that was previously done.
Mr. Stivender offered to come back in November with an update on this issue.
Commr. Parks recognized Principal Stephanie Mayuski from Pine Ridge Elementary School in South Lake County and her team who have involved their elementary students in the process of using science data and communications to address the problem of pedestrian unfriendliness in the area due to the fact that there are no sidewalks or pedestrian connectivity to that school. He added that Pine Ridge Elementary is currently at capacity, and CR 561 is a dangerous road for children to walk on, especially without infrastructure. He explained that the students did a great job on the project identifying a problem and a solution, which they presented to him as well as to County staff, Commr. Sullivan, MPO members, and business people from the South Lake Chamber; and he noted that it has been included in the transportation program.
Commr. Conner left the meeting at 10:30 a.m. and passed the gavel to Commr. Parks as Vice Chairman.
Commr. Cadwell expressed concern about doing Kurt Street in segments rather than at one time and the redirecting of traffic by Eustis Heights Elementary School, which he opined will cause a problem after school starts, since the busiest pedestrian crossing was depicted as being in the blue segment on the map.
Mr. Stivender responded that they wanted to get sections of the green segment done first, since they saw the complete failure of some of those segments of road, although he agreed with Commr. Cadwell about the blue segment being important as well.
Commr. Cadwell requested that they coordinate with the construction company, the City of Eustis, and the school during that project.
Commr. Parks asked about bike lanes for the Kurt Street resurfacing project and whether Mr. Stivender was thinking about implementing the complete street principles, since this was in a more urban area.
Mr. Stivender responded that striped bike lanes on the road as part of the complete street principles are a possibility, and they will work that out with the City of Eustis; however, he pointed out that there was no room for paved shoulders, and there are not enough funds to do that, since the price would double or triple to put those in. He added that they were concentrating on the pedestrian traffic in the area of the school and that they will talk to Eustis about signage regarding bicycles on the road, since the City will be the one enforcing it.
Commr. Cadwell recommended that they adopt a policy to include the factors such as cost which they consider when deciding about whether or not to do bicycle lanes in the presentation so the public understands the reasons for those decisions as well as ensuring the public that the County has done its due diligence in looking at those issues.
Commr. Parks added that they could also explain to the public about right of way acquisition making the cost too expensive.
Mr. Stivender added that they prefer adding shoulders, especially since it also results in much less road maintenance, and although they have looked at doing that on every project, the costs are sometimes too prohibitive to add shoulders. He also clarified that new four-lane highway projects now always contain sidewalks and paved shoulders.
Commr. Campione asked if there were some non-County maintained roads that were more expensive than others to maintain to take care of the emergency access issues and suggested that they take a look at that as well as which ones they get the most complaints about. She also suggested that they could modify their right of way requirements for those roads which are short on available right of way to make the road safe as well as formulate a strategy for prioritizing and taking on those problems over time.
Commr. Cadwell pointed out that there is a funding problem regarding those roads.
Mr. Stivender explained that calls are seasonal for roads that get either too dry or too wet, and he added that they have to bring anything they pave into compliance. He assured Commr. Campione that he would get back to her with the answers to her questions.
Commr. Campione asked about reaching out to the cities regarding the non-County maintained roads in unincorporated Lake County which are enclaves that have drainage and other issues.
Mr. Stivender responded that staff has been discussing some road transfers with Eustis, and there were some pending that they would still like to address.
Commr. Campione asked about the possibility of residents getting the roads in their neighborhood paved with a special assessment done through their homeowner’s association.
Mr. Stivender explained that Marion County does that often, since most road resurfacing for subdivisions there is done by a special assessment tied to the property owners; however, he noted that that would be a large policy change for the County requiring direction from the Board.
Mr. Minkoff clarified that if a homeowner’s association came to the County with a request to do that kind of special assessment, he believes the County could look into moving that project up on the priority list, since the property owners were paying some of that cost.
Commr. Cadwell expressed concern about taking money out of the budget that would fund other projects.
Mr. Stivender elaborated that a road would have to have a rating of a “4” or “5” to be considered to be resurfaced. He assured the Board that he would look into how other counties do those kind of special assessments.
On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried unanimously by those present by a vote of 4-0 (due to the absence of Commr. Conner), the Board approved the 2016-2020 Road Impact Fee Transportation Construction Program; approval of the 2016-2020 Transportation Construction Program that includes funding from Federal/State Grants and Renewal Sales Tax Capital Projects – Public Works/Roads; authority to submit potential corridors for study to the Central Florida Expressway Authority; and approval of the agreement with the City of Eustis with regard to improvements to Kurt Street at an estimated cost of $900,000 ($450,000 from County Infrastructure Sales Tax and $450,000 from the City of Eustis.)
certificate of public convenience and necessity for lake ems
Mr. Minkoff explained that the public hearing for the approval of the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for Lake Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is done every two years in order to authorize Lake EMS to operate a transport system in the county.
The Vice Chairman opened the public hearing.
There being no one who wished to address the Board regarding this issue, the Vice Chairman closed the public hearing.
On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried unanimously by those present by a vote of 4-0, the Board approved the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for Lake Emergency Medical Services, Inc. (LEMS). There is no fiscal impact.
reports – commissioner sullivan – district 1
speaking engagements regarding renewal of penny sales tax
Commr. Sullivan recapped that the Board had approved an ordinance for putting the renewal of the penny sales tax on the ballot, and he asked the Commissioners to assist him in the future if he was requested to speak in one of their districts regarding that issue, since he has been speaking at many public appearances recently about that.
REPORTS – COMMISsIONER campione – DISTRICT 4
safe school access sidewalk summit
Commr. Campione related that she attended the Safe School Access Sidewalk Summit recently, which she commented was very well done and informative and addressed the most pressing needs. She specified that one discussion was regarding the fact that the return on investment of some of the improvements which make the infrastructure much safer would save considerable money in the long run, and she indicated that she wanted the Board to continue to explore that in order to determine whether there was a way to partner for the cost sharing of those improvements.
keep lake beautiful meeting
Commr. Campione announced that they have had their first Keep Lake Beautiful meeting, and she opined that they had great appointees on that committee. She reported that they have scheduled their first cleanup project for September 19, which would be done with their haulers, who would provide the materials and drop off sites. She added that great ideas were discussed, and they would bring back a report to the Board when they decide on more specific ideas and projects.
adding pine meadows trail on master plan
Commr. Campione related that during her meeting with some representatives from Trout Lake, they discussed the fact that the Pine Meadows Trail is not currently on Lake County’s Trails Master Plan, and she asked that this issue be put on a future agenda in order to discuss the possibility of adding that to that plan as something that could be reviewed in the future. She elaborated that a property owner has acquired property between Pine Meadows and Lake May which could enable the County to make that connection in the future if the property owner was a willing participant.
reports – commissioner parks – vice-chairman and district 2
overview of gabbys law
Commr. Parks related that Rep. Larry Metz presented a good overview of Gabby’s Law, which would require more direct communication between the Board and the School Board, and he would look to see how that will transpire over the next year or so.
technical assistance grant
Commr. Parks asked to add to a future agenda a brief overview of a technical assistance grant that the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council is awarded to develop a golf course redevelopment guidebook for how to address the transitioning of golf courses that are being bought by new owners.
Commr. Cadwell mentioned that he and Commr. Lee Constantine from Seminole County talked about partnering together to look at that issue, since Seminole County has a redevelopment project coming forward this month.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 a.m.
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jimmy conner, chairman
ATTEST:
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NEIL KELLY, CLERK