A special MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

june 24, 2021

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in a special session on Thursday, June 24, 2021 at 1:00 p.m., at Clermont City Center, Clermont, Florida. Commissioners present at the meeting were: Sean Parks, Chairman; Kirby Smith, Vice Chairman; Douglas B. Shields; Leslie Campione; and Josh Blake. Others present were: Alan Rosen, County Manager; Jennifer Barker, Deputy County Manager; Melanie Marsh, County Attorney; Niki Booth, Executive Office Manager, County Manager’s Office; and Kathleen Bregel, Deputy Clerk.

welcome and pledge

Commr. Parks welcomed everyone to the meeting, stating that it was wonderful to see so many people there and that it was a privilege and honor to be there that day and to serve the residents. He then led the Pledge of Allegiance. He explained that the Commission had recently decided to have meetings in each district to be as accessible as possible to those they served, noting that they started off in District 1 in Four Corners in May 2021, that they were now in District 2 in the City of Clermont, and that they would continue moving through all of the districts. He indicated that they noticed at the last meeting that many of the constituents who had attended had questions about the basics of Lake County government and was unaware of the roles of the constitutional officers, so they added a section onto the agenda to go over the basics; furthermore, he said that there were some informational boards around the room and encouraged everyone to look at those. He related that they had been working with the Communications Department to create videos to explain how tax dollars were spent with the different funds as they knew how difficult it was to understand, and that those would be available at subsequent county commission meetings. He then recognized the Clermont City Council members that were in attendance, which included Mayor Tim Murry, who he thanked for attending the Liberty Tree Dedication that morning in the City of Tavares; Mr. Timothy Bates; Mr. Ebo Entsuah, who he congratulated on his reelection; and Ms. Michele Pines. He also pointed out that Minneola Mayor Pat Kelley was in attendance as well.

Mayor Tim Murray thanked everyone for attending the meeting and stated that it meant a lot to the residents and the Clermont City Council that the commissioners were going out into each district and presenting what was going on in the county. He related that many times they were unable to make it to the City of Tavares for commission meetings and that was why they had invited them to council meetings in the past, but that it was more of an honor and pleasure to have them there that day.

Commr. Parks thanked the Mayor for allowing them to have a meeting there. He also recognized City representatives who were in attendance, including Chief Chuck Broadway of the Clermont Police Department; Mr. Mark Johnson, Minneola City Manager; and Mr. Paul Larino, Montverde Town Manager. He expressed that they had a good turnout and that it was great that they were all there together.

lake county introductions

Commr. Parks mentioned that sometimes different constitutional officers will show up to the meetings, noting that Mr. David Jordan, Lake County Tax Collector, had attended the District 1 meeting. He then stated that he represented District 2, which included the Cities of Clermont and Minneola, as well as the Town of Montverde, and asked for each Commissioner to state which districts they represented.

Commissioner Shields said that he represented District 1, which included the west side of the county, starting in the City of Leesburg and going down United States (U.S.) 27 to the Town of Howey-in-the Hills, the Cities of Groveland and Mascotte, and down into Four Corners and the Green Swamp.

Commr. Smith said that he represented District 3, which included the City of Tavares, the west side of the City of Leesburg, the Bassville Park and Yalaha areas, along with some areas in Lisbon.

Commr. Campione said that she represented District 4, which included the Cities of Mount Dora and Eustis, the Sorrento area out to the Wekiva River, along with some areas east of the City of Eustis.

Commr. Blake said that he represented District 5, which included the Cities of Fruitland Park, Lady Lake, and Umatilla, along with the region of Astor.

short term strategic plan

Commr. Parks explained that one of the reasons they were doing these workshop meetings was to go through their short term and long term strategic plan and update it as it had been in place for about 10 years; furthermore, he said that they wanted to reevaluate it and most importantly get public input about any concerns they had or about things that needed changing.

Mr. Alan Rosen, County Manager, indicated that they held a public workshop for a planning session in February 2021 and that they had asked for the public to list their most important concerns related to certain topics, such as transportation, homelessness, budget, etc. for the Commissioners to work on, noting that the biggest concerns that came out of that meeting were communications between the County and the public, intergovernmental communications, emergency response, budgeting, education, economic development, housing, homelessness, and quality of life. He stated that they came up with some goals and that they planned on working on their five year strategic plan towards the end of 2021 and during the beginning of 2022 so that when they started budgeting for 2023 they would have a more robust plan. He also mentioned that the County’s new website, which would include all of the above information, should be available within the next couple of months and he encouraged the public to attend their upcoming meetings on July 13, 2021, which would set the truth in millage (TRIM) notice; on September 14, 2021 and September 28, 2021, which were the budget hearings that would set the final millage rates and discuss exactly what the County planned on spending money on. He indicated that they planned on going back out into the community and do in person surveys, along with online surveys, and would hold more meetings throughout the county to gather more public input; furthermore, he said that the five year plan would include a change in the mission, the vision, and the values of the organization, as well as an action plan with goals, objectives, and measures. He mentioned that the plan would be a living document that could be changed as needed and that they wanted to present it every quarter to give everyone an update on how they county was doing and how they were tracking their goals.

Commr. Parks then gave an overview of the county’s budget, noting that they had about a $400 million budget and that they funded the constitutional officers’ budgets; however, he pointed out that although the Commission decided whether or not to approve of their budgets, they did not manage them and that the public held the constitutional officers accountable on their budgets; furthermore, he indicated that they would decide whether or not to support their budgets at the meetings in September 2021. He explained that there was a great system of checks and balances from the federal level down to the local level, specifying that the residents elected the commissioners and the constitutional officers, which included the Sheriff, the Tax Collector, the Property Appraiser, the Clerk, and the Supervisor of Elections, and that it was better that way because the Commissioners could not handle all of those operations as they would have control over everything. He related that different funds made up the County’s budget, noting that the operating budget was primarily from the general fund, which was comprised mostly of property taxes at about $180 million. He stated that the penny sales tax was the six pennies that were collected and went to the State, adding that the County did receive some of that back, and that the additional penny that made up the seven percent total was called the infrastructure sales tax penny that was used towards schools, the cities, and a third of it went to the County. He mentioned that the infrastructure sales tax penny was passed in 2015 for an additional 15 years and that those funds could only be used for capital costs, such as public safety, roads, parks, and libraries. He noted that the gas tax was a separate fund and that it was used for the maintenance and operation of the roads, adding that the tax had been diminishing as vehicles had become more efficient and that it did not come close to funding new roads. He related that funding for new roads came from either the penny sales tax or monies provided from the State, noting that Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District 5 was the County’s transportation district and money was distributed into that district to fund road projects; furthermore, he said that property taxes did not fund road operations currently.

commissioner comments

commissioner shields

Commr. Shields stated that he had no comments yet as he wanted to hear from the constituents first.

commissioner smith

Commr. Smith commented that they had a lot of participation in the first meeting as well as in this meeting, which he opined was fantastic to see. He said that the commissioners were there to listen to the public’s ideas, needs, and wants and that his priorities were roads, economic development, and business efficiencies. He expressed that he was excited to hear what they wanted to see done with the tax dollars and that he hoped the commissioners would be able to spend it as wisely and appropriately as they saw fit; furthermore, he said that he was hoping they received a lot of good comments to help mold the county’s future.

commissioner campione

Commr. Campione expressed that it was great to be there and that it was wonderful to see such a crowd. She mentioned that the meeting that day was really about making sure the commissioners were listening to the public’s priorities and concerns, specifying that responsiveness to the constituents and being able to address any issues that were affecting the residents of Lake County was a top priority of hers. She also noted that transportation needs were a major issue throughout Lake County, but particularly for the City of Clermont as the growth was at a pace not seen in other parts of the county. She indicated that water quality was an issue and that they were always looking for ways to partner with other agencies to address water quality. She related that they were trying to relieve traffic congestion as best as they could, but as Commissioner Parks previously mentioned their transportation budget was very limited; therefore, they were trying to be as creative and innovative as possible in finding other funding sources so they were not overburdening businesses and tax payers. She mentioned that trails and parks were also a priority and that they had been trying to fill in some of the gaps with trails to make them safer for pedestrians and cyclists. She indicated that accountability was a big issue as they wanted to make sure they were transparent and were always looking for efficiencies; furthermore, she said that when they were short on funding and they knew they had needs it forced them to come up with ways to become more efficient, adding that she believed there were always opportunities for the county to work with the cities to find ways to make their dollars go further and in the long run, provide better services as a result of that collaboration. She expressed that the main goal for that meeting was to trade information and learn from each other.

commissioner blake

Commr. Blake stated that he concurred with the other commissioners and pointed out that the great thing about the district system in Lake County was that every voter could vote for each commission district, but once elected each commissioner represented the residents they lived near which allowed them to be able to interact with the public more easily to find out about any issues. He then commended Commissioner Parks for having these meetings since it allowed them to get out to other parts of the county that they normally would not go to. He explained that he was in his second and final term on the County Commission and that he had historically tried to be a voice of fiscal restraint, had tried to eliminate regulations that made things difficult for the residents, and had tried to make processes more user friendly. He opined that transportation was a core business of the county and he believed it needed to be prioritized; furthermore, he mentioned that they did not have as much funds in the infrastructure sales tax and gas tax, which was what funded the roads, as the percentage had decreased when it was reauthorized and because fewer people were driving vehicles that required gasoline. He mentioned that he was there to listen, that he appreciated getting perspective from all the various parts of the county, and that he believed the diversity of the county was one of its strengths. He expressed that he was happy to be there and that he looked forward to hearing everyone’s comments.

Commr. Parks stated that Commissioner Blake was correct about Lake County being diverse, adding that it took about an hour and a half or more to drive from the north to the south and that there were so many wonderful people in all walks of life. He related that they had great diversity on the commission as well and that their meetings sometimes lasted long because they were thorough and tried to make the best decisions possible. He indicated that sometimes they had differences of opinion, but once the meeting was done they did not stay political. He then encouraged everyone to attend their meetings and reminded everyone that they could participate virtually and submit comments if they could not make it in person.

Commr. Campione commented that Commissioner Blake’s district went from the Astor area over to the Cities of Lady Lake and Fruitland Park, noting that his district included the Villages, which was very diverse. She also mentioned that the Villages also touched Commissioner Shields’ district since they had expanded into the City of Leesburg, so they were seeing more of a presence of the Villages.

Commr. Parks then mentioned that they knew that Hartwood Marsh Road in the City of Clermont was a high priority and that they had moved it up the list to the Lake Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). He stated that Citrus Grove Road in the City of Minneola was also a high priority and that they would do their best to help with that, stressing that Lake County was large and it was difficult to take care of all the roads. He indicated that they were concerned about the funding of roads for new subdivisions, noting that they were looking at a new concept to implement a municipal service benefit unit (MSBU) where every home in that subdivision would be assessed their share of the 25 year cost to resurface the road within that subdivision; furthermore, he said that the money would be set aside in a separate account and would be used when needed. He related that he wanted to discuss homelessness and their mitigation strategy, noting that Commissioner Campione had been an outstanding leader on addressing this issue in the county. He stated that when it came to the budget that they did look for efficiencies and mentioned that this past year they outsourced their fleet which was a savings of over $1 million, they generated about $600,000 per year by advertising on the transit buses, and on June 22, 2021 they approved the outsourcing of the inventory in parts management which was a savings of about $290,000. He related that they had come up with about another $500,000 worth of savings for this year; however, he indicated that the $15 minimum wage referendum that was passed would be a budget challenge for them, as well as for the constitutional officers, as that would add millions to their budget and he stressed that the constitutional officers currently required about 60 percent of the general fund. He mentioned that they wanted to get some input on the trail funding plan, noting that the Commission had discussed using the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) funds, which was a four percent tax per night at any Airbnb or VRBO vacation rental, to possibly fund trails, an all-purpose building, and the relocation of the Fairgrounds. He specified that they were also considering enacting the fifth percent as it could generate more revenue to help fund trails or any other use as allowed under the TDT statutes. He related that the trails were extremely popular and that it could cost up to $50 million to complete all of the trails on their list that would connect the cities and would connect south Lake County to north Lake County.

live polling

Mr. Rosen explained that they had done live polling at the South Lake Chamber meeting the previous week and that they wanted to do the same that day. He indicated that the public would use their phones to answer questions about the county and the results would be shown immediately on the screen. He related that they could skip signing on with their name if they wanted to be anonymous, and he then tried to walk the public through accessing the site, but was having technical difficulties.

Commr. Parks pointed out that they could come back to that later in the meeting and could move on to public comment at that time. He noted that they planned to do this at a lot of the meetings because it was a way to capture the public’s concerns without them having to speak.

citizen question and comment period

Mr. David Serdar, a City of Fruitland Park resident, said that he loved living in Lake County, and expressed his concerns about the need for trails, a drug court, a bus service from the Cities of Leesburg to Clermont, and infrastructure.

Mr. Vance Jochim, a City of Tavares resident who writes a blog called fiscalrangers.com, suggested that the Board add a few things to their to-do list, specifying that he believed the traffic study standards used by engineers needed to be investigated by someone who was not affiliated with the transportation industry as he thought they were outdated and needed to truly reflect the traffic concerns by the residents. He opined that the standards should be reviewed by the County as well as the cities. He related that he believed that sometimes there were discrepancies in the studies and that sometimes there were issues with the traffic even though the study indicated otherwise. He also specified that the annexation process should be reviewed by the Board as he thought it was unfair to the residents who lived in rural areas where developers and cities were asking for certain areas to be annexed; furthermore, he stated that those residents moved to rural areas for a reason and were typically against having higher density areas. He also recommended that the residents be allowed to vote for the city council members who were proposing annexation to the area they lived in as that was currently not allowed, because the annexation could cause a dramatic change for those residents.

Commr. Parks commented that he would like for Mr. Fred Schneider, Assistant County Manager, to discuss traffic studies and how those were reviewed later on in the meeting. He indicated that he understood Mr. Jochim’s concerns and that to the average person those studies looked just like a bunch of numbers; however, he said that Mr. Schneider would be able to shed some light on that.

live polling continued

Mr. Rosen explained that the public could open a web browser on their phone, go to pollev.com/alanrosen171 where they could include their name if they wanted to, and then click on continue to be taken to the questions; additionally, he noted that they just needed to click on the answer that they believed was correct. He then went through a variety of questions pertaining to the county, announced the answer that the majority of the public chose, and then gave a brief explanation for the correct answer.

Commr. Parks thanked Mr. Rosen for presenting the questions and the public for their participation. He opined that he enjoyed doing that as it helped the Board realize what they needed to talk about more.

citizen question and comment period continued

Mr. Vincent Niemiec, a City of Clermont resident, addressed some questions and concerns he had for the Board, specifying that he wanted to know the status of the truck ban in the City of Winter Garden and the status of the funding for Hartwood Marsh Road. He was also concerned about the safety of the residents on Hartwood Marsh Road, noting that about six months ago he had asked for barriers to be installed on the right of way exit by the First Baptist Church of Clermont to prevent u-turns; however, it was now eight months later and nothing had been done yet. He stated that he also wanted an update on the Wellness Way project with Hancock Road going from four lanes to two lanes, and that he was also concerned about the lack of sidewalks along the First Baptist Church of Clermont on Hartwood Marsh Road.

Commr. Parks mentioned that they would address all of the questions and that Mr. Niemiec attended the BCC meetings and provided good comments.

Ms. Sharon Johnson, a concerned citizen, said that she was concerned about the deteriorating quality of water in the lakes, noting that she lived on Lake Minnehaha and had noticed that over the past year it had deteriorated tremendously, specifying that there was a lot of green algae, and she wanted to know when they would address that.

Commr. Parks stated that they could possibly discuss what they could do in the unincorporated areas at their commission meeting the following Tuesday and mentioned that there was a new technology called distributed waste systems that was an advanced septic system which could possibly eliminate some nutrient loading into the lakes. He indicated that they could also ask the Lake County Water Authority about their study on Lake Minneola with the algae blooms. He noted that Lakes Louisa, Minnehaha, and Minneola were all considered to be outstanding water bodies, which meant they had outstanding water quality; however, they were aware of there being some issues in recent years and that was something they wanted to watch and wanted to possibly work with the cities on as well.

Ms. Lavon Silvernell, a concerned citizen, asked if Lake County had raised their impact fees to the highest percentage allowable and whether the Villages, the City of Leesburg, or the County paid for the roads in the new part of the Villages.

Commr. Parks responded that the school impact fee was at the highest, or close to the highest, that they could enact per the recommendation of the school district, noting that for the South Lake district, which included all of District 2 and most of District 1, they were at 75 percent of the maximum amount that could be charged. He related that it varied as other districts were not as high. He also noted that Mr. Schneider could answer that question in more detail.

Ms. Silvernell asked if they had some flexibility in raising the amount in Lake County.

Commr. Campione replied that typically the impact fees stayed around 75 percent and explained that impact fees must be based upon a current study and that the studies were sometimes challenged about whether the fee itself correlated to what the person paying the fee should have to pay. She noted that as a general rule they typically only went as high as 75 percent, but that they could potentially increase it all the way up; however, she mentioned that there was now state legislation that limited how much a county could raise the impact fees in a given year.

Commr. Parks pointed out that the transportation impact fees for the South Lake district did have the highest impact fee, and noted that Orange County had just recently raised theirs, which he believed was now higher than the South Lake district.

Mr. Tom Madden, a resident near the City of Clermont, commended the Board for how they had handled themselves over the past 15 months, stating that he was thankful he lived in Lake County. He then mentioned that he was concerned about the lack of trees and proper landscaping on new homes being built and that he believed that was not being monitored very well by the County. He said that although he thought the County was doing a great job on the roads, he wanted to know what happened to the improvements for Schofield Road, as well as the east west connection between Hartwood Marsh Road and U.S. 192.

Commr. Parks indicated that the design of new developments was something they had discussed extensively over the past year, adding that he did not like the current standards for subdivisions and thought they could do better. He related that he had the same questions about how developments were reviewed, noting that they had to maintain a balance as they could not make the standards too unreasonable.

Commr. Campione asked if it was a Lake County subdivision that Mr. Madden was referring to.

Mr. Madden specified that he was referring to the area of Hartwood Marsh Road, the First Baptist Church of Clermont, as well as his subdivision where he had noticed that large trees had been removed to prepare the land, but nothing had been replanted.

Commr. Parks remarked that the state passed laws in 2020 that limited county and city regulations on the removal of trees, noting that the county could have a four tree minimum requirement, but that the homeowner could remove a tree as long as they had a legitimate reason and the county could not regulate that removal. He indicated that there was a big debate on that and how much the government could get in homeowners’ business. He related that he would like to look at the requirements and possibly increase the standards to make sure that more trees were planted and the landscaping and buffering was better; furthermore, he said that he knew that some of the cities had been discussing this as well.

Mr. Pat Kelley, Minneola Mayor, thanked the Board for acknowledging Citrus Grove Road as a priority and also thanked Mr. Schneider for working with the city manager of Minneola as well as developers to try to resolve some of the issues; furthermore, he indicated that they were trying to be creative in the funding of Citrus Grove Road and that he wanted to make the developers build the roads. He related that Minneola was responsible for making sure there was true right of way, noting that there might be two lanes at first, but they were open to four lanes in the future. He also mentioned that he was aware that Hartwood Marsh Road needed help.

Commr. Parks said that he appreciated the invitation from Mayor Kelley to him and staff to workshop with him regarding Citrus Grove Road. He noted that he had reported to the Commission about the development around the segment of Citrus Grove Road, adding that it was exciting and that they would continue to work with them on that.

Commr. Campione asked if he was talking about the employment center.

Commr. Parks confirmed this, and then asked Mayor Kelley to give a synopsis about what was happening in the City of Minneola.

Mayor Kelley explained that they had a developer for Founders Ridge who was going to build a road, but that developer ended up having financial issues and was not able to build the road; however, they found a different developer who wanted to change the part of Citrus Grove Road that went through Founders Ridge, specifying that the planned unit development (PUD), which was originally for 100 homes, would now be turned into an employment center and a town center to look like a downtown area. He indicated that the town center would have a roundabout, shops, lots of parking, an assisted living facility, and apartments, as well as single family homes on one side, townhomes on the lakeside, and then some light industrial. He related that he was working with the Commission to make this happen and to get the roads fixed, but reiterated that he believed the road issues were the developers’ responsibility and not the County’s.

The attorney for the developer stated that this was the first of several developments the developer was working on and that there were principles in planning that was not seen around Lake County. He opined that walkability was key, as well as appropriate level of parking and he believed that the character and nature of the area could still be maintained by being smart with the development. He expressed that the development that would happen in the City of Minneola was going to be very good.

Commr. Parks asked if he was referring to smart towns.

The attorney for the developer answered that they were called strong towns and that it was about being fiscally smart, about walkability, and walkable city rules.

Ms. Peggy Cox, a City of Clermont resident, thanked the Board for their recent votes on the proposed developments in and along the Green Swamp boundary, noting that most people did not realize that the Green Swamp even existed and how important it was for their water supply. She pointed out that Lake County had two very important areas, which was the Ocala National Forest to the north and the Green Swamp Area of Critical State Concern to the south. She then mentioned that a few years ago 1,000 foot wells had been drilled in south Lake County through the Central Florida Water Initiative and asked if those were in operation due to the increase in the population in that area to fulfill the water supply or if it was still an ongoing idea. She indicated that the aquifer at its deepest in the Green Swamp area was 2,000 feet, so she believed that at 1,000 feet there would be plenty of water.

Commr. Parks mentioned that she was referring to the South Lake Regional Water Initiative, which he indicated that the County was not a part of and that maybe someone from the City of Clermont could answer that question. He then discussed what he knew of the project, noting that the wells were dug and installed, and that the County did lead the Water Initiative effort to get it installed and set up; furthermore, he said that funding was provided for alternative water supplies for those wells. He related that there was also a conversation about how to meet the projected growth in South Lake at 12 million gallons per day without affecting the Upper Floridan Aquifer and that the solution was conservation and the wells.

Commr. Campione mentioned that Ms. Cox had been on the Lake County Water Authority for a long time and wondered if she knew if the St. Johns River Water Management (SJRWM) grant that was used for addressing water quality of algae treatment on Lake Minneola also addressed the issues with Lake Minnehaha.

Ms. Cox said that she was familiar with the Lake Minneola problem, noting that the final experimental treatment had been completed and that so far there appeared to be no significant amount of algae in Lake Minneola. She related that she was unsure about Lake Minnehaha but that it was something that could happen there as well. She indicated that the problem was that they could never figure out exactly what the trigger was for the algae. She then mentioned that she would like to see the new fertilizer ordinance enforced, if that was possible, and then asked if the ordinance applied to those who lived in the city limits or if it was just for those who lived in the unincorporated county.

Commr. Campione replied that the ordinance only applied if the city adopted it as well, adding that they had tried to reach out to all of the cities to see if they could all use the same ordinance; furthermore, she opined that they should continue to aspire to do that.

Ms. Cox indicated that some cities had adopted it and noted that it was very important especially with the summer rains they received and the amount of runoff that resulted from the rains causing fertilizer to go into the storm drains and lakes. She opined that they needed to try to get the cities in line with the county and try to enforce the ordinance, because she believed that at some point if all the lakes become polluted then tourists would not be drawn to Lake County anymore, considering fishing was the number one tourist activity.

Commr. Parks stated that she was right and that this was an issue he, as well as the Commission, was very passionate about. He opined that they would lose quality of life if they lost the water, particularly the outstanding Florida water bodies in south Lake County. He related that there were various sources of pollution loading, such as from septic tanks, stormwater, and the use of fertilizer. He indicated that they tried to not get into the public’s business; however, they were in the process of trying to educate the public through communications about the fertilizer ordinance and that they encouraged the cities to do the same, noting that the City of Montverde had a very tough fertilizer ordinance.

A concerned resident of unincorporated Lake County thanked the Board for setting up the meeting with the City of Leesburg regarding interlocal service boundary agreements (ISBA), and opined that rural areas were under siege with annexation from local cities and that she believed that ISBAs made it easier to annex into a city with higher densities. She said that she hoped the Board could renegotiate the ISBAs and remove the rural protection area boundaries from the ISBA boundaries. She indicated that the Comprehensive Plan had some really good policies that dealt with the rural protection areas and she believed that the ISBA just countered those. She also noted that the Leesburg ISBA was a 20 year agreement and suggested it be reduced as she believed it was too long of a time frame; additionally, she opined that it was supposed to be reviewed every five years; however, it was two years overdue.

Mr. Jim Krakowski, a resident of the Palisades community in the City of Clermont, thanked the Board for all their assistance with the Palisades community over the last 20 years. He then discussed his concerns, noting that a three way stop had been installed at the corner of Jalarmy Road and County Road (CR) 561A and he opined that while it helped the travelers coming from the Cherry Lake developments, it caused significant back-ups for the travelers going east to west on CR 561A all the way to U.S. 27, and he hoped they could find a solution for that. He indicated that Jalarmy Road was also a very narrow road and suggested they widen it. He also recommended that they add a bike path or widen the area of CR 561A going from U.S. 27 to CR 565 as there were many cyclists that used that stretch of road around Lake Minneola.

Mr. Alex Cooke, a City of Clermont resident, addressed the Board with his concerns and opined that the condition of CR 561 south from 12^th Street looked more like a war zone than a maintained road, noting that it had been patched in certain areas and that he would like to raise that as a priority as he believed it was dangerous to drive on, particularly since there were a lot of commercial carriers that used it. He then asked if the County had any plans to eliminate septic in new developments as he thought it would be beneficial for the long term safety of the water. He stated that there were probably some models already out there for doing that and that the expense could be incurred by the developers. He then asked a philosophical question about whether a governmental agency could raise taxes for a particular industry, such as the hotel tax, if they wanted to complete a specific project and needed the funds to do so.

Commr. Parks indicated that they would look at the issue of CR 561 and that Mr. Schneider could possibly discuss that as well. He then said that the Commission would be having very intensive discussions on distributed waste systems at upcoming meetings and explained that it was essentially a micro wastewater treatment plant that was different than septic tanks and had been used in other places around the country that worked as efficiently as a municipal plant in reducing nutrient loading, E.coli, etc., and could treat subdivisions that were located far away from a wastewater treatment plant. He related that these new systems may not be needed in very rural, remote areas as they may not make a difference and may only be a burden on the homeowners; therefore, they would most likely just use the State requirements in those situations. He mentioned in regards to the question on raising taxes that this Commission had made it clear that they did not want to increase the tax rate from the general fund across the county. He stated that they were trying to come up with other options to funds different things and that they were looking at using the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) to help pay for trails, which meant that visitors to the county were helping to pay for trails rather than using funds from property taxes; furthermore, he reiterated that they were very conservative and that he did not see this Commission looking at alternative ways to tax the residents.

A City of Clermont resident mentioned that she wanted to know what the County was doing to help bring in more commercial businesses like Kroger and Amazon with higher paying jobs and opined that there needed to be more affordable housing so that residents could live in the area where they worked. She then asked if the Board had some suggestions for letting businesses and residents know that the $15 per hour minimum wage mandate was supposed to happen over a five year period and not immediately, specifying that a lot of businesses were advertising the immediate increase and she believed it was hurting small businesses. She also indicated that she was concerned about the landscaping at Hancock Road and Old Highway 50 in the City of Clermont and wondered why the developers had removed all the trees and grass at once leaving only clay lying on the ground. She then suggested that they consider having specific committees that would go out to large communities and educate the residents on exactly what was going on in the county so everyone would have a better understanding when the County wanted to enact something new; furthermore, she said that a lot of the residents might be able to give some good suggestions and ideas as well.

Commr. Parks commented that they had been trying to increase their communication efforts and get as much information out as possible, and although he realized there was more to be done, he hoped that would change this year.

A City of Mount Dora resident said that she had lived in Lake County for 16 years and had been a volunteer for the same amount of time. She shared a story about the need for a skate park in South Lake and then thanked Minneola Mayor Pat Kelley for building one. She indicated that she also saw a need for a boys and girls club and that one was created because of her help. She then addressed her concerns about safety, noting that she thought Hammock Ridge Road was a very unsafe road as it was mostly hilly and she was unsure why the road was built that way. She related that her other concern was about the bicyclists on CR 561 as it was a safety issue for them as well as for the drivers. She asked if they had ever considered building a trail for bicyclists to use to help get them off busy roads.

Commr. Smith commented that he could send her the trails master plan if she gave him her email address.

Commr. Campione mentioned that she had sent a message to Mr. Ron Hart, Executive Director of the Lake County Water Authority, hoping that he would be able to provide some information about the Lake Minnehaha status. She indicated that he said that the state funded the algal treatments, that they were close to wrapping up the treatments on Lake Minneola, and that they were projecting that the nutrient loading analysis would be done sometime in August 2021 where they would find out whether or not the treatment worked. She said that the Water Authority was hoping to do some additional projects on the Clermont Chain of Lakes in their upcoming budget. She related that this treatment could possibly work for other lakes, but ultimately they needed to find out the reason for the algae, noting that studies could take a long time and that the study could show there were multiple sources; furthermore, they would then have to decide which source to tackle first, which they knew septic systems and runoff was part of the problem. She expressed that the treatments would at least help make the lakes usable and no longer dangerous and she then urged the citizens to let the Water Authority know that this was an important issue for them so the Water Authority knew which priorities to pursue.

Commr. Parks said that Mr. Hart came to almost every Board meeting and that he provided updates at the meetings. He then mentioned that the Lake/Orange Expressway, which was a toll road that would connect U.S. 27 to U.S. 192, was in the process of being engineered. He opined that it would have a significant impact on reducing traffic on SR 50 and U.S. 192 and that it would most likely be under construction within 18 months to two years.

Commr. Campione remarked that the Lake/Orange Expressway was actually funded, so it would happen.

Commr. Parks addressed the question from earlier about the City of Winter Garden truck ban and noted that the ban was in place, but that they were not enforcing it. He speculated that the reason was because it was a big issue, that there were politics in place, and that there was an election during the time it was passed. He stated that they would continue to keep the discussion open with the City of Winter Garden. He then asked for Mr. Schneider to come up to answer some of the questions that were brought up during the meeting.

Mr. Schneider said that he would be happy to speak with the citizens after the meeting to get their name and email address if he did not answer their question during this time. He then addressed the questions starting with traffic impact studies, and explained that they started in 1985 with the Growth Management Act in Florida and that local agencies were then required to adopt a comprehensive plan and emergency management system that affected traffic, stormwater, sewer, etc. He indicated that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) adopted the highway capacity manual and the State of Florida then adopted its own standards called the public service manual, noting that those documents were primarily geared towards the state highway system and that they did not have a concurrency in number that related to local roads; furthermore, he stated that was the reason why a traffic engineer could indicate that there was plenty of capacity for a specific local road when county staff knew there was not. He related that traffic studies were up to standards and that there were various ways to complete them from looking at a number in a table to a software traffic model of the entire Central Florida area. He also mentioned that there was more to consider with roads, such as the amount of cars per day that would be allowable, whether the road could be widened, if there was right of way, and whether bike lanes, paved shoulders, and sidewalks could be added. He discussed traffic concurrency and impact fees, noting that state statute had eliminated concurrency as a tool, which he believed was not very effective or useful anymore, and that recent legislation curtailed the ability of counties and cities to increase impact fees as the state believed there was too much local government control. He then indicated that a full design plan was completed for Hartwood Marsh Road a few years ago, but that funding limitations curtailed their ability to move forward with the four lanes as well as acquiring the right of way; however, with recent approvals from the City of Clermont the right of way was acquired and the section of Hartwood Marsh Road from U.S. 27 west, past Regency Hills and almost to the sand mine would be completed. He said that they were currently in the selection process for an engineer to update the plans to get them up to current standards and specifications and that they planned on presenting the five year transportation construction program to the Board at a meeting in August 2021; furthermore, he noted that they would move Hartwood Marsh Road up on their list. He noted that the surveying had started for Citrus Grove Road and that they were working with the developer on that; additionally, he said that it was more efficient to work with the developer and create a partnership in those instances to make sure that everyone was on the same page with the design. He spoke about the City of Winter Garden truck ban and mentioned that there was not much Lake County could do to ban trucks on Hartwood Marsh Road and that he had emailed the City of Winter Garden’s city manager about a week ago regarding the status, but he was still waiting on a response. He remarked that they would continue to watch it and see what would happen as they wanted to move forward with the Hartwood Marsh Road project.

Mr. Niemiec asked if they were going to go from the design phase to the right of way phase in one shot for Hartwood Marsh Road.

Mr. Schneider confirmed this, noting that the First Baptist Church of Clermont had dedicated right of way along Hartwood Marsh Road and the Hartwood Marsh subdivision to the southwest also dedicated right of way and were taking all the stormwater from the road into their stormwater ponds, which was an agreement between the County and the developer. He indicated that the first part of the extension for Hancock Road was going to be built first and it would eventually continue south to Schofield Road. He explained that the south part of Schofield Road turned to clay and that the Board had an agreement with Cemex to pave that road, which would begin after the final right of way was dedicated by the adjacent property owners. He noted that the Board had also entered into a developer’s agreement for the next project to continue Schofield Road east towards Orange County and then go north towards Hartwood Marsh Road. He pointed out that there were many developers in the Wellness Way area and that each developer had a specific piece of roadway that they would build in exchange for impact fee credits; furthermore, he indicated that they were working to get all of the pieces to the puzzle in place to finish those roads. He then mentioned that they planned on having a discussion and presentation about septic tanks and advanced treatment systems at the July 13, 2021 BCC meeting so they could discuss what was available and get direction from the Board. He also noted that in regards to developments in the area that they did their best to reach out to the cities to coordinate on development proposals, adding that staff gave them comments and that the cities were typically very responsive to the county. He explained that for road resurfacing, the Board was just awarded another stage of road resurfacing for this year, noting that they had taken out a loan for $10 million, had spent $5 million in 2020 and planned on spending the other $5 million this year; additionally, he said that carry over funds would allow them to do about $3 million for next year. He mentioned that he did not have the road resurfacing list with him, but that he would look at it later to see where CR 561 fell on that list and could provide that information to Mr. Cooke. He stated that they had been working on the worst case roads and although some looked very bad, there were some that were worse.

Commr. Parks asked if he could address Jalarmy Road, and opined that he thought a possible solution would be a roundabout.

Mr. Schneider explained that a potential solution could be to put a roundabout there, noting that the property was owned by the Palisades community and that they would have to work with the developer and the property owner on that. He mentioned that there really was not enough right of way for turn lanes or even for a traffic signal.

Mr. Niemiec asked if the lack of sidewalks along Hartwood Marsh Road could be addressed, specifically the area in front of the First Baptist Church of Clermont.

Commr. Parks said that sidewalks would be put in when that road was widened, noting that at one point sidewalks were not required to be put in for developments.

Mr. Schneider confirmed what Commissioner Parks said and pointed out that the BCC required all commercial to install sidewalks; however, there were likely some commercial that was developed before that requirement was put in place. He indicated that the First Baptist Church of Clermont was required by the City to put a sidewalk on Hartwood Marsh Road as it was part of the site plan approval, but that was not something the County oversaw. He then noted that they were working with Hartwood Residential, LLC to build a sidewalk or trail along their roads as well, which would go down to Hancock Road.

Commr. Parks assured Mr. Niemiec that they would stay on top of the barriers to keep vehicles from turning left out of the First Baptist Church of Clermont.

Mr. Mike Taylor, a resident of the Palisades community, expressed that he was just beginning his passion in getting involved in local government affairs as he loved living in Lake County. He also thanked the Board for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of every meeting. He stated that he appreciated the Commissioners’ focus on the county’s safety and mentioned that he was extremely opposed to the idea of defunding, in any amount, local law enforcement agencies and that he wanted to be personally contacted should there ever be a time when that was discussed as he appreciated the protection they offered to the community. He listed the various groups that we was a member of, including being on the Board of Directors for the Florida Realtors Association; the Realtors Association of Lake and Sumter Counties, where he was president in 2019 and on the Board of Directors for six years; the Lake 100 group, who was committed to promoting economic development and other initiatives in Lake County; and the Lake Transportation Task Force as he believed that transportation was a tremendous issue for Lake County. He pointed out that Lake County was the fourth fasting growing county in Florida and that they ranked 54 out of the 69 counties for transportation funding; additionally, he said he was in favor of findings ways to invest in the existing roadways as he believed that people would come to Lake County to live if the roads were maintained. He opined that water quality should also be a priority since there were very few natural resources that were as important to the county’s economic success as the lakes and streams; furthermore, he noted that the Florida State Realtors Association had designated the month of July as water, gulf, streams, and lakes clean up month and that thousands of realtors would be participating in the effort. He indicated that he was also concerned about homelessness and wanted to help identify solutions to improve affordable housing in Lake County.

Commr. Shields mentioned in regards to economic development that Lake County had a great economic development office, but that they also relied on the cities as partners since they did not provide water and sewer, noting that they had a great partnership with the City of Groveland and that they were all very passionate about economic development.

Commr. Campione remarked that the County relied on the cities to partner with them not only because the cities had water and sewer utilities, but also because they were more successful when they teamed up together. She indicated that the Agency for Economic Prosperity, which was the County’s economic development department, put a lot of effort into connecting the right companies with Lake County that fit with what people wanted to see and the types of jobs that fit the skillsets, specifying that they worked closely with Lake Technical College, Lake-Sumter State College, and Lake County Schools to make sure the curriculum was geared towards the skillsets that job creators and new companies might be looking for. She related that there were incentives as long as the jobs that were being created were at a certain income level or salary level and if it was for a targeted industry that fit into what the County was trying to do.

Commr. Smith commented that he, along with some of the other Commissioners, had been working with Lake Technical College to get the high schools to start teaching the skillsets of a trade school as he opined that not everyone would go to college. He expressed that roads were another big part of economic development and that they were desperately trying to fix their transportation needs in order to attract more corporations to the area as they needed good roads to be able to transport their goods, services, and people back and forth on; furthermore, he said that they needed affordable housing for the workers as well. He indicated that the County was working on a plan, but that it took time and momentum. He then thanked everyone for coming to the meeting.

Commr. Parks said that there was so much more they could stay and talk about as they still needed to discuss affordable housing and homelessness mitigation strategies, adding that maybe they could discuss those at their next Commission meeting. He then pointed out that Commissioner Campione had been a very big part of that.

Commr. Campione remarked that they had been working very hard to pull together a program that would address affordable housing and target it also to people who were homeless. She indicated that there was a lot involved in that, such as the affordability of the house itself, the people’s ability to live and take care of the house, and the circumstances that made them homeless to begin with. She mentioned that the County now had a coordinator that worked directly with the homeless and connected them with services that would help them as they transitioned into permanent housing; additionally, she noted that sometimes people needed supportive housing rather than permanent housing and that involved working with organizations that provided services those people needed, such as mental health and substance abuse services. She expressed that they had made a tremendous amount of progress so far and that was partly due to working with the cities and law enforcement to make sure they were connecting the people who needed help with the services they needed in order to ultimately get them into a home.

Commr. Parks said that there were so many in attendance that day that were doing their part to help. He remarked that they would get there if they just kept moving forward, but that they needed everyone’s help to work together. He indicated that there would be more of these meetings and then thanked the City of Clermont for hosting the meeting.

Mr. Rosen mentioned that they were working on a homelessness strategic plan and would be presenting it to the Commission for consideration within the next month or two that would help decide the best way to move forward to tackle that problem.

Commr. Parks thanked everyone for coming to the meeting.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m.

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SEAN PARKS, chairman

ATTEST:

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GARY J COONEY, CLERK