The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in special session on Thursday, March 4, 1999, at 9:00 a.m., at the Woodlands Lutheran Camp, Montverde, Florida. Commissioners present at the meeting were Welton G. Cadwell, Chairman; Catherine C. Hanson Vice Chair; Robert A. Pool (departed the meeting at 3:10 p.m.); and G. Richard Swartz, Jr. Commissioners not present: Rhonda H. Gerber. Others present: Sue Whittle, County Manager; Alvin B. Jackson, Jr., Deputy County Manager; Sanford (Sandy) A. Minkoff, County Attorney; Ava Kronz, Director of Continuous Quality Improvement; Fletcher Smith, Senior Director, Community Services; Mike Anderson, Senior Director, Facilities & Capital Improvements; Theodore Stone, Senior Director, Emergency Services; Sharon Farrell, Senior Director, Growth Management; Jim Stivender, Jr., Senior Director, Public Works; Don Post, Senior Director, Solid Waste Management Services; Sarah LaMarche, Senior Director, Fiscal and Administrative Services; Barbara Lehman, Chief Deputy Clerk, County Finance; Wendy Taylor, Administrative Supervisor, Board of County Commissioners' Office; Mitch Owens, William R. Hough and Company and Marlene S. Foran, Deputy Clerk.
It was noted that a notebook consisting of an agenda and backup material had been distributed prior to the start of the meeting.
OVERVIEW
Ms. Sarah LaMarche, Senior Director, Fiscal and Administrative Services, directed attention to the Tenets and Focus Areas of Lake County's Budget and briefly discussed the following tenets and focus areas:
Tenets of Lake County's Budget
The Lake County operating and capital budget for Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001 will incorporate these tenets which will ensure the financial strength of the County:
Provides that current revenues are sufficient to support current expenditures; ("We are living within our means" without drawing down fund reserves for operating purposes.)
Maintains the County's strong General Fund reserves;
Provides sufficient maintenance and replacement dollars to ensure capital facilities and equipment are properly maintained;
Assures existing service levels in a growing County;
Maintains a competitive compensation and benefits package for our workforce.
Focus Areas of Board of County Commissioners
I. To build a sustainable environment for current and future generations in Lake County.
II. To develop an economic base and the infrastructure needed which will allow our citizens the ability to enjoy optimum employment, varied cultural opportunities, and a quality standard of living.
III. To nourish our communities enabling all residents to enjoy an aesthetically pleasing, safe, abundant and healthy lifestyle.
IV. To increase citizen confidence in Lake County government.
Commr. Swartz requested that the Board continue the policy that revenues from above roll back continue to be dedicated to special reserves for future infrastructure and that said policy be listed as a tenet.
Commr. Hanson brought up for discussion the issue of providing a dedicated revenue source for the Sheriff's Department in order to provide the Sheriff with the assurance that he would receive funding each year without coming to the Board.
Ms. Sue Whittle, County Manager, stated that she would address the issue of a dedicated revenue source for the Sheriff's budget and would review policies of other Florida counties.
FISCAL OVERVIEW
Ms. LaMarche presented a Fiscal Overview on the following topics: Two Year Budget; Cost Factors Affecting the General Fund; Benchmarking; Web Site; Internet; E-Mail; Debt Service; Health Insurance Issues; Update on Interim Assessment; CIP; and Direction on Millage Rate for Fiscal Year 2000 and 2001.
Ms. LaMarche directed the Board's attention to the chart titled Constitutional Officers Incremental Increases to the General Fund Over Prior Year Expenses and explained that the chart was a five year history of the net incremental increase to the general fund each year over the prior year for all of the Constitutional Officers excluding the Supervisor of Elections. She further discussed the chart titled Analysis of Sheriff's Budget Fiscal Years 1995 through 1999, and the chart titled Major Revenue Sources General Fund for Fiscal Year 1995 - 1999. She discussed the General Fund Contingency for the past five years and noted that the general fund reserves have been stable for the past three (3) years; however, the percent of the general fund budget, the amount of money spent out of contingency, the estimated amount of money to spend this year out of contingency, and the discretionary contingency of the percent of the general fund budget was declining.
Commr. Hanson suggested that the tenets include a percentage which will maintain adequate contingency in all funds and set the goals of the Board; at which time Commr. Swartz concurred with Commr. Hanson.
Ms. LaMarche stated that she would bring back appropriate language at the July Budget Workshop for the Board's review.
At this time, Ms. LaMarche discussed the Biennial Budget for Lake County for Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001 and explained that staff has been instructed to provide all personnel, operating and capital items for a two year budget which will provide a more efficient and effective budget process. She stated that changes to the Year 2 budget would be reviewed only if unanticipated revenue generates a new program and noted that the millage rate and budget must be adopted annually by the Board.
Ms. Whittle noted that the Biennial Budget process was for the Board of County Commissioners this year and did not include the Constitutional Officers.
Ms. LaMarche stated that staff was comfortable with changing to a two (2) year schedule for contracts and grant application submittal and questioned if the Board was comfortable with this change. Discussion occurred regarding the grant application process, at which time ,Commr. Cadwell cautioned that the County not shut out grant award requests because of the two (2) year process.
Ms. LaMarche briefly discussed the Cost Factors Affecting the 2-Year General Fund Budget chart comprised of Revenue Sharing, Health Services, Department of Community Services, Y2K, BCC Health Insurance, Fire Assessment, Ad Valorem to Cities (Redevelopment Districts, New Race Track Bond, Housing Federal Prisoners, Rewards and Recognition, Salary increases, Additional General Fund Staffing, Constitutional Officers, and Other Unknown Factors. She noted that the positive factors affecting the General Fund Budget were that Lake County has the lowest millage rate of surrounding counties, $630,000 in Lake Apopka Farm Buy-out revenues are to be received this fiscal year, a rate increase of federal prisoner dollars will be requested from $60 to $63 per day, and the payback to Infrastructure Sales Tax not recurring ($701,217).
Ms. LaMarche briefly discussed benchmarks for each division and explained that all of the departments within each division have joined together to submit one benchmark per division and, in the future, the monthly reports will show performance measures, benchmarking and targets as well as dollars per division.
Ms. LaMarche briefly discussed the potential uses of a Lake County Web Site and explained that the County has the option of a small web site or a dynamic web site offering on-line serving, on-line jobs, direct access to Commissioners, County Manager and departments via e-mail, and many more options. She stated that staff would like to move forward with the web site as soon as manpower and funding becomes available and would like to contract initially with a consultant to get the web site in place. She noted that the Broward County Home Page was an excellent example of a dynamic web site.
Commr. Hanson noted that the Broward County Home Page ties in other County agencies, the Constitutional Officers, and the School Board and suggested that the School Board share in the cost of the web site.
Mr. Sandy Minkoff, County Attorney, informed the Board that two (2) County teams were looking at the many aspects of a web site including document retrieval, public records request, e-mail and Board Minutes; at which time, Mr. Fletcher Smith, Senior Director, Department of Community Services, noted that a presentation has been scheduled on March 25, 1999, at 2:30 p.m., to look at Martin County's web page and their optical imagining system.
Ms. Whittle requested that the Board provide direction to move forward with a top notch web page with the understanding that there was a cost involved in developing the web page by contract and that there would be a need for a web master who would be responsible for the maintenance of the web site and all updates.
Commr. Hanson expressed her support of a Lake County web site and requested that some time later in the process staff prepare a list of positives.
Ms. LaMarche briefly noted the Long Term Debt balance as of September 30, 1998, in the amount of $40,387,242; and the Racetrack Bonds current balance in the amount of $300,000.
Ms. LaMarche provided an update on Interim Assessment and directed the Board's attention to a letter dated January 27, 1999, addressed to Camille Gianatasio, Government Services Group, Inc., regarding the assessment of government-owned land for fire and emergency services. She stated that staff was recommending not to bill a fire rescue assessment to federal, state or local government-owned land.
The Board agreed with the staff recommendation not to bill a fire rescue assessment to federal, state of local government-owned land.
At this time, Ms. LaMarche briefly discussed the Proposed Capital Improvement Program for Fiscal Years 2000-2003, and the Infrastructure Sales Tax Projections for 2000 to 2002. She stated that one mill would generate $6,030,000 in ad valorem taxes in Fiscal Year 1999.
RECESS & REASSEMBLY
At 10:20 a.m., the Chairman announced that the Board would recess for five minutes, and reconvene at 10:25 a.m.
LEVELS OF SERVICE
Ms. LaMarche presented discussion on the Levels of Service for Computer Services/GIS, Code Enforcement, Building Maintenance, Parks, Rails to Trails, and Libraries. She explained that it was the responsibility of the Computer Services Division to provide computer hardware and software support for the Lake County Board of County Commissioners. She stated that the computers and other hardware consisted of approximately 400 pieces of equipment in the main courthouse and 13 remote sites and that the level of service desired was to bring down the County ratio of technicians to equipment, and to develop a telephone help-line and web page. Ms. LaMarche informed the Board that Ms. Kitty Cooper has offered to provide an update to the Board on the GIS division in April 1999. She stated that Ms. Cooper was in the process of hiring four (4) new employees and adding a summer internship program in conjunction with State University programs with the students hired in work shifts to get the parcel base in place.
Ms. Sharon Farrell, Senior Director, Department of Growth Management, presented a brief overview of the Lake County Code Enforcement Division. She explained that the projected case load for 1999 was 929 complaints per inspector and that it would take seven (7) inspectors to handle the projected 3,202 complaints to stay at the level of 458 complaints per inspector. She discussed the comparison chart illustrating the number of officers that handle standard violations in Lake, Marion, Seminole and Volusia Counties; the number of square miles per officer; and the number of cases per officer per year. She stated that the level of service has dropped tremendously in the last year and noted that they were at the same levels as in the 1980s; however, the population has doubled. At the request of Commr. Cadwell, Ms. Farrell stated that staff would track the number of code enforcement cases that can be contributed to new ordinances since the adoption of the Land Development Regulations in 1992.
Commr. Swartz suggested that staff bring forward a mid-year budget amendment to add two (2) additional Code Enforcement Officers to bring the total number of code enforcement officers to five (5).
Mr. Mike Anderson, Senior Director, Facilities and Capital Improvements, discussed the Facilities Maintenance and Proposed Facilities Maintenance charts illustrating preventive maintenance, service requests, projects, and totals. He explained that, in 1989, there were nine (9) maintenance workers taking care of 200,000 square feet of facilities and, at the present time, there are nine (9) maintenance workers taking care of over 600,500 square feet of facilities. He stated that during the last 16 months they have processed 10,000 work orders which indicates a strong trend and clearly shows that less than 10% of effort hours are spent on preventive maintenance. He stated that the Facilities and Capital Improvements benchmark was to shift the priority for the use of man hour resources from emergency repair and non-maintenance activities to preventive or planned maintenance activities. He stated that in order to increase the ratio of preventive maintenance to a desired level of 8,000 man hours per year, a decline will result in their ability to provide the special project services. At this time, Mr. Anderson discussed the Current Parks Services and Proposed Parks Services charts illustrating parks maintenance, service request, parks capital projects and total man hours. He stated that parks crews maintain 35 areas and 161 acres in addition to cemetery maintenance, and currently there are two (2) crews per day. The proposed staffing would allow at least three (3) crews on the road per day. In response to a suggestion by Commr. Swartz, Mr. Anderson stated that, under the work order program for service requests, his department could show what a department has costs in labor and materials to satisfy work orders, and work orders could be sorted by special requests versus preventive maintenance.
Discussion continued regarding preventive maintenance, and Commr. Swartz questioned if any analysis has been made to substantiate whether it would be cheaper to out source rather than perform all preventive maintenance in-house.
Mr. Anderson stated that mechanical and preventive maintenance are the first areas considered for out sourcing; however, Lake County's Energy Management System was one of the top systems in this field. He stated that the County's grounds keeping and custodial services were presently out sourced, and the quality of service has suffered because of lack of ownership. At this time, Mr. Anderson requested that the Board provide direction as to whether they wish to stay in passive recreation or to pursue active recreation. He stated that the general requests coming into the department are for an active recreation program to provide complexes for organized activities.
Commr. Swartz stated that much of the County's grant money would have to start going toward County facilities if the County moves into a more active recreation posture.
Commr. Cadwell suggested that, if the Board chooses to change policy direction, the County could start moving towards active recreation programs but not at an accelerated pace. He stated that there was not the tight knit ownership in recreation programs on the city level that there was with the libraries because most of the cities with recreational programs have provided the facilities and outside groups have run those programs.
Commr. Pool stated that it was important that the County establish a form of recreation impact fee and that there was a way to work with the development community, the cities, and the County to provide infrastructure and funding in a joint plan. He stressed that the County needs to move forward now to enhance and encourage some form of recreation impact fee.
Commr. Hanson expressed concern that no one was representing the very rural parts of the County, and stated that the County must look at partnerships in those areas and assure that dollars go to those rural areas.
Commr. Swartz stated that, when cities begin to analyze what the impact will be on County unincorporated residents not now participating in the city programs, there will be a negative revenue affect similar to the libraries. He stated that he was not opposed to the County getting into an active recreation program; however, it will impact cities in a way that they have not anticipated to this point just as the libraries clearly know that they cannot operate at the level for their city residents without County money.
Commr. Cadwell stated that he would discuss the issue of the County moving into active recreation programs with the League of Cities and would request their input.
It was the direction of the Board to move forward and direct staff to prepare an RFP (Request for Proposal) for reevaluating impact fees per dwelling unit for parks and recreation, library, and law enforcement.
Mr. Don Post, Senior Director, Solid Waste Management Services, provided an update on the Race Track Bond Team comprised of Mike Anderson, Sharon Farrell, Matthew Klaus, Sarah LaMarche, Sandy Minkoff, Don Post, and Fletcher Smith. He explained that the goal of the team was to evaluate the potential recreation use of a lump sum bond from race track revenue and that it was the recommendation of the team to (1) connect to rails/trails under development in southern and northern Lake County; (2) use a north/south route to connect existing or planned east/west trails; and (3) purchase land for a Lake trail/head and park. He further explained that they were requesting Board direction to pursue a land purchase that would be used for a trail/head and park that can tie into a north/south trail.
Commr. Pool stated that the County must focus on completing the south trail which connects to Orange County and opens up a huge variety of trail options before the Board considers purchasing properties for a north/south trail. He stated that dollars were available to complete the south trail and that he would push to see the completion of said trail. At this time, Commr. Hanson concurred with Commr. Pool.
Mr. Jim Stivender, Senior Director, Department of Public Works, distributed a map illustrating the existing and proposed rail trails in Lake County and discussed same.
Discussion occurred regarding the original position of a bicycle pedestrian coordinator which was now a vacant position; at which time Commr. Swartz stated that the County needs a dedicated person to serve as bicycle pedestrian coordinator which would have more impact on pushing the rail trails project forward.
Mr. Post reiterated that the Race Track Bond Team was requesting direction from the Board to move forward and was requesting Board approval that this was a good concept that may also lead to active recreation.
Commr. Hanson stated that she would be agreeable to applying the dollars owed to the Tourist Development Council for purchase of land at the Christopher C. Ford Industrial Park to a pool of money to go toward the rail trails program. She noted that said program would lead to room nights.
Commr. Pool indicated that he would pledge to get the south trail completed if the Race Track Bond Team would provide him information pertaining to the problems with the completion of the trail.
It was the consensus of the Board to consider a regional park connected to the trail; at which time, Commr. Swartz questioned if staff has looked at the demographics to make sure that a regional park would pull people to the facility.
Mr. Fletcher Smith, Senior Director, Department of Community Services, presented a brief overview of Library Services and directed the Board's attention to a Letter of Intent from the City of Groveland, dated February 26, 1999, requesting admission to the Library System. Mr. Smith stated that Ms. Wendy Breeden, Library Services Manager, has expressed concern that the City of Groveland did not meet the criteria for staffing levels, hours of operation, and minimum budget to be in the system. He stated that Mr. Jason Yarborough, City Manager, City of Groveland, has assured staff that they plan to be in compliance with the above noted criteria by the time that the budgeting process begins and a decision needs to be made.
Commr. Cadwell suggested that the City of Groveland be informed that the Board was in the process of determining in what direction the County was going with the County Library System and that the City of Groveland would be included in the process.
Mr. Smith informed the Board that they would be requesting another kiosk this year which could be a way to provide library services to folks in the Groveland and Bay Lake areas.
RECESS & REASSEMBLY
At 12:00 p.m., the Chairman announced that the Board would recess for lunch and reconvene at 1:00 p.m.
PAY FOR PERFORMANCE
Ms. Whittle stated that during the budget process in 1998 discussion occurred regarding the annual across the board increase that most government agencies award on October 1 coupled with a merit pay plan, and the discussion was that we wanted to look at a pay for performance plan which was one of the recommendations that came out of the Board's last consultant's study four (4) years ago. She stated that Ms. Ava Kronz, Director of Continuous Quality Improvement, and Ms. Lourdes Ramos, Personnel Manager were present to make a presentation on their findings and recommendations.
At this time, Ms. Ava Kronz, Director of Continuous Quality Improvement, and Ms. Lourdes Ramos, Personnel Manager, presented a slide presentation on the Pay for Performance plan. Ms. Ramos stated that the members of the Pay for Performance team were Don Post, Kitty Cooper, Bill Nicodem, Ava Kronz and herself, and the team mission was to develop a performance based pay plan, and performance and merit system which would appropriately motivate and compensate employees. She stated that the following was a summary of the recommendations of the Pay For Performance team:
- Establish Core Team to develop skill sets for every position and work with a consultant to established broad classifications and bands.
- Establish a Broad Based Team to provide feedback and input into the proposed plans to revise the performance evaluation instrument, merit program, and the pay plan.
- Implement Revised Performance Evaluation and Merit Program on October 1, 1999 that will eliminate the 1% Merit for Non-Performers, eliminate COLA, establish a Merit Range Program from 0 - 10%, establish a Merit Bonus for employees who are at maximum.
- Implement Broad Plan Pay Plan on October 1, 2000
- Annual Reviews of Pay Plan and make adjustments to range on marketability and consistency in competiveness.
Ms. Ramos discussed the fiscal impacts of the new performance based pay plan and stated that they would like to identify $20,000 in Fiscal Year 1999 for a consultant to review and validate the performance history that was in draft form and recommend a merit program based on the teams recommendations of 0 - 10% merit. She noted that the Personnel Office has identified the dollars for this phase. She explained that on October 1, 1999 they would place 4.5% in the budget to establish the 0 - 10% merit program, and would need to budget $45,000 for consultant fees to establish the pay plan for October 1, 2000. On October 1, 2000 they would budget $150,000 for the implementation of the broad band. She stated that the Personnel Office was also developing resources to manage and administer the County's compensation plan internally so that they can perform norm studies and position analysis in-house. At this time, Ms. Ramos and Ms. Kronz addressed questions and comments from the Board. Ms. Ramos stated that the Clerk's Office has expressed an interest in partnering with the Board in looking at this issue.
It was the consensus of the Board to direct staff to move forward with the proposed performance based pay plan, and performance and merit system.
HUMAN SERVICES GRANTS
Mr. Fletcher Smith, Senior Director, Department of Community Services, presented an overview of the Human Services Grants and briefly discussed the concept of allowing the private for-profit agencies to submit grant applications for County funding for programs. He stated that Dr. Tully Patrowicz has submitted a request, on behalf of the We Care program, indicating the need to establish stability in funding the We Care program for a period of time for up to three (3) years. He stated that staff has considered, in the Request for Proposal (RFP) process, identifying a limited amount of money for each application, and establishing the dollar amount that each agencies could apply for in the process. This would allow each agency, as they come into the RFP process, to have a good understanding of how to structure their grant application and what type of funds they could expect. He discussed the Human Services Grants & Aids chart and stated that the Board needs to consider language requiring agencies to show sustainability after the first, second or third year.
Commr. Hanson stated that the Board had a commitment to significantly fund the We Care program and should be a line item in the budget.
Commr. Cadwell noted that he had responded by letter to the request received from Dr. Tully Patrowicz. He stated that the We Care program has saved the State and County money and expressed concern that it was his understanding that the health care industry had made commitments for funding other than contributing their services to the program. He stated that in the letter to Dr. Patrowicz he expressed disappointment that the hospitals have been unable to assist fiscally in this process. He stated that he had no objection to funding We Care as an on-going program.
Commr. Swartz stated that the We Care program should be pulled out of the County grant program until such time that the County reforms indigent health care services in Lake County. He suggested that this type of funding should be from the North and South Lake Hospital Districts. He stated that, given the status of the gas tax funding situation, the County could not continue to fund transportation services for the Mid Florida Transportation Services out of the gas tax money and suggested that Mid Florida Transportation Services be required to submit an application for funding through the grant program. He stated that the County needs to continue to fund the We Care program; however, the real issue was how we organize indigent health care services in Lake County.
Commr. Pool stated that organizations need to show the County that they are attempting to secure funding other than from Lake County government. He stated that he would be happy to help with and encourage various opportunities to generate interest and funding for these organizations in lieu of tax dollars.
It was the consensus of the Board to pull the We Care program out of the County Grant program and to put a cap on the amount of funding available to an agency eliminating the misconceptions of the agencies at the budget hearing.
SHERIFF'S REQUEST - DISPATCHERS AND MOBILE DATA TERMINALS
Ms. LaMarche presented a request from George E. Knupp, Jr. Sheriff, for four (4) additional dispatchers and mobile data terminals. She explained that Sheriff Knupp has indicated that the grant application for the mobile data terminals has been denied and that he was requesting a mid-year budget adjustment for the dispatchers and the mobile data terminals. She noted that the Sheriff's Office currently has 36 dispatchers.
Commr. Swartz noted that the mobile data terminals would require an ongoing expenditure of about $114,000 annual for the communications service and software maintenance. Commr. Hanson suggested that the Sheriff resubmit the grant application for the mobile data terminals.
Discussion occurred regarding the request for four (4) additional dispatchers; at which time Commr. Swartz requested an analysis of the numbers associated with the dispatchers' call load, how said numbers compare with other agencies, are the dispatchers being compensated adequately to keep the positions filled, and other pertinent information.
Ms. LaMarche stated that staff has identified six (6) counties with comparable population and were in the process of developing questions for a survey of those counties and this issue can be added to the survey.
SPACE ISSUES
Mr. Mike Anderson, Senior Director, Facilities and Capital Improvements, briefly discussed the Board of County Commissioners Departmental Space Requirements chart illustrating the standards that the County has adopted for work space, the positions being requested through 2001, and the grossing factor. He stated that all of the positions listed under Public Works have been anticipated in the renovation of the Public Works building and 1,249 square feet of office space can be deducted from the total. He explained that there was a need for an additional 2,135 square feet of office space, which was not available within any of the County buildings, unless they consider converting existing space, such as the training room, conference rooms or public areas, into office space.
Mr. Anderson briefly discussed the Clerk of Courts Office Space Requirements chart illustrating the space requirements through 2005 and stated that the Clerk was requesting an increase of 9,080 square feet of which 8,274 would be in the Judicial Center, 434 square feet in the Administration Building, and 372 square feet in the Records Building. At this time, he addressed questions and comments presented by the Board regarding modifications to the current County buildings including addressing the Judges' needs by adding Court Room 8, two judges suites, and mediation office space within the confines of the Judicial Center. He stated that Building G (Environmental Health) and Building H (Health Clinic) could be converted into two story buildings which would add an additional 18,000 square feet of space. He noted that Environmental Health will be moving into the renovated first floor of the Administration Building. At this time, Mr. Anderson discussed the additional parking spaces that will be required to accommodate the additional spacing requirements.
Commr. Hanson stated, for the record, that she would not support building additional County buildings until the Board has looked at better utilizing capital improvement resources by perhaps considering a second shift and night court.
Commr. Cadwell requested that Commr. Pool discuss with the Constitutional Officers their space requirements and better utilization of County buildings.
Mr. Anderson stated that, when the County started the renovation project, part of that commitment and direction from the Board was that the departments make a concerted effort to reduce their paper storage by as much as thirty (30%) percent; however, this has not happened. He suggested that the County consider an archive facility located next to the Records Storage facility, which would provide storage capacity for approximately fifteen (15) years, and consider scanning technology of public records from this point forward.
GAS TAX AND SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS
Mr. Jim Stivender, Senior Director, Department of Public Works, discussed the Five Cent Local Option Gas Tax chart illustrating the revenue from the Five Cent Local Option Gas Tax revenue source for Five Cents versus One Cent. He stated that the total revenue from Five Cents would be $4,125,290 and, if the Board approved the Five Cent Local Option Gas Tax before July 1999, the tax would become effective January 2000. He stated that the municipalities have turned down the Board's recommendation to use the Road Miles Maintained/Population formula recalculated each year and, if no inter-local agreements are reached prior to adoption, the transportation expenditures for the five year period ending in October 1998 would be used and the percentage would be recalculated every ten years. He discussed the Road Special Assessment program and noted that there was no money available for the program until October 1999. He discussed the 1981 Non-County Maintained Road List By Miles & Commissioner District chart illustrating unpaved road miles, Special Assessment paved road miles and remaining miles by Commissioner District; and the Road Assessment Total Dollars By Commissioner District (1983-1999) chart. At this time, Mr. Stivender directed the Board's attention to the sample petition for roads to be brought to county clay road standards and accepted for County maintenance and discussed same. He stated that St. Johns River Water Management District has agreed to provide a blanket permit for all roads in the Wekiva River Protection Area.
Commr. Hanson requested that staff provide a copy of the list of roads that would qualify under the new petition process for roads to be brought to county clay road standards and accepted for county maintenance.
Mr. Stivender stated that the proposed program would be a gas tax funded program, and would require a six (6) member crew to handle special projects, perform surface treatment on County maintained roads and build the clay roads. He noted that there was a cost of labor associated with this program.
Extensive discussion occurred regarding the Five Cent Local Option Gas Tax and the One Cent Tax at which time, Commr. Cadwell requested that the issue of the Five Cent Local Option Gas Tax be placed on a future agenda when all five members of the Board are present.
RECESS & REASSEMBLY
At 3:10 p.m., the Chairman announced that the Board would recess and reconvene at 3:20 p.m.
COMMUNITY IDENTITY SIGNS
It was noted that Commr. Pool would not be present for the remainder of the meeting.
Ms. Sharon Farrell, Senior Director, Growth Management Services, presented the discussion on the Community Identity Signs. She directed the Board's attention to the chart of community signage alternatives and discussed the four (4) alternatives and examples contained in the backup material.
Commr. Cadwell stated that it was his intent to use the road type signs at the entrance of the cities with appropriate landscaping and not to expend a lot of money to start the project. He questioned if consideration has been given to the type of signs that are being used for parking on the government campus; at which time, Ms. Farrell stated that those signs were not considered. Commr. Cadwell requested that staff continue to work on community identity signage for Lake County with emphasis on the cost.
Y2K/AUDIT
Mr. Alvin Jackson, Deputy County Manager, presented an update on the Y2K process and stated that the four phases of analysis were awareness, assessment, remediation, and validation and testing. He stated that the Y2K Team has completed the assessment phase.
Ms. Barbara Lehman, Chief Deputy Clerk, explained that, after going through the assessments and doing the inventory, the Y2K Team determined the critical areas within the County and the status of each area, as follows:
CRITICAL AREAS: STATUS:
County.
Vehicles No specific information from vendors available.
Fuel Dispensing system Compliant, tested by County
Tank monitoring systems Compliant per vendor, not tested by County.
Computer sided dispatch system Compliant per vender, not tested by County.
E 9-1-1 Compliant, tested by County.
Vehicles and equipment Compliant per vender, not tested by County.
HVAC Vender will provide patch in time to install and test.
Elevators Compliant per vendor, not tested by County.
Jail Security Compliant per vender except Prelude. Not tested by County, backup system will be manual lockup.
Ms. Lehman discussed the fiscal impact of the critical areas and reviewed the amounts incurred as of September 30, 1998 by the Board and the Constitutional Officers, and the estimated costs to complete the year 2000 project. She stated that the Governmental Accounting Standards Board has required footnote disclosure of Y2K status for all units of local government; however, because auditors are not able to render an opinion on that information because the Year 2000 has yet to arrive, all governments who are audited by a big five CPA firm will have a qualified opinion for 1998 for opinions that are issued before December 31, 1999, for one year. She stated that there will be a disclosure in the opinion that states that they were not able to do testing; therefore, they cannot provide an opinion. Ms. Lehman stated that the County needs to determine whether or not to have a county-wide Y2K readiness exercise with other agencies and cities within the county.
Discussion occurred regarding a county-wide Y2K readiness exercise; at which time, Commr. Swartz stated that the Board needs to have a Y2K readiness exercise to test those areas that have been indicated as being compliant but have not been tested. He suggested that the County share with the cities how we have gotten to where we are in the process and questioned if the cities and businesses should be included in the readiness exercise. He suggested that an update be provided to the Board on a monthly basis as staff goes through the validation and testing of the different systems.
Commr. Hanson suggested that there be a county-wide committee to determine if there was a need for a county-wide Y2K readiness exercise. It was the consensus of the Board to send a letter to all of the municipalities notifying them of the processes that the County has completed and offering the County's assistance in their process.
OTHER PERTINENT ISSUES
Commr. Cadwell stated that the items listed under other pertinent issues would be rescheduled. He introduced Mr. Mitch Owens, William R. Hough and Company, who was present at the meeting this date.
Mr. Mitch Owens, William R. Hough and Company, stated that the numbers will indicate that Lake County was extremely low in ratios and debt, and he provided a brief synopsis of the County's financial stability.
There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.
__________________________________ WELTON G. CADWELL, CHAIRMAN
ATTEST:
_________________________________
JAMES C. WATKINS, CLERK
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