A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

JANUARY 16, 2001

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, January 16, 2001, at 9:00 a.m., in the Board of County Commissioner's Meeting Room, Lake County Administration Building, Tavares, Florida. Commissioners present at the meeting were: Catherine C. Hanson, Chairman; Robert A. Pool, Vice Chairman; Welton G. Cadwell, Jennifer Hill; and Debbie Stivender Others present were: Sue Whittle, County Manager; Sanford A. Minkoff, County Attorney; Wendy Taylor, Administrative Supervisor, Board of County Commissioner's Office; Barbara Lehman, Chief Deputy Clerk, County Finance; and Toni M. Riggs, Deputy Clerk.

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

AGENDA UPDATE

Commr. Hanson noted that this meeting was advertised as a regular meeting, but the Board had it on the calendar as a work session.

Ms. Sue Whittle, County Manager, stated that it was advertised as a regular meeting, because the January 2, 2001 meeting was canceled. Ms. Whittle noted that they intended to do business at all of the January meetings.

Ms. Whittle stated that there is an addendum to the agenda for today, and there are no other changes other than she needs to talk to the Board about the scheduling of the March meetings. She stated that the zoning meeting is scheduled for March 27, 2001, and Lake County Day is scheduled for the same day, so there is a conflict. She stated that she would like to schedule the zoning hearings for March 20, 2001.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Pool and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved to place on the agenda the issue of the scheduling of the March meetings.

MINUTES

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Stivender and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Minutes of December 19, 2000, Regular Meeting, as presented.

CLERK OF COURTS' CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Comm. Stivender, seconded by Commr. Pool and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Clerk of Courts' Consent Agenda (Items 1 through 3), for the following requests:



Bonds/Contracts, Leases & Agreements

Approved the following Engagement letter from Ernst & Young to perform services for the following bond issues:



$10,000,000

Lake County, Florida

Line of Credit Revenue Note

Solid Waste Draw Number 5



$6,500,000

Lake County, Florida

Line of Credit Revenue Note

Solid Waste Draw Number 6

Accounts Allowed/Deeds/Taxes



Acknowledged receipt of the unclaimed excess proceeds for tax deeds totaling $16,502.20.



Municipalities/Ordinances



Acknowledged receipt of Ordinance No. 2000-014, from the City of Fruitland Park, annexing property to the City of Fruitland Park, Florida; providing for the annexation of property generally located on the north side of Pine Ridge Dairy Road, west of Cutoff Road, and generally known as the Logan property; providing for R-1 (Single Family Low Density Residential) zoning of the property; providing for a Residential Comprehensive Plan Land Use Designation for the property; providing for an effective date. Passed and Ordained the 14th day of December, 2000, by the City Commission of the City of Fruitland Park, Florida.



ADDENDUM NO. 1

COUNTY MANAGER'S CONSENT AGENDA

Commr. Cadwell made a motion, which was seconded by Commr. Pool, to approve Addendum No. 1, County Manager's Consent Agenda, Items A and B.

Under discussion, Commr. Pool applauded Representative Randy Johnson for his efforts in bringing back the Hook Street and the Highway 50 corridor issues. Commr. Pool stated that he is a member of the South Lake West Orange Transportation Task Force, and they worked hard to get these issues put back on the list, after they were taken off.

The Chairman called for a vote on the motion, which was carried by a 5-0 vote, to approve the following requests:

Community Services/Section 8



Request for approval to publish and make available for public inspection the Lake County Public Housing Agency's Section 8 Rental Assistance 5-Year Plan for Fiscal Years 2000-2004.



Budgets/Grants/State Agencies/Roads-County & State



Request for approval of the grant application for the Hook Street Roadway project under the State of Florida's Transportation Outreach Program (TOP) funding. Also, approval to include this grant application and project in the 2001 Legislative Budget package.



ACCOUNTS ALLOWED/GRANTS/PUBLIC WORKS

Mr. Jim Stivender, Senior Director of Public Works, addressed the Board to discuss the request for approval to fund the FDOT Section 5311 (operating and administrative) grant from January 1, 2001 through September 30, 2001, at an estimated cost of $102,000.00 from the County Transportation Trust (CTT) Fund. Mr. Stivender stated that the Board made a decision a few months ago to become the Lake County Community Transportation Coordinator (CTC) and take over these types of services as a provider, which is tied to the State of Florida. The County has the contract with the State for the transportation services. He stated that LifeStream Behavioral Center, Inc. has been doing this and now they are a sub-contractor with the County. Mr. Stivender explained that staff is developing an entire budget process, and they now have a new line item. Staff came to the Board in December on some other issues associated with the revenue stream, and now they need to apply for some grants and identify the funds. Mr. Stivender stated that the first fund is FDOT Section 5311, for the remaining portion of this year. Staff has prepared a letter to the State, between LifeStream and the County, agreeing on a month to month basis, to stay under the existing contract and pay accordingly and to transfer money for the cash flow, to take care of the provider. He stated that the State is happy with this agreement, and the bills are coming in on a monthly basis. Mr. Stivender stated that staff budgeted for capital. As the CTC, to utilize the 5311 funds, a 50% match of the Federal funding is required. He noted that there is approximately $670,000 budgeted, however, the administration is not costing that much, so staff has tried to identify the number of trips, to determine how much money to allocate. Mr. Stivender stated that staff has identified $40,000 out of gas tax money, between now and April, that would cover the County's 50% match that was not budgeted, and they can fund dollars in their budget to do that, in the interim, to keep this flowing. He noted that this is the money that is used to operate and manage the fixed route, which is really a fixed route with deviations, which he explained. The second part of the agenda item is to proceed forward with a contract for $62,000 between April and October, which has a Federal match. Mr. Stivender stated that, in April, the Board will do its mid-year adjustments, and it can identify the appropriate funding source, because right now the cities and the County get CTT funds, and there is really no definitive marker, and it is not a revenue source coming from the cities, which probably should be discussed in the future.

Commr. Cadwell addressed the issue of the fixed route, and noted that he was a proponent of it, and he questioned whether, with the fixed route and deviations, it was actually taking any load off of the Transportation Disadvantaged (TD) service.

Mr. Stivender explained that they are running a route, but they go to people's homes off of that route, which is allowed, and that takes away from the TD cost. Staff prepared a diagram, which showed that the TD trips would jump up to the same amount they are paying, and there would not be a match, so the County is utilizing the money more efficiently by doing this.

Commr. Pool questioned whether there are other grants available, since the Board has become the CTC Coordinator.

Mr. Stivender stated that applications had been made for other grants in the past, but he was not sure what was used as a match, and since the County's budget process is more defined, this needs to be shown and balanced against the dollars in the accounts. He noted that $670,000 of Federal money has been identified as the money for Lake County, and there is a good chance that this number will increase after the census. It was not clear when the new census numbers could be used.

On a motion by Commr. Stivender, seconded by Commr. Pool and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the request to fund the FDOT Section 5311 (operating and administrative) grant from January 1, 2001 through September 30, 2001, at an estimated cost of $102,000.00 from the County Transportation Trust Fund.

ACCOUNTS ALLOWED/GRANTS/PUBLIC WORKS

Mr. Jim Stivender, Senior Director of Public Works, addressed the Board to discuss the request for approval and signatures on the FDOT Section 5310 (local match $30,225.00) and 5311 (local match $143,198.00) transit grant applications, and designation of the matching requirement of the 5311 grant from the County Transportation Trust Fund, in the amount of $173,423.00. Mr. Stivender explained that this involves the extension of Section 5310 and 5311. He explained that, when applying for a grant, the State level of grants begin July 1 and runs for one period, to June 30, 2002. Since the County is in a two year budget cycle, staff is trying to plan for two years, so the funding would begin October 1, 2001 for the next year, even though the State money is available July 1. They are estimating $143,198 for 5311 funding for the first year, and $150,000 for the second year. Mr. Stivender explained that staff is applying for the grant, but the determination of matching funds does not have to be decided until October.

On a motion by Commr. Stivender, seconded by Commr. Cadwell and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the request for approval and signatures on the FDOT Section 5310 (local match $30,225.00) and 5311 (local match $143,198.00) transit grant applications, and designation of the matching requirement of the 5311 grant from the County Transportation Trust Fund in the amount of $173,423.00.

Commr. Cadwell extended his appreciation to Mr. Stivender and Mr. Noble Olasimbo, Engineer, and Mr. Fred Schneider, Engineering Director, for their efforts in getting everyone through this process.

Commr. Hanson extended her appreciation to Commr. Cadwell for his leadership in this project.

WORK SESSION: COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Mr. Tad Stone, Director of Emergency Services, addressed the Board to discuss a proposed standardized communication system. Mr. Stone stated that staff has reached a consensus between law enforcement agencies, particularly the Sheriff's Office, fire rescue, and most of the fire departments throughout the system. He noted that there will not be any significant changes in the way that they are impacted, outside of the Sheriff's Office and the Fire Rescue Department. He further noted that there will be a further impact on Public Works, and he will get to this as he goes through the entire presentation. Mr. Stone stated that he would start by giving an overview of the systems that are currently in place and proceed from there. (It was noted that the Board had the following booklet to review: VHF Simulcast System, Presented to Lake County, Florida by Motorola.).

Mr. Stone showed on the monitor the Sheriff's Office communication tower sites, as reflected in the booklet, and stated that this office is working off of basically two frequencies, one in the north end of the County, and one in the south end of the County. The Sheriff has a number of satellite receivers that tie the system together, and he does not have complete countywide coverage, and he needs a path to migrate into for a better system over the years. When looking at the fire rescue side of the dispatch equation, they are currently working off of three tower sites, one in Leesburg, one in Royal Trails, and one outside of Clermont, and all of them give fire rescue some coverage issues that they are unable to deal with, and it has created some problems for fire rescue and some of the cooperating agencies. Mr. Stone stated that the Public Works Department is a disaster, and through this process, staff hopes to ask the Sheriff and Fire Rescue to migrate into this new system. He stated that frequencies are already available for Public Works, and they will be able to split the County and move some of the existing equipment that they have in the field, over to Public Works and enhance their communication capabilities. He stated that they met as a group of agencies, over the last several months, to try and determine the best path to take, and to discuss options that are available to them. They decided to basically remain on the same radio spectrum, which is the VHF spectrum, which would allow them to continue to talk to all of the cooperating agencies. Mr. Stone noted that it has the capability of going to the digital platform, and as technology progresses, they will be able to continue to move forward. Mr. Stone stated that APCO 25 is a plan that is generally accepted in the industry for those who are trying to go from one system and migrate into another system. Even though they will still have a lot of the same frequencies that they currently use, it would give the Sheriff's Office and Fire Rescue some enhanced communication capabilities later on. They are looking at eight (8) tower sites scattered throughout the County, Astor, Paisley (Royal Trails), Leesburg, Mount Dora, Sugarloaf, Groveland, and Boggy Marsh, with Tavares being the prime site. At each one of the tower sites, there will be five transmitters and receivers. The Sheriff's Office will have two of them, Fire Rescue will have two of them, and Fire Rescue will have one for continued paging and inter-agency works, over and above what the Sheriff's Office currently has available. Also included in the proposal, there is not only the equipment, but an upgrade on the communication consoles. Mr. Stone explained, in detail, the maps, and the coverage enhancements for both agencies. He found that, between the Sheriff's Office and Fire Rescue, they spend $35,000 annually for telephone lines to the transmitter sites and tower rental. Staff is proposing, over the long run, that, if they can get acceptable tower sites at reasonable costs, they go ahead and try to secure those, as they continue with the project, but overall, to do what everybody considers to be best for the County, as a whole, which is to own its own tower sites and fixed facilities, which would include buildings on site and the towers. He stated that this would be an additional cost, and it is built into the budget. Mr. Stone stated that, as they continue to progress with both agencies, there will be the future need to move data back and forth, not only from inside patrol cars, but from fire stations, and to link the County together in a much more efficient pattern. There have been some discussions with folks from Lucid Technologies about eliminating phone lines all together and going to a microwave type system, low power, that would not only inter-connect the tower sites that they currently have but also allow some other County offices to link data lines to other agencies. In his conversations with Mr. Steve Earls, he indicated that he was very excited about the program, and he seems to be very comfortable with the amount of data that they could move over there, and there is even the possibility of selling some of that on the open market, as time goes by, which may offset the costs. Mr. Stone stated that, if they have to go to T-1 lines, which are dedicated expensive telephone lines to go to each one of the tower sites, they will range from $400 to $600 a month, and they are going to try and eliminate cost. He stated that what they will pay in rental fees for one year for T-1 lines will pay for the system, about $35,000. Mr. Stone stated that he has had the County Attorney's Office look at some of the existing contractual language that was submitted in their proposal, and they are willing to work through some of the processes. He stated that staff is looking for several things from the Board today, as follows: 1) to enter into some contract language to finalize this project, and to bring final contract documents back to the Board; 2) to look at some finance options that are available, because this project was originally slated to be paid for out of infrastructure sales tax funds; 3) because of the uncertainty of whether or not the Board wants staff to continue with this project, there are still some tower and building issues that need to be worked out, but those numbers are in the overall funding dollar figure indicated on his brief to the Board; and 4) to continue to take a look at the interlink and the inter-connectability of the systems, to try and get away from the use of telephone lines, and try to go to higher technology.

Commr. Hanson questioned what the status was of Sumter County in its communications and whether there would be any advantages, or opportunities, for Lake County.

Mr. Stone stated that there may be some advantages, but this is an expensive technological leap for the County, and he was not sure that Sumter County was ready to take this step right now. He noted that this will not have a significant impact on EMS, and there is no way to offset the $3.8 million cost to Lake County, in terms of working with another County.

Commr. Cadwell stated that the folks that were here, when the Board started this conversation, are not here today, and he questioned whether they were satisfied with this program.

Mr. Stone stated that this is a different technology and a different way of communications entirely, even though there were some similarities. The frequency spectrum is different on the initial proposal, and some of the things that the other system would do is a bit different from what this system will do.

Commr. Cadwell questioned whether the Sheriff and the cities who perceived that they had a problem originally, are on board with this, and Mr. Stone responded that they are.

Commr. Cadwell stated that, in terms of tower sites, the County's rules encourage existing tower sites to be used, and he questioned the downside to this.

Mr. Stone stated that the County was certainly going to have to build at least two tower sites without question, with one being the Tavares Prime Site, and staff has already identified a parcel of existing County property. He noted that staff has already talked to Mr. Mike Anderson, Senior Director of Facilities and Capital Improvements, and the folks at the jail, which is where the tower will be located. He further noted that these will be 185 foot free standing towers.

Commr. Stivender questioned whether staff has talked to the City of Tavares.

Mr. Stone stated that staff has not talked to the City of Tavares, because they are waiting to see how far they will go with the project today. He stated that there are some tower sites available in the south end of the County, and there are rental fees associated with them, perhaps $400 to $600 a month. He noted that there is a fire station that is being placed in that area, and they could drop one of the tower sites there. It would be the same in Astor, and they are trying to use existing facilities where they have adequate land.

Commr. Pool stated that co-locating on existing towers, or putting multiple users, makes more sense than building more towers.

Mr. Stone explained that, if the County has to go in certain areas to construct towers, they can rent space out on those towers. He stated that, regardless of the tower space, they are going to have to bring in drop-in buildings that are pre-packaged. Mr. Stone stated that the average life of a communications system is about 15 years at the most, and at ten years, you need to start looking at it, and start doing some major replacements of components, because of the age. The technology being talked about is digitally capable, and it does need the APCO 25 requirements, which will allow them to migrate as systems develop. He noted that there are two or three other vendors besides Motorola, and they have to meet the APCO 25 compliance requirement. Another nice thing about the system is, if the County is able to advance and go into trunking in the next few years, they will be able to use the equipment that is in place. He noted that they are currently doing a pilot project in Wisconsin.

Commr. Cadwell questioned whether Mr. Stone will be bringing back the actual contracts for Board approval with the financing plan.

Mr. Stone stated that this would be correct, because there are some financing options available to them, and they also have some money set aside in the budget for the program. He explained that there are no Federal grants for this type of technology. He stated that there are some EMS grants available, but this is not an EMS player. The only money that EMS put into their budget this past year was to put the correct type of VHF radio in their units. The proposal is for fire and law enforcement, with a spin-off going to Public Works and enhancing their system significantly, but it will still not impact any of the municipalities, or other cooperators.

Commr. Hanson noted that it was the City of Tavares that was so involved before, and in opposition to the previous plan, and no one is here today.

Mr. Stone explained that there was a League of Cities' representative through the initial discussion, until this format was developed, and they were involved in that process, to get them to this point.

Commr. Stivender stated that she talked with Major Claude Gnann, Sheriff's Department, this morning, and he said they are 100% for this plan, and it was not a problem with them. She noted that Ms. Dottie Keedy, City of Tavares, has not said anything to her.

Commr. Cadwell made a motion, which was seconded by Commr. Pool, to direct staff to move forward with the Communication System program, as presented, and to place on an agenda the necessary items to move forward.

Under discussion, Commr. Pool extended his appreciation to Mr. Stone for his efforts.

The Chairman called for a vote on the motion, which was carried by a 5-0 vote.

Mr. John Liptak, Account Representative for Motorola, addressed the Board and stated that, in relation to EMS, they make the buildings big enough so that, if they do put up a tower and you want to bring in EMS, because of the savings that Mr. Stone will get on the microwave deal, then they can be brought into that building, so there will be some space in there to perhaps cut some costs on EMS site locations.

Mr. Stone stated that one of the things they did to the entire project was to make everything extremely heavy duty.

FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES

Ms. Sue Whittle, County Manager, stated that Mr. Tad Stone, Director of Fire Rescue, needs to talk to the Board about the fire conditions and about a possible burn ban.

Mr. Stone addressed the Board and stated that staff met with the Division of Forestry at length on Friday morning to discuss a burn ban, and the activity is beginning to increase, and the County is starting to have some large scale fires, and they are beginning to stretch, not only Lake County's resources, but the resources of the Division Of Forestry (DOF) and U.S. Forestry Services. Mr. Stone stated that he wants to institute a burning ban countywide in the unincorporated areas of the County for all open burning, with the exclusion of permitted burns by the Division of Forestry. He stated that the Division of Forestry has agreed to make the requirement for two pieces or heavy equipment on site at all times, to make sure that the fire does not escape. Mr. Stone stated that the drought indexes are 648 in the south end of the County, which is very high on the scale from one to 800, and this is where most of the activity has been to date.

Mr. Sandy Minkoff, County Attorney, stated that Mr. Stone has the authority to proceed with the burn ban without Board action, and he was informing the Board of the current situation.

Commr. Hanson questioned whether staff does anything that is preventive, in some of the areas that are very rural that are not State owned property.

COMMISSIONERS

At 9:45 a.m., it was noted that Commr. Pool left the meeting.

FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES (CONTINUED)

Mr. Stone explained that the Division of Forestry has the ability to come in and do some prescription burns, and other things, in advance to the fire season, with landowners' permission and some other things. He stated that even the County's department has gotten into the prescription burn process, but the problem was they never had time to do prescription burns, or control burns, to try to eliminate underbrush.

Ms. Whittle stated that, last year when the County had a burn ban in effect, they did informational flyers (as handed out), and they were placed in every convenience store in the County, libraries, and all of the normal distribution points, and staff is doing the same thing with these this year, and additionally they have asked Water Resources to do some water conservation tips that may be able to be placed on the back of this notice.

WORK SESSION: REWARD AND RECOGNITION

Ms. Ava Kronz, Quality Director, addressed the Board and presented the history and background information on the quality initiative and work that the teams have done over the last four years. Ms. Kronz explained that the first step was called P.R.I.D.E., professional, responsible, innovative, dedicated employees, and this initiative was kicked off at a first ever employee breakfast on February 23, 1996, and P.R.I.D.E. created the awareness of the level of services being given and employees were recognized for jobs well done with pride. She noted that employee moral rose to a higher level and customer service improved. She stated that, like any program that must be reviewed periodically for effectiveness, they knew they had to keep the momentum going. A few senior staff members attended the Florida Sterling Council Conference, and a presentation was made to the remaining senior team, and they decided to go to the next level with their customer service efforts. Ms. Kronz stated that Destination Excellence took place on November 14, 1996, with the destination being excellence. They began an intense training program in January, 1997, with the Sterling Team holding 12 workshops with 371 employees. The purpose was to outline the Sterling criteria, and on January 30th, the senior team developed their statement, and on February 21st the division directors prepared their vision and mission. During the month of March, 18 meetings were held in different buildings, with each session averaging two hours. Ms. Kronz stated that 18 statements resulted from the employee sessions, which were joined into one employee statement, and it was presented to the employee team to mold into one statement, to be presented to the division directors. The result of their work was taken to the senior directors.

COMMISSIONERS

At 9:55 a.m., it was noted that Commr. Pool returned to the meeting.

WORK SESSION: REWARD AND RECOGNITION (CONTINUED)

Ms. Kronz stated that the senior directors and division directors expressed sincere concern that the employee vision and mission not be lost, and it was essential that the words of the employees be retained in the final statement. The Vision and Mission and Value Statement was adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on May 20, 1997, and the Board reaffirmed the statements at their Retreat on December 1, 2000. They began establishing teams to address some of the issues before them, and to date, there have been 44 teams working on problem solving and process review. In 1998, a team showcase was held in the rotunda and all team members told their stories to the entire employee population. Ms. Kronz presented a few of the success stories, which included the development of a video for orientation training, a brochure to gather ideas for discussion with the County Manager, which is still being used today, and the procurement card. She stated that the team work and customer focus has been recognized at the national level by NACo and awards have been received from 1996 through 2000. In the Human Resources area, they surveyed the employees in 2000 and have committed to doing this on an annual basis to determine work place issues, which may need to be visited. They have stepped up training for supervisors and developed a volunteer program to further assist the employees in providing additional and enhanced services to their customers without additional costs. They are continually looking at training on customer services and new ways to reward employees for cost saving ideas, outstanding performance and teamwork. Ms. Kronz stated that they continue their circle of continuous improvement, and they continue to look at ways to keep the initiative going and to stress quality. In 1999, they completed What is Quality Service campaign, and they are including information in orientation to be sure that they relay their quality expectations and program to new hires. Through their leaders, they have focused on displaying good corporate citizenship, and they continue their involvement in community projects, and they continue their efforts in improving communications, both internal and external. Ms. Kronz stated that their future is dedicated to creating a look and feel to Lake County that depicts that they are an organization which subscribes to their mission and vision and values.

Commr. Hanson stated that Ms. Kronz and others have put in a lot of work, and it has shown looking through some of the programs that have been put into place.

Ms. Whittle stated that the program has enhanced their problem solving capability and capacity, and whenever they have used a team approach, they have come out with really good results and some substantial cost savings along the way.

RECESS & REASSEMBLY

At 10:05 a.m., the Chairman announced that the Board would take a five minute recess.

WORK SESSION: REWARD AND RECOGNITION (CONTINUED)

Ms. Lourdes Ramos, Human Resources Director, informed the Board that the purpose of this presentation is to familiarize the Board with the new Rewards and Recognition Program, and to keep the Board informed as they roll out the implementation plan by March 6, 2001. This program was developed upon employee feedback and input regarding the current program and enhancements they proposed. Ms. Ramos explained that staff did a survey, and based upon the survey and their feedback, they developed the program in response to all of the issues brought forth by them. She noted that the team would consist of staff members from the different offices. Ms. Ramos explained that the mission of the team would be to evaluate the current program. She further explained the process that will be used to evaluate the current program, what the employees liked and what they wanted changed, and noted that the team recommendations included training supervisors on the importance of formal and informal recognition and techniques for motivating optimal employee performance; the recognition program be marketed; the team committee be reconfigured and members be rotated in and out; that longevity awards be improved; that a supervisor of the quarter be added as a new component of the program; that a mechanism for rewarding team efforts be established; that a mechanism for rewarding cost savings ideas be established; retirement rewards be improved; and that a mechanism for peer to peer be established.

Ms. Ramos noted that the team recommended that the following categories be part of a broad based recognition initiative: Employee of the Quarter, Supervisor of the Quarter; Longevity Recognition; Retirement Recognition; A Bright Idea Award; A Work Group Award; and Thanks-A-Million Recognition. Ms. Ramos stated that, in addition, the team felt that an overall theme would facilitate marketing and give employees a slogan to identify with, as follows: Because You Matter. Ms. Ramos described each component briefly and presented handouts to the Board and stated that implementation of the employee education process will take place during the weeks of February 20 through March 2, 2001. She noted that the awards for January and February will be presented at the March 6, 2001 Board meeting, which will begin the kick-off program.

Commr. Hanson indicated that she was excited about the new program, and Commr. Cadwell expressed that he felt it was a great program that he wholeheartedly supports.

Ms. Ramos noted that the program has been previously budgeted, through the budget process, in the amount of $25,000 annually.

Ms. Sue Whittle, County Manager, stated that this is a adopted budgeted program, and staff wanted the Board to be aware of it, and to be supportive of it, with it being noted as such from the discussion.

REPORTS - COMMISSIONER POOL - DISTRICT #2

MEETINGS

Commr. Pool extended his congratulations to the South Lake Chamber for their wonderful banquet and extended his appreciation to the Commissioners for attending the event.

ADDENDUM NO 1

REPORTS - COMMISSIONER HANSON - CHAIRMAN AND DISTRICT #4

ACCOUNTS ALLOWED/STATE AGENCIES/SJRWMD

Commr. Hanson discussed the request from the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) for a $20,000.00 contribution from Lake County toward their proposed advertising campaign focusing on water conservation. She noted that a letter was in the backup pertaining to this issue, and she was bringing it forward for discussion.

Commr. Cadwell questioned, if the County was going to do a program on its own, what kind of results could it get for $20,000 as opposed to lumping it into the monies that the SJRWMD was going to spend. He stated that he feels the Board should approve the request, but he wanted to know if the County would get more for its dollar by being involved with them.

Commr. Pool stated that he felt that being involved with the SJRWMD would give them a bigger result, and a bigger area to cover, when addressing the problem. He stated that it is a regional benefit, and by pooling their resources and combining those dollars would help in a win-win situation, because the way to conserve the water would be the same throughout the district. He stated that the only question would be whether, on a per capita basis, the County would be paying a disproportionate fair share for those dollars than what other counties are paying who have bigger populations.

Commr. Hill questioned whether the SJRWMD budgets for advertising, or whether this is not included in their budget, and they are asking the County for $20,000. She stated that the newspapers are extensively printing about water issues, and the "Daily Commercial" has made water their main issue for this year, as they have quoted.

Commr. Cadwell stated that it was his understanding that the SJRWMD has some monies budgeted, but this was an extra campaign, because of the current water situation.

Commr. Hill stated that the County Manager pointed out that the County was going to print, on the reverse side of the burn ban flyer, water conservation measures, and she questioned whether this cost would be included in the $20,000.

Ms. Sue Whittle, County Manager, stated that the printing on the reverse side of the burn ban flyer is not part of the proposal being made by the SJRWMD, and their proposal is strictly for commercial media outlets.

Commr. Pool stated that this was not an ongoing situation, and once the public understands, not only the importance, but the way to conserve, the SJRWMD will not have to do this continually, and once the brochures are printed, they should last several years, because they are not talking about an annual contribution of $20,000, because they are a tax entity and have the ability to raise their own funds. He stated that the County may, in fact, be paying twice for a service that should probably be provided by them, but this is a pretty critical situation, and this may be a way to conserve it on a one time basis. He noted that the backup information mentions from February to May, 2001.

Commr. Cadwell stated that the funding source was to be announced. He questioned whether this would have to taken out of Contingency.

Ms. Whittle stated that the money would have to come from Contingency. She stressed to the Board that she rarely recommends funding a State program.

Commr. Cadwell stated that this is more of a policy issue for the Board, as opposed to a County Manager's decision.

Commr. Cadwell made a motion, which was seconded by Commr. Pool, for the Board to approve to contribute the dollars ($20,000) towards the St. Johns River Water Management District's (SJRWMD's) efforts to bring to the public's attention the water crisis.

Under discussion, Commr. Pool clarified that this is a one time contribution, which is the key, in his opinion, to help get this word out.

Commr. Cadwell stated that he understands Commr. Hill's concerns, and he understands that the paper is going to be doing a lot of this free anyway, but it is his opinion that the Board should show their commitment to the SJRWMD.

Commr. Hill stated that she felt the Board was showing their commitment by printing water conservation measures on the reverse side of the burn ban flyers.

Commr. Hanson called for a vote on the motion, which was carried by a 4-1 vote.

Commr. Hill voted "no".

MEETINGS/SJRWMD

Commr. Hanson questioned whether, in regards to the actions taken by the St. John River Water Management District (SJRWMD) last week demonstrated in the Water Shortage Emergency Declaration, the Board wants to emphasize their efforts by bringing back an ordinance focused on conservation tying into their declaration.

Commr. Cadwell stated that, with the SJRWMD's declaration, they set the restrictions.

Commr. Hanson clarified that the SJRWMD has asked for more to be done at the local level.

Ms. Sue Whittle, County Manager, informed the Board that she and the County Attorney have a meeting scheduled this week with staff and counsel of the SJRWMD, to meet and talk to them about possible actions that the County may want to consider, as time goes on, and they will bring back a report and information to the Board on anything that comes from the meeting.

Commr. Cadwell noted that the Board had received a copy of the FAX from the SJRWMD in regards to the Declaration of Water Shortage.

LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION/PUBLIC WORKS

Commr. Hanson informed the Board that the Legislative Delegation is meeting today at 1 p.m. at Lake Sumter Community College. The Board has been presented with a Legislative Request for funding for the mitigation of "Killer Algae", in the amount of $5,000,000 to begin. She questioned whether the Board wanted to present this to the Legislative Delegation at the same time and include it in their package.

Ms. Sue Whittle, County Manager, explained that the request came up in discussions over the weekend, and the Public Works Department felt that this might need to be added and presented to the Legislative Delegation, which is meeting today. She noted that the request is for $5,000,000 district wide.

Mr. Jim Stivender, Senior Director of Public Works, stated that the article in the paper started the discussion of a number of alligators dying off in Lake Griffin, and 95% of the algae in Lake Griffin is this type of algae. Mr. Stivender stated that it may be a health and safety issue to the public, and staff felt that it would be in tune for them to incorporate this request into the Board's legislative discussion. He noted that this request may be incorporated in the SJRWMD's issues, and that the County would not be managing anything like this, but at least they would be supporting it.

On a motion by Commr. Pool, seconded by Commr. Stivender and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved to place on the agenda the legislative request regarding the mitigation of "killer algae".

Commr. Pool made a motion, which was seconded by Commr. Stivender, to present to the request for the mitigation of "killer algae" dollars at this legislative session.

Under discussion, Commr. Cadwell stated that Commr. Hanson will be presenting this request to the Legislative Delegation, and he wanted to give her fair warning that any legislation involving money is not being excitedly accepted.

The Chairman called for a vote on the motion, which was carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote.

LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION/RESOLUTIONS

Commr. Hanson noted that the Board did not include the Rodman Dam issue in the legislative package.

Commr. Cadwell stated that he felt the Board's support to the Resolution last week gives the Chairman the authority to bring it forward to the Legislative Delegation.

Commr. Hanson noted that the above issue would be included in the packet.

MEETINGS

Ms. Sue Whittle, County Manager, requested that the Board cancel the Board meeting on March 27, 2001, due to Lake County Day in Tallahassee and move the road vacation and zoning public hearings to March 20, 2001. Ms. Whittle stated that there will be a reception in the evening of March 26th, and the luncheon will be held on the 22nd floor of the Capital Building on March 27th.

On a motion by Commr. Cadwell, seconded by Commr. Pool and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the above request made by the County Manager.

It was noted that the advertising for the public hearings meets the necessary time criteria.

Commr. Cadwell stated that, in regards to Lake County Day, he wanted the Board to know that Lake County coordinated the event last year, and they have been working with a community group in trying to do it again this year. He wanted the new Board to know that this is moving forward, and to make sure that there is still support on this Board to be at least the catalyst behind it, until someone steps forward and takes it over.

There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting adjourned at 10:50 a.m.



CATHERINE C. HANSON, CHAIRMAN



ATTEST:







JAMES C. WATKINS, CLERK



TMR/BOARDMIN/1-16-01/1-19-01