A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD
OF
OCTOBER 21, 2008
The Lake County Board of
INVOCATION
Commr. Cadwell gave the Invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
AGENDA UPDATE
Ms. Cindy Hall,
Commr. Cadwell stated that he
wanted to put under his business the
MINUTE APPROVAL
Commr.
Renick stated that on Page 16, Line 5 of the Minutes for September 16, 2008,
the gentlemen’s name was Timothee Sallin and not Timothy Simon; and on the
September 23, 2008 Minutes, Page 4, Line 25 should state that Commr. Stivender
and not Commr. Renick voted “no,” and that on Page 17, Line 30, Commr. Stewart
and not Commr. Cadwell voted “no.”
On a motion by Commr. Renick, seconded by Commr. Stivender, and carried unanimously, by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Minutes of September 16, 2008 (Regular Meeting), as corrected; and September 23, 2008 (Regular Meeting), as corrected.
CLERK OF COURTS’ CONSENT AGENDA
On a motion by Commr. Stivender,
seconded by Commr. Stewart, and carried unanimously, by a 5-0 vote, the Board
approved the following requests:
List of Warrants
Request to acknowledge receipt of list of warrants paid prior to this meeting, pursuant to Chapter 136.06 (1) of the Florida Statutes, which shall be incorporated into the Minutes as attached Exhibit A and filed in the Board Support Division of the Clerk's Office.
Annexation
Ordinance from City of
Request to
acknowledge receipt of Ordinance 596-M which annexes a vacant parcel of land
into the city limits of Clermont. The
Ordinance was adopted by the Clermont City Council on September 23, 2008. The new address for this property is now
Request to acknowledge receipt of copy of Fiscal Year 2008/2009 budget adopted by the Village Center Community Development District Board of Supervisors on September 19, 2008, in accordance with Chapter 190.008(2)(b)(c), Florida Statutes and Resolution 08-30 adopting same.
Notice
Before the
Request to acknowledge receipt of Notice Before the Florida Public Service Commission:
In re: Petition for approval of standard interconnection agreements for expedited interconnection of customer-owned renewable generation and associated net metering tariff, by Tampa Electric Company - Docket No. 080255-EI.
In re: Petition for approval of net metering tariff, new interconnection Inc. - Docket No. 080257-EI.
In re: Petition for approval of standard interconnection agreements for Tier 1 through Tier 3 customer-owned renewable generation systems and revisions to tariff sheets iv, 4.2, 4.16, and 9.1, by Gulf Power Company - Docket No. 080260-EI.
In re: Petition for approval of net metering tariff and standard interconnection agreements, by Florida Power & Light Company - Docket No. 080265-EI.
In re: Petition for approval of standard interconnection agreements for customer-owned renewable generation systems, by Florida Public Utilities Company - Docket No. 080294-EI; Order No. PSC-08-0624-TRF-EI; Issued: September 24, 2008.
Order Approving Amended Tariffs and Interconnection Agreements
Notice
Before the Public Service Commission
Request to acknowledge receipt of Notice Before the Florida Public Service Commission: Petition for waiver of Rule 25-17.250(1) and (2)(a), F.A.C., which requires Progress Energy Florida to have a standard offer contract open until a request for proposal is issued for same avoided unit in standard offer contract, and for approval of standard offer contract - Docket No. 080501-EI; Order No. PSC-08-0625-PCO-EI; Issued: September 24, 2008.
Hearing
to be held on Friday, September 26, 2008, at 4:00 p.m., at the
Meeting
Schedule for Country Greens CDD for Fiscal Year 2009
Request
to acknowledge receipt of public meeting schedule for Country Greens Community
Development District for Fiscal Year 2009, pursuant to Chapter 189 Florida
Statutes. The meetings will be held on
the fourth Wednesday of the month at 10:00 a.m. at The Hampton Inn,
Notices
of Public Hearing for City of
Request
to acknowledge receipt of copy of Notices of Public Hearing for Annexation for
the following annexation ordinances from the City of
Ordinance 2008-10-38, annexing 1.35 +/- acres.
Ordinance 2008-10-39, annexing 17.79 +/- acres.
Notice
Before the
Request
to acknowledge receipt of Notice Before the Florida Public Service Commission –
In re: Application for increase in water and wastewater rates by Aqua Utilities
Florida, Inc.; Docket No. 080121-WS, Rate Case Synopsis,
Ordinances from the Town of
Request to acknowledge receipt of copies of Ordinances from the Town of Lady Lake as follows:
Ordinance 2008-10 amending the Town of Lady Lake Land Development Regulations (Ordinance No. 2005-52); Chapter 10, Landscaping & Tree Protection Regulations.
Ordinance No. 2008-11 amending the Town of Lady Lake Land Development Regulations; Chapter 9 entitled Miscellaneous Regulations, adding Section 7 entitled “Underground Utilities”; adding provisions governing the installation of underground utilities.
Ordinance
2008-12 amending the Town of
Ordinance No. 2008-13 creating regulations controlling the solicitation of charitable donations in the Town of Lady Lake, including but not limited to, on public highways, roads, and rights of way, providing for administrative fines and for criminal penalties.
Ordinance No. 2008-20 providing for amendments to the Land Development Regulations of the Town of Lady Lake, amending provisions regarding the Planning and Zoning Board.
Ordinance No. 2008-22 amending Ordinance 2006-12 Section 2.4 to allow the additional use of storage and sale of automotive diesel under the Memorandum of Agreement for the special exception use for certain property currently owned by Racetrac Petroleum, Inc. located at 324 North Highway 27/441 within the town limits of the Town of Lady Lake.
Ordinance
2008-23 amending
Ordinance No. 208-25 deleting Ordinance 2007-06 and Chapter VII Article VIII Cross Connections and Backflow Prevention and providing for enforcement of the cross connection control program.
Notice
Before
Request to acknowledge receipt of Notice of Applications for an Extension of Service Area from the Florida Public Service Commission – Notice is hereby given on the 2nd day of October, 2008, pursuant to Section 367.045, Florida Statutes, and Section 25-30.030 of the Florida Administrative Code of the Application of Aqua Utilities Florida, Inc., 1100 Thomas Avenue, Leesburg, Florida 34748, of its intent to apply to the Florida Public Service Commission to extend its service area to provide water and wastewater service to the properties described below in Lake County, Florida:
Morningview
Revised Legal Description, Township 20 South, Range 24 East,
Kings
Cove Revised Legal Description, Township 19 South, Range 24 East,
Any
objections to the Applications must be made in writing and filed with the
Director, Office of Commission Clerk,
City
of
Request
to acknowledge receipt of copy of City of
Comprehensive
Annual Financial Report for City of
Request
to acknowledge receipt of copy of Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the
City of
Mr. Sandy Minkoff, County
Attorney, clarified that on Tab 4, which was an amendment to the Agreement
between Lake County and Central Florida Health Alliance, the document that was
in the file might be slightly different than the final document that was
ultimately signed, but the intent is to extend the agreement with Leesburg
Regional for one year for the treatment of jail inmates on the same basis that
they currently had. He explained that
they were trying to work out the final language with the hospital.
Commr. Renick requested pulling
Tabs 11 and 12, which were resolutions to advertise the public hearings for
road vacations for Petition No.’s 1146 and 1143. She wanted to let the applicants for those
road vacations know that before she actually would vote for them, she hoped
that they would show Clermont a site plan on both of those, since it was in
Clermont’s JPA.
On a motion by Commr. Stivender,
seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously, by a 5-0 vote, the Board
approved the County Manager’s Consent Agenda, Tabs 3 through 16, as follows:
Budget
Request to approve Budget Change Requests:
Budget transfer – Various Funds,
Various Departments. This amendment is
needed to reclassify various revenue accounts to reflect Fiscal Year 2008-09
updates to the Uniform Accounting System Chart of Accounts required by the
State of
Approval of request for payment of
Florida Association of Counties membership dues for November 1, 2008 through
October 31, 2009. The request exceeds the
Approval
of request for payment of first installment of three-year commitment for
Myregion.org. The request exceeds the
Approval of request for payment to
Community Services
Request
for approval of the amendment to the Agreement between
Procurement
Request for approval to (1) declare the items on the enclosed list(s) surplus to County needs, (2) authorize the removal of all of the items on the attached lists from the County’s official fixed asset inventory system records, and (3) authorize the Procurement Services Director or designee to sign vehicle titles.
Public Safety
Request to approve Chairman's signature for the Embarq tariff charges for Lake County E9-1-1 annual monthly charges per contract.
Public Works
Request for approval and execution of a Temporary Construction Easement needed to replace a driveway in conjunction with the South Dewey Robbins Road Project. Commission District 3.
Request for approval and signature of Resolution No. 2008-174 to Advertise Public Hearing for Vacation Petition No. 1133, Lake County Environmental Lands, to vacate tracts and right of way in the Plat of Groveland Farms. Commission District 2.
Request for approval and signature
of Resolution No. 2008-175 to Advertise Public Hearing for Vacation
Petition No. 1135, Tony Lambert, to vacate rights of way in the Plat of Lake
King Gardens, in the
Request for approval and signature
of Resolution No. 2008-167 to Advertise Public Hearing for Vacation
Petition No. 1145, Joseph Zagame, to vacate the entire Plat of St. James Place,
in the
Request for approval and signature
of Resolution No. 2008-168 to Advertise Public Hearing for Vacation
Petition No. 1146, R. Neil Britt, to vacate the entire Plat of John's
Request for approval and signature of Resolution No. 169 to Advertise Public Hearing for Vacation Petition 1143, Clermont Motor Sales LLC, in the Plat of Lake Highlands Co., in the Clermont area. Commission District 2.
Request for authorization to release
a letter of credit for performance for construction of improvements in the
total amount of $55,550.00 that was posted for
Request for authorization to accept the final plat for View Point and all areas dedicated to the public as shown on the View Point plat. View Point consists of 4 lots and is located in Section 31, Township 19 South, Range 25 East. Commission District 1.
Request for approval of the
Interlocal Agreement with the City of Mt. Dora to improve water quality and
drainage on
Request for approval and signature of Resolution No. 2008-170 to Advertise Public Hearing for Vacation Petition No. 1144, Interlachen Investments LLC, to vacate right of way in the Plat of Monte Vista Park Farms, in the Clermont area. Commission District 2.
On a motion by Commr. Stivender,
seconded by Commr. Stewart, and carried unanimously, by a 5-0 vote, the Board
approved the County Attorney’s Consent Agenda, Tabs 17 through 20, as follows:
Request for approval of Resolution
No. 2008-171 changing the speed zone on a portion of
Request for approval to process invoice for payment of $41,143.26 to Foley & Lardner, LLP.
Request for approval of Request to
Modify Development Restrictions in the
Request for approval of lease
agreement between
COMMUNITY SERVICES
DIRECT PAY PROCEDURE FOR MEDICAID
EXPENDITURES FOR FY 2008/09
Mr. Fletcher Smith, Community Services Director, stated that Tab 21 was to request approval to continue the direct pay procedure for this budget year to pay the monthly Medicaid costs that they had each year. He pointed out that normally these were fairly significant costs for the County and specified that they had $1.7 million in hospital services, over $464,000 in nursing home expenses, and $249,000 that they were mandated to cover for Welfare Hospital Service (HCRA). He related that last week he received some information that ACHA (Agency for Health Care Administration) was looking at increasing their Medicaid Nursing Home Cost from $464,000 to $1.7 million per year, which would be an increase of a little over $1.2 million. He noted that that would impact them during the months of July, August, and September by increasing their budget by $310,000 and that they were preparing a legislative statement on that to include in the package that the County Manager was putting together.
On a motion by Commr. Stivender, seconded by Commr. Hill, and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the request from Community Services to continue the direct pay procedure during FY 2008/09 for the monthly Medicaid Nursing Home and Hospital bills as well as for direct pay for the monthly Health Care Responsibility Act (HCRA) bills received by the Department of Community Services, effective with the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2008.
PUBLIC HEARING
AMENDED BUDGET TO INCLUDE PROJECT
CARRY-FORWARDS
Mr. Doug Krueger, Budget Director, stated that this item was regarding the re-budget of some capital projects that were budgeted in Fiscal Year 2007/08 with funding which lapsed on September 30, and they were asking the Board to re-budget those projects in 2008/09. He pointed out that there was no new money involved in that, and it was all the previous year’s money, so it would be a fund balance revenue estimate. He reported that the advertisement for this was done on October 18, and he requested approval.
Commr. Stewart expressed concern that the advertisement did not explain anything and that it just stated that those additional monies were in their budget. She was concerned that it would lead the public to believe there was money in the budget, when that money was actually already encumbered and could not be spent. She asked Mr. Krueger if there was anything they could do to make those advertisements clearer.
Mr. Krueger stated that he was in the process of contacting the Department of Revenue to see if there were looser restrictions on what they could put in the newspaper advertisement.
The Chairman opened the public hearing.
There being no one who wished to address the Board, the Chairman closed the public hearing.
On a motion by Commr. Renick, seconded by Commr. Stewart, and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the Amended Budget to include project carry-forwards from Fiscal Year 2007-08 and Resolution No. 2008-172.
PUBLIC HEARING
BONDS
AND INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH
Mr.
Sandy Minkoff,
The Chairman opened the public hearing.
There being no one who wished to address the Board, the Chairman closed the public hearing.
On
a motion by Commr. Stivender, seconded by Commr. Renick, and carried
unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved Resolution 2008-173 for
issuance of
ADDENDUM
1-I
ECONOMIC
GROWTH AND REDEVELOPMENT
AWARD
OF INCENTIVE TO RAPTOR FABRICATION & EQUIPMENT
Ms. Dottie Keedy, Economic Growth and Redevelopment Director, explained that this was a request for an incentive for Raptor Fabrication & Equipment for $10,000 to assist with hiring a grant consultant to help with applying for grants for the Florida Energy and Energy Efficient Technologies Grant Programs. She reported that each grant had a cap of $2.5 million, and only one grant per applicant could be awarded. She stated that the grant application would be to build a 10 million gallon per year biodiesel plant in the Groveland area, which is a clean technology and one of their targeted industries, and therefore staff recommended approval.
Dr.
Dwayne Dundore, Chief Technology Officer with Raptor Fabrication &
Equipment, stated that they were currently building biodiesel plants around the
world, with four of them in Groveland, two of which were currently operational,
making
Commr. Renick clarified that the grant was just for expanding the biodiesel and grease operations, and expressed some reservations about the possible invasiveness of jatropha.
He explained that the jatropha project was not part of the grant and that the plant would be built before they could get enough crop of jatropha to grow.
On a motion by Commr. Stewart, seconded by Commr. Stivender, and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the request from Economic Growth and Redevelopment for approval to award Raptor Fabrication & Equipment an incentive amount of $10,000.
REPORTS
–
KEG
REGISTRATION ORDINANCE DECISION
Mr.
Sandy Minkoff,
REPORTS
-
FIRE
SERVICE FOR CLERMONT AREA
Ms. Cindy Hall, County Manager, reported some information regarding the issue of providing better fire service in the Clermont area, and explained that there were three directions that the Board could take, including to do nothing different than what they were currently doing and what was currently budgeted; to provide some supplemental funding requested by Clermont for them to cover certain roadways that were within city boundaries as well as certain neighborhoods on their eastern boundary, which would cost approximately $130,000; or for the County to establish a fire station that was further east on Highway 50 that would serve those neighborhoods as well as the areas that were north and south of Highway 50 close to the Orange County line.
Commr. Cadwell commented that they had a responsibility to their entire system.
Mr. Gary Kaiser,
Public Safety Director, stated that in December of 2005, the Board approved a
first response agreement for
Mr. John Jolliff, Deputy Fire Chief,
stated that they took a look at the statistics from a year’s data for Highway
27,
Mr. Jim Dickerson, Operations Chief,
talked about the numbers and types of calls and stated that they did identify a
major problem on the east side up to the county line and Bella Collina and down
to
Commr. Cadwell asked if it would be realistic to think they could find a good location around Highway 50 that would cure that problem.
Ms. Hall commented that they thought that there was, and there were a couple of areas they were looking at, including a temporary one as well as some acreage north of Highway 50 that could be permanent if they went that route. She related that their preference right now was the temporary motel site and to work to find a long-term temporary site in that location, and they do think they had some possibilities to do that.
Mr. Dickerson commented that the motel site was a great location near a traffic light, which also allowed them to provide coverage for the north end of the City. He also related that the motel has identified a double-efficiency room that they could use that would allow the firefighters to cook and take showers. He explained that it was close to the exit and that there would be four parking locations reserved for their truck, as well as secure areas for their gear. He also noted that they were on an access road that would lead to 455.
Commr. Stewart commented that they needed a presence out there. She also understood that since staffing was already available, they would not have to hire additional staffing and that they would not have to buy additional equipment.
Mr. Dickerson responded that they needed to have one reserve engine per five frontline engines, and they currently had 20 front-line engines and 5 reserved, meaning that they had one extra. Also, since they have had a hard time getting Station 110 remodeled, they currently had those personnel available to staff that station until Station 110 was ready, and since Station 110 was a lot smaller than they had anticipated, they could actually staff the additional station without there being an impact on staff.
Commr. Renick commented that she liked the idea of going with a temporary site, especially since they did not know what Clermont would decide to do in the future.
Mr. Kaiser added that they did not consider municipal boundaries when positioning fire stations, but rather where they should go, and this fit into their criteria.
On a motion by Commr. Renick, seconded by Commr. Stivender, and carried by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved Option 2, which was to identify an existing building capable of housing firefighters for 24/7 operations immediately (the motel site previously discussed), with the lease agreement of the building based on common practices, and to not seek a permanent home during temporary relocation without further discussion with the City of Clermont.
REPORTS
– COMMISSIONER CADWELL – DISTRICT 5
NACO ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR
“FESTIVAL OF
Ms. Judy Buckland, Library Services Program Coordinator, commented that the “Festival of Reading” promotes reading and the love of literature and noted that this was their sixth year. She related that the festival hosted nationally-recognized authors during a series of events that was held throughout the County in their thirteen libraries and in outreach locations. She reported that last year they had 34 authors and over 3500 people in attendance. She stated that this year’s theme is “Fantastic Florida,” and they have already secured several of the Florida Book Award winners. She asked the Festival of Reading Committee to come forward to have their hard work and dedication recognized.
Commr. Cadwell pointed out that they had received a national award for that program and presented the NACO Achievement Award for the “Festival of Reading” program to the Library Services staff.
PRESENTATION
FOREST LANDS/PLAAC
Mr. Jim Stivender, Public Works Director, stated that this presentation would show exactly what they had to do to enhance some of their sites.
Ms. Wendy Poag, Naturalist Land
Steward, Parks and Trails Division, gave a power point presentation regarding
the management of their land and its resources and to discuss
Ms. Poag explained that the main
difference between land management and restoration was that management sites
were intact ecosystems, but restoration sites required much more effort and
money. She defined restoration as the process
of putting a site back to a prior condition in terms of species and function as
an ecosystem, including controlling exotic invasive species which often were
brought in from along the roadsides, rivers, canals, or any place where animals
or people travel and could wipe out all the other native species. She stated that there were also processes
they used to control undesirable native species, such as weedy or pioneer
species that were quick to dominate fallow land, such as laurel oak and sand
pine. She explained that a canopy over
the landscape causes loss of groundcover diversity, because minimal light was
reaching the ground. She talked about
the benefits of fire, such as decreased diseases, more nutrients added to the
soil, conditions which allow the seeds from the various wildflowers and grasses
to germinate and grow without competition, and rejuvenation of the existing
plants and noted that it only took several weeks to several months after the
fire for the landscape to quickly change.
She commented that some of the restoration processes could be labor
intensive and site specific, including hand collection of seed of specific
species to increase biodiversity for a site currently devoid of those
species. She reported that the cost of
restoration was about $2,000 to $10,000 per acre initially, depending on the
tasks involved. She stated that their
management plan was the framework of how to reach their goals, and they needed
to be flexible and adapt their management approaches to the monitoring results. She went over their basic four step process,
which was to first inventory what was on the site; figure out what they wanted;
clearly establish policies which were consistent with their long-term goals,
with each property having a unique work plan and a time line to reach the
overall objectives outlined in the management plan; and monitoring their
success and whether their goals were being met.
She concluded by stating that even though fire was a natural part of the
land management process and very beneficial, it invokes fear within the public,
but assured the Board that with education, they could work through them. She thanked the Board for their continued
support of Parks and Trails and
REPORTS
– COMMISSIONER HILL – DISTRICT 1
IMPACT
FEE COMMITTEE VACANCY
Commr.
Hill stated that there was still a vacancy on the Impact Fee Committee in the
category of Banking and Finance, which was not district related, even though
they have advertised, placed it on the website, and tried to tell everyone
possible about this vacancy.
NEW
Commr.
Hill related that the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission (EDC) hired
REPORTS
– COMMISSIONER RENICK – DISTRICT 2
CANCELLATION
OF LANDSCAPE ORDINANCE WORKSHOP
Commr.
Renick stated that last Thursday, October 16, she attended the Water Alliance’s
Utility Working Group, where the representative from the St. Johns River Water
Management District who was present expressed some concern that Lake County was
going forward with a landscape ordinance before the St. Johns had finished
their study on soil sensors. She asked
whether they should postpone their next workshop regarding this issue until the
conclusion of the
Ms.
Hall informed the Board that the workshop was scheduled for next Tuesday,
October 28.
Commr.
Cadwell stated that they needed to cancel that workshop.
Commr.
Hill asked if the workshop was still on about the radio and the parks.
Ms.
Hall stated that she would still like the Radio and Parks portion of the
workshop to continue.
REPORTS – COMMISSIONER CADWELL –
DISTRICT 5
EPILEPSY AWARENESS MONTH
On a motion by Commr. Stivender, seconded by Commr. Stewart, and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved Proclamation No. 2008-176 to proclaim November as Epilepsy Awareness Month.
Commr. Cadwell stated that he
brought forward the evaluations for the
CITIZEN QUESTION AND COMMENT
PERIOD
No one present wished to address the Board.
RECESS
AND REASSEMBLY
At
10:30 a.m. the Chairman announced that the Board would recess until the Joint
Meeting with the School Board at 3:30 p.m.
RECONVENED
– JOINT WORKSHOP SESSION WITH SCHOOL BOARD
The
Chairman reconvened the meeting at 3:30 p.m. in the Training Room, Room 233,
REVIEW
OF PROPOSED SITE PLAN FOR EAST LAKE
Commr.
Cadwell stated that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the East Lake
County park and School Site “J,” and commented that this was truly going to be
a joint venture, where the two entities would be working together to figure out
the best ways to make this project work and that he was excited about this
project.
REPORT
BY JIM STIVENDER
Mr.
Jim Stivender, Lake County Public Works Director, stated that when they first
were seriously considering this site, they looked at this intersection, which
had been last worked on in 1991 when turn lanes were put in. He showed an upgrade of that intersection,
which included a secured contract for the right of way for two homes there for
a water retention area, and they were still working on securing some right of
ways. He added that sidewalks were
included in that design and that they already had 9,000 cars traveling north
and south. He reported that the biggest
challenge to this design was the utilities, and the problem was to get a road
alignment to work just right within a small area. He also related that they were 65 to 75
percent complete with their design, and the permitting for the water retention
was currently underway. He pointed out
that the other item they had before them was the parks plan, which was brought
to the community at a well-attended public meeting two years ago to discuss the
layout. He stated that at direction from
this Board Meeting, they would move forward with another public meeting to make
sure that the ball fields and other priorities were still true and
correct. As part of the site work and
the agreement with the School Board, they wanted to put as many amenities on
the site as they could and to address stormwater and the earthwork necessary
for the project, and they could add other amenities as funds become available
at a later date. He noted that a year ago
the estimates for the project would have been doubled, but the price of
construction has come down considerably, especially in earthwork moving, so
they were hoping that the lower prices would enable them to acquire some more
amenities for the park on this site.
Commr.
Cadwell stated that on staff level, they were looking at other things they
could do for the community, including the possibility of a library, which they
could discuss, and the configuration of the ball field.
Mr.
Scott Strong, School Board Member, District 2, asked about the 2009 funds and
anticipated grove revenue of $100,000.
Mr.
Stivender explained that that number was a little high and was based on about
$1.40 per pound solid, which now was at 80 cents per pound solid. He stated that they have received revenue on
the grove property the last two years at a good price, and the revenue went
back into the park site.
Commr.
Cadwell added that they also did that in Umatilla, and until they were ready to
develop the park, they made sure that any of the revenues from the fruit went
back into the park fund. He also
mentioned that the handout showed that a combination pavilion/restroom and a
baseball field were going to be the first things that they would see out there. After talking to the residents in that
region, he thought that would be the best way to go, because
Mr.
Strong inquired whether the parks would go in at exactly the same time as the
school, and would not be discretionary based on funding.
Mr.
Stivender explained that they were going to use the money already set aside for
that project, but the funds were not currently available for the approximately
$2 million worth of additional improvements needed for the entire site.
Commr.
Cadwell remarked that there was no one better at working with the grant system
in
Mr.
Strong commented that the residents were lukewarm to the idea of the school,
but were really excited about the park and that it would be a nice benefit to
the community.
Commr.
Renick clarified that the library was just an idea and was not substantially
included in these plans, and she commented that the library made the plans look
crowded.
Mr.
Stivender explained that parking would maximize the entire site, so if the
library would occur, the parking in front of that library would be designated
for that site.
Commr.
Cadwell pointed out that realistically the funding of that library would not
occur for a long time. He also assured
the School Board that the
Mr.
Larry Metz, School Board Chairman, had a question about the phasing of the
construction of the high priority park components, such as infrastructure for
the site, the baseball field, and a combination pavilion/restroom. He was concerned that if they put the
baseball field in the east corner of the property and the school in the far
west corner of the property, it could be a matter of years before the interior
spaces were developed. He inquired
whether there was a way to develop a site plan that covered their needs and was
phased so that they would be building from the west to the east so the
undeveloped property would be at the end of the property rather than separating
the school from what was already developed.
Mr.
Stivender stated that this was a concept that came out of the previous
meeting. He commented that that was a
good suggestion, and they would implement that as part of their public meeting
process. He also assured them that they
wanted to make this site as efficient as they could, and they could work from
that side.
Mr.
Metz related that they were going to build the school as soon as they had the land,
and the money was ready to go, they were working on plans, and the school could
be ready by August of 2010. He also
commented that this design was an early artist’s rendering.
Mr.
Sandy Minkoff,
Commr.
Renick was concerned about the liability of a skateboard park, which was shown
as a possible amenity on the plans, and wanted to discuss whether to go forward
with that option.
Mr.
Jimmy Conner, School Board Member, District 4, commented that the cost of a
skateboard facility was expensive, and the per person utilization of a ball
park compared to an individual skateboard park was a much better value. He thought that they needed to put team sport
fields and a large number of fields used by youth ahead of “individual
sports.” He also commented that this has
been a model project of two government agencies working together at the Board
as well as the staff level and that they were grateful to the County for
providing a site for a much-needed school out there.
Commr.
Cadwell assured the School Board that once the County got the initial work done
on the park, even though that property would not be developed all at once, it
would all be maintained.
REPORT
BY GARY PARKER
Mr.
Gary Parker, Director of Facilities Design and Construction, Lake County
Schools, pointed out in the plans the lines north and south which delineated
the school site from the park site in terms of what they were building and
paying for and what they would normally build with an elementary school. He related that they were incorporating the
outside play courts, play fields, soccer fields, covered play, and all the
things that they would typically build in an elementary school anyway, and
those become dual use because of the proximity.
He showed where there would be a fence to protect and separate the
children and keep them from meandering out unsupervised. He also mentioned that at some point, they
understood that this would become part of the trail system, and they have incorporated
an extra wide sidewalk across the front of the property which would tie in to
the interior trail system that was on the site.
They also planned it to bring the school’s pedestrian traffic in to a
bike rack area, so that they did not have to cross any driveways other than at
the signalized intersection. He stated
that it was designed so that once school was in session, the only way into the
building was to come through the administration office. They have positioned the building so that the
dining/multipurpose area had direct access out the east side, which was in line
with the sidewalk that they provided from the trail system into the building,
so during the summer when there was a park program, that portion of the
building would be available for use by the park staff. Also, their media center in the front had an
outside door that could be opened for evening meetings, so that the rest of the
school could be maintained in a secure situation. He explained a concept that allowed flexible
use of parking and commented that they were trying to maximize their dollars
for both entities.
Commr.
Cadwell asked the
Commr.
Stewart explained that some factions of the community in that area might have
some problems with that, since it would be taking up some of the park
area. She added that it may become an
issue, but everyone could work that out.
Mr.
Metz inquired about the environmental, soil contamination, and sinkhole issues.
Mr.
Parker responded that as part of the normal due diligence process, the County
had already done a Phase I and Phase II environmental study on this, which
basically ruled out any soil contamination from existing grove or nursery
operations, and they had begun doing soil borings so that they could start
engineering analysis on the building site itself, but as they started to drill
the bit came off the equipment and just fell into an abyss. He stated that they did ground penetrating
radar tests last week which indicated an anomaly that may be a sinkhole, and
they had further testing scheduled and would know definitely by October 22 what
the scope of the issue was. He also
added that there were five other anomalies in addition to that which were
identified in the ground penetrating radar process, four of which appeared to
be underground utilities and one an underground tank.
Mr.
Strong stated that if it was a sinkhole, it would be fine to put a ball field
on it, but not a structure. He asked if
the County would allow them the flexibility to move over to another portion of
that property if there was a sinkhole.
Mr.
Parker pointed out that the first site plan actually showed the school at the
east end and the park at the west end, but it was jointly determined that the
current location was better in terms of access and what they wanted to do with
the road.
Mr.
Minkoff pointed out that the agreement originally stated that the school could
be anywhere on the site, and they were open to anything that would work for
both parties.
Ms.
Kyleen Fischer, School Board Vice Chairman, was concerned about the security of
the facilities and whether the school would have a secure front.
Ms.
Cindy Barrow, School Board Member, District 5, inquired whether there was any
way to do any additional fencing that would make the front more secure.
Mr.
Parker stated that it would not be impossible and would involve gates across
the drive-in. However, that would tend
to negate the idea of having overflow parking that could be used both ways when
the school was not in session.
Mr.
Metz mentioned the School Board’s commitment to building to green standards,
even though they did not purchase the green certificate.
Mr.
Parker added that all of their buildings were a brick exterior with a cavity
wall system, which was probably one of the most energy efficient and
water-tight wall systems that could be built in the State of
Commr.
Cadwell commented that there would be some great opportunities for some walking
field trips, since they were only going to use native vegetation and were going
to mark what the plants were. He
suggested that they design it so that there was a secure flow during the school
day to where the students could utilize the whole park area.
Mr.
Steve Johnson, School Board Attorney, stated that they have already made a
presentation about the facility before the Eustis City Commission, which he
felt was well received. He also noted
that it would be fairly essential that they have the utilization of waste water
services from the City of
Mr.
Minkoff stated that assuming the environmental issues work out, the next step
would be the preparation of an amendment where the staffs negotiate the prices
and firm up the location, and then they would bring it back to both
Boards. He mentioned that they were
working on the School Board’s timetable, since they wanted to get the school
started, and they thought that the amendment would be ready by the end of
November to go to both Boards for final approval of the overall site. That would be the last step before they would
be ready to start construction on the school from a design and legal
standpoint.
PUBLIC
INPUT
Ms.
Jean Etter, a resident of
Mr.
Conner suggested that they present the plan the way it was presented in the
past, which was without the library, since people would not like to feel that
something was changing on them. He stated
that they could discuss the library to get the residents’ opinion on it, rather
than make it look like the library was something that was pre-determined.
Mr.
Minkoff related that they have been looking at library sites, since they were
in a leased facility. He explained that
they thought that this would be a good area and that there were a lot of
advantages to co-locating as they have done with the park locations in Astor
and
Commr.
Stewart opined that a library at this site would be more economical for the
County in the long run, because they would not have to lease a space, and
purchasing the existing site would be expensive and probably not feasible at
this time.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.
____________________________________
WELTON
G. CADWELL, CHAIRMAN
ATTEST:
__________________________
NEIL KELLY, CLERK