A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

december 15, 2009

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 9:00 a.m., in the Board of County Commissioners’ Meeting Room, Lake County Administration Building, Tavares, Florida. Commissioners present at the meeting were: Welton G. Cadwell, Chairman; Elaine Renick, Vice Chairman; Jennifer Hill; Jimmy Conner; and Linda Stewart. Others present were: Sanford A. “Sandy” Minkoff, Interim County Manager; Melanie Marsh, Acting County Attorney; Wendy Taylor, Executive Office Manager, County Manager’s Office; Barbara F. Lehman, Chief Deputy Clerk, County Finance; and Susan Boyajan, Deputy Clerk.

INVOCATION

Mr. Sandy Minkoff, Interim County Manager, gave the Invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

update regarding turnpike and cr 561

Mr. Jim Stivender, Public Works Director, explained that currently traffic was detoured onto State Road 50, so there was a lot of traffic from the Turnpike on local roads. He reported that the Turnpike Authority had a contractor on the Turnpike building a bypass to shift from the northbound bridge, which was closed, to the southbound bridge with two-way traffic, which was expected to be done by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, December 16, and he noted that this solution would result in traffic being bottlenecked to a single bridge. He also reported that the bridge was severely damaged and would have to be replaced, but he did not have all the details regarding that yet. He reported that the Turnpike Authority has contacted six vendors and have been contacted by others, but they have told all the contractors to only put in a bid if they were able to replace the bridge within 21 days. He added that he expected two-way traffic on the Turnpike and for CR 561 to be closed the whole holiday season. He stated that they have also been working on a detour which would utilize CR 19 as the alternative north and south in Lake County which was a straighter and more level road than CR 561. He informed the Board that the Sheriff was working on signage to let drivers going southbound out of Tavares know about the situation. He specified that drivers could either travel on CR 19 all the way or go through Astatula to CR 455 and then shift to CR 19 there, and anyone going northbound to Tavares would use CR 19 instead of CR 561.

Mr. Gary Kaiser, Public Safety Director, stated that the tanker rollover yesterday involving one of the units responding to the fire at the bridge at CR 561 was due to a combination of terrible weather, fog, poor visibility, and wet roads; and he commented that the driver of the tanker had been with his department for over two years. He reported that both employees were released from the hospital yesterday afternoon and were very lucky that their injuries were not more serious. He added that the Highway Patrol did not charge their driver.

Agenda update

Mr. Sandy Minkoff, Interim County Manager, stated that he wanted to add a discussion of a purchase of a pickup truck that the Sheriff has bid to the discussion of his request for approval of the Sheriff’s request to purchase a Lenco BearCat SWAT Transport Vehicle under Tab 29.

Commr. Cadwell stated that they would move that item up on the agenda so that Sheriff Borders could leave after that discussion.

Ms. Melanie Marsh, Acting County Attorney, stated that she needed to add an item regarding the release of additional transcripts for Niagara under her business.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board moved to place that item on the Agenda.

Commr. Stewart mentioned that she wanted to discuss something that might require a vote under her business.

MINUTE APPROVAL

Commr. Renick wanted the comments that Commr Hill made during the BCC Meeting on November 10, 2009 regarding the central location of the garage so that all the buildings around there would be using it included in those Minutes.

Commr. Cadwell stated that they would bring that back on the next meeting’s Agenda after that change was made.

CLERK OF COURTS’ CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Stewart, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Clerk of Courts’ Consent Agenda, Items 1 and 2, as follows:

List of Warrants

Request to acknowledge receipt of list of warrants paid prior to this meeting, pursuant to Chapter 136.06 (1) of the Florida Statutes, which shall be incorporated into the Minutes as attached Exhibit A and filed in the Board Support Division of the Clerk’s Office.

Florida Public Service Commission Staff Workshop Notice

Request to acknowledge receipt of Notice of Staff Workshop of the Florida Public Service Commission November 24, 2009, at 9:30 a.m., Room 148, Betty Easley Conference Center, 4075 Esplanade Way, Tallahassee, Florida.

COUNTY MANAGER’S CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the County Manager’s Consent Agenda, Tabs 3 through 19 as follows:

Conservation and Compliance

Request for approval of Settlement Agreement and approval of Satisfaction and Release of Lien, Lake County vs. Marshall R. Lowe & Gregory L. Lowe.

Request for approval of Settlement Agreement and approval of Satisfaction and Release of Lien, Lake County vs. Hilton Investment Group, LLC/Pete P. Benevides.

Environmental Utilities

Request for authorization to submit an Environmental Protection Agency 2010 Education Grant Application.

Request for approval of Amendment #1 amending the Arthropod Control FY 09/10 Certified Local Budget to reflect what was actually approved by the Board of County Commissioners on September 22, 2009.

Request for approval of Amendment #4 amending the Arthropod Control FY 08/09 Certified State Budget by increasing the budgeted revenue by $3,202.67 and allocating $3,202.67 for the purchase of chemicals; approve Amendment #1 amending the Arthropod Control FY 09/10 Certified State Budget by increasing the budgeted revenue by $3,202.67 and allocating $3,202.67 for the purchase of chemicals.

Fiscal and Administrative Services

Request for approval of the purchase of five (5) of the subject mowers from Caskey's Mower, Tavares, FL via issuance of an open market purchase order.

Request for approval of the purchase of five (5) of the subject utility carts via issuance of a purchase order to John Deere Company under the state-wide Sheriff contract.

Request for approval of the use of various statewide contracts for the purchase of the rolling stock (vehicles, trucks, mowers, etc.) approved in the budget process for fiscal year 09/10 following the conditions set forth in the background below.

Request for approval of Budget Change Request.

Public Resources

Request for approval to apply for Gopher Tortoise Habitat Management Assistance from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Public Safety

Request for approval of the attached Interlocal for the Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) Grant Program participants in Region 5 in concert with the previously approved grant participation and Fund Resolution No. 2009-67.

Request for approval of Agreement between Lake County and Polk County for Shared Public Service Radio Communications Facilities for the Fire Station 112 Tower.

Request for approval and execution of the Lake County Enhanced Warning System-Mass Notification Agreement, with the State of Florida, Division of Emergency Management, and approval of Resolution No. 2009-185, and request to realign approved funding into capital and non-capital object codes, if necessary, depending on the final hardware and software configuration for the system.

Public Works

Request for approval of Agreement between Lake County Board of County Commissioners and FEMA to cooperate in the floodplain mapping updates - Countywide.

Request for approval and signature of Resolution No. 2009-186 to Advertise Public Hearing for Vacation Petition No. 1147.

Request for authorization to accept the final plat for Terrace Grove and all areas dedicated to the public as shown on the Terrace Grove final plat, accept a performance bond in the amount of $80,682.00, and execute a Developer’s Agreement for Construction of Improvements between Lake County and BFG Lakeshore, Ltd.. Terrace Grove consists of 103 lots and is located in Section 26, Township 22 South, Range 26 East. Commission District 2.

Request for approval of an extension to the Proportionate Fair Share Agreement with Clermont Motor Sales, LLC, doing business as Toyota of Clermont. Commission District 2.

COUNTY ATTORNEY’S CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Stewart, and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the County Attorney’s Consent Agenda, Tab 20 as follows:

Request for approval of Sumter Electric Perpetual Utility Easement for Paisley Fire Station located at 25250 County Road 42, Paisley (Alt Key 3874357) and authorize Chairman to execute Easement document. Commission District 5.

reports – county manager

sheriff’s purchase requests for vehicles

Mr. Minkoff reported that Tab 29 was a request by the Sheriff to reallocate in the budget some of the local option sales tax to be used to purchase a vehicle for the SWAT team.

Sheriff Gary Borders related that in their budget negotiations it was determined that they would receive $700,000 from the penny sales tax for their vehicles, and they have been very aggressive in applying for grants for equipment. He explained that since they were able to purchase 7 or 8 of their patrol cars with one of their grants, they decided to purchase the Lenco BearCat vehicle out of the penny sales tax. He specified that this vehicle was needed for their SWAT Team for safety issues, and they currently had two vehicles at the shop that were built in the 1960’s and were difficult to transport to the scene. He added that the new vehicle would be able to be resourced to additional police departments in their County.

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved Tab 29 for approval of the Sheriff’s request to purchase a Lenco BearCat SWAT Transport Vehicle in lieu of patrol cars utilizing budgeted local option sales tax.

Mr. Minkoff related that the Sheriff’s Office had bid for a purchase of a four-wheel drive crew cab truck, and received three quotations plus the State bid price. He stated that they would like to purchase it from Cindy Chevrolet in Wildwood for approximately $26,600. He explained that they did not go through the County’s purchasing process, but he was comfortable with the bids that they have gotten and recommended that they purchase this vehicle.

Commr. Conner asked whether Lake County dealerships were given the opportunity to bid.

Mr. Minkoff responded that there was a bid from Vann Gannaway Chevrolet.

Sheriff Borders stated that they bid out to all of their Lake County dealerships, since that was where they tried to do their business, but this bid was actually a couple of thousand dollars less than the Florida Sheriff’s Association bid, and most of the local dealers could not provide a quote that came close to the low bid.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board moved to add the item of the crew cab truck to the Agenda.

On a motion by Commr. Stewart, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the purchase of a four wheel drive crew cab truck for the Sheriff’s Office from Cindy Chevrolet in Wildwood for approximately $26,000.

presentation

agreement for watershed atlas project maintenance

Mr. Daryl Smith, Environmental Utilities Director, stated that Tab 21 was a request for the Board to approve the Amended and Restated Master Agreement with the University of South Florida (USF) for the annual maintenance of the Lake County Watershed Atlas Project (Atlas) at a cost of $53,200. He explained that this was the fourth year of a five-year contract that the County had with USF to provide the Atlas for the County, and since there were questions about the Atlas earlier this year, he thought they would give the Board an overview of their Atlas program.

Mr. Minkoff noted that Tab 24 was the funding agreement related to this item.

Mr. Walter Wood, Senior Hydro Geologist with Environmental Utilities, displayed an illustration on the monitor of the front page of the Atlas and stated that there were a number of goals that were established when they originally created the Atlas, including making data accessible to the public regarding the County’s and eventually the state’s vital water resources. He gave a history of the Water Atlas and related that the first rudimentary Atlas was in Hillsborough County in 1998, but since that time it has become data-based driven where everything was controlled by a server online. He specified that the Lake County Atlas went online in 2003, and they had a lot of partners within the County to provide support. Some of the features of the Atlas are water quality data, map creation, library of documents, and the ability for the public to ask a question. He noted that some of the benefits for governments are that it opens communication with citizens, gives access to data from 36 different agencies, results in less time to gather information, and that continuous improvements are made to the Atlas through partnerships with other Counties. He pointed out that the Atlas satisfies their storm water permit education requirement, provides data for the TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) and BMAP (Basin Management Action Plan) programs, and increases citizen participation and volunteerism. He noted that some benefits for citizens include one-stop easy access to the information and data, an educational component to the many available documents with terms explained in easy to understand language, a section showing what the government is doing to protect the environment and the projects that they were working on, and an interactive component which allows citizens to submit photos and documents, collect data, report pollution, and get questions answered.

Mr. Wood specified that there were currently 670 named water bodies in the Lake County Atlas and 36 different agencies and organizations that provide data to the Atlas with over 3,300,000 individual samples of the lakes, springs, and streams. The Atlas was averaging about 11,000 unique visitors annually, and over three-quarters of them were first time visitors. He pointed out that visitation to the site was generally higher in the summer. He noted that the lakes and streams had their own page on the Atlas, and he showed an example of the Lakes Page on the monitor, which contained a map and information such as the area of the lake, the water shed, and the location. There was also a mapping interface available on the site, which gives information such as location of boat ramps and sampling locations, and users are able to print out a map with features that they choose to include in it. He illustrated the Presentation of Water Quality Data tab on the Lakes Page, which showed the Trophic State Index and levels of nitrogen, phosphorous, and chlorophyll, and stated that users could print out a graph and download data for particular years.

Mr. Wood listed some recent upgrades that were done to the Atlas over the last two or three years, noting that the largest upgrade was the Springs Page for over 30 springs in Lake County. Some of the other upgrades were stormwater infrastructure mapping, an improved digital library for documents, keyword searches, historic aerial photographs, a news and current events section, and real-time data display for weather. He displayed and gave information regarding the Springs Pages, which gave an overview of the springs, and he stated that the information available on the Springs Page that was unique to the springs included contact information, water quality, flow, and location. He informed the Board of the enhancements of the Atlas being considered, which were using an overall page for lakes, Adopt-A-Lake program pages, historical information pages, videos, FCAT lesson plans for grades 5-12, and real-time water quality data. He concluded that the Water Atlas has been a great tool, and they have been able to take the data that they have been collecting and make it available for citizens and other government agencies and institutions such as schools to use. He noted that the website for the Atlas was www.lake.wateratlas.org, and he gave the Board a short live demonstration of the Atlas.

Commr. Hill commented that the County had started this project in 2001, and it has evolved auspiciously with the advance of technology. She pointed out that the cost has gone down substantially over the years and that they had a lot more partners throughout Central Florida that they did not have when they first started. She clarified that this was for maintenance of the Atlas.

Commr. Conner commented that the total cost of over $53,000 for 11,000 hits a year was costing $4 to $5 per hit, which was a huge amount of money for the usage. He stated that even though it was very nice to have the Atlas, they needed to look at the value for the dollar and whether they could afford it in the future.

Mr. Wood pointed out that they have recently changed the system that measured the hits in January which results in more accurate numbers than there were previously.

Commr. Renick commented that she thought it was a great resource, but she was concerned about the cost of something that was great to have versus what they absolutely had to have. She inquired whether there was any way to know how much their taxpayers were benefiting and who really was getting the most benefit from this Atlas.

Mr. Ron Chandler, Research Associate and Environmental Scientist with the Water Atlas Program from the University of South Florida, stated that they do not actually search for personal information from individual users due to a privacy program that they maintain. He explained that they can not separate out users by their county, because a lot of the users are the Water Management Districts, the U.S. Geological Survey, and universities.

Commr. Renick stated that that was her concern, because although it was a wonderful convenience, if it was used primarily by professionals that could get that information elsewhere, then she had a concern with using the County’s money to do that. She asked whether all the work that was done before would be lost if they did not maintain the Atlas this year or whether they could pick it up again when they could afford it.

Mr. Chandler responded that one of the ways they could estimate how many visitors from Lake County or visitors to Lake County use the site would be to look at what pages they visit. He also remarked that if they discontinued the Atlas immediately, the data would not go away and could be reassembled at some other point, but since it would not be updated during that time, it would be expensive to start the Atlas again. He pointed out that the Atlas provides information that was required by state and federal mandated regulations, such as the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System, Public Safety and Health, flood stages for streams, FEMA maps for flood planes, and data required by DEP for nutrient limitations or stormwater regulation. He opined that the services it provides are multifaceted.

Commr. Renick asked about the points they need under the TMDL mandated process having to do with pollution.

Ms. Cathie Catasus, Laboratory Supervisor, Environmental Utilities, responded that she was not sure what the actual number of credit points were, but they did receive credit for having the access to the TMDL information and BMAP process as part of the educational component as well. She explained that it was a percentage that comes off of the loading, and she could get back to the Board with that number.

Commr. Stewart commented that she thought the Atlas was worth the money, because it provided information that they needed to be readily available, especially because of the water issues in the State of Florida. She opined that it would be more economical and become more important for the County in the future.

Commr. Renick asked how much of the funding was coming from the Water Authority.

Mr. Daryl Smith, Environmental Utilities Director, responded that two-thirds of that funding was coming from the County, which was split equally between the Public Works MSTU budget and the Environmental Utilities general fund budget, and one-third was paid by the Water Authority.

Commr. Renick commented that she had hoped that this would be more of a 50/50 partnership with the Water Authority. She asked whether the Atlas was a vital resource for staff to do their job and to answer all the questions that they get.

Commr. Hill opined that this was vital and made government run more efficiently and effectively. She added that several County departments used this Atlas.

Commr. Stewart commented that as water becomes scarcer, there would be more water restrictions, which would necessitate the use of the information contained in the Atlas.

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried by a vote of 4-1, the Board approved Tab 21, the Amended and Restated Master Agreement between Lake County and the University of South Florida for the annual maintenance of the Lake County Watershed Atlas Project.

Commr. Conner voted “no.”

COUNTY MANAGER’S DEPARTMENTAL BUSINESS

community services

fdot section 5311 operating grant for fy 2010-11

Ms. Allison Thall, Community Services Director, stated that this item was a grant for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Section 5311 Operating Grant, which provided formula funding for the purpose of supporting public transportation. She explained that these grant funds could be used for capital, operating, and administrative assistance for public transportation, and she informed the Board that they would use these funds to provide normal door-to-door service to the general public, elderly, disabled, and economically disadvantaged residents for medical, nutritional, employment, educational, and life-sustaining trips. She mentioned that they applied for these funds every year, which were specifically for their paratransit program, and this was their ninth year of application for these funds. She specified that this grant was a 50/50 cash match with FDOT, and the County match would be $469,705, which would bring their total grant coupled with FDOT’s portion to $939,410. She related that these funds would provide approximately 55,000 trips throughout the year, and normally the Board includes this match in their annual budget that they would again submit for the 2010-11 fiscal year. She requested that the Board approve for staff to apply for the 5311 Operating Grant, along with their supporting resolution which ultimately would give them the authority to accept the award if it was approved.

On a motion by Commr. Renick, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved Tab 22, the request for the Public Transportation Division staff to apply for the FDOT Section 5311 Operating Grant for FY 2010-11 and supporting Resolution No. 2009-187.

FDOT SECTION 5310 capital GRANT FOR FY 2010-11

Ms. Thall explained that the second grant was for the FDOT Section 5310 Capital Grant that supports the actual purchase of their paratransit vehicles for the Transportation Disadvantaged program, and she related that this grant requires a ten percent cash match. She also mentioned that they apply for this grant on an annual basis, and this is their ninth year of application. They were seeking approval to apply for Fiscal Year 2010-11 for three Cutaway buses, and currently they have 75 paratransit vehicles in their fleet, 34 of which have exceeded their life expectancy according the FDOT regulations of 5 years and 150,000 miles. She requested that the Board grant approval for the Department of Community Services staff to apply for those capital grants, along with the supporting resolution that will give them the authority to purchase the vehicles if the grant was awarded. She added that the vehicles would be purchased off of the State’s bid list under the Transportation Research Inspection Program Services, and the total cost for the three vehicles would be $216,960, with the FDOT picking up $196,428 of that and the County match being $21,696.

On a motion by Commr. Stewart, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved Tab 23, the request for the Public Transportation Division staff to apply for the FDOT Section 5310 Capital Grant for FY 10-11, supporting Resolution No. 2009-188, and the approval to purchase the vehicles if the grant is awarded.

environmental utilities

funding agreement with water authority for water atlas

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried by a vote of 4-1, the Board approved Tab 24, the request from Environmental Services for approval of the Funding Agreement between Lake County and the Lake County Water Authority to share the cost of annual maintenance for the Lake County Water Resource Atlas.

Commr. Conner voted “no.”

authorization to secure additional solid waste

Mr. Daryl Smith, Environmental Utilities Director, stated that this was a request to authorize their department to secure additional solid waste at whatever price per ton the market will bear for delivery of the Covanta Waste-to-Energy Facility, from those solid waste management entities that do not normally utilize the Lake County solid waste management services, including entities from outside Lake County, in sufficient volume to always maintain the electric generation 12 month rolling average capacity at 80 percent or above and to project the receipt of at least 163,000 tons per year delivered to the Covanta Waste-to-Energy Facility; and all pricing must be pre-approved by the County Manager. He recapped that they were experiencing less waste than they needed to receive at the Waste Energy Facility, and their primary concern is that they may jeopardize the 70 percent rolling average that they were required to have for delivery to Progress Energy and that capacity payment, which is currently $604,000 per month and would go up to $642,000 per month in January. He suggested keeping the rolling average at 80 percent of that amount.

Commr. Cadwell related that they met with their partner cities to let them know that the County was doing that and the reasons behind it.

Mr. Minkoff stated that they also discussed it at the League of Cities directors meeting last week and made the same presentation to them.

Commr. Hill inquired whether they could utilize what was in their landfill to supplement that burn.

Mr. Smith responded that they have had some discussion about mining, but they were not prepared at this point in time to move forward with that in the timeframe that they would need. He expounded that that would be a long-term project that they would have to experiment with first and do a pilot program to see how that would work.

Mr. Minkoff stated that they were committed to looking for partners and to locate garbage so that they do not lose the capacity payment. He pointed out that garbage was an indicator of the economy, and the amount of garbage for every landfill is down when the economy falters, resulting in everyone looking for garbage. He also explained that if there was a transportation cost to another county because of the distance, they may ask to pay less than the County’s tipping fee to make up that cost. He assured the Board that they were dealing with all of the counties in the heart of Florida to find all the waste that they could.

Commr. Stewart pointed out that even though seeking out waste would result in some cost to the County, it will be a lot less than the cost of not meeting their obligation.

Commr. Hill stated that she would like to leave enough reserves within the Solid Waste fund in case they had to meet that obligation.

Commr. Conner stated that he agreed with Commr. Stewart that not doing this would be costly because of the revenue that they get from the energy generated, and he opined that they could not fail to produce the tonnage that they needed.

Commr. Cadwell commented that they assured the cities that this would be an open process and that the cities would be part of it.

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Renick and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved Tab 25, the request from Environmental Services for authorization to secure additional solid waste per the aforementioned discussion.

public hearings

fy 2008-09 caper presentation

Mr. Bill Gearing, Community Enhancement Coordinator, stated that he would give a short presentation and have the public hearing on the Fiscal Year 2008-09 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER), and the advertisement announcing the 15-day public inspection period and the date for this public hearing was printed in the Orlando Sentinel newspaper on Sunday, November 29. He explained that the CAPER outlined how they used their Community Development Block Grant Funds last year, and the report must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by December 31 of each year. He showed a list of all the projects and activities that they had on their action plan for this last year and the funds that were expended on those activities. He commented that they had a successful partnership with the Health Department to help 373 low-income individuals get the prescriptions that they needed throughout the year. He also reported that their Community Health Worker Program reached over 1200 people last year and was able to leverage more than $87,000 of additional grant funding to be able to run the programs to educate low and moderate income individuals on health care issues and programs that were available in the County and the State of Florida. He related that the Town of Astatula was able to complete their park improvement project, and the Town of Montverde was able to complete Phase 2 of the Truskett Park project. He stated that in their housing rehabilitation program, they were able to rehabilitate eight mobile homes. He displayed a list of partners they worked with last year to complete the projects on their list.

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 FY 2008-09 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER).

recess and reassembly

At 10:15 a.m., the Chairman announced a ten-minute recess.

rezoning

consent rezoning agenda

rezoning case #ph18-09-2 – herb smith construction

The Chairman opened the public hearing on Rezoning Case No. PH 18-09-2, which was the only case on the Rezoning Consent Agenda.

There being no one who wished to address the Board, the Chairman closed the public hearing.

On a motion by Commr. Stewart, seconded by Commr. Hill and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the Rezoning Consent Agenda as follows:

Tab 1 - Ordinance No. 2009-63

Rezoning Case No. PH18-09-2

Herb Smith Construction, Inc., LT Properties

Safe-T-Storage, Inc. and Shooting Stars

School of Performing Arts, Inc./Herb Smith/Clermont Commerce Center

Request approval to rescind and replace Ordinance No. 1999-58, which granted Planned Commercial Zoning, as well as Ordinance No. 2000-83 and Ordinance No. 2004-37 with a new Ordinance which would allow all existing uses from the Ordinances listed above in addition to allowing research service, recreation commercial, medical service, self-service storage, auto repair, vehicle sales and vehicle rental uses.

regular rezoning agenda

rezoning case #ph19-09-5 – mark gould – cowboy retreat

Commr. Cadwell disclosed that he met and had several conversations with the Applicant regarding Rezoning Case No. PH 19-09-5, and he also had a very short conversation with some of the residents in opposition to get some information from them.

Mr. Brain Sheahan, Director of Planning and Community Design, Growth Management Department, reported that this hearing has been properly noticed.

Mr. Rick Hartenstein, Senior Planner, Planning and Community Design, stated that the Applicant and owner of the property was Mr. Mark Gould and that the property was located northwest of the City of Eustis off of CR 452 on Bridle Path Lane, which was in northwest Lake County. He explained that the request was to amend the CFD Ordinance that was approved for their southern 10 acres in 2007 and to add the 10 acres to the retreat facility. They were also requesting to increase the number from 3 to 24 for their horse events. He related that they talked to the Applicant that morning, who was very agreeable to reduce that number to 12 events, and this rezoning would keep the continuing uses that were already approved in 2007 and would include the existing single-family residence as a parsonage. He mentioned that it was in the Rural Future Land Use Category and would be on well and septic, and he displayed the property on the monitor. He reported that staff has reviewed this request based on the Comprehensive Plan and the Land Development Regulations and found that it was consistent with both of those. He informed the Board that the Zoning Board recommended 5 to 2 to approve this request, but they added some conditions to the Ordinance, which were that the worship center have no more than a 150-seat capacity, that there were no more than 24 equine events per year with 30 riders at one time, no lighting after 10:00 p.m., limiting events to weekends only, and the road maintained by the applicant per Lake County clay road standards. He noted that the County had received one letter of opposition from two property owners to the north which were included in the backup material, but they have received additional information since then from the opposition which was forwarded to the Board members for review and entered into the record. He added that due to concerns raised at the Zoning Board meeting regarding notice, they provided additional notice to the neighbors in the area to address that issue.

Pastor Mark Gould, Applicant, stated that they helped the community with programs such as food drives, Toys for Tots events, horse events for Baptist homeless and handicapped children, and worked with the fire stations. He commented that they incorporated as little of a footprint as they could, and he noted that they were very active in other churches also. He thought his programs were needed in the area and that Lake County was a great horse community with many horse people. He assured the Board that they intended on working within the requirements of the zoning, and he hoped that the church got large enough to move on and support the community.

Ms. Janice Brockner, a neighboring property owner, disputed the fact that the property would contain a 20-acre working horse ranch, stating that only 11 acres would be viable between the two parcels combined, and she referred to a map that was provided to the Board which showed the wetlands and the flood zones. She pointed out that the road was a private easement, and she opined that Mr. Gould has not been maintaining it as he had promised to do.

Ms. Brenda Strobel, who is a neighboring property owner, stated that she was greatly concerned about the traffic on the road. She noted that the property owners on that road all had to give up 25 feet of their property for an ingress and egress easement. She stated that the Goulds lived almost to the end of the road, which meant that all of the traffic generated by the church had to come past the property of all 12 of the residents. She commented that the horse trailers that used the road were large and heavy, which created a lot of wear and tear on their easement. She also did not think the Applicant was maintaining the road satisfactorily. She noted that there were a lot of churches within a few miles of that property that were all off of County-maintained roads rather than a private easement. She commented that they had moved there for peace and quiet and to get away from traffic, but there was traffic on that road now all the time. She asked the Board to consider the other property owners who live on that road when making their decision.

Commr. Cadwell asked the Applicant if he was comfortable with the reduction in events that the staff proposed.

Mr. Gould stated that he was comfortable with that and added that he was bringing in dirt and working with another resident to maintain the road. He also noted that he did not bring any neighbors to speak in favor of his request because of the hostility of the neighbors that were opposed to it. He commented that a lot of their neighbors come to some of their events.

There being no one else who wished to address the Board, the Chairman closed the public hearing.

Commr. Cadwell stated that he had made a site visit to the property, and he believed that it was an appropriate place for the small congregation. He commented that their church did things differently than any other he had seen, and he confirmed that the church did the things to help the community that they claimed they did.

Commr. Stewart commented that the County already approved the religious retreat and conference center in 2007 with activities including three horse shows a year, and the Applicant was already allowed to do everything that the neighbors were objecting to. She expressed approval of the Zoning Board’s recommendation that the Applicant would be required to maintain the road.

Commr. Renick stated that she had a problem with this request and that she was concerned that heavy horse trailers would tear up the easement more than the general traffic that normally traveled on that road. She pointed out that this was a private easement. She commented that although she appreciated the fact that the Applicant was cutting back from 24 to 12 horse show events, she still thought that those would still result in a lot of traffic. She also questioned the level that the Applicant would be required to maintain the road.

Commr. Conner stated that he was supportive of this request, but he thought the problem with the condition of the road was a legitimate concern. He suggested that they have some kind of an agreement that would stipulate a reasonable level of maintenance on the road if it was approved.

Mr. Hartenstein noted that the monitoring conditions could be placed in this rezoning ordinance since it was a planned district, and he pointed out that there were actual conditions in the ordinance that stated that it shall be maintained to County road standards for clay roads and that the road had to meet the minimum fire prevention code access requirements, which meant it was capable of supporting a 32-ton vehicle. He mentioned that there was an added stipulation in the ordinance that would require the Applicant to spray the road prior to an equestrian event for dust control purposes.

Commr. Stewart opined that horse trailers do less damage to the roads than four-wheelers and other kinds of traffic.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried by a vote of 4-1, the Board approved Rezoning Case No. PH19-09-5, Mark Gould, Cowboy Retreat, for approval to amend CFD Ordinance 2007-52 to rezone a 10-acre parcel from Agriculture (A) to Community Facility District (CFD) and add the 10 acres to the retreat facility, increase the number of horse show events from 3 to 12 with all other uses remaining, and include the existing single-family residence as the parsonage, along with all the conditions recommended by the Zoning Board, and Ordinance No. 2009-64.

Commr. Renick voted “no.”

regular agenda (continued)

other business

appointment to library advisory board

On a motion by Commr. Stewart, seconded by Commr. Renick and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the appointment of Mr. Joseph Quinn to serve as the Town of Lady Lake’s member on the Lake County Library Advisory Board to complete an unexpired term ending February 28, 2012.

appointment to solid waste alternatives task force

Commr. Cadwell commented that he was still not ready to make a recommendation for an appointment to the Solid Waste Alternatives Task Force.

Commr. Conner stated that he had someone in mind for this appointment who would have difficulty meeting during the business day. He asked what time those meetings would be held.

Commr. Cadwell responded that generally the committee decides that after it is formed.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the appointment of Mr. Peter Tarby as the League of Cities representative to the newly created Solid Waste Alternatives Task Force.

reports

county attorney

release of niagara transcripts

Ms. Melanie Marsh, Acting County Attorney, requested that the Board agree to release the remaining transcripts for Niagara, since they would be helpful in their defense against the Motion for Attorney’s Fees.

On a motion by Commr. Conner, seconded by Commr. Stewart and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the County Attorney’s request to release the Niagara transcripts.

county manager

cancellation of meeting

Mr. Sandy Minkoff, Interim County Manager, stated that the January 26 Board Meeting might have to be cancelled, since Commr. Cadwell would not be there and he and Commr. Renick were scheduled to be witnesses in the Niagara hearing. He noted that they could have the meeting if the Niagara hearing was changed, but he requested that the zoning hearings which were scheduled on that day be rescheduled for February 2, so they would not have to try to cancel those at the last moment.

There was consensus to rearrange those meeting schedules as requested by the Interim County Manager.

commissioner hill – district 1

martin luther king, jr. day proclamation

Commr. Hill related that each year they help celebrate the national holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King, and they would present a resolution at the breakfast in January.

On a motion by Commr. Hill, seconded by Commr. Conner and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved Proclamation No. 2009-189 proclaiming January 18, 2010 as a day to observe and celebrate the life and dreams of Martin Luther King, Jr.

appreciation to tax collector

Commr. Hill wanted to thank the Tax Collector as well as EMS for the extra revenue from unused funds that were not spent by those entities. She noted that they could look at those monies when they next go into their budget workshop.

leadership day

Commr. Hill thanked staff for facilitating a successful Leadership Day.

edc (Economic development commission) invitation

Commr. Hill stated that the EDC has sent them an invitation, which was extended to the entire Board, for a combination holiday and appreciation to their advisory committee reception for tomorrow evening, December 16. She asked whether it was appropriate for her to attend since she was liaison to the EDC and that advisory group, even though she understood the reservations that Commr. Renick had expressed about participating in that, and whether the rest of the Board wanted to attend that event.

Commr. Conner stated that he would attend since it was to support volunteers who had worked hard, but he had a prior family commitment that evening that was out of town.

Commr. Renick commented that she appreciated the work that committee has done, but she was concerned that it looked bad that it was held at Bella Collina, which was the most extravagant country club in the County. She was uncomfortable with that, even though she realized that they had sponsors and donations helping to fund the event.

Commr. Conner pointed out that he was concerned about the perception that the Board was anti-business, even though he did not think that was backed up by facts. He pointed out that this event was sponsored by private money and that no public money was being used.

Commr. Stewart commented that she was going to the event because she appreciated all the hours that those volunteers put in to help their county, but she wished they had chosen a location other than Bella Collina for the event.

commissioner renick – vice chairman and district 2

county manager search

Commr. Renick inquired whether they were prepared for the expenses of bringing candidates to the County to interview if they did a national search for a County Manager.

Commr. Conner responded that he thought they were prepared to spend the money to do that, but he thought the expense would be limited since they would only be bringing selected out-of-state candidates to the County. He commented that those were routine costs that went with advertising a vacancy.

reports – commissioner conner – district 3

code enforcement hours

Commr. Conner informed the Board that he was getting some complaints regarding the slaughter house issue indicating that there was still some slaughtering going on there, and he thought they should look into that situation. He specified that the allegation was that the violation happened on the Friday after Thanksgiving when there was an assumption that there would be no staff available, and he opined that they should stagger their code enforcement hours or find some way to make code enforcement staff available if there was a problem so that people did not think they could get away with major violations on certain days.

Mr. Minkoff informed the Board that they now had a regularly scheduled code enforcement officer on Saturdays.

Commr. Hill commented that she believed Code Enforcement will adjust their schedule to make a person available for complaints on different days and at different times.

REPORTS – COMMISSIONER STEWART – DISTRICT 4

responsibilities of lpa

Commr. Stewart commented that since it looked like they were leaning towards sunsetting the LPA (Local Planning Agency), she had some concerns about turning their responsibilities over to the Zoning Board, and she thought that working on the LDR’s (Land Development Regulations) to complement their Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan) was a huge responsibility. She expressed concerned that the Zoning Board has recommended approval for projects that were against the Comp Plan with comments indicating that it did not agree with or would honor the Comp Plan.

Commr. Renick indicated that this issue was on the Agenda for January 5 for discussion.

Commr. Conner commented that it was alright for an advisory board to give an opinion that the Board disagreed with, and pointed out that the Board had the final authority.

REPORTS – COMMISIONER CADWELL – CHAIRMAN AND DISTRICT 5

giving toy box

Commr. Cadwell reported that the County participated in the Giving Toy Box this year, and they were able to serve 574 families on Saturday and about 1500 children.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

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welton g. cadwell, chairman

ATTEST:

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NEIL KELLY, CLERK