A regular MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

august 25, 2020

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, August 25, 2020 at 9:00 a.m., in the County Commission Chambers, Lake County Administration Building, Tavares, Florida. Commissioners present at the meeting were: Leslie Campione, Chairman; Wendy Breeden, Vice Chairman; Timothy I. Sullivan; Sean Parks; and Josh Blake. Others present were: Jeff Cole, County Manager; Melanie Marsh, County Attorney; Niki Booth, Executive Office Manager, County Manager’s Office; Kristy Mullane, Chief Financial Officer; and Josh Pearson, Deputy Clerk.

INVOCATION and pledge

Commr. Campione said that the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) was meeting in person, but that this meeting was also being streamed live on the County’s website; additionally, they were broadcasting the meeting via Zoom Webinar for members of the public who wished to provide input during the meeting but preferred not to attend in person. She commented that the Pledge of Allegiance would be led by a veteran who worked for the County, and that Mr. Trey Smedley, Systems Administrator for the Office of Public Safety Support, would be leading the Pledge of Allegiance after the invocation. She explained that Mr. Smedley had served in the United States (U.S.) Army from 1992 to 1997 and held positions as a 31C Army Radio Operator-Maintainer and a 54B Chemical Operations Specialist. She elaborated that his tours included working with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Bosnia in 1993, and he also participated in Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti in 1994. She thanked Mr. Smedley for his service and expressed appreciation for him leading the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pastor Tony McCoy from the Hope International Church of Groveland gave the Invocation, and Mr. Smedley led the Pledge of Allegiance.

virtual meeting instructions

Mr. Erikk Ross, Director for the Information Technology (IT) Department, said that this meeting was being streamed live on the County’s website and was also being made available through Zoom Webinar for members of the public who wished to provide comments during the citizen question and comment period later in the agenda. He stated that anyone watching the live stream who wished to participate in the meeting could follow the directions being broadcast. He commented that during the citizen question and comment period, anyone who had joined the Zoom Webinar using their phone could press *9 to virtually raise their hands; furthermore, anyone participating online could click the raise hand button to let the County know they wished to speak. He mentioned that when it was time for public comment, he would read the person’s name or phone number, unmute the appropriate line, and the speaker would be asked to provide comments. He mentioned that everyone would have three minutes to speak and that after three minutes, an alarm would sound letting them know that their time was up. He added that the County previously notified the public that comments could be emailed through 5:00 p.m. on the previous day, and those comments were shared with the Board prior to this meeting. He explained that anyone who wished to provide written comments during the meeting could visit www.lakecountyfl.gov/commissionmeeting, noting that any written comments submitted during the meeting would be shared with each Board member following the meeting.

Agenda update

Mr. Jeff Cole, County Manager, stated that staff had added a new Tab 30 at Commissioner Breeden’s request, and the original Tab 30 became Tab 31.

covid-19 update

Mr. Tommy Carpenter, Director for the Office of Emergency Management, provided an update on the County’s response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). He said that the Lake County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) remained at a level two activation and had been this way since March 16, 2020. He commented that the Lake County Citizens Information Line (CIL) was open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and was closed on weekends; however, there was a recording to provide COVID-19 testing locations and the Florida Department of Health (DOH) in Lake County’s local COVID-19 hotline number. He said that the number for the CIL was 352-253-9999, and the number for the DOH in Lake County’s COVID-19 hotline was 352-742-4830. He relayed that according to the DOH in Lake County’s COVID-19 update on the previous day, there were 6,089 positive tests; furthermore, two weeks prior, he reported the number to be 5,177. He commented that as of the previous day, 72,606 individuals had been tested, with him previously reporting that the number was 65,358. He explained that in a two week period of time, 7,248 tests had been conducted, with 912 individuals testing positive. He relayed that the positivity rate in this two week period was 12.58 percent, noting that the testing was beginning to decline slightly; however, over the past few days, the County had seen the number of positive tests drop, and the daily positive rate was around four percent. He relayed that today, the cumulative total percentage of positive results was 8.39 percent, and in comparing Lake County with contiguous counties, Lake County had the lowest positivity rate; additionally, Lake County met the State’s goal of having a positivity rate of 10 percent or less. He commented that 93 deaths had occurred to date and that two weeks prior, there were 68 deaths in Lake County. He said that the age range of those testing positive remained the same, with the highest being 25-34 years of age, the second highest being 35-44, the third highest being 35-54, and fourth highest being 15-24. He added that Lake County’s median age for COVID-19 positive cases was 42. He stated that there was a total of 900 hospital beds available, with 678 being used in the current census, and 222 being available for a 24.67 percent available bed capacity. He stated that there were 104 intensive care unit (ICU) beds, that 73 beds between the three hospitals were being used, and that this left 31 available ICU beds with a 29.81 percent available capacity. He noted that the hospitals indicated that they could increase the number of ICU beds with staffing. He said that the Office of Emergency Management continued to communicate with all of the healthcare facilities and hospitals about the need for personal protective equipment (PPE), and that PPE was commercially available; furthermore, they had few requests from healthcare facilities and were able to fill them when requests were received. He also said that since April 27, 2020, the County had issued 755,246 pieces of PPE. He mentioned that in monitoring COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities that were licensed by the Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA), and residential facilities licensed by various agencies, there was a total of 318 COVID-19 positive patients. He commented that there were five long term care facilities that the County was working with to provide the needed resources to reduce this number. He remarked that for COVID-19 testing, the DOH in Lake County had two locations at 560 West DeSoto Street in the City of Clermont, and at Lake Sumter State College, with hours of operation of Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. until tests were gone on a first come first serve basis for residents and non-residents, including children, with no testing criteria required, nor was there a charge for testing. He said that Adult Medicine of Lake County was located at Lake Square Mall, Tuesday through Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., commenting that they conducted nasal swab tests on all days with no testing criteria required. He added that antibody tests were conducted on Thursdays only, and either test cost $20. He also mentioned that there had been three State sponsored pop up test sites; however, the site at the Publix grocery store in the City of Tavares had been demobilized due to a decrease in the number of people coming to get tested. He noted that there was still testing at the Home Depot in the City of Leesburg next to the mall, along with the Target on U.S. Highway 50 in the
City of Clermont which began on August 14, 2020. He indicated that the hours of operation were Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., that there was no testing criteria required, that testing was available on a first come first serve basis, that testing for children was unavailable at this time, and that there was no charge for the tests. He then discussed Lake County’s cloth face mask distribution which began on July 7, 2020 and said that through the previous day, 64,658 masks had been distributed at 18 locations throughout the county, including municipalities. He said that Lake County’s long term recovery organization Lake Support and Emergency Recovery (LASER), was providing PPE, cloth masks and hand sanitizer to 62 businesses, churches and agencies, stating that they provided 58,062 cloth masks, 1,300 procedure masks, four gallons of hand sanitizer, and 15 boxes of gloves. He mentioned that Lake County schools started on the previous day, and his office was working with the DOH in Lake County and schools to monitor this activity. He added that Adult Medicine of Lake County worked with Lake County schools to provide rapid COVID-19 tests for teachers, staff and students before the start of school, and during this process, they moved from rapid testing to ribonucleic acid (RNA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. He also stated that Adult Medicine of Lake County had been able to work with two local labs to get about a 36 hour turnaround. He then indicated that his office continued to monitor the tropics and cyclone activity, and that the most active time of hurricane season began in the middle of August and lasted until the end of October, with the peak being September 10. He reminded everyone to be vigilant and prepared.

Commr. Breeden said that the county had been under a state of emergency for a significant period of time, and she expressed appreciation for Mr. Carpenter and staff’s efforts.

Mr. Aaron Kissler, Administrator/Director/Health Officer for the DOH in Lake County, said that the county’s COVID-19 death rate had slowed; however, they were close to 100 deaths currently. He said that the county’s percent positivity was looking good, noting that it had been under five percent in the last few days with a continuing decline. He opined that contact tracing was going well, noting that his organization had 20 dedicated contact tracers and that they had about double their capacity; however, they previously had a contracted company and was now changing to employees of the DOH in Lake County. He said that they had been working with the schools, including school resource officers and school health nurses, for training on contact tracing. He added that they created some care packets for children who went home due to exposure or testing positive, which included masks and information on what to do. He also said that they were looking for parents to screen their children before going to school. He mentioned that they were continuing to work with nursing homes, along with the Office of Emergency Management and the State, to ensure that those populations were protected. He said that their hospital rates remained low and that they continued to have testing available for residents. He reminded parents that even if their child was attending school virtually, they should have their immunizations up to date.

Commr. Campione asked if he was able to access case maps on the screen to find daily Lake County numbers.

Mr. Kissler replied that if one clicked on case maps and then Lake County, this was available and gave the number of cases per 100,000 people. He also said that it provided recent data, and that they looked at a 14 day period of exposure; furthermore, they were concerned about these cases potentially spreading the virus in the community.

Commr. Campione thought it was helpful that for the past seven days, this number could be divided by seven for more of a daily average. She said she noticed that Marion County had a significant number of cases in a corrections institute, which then skewed their overall numbers. She requested that the State consider to have an asterisk or an indication that an increase in case numbers could be related to an institution, and direct individuals to that information. She noted that this could happen to Lake County as well, and she said that knowing it was at a particular nursing home or a corrections institute could help people understand it better.

Commr. Blake asked that to date, how many school aged children in Lake County required hospitalization.

Mr. Kissler responded that he would find this number, and mentioned that there had been some in the state.

Commr. Campione expressed appreciation for his work with the school district.

Ms. Jo-Anne Drury, Deputy County Manager, gave an update on funds allocated to assist Lake County residents, who were negatively impacted by COVID-19, with housing needs. She said that approximately $2 million had been allocated for rent, mortgage and utility assistance, that $1.36 million was coming from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, that $400,000 was coming from the regular State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program, and that $300,000 was from the CARES Act Community Development Block Grant (CDBG-CV). She commented that as it related to the $1.36 million in CARES Act funding through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, the County had received 889 completed applications to date, that 359 had been for mortgage assistance, that 499 had been for rental assistance, and that 31 had been for utility assistance. She mentioned that they had started to review the first 200 applications in conjunction with United Way of Lake and Sumter Counties, and they anticipated that checks for the first 200 applicants who qualified would be issued by September 4, 2020. She remarked that several applications had been for utility assistance only; however, the Florida Housing Finance Corporation’s CARES Act grant funds were earmarked for eviction and foreclosure prevention. She added that past due utilities without mortgage or rental assistance were not eligible. She commented that they were referring those individuals to United Way and The Salvation Army, who both had programs strictly for utilities, along with considering how to help them with the CDBG-CV funding. She added that they had 2,148 applications in process and pending submission, and that if every household were to qualify for the maximum award of $3,000, they would be able to assist approximately 400 households with the CARES Act funding through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. She mentioned that for the regular SHIP funds, they had $400,000 earmarked for housing assistance, and they had received 508 requests to date. She elaborated that of those requests, 157 had returned completed applications, 39 people had been approved for approximately $157,000 in assistance, 60 applications had been declined or closed for a variety of reasons, 19 applications were under review, and they had to request additional information for 39 applications to get them qualified. She then mentioned that for the CDBG-CV funding, they had $100,000 available now for utilities and were working to finalize an agreement with United Way for them to help disburse those funds. She said that they were waiting for final approval for the substantial amendment to the grant, which reallocated COVID-19 testing and business assistance to rental and mortgage assistance, noting that this would be coming before the Board on September 15, 2020. She added that once this was approved, they would have an additional $200,000 for rental and mortgage assistance, and they anticipated being able to start helping people with that funding around October 1, 2020.

Commr. Breeden asked that with all of the funds the County had, how many estimated applications were not going to be able to be funded.

Ms. Drury responded that from the applications that came in from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, it would be about 500.

Commr. Campione added that if they qualified for the maximum allowable amount, it would translate into 500 times $3,000.

Ms. Drury said this was correct and would be about $1.5 million.

Commr. Campione stated that after attending an Affordable Housing Advisory Committee meeting, there was concern that the SHIP funding be preserved for its original purposes because it was such a small amount to try to use for attainable housing.

Mr. Brandon Matulka, Executive Director for the Agency for Economic Prosperity, provided a presentation which included information on the Lake CARES Small Business Assistance Grant, a CARES Act funding overview, and a CARES Act funding category update and review. He mentioned that they began taking grant applications on August 17, 2020 for both nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses, and the initial eligibility was geared towards small businesses that were most affected by the mandatory shutdown, or those deemed nonessential that had 25 or fewer full time employees (FTEs), which was put forward by the Lake CARES working group. He noted that they had received over 700 applications in the past week and continued to see more added each day, with it still being open; furthermore, they were currently in the review process with those initial applications. He said that with the number of applications received, staff had a proposal to potentially expand the eligibility requirements. He added that his agency was still operating the call center for this program and the housing program from 8:30 a.m. through 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 352-268-9299. He said that all of the information for the business assistance program was on the www.ReopenLake.com website, and he showed some screenshots to display where some of the information appeared on the website. He then presented a CARES Act funding overview and recapped the following information: Lake County had been allocated $64 million in CARES Act funding; they received a direct allocation of the initial 25 percent, or $16 million; the remaining $48 million was currently only accessible through reimbursement after the original direct allocation was spent; and the Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM) had been in contact with Lake County and other Counties and indicated that additional access to the $48 million may be expanded, with the DEM awaiting the approval of the Governor at this time. He elaborated that the DEM proposed that Counties submit spending plans to gain access to the additional 75 percent of CARES Act funding more quickly and efficiently, which would tee up the funding categories that staff would utilize as they looked to put together a preliminary spending plan. He then gave a CARES Act funding category update and review, and recapped the categories of business assistance, resident assistance, workforce/education assistance, public safety, City, County and Constitutional Officer assistance, and contingency funds. He said that for business assistance, staff created and launched the Lake CARES Small Business Assistance Grant Program, which had a $16 million commitment from the Board, with $12 million going toward for-profit, $3.5 million going toward nonprofit, and the rest going toward administrative costs. He mentioned that with the number of applications seen, staff was looking to open up the eligibility requirements and expand them to those businesses deemed essential yet were adversely affected, along with increasing the employee cap number. He stated that they scheduled a working group meeting for Friday, August 28, 2020, to discuss those topics. He commented that for resident assistance, $2 million was allocated from regular SHIP, CARES Act SHIP, and CDBG-CV funding for rental, mortgage and utility assistance, and that these applications started on August 10, 2020. He mentioned that for the workforce/education assistance category, there was $1,676,245 allocated to the Lake County School Board for COVID-19 related expenses from the initial $16 million, and that Lake Technical College and Lake-Sumter State College were proposing requests under this category of up to $10 million for four projects that would assist in training and upskilling the workforce in the county. He then stated that items for the public safety category included the following: the countywide emergency communications microwave system, which was the County’s 18-tower radio communications system used by all emergency personnel, first responders, the 911 center and the hospitals; increased testing availability; hurricane preparedness and expansion of safety measures brought about by COVID-19; and PPE and other safety related material. He displayed the City, County and Constitutional Officer assistance category, noting that while staff previously proposed providing $15 million, with $10 million of this going toward municipalities and $5 million going toward the County and Constitutional Officers, the County and Cities had met several times and discussed providing direct funding to municipalities. He commented that the discussion had been centered on a proposal that would allow a base level of funding made available to each municipality for $75,000, and the remainder of the $10 million balance would be allocated on a percentage of population per municipality basis. He added that draft agreements had been provided to municipalities for their review. He commented that the last category was contingency funding, which was a recommendation to dedicate a portion of funding that could be utilized for unforeseen issues; furthermore, the recommendation came with a proposed plan to have a deadline or a cutoff date for these funds so that any remaining portion could be reallocated and spent prior to the deadline in December 2020 to use them. He showed the following proposed funding amounts from the August 11, 2020 BCC meeting for each category: $21 million for business assistance; $13 million for resident assistance; $5 million for workforce/education assistance; $6 million for public safety including emergency medical services (EMS) countywide communications infrastructure, COVID-19 testing availability, and hurricane preparedness; $15 million for City, County and Constitutional Officer assistance; and $4 million for contingency funds. He concluded by turning it over to the Board for discussion.

Commr. Campione asked that based on the applications received for nonessential businesses that were required to close, how much funding had been processed.

Mr. Matulka replied that it was a two phased review process and that they had completed phase one for almost all of the 700 applications. He was unsure how much funding this was, but said they had been able to assume that it averaged out to about $5,000 per application and that applying this, it would be about $3.5 million if those were currently funded. He commented that there was still a healthy balance left in the amount the Board set aside for business assistance, which was why staff wanted to work toward starting to open up the eligibility requirements. He commented that some applications received were deemed essential businesses; however, staff had not declined them because they could be processed if the eligibility requirement was lifted.

Commr. Breeden inquired if they were able to fund all nonprofit requests so far.

Mr. Matulka confirmed this and added that there were probably about 100 nonprofit applications, with the remainder being for-profit businesses deemed nonessential.

Commr. Campione suggested that if the Board needed to call a meeting the following week to authorize an expansion of the program, then she would be open to this. She felt that they had to keep this moving along, noting that they could not tap into the additional funding until they spent the $16 million. She mentioned that businesses that were allowed to stay open were still harmed significantly, and she relayed an understanding that landlords were being significantly impacted by the eviction moratorium. She opined that the County’s program was good because the rental and mortgage assistance was paid directly to the lender or the landlord, though many times the tenants were not applying. She hoped that this would be discussed with the working group, noting that this factored into affordable housing in the county. She also noted that landlords were relied upon to provide a significant segment of affordable housing.

Commr. Breeden relayed an understanding that about $5 million of the $16 million would be available after staff made adjustments.

Mr. Matulka said that currently, they had applications that would likely equate to just over $3 million or $3.5 million. He added that they had closer to $11.5 million or $12 million in funding.

Commr. Breeden asked if the Board would be comfortable with letting Mr. Matulka and the working group move forward however they needed to in order to get this done. She said that the Board could concentrate on the $48 million.

Mr. Cole suggested that staff could continue the incremental expansion, and he said that this would help them to be nimble. He said that they could come back at the next BCC meeting and they would have more data from the second opening to take a third step. He remarked that any authorization at this meeting would allow them to move quickly.

Commr. Campione asked if it could be as broad as opening it up to essential businesses with the same criteria, and they would just have to show a loss of revenue.

Commr. Parks agreed to give the working group the same flexibility to make this decision on Friday, August 28, 2020, and open it up to essential businesses.

Commr. Breeden inquired if there was anything else recommended for expanding the criteria.

Mr. Cole said that there was some other criteria, particularly the number of employees. He mentioned that if the Board was not specific on this criteria but allowed staff some flexibility, staff knew at this point what the Board wanted to see in this category; therefore, if staff was allowed to open it up to essential businesses that were impacted and relax some other criteria related to that, it would help to get more applications in.

Commr. Campione asked about the current employee numbers, and Commissioner Breeden replied that 25 was the maximum.

Commr. Parks added that businesses could add up increments of FTEs to meet this. He inquired if going to other areas would include companies that owned properties that had a high percentage of tenants that were not paying.

Commr. Campione said that it was worth having the working group discuss this, and that this could possibly be a third expansion. She supported opening it up to essential businesses and seeing how many applied, and she thought that there would be many more applications. She expressed interest in the working group discussing how to structure it to help some landlords.

Commr. Parks mentioned that some companies which owned property in Lake County were having issues.

Ms. Melanie Marsh, County Attorney, commented that if the program was expanded to landlords without the actual tenant applying, the landlords would have to document that those specific tenants were not paying because they were laid off for COVID-19. She said that this may be difficult for the landlord to do, and she added that they had to ensure that they were not applying it to people who were habitually late or not paying their rent; rather, it had to be tied to being impacted by COVID-19.

Commr. Breeden opined that if it was expanded to multifamily, the County’s funds would not cover this.

Commr. Campione indicated an understanding that some tenants were receiving money from a variety of sources but were not using the relief money to pay their rent.

Commr. Breeden mentioned that the SHIP and CARES Act funding discussed by Ms. Drury was going directly to landlords.

Commr. Campione said that a tenant would have to apply and that a landlord could not force them to do this.

Commr. Parks asked that for the next working group meeting, would the direction be for essential businesses.

Commr. Breeden suggested to give them flexibility and also discuss the number of employees, noting that they would need to be able to move forward quickly.

Mr. Cole said that with a Board motion and vote, staff would be able to move forward after the working group meeting. He mentioned that it would take some effort to adjust the system and the infrastructure, and he hoped that by the first BCC meeting in September 2020, staff would have data on what those applications looked like.

Mr. Matulka commented that staff could start to make these adjustments preemptively this week.

Commr. Breeden made a motion to give Mr. Matulka and the working group the flexibility to expand the criteria for making application to the CARES Act business assistance funding, to include essential businesses, and to also be able to adjust the number of employees.

Ms. Marsh suggested that the Board would want to authorize the County Manager and give him the discretion to adjust the program based on the number of applications. She added that they did not want to authorize the working group because that was not a County committee. She said it would be sufficient to give the County Manager discretion to make adjustments based on the items discussed at this meeting.

Mr. Cole added that it could be to make those decisions consistent with the Board’s discussion at this meeting.

On a motion by Commr. Breeden, seconded by Commr. Sullivan, and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved to give the County Manager discretion to adjust the CARES Act business assistance program based on the number of applications, consistent with the Board’s discussion from the current meeting.

Mr. Matulka thought that staff wanted there to be further discussion on the categories of workforce/education assistance, with the proposal put forward over the weekend, along with the City, County and Constitutional Officer assistance.

Mr. Cole mentioned that the Board could address these separately at each meeting, and he asked about the City, County and Constitutional Officer assistance; furthermore, as soon as staff knew how much funding the Board would like to provide for this, they could enter into those agreements and also submit a spend plan to the State if this was how the State wanted to allow it.

Commr. Campione said that since the contingency funds category was displayed, sometimes there were storms that impacted the county but they would not hit the threshold to obtain a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement. She knew that setting up shelters would cost more in this hurricane season, and she relayed her understanding that with the County’s agreement with the Lake County School District, the County still had a portion that they had to pay and upfront, and then the school district submitted. She said that the County had to take into account that COVID-19 would make the cost of sheltering more expensive than normal, and to ensure there was enough funding to cover those costs.

Commr. Breeden expressed that she was amicable with the amount proposed for the City, County and Constitutional Officer assistance, and Commissioner Parks said that he was also in agreement with this.

Mr. Cole explained that of the $15 million, staff would propose that $5 million go to the County and the Constitutional Officers. He added that they recommended that the remaining $10 million be divided with $75,000 per municipality as a base amount, and the rest would be determined based on the population formula, which was what the Cities had requested.

Commr. Campione asked if the Cities would still have to cover costs that they incurred which were directly related to COVID-19.

Mr. Cole confirmed this and commented that the County was asking in the agreements for the Cities to submit their spend plans relating to those funds. He elaborated that the County would compile this, and if the Governor signed the authorization, the County would submit one spend plan on behalf of all the municipalities to the Governor and it would be up to them to spend it appropriately.

Commr. Campione asked to confirm if this would all be pulled together into one plan, and Mr. Cole said this was correct. Commissioner Campione then expressed concerns for a City possibly holding up others, and she hoped that staff would be working with them closely. She expressed support for making the funding go as far as possible for the purposes that were designated, and she was reluctant to do something that would dilute what the County was doing with the business assistance program. She felt that a countywide business assistance program made more sense and that the funding could be more impactful.

Commr. Breeden said that the Cities may be able to offer types of assistance that the County could not due to having a smaller population. She expressed that she did not have an issue with this.

Mr. Cole noted that currently, the funding was still on a reimbursement basis, and there had not been any spend plans approved yet. He stated that if staff found that the State would reject the plan wholesale if something was not appropriate, or if a piece would be taken out, then they could work with the individual City. He said that with the Board’s approval, it was staff’s goal to get this to the State as soon as possible.

Commr. Campione asked if information had been received from the Constitutional Officers for the expenses they occurred for items such as plexiglass.

Mr. Cole relayed his understanding that they were still making improvements, and the County had not yet asked them for specific dollar amounts for what they needed. He remarked that with a number, staff could coordinate with them and determine how the funding could be parceled out.

Commr. Campione inquired if the Lake County Sheriff was receiving any funding for COVID-19. She thought that this could be an important item for the jail and its medical provider for past or future costs incurred.

Mr. Cole indicated his understanding of one grant that the Sheriff received.

Ms. Jennifer Barker, Executive Director for Administrative Services, said that one grant she was aware of that the Sheriff received was for about $136,000 that he could use for a multitude of items such as PPE, training, and measures to make social distancing a priority.

Commr. Parks mentioned the proposed workforce/education assistance allocation request of $10 million, and expressed concerns for the country dealing with the effects of COVID-19. He thought that doing something positive and providing hope toward the future was a mindset that the Board should hold when considering these allocations. He read an excerpt of an editorial written by Ms. Michelle Dennard, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CareerSource Florida, and Mr. Mark Wilson, President and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which supported the State of Florida thriving again as soon as possible and for as long as possible. He read that a prosperous State of Florida meant higher wage jobs, stronger healthcare and education, and meaningful opportunities for poor and rural communities. He continued reading that while the authors understood the challenges, they also saw opportunities for the state to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic in a stronger relative position, and the state’s workforce would play a primary role. He relayed that the authors opined that talent was economic development, and noted that they provided opportunities to diversify the state economy and become a global magnet for remote workers. He also commented that there was another paragraph about training for the future. He said that there had been a proposal put forward by Lake Technical College, and he thanked Dr. Diane Culpepper, Executive Director for Lake Technical College, and Dr. Stanley Sidor, President of Lake-Sumter State College, for their work on this. He requested that the Board move forward with allocating this $10 million in CARES Act funding to be spent on workforce/education assistance through the Lake Technical College school system. He relayed his understanding that there were some uncertainties about whether Lake County’s CARES Act allocation could be used for the workforce training expenditures, and he relayed that he had some recent conversations with Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran, who had expressed support for this concept but understood the bureaucratic challenges and potential legalities associated with dispensing CARES Act funding. He elaborated that after discussions with Commissioner Corcoran, he believed that the best course of action was for the BCC to agree to tentatively allocate $10 million toward workforce training, and request the assistance of Commissioner Corcoran’s office, specifically Dr. Henry Mack, Chancellor of Career, Technical and Adult Education with the Florida Department of Education, to assist in ensuring that the proposed Lake Technical College expenditures meet the intent of the CARES Act funding, along with federal acknowledgement that these expenditures were permissible under the CARES Act. He said that if the Board moved forward, Dr. Mack could work with staff to try and get more answers on if this was possible. He indicated an understanding that this may not be possible; however, over the next month to six weeks, the County could have an answer, and this would be within the timeframe for the County to act. He suggested to pull some funding out of resident assistance, and that $1 million or $2 million could be moved from contingency funds. He supported moving $5 million from resident assistance to workforce/education assistance at this point, commenting that this could be moved back if the County found out that they could not move forward with it. He then asked that for the contingency funds, if the County was impacted the following month with another hurricane, would the State and the Federal Government fund this as a separate event.

Commr. Campione responded that it would be a typical FEMA scenario where the County would upfront its cost and seek reimbursement, noting that it often took multiple years to receive the funding.

Commr. Breeden said that she liked the idea of receiving information from Commissioner Corcoran regarding whether the funding could be spent, but her concern was the timing of expenditure and if funds were still going to have to be spent by December 30, 2020. She thought that project number two was doable under the current guidelines because it was expanding workstations and equipment so that more people under these circumstances could be trained; however, she did not currently feel comfortable with allocating that kind of funding if it could not be accomplished within the current guidelines.

Commr. Parks did not think it was known whether it could be accomplished, and he said that if the Board moved forward today, they would have some people at the highest levels in the State who were willing to help determine this; furthermore, in the next four to six weeks, they could know for sure. He added that if it was not known by then, the County would still have flexibility before December 30, 2020. He opined that with housing assistance, there could always be some amount of funding to hand out, and he felt that the County could hand it out quickly if workforce/education assistance was not able to be done.

Commr. Sullivan expressed support for seeking answers but noted that these were long term projects. He said that the COVID-19 funding was designed to help businesses, education, etc. that had an immediate impact; however, the Board was considering constructing buildings, noting that one of the projects was a design and concept plan. He questioned how this related to COVID-19, and he asked why County government was looking to fund some of this.

Commr. Parks opined that it made sense because the Board was discussing economic recovery. He felt that some of the jobs before March 2020 could be gone forever, and he relayed his understanding that the county had struggled with workforce training as a top issue to become an attractive place for business. He thought that this was an opportunity to do this, and that it was money well spent, noting that it required a commitment from the County and the Lake County School District.

Commr. Sullivan stated that he did not disagree with workforce training but noted that the County had picked a $5 million number, along with providing Lake County Schools with about $1.6 million for operational costs. He said that receiving the proposal a few days prior to the current meeting was not enough time for him to research the issue.

Commr. Parks said that allowing a month would give the County the time to obtain answers, and that if there was no desire to do this at the current meeting, then it would be a dead issue.

Commr. Sullivan opined that some of these projects had merit, though he questioned the whole $10 million.

Commr. Parks relayed that the $10 million number came up quickly because the County did not have answers on CARES Act funding until recently.

Commr. Sullivan expressed that he was amicable with moving forward, but stated that his concerns were not yet addressed.

Commr. Breeden said that she was not willing to commit to $10 million at this point.

Commr. Blake stated that he would rather receive a concrete answer from Commissioner Corcoran before doing this.

Commr. Sullivan relayed his understanding that there was CDBG funding available, and he was unsure if there were other education dollars that would be available to help in this regard.

Commr. Parks commented that the Board could move forward with the City, County and Constitutional Officer assistance, and the remaining three categories of resident assistance, contingency funds, and workforce/education assistance, along with getting an opinion and information from Commissioner Corcoran’s office within the next two weeks to a month.

Commr. Breeden did not think that the Board could wait a month to put forward a plan because each day was less time that they would have to expend the funds and meet the December 30, 2020 deadline. She added that the Board did not currently have any assurance that this would change.

Commr. Parks thought that the resident assistance could be expended quickly.

Commr. Breeden mentioned that it could go toward rental assistance, additional mortgage assistance, or to help with giving some residents other assistance.

Commr. Campione recalled that the Board had discussed doing something similar to Orange County, which gave grants.

Commr. Breeden opined that this did not go very far.

Commr. Campione asked where the County would get assurance from.

Commr. Parks said that part of this would be getting federal acknowledgement.

Ms. Marsh explained that the U.S. Department of Treasury was overseeing the use of all the funds and was issuing the guidance and how the funding was going to be used. She said that the U.S. Department of Treasury clarified in August 2020 that the cost had to be incurred between March 1, 2020 and December 30, 2020 to be eligible, even though the County’s final payments could be made within 90 days into the new year. She thought that the concern was whether the U.S. Department of Treasury would fluctuate from allowing costs to be incurred after that date, though the BCC would ultimately want to have an opinion from the U.S. Department of Treasury before they allocated funding for this particular use.

Commr. Breeden mentioned that Dr. Culpepper and Dr. Sidor were in attendance, and she expressed appreciation for them presenting the plans upon request. She said that any concerns she had about committing this funding were not based on the projects’ worth, but whether they could be accomplished under the CARES Act and in a timely manner.

Commr. Campione said that the County had a good snapshot of the highest workforce training priorities in the county; however, she was skeptical that they could make this fit within the parameters of the CARES Act, noting that there could possibly be a subsequent bill from the U.S. Congress which could give some leeway for items like this. She expressed interest in getting the funding to where it could have the largest impact, and she thought that helping people and businesses through this difficult time was where the Board had to stay focused. She expressed that she was not opposed to getting an opinion, though she relayed her understanding that the U.S. Department of Treasury already conveyed an opinion that would make it challenging for any other interpretation. She thought everyone agreed that for resident assistance, the County could act quickly to get things in place, noting that there was additional needs for rental and mortgage assistance. She stated that if Lake County did something similar to Orange County’s per resident grant, then this could be another way to move quickly; additionally, funding could be shifted to some of the landlord needs or business expansion assistance. She said that the Board had options, and she supported finding out if this could be done, though not making a commitment to provide the whole amount of funding.

Commr. Breeden did not think there was anything prohibiting the Board from amending the plan.

Mr. Cole said that if the Board wanted to authorize staff to move forward with the funding for the City, County and Constitutional Officer assistance category as described earlier, and also authorize them to seek an opinion from Commissioner Corcoran, which would include an opinion from the U.S. Department of Treasury, then staff could move forward with these items. He did not think that it was necessary at this point for the Board to narrow down the other funding on the chart.

Commr. Campione suggested the caveat that if the $15 million for City, County and Constitutional Officer assistance was not spent for those purposes, then it would flow back into the overall business and resident assistance programs.

Mr. Cole explained that the agreement that the County Attorney developed had some requirements for when the funding had to be spent, along with the obligations that were on the Cities if they did not spend it or if the funding was not spent appropriately.

Commr. Campione recalled that the Board discussed the possibility of assistance for students who needed funding to go back to school to retool or to learn new skills. She felt that this could be a category where the County could potentially help, and one that could have the type of impact that the CARES Act was intended to have. She added that it could be in the way of scholarship funding for particular programs.

Ms. Marsh said that scholarships were a permissible use for the workforce training, though it had to be expended before the end of the year.

Commr. Campione relayed an understanding that students would have to enlist and pay their tuition right away. She thought that this could be brought back to the Board as a proposal if a school could see a benefit.

On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Breeden, and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved to authorize staff to move forward with the funding for the City, County and Constitutional Officer assistance category of CARES Act funding, and also authorize them to seek an opinion from Commissioner Corcoran, which would include an opinion from the U.S. Department of Treasury, with regards to the use of CARES Act funding for workforce and education assistance.

sales surtax oversight committee presentation

Mr. Michael Rankin, Chairman of the Sales Surtax Oversight Committee, said that as required by Lake County Ordinance 2001-130, the Board had a packet of the reports for revenue and expenditures of the one cent sales tax for fiscal years (FYs) 2018 and 2019. He stated that his committee met on an as needed basis, and they communicated in response to any questions the members had to the Cities, the County and other taxing districts. He mentioned that they were obligated to present the packet to the Board for approval. He then thanked Commissioner Breeden and Commissioner Sullivan, noting that they had helped him greatly in the past six years.

Commr. Campione expressed appreciation for the work of the committee, stating that they looked over all of the projects and ensured they fit within the parameters of what the law and County rules required. She also thanked Mr. Rankin for his service with this group.

On a motion by Commr. Sullivan, seconded by Commr. Breeden, and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the packet presented by the Sales Surtax Oversight Committee.

Minutes approval

On a motion by Commr. Blake, seconded by Commr. Sullivan, and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the minutes for the BCC meeting of June 16, 2020 (Regular Meeting) as presented.

recess and reassembly

The Chairman called a recess at 10:25 a.m. for 10 minutes.

citizen question and comment period

Commr. Campione asked that items spoken on at this time were items on the agenda or any other items that citizens wanted to speak to the BCC about, other than code enforcement cases. She also mentioned that there would be time later in the agenda to speak on public hearings and zoning matters. She said that individuals could press *9 on their phones to virtually raise their hand, and if they were participating online, they could click the raise hand button to let the County know they wished to speak. She commented that the Board would be following their three minute rule, and requested for citizens to conclude their comments when the timer went off. She added that they would begin with speakers in the County Commission Chambers, and then switch off to Mr. Ross to bring people in who were online.

Ms. Sandra Stura, a resident of the RedTail community, described her community and opined that it had been impacted by the construction of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) realignment of County Road (CR) 46A, along with dump truck traffic from a nearby property. She expressed concerns for increased traffic, the number of trucks passing by their entrance, noise, and exhaust. She was worried that once the old CR 46A closed, the trucks would be using the new roadway that ran along their property line. She indicated concerns that the two lane roadway could become four lanes, and she relayed her understanding that the roadway was promised to be in harmony with the RedTail community. She said that there was supposed to be a depressed highway with a vegetative buffer along the roadway, though this did not occur. She also expressed concerns for the visibility of traffic and possible groundwater contamination.

Ms. Ann Palmer, a resident of the RedTail community, expressed support for the landscaping at the road frontage of the newly aligned CR 46A due to the visibility of traffic. She opined that the FDOT had promised that residents would only see the tops of trucks at most, though this did not occur. She expressed concern for abundant landscaping around a retention pond, and she did not think that the landscaping would significantly help with noise. She was also worried that her view would be impacted by the landscaping at the road frontage. She asked for the County to consider the sound study done or to be determined by the FDOT, to ensure that they were not arbitrarily placing trees. She opined that the road noise and traffic would worsen due to FDOT not following through on several of their promises to RedTail residents, and she suggested to possibly increase landscaping at the road frontage rather than blocking residents’ views.

Mr. Murphy Reynolds, a resident of the RedTail community, expressed concern for the new CR 46A entrance due to danger, a lack of lighting, and a higher speed limit there. He said that residents had met with Mr. Fred Schneider, Lake County Public Works Director, and Mr. John Tyler, with the FDOT; however, he felt that they needed the Board of County Commissioners’ (BCC) support. He relayed an understanding that the road would be handed over to the County after the FDOT project was finished, and he supported addressing this before it became a County issue. He said that there had not been any plantings yet in his area, and he requested the Board’s support to keep the old CR 46A open as long as the trucks were still driving there.

Ms. Cheryl Hanna, a resident of the RedTail community, requested the BCC’s support for the situation with the FDOT. She expressed concerns for noise, roadway safety, visibility of vehicles, the impact on their lake and bird sanctuary, and property values. She commented that Mr. Tyler had met with them and was trying to find solutions; however, she opined that the FDOT had promised that the road would be built differently. She relayed an understanding that the road was supposed to be depressed eight feet below grade in areas closest to RedTail, that residents would not see cars, that there would be a buffer of 170 feet, and that there would be sound reduction construction methods. She expressed a concern for removing trees, and she relayed her understanding that property values had already dropped. She requested sound reduction solutions, and she indicated an understanding that it was an environmentally sensitive home for species of birds.

Commr. Campione thanked the RedTail community for discussing these issues, and mentioned that she was working on a letter to send to the FDOT District 5 Secretary which would emphasize the concerns. She recalled that the project development and environment (PD&E) study had been going on before a previous BCC vote on this item was taken, along with negotiations for where that road would be located. She recalled having concerns with the road being moved close to RedTail, and she mentioned that the Board at that time had asked for consideration to buffer noise; additionally, it was stated in the minutes that the road profile would be lower and at most, one would see the top of a truck. She said that it did not occur this way, and that it was shifted a bit when it was constructed. She stated that she could send the letter to the FDOT District 5 Secretary on behalf of the Board with the minutes attached. She added that neighbors had made some specific recommendations, and that another idea was to possibly have one of the lots purchased to place a berm to create a visual and sound buffer. She said that the Board would receive copies of this letter.

Mr. Vincent Niemiec, a resident of the City of Clermont, displayed maps of Hartwood Marsh Road from 2004 and 2020, opining that over 3,500 homes had been added to the road; however, he relayed his understanding that the only change to Hartwood Marsh Road was a traffic light. He expressed a concern for the City of Clermont approving a large construction site on Hartwood Marsh Road. He showed images of the site, along with an email from the City of Clermont indicating that they opposed another site in the area due to the traffic conditions on Hancock Road and Johns Lake Road. He indicated an understanding that a resolution from the City stated that a traffic report was supposed to be shared with all jurisdictions, and he expressed interest in obtaining this report. He also asked if there was an update on the CR 455 realignment.

Commr. Campione asked if Mr. Niemiec and Mr. Fred Schneider, Public Works Director, could meet after the current meeting.

Mr. Niemiec inquired if the Board could consider sending the City of Clermont an email.

Commr. Campione said that the Board would need to deliberate on this, but recalled that the City had sent the County an email regarding a zoning case that involved an assisted living facility.

Commr. Parks noted that Cities made the ultimate decision on development due to property being annexed into the city. He mentioned that to some degree legally, the County could not tell them that they could not annex the property. He said that in about the last four to six years, County staff had tried to be more supportive in making sure that a City had information about the traffic and road impacts of a development that they might approve. He stated that this input had been there, but he said that an update to the Clermont City Council about the County’s plans for the CR 455 PD&E study could be helpful. He opined that the City had been to a few County meetings on this issue, but their councilmembers had not.

Mr. Niemiec felt that the Board’s support would be helpful to residents. He said that the residents were concerned with the County over the roads, though the City was building developments. He expressed that he did not have an issue with developments, but supported fixing the road first.

Commr. Campione thought that in a previous discussion about CR 455, the Board had discussed the possibility of having a joint meeting to highlight with the City of Clermont what the County was working on for the road networks, along with the limitations and possibilities for expanding Hancock Road.

Commr. Parks said that he could work with Mr. Schneider, and that Mr. Schneider could work with Mr. Niemiec and the City of Clermont on this issue. He stated that the County wanted to be partners with the Cities.

Commr. Breeden said that this could be a road that the County could possibly transfer to the City.

Mr. Schneider mentioned that the Clermont City Manager had invited the County to a meeting on September 8, 2020 to discuss the Hooks Street project.

Commr. Campione inquired if the County could ask to possibly expand the discussion.

Mr. Schneider replied that he could discuss it with the Clermont City Manager.

Mr. Vance Jochim, a concerned citizen, thanked Commissioner Sullivan and Commissioner Breeden for their service. He requested that the Board approve a full rollback on the millage rate, along with freezing spending. He also relayed his understanding that landlords were having issues with tenants paying rent, and he expressed a concern for businesses closing. He thought that governments and elected officials should show empathy with constituents who were being harmed. He then indicated a concern for mobile home parks mistreating elderly residents.

Mr. Ross said that two hands were raised over Zoom Webinar.

Mr. David Serdar, a concerned citizen, congratulated Commissioner Blake for his reelection, and praised Commissioner Sullivan and Commissioner Breeden for what they had done for the county. He also made comments related to local government.

Ms. Victoria Morris, a resident of Mt. Plymouth, expressed a concern for code enforcement complaints in her area, relaying an understanding that while Mt. Plymouth was only one percent of Lake County’s population, it made up close to ten percent of all Lake County code enforcement complaints and ten percent of all cases in Lake County determined to be found to have no violation. She said that she had prepared a residents report that would show a pattern of repeated complaints on specific addresses which were found with no violation. She asked the County to consider the use of these resources and to find a solution for accountability. She expressed concern for taxpayer dollars being abused, and she opined that anonymous reporting allowed this to continue.

Commr. Campione said that she had heard reports of this, and she relayed her understanding that the County had done code enforcement in various ways. She said that the Board could possibly workshop this, and she liked the idea of internal tracking so that staff could be looking to see if someone was abusing the system. She said that the Board should consider this and see what could be done to improve the situation.

Ms. Marsh said that staff could bring it back and workshop it; however, one item to keep in mind was that there was no internal way to keep those names secret. She added that there was no public records exemption, so when one called in a complaint and gave their name, anyone could ask who complained against them. She said that it was a public policy issue in terms of encouraging people to report violations so that code enforcement could bring them into compliance, which was their goal rather than being punitive. She mentioned that this was versus someone calling in a legitimate complaint, and the person being cited harassing them because they knew who reported them. She commented that the code could be changed to require individuals to give their names, though she thought that there would be a significant decline in legitimate code enforcement case complaints, as well as unfounded cases. She said that she would be somewhat skeptical that these were fraudulent complaints on Ms. Morris’ document, noting that being unfounded did not mean that they were fraudulent. She stated that there were some sporadic cases where neighbors would repeatedly call in on other neighbors, but it tended to be mutual. She noted that the Board could have the Office of Code Enforcement bring this back, and staff could consider what other jurisdictions were doing; additionally, the code could be changed.

Commr. Campione opined that it had been an ongoing issue in the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento area, and she expressed concerns for someone to be able to hide behind this and harass someone else.

Commr. Parks suggested possibly starting by getting the data countywide on complaints.

Commr. Breeden thought that it would be a lot of work to get this together, and she noted that there had been many cases in Bassville Park; however, she indicated an understanding that those were generally warranted.

Commr. Campione opined that this was a great example of a situation where it was needed for someone to remain anonymous, because they were concerned with retribution, along with other issues in that area.

Commr. Breeden said that if one did not feel safe reporting these items, then the County could have more issues with addressing them.

Commr. Parks said that it would be easy to get the total number of countywide calls of anonymous calls and what had been called in with a name attached.

Ms. Marsh said that staff could pull this information, and if the Board was looking for data now, one of their data points would be how many repeat calls they had on specific properties that may have been unfounded; however, she was unsure if the County’s system was capable of segregating this, or if it would require man hours to go through each complaint.

Commr. Campione said that the Board may also need to know how surrounding Counties were conducting code enforcement. She relayed her understanding that some Counties had larger code enforcement departments and officers whose job was to drive around and look for issues, as opposed to taking complaints. She questioned whether they also took complaints in those counties, and she relayed that this could be a solution; however, she expressed a concern that this could create a new set of issues due to people potentially feeling that the government was overseeing them. She mentioned that Mr. Glen Guzman, Director for the Office of Code Enforcement, could possibly talk to the Board about ideas he had to reduce abuses, and to what extent that complaints were stated to be fraudulent as opposed to unfounded. She also questioned if there was a threshold for if there was a violation but it was not worth the manpower to address.

Ms. Marsh explained that if they changed the code and set a threshold of, for example, three unfounded reports from any individual, and the County ended up citing them for code enforcement, she would not recommend that the Board pursue any type of criminal action. She said that the property owner on the other end could use that information if they wanted to take it to the State Attorney’s Office, seek an injunction, etc. She stated that the County would only fine for repeated violations if they changed the code.

Commr. Blake suggested to ask Mr. Guzman about a presentation in an upcoming BCC meeting regarding his experience and how many complaints they investigated.

Commr. Campione expressed interest in possible outreach to this particular community for feedback to see if this was widespread and what people’s experiences were.

Commr. Breeden said that for one address, there were eight instances but only one was followed through on as a code enforcement case; however, the County did not know what the violation was or when it was fixed.

Commr. Campione said that Mr. Guzman could also help the Board with the type of cases in the information they were provided.

CLERK OF the Circuit COURT and comptroller’s CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Breeden, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller’s Consent Agenda, Items 1 through 6, as follows:

List of Warrants

Request to acknowledge receipt of the 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.

Utilities Inc. of Florida Application for Rates

Request to acknowledge receipt from Utilities Inc. of Florida of an application for an increase in water and wastewater rates in Charlotte, Highlands, Lake, Lee, Marion, Orange, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Seminole Counties. Docket No. 20200139-WS.

Gibson Place Utility Company Application for Certificates

Request to acknowledge receipt from Gibson Place Utility Company, LLC of a Notice of Application for Original Water and Wastewater Certificates in Lake and Sumter Counties pursuant to Section 367.045, Florida Statutes, and Section 25-30.030, Florida Administrative Code, to provide water and wastewater service in Section 35, Township 19 South, Range 23 East, in Sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, and 22 in Township 20 South, Range 23 East, all in Sumter County, and in Section 7, Township 20 South, Range 24 East in in Lake County, which is in the vicinity of Florida’s Turnpike and County Road 470. Docket No. 20200185-WS.

Lake County’s Semi-Annual Investment Report

Request to acknowledge receipt of Lake County’s Semi-Annual Investment Report of June 30, 2020.

City of Mascotte Annexation Ordinance 2020-07-604

Request to acknowledge receipt of Annexation Ordinance 2020-07-604 from the City of Mascotte.

Town of Lady Lake Ordinances and Resolutions

Request to acknowledge receipt of the following items from the Town of Lady Lake: Ordinance 2019-23; Ordinance 2020-01; Ordinance 2020-02; Ordinance 2020-03; Resolution 2020-101; and Resolution 2020-103.

COUNTY MANAGER’S CONSENT AGENDA

On a motion by Commr. Blake, seconded by Commr. Breeden and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved the Consent Agenda, Tabs 4 through 23, as follows:

PROCLAMATIONS

Request approval of Proclamation 2020-144 designating August 2020 as National Women's Suffrage Month in Lake County, per Commissioner Campione.

COUNTY ATTORNEY

Request approval of a Lease Agreement for the Lake County Sheriff's Office Caretaker Residence with James "Clay" Watkins and Elaine Watkins. There is no fiscal impact.

Request approval of First Amendment to the Lease Agreement with Plaza Truck & RV Center for Lake County Public Safety Support Logistics and Fleet Facility located at 2345 U.S. Highway 27, Leesburg. The fiscal impact is $86,520.00 (expenditure). Commission District 3.

Request approval regarding the following County-owned properties:

1. Award bid to the highest bidder for purchasing Alternate Key 1638500.

2. Accept Offers to Purchase on Alternate Keys 1335175 and 1479967.

3. Accept and surplus Alternate Key 1803934, then donate to the City of Eustis and authorize Chairman to execute the associated Resolution 2020-147.

4. Authorize the Chairman to execute any necessary closing documents.

The total fiscal impact is $9,900.00 (revenue). Commission Districts 4 and 5.

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

Management and Budget

Request approval of seven resolutions providing for certification of the non-ad valorem assessment rolls for the Greater Groves Municipal Services Benefit Unit (Resolution 2020-148), Greater Hills Municipal Services Benefit Unit (Resolution 2020-149), Greater Pines Municipal Services Benefit Unit (Resolution 2020-150), Picciola Island Subdivision (Resolution 2020-151), Sylvan Shores Subdivision (Resolution 2020-152), Valencia Terrace Subdivision (Resolution 2020-153) and Village Green Subdivision (Resolution 2020-154) for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2020. The fiscal impact is $925,037.93 (revenue).

Planning and Zoning

Request approval to advertise an ordinance to amend Section 4.03.03, Land Development Regulations, to remove the minimum acreage requirement of Planned Unit Developments. There is no fiscal impact.

Public Safety Support

Request approval of an Interlocal Agreement with the Town of Howey-In-The-Hills for Lake County to administer and process addressing within the municipal limits. The fiscal impact (revenue) cannot be determined at this time. Commission District 3.

Request approval:

1. Of an Interlocal Agreement with the City of Groveland for a temporary City Fire Station.

2. To grant a perpetual utility easement to Sumter Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SECO).

3. To grant a permanent utility easement to City of Groveland.

4. For the County Manager to execute any required permitting or modification documents.

5. For the Chairman to execute any other necessary documents to facilitate the temporary fire station following County Manager and County Attorney review and approval.

There is no estimated fiscal impact. Commission District 1.

PUBLIC SERVICES AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Public Works

Request approval to execute a Local Agency Program agreement and supporting Resolution 2020-155 with the Florida Department of Transportation for construction and inspection services for the County Road 42 safety project. The estimated fiscal impact is $1,191,277.00 (revenue/expenditure – 100% grant funded). Commission District 5.

Request approval of time extension amendments with the St. Johns River Water Management District and the Lake County Water Authority for the Lake Yale Marsh Park Stormwater Improvement Project Cost Share Agreements. There is no fiscal impact. Commission District 4.

Request approval of Resolution 2020-156 authorizing the installation of a “No Left Turn” sign on County Road 44 at Lock Road and a “Right Turn Only” sign on Lock Road in the Leesburg area. The fiscal impact is $200.00 (expenditure - sign materials). Commission District 3.

Request approval:

1. Of Contracts 20-0918 for on-call civil engineering services with: Booth, Ern, Straughan & Hiott, Inc. (Tavares, FL); and OM Engineering Services (Orlando, FL).

2. For the Office of Procurement Services to execute all supporting documentation.

The estimated annual fiscal impact is $115,000.00 (expenditure).

Request approval to:

1. Accept a Quit Claim Deed from the Florida Department of Transportation for the transfer of a portion of State Road 44 (East Orange Avenue) to Lake County.

2. Accept and execute an Assignment of Easement from the Florida Department of Transportation to Lake County for a Perpetual Drainage Easement recorded in Official Record Book 1970, Page 609.

The fiscal impact is $54.00 (expenditure - recording fees). Commission District 4.

Request approval to accept the final plat for Harbor Hills Phase 6C, and all areas dedicated to the public as shown on the Harbor Hills Phase 6C final plat, located near Lady Lake. The fiscal impact is $1,551.00 (revenue - final plat application fee). Commission District 5.

Request approval to release a maintenance bond of $74,913.47 that was provided for the maintenance of improvements in Serenoa Village 1 Phase 1A1, located south of Clermont. There is no fiscal impact. Commission District 1.

Request approval of Unanticipated Revenue Resolution 2020-157 to receive revenue from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for education and outreach on nutrient pollutant sources. The fiscal impact is $4,000.00 (revenue/expenditure - 100 percent grant funded).

Transit Services

Request approval of Contract 20-0518 with Tindale-Oliver and Associates, Inc. (Tampa, FL) to conduct Federal Transit Administration consulting services. The estimated fiscal impact is $50,000 for year one and $25,000.00 for each of the remaining years of the initial three-year term (expenditure - 100 percent grant funded).

Request approval of the 2020 Transit Development Plan Progress Report. There is no fiscal impact.

Request approval of a Second Amendment to the Agreement with Mid Florida Community Services, Inc. (Brooksville, FL) to provide transportation services to meal sites for senior citizen clients. The total fiscal impact is $224,241.00 (expenditure - $95,437.00 County and $128,804.00 Mid-Florida Community Services, Inc.).

Request approval to purchase bus fareboxes from Creative Bus Sales, Inc. (Jacksonville, FL). The estimated fiscal impact is $25,688.00 (expenditure - $25,000.00 in grant funding and $688.00 in County funding).

public hearings: REZONING

rezoning consent agenda

Mr. Tim McClendon, Director for the Office of Planning and Zoning, displayed the advertisements for that day’s rezoning cases on the overhead monitor in accordance with the Florida Statutes. He said that the consent agenda consisted of Tabs 1 through 3, and the Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval of these items on August 5, 2020; therefore, staff would request that the Board approve the consent agenda as presented. He also requested that each of the following tabs be identified in case there was any public input on those cases:

Tab 1. Ordinance 2020-44

Rezoning Case # RZ-20-20-1

Lake County Fleet Property Rezoning

Rezone from Planned Industrial (MP) to Community Facility District (CFD) to facilitate a fire station.

Tab 2. Ordinance 2020-45

Rezoning Case # RZ-20-19-5

Goralnick Property Rezoning

Rezone approximately 5.12 +/- acres from Rural Residential (R-1) to Agriculture (A).

Tab 3. Ordinance 2020-46

Rezoning Case # CUP-20-03-4

Southern Oaks Training Center

Amend CUP #2005-47 to include an additional six (6) recreational vehicle spaces, for a total of eighteen (18) recreational vehicle spaces.

lake county fleet property rezoning

The Chairman opened the public hearing.

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

On a motion by Commr. Breeden, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved rezoning case #RZ-20-20-1, Lake County Fleet Property Rezoning.

goralnick property rezoning

The Chairman opened the public hearing.

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

On a motion by Commr. Blake, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved rezoning case #RZ-20-19-5, Goralnick Property Rezoning.

southern oaks training center

The Chairman opened the public hearing.

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

On a motion by Commr. Breeden, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved rezoning case #CUP-20-03-4, Southern Oaks Training Center.

rezoning regular agenda

Tab 4. Ordinance 2020-47

Rezoning Case # CUP-19-16-1

SaveaFox Sanctuary

Conditional use permit (CUP) to allow an exotic animal sanctuary on Agriculture (A) zoned property.

saveafox sanctuary

Mr. McClendon presented Tab 5, Rezoning Case # CUP-19-16-1, SaveaFox Sanctuary. He said that this case was located along the west side of CR 33 in the City of Groveland area, within Commission District 1. He explained that the property was approximately 9.65 acres in size, and the request was to approve a conditional use permit (CUP) to allow an exotic animal sanctuary on Agriculture zoned land. He displayed maps showing that the property had a future land use (FLU) designation of Rural. He commented that this request was consistent with the Land Development Regulations (LDRs) which allowed exotic animals in Agriculture zoning via the CUP mechanism, and the request was also consistent with the Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan), which allowed for animal specialty services within the Rural FLU designation. He mentioned that the applicant was proposing to allow up to 40 animals, or foxes in this instance, in conjunction with this CUP, noting that the LDRs defined exotic animals, which was consistent with the Florida Administrative Code displayed on the screen. He said that while the proposed facility would not be accessible to the general public, the applicant was proposing to have a caretaker’s residence, some educational tours of approximately 10 people at a time, and the applicant also wanted to request up to three special events per year limited to 250 people. He stated that the animal enclosures would be a minimum of six feet in height, consistent with the exotic animal requirements of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and that they were reinforced at the top and bottom, along with being curved in. He recalled that the Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval of this request; however, they modified a condition within the ordinance to limit it to Class III exotic animals as defined by the Florida Administrative Code. He showed the concept plan and noted the fencing around the perimeter, pointing out animal enclosures within the perimeter for when they were not in the main facility. He said that an issue was brought up at the Planning and Zoning Board meeting regarding access off of CR 33, and that this site was only accessed via a joint driveway with a neighbor to the north; however, the Lake County Public Works Department had agreed to allow them access directly on CR 33. He read the requested action to find the application consistent with Comp Plan and the LDRs, and to approve the requested CUP with the conditions outlined in the staff report. He concluded that staff received numerous letters of support and opposition of this request.

Ms. Jennifer Swanson, representing the applicant, said that Ms. Mikayla Raines, the applicant, was unable to attend today due to an animal adoption. She then played an audio message from Ms. Raines pertaining to this. She commented that they were consistently getting close to capacity in a fox sanctuary in the State of Minnesota; additionally, they had been looking for another property for over a year and found one in the City of Groveland area that met all of their requirements including size, agricultural use, and having vegetation for shade. She said that this was a needed type of rescue because they were often receiving animals from a fur farm that was ready to discard them due to fur quality or other issues. She added that they sometimes had people surrendering the animals, and she opined that they needed space for the animals so that they were not euthanized. She noted that this location was also selected because of the warmer climate, and she asked if the presentation she submitted was received.

Commr. Campione suggested to take a five minute break to prepare the presentation.

recess and reassembly

The Chairman called a recess at 11:35 a.m. for 5 minutes.

saveafox sanctuary continued

Ms. Swanson presented information about SaveaFox and explained they were an organization which helped to rescue animals, primarily foxes, that they could adopt out into forever homes. She said that SaveaFox’s mission statement was to rescue and provide forever homes for captive-born, non-releasable wildlife, noting that they were not taking foxes from the wild; rather, these were domesticated animals. She relayed that Ms. Raines had been working with animals and foxes for the past 10 years and had veterinary technician training, and had raised and adopted over 150 foxes that she rescued from fur farms. She mentioned that Ms. Raines was non-combative with the fur farms, and that she also had a USDA Class B dealer license, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) game farm license, and a DNR captive wildlife exhibitor permit. She mentioned that if this CUP was approved, there were multiple steps that Ms. Raines would have to go through to obtain permitting in the State of Florida. She showed an image of Ms. Raines bringing a domesticated skunk to a school and providing education about this, and she relayed her understanding that Ms. Raines had millions of followers online, noting that she was continually educating her audience about how to care for animals and what to do when one could no longer care for them. She displayed a picture of a yoga with foxes event, commenting that this was the largest event they had. She showed images of foxes with children and opined that they were friendly animals and were not dangerous. She said that foxes were also friendly with cat and dogs, and she showed an image of the fencing being built up and in as a lean in; additionally, they placed dig guards underneath the ground up to the fence. She said that for the original CUP request, they had been advised by staff to apply for Class I and II exotic wildlife. She recalled some uncertainty at the Planning and Zoning Board meeting whether this was Class II or Class III, recalling that it was amended to be Class III. She displayed a listing of Class I and II species, pointing out wolves, coyotes and jackals, which were part of family Canidae, as part of Class II. She said that there were 36 species in family Canidae, and she had listed the 12 genera in her presentation. She elaborated that there were multiple genera that included foxes, along with coyotes, dogs, and others. She expressed that they wanted to ensure that they were covered, and she felt that it should include Class II as well. She also indicated an understanding that there were certain rescues in the State of Florida where individuals were not able to take in some of the animals, such as bears, and she explained that her organization wanted to eventually be able to take in those types of animals for short periods of time if other rescues could not. She said that they wanted some flexibility to be able to take in animals other than foxes, though the majority of what they did was foxes. She stated that Class III wildlife discussed foxes, but it said “any non-domesticated wildlife species,” with these foxes being domesticated. She continued reading that foxes, skunks, bats, raccoons, or whitetail deer taken from the wild could not be possessed, but she clarified that none of the animals they took in were from the wild. She then displayed information from the U.S. Code discussing furbearing animals, including foxes, which were deemed to be domestic animals. She noted that there were other requirements beyond obtaining the CUP, including 1,000 hours of experience and providing documentation for a Class II permit. She mentioned that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) would decide if they were equipped to have these animals, including caging requirements, and the BCC would decide on the property. She mentioned that there were letters of support that she had submitted from people across the world who supported this rescue. She requested to include Class I and II as was asked for in the original application, and to add Class III, ensuring that it included domestic captive bred foxes. She said that if they were approved, they would move forward with the appropriate permitting; additionally, there were also items they had to address including a site plan, the driveway, filing a development plan with the Office of Planning and Zoning for approval, fencing the entire perimeter, etc. She displayed an image for the driveway proposal, pointing out the county road that the three properties had access from. She relayed her understanding that Mr. Stephen Brauer and Ms. Lisa Brauer lived at the right hand property, the purple line was their driveway, and Ms. Christina Shrout, who was to the left of the subject property, also used the purple line to come in and then the blue line to cut across the property they were planning to purchase to access her home. She indicated an understanding that Ms. Shrout also had access from the top of the map, and she explained that to access the subject property currently, they had to turn in on the purple line on the Brauers’ property, take a left down the blue line, then get on the yellow line and come up to the housing area. She explained that they were proposing to add their own driveway, and she indicated an understanding that the Public Works Department had considered this and said that it was feasible. She said that the yellow line would be added in so that they would no longer have to use the Brauers’ driveway, and Ms. Shrout could use it if she wanted. She added that they had discussed removing part of the blue portion, though she thought that Ms. Shrout wanted it to stay and the applicant was amicable with this.

Commr. Campione asked about the proposed ordinance and the reference to Class III wildlife. She noted that Ms. Swanson indicated that they were primarily a rescue for foxes, and she asked if they would be opposed to it specifying that no more than a certain percentage could be animals other than foxes. She recalled that many years prior, there was an individual who had exotic animals in Lake County who caused issues for adjoining neighbors, though there was little that could be done because it was such an open ended allowance for what they could have on their property. She indicated interest that if the intention was foxes, to be clear about this.

Ms. Swanson commented that they wanted to be able to take in other animals when needed, and that having a predominance of foxes but carving out a percentage for others animals seemed like a reasonable solution.

Commr. Breeden asked for the Class I animal list to be displayed. She inquired which animals on this list they would consider having.

Ms. Swanson replied that it would specifically be bears, relaying her understanding that there were some rescues which took in bears; however, individuals were getting older and wanted to retire from this. She commented that Ms. Raines was interested in finding out more about this and getting the requisite training, etc., so that she could potentially take them in if they ran out of space in the current rescues.

Commr. Breeden said that they would have to have the proper facilities, which were not shown on the site plan.

Ms. Swanson explained that they would have to build separate enclosures with the caging requirements in the Florida Administrative Code.

Commr. Breeden asked if this could create issues in the future.

Ms. Swanson said that if there was not enough room, they would have to take down current housing for foxes to build an additional location; additionally, they would not start there.

Commr. Campione said that it would change it in such a way that it would likely need to come back before a public hearing, and that neighbors would probably want to know more about the specifics of how they could contain bears and safely protect the residents.

Commr. Parks asked about how much acreage they would have.

Ms. Swanson replied that there was almost 10 acres.

Commr. Breeden inquired if it made sense to just say Class I species.

Commr. Sullivan expressed that he was not comfortable moving in this direction until the Board approved the proposal as presented, because then they would have a track record. He commented that if the applicant wanted to change it, they could come back and go through the process. He noted that there was a significant difference between a Class I species and a Class III species, and he said that they were discussing animals which had been domesticated; however, this may not apply to bears. He stated that he liked the presentation as presented, and he thought they made a good suggestion to name domesticated and captured foxes under Class III.

Ms. Swanson thought that Class II also captured this with the family Canidae. She expressed a concern that Class III was non-domesticated, though their foxes were domesticated; however, they fell under this particular family. She commented that they wanted the flexibility for Class I later on, but if they had to make a change to get support for the sanctuary, they would be willing to have Classes II and III to ensure they had this all covered.

Commr. Campione said that it would not be flexible because for Class I, they would have to come back and go through a new process.

Ms. Swanson clarified that they originally applied for Class I and that it was on the CUP application.

Commr. Parks inquired that out of the 10 acres, what percentage would they want to see for flexibility for bears.

Ms. Swanson commented that it was other animals as well, such as a coydog which fell into Class II. She recalled that they said 40 animals, and she asked if he meant foxes versus other animals.

Commr. Parks said that he was also asking about the FWC requirements for Class I.

Ms. Swanson mentioned that they had the requirements listed in the Florida Administrative Code for the amount of land required for each kind of animal, along with caging requirements.

Commr. Parks asked about their plan for the bears with the foxes.

Ms. Swanson stated that they would not plan for bears from the beginning, and they were planning for foxes, which was what the concept plan was drawn for. She added that they wanted to be able to have other educational animals such as a domesticated skunk and coydog.

Commr. Breeden mentioned that one of the images also showed a mink, and Ms. Swanson confirmed this.

The Chairman opened the public hearing.

Ms. Alda Bradnick, a neighbor of the subject property, relayed her understanding that a petition had been sent out and that people in this neighborhood did not want this CUP because it was close to her and other people’s properties. She suggested that there was more property on CR 33 north and south, along with Polk County.

Ms. Brauer stated that she lived north of the subject property and opined that her driveway would be accessed. She indicated an understanding that the subject property was just over nine acres but that two acres were water. She said that the plan showed six parking spaces in front of the property and that they were supposed to have events of up to 250 people, and she questioned where individuals would park. She relayed an understanding that the staff report said that the property was zoned Agriculture, though she felt that the area was residential. She said that Ms. Shrout could access her property from the subject property deed, and that the applicant could access the subject property from her own deed. She said that the original owner of the subject property had told her that when they sold the property and it was broken up, Lake County had refused to allow separate driveways because of the marsh in front of the subject property. She said that she had not seen anyone come out to verify that this could be done, and she relayed that they were not allowing access of a business. She stated that she had 22 signatures on a petition against the CUP, and she indicated an understanding that other individuals had farm animals. She indicated a concern for foxes escaping, and she thought that this was not the correct property. She mentioned Class I and II animals, and opined that residents did not want large animals next door. She expressed concerns for the people who would be on the subject property and stated that if the CUP was approved, she wanted the applicant’s access to her easement to be removed from her deed.

Mr. Rick Ault, a resident of the City of Clermont, indicated a concern for Class I and II animals, and he questioned how many foxes would be there. He was worried for 250 people coming there for educational events, and he relayed a concern for the impact from individuals on the subject property. He also questioned how many letters of support were from Lake County.

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

Ms. Swanson said that an individual from the Lake County Public Works Department came out and approved the driveway, and that this was in the staff report. She said that if the 250 individuals for special events was a concern, then they could lower it, noting that their largest event was around 30 people. She stated that they had volunteers and that they did not have an issue with this in their State of Minnesota site on agricultural land. She mentioned that this was a nonprofit rescue and that they were putting funding back into the property and animals. She opined that the request met the requirements and that the subject property was agricultural land. She relayed that they had looked at other properties but that they did not meet their requirements for shade and price. She relayed her understanding that there were letters of support from local residents, and she mentioned that they wanted Class I animals because they wanted to help the animals. She denied that this was about starting a zoo or similar location, and she expressed interest in filling a need for bears; however, they would be willing to reduce or remove this from the request and only have Classes II and III. She commented that they needed a mix of animals for the educational piece, and she opined that this worked well in the State of Minnesota.

Commr. Breeden asked about the maximum weight of a fox, and Ms. Swanson thought that it was about 10 pounds. Commissioner Breeden commented that the Board could use weight as a determining factor.

Commr. Sullivan was unsure how this could be enforced. He said that that the Office of Planning and Zoning indicated that this request was consistent with the Comp Plan and agricultural use; additionally, he was comfortable with the discussed domestic fox breed. He stated that until this was experienced, he was not willing to go any further than what was approved by the Planning and Zoning Board, except that he would like to reduce the special events to 40 people, in addition to the 10 people they normally had.

Commr. Breeden thought that Class I was included.

Ms. Swanson clarified that the staff report said Class I and II.

Ms. Marsh relayed that she did not see this in the ordinance that the Board would be adopting, and the current language said “permitted exotic animals include Class III captive wildlife.” She added that if they wanted to limit it to foxes only, staff would have to change this.

Ms. Swanson did not think they were Class III, and Commissioner Campione commented that they were Class II but captive.

Commr. Breeden expressed that she did not have any issue with minks, skunks, or those types of animals.

Ms. Marsh said that on the State of Florida’s website, Class III included parrots, finches, skunks, foxes, geckos, snakes and frogs; however, it was also included in Class II. She stated that the Board could word this so that it would be Class II limited to the foxes only, and Class III limited to foxes only, if those were the only animals they wanted to permit on the property.

Commr. Campione said that she was not opposed to some leeway for the other animals, but she did not want this turning into something other than a fox rescue facility. She stated that she saw a benefit to some other animals, though she would want some limiting language so that the property could not turn into a zoo.

Ms. Swanson relayed that her organization would not be able to do this if it was limited only to foxes, due to the educational pieces.

Commr. Campione asked about a percentage, and Ms. Swanson said that this could be done. Commissioner Campione inquired about 85 percent, noting that there would be 40 animals onsite.

Ms. Swanson remarked that likely 10 animals of the 40 would be skunks, minks, etc.

Commr. Breeden mentioned that 75 percent would have to be foxes.

Commr. Parks asked which animals the other 25 percent would be.

Commr. Campione replied that the Board would not include Class I, and they could have domesticated Class II and III animals. She questioned if this would work.

Ms. Marsh summarized that the Board would allow them to have any animal under Class II that was considered captive wildlife, and any animal under Class III, but 75 percent of the animals allowed on the property must be of the fox species. She said that the Class II list was broad, and the concern raised at the Planning and Zoning Board meeting was that if they chose to transfer this property in the future, then anyone could come in and bring in any Class II animals, including bobcats, leopards and monkeys, unless the Board picked specific animals off this list that would be permitted under Class II.

Commr. Parks said it would be wise to list the species specifically.

Ms. Marsh said that skunks seemed to fall under Class III.

Commr. Breeden asked about minks or otters.

Ms. Marsh was unsure which species they would fall under on this list.

Commr. Sullivan remarked that he was not comfortable including Class II unless the Board specified the animals.

Commr. Parks said that they would want to use every animal from the family Canidae, though this included wolves, coyotes and jackals.

Ms. Marsh thought that there was another slide listing the family Canidae. She said that foxes were under other genus listings, noting that there was a variety of foxes.

Commr. Campione said that the burden should be on the applicant to provide a list of species that would meet their intentions. She said that family Canidae would be all of these species.

Commr. Parks asked if it could be broken down with some geneses.

Ms. Swanson said that they had red and gray foxes, but she was unsure which geneses they fell within. She mentioned that they also had a coydog, which would fall into this, and she stated that they wanted the family Canidae, which fell under the Class II list; therefore, they would know that they could have the different types of foxes they received.

Commr. Parks relayed that a concern was if the property was sold, then other animals could end up being there.

Commr. Campione asked if they could tie the CUP to this owner.

Ms. Marsh said that it was zoning and ran with the land, and that it would be challenging for staff to enforce and monitor whether or not they conveyed it. She added that she did not typically recommend that the County do this.

Ms. Swanson inquired if there were any other exotic rescues nearby and how they came to a resolution.

Commr. Campione thought that they would typically ask for specific items.

Commr. Parks noted that the CUP was the Board’s one chance to be as specific as possible.

Commr. Blake suggested possibly allowing Class II family Canidae, excluding wolves, jackals, dingoes, and other animals which could be an issue, along with allowing Class III, and still excluding animals they had an issue with.

Commr. Breeden thought that skunks and other animals would be cut out.

Commr. Campione clarified that it would not eliminate skunks due to being Class III. She recalled that Commissioner Sullivan recommended reducing the number of individuals for special events to 40 so that there would be no more than 50 people on the site at any time. She said that the CUP could then be limited to either Class III or II family Canidae, excluding jackals, dingoes and wolves.

Ms. Swanson was amicable with this.

Commr. Parks asked if there was a time the Board wanted to limit special events to.

Ms. Marsh stated that typically with special events, the County placed a time on it such as Friday through Saturday. She asked how long an event typically lasted.

Ms. Swanson thought that it would be a half day at most.

Ms. Marsh asked if they would be required to obtain a special event permit. She commented that 40 people would be under the threshold to require the permit.

Commr. Campione did not think that they would need a permit.

Commr. Parks thought that they would need to provide a notification so that they would be in compliance with the CUP.

Ms. Marsh indicated that staff could include that it would be a notification and not a permit application.

Commr. Sullivan noted that otherwise, access by the public would be prohibited under specific conditions, with the exception of the three tours and special events.

Commr. Campione asked about the easement issue and if the easement went with this property.

Ms. Marsh explained that this was a private issue and that if they were the easement holder, they would have to release it back to the dominant estate holder; furthermore, this was not something the County typically regulated. She then summarized the following conditions: limited to a maximum of 40 animals; Class II animals limited to the family Canidae, excluding wolves, jackals and dingoes; any animals under Class III; 75 percent of the 40 animals would have to be of the fox variety; special events would be limited to three per year but reduced to no more than 40 persons, and they would provide notification but not apply for a permit; and special events would be Friday through Sunday only.

On a motion by Commr. Sullivan, seconded by Commr. Blake and carried unanimously by a vote of 5-0, the Board approved rezoning case #CUP-19-16-1, SaveaFox Sanctuary, with the following conditions: limited to a maximum of 40 animals; Class II animals limited to the family Canidae, excluding wolves, jackals and dingoes; any animals under Class III; 75 percent of the 40 animals would have to be of the fox variety; special events would be limited to three per year and reduced to no more than 40 persons, and they would provide notification but not apply for a permit; and special events would be Friday through Sunday only.

public hearing – maintenance map of round lake road

Mr. Schneider presented information regarding the Round Lake Road maintenance map. He said that the Round Lake Road PD&E study was completed in May 2019, and the project was currently in the design phase. He mentioned that a maintenance map is prepared by a surveyor to provide a record of existing public owned and maintained right of way, and the maintenance map is filed with the Clerk of Court providing evidence of ownership by Lake County per Florida Statutes, Section 95.361. He showed a location map of the area of the Round Lake Road right of way survey and maintenance map, which started at SR 46 at the north end and ran south to the Lake-Orange County line. He displayed a closer view from an aerial photograph, pointing out the area of the maintenance map, along with areas where the title was unclear or was being left out of deeds where lots were created adjacent to the roadway. He said that the Lake County Road Superintendent had signed an affidavit stating which areas were continuously maintained by Lake County for the prescribed statutory period, and he requested approval of a maintenance map of Round Lake Road, located between SR 46 and the Orange County line.

Commr. Campione said that this was different than what was normally seen on a maintenance map because this was an area that the County had already been taking care of.

Mr. Schneider explained that a maintenance map defined the area that was maintained by the County, in this case for 50 years or more, and there were areas within this maintenance map that where the lots were created in the 1970s, it was not platted but was deeded and split. He elaborated that since that time, anyone who owned those particular lots or transferred the lots had a specific deed description that they owned and paid taxes on; additionally, the area in the maintenance map included areas within those deeds that in many cases were described as left out for right of way. He said that since the 1970s, those areas had not paid taxes and were assumed to be right of way, and this maintenance map clarified the lands that Lake County assumed under maintenance. He added that if anyone had a challenge, they had up to a year to do that.

Commr. Campione asked to clarify that they would have only known about this if they saw that the County was having a public meeting.

Mr. Schneider stated that staff notified everyone by certified mail for the public hearing, and they did this twice because it was previously postponed. He commented that staff received one call from an attorney representing a property owner, though he was not aware of any objections.

The Chairman opened the public hearing.

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

On a motion by Commr. Breeden, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved a maintenance map of Round Lake Road, located between State Road 46 and the Orange County line in the Sorrento area.

public hearing – bella collina vacation petition

Mr. Schneider said that the applicants to vacate this utility easement were Mr. Todd Volheim and Ms. Allyson Volheim, represented by Mr. Keith Clark, with Hampton Bay Homes. He commented that the proposed vacation was located in the Town of Montverde area, at Pendio Drive in the Bella Collina community. He displayed a map showing the utility easement, noting that the request for vacation was that the property owner wanted to combine two lots and build a house in the middle. He added that there was no public need for this right of way, and he read the requested action for approval of a resolution to vacate a portion of platted side lot line utility easements in the plat of Bella Collina, located on Pendio Drive.

The Chairman opened the public hearing.

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

On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved Resolution 2020-158 to vacate a portion of platted side lot line utility easements in the plat of Bella Collina, located on Pendio Drive, in the Montverde area.

public hearing – fy 2021 infrastructure sales tax project plan

Ms. Barker presented information regarding the FY 2021 Infrastructure Sales Tax Project Plan, noting that they would hold the public hearing on this plan at this meeting. She commented that she would present a revenue projection and the five year plan by category, and she recalled that on August 11, 2020, she had gone through the original revenue projections for five years beginning with the current fiscal year; furthermore, these totaled about $87.6 million. She mentioned that due to COVID-19, they were expecting a decrease in their sales tax revenue in the current year. She explained that they had a reduction of revenue for the current year as a result, and they had revised the projections to account for this loss. She said that the revised projections for FY 2020 through FY 2024 totaled $82.95 million, reflecting a decrease of about $4.5 million over five years; additionally, in FY 2025, they were projecting a three percent increase to bring the total to $18.58 million for that year. She displayed a chart with the funding allocation by category and shared the following information for FY 2021 funding amounts: public safety would have $4.26 million; quality of life projects would have $4.35 million; public works would have $2.7 million; other public infrastructure would have just over $2 million; and debt service would have $2.25 million, for a total of $15.6 million for FY 2021. She commented that the $4.26 million for public safety included an allocation for the Sheriff vehicles, fire station renovations, fire apparatus, vehicles and equipment, and a small amount for self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs), noting that they had also applied for a grant to replace all of their SCBAs. She said that they also included funding for public safety radio replacements in the anticipation of replacement in FY 2029, and this funding started in FY 2022. She stated that for the quality of life projects, they had the final expenditure for the East Lake Sports and Community Complex phase one, and would then be moving into phase two in FY 2022; additionally, for North Lake Community Park, they had parking, a path system, lighting, and pickleball courts. She said that for Palatlahaka Environmental and Agriculture Reserve (PEAR) Park, they had an internal road path system and nature center improvements, and they also had renovation and rehabilitation of trails at the South Lake and Hancock Trails. She mentioned that there were pavilions, a canoe launch and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) retrofits at Lake Idamere Park, and for Minneola Athletic Complex, there was multi-use field lighting, along with tennis and basketball courts. She then noted these additional quality of life items: phase one of the South Lake Regional Park; a boardwalk, fishing pier, and observation tower at Ferndale Preserve; various other park and trail improvements throughout the county; $50,000 allocated to Northwest Lake Community Park; funding for a nature center, observation tower, and a multi-use field at Ellis Acres/Pine Forest Park; $1 million for building renovations and replacements for the County libraries; $250,000 for the Fairgrounds and Events Center relocation; and the Green Mountain Connector Trail, which they had not identified funding for at this time but were asking the Board’s approval of the project in case funding became available. She then said that for the $2.7 million for public works, they had allocated the funding to road resurfacing and improvement projects, intersection improvements, construction and ADA retrofits for sidewalks, in addition to $450,000 for trails for PD&E and feasibility studies. She commented that for other public infrastructure, they included funding for IT enhancements, capital building renovations, some replacement mobile lifts for fleet equipment, and the final year of renovations at the old Lake County Courthouse renovations. She mentioned that the debt service was $2.25 million for FY 2021, and she displayed the debt service for road resurfacing which was taken out in the previous year for $10 million, along with the refinancing of the debt associated with the animal shelter construction and the purchase of public safety radios. She said that she had also included what they received from the municipalities to reimburse them for the public safety radios they purchased on the municipalities’ behalf.

The Chairman opened the public hearing.

Mr. Jochim asked about the figures for the prior two years and the reliability of the revenue projections.

Commr. Campione said that from past experience, staff did a good job projecting those figures based on sales tax; additionally, if the numbers came in differently, then the County had to adjust those projects accordingly. She commented that the County had typically had extra revenue, though with COVID-19, staff was working off numbers from the Florida Department of Revenue.

Mr. Cole added that each year, the County had a public hearing at the second BCC meeting of August. He also said that at the first meeting of August, they had a workshop, and they had a workshop at the previous BCC meeting to discuss some of these issues.

Mr. Jochim asked if there was a video of that meeting, and Mr. Cole replied that it was on the County website. Mr. Jochim then expressed a concern that the economy could become worse, but indicated an understanding that if the County’s projections were off, they could defer a lower priority item on the list. He then asked if the County was obligated to $2 million a year in debt which came off the top.

Commr. Breeden commented that the County had taken loans rather than bonding it, and that the debt had to be paid at the end of this penny sales tax.

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

Commr. Sullivan asked about the $1.26 million for courthouse renovations.

Ms. Barker replied that this was for the old courthouse renovations and that it would be the final year; however, they may not be completed and it may carry forward into 2022, though this was the final funding needed for the contract.

Mr. Cole clarified that this was for the judicial center.

Commr. Sullivan also inquired about road resurfacing and improvements of $1.4 million and if the $0.85 million had to be added under public works.

Ms. Barker responded that to get a total cost for road resurfacing, this would be accurate and would be about $2.25 million.

Commr. Sullivan said that this showed that there were other options for road resurfacing, and he recalled that a few years prior, the Board was going to place a gas tax on the ballet but had removed it. He opined it was time to have another discussion about a gas tax and that if the County was keeping up, then they would not have had to borrow about $10 million to do this. He commented that some people thought that impact fees should cover this, but noted that impact fees were only for new construction and not for the replacement, resurfacing and improvement for roads. He expressed interest in seeing this item around October 2020, and he thought that the Board had done a great job with managing that funding with a maximum of a three percent increase each year.

Commr. Campione said that she would be optimistic and that they could see sales tax come around over the next several months.

Ms. Barker commented that they had two opportunities to adjust it in January or April each year and that they could have another public hearing to add projects.

Commr. Campione mentioned an interactive map for trails and felt that it was a good way to identify gaps where they could do a better job connecting everything. She was hopeful that if there was an increase in sales tax, they could possibly move funding to complete those projects and get them in line to move ahead with right of way acquisition and construction.

Commr. Sullivan said that with infrastructure, they had to determine what the best return on investment was. He thought that trails and roads were two items that provided a return on investment due to adding to quality of life and improving transportation networks, which were important to businesses. He opined that trails were a great asset to homeowners, relaying an understanding that in Marion County, the trail system had brought three million visitors to their community.

Commr. Breeden expressed interest in finding more funding for trails PD&E studies.

Commr. Parks relayed that the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) Board was tracking its budget monthly, and he said this could possibly be done with sales tax.

Ms. Barker stated that this was being done and that she could provide that information.

Commr. Parks suggested possibly bringing this up to the Board every month or two, and Ms. Barker said that this could be done.

On a motion by Commr. Breeden, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the Fiscal Year 2021 Infrastructure Sales Tax Project Plan.

regular agenda

county manager recruitment

Mr. Cole said that following up on the Board’s request at the previous meeting, the current item included a position description, advertisement and a timeline for their consideration, as well as advertising locations where they would put the county manager position advertising. He stated that the timeline would start on the following day, with the advertising being posted.

Commr. Campione noted the red language that was added.

Commr. Breeden relayed that she asked Mr. Cole on the current morning for some changes.

Commr. Campione mentioned that her suggestion was going to be that they consider asking Mr. John Molenda, Deputy County Manager, if he would step in and be interim county manager so that they could delay these items and have discussions with the newly seated Commissioners once they were on the Board. She expressed a concern for a shortlist of candidates being provided to presumptive Commissioners.

Commr. Parks indicated a concern for an issue if an interim county manager was not selected for the position.

Commr. Campione said that it would not be an issue if they were not looking to apply. She opined that if Mr. Molenda was willing to step into the position in order to help them make the transition, it would allow the Board to get through this period of time and have the process of having the new Board seated. She added that the new Board could become familiar with the process, and she felt that it would be unusual to have presumptive Commissioners to be participating or looking over a list of candidates.

Commr. Sullivan commented that Mr. Cole was leaving at the end of December 2020. He said that he was amicable with the process and if they wanted to include the presumptive Commissioners.

Commr. Parks inquired if the edits were from Commissioner Breeden, and Commissioner Breeden confirmed this.

Commr. Sullivan commented that everyone wanted to do what was best for Lake County, and if something was not completed in the timeline presented before the Board, then it would have to be adjusted.

Commr. Breeden commented that the applicants would not be interviewed until the new Board was seated, noting that this would be November 18 through November 20, 2020, and the investiture was November 17, 2020.

Commr. Campione said that this could be an issue and that they should wait a few months in order to have everyone involved. She stated that the new Board could work together and conduct those interviews. She opined that the process was being compressed too much and was not in the best interests of the organization. She said that Mr. Cole would be telecommuting and that Mr. Molenda could possibly sit in and handle BCC meetings until the Board had applications and was conducting interviews. She added that if they ran out of time and had not made a decision by the end of Mr. Cole’s date, then an interim could be in place while they finished the process.

Commr. Breeden did not think that it was correct to have the interim be someone who may be wanting to apply for the position.

Commr. Campione relayed her understanding that Mr. Molenda was offering to do this for continuity.

Commr. Blake asked where in the timeline it was suggested to appoint an interim. He did not think that a five month process was significantly compressed, and felt that it would be an adequate amount of time for a search and these steps to take place.

Commr. Campione replied that it would be if they got to Mr. Cole’s date of December 18, 2020.

Commr. Parks said that there would be some time to adjust if there were issues.

Commr. Breeden commented that they could possibly appoint the County Attorney to be an interim county manager for a month or two.

Commr. Campione asked if Commissioner Breeden would suggest to bring in the presumptive Commissioners.

Commr. Breeden mentioned that they would receive the recommended shortlist of candidates, and then the Board would approve the list of candidates to be interviewed; additionally, the presumptive Commissioners could provide input for this. She stated that the interviews in November 2020 were scheduled to be Zoom Webinar interviews, though they could possibly be face to face interviews.

Commr. Parks expressed support for the timeline, and thought that it was honorable for Commissioner Breeden to think of the presumptive Commissioners.

Commr. Breeden did not think it would be fair to the presumptive Commissioners and would have also affected a new county manager if they were chosen by only three Commissioners.

Commr. Campione agreed but thought that it was more realistic to let the presumptive Commissioners get their feet on the ground before doing this.

Commr. Blake and Commissioner Sullivan expressed that they were fine with the timeline.

Commr. Breeden also suggested that for the county manager position description, there should be some mention of working with the County Attorney, who was also appointed. She noted that they needed to have a close relationship and that there was no mention of this.

Mr. Cole recalled that Commissioner Breeden had seen him on the current morning with these suggestions and that as a result, he was going to add on the position description’s second page, after where it said “Confers with the Board on any matters regarding County government as needed,” another line that said “Coordinates with the appointed County Attorney on all legal considerations.” He then asked to clarify that the Board’s support for the timeline was for Commissioner Breeden’s revised timeline.

Commr. Campione thought that this was the consensus.

On a motion by Commr. Sullivan, seconded by Commr. Blake and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the attached position description, advertisement and timeline to recruit a County Manager, as amended by Commissioner Breeden.

mckinnon groves boundary analysis

Ms. Marsh explained that she had received communication on the previous night from an attorney representing the opposition to this item, who thought that this should be a public hearing even though the Comp Plan did not specify this portion of the Wellness Way Area Plan being such. She felt that the attorney had good arguments in support of that, and she mentioned that the applicant’s attorney was also present. She said that since there was a request for postponement, she would leave it up to the Board if they wanted to hear from both sides and then decide if they wanted to postpone the item until September 2020; otherwise, Mr. McClendon could give his presentation today.

Commr. Campione commented that the Board would typically hear from both sides about the question of whether it should be postponed.

Ms. Marsh confirmed this and asked if Mr. Brent Spain, an attorney representing the opposition, would go first since he was making a request for postponement.

Mr. Spain explained that he had raised a concern to the County Attorney regarding how this item had been added to the agenda and to communicate his position that it required a public hearing. He opined that the documents attached to the agenda referenced a community meeting which had been heard regarding this project, and that it was of great interest to South Lake. He relayed his understanding that staff comments about the item from February 14, 2020, had advised the applicant that “prior to proceeding with the preliminary planned unit development (PUD) process, please submit your written request for a public hearing to waive the 1,000 acre requirement for PUDs.” He then indicated an understanding that the applicant’s request, which was submitted on July 31, 2020, read that “McKinnon Groves LLC is submitting this written request for a public hearing before the Lake County BCC,” and also that “following the BCC public hearing on this request to waive the 1,000 acre requirement…” He added that the application also indicated that “we look forward to a public hearing before the Lake County BCC, as they consider our request to allow a master PUD in the Wellness Way area consisting of less than 1,000 acres.” He said that any member of the public looking at this would assume that this item would come before the Board for a public hearing and be noticed as such. He then indicated an understanding that the request required the examination of these three criteria: the proximity to public infrastructure; the compatibility with surrounding FLUs; and consistency with the financial capability of local government, etc. to provide needed infrastructure. He said that the Board would be applying existing criteria to a certain set of facts and that this was not a legislative matter; additionally, he opined that it was not an executive or administrative decision. He concluded that because of the staff comments, the applicant’s statements, and the nature of the request, he would submit that it required a public hearing.

Commr. Blake asked who he was representing, and Mr. Spain replied that he represented a group of homeowners in the Fox Meadows development.

Ms. Anita Geraci-Carver, an attorney, said that she was representing McKinnon Groves LLC, the Jones family, and Avalon LLC, who were a group of landowners on Hartwood Marsh Road. She said they did not believe that it required a public hearing, and she opined that the Comp Plan was detailed about how to go about a master PUD in the Wellness Way plan area. She said that it did not include a provision for the Board being allowed to approve a PUD with less than 1,000 acres to go through a public hearing process or community involvement. She relayed an understanding of the importance to include the public in the decision making process for a PUD, which they did in November 2019; however, she opined that the County laid out a detailed process, which did not state for this portion of the Board’s decision making that they provided public notices or had a public hearing. She said that this was included in the preliminary PUD development stage, where the applicant was mandated to have a community meeting and bring those comments back to the Board in a report before they moved forward to the final PUD; additionally, the final PUD was a public hearing and went to the Planning and Zoning Board. She relayed her understanding that the Board was only deciding if a PUD could be approved for this project for less than 1,000 acres, noting that the applicant had included a conceptual plan; however, the Board was not approving the PUD concept plan. She commented that she and her client had been in communication with the neighbors and Mr. Spain, and she opined that their concerns did not pertain to this 1,000 acre requirement. She did not believe based on the Comp Plan that this was a requirement to have a public hearing, indicating an understanding that the Board had previously reviewed a prior request for a PUD of less than 1,000 acres without a public hearing process.

Commr. Campione asked if the time where they did not have the 1,000 acres was a small piece of property.

Ms. Marsh thought that it was Clonts Grove because they had sold a portion to other developments; therefore, what they had left was less than 1,000 acres. She added that it was not done through a public hearing, and this was not the way County staff had interpreted this provision of the Comp Plan. She elaborated that there was a second portion which required community input, along with a third portion to apply for the PUD which then went through the public hearing process. She clarified that the current item was just determining the boundary for the PUD.

Commr. Campione asked where the 1,000 acre rule came from.

Ms. Marsh replied that it was in the Wellness Way Comp Plan under the master PUD. She read that a PUD of less than 1,000 gross acres may be approved by the Board based on consideration of the criteria which Mr. Spain had discussed.

Commr. Campione questioned if the 1,000 acre rule was aspirational and if it was set up as the ideal scenario.

Mr. McClendon explained that the 1,000 acres was done to ensure that they did not have piecemeal development, and ideally they wanted larger development tracts so they would have a better idea of how growth would occur.

Ms. Marsh read that under Comp Plan Policy I-8.7.2, “PUDs are generally 1,000 acres or more, with access to the regional roadway network.” She also read that “a second scale of planning to Wellness Way is a PUD with approximately 1,000 acres.”

Commr. Parks agreed with Mr. McClendon’s comments that the intent was to avoid piecemeal growth patterns, with some flexibility to have cases where the 1,000 acres could not be done. He thought that the process was clear and that the Board would have to change the Comp Plan to make clear that this would be a public hearing, similar to a PUD hearing. He noted that the current applicant was doing this similarly to the previous applicant for Clonts Grove, and he said that the intent was that this would only happen once or twice throughout Wellness Way. He said that if these requests started coming in more frequently, then the Board would have to consider it.

Commr. Campione commented that they would want to codify what the Board was looking at when making this determination, as opposed to having a PUD submitted.

Commr. Breeden said that staff was recommending approval of this item.

Commr. Parks commented that the first question was whether to table this item.

Ms. Marsh confirmed that the first question was whether they wanted to postpone it to the Board’s first meeting in September 2020, noting that the only difference would be that the Board would advertise it and send out notices similar to a normal rezoning.

Commr. Campione asked to confirm that if the Board moved past this item, would they have a public hearing on the PUD itself.

Ms. Marsh confirmed this and added that if the Board approved the boundary of less than 1,000 acres, then the applicant would go into the preliminary PUD stage which required them to obtain community input, provide it to the Board, and then the final PUD would be an application with a public hearing.

Commr. Parks commented that the applicant had agreed to adhere to any of the Wellness Way standards, along with participating in the funding formula.

Commr. Campione recalled that with Clonts Grove, there was an issue with participation in the transportation system. She asked if the County entered into a developer’s agreement with that applicant, and she also questioned if the County would have the same issue here.

Commr. Parks confirmed that the Clonts Grove applicant wrote a letter indicating that they agreed to do that. He also thought that the current applicant had already agreed to do that.

Mr. McClendon said that the current case was unique, given its location within Wellness Way. He said that he could provide the presentation.

Commr. Campione asked about the Board postponing the item.

Ms. Marsh replied that if the Board wanted to postpone it, they would have a motion and a vote. She added that if they did not want to postpone it, they could direct Mr. McClendon to proceed with his presentation.

Commr. Campione commented that there was no motion to postpone the item; therefore, they would proceed with the presentation on the application for the boundary analysis.

Mr. McClendon presented information pertaining to the Wellness Way preliminary boundary analysis of McKinnon Groves. He said that Wellness Way was a 15,000 acre master planned area in southeast Lake County, and that developing property in Wellness Way was a three step process including boundary analysis, a preliminary master PUD and public input, and a final master PUD which included a full public hearing. He stated that master PUDs were required to have a minimum of 1,000 acres to proceed unless the Board allowed them to move forward. He added that there were these three criteria to allow a master PUD under 1,000 acres: proximity to existing public infrastructure; compatibility with surrounding and existing FLUs; and consistency with the financial capability of local governments. He commented that a boundary analysis must include a location map, the total acreage of the entire site, land use designations on the property, the location of primary roadways, and the justification report showing consistency and compatibility with the three criteria. He explained that the applicant had submitted a concept plan and that McKinnon Groves was located on the south side of Hartwood Marsh Road, at the Lake-Orange County line, noting that it was the most northern part of Wellness Way. He said that it contained about 360 acres, and that the capacity calculator would allow almost 670 dwelling units, 523,000 square feet of non-residential uses equivalent to 48 acres, and a minimum open space set aside of 108 acres. He elaborated that staff determined that the application demonstrated how it met the three criteria, and he displayed the concept plan for the property. He pointed out that Hartwood Marsh Road was to the north, and that the applicant was offering a unique solution to issues on Hartwood Marsh Road, extending the road south to a roundabout and then going back north toward the county line. He read the requested action to allow McKinnon Groves to proceed as a master PUD within Wellness Way, noting that in no way did it entitle the property, nor was it an approval of the actual concept plan or development program; rather, this was just to allow them to move through the process of Wellness Way. He commented that the application fee was approximately $10,000 to move forward through these processes, and he indicated that the County did not want applicants submitting an application with the fees and getting to a final master PUD process before the Board, but not be allowed to move forward because they did not have 1,000 acres.

Ms. Geraci-Carver said that in the written request the applicant provided, she had outlined the three conditions in the Comp Plan; furthermore, she opined that through mitigation agreements with the school district and transportation agreements with the County, they met all three of the criteria. She requested that the Board allow them to move forward in the process with less than 1,000 acres.

Mr. Spain relayed that his client’s concern was the second criteria for compatibility with the surrounding existing FLUs, and he opined that the staff report and presentation did not examine this. He indicated a concern for the BCC already having determined that this proposed PUD was compatible a few months down the line, and he displayed a map of the area. He pointed out the PUD boundary and relayed that all of the surrounding property to the east was within a rural settlement within Orange County with one unit per five acres. He commented that there were a few remnant tracts there with one unit per one or two acres, though he suggested that the majority of property east was one unit per five acres with a zoning of Rural County Estates in Orange County. He relayed his understanding that to the west and the south, the FLU was Rural with a prevailing density of one unit per five acres. He opined that the applicant had not met their burden to demonstrate compatibility with existing FLUs.

Mr. Jeff McNeal, with AGM Site Planning and representing the applicant, said that it was just a waiver request for the 1,000 acres today, and they would continue to proceed with the PUD process as set out in the Comp Plan. He opined that this area was an island created in the Wellness Way area to allow Wellness Way to originally proceed, and without this area, Wellness Way could not have been achieved. He relayed an understanding that the designation under Wellness Way was what existed in the Comp Plan currently, and this determination was made years ago with the Wellness Way plan for how to proceed and create organized, appropriate development. He showed a concept plan in progress for the subject property, mentioning that the area around the subject property included the Cities of Clermont and Winter Garden, along with an area with one unit per five acres around it, and State preserve lands to the west. He opined that the south portion of this property was the largest concern, noting that as part of their concept, they placed a significant buffer to recognize this. He said that for land use, this was residential land next to residential land, and he thought that the question was if they could proceed with a waiver with residential in proximity in the southern area. He opined that the Wellness Way plan had assumed this with the designations placed on the property as part of the Comp Plan, and the property owners had to adhere to it. He relayed that this would be addressed in more detail as part of the PUD process, and recalled that they modified their concept plan due to concerns heard in November 2019. He indicated a willingness to be transparent, and added that it was about creating good neighbors. He said that the second criteria was what happened internal to the plan as they moved forward, as well as what they did with the adjacent land use internal to the PUD.

Commr. Campione noted that she had received a speaker card from Mr. Rick Ault, though it was not a public hearing.

Ms. Marsh replied that it was the Board’s discretion whether they wanted to take comments from others at this point.

Commr. Parks commented that the process was the one that the previous applicant went through as well, and if there was something the Board wanted to change to make it a more formal hearing with different advertising, then they could do that at some point; however, this was not in the rules that the applicant was following currently. He noted that the applicant was proposing residential development in a rural residential or agricultural residential area, and he opined that at this point, it met the test. He commented that the case was weaker from pulling out from the 1,000 acre requirement, adding that the idea was that a better case was made for a planned development in 1,000 acres or more. He also mentioned that the PUD was an open process and that the applicant could be scrutinized heavily, noting that moving forward at this meeting was not a pass for this development.

The Chairman opened the floor for public comment.

Mr. Ault mentioned the removal of PUD limits throughout the county, and he expressed disappointment that there was no motion to postpone this item to have a public hearing. He said that community feedback and support was important for Wellness Way, and expressed support for Mr. Spain’s comments. He indicated a concern with stating that close to 1,000 acres was needed but then having an application for only 360 acres, and he agreed that these changes should be advertised.

There being no one else who wished to address the Board regarding this matter, the Chairman closed the floor for public comment.

Commr. Parks said that he had suggested to the applicant to have those public meetings, and they had done this a few times. He expressed that some applicants did not do this, and that he took this as a negative. He said that the process could possibly be changed and that he was open to potentially not granting any more waivers.

Mr. McNeal commented that when the area was considered, the subject property was surrounded by other development in Orange County on the east side, and to the west they had a State preserve. He mentioned a sand mine to the west which was 15 to 25 years from development, and he said that they did not have a situation with 1,000 acres that made sense with compatible land use relationships, access, etc. He opined it was important to recognize that the subject property could be considered an island, and he said that they were trying to address this in the process, to make it work, and to be good neighbors.

Commr. Breeden asked for the Wellness Way area map to be displayed, and she did not think that there were 1,000 acres available in this area.

Commr. Parks commented that Wellness Way was about 16,000 acres and that most other similarly sized plans across the country were dealing with only one or two land owners; however, Wellness Way may have had up to 36 larger land owners. He said that the 1,000 acre waiver request and some of the rules put into place eight to ten years prior were an attempt to ensure that master plans would be put in place in a large area with multiple landowners.

Mr. McClendon pointed out the entirety of Wellness Way on a map, noting that the northern portion would be McKinnon Groves. He also noted an area annexed into the City of Clermont, along with the sand mine and the State preserve. He commented that the subject property was effectively an island, and he felt that matching up with 1,000 acres would be challenging to do and was a hardship for the applicant. He clarified that the current request would only allow the applicant to move to the public input portion and engage citizens.

Commr. Campione relayed her understanding that staff would then consider items such as density, open space, connectivity, etc.

On a motion by Commr. Parks, seconded by Commr. Sullivan and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved the McKinnon Groves Boundary Analysis to allow McKinnon Groves, LLLP, to proceed as a Master Planned Unit Development within the Wellness Way Area Plan, located in the Clermont area.

commissioners reports

commissioner parks – district 2

proclamation honoring former assistant county attorney ms. erin hartigan

Commr. Parks stated that he had a proclamation that he would like to present. He said that Ms. Erin Hartigan, former Assistant County Attorney, had passed away over a week prior. He mentioned how good of an attorney she was for them, along with her service and dedication to the County. He thanked Ms. Marsh and staff for helping with this proclamation, and he asked how to proceed.

Ms. Marsh explained that because it was a ceremonial proclamation, the Board did not have to meet a four day requirement to place it on an agenda; therefore, they could choose to read and approve it today.

Commr. Parks read Proclamation 2020-146, which honored Ms. Hartigan. He mentioned how hard Ms. Hartigan worked for the County, and said that she would be missed. He felt that this was a good way to honor her.

Commr. Campione passed the gavel to Commissioner Breeden.

On a motion by Commr. Campione, seconded by Commr. Parks and carried unanimously by a 5-0 vote, the Board approved Proclamation 2020-146 honoring Ms. Hartigan, and to provide the proclamation to Ms. Hartigan’s family.

Commr. Breeden passed the gavel back to Commissioner Campione.

commissioner breeden – vice chairman and district 3

avalon groves groundbreaking

Commr. Breeden relayed that in the previous week, she had attended the groundbreaking of Avalon Groves in the City of Tavares. She said that this project had been worked on for many years, and that the school building was complete. She said it was great to see them moving forward with their project.

discussion regarding leesburg-sunnyside loop trail area

Commr. Breeden said that some residents had realized that there was right of way which belonged to the County in part of the Leesburg-Sunnyside Loop Trail area, and she noted that there was a map as backup for this item. She explained that the right of way did not connect to anything that would make it a complete trail without acquiring more right of way. She commented that staff had talked to the City of Leesburg, though the City was not interested in building a trail in the area. She thought it would be in the best interest of the residents to abandon this option, and she relayed her understanding that some property owners had encroached onto it and that there were some issues with homelessness. She did not think that the trail would be built, and she indicated interested in coming back with options such as possibly selling part of it to adjacent property owners.

Commr. Campione asked if the County owned the right of way.

Ms. Marsh confirmed this and said that some of it came from CSX and individual property owners. She stated that it did not connect, and the Board would have options similar to the Mt. Plymouth lake bottoms where they could set a per-square foot price and the County could go to each owner on either side and see if they were interested in buying it. She mentioned that the County would not want to sell slivers and be left with unusable property. She added that the Parks Master Plan would also have to be changed due to this item being part of it, and staff could bring it back.

Commr. Campione expressed interest in putting funding from selling the property toward trails.

Commr. Parks asked if Commissioner Breeden’s idea was that so it would not detract from resources going into other trail connections along U.S. Highway 441 through the City of Tavares.

Commr. Breeden confirmed this and mentioned that the major connection would be along U.S. Highway 441. She added that staff had issues reaching this area to maintain it. She asked if it was amicable to bring back recommendations, and Commissioner Parks said that it was.

closed session

Ms. Marsh said that once she read her notice into the record, they would close the meeting to the public; additionally, since there was no business after this, they would also shut Zoom Webinar off, so anyone connected to Zoom Webinar would be disconnected at that point because the only item the Board would come back to do was adjourn the meeting. She reported that she had previously acknowledged a need for this closed session as authorized by Florida Statutes 286.011 to discuss pending litigation against the County, which was done on August 11, 2020. She noted that once the closed session started, it would be confined to settlement negotiations or strategy sessions relating to litigation and its expenditures. She added that a court reporter would record the entire session, from when they began to when they ended, and would include all discussions in the proceedings, including the names of all persons present at any time and whoever spoke. She elaborated that none of the session would be off the record. She commented that the court reporter’s notes would be transcribed and that when the litigation was concluded, they would be made public. She explained that at the beginning of the session the entity was required to give notice of who would be there, which would be the Commissioners, the County Manager, herself, and Ms. Diana Johnson, Deputy County Attorney. She said that staff had advertised the closed session, and that she had a copy of that advertisement in her possession. She reported that the advertisement ran on August 14, 2020 in the Daily Commercial. She indicated that they were ready to begin, asked for the recording to be turned off, for anyone in the audience to please leave the room, to secure the doors, to turn off the recordings, and to turn off Zoom Webinar.

RECESS AND REASSEMBLY

At 2:13 p.m. the Chairman announced that the Closed Session had ended and that the Board meeting was reconvened.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 2:13 p.m.

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leslie campione, chairman

ATTEST:

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GARY J COONEY, CLERK