HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995 04 10 City Commission Regular Minutes
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REGULAR MEETING
CITY COMMISSION
APRIL 10, 1995
The Regular Meeting of the City Commission of the City of Winter Springs was called to order by
Mayor John F. Bush at 7:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
Mayor John F. Bush, present
Deputy Mayor John Langellotti, present
City Manager John Govoruhk, present
City Attorney Frank Kruppenbacher, present
COMMISSIONERS:
Larry Conniff, present
John Ferring, present
Cindy Gennell, present
David McLeod, present
The invocation was given by Fr. Bluett from St. Stephens Catholic Community.
Approval of minutes of Special Meeting of March 20. 1995:
Mayor Bush asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the Special Meeting
of March 20, 1995. Commissioner Ferring stated that on page 7, third line down, it reads "...were
in... ", it should read "... weren't in... " . Minutes stand approved as corrected.
Approval of minutes of Regular Meeting of March 27. 1995:
Mayor Bush asked ifthere were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the Regular Meeting
of March 27, 1995. There were no additions or corrections to the minutes of the Regular Meeting
of March 27, 1995; minutes stand approved as presented.
Mayor Bush stated that agenda items H, J, K, and L are being removed from the agenda.
PUBLIC INPUT:
Ruth Mues, stated that she was the wife of the first Mayor, George Fuller, of Winter Springs. Ms.
Mues spoke regarding the building on Fairfax Avenue and asked that the building be preserved.
Tom O'Connell, Seneca Boulevard, stated that on Friday an affidavit of petitioners committee was
filed with the City of Winter Springs with the intent and purpose to seek reconsideration and repeal
of City Ordinance No. 583, which was removed from the agenda tonight. Mr. O'Connell also quoted
remarks by Mayor Bush from the Seminole County Commissioner's meeting of March 28, 1995.
GENERAL AGENDA
Fiscal Year 1993-1994 Annual Financial Report and Audit - Presentation. Coopers & Lybrand:
Pat Knight and George Delp from Coopers & Lybrand, reviewed the 1993-1994 Annual Financial
Report and Audit. Mr. Knight stated that the things that they follow are government auditing
standards which are professional promulgations of the governmental accounting standard boards,
rules of the auditor general of the State of Florida, Florida Statutes, City Ordinances, and any policies
and procedures and debt covenants.
.
.
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April 10, 1995
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Mayor Bush asked about the comment on page 53, item 6~ regarding the review and adjustment of
the fire and police impact fees. Manager Govoruhk stated that we are in the process of bringing that
to the Commission.
Commissioner Ferring said based upon the review that you just gave, is it the opinion of Coopers &
Lybrand, that this report is basically a positive report. Mr. Knight said the report, in all material
respects in conformity with generally accepted accounting principals. Commissioner Ferring then said
in your recommendations, the City has 30 days to respond to the recommendations. Mr. Knight said
yes, the City has 30 days. Commissioner Ferring asked how a determination is made regarding the
revenues when it comes to franchise fees and their amounts. Mr. Delp stated that he did a report for
the City ofOcala because they had the same concern. We went to the Cable Co. that serves Ocala
and we did some limited procedures there to get comfortable with the amounts they were admitting,
those included looking at cash receipts, looking at their system and computing the franchise fee based
on our limited procedures that we did there~ then we issued a report to the City recording what we
had found. This was done above and beyond the audit for their City. Discussion. Mayor Bush asked
if the report for Ocala could be shared with the City Manager. Mr. Delp said yes.
Commissioner Gennell said to the City Manager that she thought that we were taking advantage of
that through the League of Cities, the annual assessment of them examining the different franchise
holders and checking to see for their accuracy~ they have a mechanism in place to accomplish that.
Mayor Bush asked what does it mean we need a complete aging report of the Utility account
receivable, it is not prepared on a monthly basis and reconciled to the general ledger. Mr. Delp said
accounts receivable agent serves as a good tool, an analytical tool for assessing the collectability of
the Utility accounts receivables~ we recommend that you do it on a regular basis because it is an
important thing to monitor. It will indicate if you have a problem with collections. Discussion.
Commissioner McLeod asked about the comments from last year, have you found that these
comments now we've taken action on those four comments. Mr. Knight said yes, number 3 is the
debt service fund, we consider that a technical noncompliance issue that probably will be corrected
in the next year's budgetary process, we assume that it will be addressed by Sept. 30, 1995. Number
2 has to do with the City's computer system and it does not have the ability to record the prior year's
encumbrances, we understand that there is a new system that began in Oct. 1994, and hopefully that
will result in the difficulties that the old system had in being corrected. Discussion.
Commissioner McLeod asked the City Manager on items 1, 2, 3 and 4, is he presently taking positive
action with the Finance Director to make sure we address each of these. Manager Govoruhk said
they have been turned over to the finance department and when we submit our letter to you at the
next meeting, they will all be answered at that time. Commissioner McLeod then stated that he
noticed last year that he had brought up and it is in the notes as number 1, and that is a complete
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April 10, 1995
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inventory for the City equipment. Mr. Knight stated that there was a physical inventory of the
equipment made during the year but all the property records were not reconciled to the general
ledger. Discussion.
Commissioner Ferring said regarding the utility accounts, did you not recommend that we not
continue the procedure that we had in place whereby if there was a debit from one month to the next,
that it would be carried over into the next month; you said that it was a waste of funds by sending out
a second notice for the following month. The procedure we have in place right now is a shut off
procedure, which I disagree with, I think it should be carried over to the next month, I don't see
where you addressed that issue. Discussion.
Harry Martin, Finance Director, stated that a bill is sent out around the 15th of the month, it is due
on the 1st of the next month, at that point if they haven't paid they get into a delinquent period, five
days later we run a cut-off list; so you are twenty days into the next billing cycle, if we haven't gotten
payment at that time, we look at the balance and see if they are a month behind at that point, if there
is two months bill owed and exceeds fifty dollars, you can pretty well be guaranteed that they will be
cut off. If the payment is not made by the time we get ready to bill the next time, it appears on the
bill as a balance forward or past due and they have fifteen days to pay the entire amount, that is what
the Code states - Section 19-97. Discussion.
Mayor Bush said with the comments from the Commissioners, we should ask the City Manager to
review this process with Mr. Martin and make a report at a later date.
Commissioner Langellotti said with regards to number 7, a couple of years ago didn't we start a
program of centralized management with the computers as a central point at City Hall, haven't we
done that with a complete computer system in the City. Manager Govoruhk said that is the program
that we started last fiscal year and getting everything up to date, it is being put in for the billing,
purchasing and eventually will tie in the whole city. Commissioner Langellotti also asked about the
off site storage for the tapes that is recommended. Manager Govoruhk said we will come back in to
where we are going to be storing them at.
Commissioner McLeod stated that he feels that Mr. Martin is doing his job because he is following
the Code regarding the water bills.
Commissioner Gennell said in regards to the inventory, item one under the current comments, that
is really one of the prior year comments about the inventory; was any reconciliation done as per our
City Code. Mr. Delp said the inventory was done but was not reconciled to the property records
which then ties to the general ledger, we counted everything but we didn't reconcile it. Discussion.
Motion was made by Commissioner Ferring to approve the Fiscal Year Annual Financial Report
1993-1994 and Audit. Seconded by Commissioner Langellotti. Discussion. Vote: Commissioner
Conniff: aye; Commissioner Ferring: aye; Commissioner Langellotti: aye; Commissioner Gennell: aye;
Regular Meeting City Commission
April 10, 1995
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Commissioner McLeod: aye. Motion passes.
First Reading Ordinance 582 - Amending Fiscal 1994-1995 Budget:
Motion was made by Commissioner Ferring to read Ordinance 582 by title only. Seconded by
Commissioner Langellotti. Discussion. Vote: Commissioner Ferring: aye; Commissioner
Langellotti: aye; Commissioner Gennell: aye; Commissioner McLeod: aye; Commissioner Conniff:
aye. Motion passes.
Attorney Kruppenbacher read Ord. 582 by title only; " Ord. 582 - An Ordinance of the City of Winter
Springs, Florida, amending the 1994-1995 fiscal year budget which was adopted pursuant to Ord. No.
566 of the City, repealing Ordinances in conflict herewith providing for severability, conflict and
effective date.
Indian Trails Middle School - Approval/Disapproval of request for events sign:
Donald LeBlanc, Land Management Specialist, stated that this if for the Indian Trails Middle School
special event sign, this is in the Tuscawilla PUD and the Commission has approval authority over it.
The Staff did meet and recommended approval with two caveats; one: a more ledgeable copy of the
sign be made available; two: the engineering wind load calculations be submitted to the building dept.
before issuance of a permit.
Motion was made by Commissioner Ferring to approve the Indian Trails request for an events sign
contingent upon the more legible printing of the documents and also the wind load calculations meet
code. Seconded by Commissioner Conniff. Discussion. Vote: Commissioner Langellotti: aye;
Commissioner Gennell: aye; Commissioner McLeod: aye; Commissioner Conniff: aye; Commissioner
Ferring: aye. Motion passes.
Chestnut Estates Phase Two - Approval/Disapproval for Recordation of Plat and Supplemental
Covenants (north of Winter Springs Boulevard and west of Seneca Boulevard):
Mr. LeBlanc stated that this is for the recordation of the plat and supplemental covenants only, it is
not for the approval of the project, this will come later. I have sent the plat and supplemental
covenants to the City Attorney; and the developer has sent a letter stating that they had paid the taxes
and a performance letter of credit. I did not send the title opinion to the City Attorney because the
title opinion previously issued that he had approved covered the entire property. Mark Jenkins, City
Engineer, agreed on the amount of letter of credit. This is not for the acceptance of the project, it
is only to record the plat. Discussion.
Motion was made by Commissioner Gennell to approve the recordation of plat and supplemental
covenants for Chestnut Estates Phase Two. Seconded by Commissioner Langellotti. Discussion.
Vote: Commissioner McLeod: aye; Commissioner Conniff: aye; Commissioner Ferring: aye;
Commissioner Langellotti: aye; Commissioner Gennell: aye. Motion passes.
Regular Meeting City Commission
April 10, 1995
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Winding Hollow Unit 2 - Approval/Disapproval Acceptance of improvements and for recordation of
plat and supplemental covenants (south of S.R. 434, east of School Bus Barn and west of Central
Winds Park):
Mr. LeBlanc stated on page 1, tract "C" has been changed, the City Manager found a discrepancy in
the acreage that was going to be dedicated in park "A" for active and passive area; so Tract "C" at
this time is being dedicated to the City of Winter Springs which is on page 2, the creek area between
the eastern portion of Phase I and the eastern portion of Phase II.
Donald McIntosh, McIntosh Associates, stated that in the development agreement and all the
hearings that preceded it, there was a commitment on the part of the original developers of this tract
to set aside as much land as possible within the plan for parks. There is about 207 acres of land set
aside; while the development agreement stipulates approximately 55 acres of land, that wasn't
consistent with the spirit of what was intended at the beginning nor with the graphic representations
on the preliminary subdivision plan. We have parks in the northwest quadrant, southwest quadrant
which were the focus of a lot of discussion plans and concepts at the time but in addition there was
discussion about the dedication of the area creek adjacent, heavily treed and set aside by virtue of it's
conservation designation by the Water Management District; it is very steep and therefore very
useable for passive walking areas. The present owners of the property intend to live by the intent and
spirit of the agreement in addition to the letter of it; dedicating each of these tracts as the area is
developed. The City has asked that the dedication be followed up with a deed issuance to the City,
which we will do within thirty days after the plat recordation. Our respectful representation of the
documentation we provided the City was that not only the intent of the developers agreement is met
but the spirit is met as well; instead of 55 acres, which is what is contained in the developers
agreement there is 207 acres put forward in this program. It was my hope tonight to be able to show
this to you one time, put in the record the document like this, so that every time this plat comes up
for section 3,4 and 5, you won't have to have a presentation every time.
Manager Govoruhk stated that he has been in contact with local, State and Federal, looking into
getting local, State and Federal grants to put raised walkways in there. Discussion. We also have
the developer's donation deposited waiting to start building.
Attorney Kruppenbacher stated that the City is not permitted to accept and record the property
without a level 1 environmental report that identifies no problems. If it identifies anything you are
required to go to the next level report. Mr. McIntosh has advised me that I can represent to you on
behalf of the owner of the property that they will submit to the City an environmental 1 report
regarding this property that will reportable identify no issues; if that is confirmed then they will be
able to record the deeds; if there is a problem then they will have to go to an environmental level 2.
Ifthere is anything in the first report, it will come back to the Commission.
Mr. McIntosh said they have such a report, it had been issued to the property owners, the property
is clear of any of those kind of issues and we will submit that to the City. Discussion.
Regular Meeting City Commission
AprillO, 1995
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Commissioner McLeod questioned the useable acreage. Mr. McIntosh stated the minutes of the
original development and the development agreement says that all of the documentation, all of the
meetings, all of the material that was provided make up the record. The intent has always been, as
is represented on the preliminary subdivision plan to dedicate all these lands, because it is not in the
letter of the development agreement stipulating this area, what we are doing is very much consistent
with earlier Commissioners had approved. Some of it is wetlands, some of it is usable for park, some
ofit is in the middle. The one hundred and forty-five acres that lies on the east is bonafide wetlands,
there are eagles there, large cypress trees etc. Discussion.
Motion was made by Commissioner Langellotti to approve the acceptance of improvements for
recordation of plat and supplemental covenants for Wmding Hollow Unit 2, subject to comments and
representation of Staff and the developer tonight (including the environmental level 1 report and the
other representations this evening). Seconded by Commissioner Ferrlng. Discussion. Vote:
Commissioner Conniff: aye; Commissioner Ferrlng: aye; Commissioner Langellotti: aye;
Commissioner Gennell: aye; Commissioner McLeod: aye. Motion passes.
Highland Lake Phase II - Approval/Disapproval Acceptance of Improvements (located at terminus
of MacGregor Road and west of Shepard Road extension):
Mr. LeBlanc said this is for the acceptance of improvements of Phase II, previously it was engineered
for phase TI and TII, but the developer has platted it all in one phase; this has been platted, there is a
maintenance letter of credit and I had asked for an amendment to it and it was received today. I gave
the letter of credit to the City Attorney and everything seems to be proper.
Attorney Kruppenbacher said the amended standby letter of credit date of expiration is amended to
be April 9, 1997, the letter of credit is no longer automatically renewable, the automatic renewal
clause is stated in the original letter of credit if hereby deleted, all other terms and conditions remain
unchanged and that is issued by Barnett Bank with the City of Winter Springs being the beneficiary,
the date of the amendment is April 7, 1995.
Mr. LeBlanc said the reason the one year renewal has been omitted is that a maintenance letter of
credit is for two years and this covers the expiration date of April 9, 1997.
Commissioner Ferrlng asked about the gas line. Mr. LeBlanc said that has been moved during the
construction of the phase II portion.
Motion was made by Commissioner Langellotti to approve the acceptance of improvements of
Highland Lake Phase II at the terminus of MacGregor Road and west of Shepard Road extension.
Seconded by Commissioner Gennell. Discussion. Vote: Commissioner Ferrlng: aye; Commissioner
Langellotti: aye; Commissioner Gennell: aye; Commissioner McLeod: aye; Commissioner Conniff:
aye. Motion passes.
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April 10, 1995
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Public Hearing and Second Reading Ord. 574. Joyce Rezoning:
Mayor Bush asked for a motion to table this item to the April 24, 1995 meeting.
Motion was made by Commissioner Ferrlng to table the public hearing and second reading for Ord.
574, Joyce Rezoning to the April 24, 1995 meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Langellotti.
Discussion. Vote: Commissioner McLeod: aye~ Commissioner Gennell: aye~ Commissioner
Langellotti: aye~ Commissioner Conniff: aye~ Commissioner Ferrlng: aye. Motion passes.
New Rules for Commission meetings:
Attorney Kruppenbacher gave the Commission a proposed format for the way in which you would
conduct future Commission meetings per the discussion you had at your workshop. It would call for
the following steps to take place during the meeting: 1. Invocation, 2. Pledge of Allegiance, 3. Call
to Order, 4. Roll Call and determination of quorum, 5. Consideration and approval of prior meeting,
6. Consent agenda - this means any Commissioner would have the right to pull an item from the
consent agenda for one of two purposes~ you could pull it either to just discuss it and leave it on the
consent agenda to be approved on a vote~ or you could pull it and say you don't want it on the
consent agenda, I want to deal with it separately with a separate vote on that particular item~ that
would be the unqualified right of any member of the Commission, you don't need a motion to have
that approved, if you just simply said you want it pulled, it's pulled, 7. Public hearings, where you
would cover any ordinances, resolutions or other items that were not appropriately on the consent
agenda or items you did not want on the consent agenda, 8. Public Input, 9. the City Attorney
report, 10. City Manager's report, 11. Commission reports, 12. Adjournment. Attorney
Kruppenbacher said this format tracks the format done by a number of other Cities.
Commissioner McLeod said now we have public input in the front of the meeting and now we will
have it at the back of the meeting, is this what I'm seeing. Attorney Kruppenbacher yes, you are
doing the business that has been agendaed first then the public input~ I just tracked what you all gave
me as a consensus gave me direction to do at the work session. Commissioner McLeod said he feels
that a lot oftimes people come here and want to give public input but they don't want to sit through
the whole meeting. What I see happening is the people could be tied up 3 or 4 hours in other debates
that has nothing to do with the input that they would like to input~ and I disagree with the public input
being on the back of the meeting. I think it is being put there to stop the general public from having
input to this Commission. I think the only thing different is we were going to put a time restraint on
input and I think that the public input still needs to be at the front of the meeting with a time restraint
to go along with that.
Commissioner Ferrlng said he agrees with Commissioner McLeod, I think the intent was to monitor
the public hearings to a certain limit, and whether or not the public would have to sign in if they wish
to get in on public input~ those two areas where what we had discussed. I don't see changing it and
putting it on the back of the meeting, I think it should be at the front of the meeting with a time
limitation and people who want to speak under input, sign up to speak.
Regular Meeting City Commission
April 10, 1995
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Mayor Bush stated he feels it is good to have public input on the agenda items before those particular
items.
Commissioner Gennell said when this was discussed before she had a concern as all Commissioners
did that we wanted to limit the time in the beginning so that it doesn't run our meeting forever. Right
now there is no limit and people come in and a lot of time they want to speak and it is not an agenda
item, I would like to see some limited public input in the beginning with a time limit and the ability
to address issues as they come up and I would be in favor of a time limit input at the end of the
meeting if there are people who stay and want to speak about what happened at the meeting; I have
no objection to listening to them.
Commissioner McLeod said he said general public input he feels would cover anything that is not on
the agenda. The second then would be an agenda public input, somewhat like the Mayor mentioned,
that if it is an agenda item then you would discuss that under the agenda item.
Mayor Bush said what he would like is to take what the Attorney has given us and take the
information that he has from the City of Casselberry and put together a more thorough informative
description of these items and bring it back to the Commission; I think when you see this, it will
answer a lot of your questions and I think it will get down to the Commission will decide one issue
that keeps coming up and how long do we allow people to speak:. Let me take what the Attorney has
given you and I will give you something before the next meeting for you to review and I think we will
have something to mark up.
Commissioner Ferring said he thought we had already made a determination on the time, which would
be limited to five minutes and then we were going to have a big clock that would be set on five
minutes, so people could see how long they were talking.
Mayor Bush said we did discuss that but we really did not set a policy. What I'll do in what I'm going
to prepare I'll put five minutes in there and at that point maybe we'll have public input on that issue
itself and then the Commission can make that determination as well as the other issues too. I think
the consent agenda is an item that certainly be considered. Discussion.
Motion was made by Commissioner Ferring that there be a time constraint of five minutes on any
individual that wishes to speak and that an electronic clock be installed on the front part of the dias
to be set on a five minutes time schedule to advise people that are making their talk. Seconded by
Commissioner McLeod. Discussion.
Commissioner McLeod stated he thinks that the Commission should go through this to have the
Commission determine what is item 1, 2, 3 etc.
Commissioner McLeod withdrew his second, and Commissioner Ferring withdrew his motion.
Regular Meeting City Commission
April 10, 1995
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Motion was made by Commissioner McLeod to have the City Attorney go item by item for the
agenda then approve the sequence of the new format including each item as how we are going to
conduct business including each item and if we want time restraints in any place or where we want
to put our input, then to have each Commissioner to do this .
Attorney Kruppenbacher went through the format as follows:
1. Invocation 7. consent agenda
2. Pledge of Allegiance 8. Public hearings (ord, resolutions, items to deal
3. Call to order with separately
4. Roll Call- determination of quorum 9. City Attorney report
5. Approval of minutes 10. City Manager report
6. General Public Input (non agenda 11. Commissioners reports
matters) 12. Mayor's Office
13. Adjournment
Attorney Kruppenbacher then stated that the Mayor will, in a more formal document, will describe
each one of those items.
Motion was made by Commissioner McLeod that the time limit for and individual's input for the
general public input be limited to five minutes; the time limit for public hearing input will also be five
minutes per individual; and for the total general public input will be a total of thirty minutes.
Seconded by Commissioner Gennell. Discussion. Vote: Commissioner Ferring: aye; Commissioner
Conniff: aye; Commissioner Langellotti: aye; Commissioner Gennell: aye; Commissioner McLeod:
aye. Motion passes.
Motion was made by Commissioner Langellotti to approve the format that the City Attorney
reviewed (above). Seconded by Commissioner Gennell. Discussion. Vote: Commissioner
Langellotti: aye; Commissioner Ferring: aye; Commissioner Conniff: aye; Commissioner Gennell: aye;
Commissioner McLeod: aye. Motion passes.
City Attorney Frank Kruppenbacher - Reports:
Attorney Kruppenbacher said at the last meeting it was requested that I contact the State Attorney's
Office to inquire regarding the representation in the letter about the investigation they did about the
missing and removed time reports and computer tapes. In that letter there was a representation from
the State Attorney that the computer program was an illegal program and the question raised was
how could they conclude it was an illegal program if in fact it had been removed and they never had
seen the illegal program. I spoke with the State Attorney and he advised in conducting the
investigation they spoke with the former manager who had put the program on the computer of the
City. He had reported to them that it was a program that he had purchased and also put on his home
computer. They concluded from that, that he was not authorized to put that program not only on his
home computer but also the City computer and that is in concise form the answer provided to me
7-~, 'filr.,
Regular Meeting City Commission
April 10, 1995
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Page 10
regarding that issue.
Attorney Kruppenbacher also stated that he was advised of a potential situation where a members of
a committee of the City may have engaged in discussions outside their meeting. I would recommend
that in light of that report, that I received today, you authorize me to contact Mr. Holmes and have
him back here and have all our City Boards and Committees together and have him give the same
presentation he gave each of you at your meeting, and to all the sub-board members. Attorney
Kruppenbacher said if there is no objection, the Manager and I can coordinate that. It was the
consensus of the Commission to have the City Manager and City Attorney coordinate that meeting
for the City Boards.
Commissioner Ferring said when he reads the minutes of the Boards that are appointed by the City
Commission, there seems to be an overwrought attempt to undermine the powers of this Board. I'm
getting tired of it, there are people who are suppose to be sworn to do their jobs the way they are
suppose to be doing them, not to be undermining this Commission and not to be in discussions and
violation of sunshine regarding what has to come before this City Commission. It is happening all
too many times and I'm going to call for an investigation, and I want an investigation of who on this
Commission is talking to more than one or two members of these Boards. You only need to read the
minutes and listen to the tapes as what is happening. No matter what we do, it never seems to stop;
I've seen members of different Boards come up here and do things that were in direct violation.
Going back about a year ago there was a lot of these people on Boards that were given the sunshine
guidelines, this Commission was given the sunshine guidelines on numerous occasions, but yet it
continues to happen and I'm getting tired of it. I'll be darned if this Commission wants to stand by
and have these Boards undermine what we are suppose to be doing, I urge you to read the minutes
and listen to the tapes of some of these meetings and find out who is infiltrating these particular
Boards with their own personal agendas instead of concentrating on what they are suppose to
concentrating on. I'm not going to pin point the minutes or Boards, but I think they all know and the
people that sit here all know who we are talking about and I'm calling for an investigation by the State
Attorney.
Attorney Kruppenbacher said I think legally it inappropriate that any of you go to or try and persuade
any member of any advisory Board to take a particular issue. Because what you are doing is trying
to control the advisory process which is intended to get a different perspective to get input and then
give it to you to analyze. When one of you goes to an advisory Board and does that, you in essence
can be accused of attempting to impose your opinion so that when it gets to you, it's what you want
and the rest of you have been short circuited in the process. I will tell to each of you, it is a
dangerous thing, you inadvertently without intending to do it become a conduit because these people
say they spoke with you and these are how the problems generate. I will caution all of you, I don't
think you ought to go to advisory meetings. I will give you that general caution that I think it opens
it up to all types of arguments that we don't have to deal with, you appointed these people to
represent the City and give you advise; let them do it openly and freely, if they need information they
can go to the City Manager where they ought to go and ask for the information. It is creating the
Regular Meeting City Commission
AprillO, 1995
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kind of distrust or animosity that I think undermines your integrity and the public's confidence and
I will tell you as your lawyer, stay away from the advisory boards and the advisory boards stay away
form you because we are going to get into a big problem
Mayor Bush stated that under a Commissioner's seat, a Commissioner can say what they want, so if
you have something to say that is the time to say it. There is no restrictions on what you can say
under your seat and if you have an opinion about a board or want to see something done, this is the
time to do it when it comes to your seat.
Attorney Kruppenbacher said when you as a body make a policy decision, whether you like it or not,
any given member, you are part of the body and that is the decision of the body and then you stand
behind the decision; to go out and attempt to maneuver a position contrary to what you as a body
have agreed to, I think it is going to open any of you up to the Board saying we want find to cause
to discipline one of our members. Discussion.
Attorney Kruppenbacher stated that the Mayor and Commission has a draft letter, and asked them
to review the letter and make comments and then we will get it ready to go out. Discussion. Mayor
Bush asked the Commission to review the letter and make comments and return the comments back
to him. Mayor Bush said he will take the comments and put it together and have the Attorney review
it and get it back to the Commission for their approval. Attorney Kruppenbacher said he would
rather have the Commission return their comments to either him or the City Clerk.
Commissioner Ferring asked how soon can the letter be ready. Attorney Kruppenbacher said he can
have it ready to go by the end of the week.
Attorney Kruppenbacher said we have been going back and forth regarding this Glen Eagle
Stormwater Pond issue, there was another redraft of the agreement the homeowners sent to me that
had a release in it. Mr. Lockcuff and I have some provisions that we are working through, we should
have that on the agenda by the next meeting.
Commissioner Langellotti said there were some homes on Green Leaf Circle South, that had water
problems and I think the developer has corrected. A few of the homes have lost quite a few trees,
is there any way that we can give them some trees and asked Mr. Lockcuffto look into that.
City Manager - John Govoruhk - Reports:
Manager Govoruhk said the Purchasing Department has been looking into a timer and asked if
anyone knows where we can get one that is big enough. Mayor Bush said to ask the Athletic Dept.
at the School Board. Commissioner McLeod said to contact Sky Craft on Lee Road. Commissioner
F erring suggested to contact the Federal Courts as they have the timers throughout.
Manager Govoruhk also stated that the 434 Visioning notices and letters have not gone out yet but
a date has been scheduled for Saturday, May 20, 1995 from 9:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. A letter will
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April 10, 1995
94-95-18
Page 12
be given out to the Mayor, Commissioners and all Board members and a legal ad will be put in the
paper to notify the residents. The meeting will be held at the Senior Center.
Manager Govoruhk said the Commission has a letter from BFI regarding the Highlands Wildwood
subdivision to have them put out the trash and garbage in the certain area at the cluster homes.
Manager Govoruhk said he has asked the Attorney to look at the impact fees which was brought up
earlier with the audit report, when new building and development come into the City, how do we (the
City) give them some type of incentive to come and build in our City instead of paying the County
fees and City fees.
Manager Govoruhk also mentioned that St. Stephen's Catholic Church is having their carnival from
April 27, 1995, until April 30, 1995.
Manager Govoruhk mentioned that the City Clerk will be taking a couple of days off
Commission Seat I - Larry Conniff:
Commissioner Conniff said regarding the water bills, that he has received correspondence from
residents about the harshness of the first bill and I would like to see that softened up a bit.
Commission Seat IT - John Ferring:
Commissioner Ferring said regarding Ms. Mues presentation, in respect to the building where the
Water Dept. was, did you ever have a problem while the Water Dept. was there. Ms. Mues said no.
Commissioner Ferring said that the Commission has asked the City Manager to look into the best
possible way that building could be utilized for the benefit of the City. Based on the
recommendations that come back whether it would be some type of an option that would be put forth
to this Commission, my intention is that the building will not be destroyed. If there comes a point
where that building is put up for sale and whoever is buying that building subsequently allows the
museum to be there for a specified period of time. My thought is that it would be there at least until
the Police Dept. leaves City Hall and subsequently goes to their new public safety building, if by the
time that happens the historical society is not self sustaining that we would make allowances for a
museum in City Hall. As long as it is done by volunteers and we don't set up another bureaucracy,
where we have to pay people to do that, I think that is my thoughts and I hope you will understand
that these things will not destroy what you see there but in fact be helpful to this City.
Commission Seat lIT - John Langellotti:
Commissioner Langellotti said he has a letter and receipt of a check for the Longwood/Winter
Springs Chamber of Commerce that has been merged with the Greater Seminole County Chamber
of Commerce. At the time they did away with the Chamber, they had some money left over and they
gave Lyman High School 1,000 and wanted to give it to Winter Springs High School but seeing as
we don't have the school yet, they are issuing the $1,000 to us to be used in any way such as a
scholarship, youth program or such. I would like to give the check to the City Manager and ask the
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AprillO, 1995
94-95-18
Page 13
City Clerk to send them a letter letting them know how the money will be used.
Commissioner Langellotti said when we were talking about the sunshine law, I would like the City
Attorney to stress the point to our boards about members of the boards undermining the decisions
that the City Manager has in his hiring practices; I don't think it is any of their affair and if they have
a problem they should see the City Manager.
Commission Seat IV - Cindy Gennell:
No report.
Commission Seat V - David McLeod:
Commissioner McLeod mentioned to the Mayor regarding the letter to go out under his signature was
agreed to two weeks ago, it was suppose to go out then, my suggestion is if you are going to be the
author, I suggest you author it and sign it, I don't know that we need to take more time without the
letter going out to the general public. That is my opinion, I don't think each Commissioner needs to
reread this, I think it is coming out under the Mayor of the City outlining what the Commission has
done.
Commissioner McLeod also mentioned that he received a letter from the Mayor that there was a need
for us to put together an individual inside the City to inform the general public in sending out
information, with a professional writer and so forth. Commissioner McLeod stated that he doesn't
feel the City is large enough to do that, perhaps on a special occasion the Commission needs to
perhaps discuss the issues and perhaps those things can be addressed and sent out under the Mayor's
seat.
Commissioner McLeod appointed William Fernandez to the Planning and Zoning Board.
Motion was made by Commissioner Ferrlng to approve the appointment of William Fernandez to the
Planning and Zoning Board. Seconded by Commissioner Langellotti. Discussion. Vote:
Commissioner Conniff: aye; Commissioner Ferring: aye; Commissioner Langellotti: aye;
commissioner Gennell: aye; Commissioner McLeod: aye. Motion passes.
Mayor's Office - John F. Bush:
Mayor Bush mentioned that he received a letter from Ron Clayton, Professor of Finance at UCF, a
member of the business advisory board of Seminole County Public Schools, they are asking each City
Commission in the County to nominate one or more candidates for the Business Advisory Board
membership. We can nominate one or more persons and it is not restricted to members of the
Commission. Mayor Bush asked if there were any Commissioners who would like to serve on this
Board. Mayor Bush said if the Commission had no objection he would serve on the Board. The
Commission had no objection.
Commissioner Conniff nominated Art Hoffmann. Mr. Hoffinann agreed to the nomination.
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April 10, 1995
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Page 14
Mayor Bush stated that he has a request from the greater Orlando Gymnastics Foundation asking the
City to sponsor Broadway Gymnastics, which is located.in Winter Springs. Mayor Bush gave the
information to the City Manager for his review and recommendation.
Mayor Bush mentioned he sent the Commission a memo, the memo stated that at various time we
have public interest in our meetings. At this point we rely basically on the Orlando Sentinel to furnish
the information that happens in the City. What I am recommending is that the Commission consider
directing the City Manager to either sign the task of a newsletter which would basically go to the
citizens of the City informing them of the actions of the Commission. This would be very much like
the letter we are talking about to inform people of issues that are highly visible to the public, but as
some of you expressed you don't feel the coverage maybe has been entirely balanced. I would like for
the Commission to give this some consideration.
Commissioner Ferring gave some background on the newsletter that we do have. Commissioner
Ferring mentioned the cost factor of putting the newsletter together. Commissioner Ferring stated
that he does agree with the Mayor that there should be a method of communication to the general
public. I have no problem if the rest of the Commission agrees that we do something on a timely
basis but without advertising and to try and keep the cost to a minimum. I think it is something that
is needed but you can't have somebody on City Staff to do this newsletter and to try an solicit
advertising, I don't know if we can do that legally. Ifwhen we do our budget revision, you want to
allocate monies to do that, separate and apart from the newsletter, I have no problem with that.
Commissioner Conniff asked how often would the Mayor like this informational newsletter published,
and the cost factor would have to be taken into consideration of how often this would be published.
Mayor Bush said if the Commission sees some merit in this proposal then I think we could put more
research into it and come back with more information, I didn't want to go to a lot of trouble getting
more information if the Commission was just going to say no. We could ask the City Manager to
contact the City of Maitland to get some idea of the cost of their newsletter and also Altamonte
Springs. If the Commission feels that way, I'll come back with some figures and then we could work
it into next year's budget.
Mayor Bush asked if he had a consensus on this. It was the consensus of the Commission to have
the Mayor and City Manager look into the newsletter and come back with more information.
Mayor Bush said regardless of the outcome of the County Commission dealing with the connector
road, the property that is owned by the developer that is being discussed now at the County level, at
some point that is going to be developed whether it be a mall or office showroom, whenever that does
happen Winter Springs Boulevard is going to be impacted by traffic no matter what goes there. I
think we have to be looking, regardless of what happens at this point, regardless what the County
does. I think the Commission has to take into consideration what is going happen to Winter Springs
Blvd. at some point whether it be now or later. I would like to ask the Commission to direct the City
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April 10, 1995
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Page 15
Manager to look into the possibility of gating the Tuscawilla community in it's entirety. Put this out
for bids, at no cost to the City and see if it is possible. This may solve some of the problems and
concerns that have been raised.
Commissioner McLeod asked why are we going to look at gating a community in the City, are we
going to gate all communities in the City. I totally disagree with even consideration, I think we need
to wait to find out what happens with the property as it is presently, I think if the Tuscawilla
Homeowners Assoc. or the Tuscawilla residents prefer to have that, I think that is a responsibility of
theirs.
Commissioner Ferring said as far as he is concerned if you try to gate off a community in this City
with public roads, you are letting this whole City down. If there is a possibility somewhere down the
line that some impact is happening, then there might be something to address those particular areas.
Commissioner Gennell stated that her feeling is depending on the outcome of things, she thinks the
burden with.something like that for checking into it would lay with the community, if the community
had a position then to bring it and we would look at it when it comes.
Commissioner McLeod stated as he was looking at appointing a member to the P&Z Board he
realized that we have lawsuits going on from a homeowners association with the City and we have
directors on that homeowners assoc. sitting on Boards within the City of Winter Springs. I would
, 'like to have an ordinance drawn up and would like to have the Commission give consideration to it
that if a lawsuit is opposed by a member of a board within the City or that individual is associated
with a group that is suing the City then they would resign from the Board in which they serve on for
the City ofWmter Springs. Attorney Kruppenbacher stated that he will come back with information
on that.
Mayor Bush commented that we had a discussion regarding the Sunshine Law and things should be
brought up, I brought up an issue and I was attacked that I somehow did this for political gain, which
is absolutely is not true. I think the Commission should have the opportunity to say yes or no on, it
in no way alters anything that I have done as Mayor of this City in regards of the action of the
Commission. I've supported the Commission 100% on your decisions especially on this one issue
which is extremely controversial. I have the right as a member of this Commission to bring things
up in the sunshine for you to hear.
The meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
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Margo M. Hopkins,
City Clerk
APPROVED:
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