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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995 01 23 City Commission Regular Minutes REGULAR MEETING CITY COMMISSION CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS JANUARY 23, 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 For the invocation, Mayor Bush asked for a moment of silent prayer. Mayor Bush asked if there were any additions or corrections to the Minutes of January 9, 1995. Commissioner Gennell mentioned that it was not in the minutes regarding Mr. Cliff Hankins report where he reported that somebody had erased computer records at the Parks and Recreation Dept. Mayor Bush also pointed out some typo's on the first page of the minutes. The minutes stand approved as amended. PUBLIC COM.MENT Isabel Laub, Blue Spruce Court, said she would like to publicly thank our Mayor and all Commissioners for the wonderful job they are doing on behalf of keeping the Duda connector off of Winter Springs Boulevard. I would also like to compliment the City of Winter Springs for its very nice Senior Center and the good job that Susie Coffinan is doing as Director. Gary Porter, 493 Club Drive, spoke regarding the grading problem in Cypress Club, he gave the Commission a copy of a letter that he received from a consultant that he contacted for a professional opinion in regards to the problems. Commissioner Ferring stated he just read the letter and it doesn't seem to vary much from what our Staff is telling us also. I want you to be aware that this City and Staffhave gone through extreme measures to try and help resolve the problems on Club Drive. We have spent a lot of time discussing this from this COIllIl},ission and we put it in the hands of our Staff and our Staff from what I've seen, have done a remarkable job of trying to get this resolved. . Attorney Kruppenbacher stated that at the last meeting, the meeting started with the City Manager and myself and I turned to the Dept. heads and developer and explained to the developer that this was a significant issue of concern to the City Commission, that as far as I was concerned as the City Attorney, I would support pulling all permits if the Dept. heads in that room made that Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 2 . recommendation, one or more of them regarding problems with that project. I then said there is no reason for the Attorney to sit in this meeting anymore since it is a technical meeting as to whether or not you are having problems and the full Dept. head complement was in there. I will tell you publicly if your City Manager advises me that his Dept. heads have concluded that there are violations that are a risk to the public's health, safety and welfare or a violation of our Codes then I will stand behind the Staff and I will recommend to the City Manager that we pull those permits and hold them until the developer agrees to resolve the concerns. Mayor Bush asked the City Manager if he plans to speak to this issue under his seat. Manager Govoruhk stated that he didn't plan on it because it is not an agenda item and or report at this time. As of right now we have not been able to find any violations per the City Code, Southern Standard Building Code, St. John's or any other Code violations, the only thing we have right now are suggestions and recommendations of what to do, the meetings with the builders are not through. Ray For, on the Board of Directors for Cypress Club, and gave the letter to the Commission signed by four members of the Board of Directors because there seems to be a misunderstanding between a lot of people and wanted to go on record that this letter was presented by the Board of Directors stating that we hope that we can come up with the right answers and it was great to hear that you have not found any violations. Mayor Bush said at the last meeting, Mr. McGinnis was to be invited to that meeting, is that correct Mr. Govoruhk? Manager Govoruhk said yes, he was notified of the meeting but he could not attend and did not provide any names of homeowners that wanted to attend. Commissioner Ferring stated to Mr. Dimillo, the developer of Cypress Club, that there are a group of citizens in the Cypress Club area that seem to have a legitimate grievance, we have been dealing with this issue on a regular basis, and our Staff has been dealing with this on a regular basis, and I would like to know has there been any interchange of communications between yourself and the homeowners that are disenfranchised at this point. Mr. Louis Dimillo, developer of Cypress Club, stated that no, the person who brought this situation to surface has never spoken with me that he had a problem. I first found out about this when the City Manager called me for a meeting, which I attended. At that time we discussed quite a few things about the situation over there. The buildings that they are talking about are not completed, we have provided soil tests from engineers to substantiate that the footers are well founded, we have provided letters from architect landscapers that the landscaping will be adequate when it is done and there will be no run-ofI We have addressed every issue that the City has asked us to address during the course of construction, keeping in mind that the construction is not complete. There was some run-off at the back of that land because of the heavy rains that we had, unfortunately the heavy rains happened during construction and when that happens you are going to get some run-off, but those things are corrected. Discussion. Mr. Dimillo stated that as far as violations and problems, there aren't any over Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 3 there, the City's inspectors have been there, the City Engineer has been there, I have had numerous people there and we all have gone through this and my engineers have been there, my architects have been there, there is no problem. Commissioner F erring said from what I have read from our Engineer's reports that there are some problems as far as grading is concerned and the steepness of some of those curving areas. Mr. Dimillo said he has met with the City Engineer on site, and he discussed with me at the time the grading was not complete, he discussed some of the situation there and we did discuss some remedies to that. We have a letter from a landscape architect which says the course of action we have taken is fine and there will be no problem. Since we put the sod down and completed that unit, we have not had a problem. Commissioner McLeod stated that he has gone by the site and did view individuals trying to dig the sod back out of the creek and the slopes of the bank. Mr. Dimillo explained that there is a sprinkler system that goes across the back of the property and we were doing our final grade on the back of lot 28, the sprinkler system collapsed one evening, and that created a lot of erosion in that particular area, that was not due to rain storms or anything else, it was strictly the sprinkler system breaking. Commissioner McLeod also stated that the City Manager has not stated that St. John's and everybody has given him reports yet, I think he has just said at this point that he has not concluded the investigation and he has not received reports from all parties, so I don't want you to go out feeling that everything is clean at this point, and we are not here to say it is or isn't. Mr. Dimillo said that he is not going to run away from his responsibilities, if there is a problem he will look after it. Commissioner McLeod said that is the main thing and he thinks that there is a life safety issue here that our City Manager and City, as far as the Building Dept. as to look at, and sometimes everything isn't in "black and white" so I hope the investigation continues to run smooth, whatever is within the laws of this governing body is definitely what we expect is going to bring back to us. Discussion. Commissioner Gennell said she has the misfortune to live in a house that was built on fill over an area that was prone to run-off and my back porch is cracking and tilting downward and it supports the roof, and I am sure all the codes were satisfied, we have had experience with this Commission and past Commissions with developers who do go and leave problems behind. I hope you appreciate the fact that we are just trying to be proactive instead of reactive. Attorney Kruppenbacher stated he want's to respond to one thing the use of the word "cover-up" and negligence used tonight. I have written a letter back to Mr. McGinnis today responding to the issues in his letter. First of all at the last meeting, I specifically said on the record that having been through these issues before, we weren't going to wait to accommodate schedules, that this was an urgent matter and we set up the meeting and I said on the record, with the developer and if the homeowners could be there they could and if they couldn't they couldn't but this issue is not going to wait until everybody is happy at this particular hour everybody could meet. There is, to my knowledge, from my involvement, nobody involved in a "cover-up", it is beyond me to comprehend a Kip Lockcuff, a Tim Lallathin, a Mark Jenkins, people of that caliber, being involved in a "cover-up"; it is just Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 4 beyond me and if someone is going to raise that issue again, they need to raise it with facts that we can deal with other than just saying it. As to negligence, these people have been doing their jobs for years, they are working through it and either they or anyone else is finding anything right now and they will continue to go through the new data that has been submitted. I think: it is an unfortunate slight on some very good Dept. heads to group them in allegations of that nature without evidence to support it. Charles McGinnis, 510 Club Drive, said he would like to clarify a few things, first of all I have never criticize any Dept. head, and I am surprised that a letter that I wrote to the Commissioners and Mayor which was confidential, I believe, has actually been shared today, I did not find fault with Mr. Jenkins, Mr. Lockcuff, I found fault with one person and I indicated who that person was in my correspondence was to the Mayor and Commissioners. When I first made my presentation to this group I never said that the builder was building a poor house, and I didn't say that I was an expert in any way, what I did, I identified some problems and I asked this group to see if! was correct. If I was correct, we had a problem, you will read this in my correspondence, if I was in error no one would have suffered any damage. As I look through the correspondence, I think: that the City Engineer, Mark Jenkins, on Dec. 19, 1994, 7 days after my initial presentation, he indicated and supported what I said to be the problem. Mr. Lockcuffin his memo to Mr. Govoruhk, also supported my position, now the builder comes in here today and says that I accused him of building a faulty house, I never made one mention about a faulty house. I only indicated one problem and the problem I indicated was on the total building site. If there was a problem and we had a problem in later years we as a community were going to be stuck in reimbursing that. Mr. McGinnis also mentioned the letter that Mr. Porter gave to the Commission which supported what he said about the grading. Discussion. Mayor Bush said what has been said here tonight is that it has not been fully reviewed by the City Manger at this time yet, so he as said thus far he has found nothing wrong, but he also said it is not over yet and so I think: we need to wait until this investigation is fully completed and we get a report from the City Manager about this issue. Mayor Bush also mentioned Mr. McGinnis' comment about a confidential letter, and stated that there is no such thing as a confidential letter to the Commission, anything you write to the Commission is public record and is anybody has right to get a copy of it and see it. Mr. McGinnis said he has left a copy of a letter, to each of the Commissioners, that he has sent to the Cypress Club Homeowners Assoc. and you (the Commission) will see his position. Ray For, 453 Club Drive, said the letter that he submitted tonight was not in support of anyone other than the Cypress Club Homeowners Assoc. Reid Whitner, 422 Club Drive, said their main concern is we are on our third builder, we want to make sure everything is on the up and up with the irrigation in the back. '\' Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 5 . John Baker, 455 Ponce DeLeon Drive, Hacienda Village, Honorary City Historian, spoke regarding item C on the agenda. Mr. Baker said he is present tonight to talk briefly about what he refers to as the Winter Springs Historical Museum, it occupies as 240 sq.ft. , in early days was the North Orlando Co. office, which became the North Orlando Village Hall and for a short while used as the Winter Springs City Hall. In that room there are now collected a number of things pertaining to the City of Winter Springs and it's history. Mr. Baker said he wanted to point out that there are six tables in there that Commissioner McLeod donated and one Commissioner and the City Museum have the only two complete collections of the Wmter Springs Bulletin as a result of the generosity of Commissioner Ferring. Fire ChiefLallathin has given us a number of Fire Dept. materials to display. Former Police Chief Govoruhk and a few Police Officers granted me a chance to interview them regarding the history of Winter Springs. Former Commissioner Torcaso has talked a number of time about the history and has given us a historical materials including the oldest newspaper clipping we have, which is a 1959 advertisement for the $8,000 homes that were being build by the North Orlando Co. Mr. Baker said he would like to urge the Mayor and Commission to visit, the museum is not open but would like the City's blessing to open it, he is ready to open it. Mr. Baker said he has a key and would be happy to show the Commission what is there. Discussion. Mr. Baker said he hopes the Commission will consider the people use of that building before any decision to sell it should come up. Because once it is sold, it is gone and never to be recovered; it is the oldest public building in the City, there is no other comparable space in the City for the museum. Mr. Baker stated he would appreciate the Commission's consideration and would like to have the blessing of the City to open it, even ifit is only a couple of hours per week. Kathleen Roy, 664 Tuscora Dr., wanted to thank the Police Dept. for notifying them when their business door is unlocked. Also, I would like to comment tonight regarding the use of signs in the area ofTuscawilla. We are trying to communicate as well as we can to our residents, to get the word out about certain issues and we are having trouble being able to place our signs during certain times regarding the meetings that are taking place. We would like your help in being able to pass on that communication in areas like the median areas to give us a chance to make sure our people know about what is going on. I would like to ask on the record if we can get permission to put signs up in the areas in the Tuscawilla community for the Homeowners Association. Attorney Kruppenbacher said we are in the process of attempting to address the sign ordinance and see it's impact and will report back at the next meeting. Mayor Bush stated on the agenda there are two presentations and unfortunately Mr. Torcaso can't make it tonight and asked us to delay his for a couple of weeks so he can be here to receive it, but at this time I would like to make a presentation of Resolution to Ms. Jean Jacobs. Presentation by Mayor John F. Bush a resolution expressing appreciation to Jean Jacobs: Mayor Bush read Resolution 752, A Resolution of Winter Springs Florida, expressing appreciation to Jean Jacobs for her service on the Beautification of Winter Springs Board and presented Ms. Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 6 Jacobs Resolution No. 752. Mayor Bush stated that there are representatives from the County here and moved agenda Item G up at this time. Approval of Seminole County/Winter Springs Joint Planning Agreement Discussion Outline: Tony VanDerWerp, Seminole County Planning and Development Director, stated that at our last joint meeting they gave out the scope of the Joint Planning Agreement and indicated some preliminary issues that might be addressed. I have nothing further to add to that other than the fact that if this Commission approves it, it will take 6 to 12 months to complete it depending upon how many issues we deal with in that time frame. Mayor Bush said for the benefit of the citizens, he will read the first paragraph under the background. "The purpose of the Joint Planning Agreement is to adopt standards and procedures to ensure coordinated comprehensive planning to guide urban expansion and to provide dispute resolution guidelines to avoid litigation. The agreement shall ensure that the interest of existing and future residents are balanced and in particular should incorporate standards and procedures". Commissioner Gennell asked if this satisfy's any of the ICE requirements. Mr. VanDerWerp said there are quite a few requirements for ICE in addition to this, the intergovernmental coordination element but in terms of looking at land uses and transportation, it does satisfy several of the items under that element, you will still have quite a bit of research and analysis to do with respect to other agencIes. Commissioner Ferring asked Mr. VanDerWerp in agreeing to this joint planning agreement, will this in anyway tie the City Winter Springs hands as far as annexation of properties. Mr. VanDerWerp said if that is a provision of the inter-local that ultimately gets forwarded to both Commissions, you have an opportunity to deal with that issue and sign the inter-local agreement; with respect to joint planning agreements, the ones that we have done in the past, mainly Sanford, did have an annexation boundary in it that we all used within the inter-local, so yes it is an issue that we will address with respect to tying the City of Winter Springs Commission hands at this time, no that is not the case. You will see all of the issues analysis, you will have joint meetings, you will have an inter-local, you will have 'a joint planning agreement that you can approve or disapprove at the end of the process. Manager Govoruhk said the Commissioner that may be appointed to this, the document that was presented to the City is a very basic "get start" type document and it is one that was drafted by the County without, to the best of my knowledge, any input from our City at this time. The City should take extreme care to ensure that that does not shackle by any agreement such as the one addressed in road maintenance. Because of this any agreement should allow for flexibility and changes, the document as presented appears to be flaw in that it does not address property that may be overlapping Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 7 l ) . by two municipalities - how will that be addressed. So the Commissioner who is on, needs to look, will this involve mediation, exactly what is meant by annexation boundaries. There are other concerns at this time, but again this is only a get start document and the final documents will meet such requirement to go into, so I suggest to the Commissioners to discuss this document and get Staff an opportunity to look at it and also to help give input with the County Staff also being involved to reach a conclusion. It is also my understanding that such an agreement exists between the County and the Cities of Altamonte and Sanford, which we should also get a copy and look at those also. Commissioner Gennell asked if this document was patterned your work efforts with Sanford on. Mr. V anDerW erp said yes, this is identical to the kind of process we went through with the City of Sanford, and that process took about 18 months. Commissioner Gennell said that Sanford is very happy with their arrangement. Mr. VanDerWorp said for clarification purposes, with respect to appointments, this process doesn't anticipate any appointments, this is Staffwill get together on a routine basis, prepare the issue, routinely report them back to both Commissions, culminating at the end of 6 to 12 months with a report with suggested inter-local language, issues, discussion and options so it is not really an appointed committee, it is Staffs working together making sure we keep the Commissions informed as we proceed through the process. Commissioner Ferring said there are some valid points being made, in lieu of the fact that there are going to be no appointments made, I think it would be incumbent upon this Commission to set up a workshop with the City Manger and his Staff so we can have cross feed back on what our plans are involving this particular joint agreement. Discussion. Mayor Bush asked the City Manager to review this and come back at the next meeting with a recommendation for a workshop date. Discussion on the Joint Planning Agreement. Attorney Kruppenbacher stated what Mr. VanDerWorp is saying tonight is that clearly in our Compo Plan, clearly our goal is to have an agreement with the County where issues are resolved. Attorney Kruppenbacher said what Commissioner Ferring is saying he wants to be sure as we proceed forward in that process, our Staff adequately understands the issues the Commissioners have so that we don't get down the road and find out we left out something that one of you thought was critical. Tonight you would simply be saying that we are interested in working towards an agreement and now Staff start getting your thoughts together to meet with the Commission in a workshop so that when you get with Mr. VanDerW erp you are fully ready to dialog on the issues you think are important. Manager Govoruhk said after talking with Mr. VanDerworp, he said it will take at least six months for Staff to get together to even come up with anything at all and then at that time come back to the Commission. Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 8 . Mr. VanDerWerp said there is quite a bit of Staff time and research involved that is why it takes six months to a year, if we get the ok to go ahead there is interest in this; what we would bring back to you periodically and before anything happens are those documents, the options, draft inter-local agreements toward the end of the process, joint work sessions and that sort of thing. Motion was made by Commissioner McLeod to instruct the City Manager to go forward with this plan to work with Seminole County to start working out an inter-local agreement between the two parties. Seconded by Commissioner Gennell. Discussion. Vote: Commissioner Conniff: aye; Commissioner Langellotti: aye; Commissioner Ferring: aye; Commissioner GennelI: aye; Commissioner McLeod: aye. Motion passes. Appointment of Commissioner to work with Seminole County on Tuskawilla Road widening: Motion was made by Commissioner Langellotti to appoint Commissioner John Ferring, who has been working for the past five years on this whole project, to be our representative with the County on the widening of TuscawilIa Road. Seconded by Commissioner Conniff. Discussion. Commissioner McLeod stated that the Commissioner that is appointed, needs to have an agenda item by this Commission as those items that the Commission as a whole would like to have addressed, this particular Commissioner definitely understands that they are there to work our and resolve solutions and come up with solutions to the problem that we are addressed with TuskawilIa, all the problems, and report back to this Commission and not to be in a governing body to make decisions for this Commission, but to report a complete report back to the Commission; I think whomever that is needs to be aware of that. Vote: Commissioner Gennell: nay; Commissioner McLeod: aye; Commissioner LangeIlotti: aye; Commissioner Conniff: aye; Commissioner Ferring: aye. Motion passes. Commissioner Ferring said he certainly intend not to act as an individual, and have never acted as an individual since I've been on the Commission and you can be rest assured that nothing that is to take place regarding this project will be agended and come to this Commission in complete comprehensive information. Commissioner McLeod said that he thinks this should be an agenda item in the next week or so, so we can lay down some of those issues as a body, I think we have a fair outline of those issues at present, but I think the body needs to rule on those issues as a whole. Approval of Proposed "Advertisement for Bid" for the vacant Utility Property on Fairfax Avenue: Kip Lockcuff, UtilitylPublic Works Director, stated that what we have here is a request for your approval to advertise for bid for the old utility office on Fairfax and 434. In putting together the package for recommendation of the Commission, I thought it incumbent to have the hard cost information is worth, not just from an appraisal perspective, but from actual bids. What we would like to do is get the bids and then come back with a recommendation in sixty days. Commissioner Ferring said what you are actually trying to do is get the value of the place. Mr. Lockcuff stated that we have an appraisal that tells us what the value is. There was discussion on the appraisal document that was placed in the Commission office. Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 9 Commissioner McLeod said to Mr. Lockcuff, that he is basically going to go out and seek bids for , the potential sale of this property, come back and present those bids to the Commission and then the Commission has the opportunity to decide whether the building should be sold or the building should be kept within the City structure. Manager Govoruhk said we are asking to go out for bids with the idea to reject them. Discussion. Attorney Kruppenbacher said you are going out for bid with complete legal authority to reject them if this Commission deems that they do not want to sell the property and/or don't want to accept the bids. There is not an intention to reject bids, but put you in the position to be able to reject the bids. Manager Govoruhk said then we can come back with a complete package on that to accept the bids, to rent the building, to make it an office with other City personnel or to make it the historical building or whatever options and come back to the Commission and layout all the options so the Commission can make a decision at that time. Commissioner Gennell asked if this was standard operating procedures in all Cities when they have a piece of property like this. Attorney Kruppenbacher stated that lots of City's engage in "testing the waters" on whether or not to dispose of property. Commissioner Gennell asked if that includes the area where the water tower was. Mr. Lockcuff stated no. Discussion. Commissioner McLeod said the City Manager should put a list together as options that we are wanting to look at with this piece of property from within the City based on the appraisal dollar and be able to look at the options and see what the true cost value of what other intents for the City. If those intents for the City then look to costly, then I believe we would then take a look at the options of selling the building to recoup funds; I think we need to have those options presented by the City Manger first with a cost analysis based on the $75,000.00 appraisal. Commissioner Langellotti asked Mr. Lockcuffifhe sees a need for the City to have that building. Mr. Lockcuffsaid not for the Utility, Public Works, Stormwater, or the Engineering Dept. Discussion. Attorney Kruppenbacher stated that certain members of the Commission did express at a previous Commission meeting thoughts of that being used as a museum. The Manager had contacted me within the last month, as to what is the process best used to dispose of property that is considered surplus, meaning real property. I advised him of what City's do, is send a memo and go to their Dept. heads and ask if anybody within the City StaffDepts. have any use for the property, if that comes back a no, you then bring it to the Commission for authority to go out for bid. The Manager hasn't said sell it, but he is telling you from a Staff standpoint they have no use for it; you all need to make a policy decision. Motion was made by Commissioner Ferring to proceed with Mr. Lockcuffs recommendation that an advertisement for bid be published for the vacant Utility property on Fairfax Ave., non-binding. Seconded by Commissioner Langellotti. Discussion. Vote: Commissioner McLeod: nay; Commissioner Gennell: aye; Commissioner Langellotti: aye; Commissioner Ferrlng: aye; Commissioner Conniff: aye. Motion passes. There was discussion on the use of a room in the building for storage of the City Historical Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 10 material. Appointment to Districting Commission: Commissioner Ferring appointed Ken Haines to the Districting Commission. Commissioner Langellotti appointed Gene Lein to the Districting Commission. Commissioner Gennell appointed Vernon Rozelle to the Districting Commission. Commissioner McLeod and Commissioner Conniff both asked to extend to the next meeting on January 30, 1995. Mayor Bush appointed Kathlene Roy to the Districting Commission and will appoint his second appointee until the January 30, 1995 meeting. Ordinance No. 579. First Reading Amending Subsection 7-46(b). Fire Prevention Code: Motion was made by Commissioner McLeod to read Ord. No. 579 by title only. Seconded by Commissioner Langellotti. Discussion. Vote: Commissioner Gennell: aye; Commissioner Ferring: aye; Commissioner Langellotti: aye; Commissioner McLeod: aye; Commission Conniff: aye. Motion passes. Attorney Kruppenbacher read Ord. No. 579 by title only. "Ordinance No. 579, and Ordinance of the City of Winter Springs Florida, amending subsection 7 -46(b), Chapter 7 of the Code of Ordinances, City of Winter Springs, Florida, providing for severability, conflicts and effective date". Mayor Bush asked about this Ord. Fire Chief Tim Lallathin stated the State Fire Marshall's office only covers certain items, they don't cover all commercial occupancies and special occupancies and groups such as that. Discussion. Attorney Kruppenbacher stated that we annually up date this, and if we don't keep it up dated you impact the fire ratings of the City, which impact the commercial insurance rates for your business people; this is a step that helps keeps rates down. Wage and Hour Recommendation: Attorney Kruppenbacher stated that negotiations with Wage and Hour and we are in the process in digging up a lot offacts and working through the issues. At the point we culminate that process and have gone as far as we can go with the Dept. we will report back to you where we are. The Department of Labor is not prepared to settle part of the issue and I will continue to up date the Commission. City Attorney - Frank Kruppenbacher 1. Reports: Attorney Kruppenbacher gave the Commission a Resolution proposal from the parties to the litigation that we are involved in with Oviedo and told the Commission that this Resolution is not Public Record at this time. I don't believe, based upon prior discussion that this changes the position as I understand it, there is additionally attached a draft letter and make comment on the letter to me if you desire any changes. They will become Public Records at conclusion of the litigation or at such time as we deem them to make them a Public Record. Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 11 Attorney Kruppenbacher said that on Friday afternoon he was contacted by Attorney Harry Stewart . who represents Chelsea Woods Homeowners regarding their interest in the mall development. Attorney Stewart talked to me about this City considering a request from the Homeowners to convey an undivided on half interest in the easement to the Homeowners. I explained to Attorney Stewart that ifwe wanted to do it, he should get me something today so that I could bring it to you tonight and we would be in a position to act if you so chose. I also asked him to articulate item by item what benefit he thought there was to that; and I will give you a copy of what they (homeowners) are proposing. The other contact I had on this issue was a phone call from Terry Beck, who I called back but did not speak with. Attorney Kruppenbacher said your legal team and consultant team evaluated was there an identifiable legal negative to the City of Winter Springs interest to entering into this document from Attorney Stewart. We do not identifY anything that would legally impair our case in terms of protecting the City; the only identification that came from the team was the issue of that you are responsible to the entire City and to extend you do convey part ownership of anything to anyone, you do tie yourself to that body. That really is more policy issue because when it was raised by people on the team, I raised the issue that let's talk about what is legal and what is policy. We know of no legal detriment that this would cause the City of Winter Springs. Other than if we wanted to make a decision or deal with this easement from a legal standpoint you could not act without getting the other owner to agree to it, so this is really a judgement at this point that you as a body have to decide if you are interested in doing this. Discussion. Commissioner Ferring mentioned to the City Attorney that ifhe could figure out a way that we would not be bound by any type of an agreement where we make a decision that our decision will stand firm as the government in this City that is fine, but if you can't do that then don't bring it back. Commissioner McLeod said that he would like to approach this from a stand point with our issue as it is, continuing to take input by the citizens but does not feel that we should at this point, loose any of our options that we have as a Commission open to the people of the City of Winter Springs and I think we would really be binding ourselves up and I sure the people in Tuscawilla and the Homeowners Associations out there would want more than not to do that, I don't think this Commission can relieve itself of it's duties to the people of Winter Springs, and I feel that we would be doing that by going into this agreement. Attorney Kruppenbacher asked the Commission if they had any opposition to his talking with and consulting with, and having discussion with the Homeowner Attorney to think of ways that we may better support the City's position; I think that more minds that are sitting there thinking, the apt we may hit on things, so does anybody have a problem with at least my having the authority to meet with them. Mayor Bush said if he is not mistaken, the Commission has already given him that authority. Attorney Kruppenbacher said he is confirming that he has that authority unless you tell him differently he (Attorney) will proceed forward. Commissioner Gennell stated that we need to stay open to every option that comes our way. Attorney Kruppenbacher said that he is willing to sit down with Lawyers and see if they can think of something. Discussion. Commissioner Ferring stated he has indicated that whatever time that as the Attorney for this City want to go and discuss with any other Attorney, and we can certainly welcome any input from the Homeowners Assoc., that it will not be done at a cost to this City. That any expenses, your expenses, do not evolve anything to do with that particular Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 12 Attorney. Attorney Kruppenbacher said what he understood Commissioner Ferring to say is you , want me to do everything necessary to protect the homeowners, if the homeowners, whoever they may be want to pursue anything, they need to pursue it with their lawyers; but you are giving me total support to take whatever steps I think we need to take to protect the public. Commissioner Ferring said yes that is correct. Discussion. Attorney Kruppenbacher stated that he understands what he is suppose to do, I will handle what I have to do to protect the City. Attorney Kruppenbacher mentioned that the City has an inter-local agreement with the County which we are going to pursue, to alert the Commission, figuring out how to get out of, and that's regarding the whole Orange Avenue, that we entered into years ago; where we don't have the property in the City but we have this strange agreement that says that the City of Winter Springs will take care of it and it never quite worked. The City Manager and I are going to sit with the County and talk about getting out of this agreement, so that the people over there can go and talk to their elected officials in the County when they have issues and not come here expecting us to solve, when the County says they won't deal with an issue. Commissioner F erring stated that this has been talked about for a couple of years, where we are maintaining County roads at a cost to the taxpayers in this City and at the same time get complaints from the people that live outside the City that we are not doing what we are suppose to do. Commissioner Ferring stated that with Mr. VanDerWerp present tonight, if he is looking to work out an intergovernmental coordination program on a joint basis, this should be at the highest priority that we would be able to abrogate that inter-local agreement. Attorney Kruppenbacher stated that he and the City Manager will report back to the Commission within sixty days. City Manager John Govoruhk - Reports: Manger Govoruhk stated that he received a request from East Central Florida Regional Planning Council to pay our dues; the price has gone up from $4,400.00 to $7,322.00. The $4,400.00 was put in the budget and if the Commission wants me to pay the bill, it will be revamped at budget revision time - this is a $3,000.00 increase. Discussion. Motion was made by Commissioner Langellotti to pay the dues to the E.C.F.R.P.C. Seconded by Commissioner Ferring. Discussion. Vote: Commissioner Conniff: aye; Commissioner McLeod:aye; Commissioner Gennell: aye; Commissioner Langellotti: aye; Commissioner Ferring: aye. Motion passes. Manager Govoruhk also stated that the Commission has a letter from I.W.S. and asked if the Commission would like to have them (I.W.S. representatives) to come before the Commission to talk about the change to B.F.I. Manager Govoruhk stated he has also given this to the City Attorney to see if the I.W.S. contract can be given to B.F.I. or not at this time. Discussion. It was the consensus of the Commission to have a representative from I.W.S. come before the Commission at the February 13, 1995 meeting. Discussion. Mayor Bush asked the Commission if a letter should be sent to I.W.S. (B.F.I.) stating the Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 13 Commissions concerns. Manager Govoruhk stated that he will be meeting with them this week and - he will state the Commission's concerns. Mayor Bush said he would like to recommend that the City Manager and City Attorney work together on drafting the letter expressing the Commission's concerns. Attorney Kruppenbacher said that you do want to put them on notice, in writing, the issues; you do want to tell them that they are to have present the people with authority from the Company. In the letter is should also state that this if placing them on notice that the Winter Springs City Commission has not agreed to the operation of this franchise ofB.F.I. Manager Govoruhk also mentioned that the Commission has a copy of a letter from Florida Power stating that they are going to start construction on the 230-KW transmission line from DeBary to Winter Springs starting this summer and should be finished this year. Commissioner Gennell asked the City Manager about Mr. Tipton running out of money this month. Manager Govoruhk stated that Mr. Tipton is out of money when we met last meeting. Commissioner Gennell asked if the Commission needs to approve more money for them to continue on. Manager Govoruhk stated that a memo was put out that no more money will be spent until Mr. Tipton comes back to me for any projects to be approved; including the Attorney. Commissioner Ferring asked about the Police Dept.'s monthly report regarding the pedestrian fatality and the increase in vehicular accidents. Commissioner Ferring also asked Mr. Lockcuff about the Ranchlands Survey and when will the Commission get those. Mr. Lockcuff stated that he has all gotten them all back except for a couple and could have a summary to the Commission for the February 13th meeting. . Mayor Bush asked the City Manager about the legal fee reimbursement. Manager Govoruhk said those fees that the builder/developer owes for expediting engineering. Mayor Bush also asked about the gasoline used in the Police Dept. Commission Seat I - Larry Conniff: No Report. Commission Seat II - John Ferring: Commissioner Ferring thanked the Commission for designating him to be the representative regarding the Tuskawilla Road project. Commissioner Ferring said he wanted to express his thoughts to the Homeowners Association that he is prepared to work with them as best as he can and welcomes all input that they have. He stated that he will do what he can and will report back to the Commission whatever input that they give to him. Commissioner Ferring brought up the fact that each year around this time we rotate certain positions and he would like to bring up the position of the Council of Local Governments and place it on the agenda and move to place this on the agenda. Seconded by Commissioner Langellotti. Discussion. Vote: Commissioner Gennell: aye; Commissioner Langellotti: aye; Commissioner McLeod: aye; Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 14 Commissioner Ferring: aye; Commissioner Conniff: aye. Motion passes. - Commissioner Ferring stated that each year we usually rotate certain positions that are on this Commission to give everybody an overall view and experience how each individual function goes and he thinks this year it is time to have another Commissioner going into the CALNO to see what is going on and to get the experience. Therefore, I would like to nominate Commissioner Conniff, if he is willing to take over the position as a representative of CALNO. Commissioner Conniff declined. Commissioner Ferring then nominated Commissioner Langellotti for the position as representative of CALNO. Commissioner Langellotti declined. Commissioner Ferring then nominated Commissioner McLeod for the position as representative of CALNO. Commissioner McLeod declined. Commissioner Gennell stated that she is the CALNO representative and former Commissioner Kaehler was the City's representative for about three years. Commissioner Gennell said she does not remember rotating the positions of Regional Planning Council or anything, she said she remembers rotating the Deputy Mayor and that is all. Commissioner Gennell stated that she goes to every meeting and reports back to the Commission and she prefers to keep her position on CALNO. Discussion. Motion was made by Commissioner McLeod that Commissioner Gennell continue her position on CALNO for one year. Seconded by Commissioner Ferring. Discussion. Vote: Commissioner McLeod: aye; Commissioner Gennell: aye; Commissioner Conniff: aye; Commissioner Langellotti: nay; Commissioner Ferring: aye. Motion passes. Commissioner Ferring asked the City Attorney regarding the Oviedo Crossings and the ten foot easement, that he was under the impression that there was an order of taking by the Seminole County Expressway Authority and I would like to make sure that we weren't by-passed somewhere along the line by the Seminole County Expressway Authority when they crossed the easement that we possess . Attorney Kruppenbacher said as we best understand as of the latest research today, we were not looking at that issue. Commission Seat ill - John Langellotti: Commissioner Langellotti stated he would like to commend Chief Sexton on the Code Board on their cases, the ones that have been received and corrected. I think AI White is doing a great job and the Code Board should be commended for what they are doing. Commission Seat IV - Cindy Gennelt: Commissioner Gennell stated she has the same thing to say as Commissioner Langellotti. Chief Sexton said that Capt. Pieper and Capt. Tolleson have also been working very hard with the Code Board. Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 15 Commissioner Gennell showed the Commission pictures of the area immediately behind the Fairfax . building going a couple of blocks. The pictures are of the quadroplexes behind the Winter Springs Center and Lori Ann Lane, there are about 20 to 22 buildings in that area. We (the City) own the little piece of property where we use to park the road grader. In my estimation, this is the most seriously deteriorated area in the City. There are also 20 more a block and a half away which totals 40 of these four unit quadroplexes in varying stages of deterioration; they are in walking distance or immediately adjacent to that piece ofland. We have a chain link fence around it, it is the size of about 2 to 2 1/2 house lots and I am thinking that we could make much better use of that piece of property. I would like the Commission to consider looking into converting that into a small, perhaps lighted basketball courts with a tot lot and a pavilion there for all those people. If we take the lead in that area and provide some little bit of up grading and fixing up of that one little area and create a central park area, then I think it would encourage those property owners to improve that property somewhat. If they do improve their property then we (the City) will benefit in the increased taxes. I think that we as a City can do better because we own that piece of property there and I think we can make some adaptation to it, I think it has a lot of potential. The vast majority of this City has amenities, it has club houses, back yards, these have none of those and if we don't address this soon, then some day we will be going to some federal agency or State agency and applying for grant money or community redevelopment because it got so bad nobody could fix it without help. I don't think it is too late right now, I think a very small investment on our part would reap a lot. Mayor Bush said why don't we ask the City Manager to evaluate that with Staff and come back with some information. Commissioner Gennell also stated that the CSX Railroad is being abandoned in June, if we don't "step up to the plate" and say we are interested in that, and how can we have something to do it, we will have outside agencies come in here and dictating what is going to run right through the center of our City. I brought you (the Commission) a Resolution last year to support the 2000 Friends of Florida to purchase that and this Commission saw fit to not support them to purchase it, however, one of those agencies the P-2000 or Thousand Friends of Florida, or actually DOT will purchase that and DOT will probably turn it over to one ofthe other State Agencies like DEP or somebody and they will turn it over to P-2000 or Thousand Friends of Florida and parcel it out to whatever government agency comes forward who says they will maintain it and improve it and interested in it. I have a newspaper clipping indicating the whole scenario of it being abandoned and it will be abandoned this June, there is a Rails to Trails conservency, the Florida Chapter, the State Conference and I went to it and brought back to you all kinds of information; I have every intention of going this year, it is in Winter Park, and I think that we should send somebody and I think that each of you that has an opportunity should try and get there to see what will be happening. Commissioner Ferring stated that he doesn't think there was any question regarding Rails to Trails when they came before us, we asked them to come back to us with their financial reports and to this date we have never received any thing regarding their annual auditing of financial reports and that was probably the reason why we did not go forward at that time. All they have to do is submit their Regular Meeting City Commisison January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 16 financial reports to see how we are interwoven with this and how much it will cost the taxpayers in the City, so we will know how to evaluate this. Commissioner Conniff said Commissioner Gennell's proposal to the City Manager for doing something in that area, where we have the fenced in lot, possibly we could have the City Manager and the Police Chief look into the PAL Program, the Police Athletic League. Commissioner Langellotti said referring to Commissioner Gennell's talk about the apartments on Lori Ann Lane, about 5 or 6 years ago these apartments kept coming up to the Code Board with many violations. I think about 90% of them were owned by out of state people and some were owned by residents of this City and I think that should be looked into before the City gets involved. Also, if Mr. Johnson has any record of CSX Railroad abandoning the 15 miles I wish he would give that information to the City Commission. Commissioner McLeod said regard the park idea, he feels it is a good idea but if there is grant money to help lift communities up regarding a park in this particular community, I think one thing we should be looking to see if grant money is available to help defray costs if the Commission has interest to go forward. Our Compo Plan does have requirements that we do have affordable housing in our City and I think this is part of the affordable housing and I don't think it needs to become "trashed" housing and I think the rest of the City looks to the Commission to help maintain the worth of their property by definitely by not letting neighborhoods go down. Also, regarding to Commissioner Ferring's comment on the railroad, yes we did have concerns there and our concerns were the fact who was financing these particular people. Commissioner Gennell stated that she would like to encourage the Commission to attend the conference, because all your questions and concerns and un-asked questions will be answered and also they are full of ideas. Mayor Bush mentioned that the City Manager might want to send a Staff member to that conference. Also on the park, if this is something the Commission wants to consider that we put it into consideration of the budget in this coming year and just budget for it; this might be an item you might want to consider for next year's budget. Commission Seat V - David McLeod: Commissioner McLeod said he thinks that this Commission needs to try to work as a unified body going forward with a lot of issues we have but I also notice that there is a lot of questions asked to the City Attorney, and I do this myself, that should be asked to the City Manager, and I hope that we all relieve our City Attorney, I think we need to make sure we are directing our questions to the proper body. Mayor's Office - John F. Bush: Mayor Bush stated in reading the reports I noticed that the concession stand is closed at the park and Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 17 asked ifthere are vending machines there and if not why don't we want vending machines. Manager . Govoruhk stated that there were vending machines at the Park but they were vandalized and the vending machine company said they were not making money that they were loosing money. Mayor Bush also mentioned that there was no report from the Finance Dept. Manager Govoruhk said there should have been one. Mayor Bush stated that the City Manager from Oviedo call him today and as you know we have a meeting this Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. and said for those of you who would like to come at 6:30 p.m. they will treat us to pizza. Mayor Bush asked when will the Southern Bell Franchise Agreement be back on the agenda. Discussion. Mayor Bush asked the City Manager to make note to have it on the next agenda for February 13, 1995. Mayor Bush also stated that he would like to compliment the City Manager's secretary; a citizen called regarding a garbage collection and I called the City Manager and he was away from his desk and his secretary said that she would take care of it. She called the citizen and IWS and the problem was corrected immediately and I thought it was a lot of initiative on her part to do that and pass it on to Jan that it was a nice job - well done. Mayor Bush asked if were to get a letter tonight regarding the State Attorney investigation of the Parks and Recreation. Manager Govoruhk said he has contacted the State Attorney and there will be a letter written to them following up the conversation we had for them to proceed with the investigation; that will be hand delivered some time tomorrow and a copy will be given to the Mayor and all Commissioners. Mayor Bush said at some point he would like the Commission to consider having a meeting that we can layout what some of the goals that we might want to achieve this coming year and especially how it might affect our budget. I would like to encourage the Commission to consider we have a planning meeting and cover some of the issues such as Commissioner Ferring brought up regarding rotation of some of our appointed positions, etc. Commissioner McLeod said when the letter is written to the State Attorney that a report is returned back to the City Manager, the City Attorney and the Commission by the State Attorney so that we have no reason to believe that any body has any thing here that isn't in anything other than that report. I would like to see it come directly back to us and it doesn't have to be refined before the Commission sees it. Also, I would like us to direct our legal staff to further investigate and look into the pension plan and its wording to make sure that everything is complying where it needs to be. Commissioner Gennell stated that she supports the Mayor's idea for a workshop. Regular Meeting City Commission January 23, 1995 94-95-09 Page 18 There was discussion on the meeting with the City of Oviedo on January 25th. Attorney Kruppenbacher stated that he recommends that we go because we may gain a benefit from it, it can't hurt us. Commissioner Gennell asked the City Manager if the Commission needs to approve money for Mr. Tipton ifhe is out of money. Manager Govoruhk said at this time we have no projects to give to him at this time. Discussion. Mayor Bush said he would like the Commission's consent to write a letter of thank you to the Board of County Commissioners for the joint meeting we had last week. It was the consensus to the Commission to have the Mayor write a letter to the Board of County Commission. The meeting adjourned at 10:55 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, ~AUU k,~J,;, r~~pkins, City Clerk APPROVED: t#t~A / ~ t:fI/VHJ