Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011 07 20 Tuscawilla Lighting and Beautification District Advisory Board Regular Meeting MinutesCITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES TUSCAWILLA LIGHTING AND BEAUTIFICATION DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING JULY 20, 2011 CALL TO ORDER The Regular Meeting of Wednesday, July 20, 2011 of the Tuscawilla Lighting and Beautification District Advisory Committee was called to Order by Chairperson Mary Brook at 7:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of the Municipal Building (City Hall, 1126 East State Road 434, Winter Springs, Florida 32708). Roll Call: Chairperson Mary Brook, present Vice Chairperson Helen Baker, present Committee Member Luci Coker, present Committee Member ponald Gilmore, present Committee Member Carolyn Wolf, present A moment of silence was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. INFORMATIONAL AGENDA INFORMATIONAL 100. Not Used CONSENT AGENDA CONSENT 200. Office Of The City Clerk Requesting Approval Of The April 20, 2011 Tuscawilla Lighting And Beautification District Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes. "I MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES (APRIL 20, 2011)." MOTION BY ADVISORY MEMBER COKER. SECONDED BY VICE CHAIRPERSON BAKER. DISCUSSION. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES TUSCAWILLA LIGHTING AND BEAUTIFICATION DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING - JULY 20, 2011 PAGE 2 OF 9 VOTE: CHAIRPERSON BROOK: AYE VICE CHAIRPERSON BAKER: AYE COMMITTEE MEMBER COKER: AYE COMMITTEE MEMBER GILMORE: AYE COMMITTEE MEMBER WOLF: AYE MOTION CARRIED. CONSENT 201. Office Of The City Clerk Requesting Approval Of The June 22, 2011 Tuscawilla Lighting And Beautification District Advisory Committee Special Meeting Minutes. "MOVE FOR APPROVAL (JUNE 22, 2011)." MOTION BY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER GILMORE. SECONDED BY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER COKER. DISCUSSION. VOTE: VICE CHAIRPERSON BAKER: AYE COMMITTEE MEMBER COKER: AYE COMMITTEE MEMBER GILMORE: AYE COMMITTEE MEMBER WOLF: AYE CHAIRPERSON BROOK: AYE MOTION CARRIED. AWARDS AND PRESENTATIONS AWARDS AND PRESENTATIONS 300. Not Used 400. REPORTS Advisory Committee Member ponald Gilmore stated that he is representing the Tuscawilla Homeowners Association regarding that some Veterans felt that there was a need to have a Monument by the flag poles as a dedication. Advisory Committee Member Gilmore showed a sample Monument with a bronze plate which stated, "`Lest We Forget; This flag flies to honor residents of Tuscawilla who have served America in Peace and in War, at Home and Overseas in capacities both Civil and Military. The Tuscawilla Homeowners Association 2011." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES TUSCAWILLA LIGHTING AND BEAUTIFICATION DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING - JULY 20, 2011 PAGE 3 OF 9 Continuing, Committee Member Gilmore noted that the Tuscawilla Homeowners Association is proposing that this be placed right next to the flag pole at both locations. Advisory Committee Member Gilmore added, "We would like the blessings of the TLBD[AC] (Tuscawilla Lighting and Beautification District Advisory Committee) since it sits on TLBD (Tuscawilla Lighting and Beautification District) managed property." Discussion. Mr. Steven Richart, Urban Beautification Services Division Manager, Community Development Department stated, "The request is that if we could take a Vote tonight that we would endorse taking it forward." "I MAKE A MOTION THAT WE DO IT WITH THE IDEA THAT THE CITY COMMISSIONERS CAN MAKE CHANGES IF THEY NEED TO." MOTION BY VICE CHAIRPERSON BAKER. SECONDED BY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER COKER. DISCUSSION. VOTE: COMMITTEE MEMBER COKER: AYE CHAIRPERSON BROOK: AYE VICE CHAIRPERSON BAKER: AYE COMMITTEE MEMBER GILMORE: AYE COMMITTEE MEMBER WOLF: AYE MOTION CARRIED. PUBLIC INPUT No one spoke. REGULAR AGENDA REGULAR 600. Community Development Department — Urban Beautification Services Division Discussion About Tuscawilla Unit 12/12A Wall And Proposed Tuscawilla Lighting And Beautification District Phase 3. Chairperson Brook stated, "I talked with Kevin Smith, City Manager after our last meeting and asked him to come — and he is here to discuss the Unit 12/12A Wall." Continuing, Chairperson Brook added, "My understanding is that they are not asking us to approve the Wall one way or another; what they are asking us to do, if the Wall goes forward that we will allow it to be financed through and handled through the TLBD (Tuscawilla Lighting And Beautification District). Just like the lights are, there will be a separate Phase for that." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES TUSCAWILLA LIGHTING AND BEAUTIFICATION DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING - JULY 20, 2011 PAGE 4 OF 9 Chairperson Brook then introduced City Manager Kevin L. Smith. Manager Smith commented, "I would respectfully ask the board to entertain the Agenda Item through Staff and once that is completed, I will be happy to answer any questions and give you any comments that I may have." Mr. Richart remarked, "What I would like to do is a quick review — and recap what we talked about last time. I have given you a sheet about the Wall, Unit 12/12A to follow along." Mr. Richart noted, "What we have is a community of ninety (90) homes within a wall area. Originally, this area was supposed to have a Homeowners Association. As you all know, the HOA (Homeowners Association) is the vehicle where a community can collect Assessments and take care of the common elements. Apparently, in this particular section of homes, the Developer went under — and did not get to the part where he actually set up the HOA (Homeowners Association)." Continuing, Mr. Richart added, "The Wall has been there — about twenty-six (26) years and it has gone unmaintained — there have been no repairs. There is an issue now because the wall is essentially falling apart. The wall is located on private property. The Developer did record with the County and the City a ten foot (10') Easement. That Easement is a Utility Landscape Easement. As many of you have seen, the wall is falling apart; it is a safety issue. The reason the TLBD[AC] (Tuscawilla Lighting and Beautification District Advisory Committee) is hearing about this, is because there have been some residents that have asked, `What can we do about this Wall'." Next, Mr. Richart stated, "What I would like to do now for everybody's benefit — I would like to show you a presentation that Gary (Brook) did and I want to thank you Gary (Brook) for taking the time to do this; that will actually show you how grave the situation is for this Wall. Mr. Richart added, "This is not something that the City or this Board is bringing forward to the Community, we are just facilitating the issue and trying to help figure it out." Discussion ensued. After a presentation of photographs, Mr. Richart explained the Options available, and stated, "Option number one (1), each homeowner pays to repair their own section. What that could mean is a`Called Code Enforcement' for a resident address to say `There is a public safety issue, the homeowner is not maintaining their wall and it is going to fall down'. That could cost from five hundred dollars ($500.00) to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) per homeowner, depending on where they are along the Wall." Mr. Richart noted, "The other problem with each homeowner doing their own thing on their own, if they did anything, is repairs will not be consistent. Option number two (2), the community may say `We want to start an HOA (Homeowners Association)'." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES TUSCAWILLA LIGHTING AND BEAUTIFICATION DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING - JULY 20, 2011 PAGE 5 OF 9 Continuing, Mr. Richart explained, "Option number three (3) is, if everybody would agree and the community wanted to go that direction the TLBD (Tuscawilla Lighting And Beautification District) could do a Phase 3 Assessment Program. There is a lot of benefit to that because one (1), it is already in place. It would only affect those ninety (90) homes. In other words, all the other areas in Tuscawilla — Assessment would not change, it would just be for those ninety (90) homes; there would just be another Phase that would come in. We are already set up to collect those Assessments through the Tax Bill." With further discussion, Mr. Richart stated, "The last Option, do nothing. The Wall will continue to fail." Mr. Richart added, "We did some initial research. We got a proposal to repair the Wall and what the cost comes in at is about one hundred thirty thousand dollars ($130,000.00). That would be a three (3) tiered Assessment if we do it. It would be two hundred [dollars] ($200.00) to three hundred [dollars] ($300.00) a year per homeowner depending on where you are located along this wall. If you are close to the wall you would pay more. That would be like a twenty (20) year financing at five percent (5%) over those ninety (90) units; so, you would have a Maintenance component and a Capital component." Continuing, Mr. Richart commented, "If you replace the Wall completely, six hundred and thirty [thousand dollars] ($630,000.00) to seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000.00). That is about five [hundred] seventy-five [dollars] ($575.00) to seven [hundred] twenty-five [dollars] ($725.00) a year which is probably not affordable, but the Option is there." Mr. Richart then noted, "The last page of this pamphlet is a breakdown of the estimates I did and it is what I have been working from. It shows you all the costs that are loaded in. Obviously, you would have a permanent Maintenance component to this. When you fix the wall you are going to want to maintain it. The Phase 3, if it happens, would not go away; there would always be a Maintenance component from now on but the Loan would drop off. Once the Loan drops off, the Debt is gone. You would have about one hundred twenty dollars ($120.00) Maintenance component to that Wall, per year, for that group." Furthermore, Mr. Richart added, "My thought on this is that we need to do more research and probably come back to this board with more information. Hopefully some residents in the community would step forward and express some interest in the project." Manager Smith commented, "First of all, thanks Steven (Richart) for what I thought was an excellent presentation. Very thorough as always which I believe you all know and expect from Steven (Richart)." Next, Manager Smith remarked, "My personal opinion is, this is an important enough issue both from a helping our citizens aspect and a public safety aspect, that I would ask the board to strongly consider, not so much just approving moving forward with the recommendation to do the project. I think one key component that we need to do is engage our citizens through Straw Ballots that we have utilized in the past and engage their interest." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES TUSCAWILLA LIGHTING AND BEAUTIFICATION DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING - JULY 20, 2011 PAGE 6 OF 9 Mr. Smith then stated, "So, I would think that an appropriate course of action that I would recommend to this board, is to refer this item to the City Commission, that you all feel that it is an important enough issue that the Commission direct Staff to do whatever research, in addition to what we have done and again in a very thorough manner; and then engage the citizens in that affected area to see what their thoughts are, maybe again through a Straw Ballot, `Are you in favor of this and the resulting cost' or `Are you not in favor of it'. I think you would all agree with me that none of us want to put another tax burden on our residents but if they are inclined or so desiring that, then certainly we would like to come and facilitate and help them." Further discussion ensued regarding what would happen should the Wall fall down before repairs can be done and who would be responsible, should this happen. Manager Smith further noted, "The challenges are many, as Steven (Richart) articulated but the solutions are few. But I think that as Steven [Richart] has articulated and I believe Option number three (3) a reasonable approach to solving this problem subject to, again, engaging the interest of our residents which I believe is most important." Advisory Committee Member Gilmore inquired, "What would you want from us, Kevin (Smith)?" Manager Smith replied, "That the recommendation that I would make to you all is, that you feel that this is an important enough issue, based on the report from Staff to warrant affording this Item to the City Commission with your request that they review this issue, receive the information from Staff, and survey the affected residents in the area to gauge whether or not they would be of the mindset to bear the cost under one of these scenarios to repair the Wall." Vice Chairperson Baker commented, "I think that is perfect. Can you recite that all again in a Motion?" Manager Smith stated, "It would be appropriate if someone is of the mindset to make that Motion just to articulate to the Clerk that you would like to make a Motion consistent to what the City Manager just said." "I MAKE A MOTION THAT YOU INVESTIGATE WITH THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT IN THE CITY AND THE RESIDENTS AS WELL." MOTION BY VICE CHAIRPERSON BAKER. VICE CHAIRPERSON BAKER STATED, "IS THERE ANY MORE TO THAT?" ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER GILMORE STATED, "I WOULD ADD THAT WE WOULD USE THE TERMINOLOGY THAT KEVIN (SMITH) JUST GAVE US THAT HAS BEEN RECORDED AND PUT THAT IN THERE." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES TUSCAWILLA LIGHTING AND BEAUTIFICATION DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING — JULY 20, 2011 PAGE 7 OF 9 MANAGER SMITH COMMENTED, WITH THAT, IF I MAY, YOU CAN WILL STAND IN THAT MANNER." "AND VICE CHAIR[PERSON] IF YOU AGREE SIMPLY SAY `I AGREE' AND THE MOTION VICE CHAIRPERSON BAKER NOTED, "I AGREE WITH IT." SECONDED BY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER GILMORE. DISCUSSION. VOTE: CHAIRPERSON BROOK: AYE VICE CHAIRPERSON BAKER: AYE COMMITTEE MEMBER GILMORE: AYE COMMITTEE MEMBER WOLF: AYE COMMITTEE MEMBER COKER: AYE MOTION CARRIED. Chairperson Brook said to Manager Smith, "Thank you". Mr. Smith stated, "Thank you Madam Chair(person), and if I may just briefly, as your City Manager, more important as a resident of Tuscawilla, I just want to thank you all for everything that you do for us out here in Winter Springs." REGULAR 601. Community Development Department — Urban Beautification Services Division Bud�et Review. Mr. Richart presented this Agenda Item with a review of the Budget. Further discussion ensued regarding the Fund Balance and Mr. Richart commented, "Remember we talked about the Fund Balance being reduced every year. We are spending more than we are taking in essentially. With our current Assessment of one hundred twenty dollars ($120.00) an E.R.U. (Equivalent Resident Unit), we are not hitting the number." Tape 1/Side B Discussion continued regarding Fund Balance. Mr. Richart noted, "The board has voiced a strong desire to continue to maintain the community, to plant the plants and to keep everything looking nice." Mr. Richart added, "So, what we are trying to do is to raise the Assessment enough to balance what we axe having to spend to keep the community nice." Discussion continued. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES TUSCAWILLA LIGHTING AND BEAUTIFICATION DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING - JULY 20, 2011 PAGE 8 OF 9 Then, Mr. Richart added, "Another issue that affects this Fund heavily is that we have so many Street Lights. When our Street Light bill goes up — a couple percent, for us that is ten [thousand dollars] ($10,000.00) to fifteen [thousand dollars] ($15,000.00). We have such a big investment in these Street Lights any time there is a change. We have been aggressive at managing the money. It just takes a lot to run the place." Discussion. Advisory Committee Member Gilmore remarked, "We Approved a rate increase. What is the status of that?" Mr. Richart responded, "The increase will go with the City's Budget to the Commission. We are having a Budget Workshop tomorrow night (Thursday, July 21, 2011). I have invited (Chairperson) Mary Brook to attend in case there are any questions as to having Board input as to why the Assessment is recommended to be raised eight dollars ($8.00) for this Maintenance Fund. I do not anticipate any issues but if there are, I think that Mary (Brook) is going to be there. But it will be Approved with the Final Budget. It has been recommended for Approval." Further discussion. REGULAR 602. Community Development Department — Urban Beautification Services Division Review Of Maintenance Items And Progress Report. Mr. Richart introduced this Agenda Item and noted, "The Commission just Voted to hire Eastwood Tuff Turf [Of Central Florida, Inc.], again saving you over twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) annually. We have worked with them before." Discussion. Further comments followed on review of Maintenance Items and related progress. In other City business, Advisory Committee Member Luci Coker stated, "The next [Regular] meeting is October 19 2011." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES TUSCAWILLA LIGHTING AND BEAUTIFICATION DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING — NLY 20, 2011 PAGE 9 OF 9 ADJOURNMENT Chairperson Brook adjourned the Regular Meeting at 8:09 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: i � CAROL A. LA LATHIN ASSISTANT TO THE CITY CLERK NOTE: These Minutes were approved at the October 19, 2011 Tuscawilla Lighting and Beautification District Advisory Committee Regular Meeting.