06-08-1999 CRA Meeting C.)
CITY OF CLERMONT
MINUTES
COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY PUBLIC HEARING
June 8, 1999
A Community Redevelopment Agency meeting of the City of Clermont was held
Tuesday, June 8, 1999 at Jenkins Auditorium at 691 Montrose Street and was called to
order at 6:30 p.m. with the following Members in attendance: Mayor Turville, Council
Member Biddle, Council Member Brown, Council Member Lamb, Council Member
Wolfe, Gordon Hallgren and Elaine Hyatt Barton, Also present was City Manager
Saunders, and Deputy City Clerk Maddox.
Minutes
Approval of the Minutes of the CRA meeting of May 25, 1999, was deferred until the
next CRA meeting in order to give the CRA Board Members additional time to review
the minutes.
Mayor Turville requested that City Manager Saunders give a small paragraph on each of
the items listed on the agenda so that everyone could be better prepared to discuss the
issues at the meeting and City Manager Saunders agreed to do that.
Post Office Relocation
The Downtown Partnership's President, Rose Biddle stated that the Downtown
Partnership would like to encourage the Post Office to stay downtown or at least keep a
retail branch downtown and it was suggested at the last CRA meeting that Postmaster
Willie Montgomery be present during the discussion concerning this.
Postmaster Montgomery stated that Rose Biddle and Gordon Hallgren had met with him
regarding this. Mr. Montgomery stated that he is employed by the United States Postal
Service, but he works for the citizens of Clermont. When he first heard that downtown
merchants were displeased at relocating the Post Office, he immediately informed his
boss. He stated that any action the Post Office decides to take will be decided with the
best interest of Clermont in mind. Mr. Montgomery stated he feels the best interest of
Clermont would be served by having a full service Post Office and this would mean
relocating the Post Office. He stated that an alternative is putting up an annex and
renovating the present location in order to maintain a retail unit in the downtown area.
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C.)
CITY OF CLERMONT
MINUTES
COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY PUBLIC HEARING
June 8, 1999
Page 2
Mr. Montgomery further stated that even with this alternative, his biggest concern is
whether the present downtown location, even if renovated, will be user friendly to the
postal employees and other downtown neighbors.,Mr. Montgomery stated his biggest
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concern is safety for his employees and convenience for the citizens of Clermont.
Postmaster Montgomery stated that as it stands now, they are looking at putting a new
• Post Office near Citrus Tower Boulevard and maintaining the downtown location.
Postmaster Montgomery stated he would not encourage his bosses to move the retail
unit from the downtown location. He stated that was the only guarantee he can make.
In response to CRA Member Wolfe's question, Mr. Montgomery suggested that the letter
from the CRA be directed to him and he would forward it to the appropriate
supervisors.
CRA Board Member Lamb expressed concern at advising or suggesting direction to
Postmaster Montgomery regarding the Post Office location and stated she did not know
why the Board needed to write a letter and CRA Board Member Biddle explained that
unlike the role as a City Council Member, it is the responsibility of the CRA Board
Members to involve themselves in such issues concerning the CRA district.
The CRA Board was advised that the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors is also
drafting a letter requesting the Post Office maintain a presence downtown.
A motion was made by CRA Board Member Biddle, seconded
by CRA Board Member Lamb, and unanimously carried, that
the Board draft a letter to the Post Office requesting that a retail
unit be maintained somewhere in the downtown area.
Streetscape
CRA Board Member Biddle stated that the Downtown Clermont Partnership, raised
$10,000.00 for a Streetscape plan and Green Consulting Group was employed to do the
Streetscape Plan. The Partnership requested that Tim Green look at our City and offer
suggestions for making improvements in the housekeeping and clean up area that most
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CITY OF CLERMONT
MINUTES
COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY PUBLIC HEARING
June 8, 1999
Page 3
property owners could do initially and on their own. Mr. Biddle stated that part of the
plan was to provide a base-map and a draft of some ideas for the Streetscaping plan.
Tim Green from Green Consulting Group presented pictures of properties located in the
CRA district and a base-map of the area for the CRA's review. Mr. Green stated that the
purpose of the pictures were to make people aware that clean up and sometimes just
painting, killing weeds or the location of garbage cans, can make their property and the
downtown area look more attractive. Mr. Green also offered for the CRA Board's
review, some before and after pictures.
Mr. Green stated that the Streetscape Plan at this point is a draft conceptual plan and
some of the ideas came from the citizen's who participated and gave input as to what
they wanted to see in the CRA district, including more user friendly parking, landscaping
and user friendly pedestrian crossings and traffic calming devises such as round-a-bouts
that identify the core area of downtown.
CRA Board Member Turville invited everyone to review the pictures and base-map.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
Mayor Harold S. Turville, Jr.
Attest:
seph . Van Zity Clerk