08-02-2000 Special Meeting CITY OF CLERMONT
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A special meeting of the City Council of the City of Clermont was held Wednesday, August 2,
2000 at Jenkins Auditorium at 7:00 p.m. The following Council Members present: Council
Member Biddle, Council Member Mullins and Council Member MacLauchlin. Other City
officials present were City Manager Saunders, City Attorney Guthrie and Deputy City Clerk
Maddox.
Mayor Turville stated that the purpose of the Special Meeting of the City Council was to give
consideration to proposed Ordinance No. 400-M. Mayor Turville stated that Council Member
Lamb was present in the audience and wished to make a statement.
Ms. Lamb read a statement questioning the legality of the special meeting stating that she did
not feel the public had proper notice of the special meeting and that this issue regarding the
City's participation in the M.S.T.U. had been tabled at the last Council Meeting to a time
certain at the August 8, 2000 Council Meeting. Ms. Lamb stated she called the Attorney
General's office and requested a legal opinion regarding this meeting and was advised that they
would issue an opinion if 3 members of the Council voted to request the opinion. Ms. Lamb
stated that the County is required by law to provide and finance EMS and cannot exclude the
City of Clermont from that service. Ms. Lamb stated that she felt the public was not getting due
process by having this emergency meeting and based her decision on her interpretation of the
2000 Government-in-the-Sunshine Manual, and stated that because of that did not feel she
could participate in the meeting. Ms. Lamb left the meeting.
Mayor Turville then called the Special Meeting of the Council to order and the Invocation was
offered by Council Member Biddle followed by the repeating of the Pledge of Allegiance to the
Flag by all present.
Mayor Turville explained that Ordinance was introduced at the Council Meeting held July 11,
2000 as an emergency ordinance and at the time of the final reading at the July 25, 2000
meeting it was tabled until the August 8, 2000 meeting. Mayor Turville stated that the County
was requesting the City to participate in a M.S.T.U., which required the participation of all of
the cities in the County and the County had a deadline of Friday, August 4, 2000 to either have
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the M.S.T.U. or the ambulance service would have to be funded from the County's general
funds. Mayor Turville stated that the reason the emergency ordinance was tabled is because the
Council Members and Staff felt they needed additional information from the County. Mayor
Turville stated that he and City Manager Saunders attended the County Commission Meeting on
Tuesday morning to make an effort to find answers to our questions regarding this issue and the
urgency of our City's participation. Mayor Turville stated that they discovered that if the City
of Clermont was not on board, there could not be an M.S.T.U. at all. Mayor Turville stated that
they received answers to the Council's concerns regarding this issue and stated that the County
did set a millage of .55, did say that the cities could choose how long they wished to initially
commit to, and received a commitment from the County that their intent was to help offset our
City's costs for services that we provide. Mayor Turville stated that he called this special
meeting because if the City of Clermont did not discuss this and make some decision by Friday,
there would be no discussion, decision or vote because the possibility of having an M.S.T.U.
would be gone and the County would run the ambulance service out of their general fund with
no input required from any of the cities. Mayor Turville stated that he felt that the Council is
charged with doing the business of the City and he felt a special meeting of the Council was
called for in order to accomplish this business timely. Mayor Turville invited discussion and
questions from anyone regarding whether there was appropriate notice and requested that City
Attorney Guthrie offer his opinion.
City Attorney Guthrie stated that Council Member Lamb had called him and reviewed her
issues with him. Mr. Guthrie stated that he felt the Notice of the Special Meeting was sufficient
and stated that State Law requires reasonable notice. Mr. Guthrie stated that "reasonable
notice" is not defined precisely and even the Attorney General, who is a great protector of the
Sunshine Law has not set absolute standards, just suggested standards for notice and these
suggested standards must be applied to the situation of when a public body needs to come
together. City Attorney Guthrie stated that in this case there was more than 24 hours notice, the
notices were posted and faxed to the media as is traditionally done for notice requirement for a
public meeting, particularly one that is an emergency in that it deals with an emergency
ordinance and stated that his opinion was that the City is in compliance with the law in terms of
giving a reasonable notice. City Attorney Guthrie stated that in his manual, the Attorney
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General has suggested that he cannot state an absolute standard and that he feels 24 hours is a
reasonable notice. City Attorney Guthrie stated that in his opinion, the caveats listed by the
Attorney General, such as rezoning, budgeting, taxation, appointment of public officer, etc., do
not apply to this issue.
Mayor Turville stated that in Ordinance No. 400-M the City is choosing whether it wishes to be
included in the M.S.T.U. or not. Mayor Turville stated that the County is the levying body and
they are the ones that are advertising and will have the hearings on the actual tax rate.
City Attorney Guthrie stated that the actual fixing of the amount of the millage will be decided
by the County Commission at their budget hearings, which are public meetings required by law
to be the subject of two quarter page ads and after their meetings they will affix and set the
millage. Mr. Guthrie stated that at this time the City is just considering whether to op into a
mechanism, which the County has proposed in terms of the County wide M.S.T.U. pursuant to
Section 125.01 and is not involved in the budgeting or taxation. City Attorney Guthrie stated
that this emergency ordinance is valid for 60 days and then must be adopted in the regular
ordinance process.
City Manager Saunders confirmed that a notice of this special meeting was faxed to all of the
newspapers between 3:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on August 1, 2000.
Council Members Mullins, Biddle and MacLauchlin all stated they were comfortable to moving
ahead with the meeting and Council Member Biddle stated that this ordinance was on the last
public agenda for the last Council Meeting and there were no comments at all from the public
regarding the ordinance at that time and this ordinance has been discussed extensively.
Mayor Turville reminded the Council Members that an issue brought forward at a special
meeting of the Council requires a 2/3 vote, and in the absence of Ms. Lamb, that will mean the
four Council Members seated must vote unanimously in order to pass this ordinance.
Mayor Turville read Ordinance No. 400-M in its entirety.
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County Commissioner Cadwell stated that he wanted to explain how the M.S.T.U. will benefit
the City. Mr. Cadwell gave a brief history of how the County got to the point of deciding that if
the ambulance service for Lake County was going to change then the Cities, hospitals and
County should work together to effect the change. Mr. Cadwell stated that representatives from
the League of Cities, the hospitals and the County met every week for several weeks. Mr.
Cadwell stated he presented the idea of setting up a non-profit group to run the ambulance
service to Sumter County and they wanted to be included. County Commissioner Cadwell
stated that they set up a non-profit group including one commissioner from each County, one
representative from the Hospitals, one representative from the League of Cities from Lake
County and one from Sumter County, and one citizen from each County, to be the Board of
Directors and governing body of the ambulance service. Mr. Cadwell stated that the Board is
moving forward with the transition and all of the cities agreed their preference was to fund the
ambulance service with an M.S.T.U. Mr. Cadwell stated that the County will have funding for
the ambulance service and he hopes it will be with an M.S.T.U with a tree community based
ambulance service with no profit motive in the service whatsoever.
Robert Moore stated that in previous years the funding for ambulance service in Lake County
was divided between two different taxing districts, the North Lake County Ambulance District
and the South Lake County Hospital District. Mr. Moore stated the North Lake County District
was administered by the County Commission and they set that ad valorem and the South Lake
Hospital District was administered by the South Lake Hospital Board which meant over the
years there were two different millages in place, two different administering bodies and two
different taxing rates to provide the same service. Mr. Moore stated that one taxing unit, one
administering body and one taxing rate would be better and that was the reason for the
M.S.T.U. Mr. Moore stated that when funds are mixed with the general fund, it makes it very
difficult to track those dollars and with an M.S.T.U. there is one fund, accounted for separately
so you know exactly what is going in and what is coming out, and the funds are restricted to be
used for just the purpose of the M.S.T.U. and cannot be used for anything else.
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Council Member Biddle stated that he felt that his questions and concerns regarding the
M.S.T.U. were answered. Mr. Biddle stated that it is his understanding that there is going to be
a new ambulance service in Lake County and it is either going to be funded out of general
revenue dollars or by an M.S.T.U. which specifies that the money created can only be used for
an ambulance service and he feels that the M.S.T.U. is the best way to go. Mr. Biddle stated if
the Council does not approve to be included in the M.S.T.U. by Friday, there will be no
M.S.T.U. and the County will be responsible for County wide ambulance service, but the funds
will be processed through the general fund of the County. Council Member Biddle asked if
some of the funds would come back to the City of Clermont to help offset the City's costs since
we have our own response team and County Commissioner Cadwell stated that the Board of
County Commissioners agreed that they will recommend to the Ambulance Board that ifa City
comes to the Board and shows it can enhance the ambulance service in Lake County, that they
set aside the funds to offset the costs to that City for those services.
Council Member Mullins asked what the cost to a citizen was to call an ambulance to their
home and Robert Moore stated that the average charges in Lake County are $421.00 and stated
there were approximately 19,000 patients transported in Lake each year and approximately
4,300 in Surnter County, whose average cost to the patient is $471.00.
Mayor Turville asked how was the proposed millage rate of.55 compare with the bids that were
submitted earlier in the year by private service operators. Mr. Cadwell stated that the .55 is in
line with AMR's bid, who the Board did not want to go back with again and Rural Metro's bid
was considerably lower but members of the Board of Commissioners did not feel they could
provide the service and in fact, Rural Metro pulled out of negotiations with the County. Mr.
Cadwell stated that the committee was charged only with looking for a way to govern the
ambulance service and that the Board of Commissioners felt it was time for the County to run
its own ambulance service.
Council Member Biddle asked Fire Chief Bishop to give the Council his comments and Chief
Bishop stated he felt an M.S.T.U. was the way to go and the fact that the City has only
committed for one year gives us an opportunity to address any issues that may come forth.
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Chief Bishop asked what would happen if the M.S.T.U. failed and Commission Cadwell stated
the County Commission would reassume the responsibility for ambulance service.
Commissioner Cadwell stated that AMR used employees of Florida Hospital and although there
were complaints regarding the administration of that business, there was never a complaint of
the actual employees providing the service to the citizens. Mr. Cadwell stated there is a
transition plan to bring those paramedics and EMTs on board and Mr. Moore stated that Lake
and Sumter Counties own all the vehicles, hardware, life-packs, defibrillators and
communication equipment.
Ann Dupee asked if the agreement for the City of Clermont is for one-year and Commissioner
Cadwell stated that it was and that at any time either County can get out of the operation. Mr.
Cadwell stated that the administration costs are split between the numbers of calls each County
gets. Ms. Dupee asked what the collection rate was and Commissioner Cadwell stated that the
collection rate is at about 49.5% and there is a payor mix including private pay, which pays all
of the call out of their pocket, medicare which pays about $257.00 for an ambulance call, third
party insurance and others which make up 8 or 9 payor categories. Ms. Dupee stated that her
opinion was that the M.S.T.U. was the better plan, with more accountability. Ms. Dupee stated
for the record that she was not here for personal politics and did not have an "ax to grind".
Mona Phipps stated that this proposed ambulance method is used in many cities all over the
United States and she thinks it will be very good for Lake County. Ms. Phipps stated for the
record she is present at the meeting because she cares.
City Manager Saunders stated that he felt an M.S.T.U. was the preferred method for financing
as it is restrictive, well defined and much easier to account for. Mr. Saunders stated that if the
City Council does not address this situation prior to August 4, 2000, there will not be any
opportunity for public input or even any opportunity for the City Council to take any action at
all on whether the City prefers the M.S.T.U. or ad valorem. Mr. Saunders stated that if the
Council adopts it, we will be included in an M.S.T.U., and if the Council does not adopt this,
the ambulance service will be on general millage. Mr. Saunders stated that the .55 mil is going
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to be assessed County wide one way or the other, either as an M.S.T.U. or as an increase in the
County ad valorem. City Manager Saunders stated that his final point is that this is not the
adoption of the .55 mil and the County's public heatings on that will come later and the public
will have input at that time.
Council Member Biddle confirmed that if the Council fails to take action tonight the Council
will actual eliminate the chance for public input on this in the future and City Manager
Saunders stated that the County Attorney advised that if Clermont's City Council did not
address this matter before August 4, 2000, there is no reason to address it at the next Council
Meeting because at that point there is no possibility for an M.S.T.U. for the County.
City Attorney Guthrie concurred with City Manager Saunders and the County Attorney and
stated that the Council needs to act before August 4, 2000 in order to meet the requirements of
the State TRIM law that the M.S.T.U. appear on the TRIM notice that goes out to all taxpayers
so a failure to act tonight would nullify the ability of the County to create an M.S.T.U. for
ambulance services and that fact constitutes the emergency of this emergency meeting of the
Council. City Attorney Guthrie that an emergency ordinance is valid for only 60 days and then
will be brought back before Council for consideration and City Manager Saunders stated he
intends to re-advertise an introduction as well as a final hearing so there will be two other
meetings in front of the Council.
A motion was made by Council Member Biddle, seconded by Council
Member Mullins and carried unanimously by roll call vote to approve
Emergency Ordinance No. 400-M.
CITIZENS COMMENTS
Ann Dupee, as President of the Operating Board of Hospice of Lake and Sumter County and
stated that some of their patients were being dismissed from hospitals and because they were
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not considered an emergency, they sometimes had to wait several hours for ambulance service.
Ms. Dupee said that the Board has had an ambulance donated to Hospice and drivers have
volunteered so that these patients will no longer have to wait.
Ms. Dupee stated further that the City of Groveland has advertised a Notice of Public Hearing
an ordinance annexing fight-of-ways on State Road 19, County Road 565, County Road 565-A,
County Road 561-A, State Road 50 and State Road 33 Groveland. Ms. Dupee stated that these
annexations affect the City of Clermont's borders and the City of Groveland would have control
of deciding regarding issues pertaining to water and sewer and would be policing and
maintaining those fight-of-ways. Ms. Dupee stated she feels this could have possible serious
ramifications for the City of Clermont and thinks we should be represented at their meeting on
August 7, 2000, both in person and in writing for the record.
City Manager Saunders stated he has talked with Mr. Yarborough, the City Manager of
Groveland and stated Ms. Dupee's explanation was correct. Mr. Saunders stated that the
annexing of road fight-of-ways on those sections of Highway 50 and County Road 561-A will
directly affect the City of Clermont. City Manager Saunders stated Mr. Yarborough informed
him that he and the Mayor of Groveland are presenting an amendment to the ordinance on
Monday night, that will scale back the Highway 50 annexation to stop at Max Hooks Road and
the 561-A annexation to stop at the intersection of 565-A and 561-A. City Manager Saunders
stated he was going to issue a letter to the Mayor and Council Members of Groveland indicating
our City's objection to them annexing the area east of Max Hooks Road on Highway 50 and the
area east of 561-A. City Manager Saunders stated that this situation could be avoided if we had
the Joint Planning Area Agreement in place.
After discussion the City Council directed City Manager Saunders to write a letter and have a
City representative present at the Groveland City Council Meeting on Monday night.
Carlos Solos stated that since his name was brought up at the beginning of the meeting, he
wished to state for the record that he attended this meeting to listen and had no political agenda.
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Mr. Solos stated he just wanted to obtain information regarding the M.S.T.U. so he would have
enough information to make a decision.
Bill Delaney stated that he lived on 561-A and stated he was opposed to the City of Groveland
annexing right-of-ways in their area. Mr. Delaney stated he spoke with Groveland's City
Manager Yarborough and was informed that Groveland wanted to annex the right-of-ways so
that they could get rights to the utilities, especially water and sewer. Mr. Delaney stated he
questions Groveland's ability to provide services.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Attest
Harold S. Turville, Jr. Mayor