09-17-2003 Workshop Meeting CITY OF CLERMONT
MINUTES
WORKSHOP MEETING
September 17, 2003
Page 1
A Workshop Meeting of the City Council of th6 City of Clermont was held at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday,
September 17, 2003 at the Police Department Community Service Room. Mayor Turville and all Council
Members were present at the meeting. Also present were City Manager Saunders, City Planner Sharon Farrell,
Police Chief Story and Police Lieutenant Jensen.
Mayor Turville welcomed those present.
City Manager Saunders stated the first item on the Agenda was regarding the proposed changes in Land Use
for property in the Green Swamp and Nancy Fullerton has requested that this item be on the Agenda for
Council discussion. City Planner Sharon Farrell provided an overview of the proposed changes east of County
Road 561 and south of Pine Island Road, that are being requested of the County Commission. She provided an
overview of the procedure for this change and stated that due to the limited notice given to the City, staff has
not had time to complete a through review .of the request. Ms. Farrell did state that the information had not
been provided to the City. in a timely manner in order to have this presented at a regular City Council Meeting
in order to get Council comments returned to the County Commission. Ms. Farrell recommended that the staff
be allowed to submit a letter to Lake County requesting postponement of this proposed Land Use Change
until the City has sufficient time to review the changes and place this item on a Council Agenda for an official
response. Mr. Bob Shakar, who has requested the Land Use Changes, was present at the meeting and stated
he felt the City had known about the project for some time and that he was proposing to follow the
Department of Community Affairs recommendation for the property as well as follow the proposed Joint
Planning Area requirements.
City Manager Saunders stated that he felt the only firing the City staffwould feel comfortable with doing at this
time would be to request a postponement and would not have any basis of any other type or recommendation
without adequate time to review the proposal.
After considerable discussion, it was the consensus of Council that the staff should move ahead with a request
for postponement.
City Manager Saunders stated the next item on the agenda relates to 2 issues regarding the Police Department.
Chief Story and Lt. Jensen were available to address the City Council. Chief Story first addressed the Council
regarding a complaint letter presented to the City Council by Officer Holmes at the previous City Council
meeting. Chief Story then provided City Council with 2 reports concerning overtime, including a review of the
overtime used in the previous year and a plan of action to reduce overtime in the upcoming year.
Mayor Turville asked for any other comments. City Council Members continued to discuss the Police
Department regarding the accreditation process as well as the perceived morale problems within the
Department.
After a discussion it was the consensus that the City should hire a consultant to conduct a management and
operation review of the Department.
City Manager Saunders stated he would proceed'.with a request for qualifica, tions fi.om consulting firms to
provide services.
Council Members continued to discuss various concerns within the Department, including potentional
communication problems, complaints and level of service. Council Members agreed it may be time for the
City to review the established level of service for the Police Department. Officer Holmes was present and
addressed the City Council stating the reason the complaint letter had been presented was that the officers
signing the letter wanted a safer environment for the officers in order to do a better job for the City.
CITY OF CLERMONT
MINUTES
WORKSHOP MEETING
September 17, 2003
Page 2
Chief Story reiterated that he was committed to solving the problems within the Department and addressing
the overtime problems that had occurred in the past year. Chief Story apologized for allowing the overtime to
get to this point and ~tated he accepted full responsibility for not having better control for the amount of
overtime utilized in the past, but felt that the proposed plan of action would significantly reduced the amount of
overtime while still providing adequate service for the City.
Council Member Ash stated she would like to have additional time to review the reports presented by Chief
Story and would like to continue discussion at a future workshop. City Manager Saunders stated that
September 29 would be the next City Council Workshop.
There being no further business, the meeting adjc~urned at 9:45 .p.m..
H'~'~dtS. Turville, Jr., Mayor