Loading...
06.21.2022 - City Council MinutesCity of Clermont MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP June 21, 2022 CALL TO ORDER The City Council met in a workshop session on Tuesday, June 21, 2022 in the Clermont City Council Chambers. The workshop was called to order at 6:30 pm with the following Council Members present: Mayor Murry, Council Members Pines, Entsuah, Bates, and Purvis. Other City officials present were City Manager Bulthuis, City Attorney Mantzaris, and Deputy City Clerk Wisniewski. OPENING COMMENTS City Manager Bulthuis stated the departments have changed their presentations since the retreat. This is a continuation from the retreat, both departments will give their presentations and they will follow the same format as the retreat. AGENDA ITEMS Department Priorities Discussion Public Services Public Services Director Brunson listed all divisions within the department and stated there are 146 employees and 34 vacancies. Spoke about the funds their department uses. Mr. Brunson expressed his concern over a new state mandate regarding CDL licenses, most positions within the department require a CDL license and with the new mandate employees will have to take classes that cost $2,000 to $5,000 per employee. Discussion ensued regarding who would need to take the classes and if there can be a signed agreement when hired if the city pays for an employee to get their CDL license. Mr. Brunson gave an overview of some of the divisions in the department. He spoke about staffing within each division and listed out the main functions. Mr. Brunson discussed future projects such as the roof at city hall needing repair and the new Public Services being built. There was discussion on using the same contractor for the roof as the one that will replace the roof at the ARC and the bays for fleet maintenance in the new facility. City Manager Bulthuis asked what the biggest issue is in hiring and maintaining staff. Mr. Brunson expressed that pay is the biggest issue the department faces with gaining and maintaining employees. Mayor Murry inquired about the quality of service the department provides with not being fully staffed. Mr. Brunson stated that the department subcontracts out the water meter replacements because of staffing issues, otherwise there have not been any complaints thus far and the department is doing a great job. Assistant Director of Public Services Maiworm reviewed the remaining divisions within the department. There was discussion on road resurfacing, the infrastructure fund and the sanitation master plan which is currently being reviewed with a consultant and will come before Council in the next 60 days. Discussion ensued regarding trash pickup in Wellness Way and also bulk pickup around the city. Mr. Maiworm reviewed the current and future construction projects such as the Water treatment expansion and moving utility lines when roads are expanded. City of Clermont MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP June 21, 2022 Mayor Murry asked about funding to update Bishop Field. Deputy City Manager Davidoff explained that it is always in the five year plan but will usually get moved for another project due to funding. City Manager Bulthuis explained that departments submit their requests prior to budget and then when they look over funding there are things that are not able to be funded to meet the budget for that year. Police De artment Police Chief Broadway presented the organizational chart and stated that there are currently six vacancies that the Police Department hopes can be reduced by October. Mayor Murry inquired about the pay increase and if that helped in hiring officers. Chief Broadway explained that in that same time frame, Lake County along with other cities had also increased pay so the city may see the union coming forward for higher pay. Chief Broadway broke down statistics from 2021 to 2022. Discussion was had about crime and traffic crashes. Chief Broadway gave the times of day that most of the traffic crashes happened and Mayor Murry asked for the statistics of the amount of crashes that involved alcohol and the ages of the drivers. Chief Broadway discussed the priorities for 2022 along with the goals and strategies of the department, what they have done to get where they want to be. The department uses community policing and programs to reduce crime. Discussion ensued regarding motorcycle and pedestrian safety along with golf cart use within the city. Chief Broadway spoke on the challenges the department faces. Those are accreditation, Wellness Way, recruiting and hiring. There was discussion regarding patrolling Wellness Way, once roads are in officers will be patrolling the area. The department currently breaks the city into six zones for patrolling, Wellness Way will likely add two more zones to patrol. Mayor Murry asked how much man power Wellness Way will need, there is discussion ongoing to possibly add another district. Staff is currently looking at population growth and the possibility of needing ten officers assigned there in about five years. There was discussion about the hiring event held at the Police Department and that Orlando followed suit with a hiring event. Current and future projects were discussed which include LPR's, starchase gps devices and drones. They spoke about the cost of the projects along with what benefit the city has from using the tools. Mr. Bulthuis asked Council what they would like to do with the old Public Services property. The consensus from Council was to keep the property. The city having its own training facility was discussed and each Council Member gave their thoughts on using the property for Police and Fire to train. The consensus from Council is to keep and maintain the property for a Police and Fire training facility and the property can be expanded and built up over time. Discussion was had regarding funding a facility for the Sea Cadet program. Council's decision was that they would not help fund a facility but would research letting the program possibly place a manufactured building on city property. 2 City of Clermont MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP June 21, 2022 City Manager Bulthuis spoke about how traffic operates at Waterfront Park and how to control the flow of vehicles through the parking area. There was discussion on charging for parking or putting a gate at the entrance and when the lot is full to close the gate until spots open. Council had a discussion on the number of people at Waterfront Park on the weekends and the trash that is being left. Council came to a consensus to try barricades at the entrances to the parking lot and observe the flow of traffic to see if that makes a difference before moving forward with something permanent. Mr. Bulthuis brought up the state law that that came into effect that can prohibit smoking in the parks and at the beach. Council discussed and decided to leave it as is with the signs that are currently in place. CLOSING COMMENTS City Manager Bulthuis spoke about the upcoming budget meetings and that the dates may change. Mr. Bulthuis also gave an update on VP Development and Art District settlement agreement. In process of doing the title work and allocating easements. Looking at a goal of 30 to 45 days to close everything. Mr. Bulthuis gave the go ahead for City Attorney Mantzaris to make an offer to purchase the DeHoya property and will update Council once they receive a response. ADJOURN: With no further comments, this workshop adjourned at 10:18pm. ATTES Tracy Ackroyd Howe, MMC City Clerk 3 APPROVED: Tim Murry, Mayo