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07.12.2023 - City Council MinutesCite of Clermont MINUTES CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP July 12, 2023 CALL TO ORDER The City Council met in a workshop session on Wednesday, July 12, 2023 in the Clermont City Council Chambers. Mayor Murry called the workshop to order at 9:04 am with the following Council Members present: Council Members Pines, Gonzalez, and Purvis. Absent: Council Member Entsuah Other City officials present were City Manager Bulthuis, City Attorney Mantzaris, and City Clerk Howe. OPENING COMMENTS City Manager Bulthuis informed Council that this Budget Workshop will go over an amendment for the current year's budget and review next year's budget. At the next City Council meeting, Council must set a maximum millage rate to advertise. Mr. Bulthuis spoke about the taxable value for the city and the current millage rate of 5.06, based on the roll back rate our millage would roll back to 4.6205. In order to keep the millage rate of 5.06 mills, it requires four votes by the City Council. The most four of them could vote for is 5.2269 and anything above that would require a unanimous vote by City Council. The budget being presented is based on 5.06 mills. Council Member Pines and Council Member Gonzalez will not be at the next City Council Meeting on July 25, 2023. There has been discussion with the City Attorney and as long as we have a quorum in person, the two Council Members can call in and vote for the maximum millage rate over the phone. Discussion ensued regarding the surrounding cities millage rates and fire fees, which we currently do not have. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Proposed Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Budget Discussion City Manager Bulthuis began with the Sanitation budget. He provided an overview of the budget and explained that sanitation fees will be included in the next budget amendment. The cities contract with the transfer station in Groveland for Solid Waste disposal is expiring in March 2024. Staff has had preliminary conversations and the price per ton is increasing from $30.00 to S70.00 per ton. Recycling fees will be S 125.00 per ton which have been at no cost in the past. With the costs rising, a decision has to be made on whether the city continues to recycle. In order to continue with our existing sanitation pick up schedule, the City would have to increase the cost from S23.08 to S30.00 per month for residents. Public Services Assistant Director Maiworm provided historical background on the contract the city has with the transfer station. Previously the city was paid for recycling as it was viewed as a natural resource. In the past two (2) years, the market has changed with garbage and trash. There has been discussion between staff on what the city can do to contain costs. One idea is building our own transfer station on 12d' Street as Public Works transfers to the new facility. Mr. Maiworm reviewed how the transfer station could be laid out and how it would work. The estimated cost to build a transfer station is between $3 and $5 million and another S 1,000,000.00 to purchase the needed equipment to haul the waste. Another option in regards to recycling would be to have the residents drop off their recycling at a transfer station such as this and that would take the city out of having to collect it. City of Clermont MINUTES CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP July 12, 2023 Currently, there are two trucks going out each day to collect solid waste and recycling. If the decision is made to not continue with recycling then Public Services would modify the routes since there would be more solid waste. Mayor Murry expressed his view that he is not keen on continuing the recycling program if it is going to cost more money. City Manager Bulthuis explained the markets are not there for recycling because it is not mandated for paper and other things. There are ways to incentivize recycling but not by the local government. If council considers the 121h Street property for a transfer station, keep in mind that the police and fire departments were looking at the property as a training facility. Public Services Assistant Director Maiworm stated that the cost is increasing significantly. Currently, the city is recycling 3,000 tons per year, with the new rates the estimated annual cost would be $375,000.00. There are 18,000 tons of solid waste per year, the new rates would mean an estimated annual cost of $1.2 to $1.5 million. Discussion ensued regarding the need for equipment and more personnel if the city were to build a transfer station. The Lake County landfill was brought up and the cost per ton to bring waste directly to them. City Manager Bulthuis said he would like to analyze all aspects of waste removal over the next few months. Mr. Bulthuis raised the question of being open to using the 121' Street property as a transfer station. Council gave their views on using 121h Street as a transfer station. There was discussion on other properties in the city that could be a possibility for a transfer station. Mr. Bulthuis stated that staff will reach out to the consultant that Lake County used and look at all the options available. Conversations will continue regarding a new contract and staff will return to council with where the adjustments need to be made. City Manager Bulthuis moved on to water and sewer. The work has started on the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant. Currently, the city is good with the capacity at the wastewater treatment plant with the planned growth that we have within the city limits. The city is the first right of refusal to provide water and sewer to properties within the service boundaries but not within the city limits. Public Services receives letters requesting service and if we have capacity to serve them. The city has the right not to serve but in the past the city has said yes. There is a development that will be asking for water and sewer and staff is recommending denial. The city currently has capacity but staffs position is that the development will have to conform to our zoning requirements if they want us to provide water and sewer. Mr. Bulthuis informed Council that the city has a Consumptive Use Permit that dictates how much water we can use daily. Public Services Superintendent Griffin spoke about the pressure issues at Highland Ranch. The city has been looking at putting in a ground storage tank. Public Services is working with a consultant to identify feasible locations to construct a 1.1 million gallon ground storage tank. Two vacant land parcels have been identified near the Highland Ranch subdivision and either parcel would serve as a suitable location for a future storage tank. The cost associated with the preliminary design is $92,000.00. The intent would be to serve Highland Ranch and Summit Greens independent of the existing system. Cih� of Clermont MINUTES CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP July 12, 2023 The city currently does not produce enough reclaimed water to serve the whole city, it is combined with well water which is counted towards the water in the Consumptive Use Permit. Council spoke about other communities in the city and the need for staff to look at a landscape ordinance and drought tolerant grass. Public Services Superintendent Griffin provided history of the Consumptive Use Permit (CUP). The ground water withdrawal limits for the city were discussed and if current trends continue, it is anticipated that withdrawal amounts will reach about 9 million gallons a day between 2025 and 2026. Due to the increase in growth trending faster than anticipated, the City will need to increase the ground water withdrawal limits in the CUP. This is expected to take about 240 days to complete with an anticipated cost of approximately $48,000.00. Mayor Murry recessed the workshop at 10:45am. The workshop reconvened at 10:59am. City Manager Bulthuis provided an update on the ARPA funds. In 2022. the city received $19,356,075.00 and spent about $12 million. S7 million was left over to start the current fiscal year. Staff is estimating that the city will spend $7 million leaving roughly S300,000.00 for next fiscal year. The funds are being used for ongoing projects so the costs may fluctuate. Impact Fee funds from Police, Fire and Parks and Recreation can only be used for new equipment. Replacement vehicles cannot be paid for with impact fee funds. The funds are not provided all at once, the departments have been working on planning for the future and what can be purchased with the funds. City Manager Bulthuis informed Council that for non -union employees, there is a 5% merit increase in the budget for April 1. The city's health insurance for employees was discussed including the recommendation to switch to Aetna's narrower network with Orlando Health for cost savings. Infrastructure Fund City Manager Bulthuis reviewed the Infrastructure Fund budget and explained that the funds come from the State and are based on a formula that gives cities a percentage based on the population of the city. There is a 55,000.00 threshold for capital projects. Any projects over that amount will be capitalized. Police Captain McMaster reviewed the Police Department infrastructure budget which included the costs of vehicles. City Manager Bulthuis brought up Mr. Maiworm to review the capital outlay requests for road resurfacing, sidewalks and vehicles. Mr. Bulthuis reviewed the recommendation for the funds needed for sidewalks and at the next workshop, staff will return with a plan for the sidewalks. Mayor Murry recessed the workshop at 12:18 pm. The workshop reconvened at 1:00 pm. City Manager Bulthuis informed Council that they will continue with the Infrastructure Fund. Public Services Assistant Director Maiwomi provided information regarding road maintenance, major projects and staffs five year plan. Facilities and grounds maintenance was discussed, staff requested $1.2 million for Bishop Field which was cut from the budget. 3 Citit of Clermont MINUTES CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP July 12, 2023 Parks and Recreation Capital outlay requests were reviewed. Mr. Bulthuis named some of the projects that are requested for the upcoming year. Discussion was had regarding facilities, parks and events. The Fire Department capital outlay budget was reviewed. Fire Chief Ezell presented council with the capital requests. Discussion was had regarding replacing fire trucks and that there is no money in the General Fund for replacement fire trucks. The review of the fleet status was done and due to fire codes changing as building heights are raised Chief Ezell is recommending purchasing a 170 foot Ladder Truck. Council reviewed different options for replacement which included a performance bond or to prepay now which would reduce the overall cost as costs are rising. The request will be brought before Council in August for approval to purchase a truck. Fire fees and raising the millage rate were discussed as a resource to increase funds for major expenses. Council's consensus was to move forward with a study regarding the possibility of assessing a fire fee. General Fund City Manager Bulthuis reviewed the overall numbers in the General Fund budget which includes the fire truck purchase. Mr. Bulthuis detailed that restricted funds are for specific things. Police have money for drug funds and there is also a dedicated tree fund which will be taken out of restricted and place into its own fund. This year's budget was configured using the same millage rate as last year. Mr. Bulthuis reviewed the budgets for City Council. City Clerk and City Manager departments. The Finance department's budget was reviewed and the use of contract services was discussed. Mr. Bulthuis moved on to the City Attorney budget and informed Council that the Labor Attorney fee has increased due to Police and Fire contracts expiring next year and having to go into negotiations. Development Services Director Henschel discussed his budget which includes Code Enforcement. The largest amount is set for the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Henschel reviewed what that entails and an estimated timeline of the process. Information Technology's budget was discussed next. Information Technology Director Fountain had requested 5200,000.00 in fiber which was cut out of the budget. Mr. Fountain explained the need for the fiber. Council discussed the need for cameras in the city and connecting Fire Station No. 4 with the rest of the city. As to the Fire Station, Mr. Fountain stated that they are waiting on conduit, the station is connected to a cable and created a connection to the station that way. City Manager Bulthuis stated that staff will get a cost estimate to connect Fire Station No. 4 and present that at the next budget workshop. Mayor Murry recessed the workshop at 2:46 pm. The workshop reconvened at 3:00 pm. 4 City of Clermont MINUTES CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP July 12, 2023 City Manager Bulthuis reviewed the General Government budget which includes the daily running of City Hall. The Fire Departments budget was reviewed. Fire Chief Ezell discussed his requests for the department. One request was for two positions which were cut from the budget. Council's consensus was to add the positions back into the budget. City Manager Bulthuis stated that within the next two to five years, will need to add a shift for Fire Station 5. To add a shift will require a minimum of 12 to 15 people which means salary and wages added to the budget. City Manager Bulthuis added that there will be a need for an executive session to speak about negotiations with Police and Fire in terms of all of their requests. There are two new line items created within the Fire Department budget. Chief Ezell reviewed what the lines are for which included a contract for medical equipment with Stryker. There was discussion regarding outfitting a new truck, Mr. Bulthuis will review and update council at the next budget workshop. City Manager Bulthuis spoke about the 121h Street property, currently there is no money in the budget. Police Chief Broadway and Fire Chief Ezell presented their ideas for that property, including a training facility, offices, classrooms and storage. There is no comprehensive master plan for that property. Council provided their opinions regarding the use of that property. City Manager Bulthuis reviewed the Streets/Transportation Maintenance Budget, Grounds Maintenance, Fleet Maintenance, Engineering/Inspections, and Facility Maintenance Budgets. Next was an overview of the Economic Development, Human Resources, and Procurement budgets. The Parks and Recreation department budget was reviewed which included the Historic Village, Events/City Center and Waterfront budget. Mr. Bulthuis added that they would like to revamp the 01 of July celebration next year and increase the camp out to twice per year. The Arts and Recreation Center and Performing Arts Center budgets were discussed. Within the Arts and Recreation Center, they are requesting to convert a part time position to a full time position and having a marque on US Hwy 27 for the Preforming Arts Center. City Manager Bulthuis reviewed the Police Department budget. They are requesting five additional officers and one civilian employee, the City Manager kept the one civilian and cut the five officers. The department is authorized 92 officers and currently there are three vacancies with one possibly spoken for. Once the department is fully staffed, they can revisit needing additional officers. Police Chief Broadway requested community service officers to augment the Police Department. They would drive modified cars and their role would be to direct traffic and traffic crashes, help with basic crime scenes and work special events. This would allow officers to handle cases of a more severe criminal nature. The community service officers will not be armed. Discussion ensued regarding community service officers versus a real officer versus a park ranger. There will be two School Resource Officers at Aurelia Cole Academy since it will be a K-8 school. 5 City of Clermont MINUTES CITY COUNCIL. BUDGET WORKSHOP July 12, 2023 2. Other City Manager Bulthuis informed Council that there is a proposal for a VW dealership. There was a traffic study conducted and there is work that will need to be done on the roads. The applicant is asking the city to pay half of the $800,000.00 that the project will cost. Mr. Bulthuis posed the question to Council is what amount is a fair amount and if it would be a good investment to improve the area. If we came to an agreement and moved forward the question then becomes who takes lead on the project. There will be a meeting with the applicant later in the week, no need for a consensus now but more of something to think about that will be coming. 1]1Ci11)laer*1131toi�l Next budget workshop will be on Thursday, July 20 at 6:30pni. City of Clermont MINUTES CITY COUNCEL BUDGET WORKSHOP July 12, 2023 ADJOURN: With no further comments, this workshop adjourned at 5:11 pm. r1W;j:IllkvD)DIP Tim Murry, Mayor ATTEST: Tracy Ackroyd Howe, MMC City Clerk M