07-23-1992 Workshop Meeting... ® •
CITY OF CLERMONT
MINUTES
WORKSHOP MEETING
July 23, 1992
A Workshop Meeting of the City Council of the City of Clermont was held Thursday,
July 23, 1992 in the City Hall Conference Room. The meeting was called to order by
Mayor Pool at 6:00 p.m. with the following Council Members in attendance: Mayor
Pro Tem Turville, and Council Member Cole. Also present was City Manager
Saunders and Finance Director Van Zile.
PROPOSED BUDGET REVIEW
City Manager Saunders stated that several people would be entering the meeting
requesting contributions. Prior to that, several other budget items were discussed. A
statement of Budget Revenues, Expenditures, and changes in Reserves for all funds
was given to each Council Member which includes everything that was discussed in
prior workshops regarding the Budget.
No money has been included in the proposed Budget for additional Christmas
decorations. Last year $4,000 was spent. After discussion, it was concluded not to
budget any additional Christmas decorations this year. Also included in the Budget
was $2,500 for fireworks display this year, and no changes were made to this.
Council Members asked that we proceed with improvements to Veterans Park this
year using the Sidewalk Budget for these improvements since they included handicap
access sidewalks to the Memorial.
The request from some of the retired employees regarding a cost of living increase for
pension benefits was discussed. Also discussed was the possibility of providing health
insurance benefits to retirees. Finance Director Van Zile indicated that our insurance
consultant had stated that this would in all likelihood be cost prohibitive due to the
small number of our group. Several options were discussed and Council Members
requested a list of retirees and benefits to be discussed at a later date.
Council Member Ivey entered the meeting at 6:30 p.m.
CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Ellen Crouser from Childhood Development Services entered the meeting at 6:40.
She addressed the City Council regarding funding for her agency. Following her
presentation the Council stated that they had several other requests and they would
listen to the others before making any decisions regarding funding.
Council Member Turville asked Ms. Crouser to provide information regarding the
typical client profile, more specifically those that are being served and in what
capacity in the Clermont area. Mr. Turville was not interested in names, but
interested in the type of person with regard to type of income and family status of the
clients.
CITYOF CLERMONT
MINUTES
WORKSHOP MEETING
July 23, 1992
Page 2
FLORIDA POWER
•
Mr. Ray Gilley and Mr. John Minor of Florida Power entered the meeting at 7:00
p.m. Mr. Gilley stated the purpose of his presentation was to update the City Council
regarding Florida Power's role in the community. He provided each member with a
notebook outlining the services provided by Florida Power highlighting their
community involvement. Mr. Gilley and Mr. Minor left the meeting at 7:50 p.m.
COOPER MEMORIAL LIBRARY
Entering the meeting at 7:50 p.m. were representatives of Cooper Memorial Library
which included Honey Jean Smoak, Hamilton Ward, Bonnie Ray, and Don Wickham.
The library representatives reviewed their future expansion plans as well as their
current budget needs. City Manager Saunders indicated to the Council that the City's
proposed Budget included an additional $2,500 over last year's contribution which
equates to 3 % of their personnel costs which is similar to the increase in the
contribution last year. The actual request by the library is for an increase of $6,291.
After discussion the Council explained they were still listening to requests for
contributions for various agencies and a decision would be made at a later date
regarding any additional dollars to be placed in the proposed Budget.
EMPLOYEE SALARIES
City Manager Saunders provided the Council Members with a list of current
department head salaries and the proposed salaries to be included in next year's
Budget. The percentage increases associated with the proposed salaries were
discussed.
SPRAYFIELD SOIL TESTING
The need for soil. testing at the Sprayfield was discussed. City Manager Saunders
showed the Council the nitrate levels that have been recorded for the past 8 months
and graph that was provided by John Springstead which indicates high levels
concentrating in the area of the old Grove Road that originally separated the two
parcels that were purchased by the City for the Sprayfield.
The next step would be to take soil samples in this area at various depths and at
approximate 100' intervals to try and pinpoint the location of what is believed to be a
deposit of fertilizer or other high nitrogen deposits in this area which is causing high
nitrogen readings in two of the monitoring wells.
City Manager Saunders provided the Council with the estimated cost of a survey crew
to establish the water levels in all of the test wells which would indicate the flow of
the sub-surface water and do the soil samples as discussed. It was the consensus of
the Council to proceed with this project as soon as possible. City Manager Saunders
•
CITYOF CLERMONT
MINUTES
WORKSHOP MEETING
July 23, i992
Page 3
explained that the study of the problem as agreed to with the Department of
Environmental Regulation must be completed in January and hopefully this will
pinpoint the source of the nitrate.
UPDATED REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES
Each Council Member was given an updated statement of Revenues and Expenditures
with regards to all changes up to this point. ~ City Manager Saunders explained that he
was proposing to eliminate $2,000 in the Fire Department Budget for the radios and
utilize the old radios from the Police Department. This will leave the General Fund
with an estimated deficit of approximately $34,000. It is anticipated that this deficit
will be covered by a dividend from Lake Apopka Natural Gas and from additional
franchise fee and utility service taxes associated with the requested rate increase of
Florida Power.
An additional handout was provided to each Council Member which summarized the
Budget highlights which included maintaining the millage rate at 2.729 for the third
consecutive year, and no increases in user fees or utility rates.
Meeting adjourned at 10:40 p.m.
Robert A. Pool, Mayor
Attest:
J ep E. Van ' e City Clerk