05-17-1983 Workshop Meeting
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CITY OF CLERMONT
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MINUTES
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WORKSHOP MEETING
May 17, 1983
A Workshop Meeting of the City Council of the City of Clermont was held on May 17, 1983
in the City Hall Conference Room. The Meeting was called to order by Mayor Beals at
7:00 p.m. with the following Council Members present: Mayor Pro Tem Pool, Lester Cole,
and Ann Dupee. City Manager Forbes was also present. ..
TOWN HALL MEETING AGENDA
The agenda of the Town Hall Meeting was discussed in detail, and the consensus of the
Council was that reports would be given at this Meeting from all of the City's various
Boards and Committees. They also stated that they would like the gas tax, street sweeper,
and City Annexation and Growth Policy issues placed on the agenda. The City's services
questionnaire which will be distributed at the meeting was reviewed, and the Council
requested that an additional question to our citizens be placed on the questionnaire.
The question would read "Should the City expand its corporate limits?" Yes. No
"If yes, when?" Immediately At the completion of the sewage treatment plant
expansion or Other Mayor Beals explained that the purpose
of the Town Hall Meeting was to get. input from our citizens, and he felt that all commit-
tee reports should be limited to five minutes to allow for a question and answer period.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
The Council discussed various Bills now pending before the State Legislature. The con-
sensus of the Council was to allow Mayor Beals to write letters to our legislators giving
the Council's position on the following Bills:
1. HB 1012 PRISON SITING. The consensus of the Council was to oppose this
Bill because it would override local zoning authority.
2. HB 1143 - UNIFORM ELECTION DATES. The Council was in favor of this Bill
which would require Counties to have uniform election dates.
3. HB 173 - MOBILE HOMES. The Council was against this Bill because it would
allow double wide mobile homes to be placed on city lots without regard to
individual municipalities' zoning ordinances.
4. SB 451 - GAS TAX REFUND FOR MUNICIPAL VEHICLES. The Council supported this
Bill.
5. PCB - 5 REVENUE ESTIMATES. This Bill was opposed by the Council because it
would eliminate State estimates on sales tax revenues.
ADMISSION FEES AT CITY BALL FIELDS
City Manager Forbes explained that the school had been charging fees at the softball field
on Twelfth Street for the State Tournament. He stated that he had discussed this matter
with Mr. Lofgren, Principal at the High School, and that all revenues from the fees were
used for the athletic program and to offset the cost of operating the tournament. The
School Board provides no funds for athletics, and the fees only go to the athletic program.
It was the consensus of the Council that there were no problems with this, however, they
did believe that the school should notify the City Council when fees are being charged,
and that all fees collected should go to the school's athletic program.
The Council also directed the City Manager to speak with Superintendent of Schools, Carl
Pettit, about a light for the elementary school basketball court; and to speak with the
Church about parking at the Little League Field.
BOAT RAMP CASHIER
City Manager Forbes explained that the City would be charging a fee on weekends and holi-
days to use the boat ramp. The consensus of the Council was to continue with this practice.
PURCHASE OF PARKS' VEHICLE
City Manager Forbes explained that a replacement vehicle for the Parks' Crew had been
budgeted in this year's budget. The Public Works Department had requested that a crew
cab type vehicle be purchased. The pros and cons of such a vehicle were discussed and
the Council decided that the State Contract price for such a vehicle and quotes from
local dealers should be brought before the Council at a regular meeting.
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CITY OF CLERMONT
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WORKSHOP MEETING
May 17, 1983
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PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEM FOR THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS
The Council discussed the fact that a public address system for the Council Chambers
was included in this year's budget. After much discussion, it was the consensus of
the Council that the acoustics of the Council Chambers were satisfactory and that no
public address system would be needed at this time. City Manager Forbes reviewed
the materials prepared by Finance Director Saunders on this matter.
LESLIE'S PLACE
A letter was read by City Manager Forbes from Leslie Griffin regarding the condition of
the building on the corner of Eighth and Minneola which she leases from the City for
her Beauty Salon. Mrs. Griffin rents the building for $185 per month. The present con-
tract states that the lessee is responsible for all repairs. The Council discussed that
it was stated in the letter that the roof needs immediate repairs and that the building
needs painting and the shutters on the outside need to be replaced. It was also discussed
that the contract expires in less than one year, and that it was unusual for a tenant to
pay for such repairs. It was the consensus of the Council to obtain quotes for the repairs
to the building in accordance with Mrs. Griffin's request, and to have them presented to
the Council at a future meeting.
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA REGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL
Council Member Dupee discussed work plans of the ECFRPC, and stated that they were initiat-
ing a report on the effects of the property tax roll back referendum which will be on the
November 1984 ballot. She stated that a 2~ per head assessment would be charged by the
ECFRPC if the study was to be conducted. There was much discussion about the propriety of
such a study, but the consensus of the Council was that as long as the results were open
to the public, such a report would be beneficial. Before any funds could be spent on such
a study, the matter would have to be discussed and voted on during a regular council meeting.
GRANT FOR COOPER MEMORIAL LIBRARY EXPANSION
Council Member Dupee also discussed that funds were available from the State for the expan-
sion of the library. The funds were available on a fifty-fifty matching basis and that
approximately 1.6 million dollars were available in Florida at this time from the recently
adopted Federal Public Works Bill. Mrs. Dupee asked the Council if they would have any
problems with the Library Board pursuing such a grant. She discussed why such an expansion
would be necessary. The consensus of the Council was that they would have no objections
to this, however, official action would have to be taken at a regular council meeting before
a final application could be submitted.
ANIMAL CONTROL
City Manager Forbes discussed that he was satisfied with the City's present fee system
for impounding stray animals because the first time the animal is caught we charge the
cost of vaccinations and dog tag to the owner. It was the consensus of the Council to
leave the fees as they are.
OCCUPATIONAL LICENSES
City Manager Forbes explained that he had received an inquiry for a home occupational
license for wholesale firearms and ammunition sales. He explained that he would refuse
such an application because he did not believe it would fit into the proper definition
of a home occupation. It would not violate the city ordinance if a person who belonged
to a gun club ordered guns and ammunition from a mail order vendor who sold to members
only.
CITY ANNEXATION POLICY
There was much discussion regarding what the City's policy should be on future annexation
and growth. Each Council Member expressed his views and discussed if the treatment plant
would be expanded to cover annexations from all areas outside the present city limits.
This matter will also be discussed at the Town Hall Meeting. A policy on these matters
was decidedly of prime importance for the upcoming year.
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CITY OF CLERMONT
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WORKSHOP MEETING
May 17, 1983
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UTILITY BENEFIT FEE
Mr. Forbes explained the city's utility benefit fee and that the purpose of such a fee
was to defray the capital costs of the City's sewer and water systems which are created
by an expanding population. The Council discussed a letter from the City Attorney dated
November 22, 1982 which stated that the fees were not charged to a commercial building
unless it was an addition or alteration to such a building that created an additional
occupancy, which in turn created greater demand for water and sewer. The Council discussed
clarification of policy on the fee and also discussed the possibility of a building being
torn down and a new one constructed. Since it was a new building, would the person be
subject to the utility benefit fee? It was the consensus of the Council that any portion
of the building larger than the original would be subject to the fee. No additional fee
would be charged if the building contained the same square feet and same number of rest-
rooms as the original building. The Nursing Home addition was discussed as an example,
stating that if the old addition was torn down which contained seventy beds and a new
addition was built which contained eighty beds, the utility benefit fee would be based on
the additional ten beds. The Council agreed with this analysis and the City Attorney's
ruling on this matter.
EXPANSION OF WASTE TREATMENT PLANT
City Manager Forbes discussed the status of the City's 201 Facilities Plan and our grant
application with the Environmental Protection Agency. He stated that it was critical that
the City submit an application within the next two months and have property available for
the landspreading site. The Council stated that they had no problems with the City Manager
researching available properties and reporting back to the Council any proposed agreements
with adjoining property owners. There was much discussion regarding the need for land and
the possibility of spraying the treated effluent on groves as is currently being proposed
by Orange County. Mr. Forbes stated that he had been researching alternatives and at this
time such an alternative was only feasible if the City would also build a water treatment
plant to floc, settle, filter and disinfect with chlorine any of the city's wastes. Only
after the secondarily treated effluent went through this process, could it be utilized on
groves. At this time, this is the only acceptable method according to the Pollution Control
Board Staff. Mr Forbes stated that he felt this method was the wave of the future and
would have a positive impact on the State of Florida, but would probably not be worthwhile
for the City of Clermont to build a water treatment plant to treat 1 million gallons per
day when all that needs to be treated is 400,000 gallons per day for the process at this
time.
There was also much discussion regarding the appraisal of the City property purchased from
Inland Groves. The City had purchased the property for $7,000 per acre, however, the
appraisal valued it at $6,700 per acre. FmHA will only pay the City bact the appraised
fair market value of $6,700 per acre. It was discussed that this would pose no problems
for the City because we had purchased ten acres previously. Council Member Pool stated
that he believed the grove was in better shape two years ago when the original contract
for the property was negotiated. Since that time, there have been two freezes which have
damaged the trees.
GRANT APPLICATIONS
City Manager Forbes stated that he was also pursuing funds from FmHA and the Economic
Development Administration for the expansion of the waste treatment plant. If there were
no Council objections, he would be investigating and working on such applications but
before any applications were mailed, they would receive Council approval at a regular
meeting.
HAY CROP
City Manager Forbes stated that the City needed to find- a method to harvest and dispose
of the City's hay crop at the the landspreading site. He stated that he would be pre-
paring requests for proposals for any interested parties. This request would be presented
to the Council before it would be let for bid~S.
The meeting adjourned at 9.30 p.m.
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Charles B. Beals, Mayor
Attest :#
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George D. FQPoes, City
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Manager