Loading...
05-17-1983 Workshop Meeting e CITY OF CLERMONT e MINUTES '.' ,',,\ ,'..,' .'. ,_I. J ' . ";. 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. e CITY OF CLERMONT e MINUTES WORKSHOP MEETING May 17, 1983 Page -2- 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. . CITY OF CLERMONT . MINUTES WORKSHOP MEETING May 17, 1983 Page -3- 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. 13.~~ Charles B. Beals, Mayor Attest :# /~~U, George D. FQPoes, City j;;~~ Manager