03-27-1973 Regular Meeting
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MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
NQ
890
A Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Clermont was held in the
Council Chambers on Tuesday, March 27, 1973. The meeting was called to order at
7:30 P.M. by Mayor Don E. Smith with the following members present: Councilmen
Smoak, Beals, Byrd and Schroedel. Other officials present were: City Manager
Hopkins, City Controller Fleming, City Clerk Carroll, City Attorney Vason, Director
of Community Services Smythe and Chief of Police Tynda1. Others present were:
City Manager Hopkins, City Controller Fleming, City Clerk Carroll, City Attorney
Vason, Director of Community Services Smythe and Chief of Police Tynda1. Others
present were: The Messrs. Francis Loomis, Henry Czech, John Sandargas, Mark Minnick,
C. A. Mangold and Nick Jones. Representatives of the local Press were also present.
The invocation was given by Councilman Beals, 1I0ur heavenly Father we pray for thine
guidance and direction and we thank Thee as we prepare once again to meet and
transact the business of Clermont. We thank Thee for the many privileges and
opportunities that are ours and pray that we may never take them for granted. We
ask these things in Christ's name, Amen,1I followed by repeating of the Pledge of
Allegiance in unison by those present.
The Minutes of the Special Meeting held on March 19, 1973 were approved as written.
The Minutes of the Regular Meeting held on March 13, 1973 were corrected as follows:
{P2, Para. 3} IIMayor Smith thanked Mr. Jones for the presentation~ndE!xprE!~?Jons were
made by Mayor Sm~i th and Counc 11 man Beals U tha t they had no obj ect ions to en~~rs i ng the
p1arisuas submittedll. The Minutes were then approved as corrected.
~or Smith: IIAt this time weill have the Public Hearing for a variance request by
JOlln Sandargas of the Minnehaha Trailer Park - will you come forward, p1ease.1I
Sandargas: IIMembers of the Council I am asking permission to be able to use part
of the setback so that I can place larger trailers/mobile homes on this. At the
present time we already have one trailer which has been setting there for quite a few
years already on this setback which is on a 25 foot setback that is required by the
City of Clermont, this trailer is already setting 12 feet inside the setback and
what I proposed - what I would like to do is to round off four more additional mobile
homes and have a straight line - enclose the whole park with some type of hedge,
shrubbery and make all the mobile homes completely, at least those that front on Hook
Street, be enclosed with some kind of skirting and patios. At the present time,
like I mentioned, there is one trailer already setting on a setback and this is why I
thought possibly I could get some variance on this, and you allow me some footage - I
would like to get possibly 12 like the other one so I can have a straight line and
sort of beautify the park and at the same time beautify part of Clermont - especially
on Hook Street.1I
Mayor: Ills there anybody present that would like to speak regarding this request for
a variance at the Minnehaha Trailer Park? Are there any members of the Council that
would like to question Mr. Sandargas on it?1I
Schroedel: IIMr. Mayor, according to our city code we cannot allow a variance unless there
is a hardshipll.
Sandargas: IIWe11 the hardship is-like I say-hardships are financial in any kind of
business - I can possibly put very small trai1ers- this is a problem that is hard
to get small trailers and it's hard to get people to live in a small trailer-my
main objective is to beautify the park because like I said a lot of people thought
it was an eyesore-welve done a lot of remodeling, paving the streets~trying to make
it an assest to C1ermontll.
Schroedelll IIHow would you get your cars in and out?1I
Sandargas: IIThis was a problem that I thought of-I thought of maybe having a road
going in front of them if this is allowable-if not-then I would come in from the back
from one of the roads that are internal in the park-an internal road-or to have a
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891
special area zoned off for parking of cars for all these tenants".
Beals: IIThis is a public hearing - it's been advertised, duly advertised has itll
Mayor: lilt has, hasnlt it Bob?"
Hopkins: "Yes sir."
sandar~as: liAs I mentioned there is already one trailer which three years ago I asked
Mr. Jo nson, the former City Manager, about it and he said it was allright to place it
there, 1 ater on I found out that it was the setback that was requi'red:'1I
Beals: "You did get permission to"
Sandargas: "Uh huh". Mr. Sheweyls trailer is setting - a part of it is setting on
the setback, 4 feet of it, I measured it today."
Beals: "0h, I realize that it is, but I didnlt know that you had gotten permission to
do that. II
Sandargas: "He mentioned that it was OK at the time."
Bea 1 s: II Know1 i ng1y to set over the"
Sandargas: "Uh huh."
Mayor: liDo you have a letter to that effect?"
Sandargas: No, this was all verbal at the time I walked in his office, because we
were talking about doing away with overnite spots and make permanent trailers in there-
there was a hassle about people coming and and driving in and out at all hours of
the night. The thing is, on the east of the park there are no homes- all you have
is a theatre and a church-the main thing is I would like to get the park somehow
enclosed with some type of hedges-trees or shrubbery and beautify part of Hook Street t,~~ .
b II
ecause
Bea1s~ "How is going over the setback allow you to"
Sandargas: liThe thing that's right now at the present time if I $*~Y.t!gbt::.atdtbe
edge of the setback I can put in possibly a 30 foot trailer, and I donlt know if
yourlre familiar with mobile homes, 30 foot trailers are hard to get and very few
people want to as thatls only a 1 bedroom. I could even get a 40 foot trailer - any
kind of an allowance on the setback to utilize the setback-as long as you get a
larger trailer than I can get somebody to purchase and place a trailer up there,
like I say, this is income coming in for the City of Clermont for the business
men because this way some of them live all year round, some are just strictly snow
birds coming in for six months and then they leave for six months-you take with
utilities and taxes and everything else there are some advantages to this"
Beals: "0f course this is already a non-conforming use II
Sandargas: "Ri ght"
Beals: "And as Mr. Schroede1 mentioned, I don't know that this constitutes a
hardship in the context of the codell
Sandargas:"Like I said, the only that I - it's a hardship for me because like I said
this will help me to pay all the expenses which I want to do-I want to modify
the park - this will involve a lot of internal work and also external work which
will be boarding on the rules of the city and try to get these people so that they
can have a place to park maybe instead of parking on the streets which might be
a hazard II .
Smoak: "Thatls a question that I have - if you place 4 additional trailers there -
I looked at your park this afternoon-1ate- I donlt see where you're really going
to have sufficient parking space-people are going to be parking on the outside
of the road there-thatls a tremendously heavy traveled road"
Sandargas: !'Ihi$ I realize-I thought that at the same time if parking would be
the big prob1em-I would instead of 4, maybe put in 3 and then use the oJllh'.other
spot as a parking facility, in other words I can vary-instead of having 4 I can'
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892
Smoak: "We11 I agree and lid like to personally compliment you on the way you've
adjusted up there - interna11y- the park looks much better than it ever has in the
ten years that live been here"
Sandargas: "Like I said this is what I'd like to inject here-the people like
the park and I like Clermont and Em trying to work with the city and at the same
time need it to be an asset instead of having people complain about some of the
trailers-If I could lid like to have everybody put skirting on them, but this is
something that I can't enforce, but the new ones-if I could put the new ones in
there, I would require that they have skirting and patios and would be all brand
new trai1ers"
Mayor: "I"ve got a housekeeper that lives out at the Oak Lane Trailer Park and the owner
of that park forces the people to put skirts on the trailers or move out",
Sandargas: ilLegally they can't do it"
Mayor: "He just bluffed them into it, I suppose"
Sandargas: "Must be"
Beals: "He doesnlt have to allow them to stay there if they donlt do it, I wouldn't
think"
Sandargas: liThe ways the laws are set up right now that you really donlt have any
say so, if somebody wants to move out of their trailer if you was to sell the trai1er-
you canlt force them to pull the trailer out and put a new one in"
Mayor: "I just heard the news on that by Paul Pickett and that question was
brought up by various trailer park owners as to whether or not they could force
the trailers out and the answer by Mr. Picket on this Channel 2 news -you can-if
you rent to them by the week-you give them a week-if by the month-you give them a
month- you can ask them to .lJIp'\eand according to the law, they have to move".
Sandargas: "Wel1 this is something that I'm not aware of"
Mayor: "I just happened to hear that on TV this evening"
Byrd: "Wou1d it be possible to turn a smaller number of trailers in the other direction
and stay within the"
Sandargas: "No, it's impossible. The park originally had 52 trailers and now I'm
down to 45 because live tried to give everybody more room and this would bring me
up to about 48 or 49, depends on how manY trailers that I could put in-like I said-
the main thing is that I do have one trailer that is setting out in the setback and
I thought possibly if I can get the other ones in line I could work out some kind of
a landscaping scheme"
Smoak: "What do you propose to do as far as, if you lined up the 4 trailers with
the existing one on the setback line, what would you propose to do to Sh:i~EHd
this area from view of the existing area?"
Sandargas: "Some type of shrubbery possibly 4 or 5 foot high, in other words
maybe about 4 foot high or something-or a fence either way-which would be easiest
to take care of and financially be acceptable to me. Now if you want to enclose that
area, therels a lot of land there which is part of the right-of-way which I have
to maintain-I have to cut grass-trees have to be trimmed"
sln8a.k: "We all have that prob1em-everybodyls house in Clermont"
Sandargas: "Right" and this is one way that would help me out a little bit financially
which is a hardship-depends on which way you want to look at it"
Beals: "Mr. Mayor I'd like to inquire of the Attorney if, in his opinion, this can
be construed to be a hardship as far as the code is concerned:
Smoak: "That's what youlre getting paid for"
'Jason: "I donlt know whether I can answer your question,.Char1ie.
11m sure that some members of the Council can propbab1y construe thisll
II Any thing that anyone wants they could construe it as a hardship"
IIRightll
Ills there any other member of the Council that wishes to make any remarksll.
Beals:
.Vason:
, ~
Mayor:
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893
Hopkins: uMr. Mayor may I interject a couple of points here that I think Council
ought to consider?1I
Mayor: "Yes, certain1y."
Hopkins: "Mr. Beals mentioned the fact that it is non-conforming use and I think
the first thing that the Council has to consider inasmuch as it is a non-conforming
use in an R2 zone is whether or not it can be expanded-that's question number one-
the second question 'is-possibly a year ago when I first talked with Mr. Sandargas
about this, inasmuch as on all four sides the existing mobile homes are quite close
to the property line-even along Hook Street is indicated one is about 13 feet
of the property line-the zoning ordinance which we apply to new mobile home parks
(Poynter-Harder being the only one) requires that mobile homes be no closer than
75 feet from the centerline of exterior streets and I indicated to Mr. Sandargas
that it was my feeling that inasmuch as all these mobile homes were much closer
than the 75 feet from the centerline of exterior streets and that ~2 zoning required
25 foot setbacks if in fact the Council did see fit to allow him to expand the
mobile home park to include the addition of mobile homes that the 25 foot setback,
being a minimum, would appear to me to be more reasonable than requiring a 75 foot
setback-the 75 foot setback is interpreted to be the guide that should be followed in
this case, then hels 20 to 25 feet short. I don't think in my own person opinion
that that guide, even thought it may legally be the one that should be followed
would be the most practical because of the existing situation, I think the question
to follow is whether or not he should be allowed to add 4 trailers or mobile homes
and expand in a non-conforming use, so there is some question as to whether
the 25 feet is the setback or 75 feet from the centerline of the street, from
both a legal and practical standpoint."
Beals: "Bob, you said thatls a non-conforming use in an R2 area?"
Hopkins: IIYes, thatls an R2 zone.
Beals: lilt abuts R1A"
Hopkins: "Yes, mobile home parks are now conditional use in an R3 zone, which
is two steps away"
Beals: "Seems to me this is an expansion of"
Sandaraas:"We11 not from what I originally had-I'm still under what I had before-I
had 52n--
Beals: "But the idea of the non-conforming bit is to eventually phase something
out and it seems to me this would constitute a substantial expansion"
Sandargas: "Well if everyone looked at it from its original 52 to 48 or 49 - that's
a reduction so if you want to look at it this way, itls a phasing out program"
Beals: "But presently it's a 45 unit or whatever you want to call it mobile hom.e park
and anything more than that would be an expansion"
Sandargas: "Itls semantics or whatever you want to call it"
Beals: "I mean at one time it was a 52 unit non-conforming use and now it's a 25".
s~ndar~as: "I mean 11m trying to beautijythe thing-people don't seem to realize
t at t ere was an eyesore and 11m trying to make it look decent"
Beals "I appreciate that"
Sandargas: "And if there is some way that I can make it look better so that you
don't nave any problems from the neighbors"
Smoak: "In looking at that thing this afternoon with the one trailer setting out
there and the rest of the area vacant, its unsymetrica1 to say:. the 1east-I canlt
see where it would really be detrimental to that area to allow this with this one
exception- that it is granting a variance in a non-conforming zone, and you could
have people lined up for six city blocks asking for the same thing, but in this
particular situation I don't think that youlve got a hardship by definition
::.,po"
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894
but I do think that youlve.got a legitimate right to come up here and ask what you've
requested for-basically I'm in favor of granting it on past performance because the
park does look better than live ever seen it-I would say that if we granted conditional
use so that there is adequate parking space made available within the park to eliminate
on street parking and that you do something as far as blocking out the area where
you intend to put the trailers-shfubbery or a fence with a climbing vine or something-
it's these sort of thin~s a lot/tlmes that everyone who comes up and asks for- say
that that is what they lntend to do and then they plant two strawberry bushes and let
them die""when you question them, they say "we11 I did plant them but they died", so
I donlt know if itls in the legal rights of the Counci to grant a variance on a
conditional use-I don't believe it is-what's your opinion, if any?"
Vason: "I don't think there is anything in the code that I can reca11"
Smoak: "Therels nothing that I can"
Vason: liThe specific code provisions says"
Smoak: lilt says a public hearing has been duly published and if there are no objectors
here-I would say that based on past performance of the park itself, the internal
improvements that have been made and the fact that there is a trailer setting out there
now, that I can't see where itls detrimental-either to the neighborhood or to the city"
Beals: "We11 in the interest of uniformity you suggested moving 4 trailers to conform
with the one thatls over the line now, why not move the oneil
Smoak: "Wel1 what 11m saying is that I donlt believe the one that is setting there is
detrimenta 1"
Schroede1: "ls there any chance that you can rearrange these trailers and line them up
in another way?"
Sandargas:"We11 what 11m trying to do is to keep the people in the park happy, at the
same time beautify-everybody wants to look at the lake-the lake is a big asset-itls a
big asset for the park-if I line them up differently it would shut off everybody
e1sels view to the 1ake"
Byrd: "Wou1d you do the same thing about screening it, would you screen tbat off?"
Sandargas: II We 11 the thing is with a 5 foot fence or a 4 foot fence they could still see-
I mean the thing is you'd still be able to see the mobile home but you would not
see the bottom section it it- in order to completely hide the park yould have to build
a fence that is 20 feet high and this is'ridiculous"
Byr<;l: liThe trailers that are there-is the parking for each trailer adjacent to it"?
Sandargas: "Uh huh. II "Like I mentioned, I can use three trailers and make one spot
where the fourth one would have been and use-let the people walk up to them-some mobile
home parks have this type of setup II
~ayor: "Does any other member of the Council wish to make any comment regarding this-
oes any councilman wish to make a motion on this and bring this to a head?"
Hopkins: Mr. Mayor, may I make a comment please, Sir?"
Mayor: "Yes, go ahead."
Hopkins: "If the Council sees fit to grant the variance then I would recommend that
included in the motion would be whether or not ingress and egress was gonna be allowed
off Hook Street to each individual mobile home-I also note here that in looking at the
diagram one of the proposed mobile homes is right over the main sanitary sewer collection
line coming into the park which, and also if you're-g~na grant a variance on conditions,
you might as well go the whole route and require a buffer strip be put in prior to
placing of the mobile homes-IJm not saying that Mr. Sardargas won't do that, but our
experience has been very poor along those 1ines"
Smoak: uI was gonna suggest that if the Council is leaning in that direction, that
let Mr. Sandargas and Bob get together and sit down and draw up exactly what you're
gonna do-how you're gonna do it and let the variance be granted on that basis and not
just a flat variance"
Schroede1: "According to our code book don't it say that ingress and egress must be interna1-
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895
its entrances are from the main streets-in other words the trailers can not enter
or exit from any of the other streets except the two main entrances II
Hopkins: I don't know that the Ordinance is specific in that regard but it would lead
you to believe that thatls the case for main entrances and interior streets.1I
Schroede1: IIWe11 I think according to the code he would have to have his cars
come in from an interior street there somewherell
Mayor: IIWe11 your interior street for those cars for the mobile homes that would
be parked along Hook Street-you've got another line of mobile homes-you would have to
use that exit in between those mobile homes, wouldn't you, in order to get to an
interior street?1I
Hopkins: IIWhich brings up another question in that the Ordinance requires that each
mobile home space have 3000 square feet and if in fact you were providing ingress
and egress through existing space you may be inclined to taking away some of the
property that would rightfully belong to that mobile home. 11m just pointing out
all these conditions because they are all in the Ordinancell
Byrd:. IIWhat sort of arrangement do you have with the tenants that are in the 1-2-3-4-5
spaces as far as the location of their mobile homes are concerned-could they move
them one way or the other or could you ask them to move them a little bit?1I
Sandargas: IIWe11 this could be done-it would financially be expensive, but it could
be done. The thing is, the park has been layed out long time ago by Mr. Short and its been
done in a very haphazardly fashion because it was mostly an overnight trailer camp and
welve converted it into a mobile home park, and this is what I want-I donlt want just
overnighters as they are a pain in the neck-not only that but all they want to do
is hook into your sewers-and just dump their sewage and thatls all, but the thing
is, if I don't have a variance I can still put some small trailers and I do have the
space-3000 square feet for them-I measured it off and Bob Smythe and I checked that
out and I could work that out with no problems-the thing is itls easier to utilize
and to get larger trailers, not just 60 foot trailers, but you can get bigger trailers
with maybe one or two bedrooms for these people and it would help out the problem-
and placing the trailers-I might even purchase the trailers and set them up myself
so I would know at least what 11m getting instead of letting the people themselves
purchase themll
Byrd:_.nI wanted to say that I appreciate what you're doing to wpgrade the park and
I appreciate your friendly and cooperative attitude before Council, but even though
it would ceprive you of a certain amount of income, I think you would have a more
desirable property with fewer trailers than you would by putting that other row
between present tenants and the lake and whatnotll
Sandargas: liThe present tenants are not against this, they've been notified about this-
I've talked with them and they just wanted to know about it-what would be done and how
much space would be affected-I mentioned it to them-just like any business that you
have-the more income that you have, the better business that you have-if ever some
time that I would want to sell the park, it would be an asset instead of a 1iabi1ity-
the thing is 11m-after this expansion, if I can, thatls it-there's no more room
to expand-the only thing I might be able to do away with some small spots inside
the part which I have some trailers-to be utilizing these for parking facilitiesll
Smoak IIMr. Mayor if a motion is in order, I move that the city table this request
until Mr. Sandargas comes in with a concrete proposal as to exact location-type of
landscaping that you would do and definite variance which you are requesting and bring
it back before council at next meeting"
Mayor: "Y oulve heard the motion, do I hear a second? The motion will die for lack
of a second. Anyone else wish to make a motion?1I
Beals: IIMr. Mayor I, first didnlt second the motion to table it only because I donlt
want to mislead Mr. Sandargas-I personally don't think that we have the legal right
to grant a variance in a non-conforming use when there is no hardship so with that
in mind I would move that the variance be denied~
Mayor: IIThere is a motion before the house, do I hear a second?
Schroede1: 111111 second it.1I
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Sandargas: III think it is a hardship..1I
Beals: "I donlt think that in the context of the city code though that it does
constitute a hardship- I..miY be wrong"
Sandargas: "Then you must have a definition of a hardship which should be in the
books according to the city code"
Schroede1: "This cannot be such a terrific hardship if you admit yourself that you
could put a smaller trailer in there and conform"
Smoak: "I think thatls a good point he's made-a smaller trailer is gonna be less
attractive visually-How small a trailer are you talking about? 40 foot?"
Sandargas: "I'm taking about a 35 foot which is almost impossible and if I canlt
do that than I'll get into overnite spots, which I donlt want to do it, but I do have
enough spots that if they want to come in for six months and park their trailers and
this is what I want to get out of because I can use the finances-the sewers cost
a fortune on this park and I don't think you peop1e realiee the additional sewers
in this park-the roads and everything e1se-thatls what I call a hardship-in order
to exi st, it's a hardshi p"
Hopkins: "Mr. Mayor as far as hardships are concerned, ordinances are written
and certainly canlt take into consideration everything that might come up and a
variance is available to the Council if, in fact, an individual situation is such
that the ordinance as it is written provides a hardship, and in my opinion from what
live read, a financial hardship is not:a hardship under the intent of variance to
a zoning ordinance"
Beals: "Certainly the man from Winn-Dixie that appeared before us some time ago-now
thatls a hardship, but it was a financial hardship and one that the-while the city
is sympathetic with him they cou1dnlt act.upon it"
Smoak: "Which one are you referring to?"
Beals: "Martin Graham!!
Smoak: "I understand that, but which variance, he asked for a couple-the sign variance?"
Beals: "No, he didnlt ask for a variance-maybe he did but not what I was speaking of"
Smoak: "He asked for height variance"
Beals: liOn the side, but 11m ta1kingll
Smoak: "He asked for a location variance"
Beals: "And he asked for assistance because of the drainage"
Smoak: "He didn't ask for a variance there~ he asked for financial participation"
Beals: "Right, but that was a hardship"
Smoak: "We11.that's a whole lot different"
Beals: "Not to me, a hardship would be, for instance if a person where trying to build
on, say they had a 90 foot lot in an R1A area-to me that constitutes a legitimate
hardship-the city through': their zoning in that case would be confiscating a person's
property. The city is not really confiscating your property-not telling you what you
can or cannot do with it-you can do the only thing that the R2 zone permits"
Mayor: "Do we have any comments from any member of the Council? Are you ready for
the question? How do you vote Mr. Schroedel?"
Schroede1:Ild like to hear the motion once more."
Beals: "The motion was simple that the variance be denied."
Schroede 1 : "I vote, Aye."
Mayor: "How do you vote, Mr. Byrd?
Byrd: "Aye."
Bea 1 s : " Aye. "
Mayor: "I vote, Aye. Mr. Smoak?"
Smoak: "No."
Mayor: "The Ayes have it and it is so ordered"
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897
Hopkins: .IIIMr. Mayor I need some clarification on on this particular instance,
I think Mr. Sandargas has indicated that if he couldn't put the larger mobile homes in
there he might put some smaller homes in there, as I indicated earlier, possibly a
year ago~I indicated to him that he would have to meet a minimum setback of 25 feet
because of the existing conditions of the park if in fact Council did allow him to
expand. The Ordinance requires 75 feet from centerline of street, if Mr. Sandargas
comes in and wants to put mobile homes up to the 25 foot line that I indicated
approximately a year ago, am I legal in doing so in allowing him to put in those
trai1ers?"
Mayor:: It would be conforming though from the 75 foot setback from centerline"
Hopkins: Ullight. Itls strictly impossible for him to meet a 75 from centerline of
exterior streets-his existing mobile homes along Hook Street are that distance approxi-
mately-it was my evaluation of the situation that ff the Council allowed him to
expand then it was more reasonable to bring them in line with what was there as
opposed to the 75 feet from centerline, but he indicated that he may come in with
sgme;sma11er mobile homes and/or overnighters up to the 25 feet. I need some direction
as to whether or not 11m gonna throw a roadblock in front of him again or whether he
can proceed on that basis-I think he needs some indication tonight as to what he
can do"
Mayor: "We11 youlve certainly got me confused Mr. Hopkins, this variance request now
is for 12 or 13 foot variance, was it not?
Hopkins: liOn the 25 foot setback from property 1ine"
IIIayor: "Then why wouldn't it be necessary in the first place for him to ask for a
variance on a 75 foot which is the present code?"
Hopkins: "Wel1k possibly that should have been told him a year ago, but it wasn't"
Mayor: IIHe wasnlt really asking a variance on the present specifications, he was
asking a variance on the old setbacksll
Hopkins: "I led Mr. Sandargas to believe that if the Council saw fit to let him expand
that park and put inadditionalmobne;~bomes" that it would appear more reasonable that
he be required to honor the setback of the R2 zone rather than a 75 foot from center-
line as required in mobile home parks because the park pre-dated the Ordinance
and everything else and all those homes that were in the park were more in line with
the 25 feet than 75 feet from centerline-Now I'm not sure that I lead him properly a
year ago and it was upon that that he based this request for a variance, but I want
to clarify this tonight before the gentleman leaves, in case he comes back and is
gonna be under the impression that he can come up with the 25 feetll
Smoak: III think it's a legal point more than an opinion of the Council"
Mayor: IIHow about it Mr. Vason?"
Hopkins: IIWe11 1111 be glad to get with Bob on this and give the gentleman an answer
one way or the other and not take up the time tonight and shoot off the top of our heads,
possib1i'
Mayorll III suggest Mr. Hopkins that you do that. Mr. Jones-visitors with business-
Project Clermont. Mr. Jones'lI
Jones: III think Mr. Hopkins is going to report on it.1I
Ma~or: IIWe have you listed here under Visitors with Business~I didnlt know who was
gOlng to do the talkingll
Hopkins: 111111 start it off if you want me to."
Jones: IIIld appreciate thatll
Hopkins: liThe Council will recall that a couple of weeks ago, Nick appeared with the
concept for Project Clermont with respect primarily to street a1ighnment and taking
off parking and beautification-at this point is is more than a concept-itls something
that Project Clermont actually wants to pursue and he came to me asking that the city
participate to the extent of cutting the street-putting in the curb- and some
irrigation and working with them in this project and as I said, at the last meeting,
it was nothing more than a concept and one or two concurred that it was probably a good
idea but it wasnlt formally accepted and I told him that I wouldn't act in that manner
until the Council agreed that this is what they want to do. What they propose to do
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at this time is the east half of the street the east length of the street-putting in
the curb-
Mayor: "East 1ength?"
Hopkins: "From middle of the block-back to the east-only doing one half of the
project that was outlined"
Mayor: "You mean from the old city ha11"
Hopkins: "From old city hall westerly half way down the block so before I sent city
crews out there to cut streets and do that sort of thing, I want it to be more than
a concept"
Mayor: "Ild like to make a remark at this time regard to this-our City Clerk was going
to check the Minutes as to what was said at the last meeting when Mr. Jones came
before us-I"ve given it quite a little thought and before I would give my whole hearted
approval, which lid like to do, and I think it's a fine project, I want to be able
to see in a signed statement by every property owner on that street or the merchant
that islcc~BYl~ the property that they have no objection to this project because I
wouldn't want to pass something or endorse something that would have the disapproval
of any merchant or any property owner that was affected by this move. I feel sure
that you can get it - I think you felt sure that you could get it, Mr. Jones. So
I want to preface my remarks-like to have that incorporated into the Minutes - that
before I personally go on record as approving this from a Council standpoint, I want
to make sure that all the property owners and the merchants that are affected are in
accord with it, and of course on top of that I~d like to have a pretty accurate
estimate of, or at least as close as we can get, of what the cost to the city is
going to be to put this into effect."
Smoak: "I agree with you 100% Mr. Mayor and additionally when the figures are avai1ab1e-
I would be interested in knowing what the adjacent propertt~9\'1ners the people most
readily benefited. by the improvements what kind ofpartic'~~tion they would ~gree to
handle of the total cost of it-if itls going to be strictly from an esthestic stand-
point then I think we better look long and hard about spending a great deal of
money at this point and time when we have still to do the sewer work in Minnehaha
Estates and may other things-basically what 11m saying is I think that we ought to know I
what kind of money that youlre talking about-as far as city participation is concerned
what the total project entails in terms of time and effort-financing and what kind
of participation the local business people that are going to be immediately benefited
by the improvements are willing to participate-what percentage of participants"
Beals: II Bob , is it practical to do just half a block at a time?"
HO~kins: "We11 I would certainly hope that if half a block was done that they would
fo low through immediately and do the other half?
Beals: lilt seems to be kind of a winding type thing, was it not?"
Hopkins: "We1l the centerline-alignment wonlt change-we're just taking off 10 feet of
width which presently parking"
Beals: "But the whole thing should be done if anything is done, I would think-it
would 100kkinda peculiar to do only a half block"
Hopkins: "I certainly recommend that once you start that you follow through and do
the whole thing"
Beals: "I'd like to also get some idea what type of participation the merchants
would agree to-I donlt think it would be right for us expect for each of them to
participate equally because I donlt think you'd ever get 100% total participation anyway"
Mayor: "I think that any work done on that block down there would be an asset to
the merchants themselves, but personally I would feel if I were a merchant down there
and they'd cut off my parking I think it would be-I wouldn't like it-but thatls up
to them, but I think it would be an asset to the entire town if we improved any
section of town, I think beautification of any section would reflect on the grounds
of the city and I have no idea what a project like that would run into in dollars
and cents but I don't see where itl11wbe a really big financial problem and I think
that Nick has stated before, before the Council, that he intends to get some labor
donated from people that can do that kind of work-come in and donate their time laying
blocks and doing other work to complete the project-but I think it would only be
practical from the Council's standpoint to get something more definite in regard to
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what we're endorsing before we stick our neck out and come up with a pretty fat bill
and like Mr. Smoak said, welve got all the problems we want when it comes to finances
without adding any more to any great extent?
Byrd: IIMr. Mayor I haven't said anything about this project and I want to apologize
for talking about something that I don't know anything about, but that's what 11m
gonna do anyway-city planning-it appears to me that the dominant thing in that downtown
district now is the hospital and I would speculate that over the next several years
the businesses that grow up near that hospital are going to be something that might
be satellite to a hospital location, for instances Dr. Weaver's clinic is right there
nearby and at the present time we've got a dentist-an optometrist-the Florida Power
down there an accountant-a law office in addition to the stores-retail stores-
that people go and come in and I can't see any of these other businesses generating
a whole lot of walking traffic-I think that the day will come when traffic flow and
traffic control and parking might be a whole lot more concern than a winding one
way street down there and I'm just not sure that 11m ever gonna be in a position
to endorse it very much.
Jones: liMen of the Council I would like to basic-a11y say the most important point
is that all we're asking for is your permission to allow Mr. Hopkins to provide the
labor to actually physically cut that street and set that curb in there on one half
of Montrose. The cost-to actually come up at this time with a precise penny cost
of that labor and the time it would take to do this would largely depend on the type
of equipment they would have or we could acquire or rent or come into possession of
at the time we actually need to do th~ cutting-a" blade circular saw would do it
quite adequately-it would give it a nice even cut across there and curbing-the
cost of the material show1d~t:be of any re~l serious nature-as far as volume welre
not talking about a great deal-also remember that this can be scheduled in with
city labor as Mr. Hopkins is able to do it-it isnlt something for example that would
have a time limit on it, but what happens and the reason we're appealing to the
Council is that you see I can't really expect the local merchants such as Mr. Wolfe
at the Builders Supply to come up with a donation of half-for example we would like
all the seating units to be out of all brick-it would be easier to maintain-not
having to depend on concrete block-make it all brick-it would look better, cleaner
and welve got an indicator from several people that they would be willing to provide
the money-provide the materials so 100g as they know that we've got first step accomplished
that is the permission for Mr. Hopkins to schedule a couple of men to get in there
and actually do the cutting of the street-I feel that it would be much-it would make
a great deal more sense, I believe, to have city people to actually do the cutting
of the street-as far as what goes on aft er that-the landscaping-the placement of
the curb-the serpentine walls and the brick work and the 1andscaping-I think that
after that point-Project Clermont will follow through and I donlt think that youl11
see that there will be any difficulty beyond that point, but the irrigation-the
placement of the sprinkler parts-the actual cutting of the street itself-if we could
just simply have your approval to get the street cut, I think we can take it from
there and as far as dollars and cents, Mr. Hopkins-IIU leave that more or less up
to you to more or less project at this point what you think it might cost-its your
people-it would be your people and your peoples labor that welre talking aboutll
Mayor: IIlt.might interject something at this time, Nick-I think that Project Clermont
is a fine thing and I think that it is something that we've needed and theylve
already showed an interest in it-they've done a good job on that little park down
there that I got permission for them to use, but I want something very concrete from
Project Clermont that if we did authorize the City Manager to put labor there or
if he decided that it would be a11right to put labor there to cut that street, I
wouldn't want that street cut and then just set there for six months or a year with
nothing done to itll
Jones: IIWelve got kind of a cart and horse situation-my Project Clermont people want-
wonlt pledge me any money or materials until theylve gotten approval of Counci1-
the Council IS willingne$to allow them to cut the street, so 11m in an impasse herell
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Smoak: IIYou canlt get a commitment from these people, Nick, with the understanding
that the commitment is invalid if you donlt get the approval of the City?
Jones: IIThatls just about what it amounts to-in other words they're saying if you
donlt get the Council to at least to agree to allow them to cut the street, welre
just not gonna donate a dime or acquire any material whatsoever II
Mayor: IIWou1dnlt it be practical Mr. Jones, if the Council saw fit to send you back
to Project Clermont saying that the Council approves of the project if and when
Clermont Project puts something definite in writing that they will go ahead and finish
the project so that we wonlt, like I said, have a half finished job therell
Jones: IIThis would be appropriate-I would have no objection to this if what youlre
saying is, youlre more or less turning the cart and horse around and more or less
putting it back in their lap and requiring them to come up with a concrete cash
or material whatever is necessaryll
Mayor: IISome guarantee of that, yes sir is what I"
Smoak: liAs the Mayor mentioned earlier and I think very important that they voice
their opinion to the Council directly-individua11y-the property owners that are
affected because up to now I think there's potentially people that arenlt gonna
want their parking space e1iminatedll.
Mayor: IIYeah, I would insist on 100% participation by the property ownersll
Jones: 11100%, Mayor?1I
Mayor: IIYes sir: I stick with 100%. If I had a business down there and they wanted
to shut off my parking in front of my place of business-now 11m not saying that I
would be that way-but if I happened to have that frame of mind-lid hate to think
that the Council would override me and shut off my potential parking in front of
my place of businessll.
Beals: III think that 100% is too much to ask for-this City Council is never 100% on
anythingll
Mayor: IIWe11 I know, but this is a different-that's a matter of opinion-this is a
manls livelihood where he's got his money invested in a business and he may thin~ that
itls very essential to have the parking places in front of his place for customers
to stop and trade, but he's got to be sold on the idea that it would be an asset
to h,i/hll
Beals: III'm glad that the sewerage system wasnlt handled in that manner about
the front foot assessmentll
Mayor: IIWe11 when youlre putting a sewer through you Ire not keeping a man from parking
in front of his place of business-like I say-I may be wrongll
Smoak: IIAnother question in my mind, Nick, do you have any underground utility 1ines-
water lines-drainage lines in the area that you wish to improve, that if it became
necessary to work on these lines would .}40U have to tear the improvement down to do it?1I
Hopkins: IIWe've got some water lines that cross Montrose Street it could be designed
around itll
Smoak: IINothing goes east and west?-
Hopkins: III believe it goes underneath the sidewalk-the main line is presently under
the sidewalk along with the meters, as I reca1l11
Smoak: IIWhat about storm drains-telephone cables etc.?1I
Hopkins: 1I0f course we want to get with all the utility people which hasnlt been
done yet and find out exactly where they are so the thing can be designed around
that-there would be a shallow cut just through the pavement and a new curbll
Smoak: III personally think itls just too early to come to the City Council and ask
for great participation, particularly as the Mayor says, get the streets cut up and
then set there for six months and then the City has .got to either repair the street
or foot the bi 11 for the improvements, one way or the otherll
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:l.,'~ 1"
Schroede1: IIDoes all that blacktop come out?1I
Jones: IIYess i r. II
Schroede1.~ IIRight down to bare ground':1I
Jones: IIWe would want to not only take it down .;to the bare ground but take the
bare ground and let the soil condition-itls not conducive to proper 1andscapingll
Schroede1:IIHow high do you build your wa11?"
Jones: "How high would the wall be? Approximately 24" off the street leve1."
Schroede1: 124"fabove the street 1evel?"
Jones: "Yes."
Mayor: liTo make a little seating area along there, isn't that correct, Nick?"
Jones: "Yesr, this is correct. I think one thing that you might consider is that-
I think our City Manager could possibly with a great deal of discretion-great deal of
reasonableness or common sense-could be directed that we prove to him-acting in behalf of
City Council that we have just such financial as well as material and labor support
to actua11y-immedi,te1y-fu1fi11 our obligation-to finish the project-if we were to
do this one end o~;the street-it seems to me to be a reasonable request, in other
words if Mr. Hopkins could see that we did physically have what you're requesting
us to have, a guarantee that we would fulfill the finished product-I think that
this could be done and I would certainly think that it would be within the bounds
of the jurisdiction of the Council to authorize Mr. Hopkins to do the work once he
sees that we have the financial as well as the ability to actually bring in the
labor and material to finish the project"
Mayor:"Did someone in Project Clermont, or did you Mr. Jones, make a house to house
canvass down there?1I
Jones: "Yessir, one one street, on the side that welre talking ab out, the only
signature that we actually, physicallY lack at the 1IIQmelttbis the DAV, now I've called
three times to Clearwater and live yet to find the party at home-but I'm going to be
there again Fri4ay and I hope to physically carry the map and physically go to his
door-I'm going to be there most all day-and 11m going to keep calling him or see
if I can track him down to get his name on there-then that would give us 100%
on that side-Now on the other side of the street-weihave all but one on that side, and
thatls Mr. Marker and I very simply just haven~t been able to catch him at the
time he happens to be in town. Would the 100% actually include the corner properties?
In other words the tavern and the"
Mayor: "I don't think it would affect the tavern or Mr. Meiggs furniture store"
Jones: "But I understand-donlt Mr. Me1ggs a!so have another store down there?"
Mayor: IIYes, he has an upholstery shop and if you want down the other side you
wou1dnlt go in front of him, would yoU?"
Bea 1 s: II Yes. II
Jones: "Right to his front door-in other words there is a sliver of it that
comes to his door-inoother words about half of his property has got a little bit of
planter".
Mayor: "What does Mr. Meiggs think about it?"
Beals: "Thatls where youlre short your 100%, isnlit it?
Jones: "Maybe, his wife has been relatively negative about whatever seems to be
suggestive-although she hasn't said, she's not personally told me that she would
flatly refuse to SisP!"
Mayor: "He backs his truck up there you know and unloads the furniture and stuff
right at his doorll
Jones: "Right, we would like to discourage this-this is not conducive to property
on Montrose Street-we don't feel it's conducive to the safety of peop1e"
Mayor: "We11 the only other place he has is in back there and itls pretty steep
going down those stairs moving futniture-we11 why donlt you do that then Nick-go
into it a little deeper with your committee in charge of Project Clermont and
then carry whatever you find out from them down to Mr. Hopkins and let him
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902
transmit it to us"
Jones: "Wi11 I need the 100% of signatures?"
Mayor: ~We11 now that~s up to Council-as far as 11m concerned you need 100%, but
the rest of Council may out.vote me"
Jones: "Cou1d I ask that Council vote on this or give me some direct"
Beals: "I think that 100% is a little too much to ask for-11m just speaking for
myself-lid rather not put a percentage on it-but if it appeared that the consensus"
Jones: liThe reason I asked is that lid hate to spend all this time if one person
on the entire block defeats us"
Mayor: "Well I'd be perfectly willing if it meets with the approval of Council to have
a vote to see how the Council stands"
Jones: lilt would be greatly appreciated"
Beals: liOn the 100% bit?"
Mayor: "Yes."
Beals: "You donlt need a motion on it, just a straw vote-is that what you had in mind?"
Mayor: "Any way you want to do it"
Smoak: "I donlt think that voting on that is gonna do you any good, Nick-I can't
see where it wou1d"
Jones: "In other words what 11m saying is, if I get all this work done and I come
in here and Council decides that they want an absolute 100%, Mr. Meiggs votes No-
then welre out of luck
Smoak: liAs one-fifth of the Council, I am not in favor of making any commitment
whatsoever until I get, as a Councilman, more information, thatls the way I feel
tonight"
Mayor: "We1l I donlt yould be-that it would be too much work if you would contact
your committee and find out as to just what theylre willing to do as far as finishing
the project and guaranteeing the finishing of it and just what you expect the
city to do outside of some labor-if you expect the city to come into it from a
financial standpoint and then bring it before the Council and we can iron it all
out at the same time whether we want to OK it as far as partial participation by the
merchants or 100% participation-it's just according to how the Council wants to
handle it"
Beals: "I'm certainly not in favor of turning the town over to Project Clermont, but
I would like to give Nick just a bit more encouragementll
Maaor: "0h, 11m in favor of Project Clermont-I wish them all the luck in the world
an I want to supportthem all I can but not at the expense of some business downtown-
if a man feels like itls gonna hurt his business-Well, I guess itls kind of to a stand-
still Nick, will just have to wait and see if you can get some expression from
your committe and bring it to Bob and get it more concrete-what they'll do if we'll
do and then bring it back before the Council and see how the Council stands as far
as participation is concerned and as far as if the majority of the people down there
want it and override the rest of them, whY, whichever way the Council wants to
go is perfectly all"right with me"
Schroedel: "Nick you say that Mr. Meiggs is your only dissenter?"
Jones: II No , I didn't say that. I just said that I have been reluctant to touch
base or to push or make an issue of it with them-live just kinda approached them
and she was somewhat on the negative side rather than for it and rather than get
into an argument over it, I just more or less dropped it and thought it might be
best"
Mayor::~y'o..!L~aid they might not be the only one, now has anyone else had a negative
attitude toward it?"
Jones: IINo,sir.1I
Mayor: IIA11 the rest have been affirmative?1I
Jones: 1111100%. In fact they have been very encouraging, in other words welre
standing in a position like of all the businesses down there, not only are we
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903
getting their OK, theylre actually working very closely with us"
Mayor: "We11 1etls leave it that way Nick-see what you can find out from them-a
more concrete proposal and bring it in to Mr. Hopkins and then we'll go into it a
little deeper.
Schroedel "Give me a couple of days to talk to Mr. Meiggs."
Jones: "I would greatly appreciate it - I thank the members of the Council very
much for the opportunitY.
Mayor: :Thank you, Nick, I Rnow you Ire working very hard on it and we appreciate
it. Is Mr. DeYoung here?"
Hopkins: "I donlt see him Mr. Mayor, he called me and said that he may be a little 1ate"
Mayor: "We11 we can go ahead then and if he comes in"
Is Mark Minnick here?1I
Minnick: II Yes II
Mayor: "Wi11 you come up Mark and tell us what's on your mind?"
Mi nn i ck: II I I m more or 1 ess :,'represent i ng the C1 ermont softba 11 1 eague hopi ng to a tta in
the sse of the municipa1 stadium in Clermont. We were formerly using Minneo1als
Elementary School and we got thrown out of there the other night because the light
bill was running up a little too mach-that's the only thing welve heard- and we
donlt have any other place to play-we've got about six or seven teams now and average
about fifteen mean to a team and all of a sudden no place to practice or p1ay"
Mayor: "That' s adu1 ts, i sn I t i t?"
Minnick: IIRight~
Mayor: "Now what affect would your softball have on the baseball diamond?"
Minnick: "None whatsoever. We would use the 90 foot bases as they are-we wou1dnlt
be cutting across the green-no steel cleats-we wou1dnlt hurtthe field at all"
Mayor: :You wou1dnlt make a softball diamond out of it - you would use it like it is?"
Minnick: "Right. II
Mayor: "Yould use the same pitchers mound?"
Minnick: "Right. II
Mayor: "Can you throw a softball that ;far?"
Minnick: "Ye$, I imagine we'll make use of it one way or the other, No, we wonlt
have to hurt the green any and if Mr. Black wants it raked when we're done for his
use, we'll do thatll.
Smoak: "Mark, how may nights a week do you want it?"
Minnick "Well welre probably gonna have games two nights a week and we could have
another night or two for practice-welre just now getting started with it"
Smoak: "Have you got some kind of organization-in other words some one-two or three
people that will be responsible for seeing that the park is locked up-the lights
are turned off and that sort of thing?"
Minnick: "Right. Paul Bowen, myself and Jerry Sweat. II
Mayor: "What did the light bill run in Minneo1a?1I
Minnick: "I have no idea-that's the reason I heard that they shut us down-we had only
used it one night"
Beals: "Isn't that at the Elementary School over there?1I
Minnick: "We11, at the only school over there that I know of"
Beals: "And the school pays the light bill then, is that right?"
Minnick: "I would imagine so."
Bea1s~ "Then they must be the ones that objected."
Schroedel: "Mr. Mayor, Mark called me and talked to me about this by telephone and
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I in turn talked to Mr. Hopkins about it and we discussed the possibility of going
down to the Pollution Control plant where there are two ball diamonds, but it seems
that Little League has grown so big that both of those diamonds are being used for
Little League"
Mayor: "These boys would knock that ball over that fence nine times out of ten"
Schroede1: "We11 , thats it"
Minnick: "That I s what happened the other night. II
Schroede1: "they are not satisfactory and the only place they have to go is up to
big ball field and the problem is whether they would tear up the field or whether
they can make a regulation softball diamond out of it"
Mayor: "We11 we don't want ,to chanQe.it into a reQu1ar sC?ftba11 diamond-it.\tiou1dn't
be practical not to have a baseball dlamond because the H~gh Scho~l plays baseball
there and there is a colored team that plays there, and as far as I personally feel,
I think that you deserve all the support-that we can give you and as far as the
expnese of lighting is concerned-the park is built for the use of recreation and
for the use of the people in Clermont and I may be sticking my neck out when I say
that 11m in favor of paying the bill, but I am-11m glad to be a part of recreational
program and I think it would be a pity not to support you fellows in your endeavor C
and in the progress of recreation in Clermont.
Beals: "I agree with that wholeheartedly-it just seems odd to me that the school
system can't see fit to pay a little light bill when those lights were donated by
private subscription-didnlt cost the taxpayers of Lake County a dime-I think
Florida Power even installed the lights for them"
Smoak: "Who actually notified you that the Minneo1a field was no longer avai1ab 1e?"
Minnick: "0ne of the guys down at the Ford place-one of the managers down there-we
understand that they don't want us down there at all-daytimec,~ nighttime or anytime".
Smoak: "Who is they? Was it the city officials or the school board?
Minnick: "From what I heard it was Jerry Geh1back and the Mayor over there II
Byrd: "If I remember right, those lights came from Clermont Middle School-Junior
High School or whatever it is-so let's just go over there and get our lights and
bring them back home"
Smoak: "I would suggest that the City Council write the school board and find out
exactly what the status of that field is because it is more acceptable for softball
than the Clermont field-if we can find out exactly what the status is of the school
board I don't know that therels any reason that the school board if they say
it's OK, why they canlt play over there"
Beals: "Thatls school property and unfortunately those lights are the property of
the school, I mean they were. donated-and I know that I Objected strenuously to
moving them to Minneola but it didn't do any good"
Smoak: "I would suggest that that would be a better course of action"
Mayor: "Let's go ahead and find out the position of the school board"
Minnick:"Well can we go ahead in the meantime and use the baseball fie1d?"
Mayor: "Yes I would say so-you would need to get with Mr. Hopkins and see what the
schedule of the other teams are-check with himll
(End of tape No.5)
Messrs. DeYoung and Ki1dah1 of the First Lutheran Church, appeared before Council
and briefly explained their proposed project "Garden of F1ags"to be located adjacent
to the church building and along Highway #50, and requested the use of the city owned
grader and an un-metered water supply for the irrigation system in the garden.
It was consensus of Council that this project would be a tremendous asset to the
City of Clermont, whereupon motion was made by Councilman Schroede1, and seconded
b~ Councilman Byrd that water be furnished by the city for this project ~
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City Manager Hopkins submitted his report both orally and written and a copy is
attached hereto. With regards the Managerls recommendation that Council purchase
uniforms for city employees from Champion Uniforms, this matter was referred to
the City Manager. With regards the Manager's recommendation that a work session
of Council be held to discuss a budget adjustment regarding wages and salaries,
Mayor Smith called a work session of Council to be held on Monday night, April 2nd
at 7:30 P.M. in the City Manager's office.
City Controller Fleming submitted copies of the annual audit to Council and advised
that Mr. Greenlee would be glad to appear before Council to answer any questions
which they might have regarding the audit.
City Attorney Vason reported that Attorney Christopher Ford had 'been retained by
Peter H. Johnson in the condemnation suit filed by the City and that the hearing
would be held on April 3rd at which time it would be necessary that the city post
a check to be held in escrow for whatever amount of money that the court determined.
Motion was made by Councilman Beals, seconded by Councilman Smoak and carried
that Mr. Vason proceed with whatever steps are necessary to further the condemnation
proceedings
Councilman Beals offered and moved the adoption of a RESOLUTION requesting that
the Department of Transportation reroute State Road 561 from its present location
to along U. S. Highway 27 to the intersection of State Road 50, thence along State
Road 50 to the present intersection of 561 and 50 rather than through the
residential and downtown sections of Minneola and Clermont. The motion was seconded
by Councilman Byrd and unanimously carried. The RESOLUTION was read in full by
City Attorney Vason and the No. 206 assigned to it.
Councilman Smoak offered and moved the ado~tion of a RESOLUTION requesting that the
Department of Transportation conduct a tra fic control study of U.S. Highway
27 from its intersection of State Road 50 to its intersection with Hook Street
because of the great number of fatalities and property damages incurred in that
area in recent years. The motion was seconded by Councilman Beals and unanimously
carried. The RESOLUTION was read in full by City Attorney Vason, and the No. 207
assigned to it.
Councilman Smoak offered and moved the adoption of a RESOLUTION accepting the
Sanitary Sewerage Improvement System, declaring the special assessments to be due and
payable, providing for the method of payment thereof, and establishing priority
of lien against property for unpaid assessments. The motion was seconded by
Councilman Beals. The RESOLUTION was read in full by City Attorney Vason and the
No. 208 assigned to it.
It was the suggestion of Councilman Beals that a delegation once ~gai.n,-,goto
the Department of Transportation in Deland with regards the hazardous crossings
throughout elermont along State Road 50, and advised that Commissioner Jim Hoskinson
would accompany them.
Councilman Smoak offered and moved the adoption of AN ORDINANCE UNDER THE CODE OF
ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, FLORIDA AMENDING SAID CODE OF ORDINANCE TO
CHANGE CERTAIN PARTS AS DESCRIBED THEREIN FROM R1A ZONING DISTRICT TO Ml ZONING
DISTRICT: REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE:
AND PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION BY POSTING and the motion was seconded by Councilman
Beals. The ORDINANCE was ready by title only for a second and final reading
by City Attorney Vason and upon roll call vote on passage of the motion, the
result was: Ayes: Schroede1, Byrd, Beals, Smith and Smoak. Total Ayes: Five.
Nayes: None. To the ORDINANCE was adopted, the Number 88-C assigned to it and a copy
ordered posted.
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MINUTES NQ 906
Councilman Schroedel offered and moved the adoption of AN ORDINANCE UNDER THE CODE
OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, FLORIDA, AMENDING SUB-SECTION (b) OF SECTION
8-1; AMENDING SUB-SECTION '~c} OF SECTION 8-1; AMENDING SUB-SECTION (a) OF
SECTION 8-2: AMENDING SUB-SECTION (b) OF SECTION 8.2: AMENDING SECTION 8-5 BY RE-
PEALING SUB-SECTION (a) AND SUB-SECTION (b) AND SUBSTITUTING THEREFORE A NEW SECTION
8-5: AMENDING SUB-SECTION {1} (a) OF SECTION 8-14; AMENDING SUB-SECTION (1) (h)
OF SECTION 8-14; AMENDING SUB-SECTION 2 of SECTION 8-14; AMENDING SUB-SECTION 3
OF SECTION 8-14; AMENDING THE FIRST PARAGRAPH OF SECTION 8-34; AMENDING SUB-SECTION
(g) {6} OF SECTION 8-40; PROVIDING A DEFINITION FOR THE TERM "ELECTRICIAN";
PROVIDING A DEFINITION "MASTER ELECTRICIAN"; ESTABLISHING A BOARD OF EXAMINERS OF
ELECTRICIANS: PROVIDING FOR THE EXAMINATION OF MASTER AND JOURNEYMAN ELECTRICIANS;
PROVIDING FOR THE CLASSIFICATIONS OF MASTER ELECTR[ltUNS, JOURNEYMAN ELECTRICIANS
AND ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS; PROVIDING FOR THE REQUIREMENT OF MAIN SERVICE DISCONNECTS:
ESTABLISHING WIRING METHODS; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH;
PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY: PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION
BY POSTING. The motion was seconded by Councilman Byrd. The ORDINANCE was read
by title only for a second and final reading by City Attorney Vason and upon roll
call vote on passage of the motion, the result was: AYes: Smoak, Smith, Beals,
Byrd and Schroedel. Total AYes: Five. Nayes: None. So the ORDINANCE was adopted,
the Number 89-C assigned to it and a copy ordered posted.
Councilman Beals offered and moved the adoption of AN ORDINANCE UNDER THE CODE OF
ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, FLORIDA, AMENDING SECTION 19-13 OF THE CODE
OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, FLORIDA; AMENDING SECTION 19-18; AMENDING
SECTION 19-19; AMENDING SECTION 19-21; PROVIDING FOR THE GENERAL LIABILITY OF
THE OWNER OF ALL LANDS THROUGH WHICH ANY STREETS OR PUBLIC WAYS ARE TO BE CONSTRUCTED;
ADOPTING AND INCORPORATING HEREIN THE LATEST PUBLISHED EDITION OF THE STANDARD
SPECIFICATIONS OF THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, ESTABLISHING MINIMUM
STANDARD OF SUB-GRADE STABILIZATION; ESTABLISHING MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR STREET
WARING SURFACES; ESTABLISHING AND INCORPORATING HEREIN AN ILLUSTRATION OF TYPICAL
STREE CROSS-SECTION; PROVIDING FOR MINIMUM DRAINAGE STRUCTURES; REPEALING ALL
ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE
DATE; AND PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION BY POSTING. The motion was seconded by
Councilman Schroede1 and the ORDINANCE was read by title only for a second and final
reading by City Attorney Vason. Upon roll call vote on passage of the motion, the
result was: Ayes: Schroede1, Byrd, Beals, Smith and Smoak. Total AYes: Five.
Nayes: None. So the ORDINANCE was adopted, the number 90C assigned to it and
a copy ordered posted.
Councilman Smoak inquired of the City Manager as to the status of the sewer condemnation
suits and he was advised that he had been unable to contact Mr. Langley. Counci1-
. man Byrd thereupon moved that Robert F. Vason, Jr. be appointed as City Attorney
m'tectlVe lmmed1ately. Ine mot10n was seconded by ~ounc1 lman :>moak anO[Carrlea.
Counc11man Beals abstaln~d trom iotlng and ~XpJ~l~ed nlS reason tor uOlng so wa~
because he regarded Mr. Vason now as City Attorney and Mr. Langl~y also regarded
Mr. Vason as being City Attorney and doesn't think this action was necessary.
Councilman Schroede1 inquired as follows: As to whether or not the sewer easements
had been recorded and City Manager Hopkins reported that they were in the process
of being recorded now; As to whether or not the motor protective switches at the
lift stations were installed and he was advised that arrangements had been made
with Orange Electric, but that work had not been started as yet.
Councilman Smoak inquired of the Operations Manual and Mr. Hopkins advised that
the only word he had had from the engineers was that they were working on it. It
was consensus of Council that the City Manager contact Michae1s-Stiggins, Inc.
and advise that if tne manual has not been completed and delivered by May 1st,
that we shall engage another engineering firm to compose the manual and then
deduct the expense for same from the monies owed to them.
Councilman Beals reported that he had resigned as Council's representative to
the OEO, and, that he was now a director of the Lake County League of Cities
tnat during a recent meeting of the Board it was consensus;tbtt possibly the
municipalities were being taxed double when paying both city and county taxes in
return for the services which they receive from the county and that they felt
the League should pursue this matter with the County Commission and he hoped that
Council would concur in this opinion with the League Board.
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MINUTES
NQ
907
With regards the request by t. W. Russell for a tax refund for the years 1970-71
which were assessed in error inasmuch as at that time his residence, which is a
boathouse out over the lake was outside the corporate city limits, motion was
made by Councilman Schroede1, and seconded by Councilman Byrd that the
refund be authorized. M&t.iorrWHc,~ made ~~ Councilman Beals and seconded
by Councilman Smoak that this matter be table until such time as the City Attorney
can investigate the legality of making such a refund. The motion carried with
Mayor Smith and Councilman Schroede1 voting in the negative.
With regards request of the City Manager for an interpretation of the Zoning
Ordinance regarding rear access-side yards, motion was made by Councilman Smoak,
and seconded by Councilman Beals that it be interpreted to allow for elimination of the
inside setback on corner lots when rear access is accomplished from a side street,
and, that this provision be included in the C2 zone. The motion carried with
Councilman Byrd voting, Naye.
With regards the appointment of a HOUSING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS,
motion was made by Councilman Smoak, seconded by Councilman Byrd and carried
that Council be appointed as the Board with Mayor Smitb- Councilman Smoak and
Counf;d :J:fiJany BeaJ"s'be:i ng app,i nted' for: thteef)yeal" terms; Counc i 1 ma n Byrd bei ng a ppoi nted
for a two year term and Councilman Schroede1 being appointed for a one year term,,-
The meeting was adjourned by Mayor Smith.
LOj\O'M~) 0 ~~
Dolores W. Carrol , City Clerk
CAd~~ c=- ~.
Don E. Smith, Mayor