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11-09-1976 Regular Meeting . e e . ~ MINUTES NQ1346 REGULAR MEETING A Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Clermont was held in the Council Chambers on Tuesday, November 9, 1976. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 P. M. by Mayor Claude E. Smoak, Jr., with the following members present: Councilmen Byrd, Beals, Schroedel, and Blackburn. Other officials present were: City Manager Tiffany, City Attorney Baird, City Clerk Carroll, Finance Director Sanchez, and Director of Community Services Smythe. Other present were: The Messrs. Czech, Sargent, Searles, Kelley, and Ogden. The invocation was given by Councilman Byrd, followed by repeating of the Pledge of Allegiance in unison by those present. The Minutes of the meeting held October 26, 1976 were approved as written. ANNUAL YEAR END REPORT City Manager Tiffany submitted an in-depth 1975-76 fiscal year end administrative and financial report as prepared by he and Finance Director Sanchez, and advised he was pleased to report that the year end cash balances were considerably more than had been estimated. A copy of the report is attached hereto. COOPER MEMBORIAL LIBRARY Councilman'Schroedel, liaison representative to the Library Board, report~d briefly on his attendance at their meeting held on Monday. He advlsed that, though the Board was conservative with their funds, they had -:accompl ished an extensive and much needed re- modeling and expansion program. CONDEMNED BUILDING STATUS Councilman Beals inquired of City Attorney Baird as to the status of the condemnation suits as filed by the city, and he was advised the time period for def{ult had not yet lapsed and therefore no further action by the city is necessary at this time. Upon inquiry of a possible date for actual removal of the buildings, he anticipated by the beginning of 1977 at least. GENERAL ELECTION Mayor Smoak reminded all present of the General Election to fill three seats on the City Council which will be held on De.cember:lth. anti he expressed hope for competition in all::three positions. PAYMENT OF BILLS Motion was made by Councilman Blackburn, seconded by Councilman Beals and carried that the bills be paid. A copy is attached hereto. It was the suggestion of Mayor Smoak that City Manager Tiffany and Director of Community Services Smythe review the annual air conditioning/heating maintenance contract now held by Wood Heating & Cooling in terms of the cost efficiency of the contract. . e e . MINUTES NQ1347 SYSTEMATIC CODE REVIEW With regards a comprehensive review of existing city ordinances in order to update the City's Code, City Manager Tiffany sub- mitted his recommendations of a systematic procedure and suggested priority list. Motion was made by Councilman Blackburn, seconded by Councilman Beals and carried that the recommendations be accepted for start of the review. CITY LOGO CONTEST City Manager Tiffany submitted a proposal of a city sponsored contest for a design of a logo, representative of the city, to be offered to the students of Clermont High School and students of private high schools who reside within the city, and inquired of Council's concurrence. Council was in unanimous agreement with the proposal. DEflNITION'JOF'IHARDSHIP" FOR VARIANCE Inasmuch as existing applications for variance do not define the criteria necessary for granting of variances by Council, it was the suggestion of City Manager Tiffany that City Attorney Baird develop a definition of "hardship" for the purposes of variance requests to be included on the application forms; That the City Attorney had submitted the following language, and he would recommend its approval "I submit that I qualify for this variance because I have an exceptional and unique hardship on my particular parcel of land that is not shared by property owners in my area. A strict application of the zoning ordinance deprives me of the reasonable use of my land and the granting of this variance will not alter the essential character of the area" Motion was made by Councilman Beals, seconded by Councilman Byrd and unanimously carried that the City Manger's recommendation be accepted. STREET LIGHTING ei~Manager Tiffany reported on a recommendation of the Planning & Zoning Commission, with which he concurred, for the installation of three street lights along Grand Highway from East Avenue to the Orange Hill Subdivision, and, recommended authorization for removal of approximately thirty light fixtures in the downtown area which recent Florida Power Corporation engineering plans had shown could be removed without significantly reducing the noticeable lighting. Council was in unanimous agreement with the recommendations. CITY OWNED PROPERTY IN BLOCK 94 City Manager Tiffany reported on communication received advising that the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company had petitioned for permission to close their local depot, substituting with a mobile freight service, and the possibility the building could be made available for the city's use if it is permanently closed. In view of this, it was the recommendation of Mr. Tiffany that the proposed sale of the city's property in Block 94 be deferred inasmuch as it is located adjacent to the depot and could possibly be an utilization to the city. Motion was made by Councilman Schroedel, seconded by Councilman Byrd and unanimously carried that the recommendation be accepted. . e e . MINUTES NQ1348 PROPOSED ORDINANCE NO. 89-M Councilman Beals introduced AN ORDINANCE UNDER THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA, CLOSING AND PERMANENTLY ABANDONING A PORTION OF WEST AVENUE DESCRIBED HEREIN, ACCORDING TO THE OFFICIAL MAP OF THE CITY OF CLERMONT, RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 8, PAGES 17 TO 23, INCLUSIVE, PUBLIC RECORDS OF LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA: PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE: and PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION, and the Ordinance was read for a first reading by City Clerk Carroll by title only. RESIGNATION FROM COUNCIL: CHARLES B. BEALS Councilman Beals, recently elected to membership on the Lake County School Board, and who had previously submitted his resignation from Council effective November 16th, advised this would be his last regular meeting as councilman in order to prevent any possible conflict of interest inasmuch as he would be assuming his new poisition on the same date as the next regular meeting and at an earlier time. Mr. Beals expressed appreciation to Council and members of the city administration for the excellent cooperation extended during his term in office, and reiterated his pleasure in the choice of Gordon D. Tiffany as City Manager. There being no furt~er business to be brought before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned by Mayor Smoak at 8:15 P. M. c()J~ Mayor ~u) 1 ~Jt.. Does W. Carroll, City C erk