Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.21.2026 - City Council Minutes City gr<771r»xont MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP April 21,2026 CALL TO ORDER The City Council met in a workshop session on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in the Clermont City Center.Mayor Murry called the workshop to order at 1:00 pm with the following Council Members present. Council Members Strange, Bain, Myers and Petersen_ Other City officials present were City Manager Van Wagner, Deputy City Manager Matthys,City Attorney Waugh and City Clerk Howe. City Manager Van Wagner gave the invocation. AGENDA ITEMS Item No_ 1 —Commuaicatioa Doris Jackson-Shazier, Shazier Coaching and Consulting, spoke to Council about how to engage in professional disagreement in a way that is both honest and productive. She emphasized balancing authenticity with respectful communication to achieve meaningful, constructive outcomes,highlighting key principles including modeling professionalism,emotional intelligence for public leaders, and defining respect and honesty in public service interactions. She noted that effective leadership in public settings requires maintaining civility while still expressing differing viewpoints clearly and constructively, with the goal of strengthening dialogue and decision- making rather than creating conflict_ Mayor Murry recessed the workshop at 2:48pm_ Mayor Murry reconvened the workshop nt 3:00pm_ Item No_ 2—EMS City Manager Van Wagner stated that, in response to the Council's request, the city has brought back discussions regarding Emergency Medical Services (EMS) services through the fire department_ He invited Fire Chief Ezell to present more infoniiation_ Fire ChieF Ezell informed Council that after about IS months of working with Lake County, EMS response times have improved with added ambulances but still fall short oFthe 10-minute goal and remain inconsistent under higher call volumes. He recommended the city move forward with its own Advanced Life Support (ALS) transport services to ensure more reliable, locally dedicated coverage,noting that planning and costs have been established. He stated that there will be an item on the next agenda to request a certificate from the county to allow the city to provide its own ALS transport services_ Council discussed impacts on emergency response levels,funding structure,and coordination with Lake County. Fire Chief Ezell clarified that the data presented reflects only City of Clermont responses and excludes unincorporated areas, though the city continues to respond to emergent calls outside city 1 City of Clermont MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP April 21,2026 limits while limiting lower-acuity responses. Council focused on understanding overall service demand and requested more comprehensive historical call data, as well as clarification of current reliance on County dispatch services and the existing Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) funding structure. Council also raised operational concerns regarding staffing, dispatch agreements, and facility readiness, including where ambulances would be housed as service scales up and implementation of aligning with future station development. Council emphasized the importance of understanding phased deployment, cost recovery timing, and the County Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (COPCN) approval process required before any state licensing or service initiation, noting uncertainty in County approval and possible delays or legal challenges.Ultimately,Council agreed that additional time and information are needed before deciding on the proposed ALS transport initiative and requested that the item be moved to the May agenda to allow for further review. Council requested a comprehensive report including multi-year call data by jurisdiction and acuity, MSTU and billing revenue analysis, full cost and cash-flow projections, dispatch service structure and costs,an implementation timeline and staffing plan, a facility and ambulance housing strategy, updated professional studies, and comparative case studies of similar municipal EMS transitions, including both successful and unsuccessful examples. Item No.3—Joint discussion with Planning and Zoning Commission Council and Planning & Zoning Commission members discussed the need to establish clearer, shared standards for evaluating rezonings and conditional use permits to improve consistency, transparency, and predictability in decision-making. Members noted that while existing ordinances,comprehensive plan policies,and established code criteria govern reviews,application of those standards can vary,particularly in subjective areas such as desirability, compatibility,and overall project impact. To address this, the group explored developing a structured checklist or scorecard approach that translates existing code requirements, such as safety, infrastructure capacity, transportation, site design, and neighborhood compatibility, into more consistently applied evaluation factors, while ensuring decisions remain grounded in adopted legal standards. City Attorney Waugh emphasized that any framework must align with the code and not create binding criteria outside of ordinance requirements,and caution was raised regarding public records and procedural implications of formal scoring systems. The discussion also included broader concerns about development pressures, infrastructure capacity, traffic, emergency access, and data accuracy in planning materials, as well as the importance of improving pre-application guidance and communication with applicants. Members referenced the need for greater alignment between staff analysis, Planning and Zoning recommendations, and Council decision-making, while still maintaining the distinct roles of each body in the quasi-judicial process. Additional conversation addressed recent state legislative changes affecting local land use authority and the importance of maintaining local discretion within evolving legal constraints. Civility in public meetings was also discussed, with members noting the importance of respectful 2 City of Clermont MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP April 21, 2026 engagement despite differing perspectives and the need to avoid adversarial or directive language from applicants or participants. Direction was given for staff to draft a proposed checklist or guiding framework based on existing code criteria and circulate it for review, with the intent of bringing a refined version forward to Council for consideration, potentially as part of an ordinance amendment in May. Members also discussed the possibility of incorporating clearer expectations directly into the code or future updates. ADJOURN: With no further comments, this workshop adjourned at 5:27 pm. APPROVED: Tim Murry, Mayor A Tracy Ackr d Howe, MMC City Clerk 3