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CITY COMMISSION MINUTES
OCTOBER 10 2011
WORK SESSION
CITY OF SANFORD
CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION
MONDAY, October 10, 2011
4:00 PM
Railroad Depot Room
2nd Floor
Sanford City Hall
300 North Park Avenue
Sanford, Florida
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In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, persons with disabilities needing
assistance to participate in any of these proceedings should contact the City Clerk at
407.688.5010 at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting. Advice to the public: If a person
decides to appeal a decision made with respect to any matter considered at the above
meeting or hearing, he or she may need a verbatim record of the proceedings, including
the testimony and evidence, which record is not provided by the City of Sanford. (FS
286.0105)
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AGENDA
1. Marina Isle Planned Development Approval Extension —
discussion. (Regular Meeting Item 7.A)[Commission Memo 11 -186]
2. Cemetery Fee — discussion.
3. Christmas holiday schedule.
4. Fee waiver requests — discussion.
5. Renaming 13 Street and Lake Avenue — discussion.
6. Agenda Items — additional information and /or questions.
7. END THE MEETING.
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WORK SESSION
The City Commission of the City of Sanford, Florida, met in Work
Session on Monday, October 10, 2011, at 4 PM, in the Railroad Depot Room, Second
Floor, City Hall, 300 North Park Avenue, Sanford, Florida.
Present: Mayor Jeff Triplett
Vice Mayor Patty Mahany
Commissioner Mark M ° Carty
Commissioner Velma Williams
City Manager Norton N. Bonaparte, Jr.
City Attorney William L. Colbert
Deputy City Clerk Cynthia Porter
Absent: Commissioner Randy Jones
City Clerk Janet Dougherty
Mayor Triplett called the Work Session to order at 4:07 PM.
1. Marina Isle Planned Development Approval Extension — discussion. (Regular
Meeting Item 7.A) [Commission Memo 11 -186]
Public Works Director Tom George advised the Commission that the
Marina Isle lease payments are five months in arrears. Also, the current year property
taxes weren't paid in April and the tax appraiser issued tax certificates which someone
purchased. He met with the lessee, Frank Cerasoli, this morning to work out details on a
twelve month payment plan. The hotel lease is $2,083 per month and the Monroe Place
lease is $5,300 per year. Utility payments for the hotel are five months behind (about
$10,000) and the water is about to be turned off. The rezone and the lease are different
issues and whatever is decided on the rezone does not preclude the proposed twelve
month payment plan. The persons responsible for the planned development are not the
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WORK SESSION
same as who are responsible for the utilities not being paid.
City Attorney Colbert said that what is before the Commission is a request
to approve the request to extend a planned development which is set to expire before the
Commission meets again. There is a provision in the City Code for an administrative
extension for a period of up to six months during which time things can get worked out
globally. The plan wouldn't be lost and it could come back to the Commission for
consideration within the six month time frame. The Commission could continue this item
pending further updates from Staff, either to a time certain or indefinitely. That would be
less legally complicated than if it wasn't extended because of unpaid utility payments.
Mr. Bonaparte said that a payment plan with benchmarks, a status of the
accounts, and some sense of plans to develop the property can be provided to the
Commission.
2. Cemetery Fee — discussion.
Finance Director Cynthia Lindsay distributed a handout regarding Sanford
Municipal Cemetery revenue and expenditures from fiscal year 2000 -2001 to fiscal year
2010 -2011.
Mr. George said that from the time the cemetery has existed it has lost
money. The City has provided a very affordable cemetery for City residents but the
revenues have never covered the expenses. Losses range from $45,000 to $90,000 per
year; the variance is due to some maintenance issues including road repairs. He asked the
Commission to consider adjusting the rates to the average of the area (on page three of
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the handout). He further suggested that maybe the City shouldn't be in the cemetery
business and if the Commission is amenable that consideration should be given to selling
it with the additional adjacent property. Whoever purchases it will have to maintain what
is there. The Commission agreed that options should be explored.
3. Christmas holiday schedule.
Mr. Bonaparte distributed and reviewed a handout regarding the 2011-
2012 Holiday Schedule. Some members of the Commission expressed concern about
City Hall being closed for an extended period of time during the holidays the way it was
last year. Mr. Bonaparte suggested that during the holidays there could be a "shell
operation ", that some Staff will be on call and stand by, and that emergency contact
numbers will be made available to the public. The Commission agreed that the schedule
should be decided by Mr. Bonaparte.
4. Fee waiver requests — discussion.
Mr. George gave a brief outline of City fees. Requests have been received
for fee waivers, however, Staff can't recommend that. There are bond covenants that
prevent waivers in many cases. Funds City wide are balanced and to provide any relief
there would have to be reduction in department budgets which require cuts of services or
personnel. We continue to struggle with reduced revenue and increased costs. Any relief
would have to be funded by some other revenue source which in essence would be
paying private debt or financial obligations with public monies and we would have to
prove that it serves a public purpose in order to use public funds to pay off private debt.
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It also opens the door for other requests from people having a hard time and it presents
equity issues. There is no mechanism to implement fee waivers.
Mr. Colbert said that the City has a responsibility to make a certain level
of services available to the citizens: water, sewer, stormwater, police, and fire.
Mr. George said that City Code provides for utility service availability
charges that apply to all users, whether owner or tenant, whether or not connection has
been made to the property. The City doesn't actually do this. Revenues are collected
through utility billing so if a house is vacant there is no utility bill. To be consistent with
the Code we should be billing for those availability charges. Some municipalities put the
solid waste and stormwater charges on the tax bill once a year.
Mr. Colbert said the best practice is to have your Code match what you do.
He suggested that Staff and the City Attorney look at ways to harmonize the Code. It
could be that there could be amendments to the Code and other collection things that
could be helpful. The concern is that the City should be consistent in what is done.
Mr. George said he can research what other municipalities do regarding
availability charges and he will bring back comparisons to the Commission. The Mayor
said he would like to see the calculations of what revenue we're missing out on.
5. Renaming 13 Street and Lake Avenue — discussion.
Planning and Development Services Director Russ Gibson distributed and
reviewed an agenda memorandum regarding renaming W. 13` Street back to Goldsboro
and Lake Avenue to Clark Street. He said that Seminole County adopted an ordinance in
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2000 (with concurrence of all municipalities in Seminole County) that standardizes how
the County and all of the cities in Seminole County will proceed with addressing and/or
naming streets. A covenant of the ordinance is that there shall be no duplication of street
names. There exists both a Goldsboro and a Clark Road within Seminole County (both in
Oviedo). He asked if the Commission wants him to approach the County and the City of
Oviedo about changing the names of those streets.
Mr. Colbert said this is a problem that could better have a political
solution than a Staff or legal solution. It would be possible for a member of the City
Commission to discuss this with a member of the Board of Seminole County
Commissioners.
Mayor Triplett said that he will take Mr. Colbert's suggestion and go to
the County Commission first.
6. Agenda Items — additional information and/or questions.
Mr. Bonaparte said that the City received a COPS grant in the amount of
$1,133,670 which will provide salaries and benefits for six police officers for three years.
The caveat is that we must keep them the fourth year which will cost the City about
$400,000. We have to respond to the Department of Justice within 90 days of the receipt.
He strongly recommended acceptance of the grant. Finance Director Lindsay and Police
Chief Lee will look at ways to plan on saving $100,000 a year to provide funding for the
fourth year salaries and benefits. There was no objection of the Commission.
Vice Mayor Mahany gave an update on having Assistant City Attorney
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Groot look into our ordinances regarding panhandling and the homeless. She and Mr.
Groot will meet on Thursday to review the ordinance. She plans to bring it to the
Commission at the next work session.
7. END THE MEETING.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourted at 6:08 PM.
Mayor Jeff Tri
Attest:
City Clerk
cp