20th 2025 uh City Commission meeting the time is 6:00 p.m. uh please join me for a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance thank you I pledge allegiance to the flag of
the United States of America and to Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you caller order uh Christine do we have a quorum
and proper notice been given yes mayor thank you Tom do we have an agenda update uh no sir okay uh Commissioners uh have approval of minutes uh meeting March 6 2025 so moved second please Mary roll call
commissioner Lee I commissioner Holland I vice mayor Ashcraft I commissioner ASB I mayor Hawkins I uh before we move uh on to audience to be
heard um I need to address uh the citizens and and the commission uh I'd like to take a moment to address the people that we serve the people that took a chance on each of us sitting up here and voted for
us to represent them at our last meeting we failed you and I apologize at the very least you should expect Civility and decorum from this
body both of these attributes of behavior decided to leave the meeting early I do welcome disagreement and discussion but not to the detriment of this body's
purpose finally to our staff sitting here tonight those anxiously watching those at home nervously looking for a direction tomorrow morning from this commission from the city manager to the
16year old part-time work work at the rec center you are the backbone of what we do here in the city you do the hard work every single day and we appreciate and value
you now Commissioners we have work to do roll up your sleeves and let's get to work uh audience to be heard uh Cindy new Cindy Newton an incorporated Eustace thank you for those
words uh greatly appreciated within the city's comprehension plan there's a mixed commercial residential MCR designation and in the comp plan there are mixed
requirements that are proportional with limitations regarding the amount of res residential and non-residential uses allowable in an area designated for the MCR for the Mixed land use category the the city
establishes and shall monitor on a Citywide basis a mix of the following uses residential 15 to 25% of the total MCR acreage commercial and office 75 to 85% of the total
acreage the composition of for each proposed development is allowed to be determined on Case by case basis during the development review process and specific uses are
permitted but overall this mixed use has to be within these limitations and so I'm publicly asking for that information to see where we are uh I've been coming to meetings quite a
while and I have yet to see one that comes before the commission with those proportions so I'm wondering where we are what is the total acreage within the city that has MCR designation what percentage of that is
residential on an entitlement basis what percentage is commercial and office and I'm sure there's still uh quite a bit of acreage that has the MCR that hasn't
come before you with a developmental proposal and this is the tool the city has to determine what goes on those Parcels so I'm publicly requesting that information uh as the I'm sure the staff
has been keeping up with what it is Citywide so thank you so much for your time thank you Sen Tom can you handle that Blake Griswald evening guys and ladies my name is Blake griswell uh Eustace resident off Hazelton Street want to address just
a couple of things leaving the whole Redevelopment issue out last week and I was more concerned about the development that's still ongoing and the concern that these citizens have about overdevelopment it's been addressed for years and years and years and every time I come here we can't do anything about
because they're they're meeting codee that city has I know that the code's being worked on currently but everything's getting done around us still why don't we put a moratorium on building right now so until the code is fixed so that the citizens of eustus can learn to live with a density that's
growing and growing and growing second item I have I'm not u a big fan of eustus giving away our land and it has happened over and over and over again this Redevelopment we're doing downtown we're going to sell this property off lose control over it what happens
downtown we're going to lose all our control we need to put a land lease on that keep it under our purveyor and keep it to where we have some say of what happens on that property don't give it to a developer and let them just do what they want to do let's keep it under our hats do we need a workshop to sit down and discuss
those things with the city of Eustace and whether we want to keep that land or sell that land I think it needs to be addressed okay I don't I don't think it should be a decision just by you guys I think the city needs to put an input on the property we have in us and keep it under our hats that's it thanks guys
than great that is it I have one card at the time of the item okay is anyone else that uh uh would like to come up and address anything right okay uh we'll move on to the consent agenda uh commissioners
before us uh we have the consent agenda is there anything that uh you would like to have pulled okay Mr Mayor I move for approval of the consent agenda second
Christin commissioner Lee I commissioner Holland I vice mayor Ashcraft I commissioner ASB I mayor Hawkins I thank you madam attorney thank you Mr Mayor uh first we have resolution number
25-6 a resolution of the city Commission of the city of us Florida providing for a reduction of an outstanding code enforcement fine and release of lean against 2850 South Bay Street upon full payment of the reduced fine Mr Martin good evening Commissioners for
the record my name is er Martin and the code enforcement supervisor for the city of e resolution number 2516 approves a code enforcement board order reducing an outstanding code from its current amount of $3,250 $500 and releases thean against 2850
South B upon pay so this is where the racetrack is located the violation involved the Lake Hills Plaza um multi tenant sign in a crash when uh when Department failed to
get Lake Hill's Plaza the owner of that Plaza to repair remove the sign once we learned that it's on the r track property we had no other choice to go to race track it took a little bit of time for them to get it done the sign's been
removed now we need to just uh mitigate the fines so staff recommends approval of resolution number 25-16 are there any questions from the commission for Mr Martin I do have a question why is this
such a drastic you give such huge fines then you drop it down to almost nothing um how do you justify that so I maybe I can address that this is a unique situation in that uh the the sign is
physically on racetrack's property but the sign is actually the sign actually belonged to the larger Plaza behind and racetrack was reluctant to remove a sign that belonged to somebody else and it went through their legal department
there was a lot of legal wrangling we were trying to get the shopping center owner to take care of their responsibility but racetrack was nervous about their legal exposure for removing someone else's uh sign and so after uh a
lot of attempts to get the shopping center owner to do it racetrack finally decided listen we can't keep racking up fines and we need to take care of this and so I think what uh staff is recommending and the code board has
reviewed is it really wasn't racetrack's fault it was The Shopping Center's fault and their inaction that led to the large fine and racetrack did all they could do uh to take care of it and then in the end did take care of it uh because they
just uh it got to the point where they felt we just have to do it and so in this again this is a little unique because of the different relationships and the ownership of the sign versus the ownership of the land so Plaza couldn't be fined uh no because it wasn't their
land uh it didn't it was their sign but not their land it was there by easement I think and so the land was owned by Racetrack and we can't site the shopping center because it's not their land okay now we are citing the shopping center for a host of other violations and we
are going after them for that uh but we couldn't for this one okay Mr Mayor uh Eric uh did the code enforcement board agree with this reduction and yes all right okay okay thank anything further from the
commission would anyone in the audience like to comment on resolution 25-16 okay seeing none we will close public input Mr Mayor Mr Mayor I move for approval of resolution number 25-16 second okay Christine commissioner
Lee I commissioner Holland I vice mayor Ashcraft hi commissioner ASB I mayor Hawkins I next we're going to have a explanation and presentation on ordinances related to annexation of alternate key 26 12525
that's ordinance 25607 and 08 we will begin with uh ordinance 2506 which is an ordinance of the city Commission of the city of eustus Florida voluntarily annexing approximately 2.86 Acres of real property at Lake County
Property Appraisers alterate key numbers 26125 25 generally located on the east side of the State Road 44 opposite the intersection with Lake Joanna Drive Mr Richardson I'm used to being a lot
long those are the rest that are coming after this okay I apologize um my presentation as usual will be actually for all three of the ordinances 256 for the annexation 257 for the assign of future 2508 assign Design
District with that he will proceed um owner of the property is teranova AC PHS LLC Joe hoer is a representative it's approximately 2.8 acres in size um currently the property is under the Lake County Urban low
feature land use um moving to a mixed commercial residential which is the same as the surrounding properties and a Suburban neighborhood Design District um again the property is located State rout 44 this is remaining
of one of the fill in pieces uh for annexation um along that state grout 44 Corridor again with the property to the South that leave being the kingdom of God and the property the property that is still un Annex to the north touching
44 being Lake County Fire Station um it is within uh the city of Eustace jpa with Lake County um have followed the steps for notification for um annexation um notice provided to
Lake County uh in February um with the Daily Commercial being run on first run on March 10th second run on March 17 um standards for review chapter 163 um as well as the our own um future land
use element um appendix and two of Land Development regulations uh again current feature land use in unincorporated is Lake County Urban low requested is MCR filling
in similar land use to the remainer of the corridor on that Eastern side um so it is consistent with the surrounding future land use designations it is an urbanizing Corridor um therefore a more
urban future land use is appropriate um this property is located within the W Basin um noted on the environmental resources it does have a pond on the property however it is not a wetland Pond um but it does have a flood zone on
approximately half of the property there is a map later on that will will come up utilities are available on state rout 44 uh again here's this approximately half the property has some flood plane on it
um as well as showing that pond recharge um it is in the moderate High to moderate recharge 12 20 Ines a year um aial showing
location uh Design District will be a Suburban neighborhood which is consistent with theander of the corridor um for development services is presenting this uh proposed annexation to the city commission for your
consideration recommends approval of the anation as well as the future land cover those individually all right as to annexation any questions from the commission from Mr Richardson no do we have any cards I do
uh Orin Owen thank you for your time Mr Mayor Commissioners I live in the property my name is Orin Owen I live in Lake County Florida in the unincorporated Lake County Eustace address 19544 Eustace
Airport Road right behind the fire station so I'm affected and M mentioned earlier about the impact that the lakes of Mount Dora has had on water in that area I bought my property in 2003 and
I've seen a significant increase in water flooding my area and I've been told that they're going to re-evaluate the flood plane my request is that every consideration be taken regarding storm
water because originally when I bought my property there was a water flow there is no longer a water flow so make sure whatever you do or whatever planning is done that the water is dealt
with correctly I can't handle any more water 18 in is great for kayaking but it's not very good for a horse or for grazing so I would like that for the record we need to deal with the water
and make sure it's planned for that's all I have thank you any other cards that's it for cards is there anyone else in the public that would like to comment on the annexation component of this ordinance come on up Miss
Newton CD Newton un Incorporated L excuse me uh I would like to uh speak on on what this gentleman brought up I recently sent some
videos of a spring that's right across 44 from this property uh which has a massive flow all this Wetland the pond all this water is coming from there this is the
Mount Doro Ridge there are several branches that come off of that rdge that flow water subsurface and surface one of those branches is the Wolf Creek Branch this this airport area is the
dividing point for these branches you've got the Wolf Branch going south you've got branches going north that have these Springs also Springs and it also is where hitch ditch it flows over to Lake
Joanna which this water ends up with your Waterfront so you know you've got a stake in this for your Waterfront as well and it's very important that this Stone water is managed and managed correctly because any more interference
with this you're going to start having issues with flooding various places even on the other side of 44 on the North side so thank you thank you Miss Newton any other members of the public wishing to speak on this
item okay seeing none we will close the public input Mr Mayor he Commissioners Mr Mayor I move approval of ordinance number 25-6 second commissioner Lee I commissioner Holland hi vice mayor Ashcraft hi
commissioner ASB body hi mayor Hawkins I the second component ordinance number 25-7 on the comp plan Amendment an ordinance of the city Commission of the City of eustus Lake County Florida amending the city of eustus comprehensive plan pursuant to Florida
statute section 163318 7 changing the future land use designation of approximately 2.86 Acres of recently annexed real property at alternate key number 261 2525 generally located on the east side of State Road 44 opposite the
intersection with Lake Joanna drive from Urban low in Lake County to mixed commercial residential in the city of eustus are there any questions on this item for Mr Richardson since we've had presentation from the commission no okay any cards on this item anyone in the
audience wishing to speak speak on the comp plan Amendment ordinance okay seeing none I will close public input Mr Mayor Mr Mayor I move approval ordinance number 25-7 second Christine roll call please
commissioner Lee I commissioner Holland I vice mayor Ashcraft hi commissioner ASB I mayor Hawkins I the last component is ordinance number 25-8 for The Design District assignment and ordinance of the city Commission of the City of eustus Lake County Florida
assigning the Suburban neighborhood Design District designation to approximately 2.86 Acres of recently annexed real property at alternate key number 261225 generally located on the east side of State Road 44 opposite the intersection with Lake Joanna Drive
we've had presentation any questions on this item for Mr Richardson from commission okay anyone in the audience wishing to comment on ordinance 2508 with the Design District assignment okay seeing none we will close public
input Mr Mayor Mr Mayor I move approval of ordinance 25-8 second Christine roll call please commissioner Lee hi commissioner Holland hi vice mayor Ashcraft hi commissioner as body hi mayor Hawkins
I uh Tom can we make sure that we you we kind of annotate uh the concerns about the water sure and address it at the proper time yes thank you Commissioners Now we move on to other business
Tom uh yes uh Nicole jenin is going to present on credit card fees I want to well thank her in advance for tonight's presentation but also thank her for hanging in last meeting uh and not getting the opportunity to present to us but uh thank you for coming back and
I'll turn it over to Nicole Mr Mayor and commission um City commission had expressed interest in discussing credit card fees to determine if the city should continue to pay for processing fees accured from customers paying utility bills using credit card
or debit card if the or if the city should begin passing the cost back to the customers so in front of you you will see a table um finding a recent analysis which shows breakdown of cost incurred by payment type accepted for just
Utility payments it would it would be in your report that you got on the computer do we have a presentation for this a PowerPoint not for this all right so are you able to pull it up by any chance by going to the city
website Lor's got it she's got a printed version to pull it up maybe we don't I know yeah we we do we do it was in our package yeah I know I looked yeah I did I just a different
one computer re intermission while Tom's getting that up I can give you just another quick update the paperless incentive that we went forward with um if a customer signs up for both ebilling and uh Auto withdraw
we are currently at 766 customers who have signed up for that so just a quick update and we are seven weeks in to the program and that's out of how many potential uh total customers are at it's about 10% just
under 10% but it saves it saves US money but we actually give how much was it $25 so $25 onetime credit so um considering how long most of our
residents uh reside we get our money back quickly great thank you so much Marissa okay so our payment types are the top graph um this is a one month
um view so about 28% is of our customers are paying by direct with withdrawal 47% with checks 5% with cash 4% with ivr 15% with online credit cards and 1% with
online e checks this sample was taken before we started our paperless incentive so our credit card processing monthly invoices are the second set we have to use FIS as the company
that we use it's part of Edmond which is our software for utility billing and the city as a whole they cannot break down utility versus other credit cards so this is a full amount that we are
build um and this sample is for fiscal year 2324 total 13,608 some of that was recouped because we do pass the fees along for building parks and wreck public um records request
the only fees that are waved are utility that is built into our utility fee that we charge customers cost of doing business so historically the city has never passed along the fees associated with processing credit card payments to
to our utility customers customers who pay invoices with credit cards and other City departments are charged a 3% processing fee we have re searched um processes of our other municipalities our sister cities regarding passing the credit card processing fee along to
customers the results are by location leberg charges their customers a $33.50 flat fee this is utility only um Mount Dora has no fee for their customer taries no fee and Claremont
2.5% so if you could provide Direction regarding continuing to absorb the credit card fees regarding utilities or if we should begin passing those directly to the customer that would be for credit card fees credit card paying only credit card only yes sir we're not charging for the
bank and any of that other stuff no we do not pass that along does that include debit credit or debit yes okay debit is less right we get charged way less for debit is that right I know when debit goes for
everything else else that it's less it doesn't matter it's either it's a fee it doesn't really matter they did not give me that information I apologize that's fine just curious um the um company that does the processing were they even able to tell
us how many transactions were for non-utility no not nothing their system just gives them a total amount to build to us I mean you know personally you know where I'm at is if if it's built into the r
then I mean I I don't see I don't see the reason to pass on another fee if it's built into the rate I would like to know how many are non utility accounts but if we can't get that we can't get it that's another reason we need to take a look at EV and try to get away from it
if we can because it's not giving us a lot of the information we need on a day-to-day business model so and the Consultants that just did our rate study they they had all this information about the um fees being into the into the into
the rate the water rate and and uh um as you recall they never finished the rate study because of all the issues with the Eastern that came up and the item on your consent agenda was to re-engage in that impact Fe or in that um utility
rate study and they will be looking into all the miscellaneous rates which doesn't include the credit card Fe there was a consultant that was here in front of us that had done a rate study and had had recommended a rate studi US to increase our water rates right they did not take
in account these fees that study really wasn't ever finalized and adopted we just went with the two and a half% that we had been doing because again it was all put on hold but I the answer to your question is yes they they they accounted
for this as an expense to the utility system and then built it into the rates so yes it was accounted for as part of our rate study okay thank you I would probably agree with Gary if it's already worked in there I wouldn't
want to hit somebody with another fee now if we don't have to okay I reserve the right to go back and look at it our people are hurting right now um I think let's leave it alone for now but then maybe in a year
or so let's take a look back at it because we're losing hundred hund something thousand dollars a year hopefully we'll save some when they start switching over to that absolutely if we can encourage more people to switch over to the automatic debit would
be a great thing um so but at this point I'm for leaving it alone when the rate study picks up again will we get more information from that okay I think that make a decision at that time we have more information
final presentation sorry um so so the company that does the fees they there's actually no way to break down if it comes from Park and wreck or
utility there there's got to be a way but no it all just comes through the city it it goes from FIS to Edmonds Edmonds just feeds FIS flat how many were done mhm and then they turn around
I mean there's there's a lot of um we talk to whoever does their their their coding and see if there's a way to code something I have tried and they're saying that the contract that they have with Edmonds does not allow doesn't allow and
again is commissioner Holland said it's a limitation of the the finance and Utility Billing System that we're using there's there's a lot of um yeah I know I've been begging I've been begging to have technology updated um for us for a
lot of things but um I guess what I could offer is uh maybe trying to put together some estimates internally like I don't know how many transactions there are in say parks and wreck where maybe we could at a staff level try to
estimate how much is how much are coming from other locations right to try to separate but it would be an estimate would get much easier soon with the different programs that are starting to be Iz that would be well and I and I bet
that company probably could do it in my opinion they probably charge us when we don't want to do that either but I I honestly think there's got to be a way to break it down because because my concern is just what's non utility I don't believe the question is whether the company can break it down it's
whether Edmonds can have it broken down for us and as Mike said I think that's another discussion that we need to have is well but it goes through the process company then the Edmunds so the processing company has to have a
way to track if it's non non-utility okay that's fine that's okay no that's fine laor you've been with us a little bit now what are your feelings about Edmund
um we're way behind let's um if if I could let me go ahead and ask Tom to get that on a future agenda item as soon as we possibly can about talking about getting out of that system we actually have Tracy looking into an RFP um for a
consultant to begin that process for us so that we'll be coming to you relatively soon we've been no offense M we've been we've been um we've been talking about this for a while I mean you know all of a sudden now you
know I mean we know it's not that it's not that good for us when when Lori came in we were hoping there were some add-ons that could be done to we did those too didn't we and the addons it's not it's not doing what it needs to do uh just as an example their commitment
to us was that they would have more of a Windows type look instead of the old Doss type look in January right now we they have no idea when they're even going to go that I me I mean I mean I know there's got to be something a lot better out there there's
a lot of something a lot better I mean we we shouldn't be using and if they're not willing to help us we shouldn't be using outdated technology I mean with everything that we're doing now we need we need streamline we need efficiency and we need to be able to get data like
that to break down exactly what our what I agree absolutely which is why we want to go ahead and and move forward on the process okay thank you okay thank you both thank you sorry you were put off on the last meeting
are aled so um moving on to the collection process sorry about that so commission has expressed interest in understanding the current utility lean process the city is bound to comply with utility Reserve Bond covenants which states that no one
shall be given free or discounted water a copy of the covenants is included in an effort to abide by these covenants and secure collection of revenues due to the city for past water consumption and fees associated with water consumption the Water customer service department
takes all necessary steps to collect on delinquent accounts in the past the city has filed leans on properties for unpaid utility bills however City staff was directed to stop violing leans excuse me until the city commission had a full
understanding of how the process works especially in relation to tenant versus owner accounts ordinance 994-2618 and this would be in your agenda packet um it is important to note that Florida statute FS
18035 States Utility service refusal or discontinuance of service for non-payment of service charges by a former occupant of rental utility prohibited unpaid service charges of former occupant not to be the basis for lean against rental property this is the
basis of that whole ordinance um recommended action we would like you to provide Direction regarding our lean process so um we did a PowerPoint of kind of cradle to grave of everything that we do when
collecting and I have never use this so please do with me probably got the point of point of there we go thank you um so the power of communications we firmly believe that working with our customers when they have Financial hardships is the way to go
we call our customers before their water is disconnected um we take the time to address issues when they are small to keep customers from being overwhelmed with several monthly bills at one time we do leave voicemails um if a customer has supplied us with an email
we also email them disconnection for non-payment terms and conditions that are listed on the utility application State any utility account which remains unpaid Beyond The Eighth Day after the due date on the bill shall be disconnected and shall be
subject to a $30 reconnection fee we attempt to reach customers via phone or email at least one time during the 8-day period after their payment is due date to establish communication and see if some type of resolution can be made disconnecting service if a payment
or a payment arrangement is not able to be um secured in 9 days after the due date services are eligible to be disconnected for non-payment we do not ever disconnect Water Services if um the Water customer service is not open the
next day we do cuts Monday through Thursday never the day before a holiday we um also discontinue all cuts the week of Thanksgiving and the week of Christmas or and the week between Christmas and New Year sorry once an account has then been paid
up to date water service is reconnected we reconnect by 5:00 the same day um customers do have um access to an emergency line they can call with their confirmation number if it's after 5:00
they are charged an $85 after hours fee but if they need to have the water turned back on that's an option to them with their confirmation [Music] number uh the reconnection fee is added to the bill it's not collected immediately before we turn on the water
they just have to pay it with their mon next monthly bill if the account remains delinquent during the week it was cut off for non-payment the meter remains locked off and the following process begins so this is where it's going to split out for our customers if it's a tenant or if it's a
property owner so the follow-up process begins a week after cut for non payment it's always conducted on Fridays and the process like lifestyle again is dependent on if they own or rent the first one shown is a tenant account we
verify um with the landlord the ownership and property appraiser to make sure if the tenant has been there a year or two the property might have sold we might be dealing with a new owner we verify then with the landlord that that tenant is still physically there in renting and we
verify that the tenant has not cut the lock off the meter that's our week one followup week two followup verify it's still locked complete the remove lock process if it is occupied we leave locked we call the landlord and advise
that the account will be flipped over back to the landlord's name because the tenant has not paid the water we send a letter to the landlord advising that the account has been changed back to them it is a code violation and a copy of the
meter availability ordinance is sent and we notify code enforcement that the dwelling is occupied without water if it's vacant we remove the lock we leave the meter turned off we notify the landlord sometimes they don't even know their tenant moved
out we create the final bill for the tenant we s again send the owner the letter and the copy of the availability ordinance and it goes back to the owner name if it's an owner account that has been shut off for non-payment we're still going to verify that ownership and
see if maybe the owner sold the home and we don't know about it we're going to verify the meter still locked that's our week one followup we are still trying to get a hold of the customer for payment during this of course uh week two we verify the meter still locked we complete the remove lock
process if the home is occupied we leave it locked we notify code enforcement that the dwelling is occupied without water utilities if it's vacant we remove the lock and we leave the meter turned on off so that's week two week three if
this is an owner account we have verified the account remains unpaid and there have been no promis is to pay or contact with the customer we verify ownership with the property appraiser again we send a remove meter letter to the customer which is the owner um via
certified mail that if they don't pay within 10 days we're removing the meter um if the account owes more than 200 $200 um and the current owner still owns the property the account would be added to resolution to go to commission for
approval to put a lean on the property once approved by commission we send a 10-day demand letter letting them know again you have 10 days and we're going to lean your property after 10 days if there's still no payment or promise on the account we go through with the
lean so our goal ultimately is to protect the city's Revenue while assisting our residents who are in financial hardship and can't pay their utility bills residents are actually thankful for our reminder call calls our courtesy calls we have gotten
very good feedback a lot of people just forget they thought they paid it online they didn't um staff is authorized to offer payment plans to assist all customers if we're splitting um a pass du payment out Beyond six months they come to me meter
removal and leans are a last resort it costs us money it's not good report building if you will but again we have to comply with our Von covenants and we have to collect money any
questions thank you okay I think it's a fair process yeah I I agree I had a question um and I had a scenario and we we talked about it and she was great to talk to my concern is along the process
uh in a rental I I I don't see any issue with the ownership when somebody owns the land but to be transparent I have some rental properties so if a tenant isn't paying their water bill and
in the property and eventually gets shut off and then transferred into the landlord's name um and it goes back to the old bill I wouldn't
want the tenant to um have their bill passed on to the landowner so can you talk a little bit about that I remember we had that conversation and I and I didn't like that part because it you went retro back
beyond the time I me about it so um every property has an account number every owner or tenant have a has a sub account number okay so um if you have a rental property and and you've had 16
tenants in there your account is probably -1 if you've owned it for a long time and then you're going to have 2 through 17 is are tenant accounts if tenant [Music] number-17 decides to not pay their bill we go through our 3-week process we've
called you and said so and so tenant house appears occupied has not paid their bill at that time we stop the tenant account and we revert it back to you tenant account still owes us money
if Mr Smith your tenant that went bad applies for credit with us or applies for a water account in six months or a year at a different location they have to give us their social at that point we would collect the money they owed from your property sir at the new before we
gave them a new account but as for your account as the owner you're notified by mail and phone call that we are starting we are flipping it back to your name as if the tenant moved out same process in between tenants does
that come with the tenant's Bill also um we don't send a copy of the bill because the money is not the the the the the amount owed by the tenant stays with the tenant I think is is a simple way of saying it if a tenant owes money to us
it stays with the tenant and it follows them if they try to open an account at a different location it follows them but because we can't have a building without water service we do eventually change it
to the property owner's account and then the property owner starts ACR fees and charges from that point but the property owner is not responsible for the tenant's debt correct what is that point I guess is really what our conversation
was is it the point when the water shut off so there's also a connection fee availability fee right so does that go retroactive to when they stop paying or does that go from the date from the date it's transferred back to your name and if the tenant is still
in there the landlord will be paying for the connection fee while a tenant is still in there for the availability fee yeah availability fee yes but it would also give you additional ammunition per se that you
have a tenant who has now broken their lease most leases State you are responsible for water electric gas that is at that point you're solid proof if they're behind with you as well then it's two strikes on the lease and I and I agree that's that's good the or we can
keep it locked the issue becomes that then the property owner has to go through the course to sue to get back he's connection fee while you become whole as a city and the Tenant the rent person gets the free use of that so the
question really becomes who's going to go chase the tenant either the you put it on the property owner to go chase the tenant for your connectability while they're still living there or should the city be chasing for that is I'm thinking the city should be chasing and George I
I um as someone that has rental properties as well I I totally agree with you on that so the way what and my question is when you contact the owner would the owner be allowed to say I
don't want I don't want the account in my name right now no the or the way the ordinance is currently written is that any landlord within the city is responsible and if the tenant is not paying after the 3-week process they are
responsible for the availability or you can remove the meter we do leave it locked when we flip unless the landlord has said I'm working with this tenant please unlock it but but and and I understand but if you remove the meter
which is probably the last thing we should do but to have the meter put back in it's then going to come back on the owner correct yes it would I I don't like that I don't like that it's something dollars what's a re meter reconnect fee roughly I mean it's they
have no account the tenants have no 25 to reinstall a meter uh meter reconnect after disconnect is 30 in City the tenants would have no accountability and then it would all be on the landlord and who's to say the tenant really left I
mean um I mean I can keep up with my properties But Me Maybe George can and maybe the tenant left but then they come back and now they're getting free water on that was our responsib the water's turned off turned off by now it's it's got a padlock on it at that point but the
connectivity been there for 30 days the availability fees is something that the city Commission asked eons ago that they decided to switch every single location has to have an availability if they're if they have a meter in the ground and
if they cut the and if they cut the lock which I've seen happen then you're paying the their water bill so they can cut the lock and you go through the Civil process to a victim and then you're going to pay their water bill so that's why it's a tough decision
if you notify us if if anybody cuts a water lock that's meter tampering we have a different style lock that we can put on there it's not quite as easy to cut I'm not going to say it doesn't happen homeowners do it renters do it it
does unfortunately happen sometimes but again in order to comply with our bond covenants we have to turn off water make every effort to collect funds and that includes lean Le at what point did you
remove the meter we remove the meter when it has reached the point of Leaning the property because that stops the charges but if the if it's been transferred to the owner's name you will not remove it oh I'm sorry I misunderstood your
question we would never remove a meter for a tenant account that is only for an owner account that makes sense either through collection or if an owner requested in writing to us to remove it we would never do that on an tenant
account thank you sorry out you no it's okay okay any else thank you so what what we have an Ask as part of this um because I so a while ago I think I gave you bad
information um a while ago I said that we did hold a landlord responsible for a tenants debt and I was wrong uh we do not do that but at that time the commission said no no more leans until we get this all sorted out and so the
ask is are we are you okay with us starting the lean process again because we put that on hold while we sorted all of this out um and we were bringing them to you I believe monthly uh and we
haven't in probably about eight months so uh are you okay with us starting that process again I mean I'm I'm okay with it yeah I mean and and I think we've actually brought a lot of good things here the late if if a meter is not
removed for a tenant account that was that was definitely my concern and um but no I think we should go back to doing it yeah I agree I think I think I understand that the the basis is that
the property owner doesn't suffer for somebody else's pick up somebody else's Tab and we should yeah and then the other crucial thing would be in the process of informing the property owner if the tenant is still there then we might the the the property owner might
get stuck with the city's Bill instead of the city going out and fending to collect its own money that's that's the part I didn't wasn't crazy about so um I think you know if we if we offer water and we offer a service and people don't pay it we should chase them ourselves
instead of making the property owner have to do it but uh I'm in agreement with it I have properties in taries and that's what happens if a tenant moves it automatically comes into back into my name each time and when I did have one
who skipped out they um did not charge me for his bills it just transferred to my name and that was it so I'm in agreement with it um you say that they are good locks and they're not so good locks why I start with the good locks
well because they're very expensive um we have padlocks which generally is fine um we have some older meter types you can't use a padlock uh through the rabbit ears they're called um so we have what's called a stab lock stab loocks uh
are next impossible to cut if we have a customer who cuts a regular padlock we attempt to use a stab block if we can just because it it then secures the city's Revenue and and possible sto do they have do they get into legal trouble
if they should cut the lock yes ma'am okay it's stealing water okay so the direction that that we want to give staff is to go back continue go back yes sir right yes
sir George is still think think I'm trying to understand it I don't want to uh so we're not leaning um landlords because there's two different we're not leaning landlords for bills that uh renters incur that is
correct I think that was it though my main concern which you that's what concern you fixed it at that meeting uh about a year ago and then the connectivity charge could go back a portion of it on the landlord I don't think it's a big enough number to worry about but it could go back onto the
landlord we stuck with it and especially if they stay there to take water from the neighbor those are probably small events but it could fall on them thank you okay thank thank you very much thank you here we go Tom is this
you backyard chickens yes so uh this uh is on the agenda um as part of a request from uh commissioner ASB body and so we we have put in front of you uh some best practices I think Sasha has done some
research but uh I would defer to commissioner ASB body on how he wants to proceed I had I had mentioned there's a lot of people talking about chickens who's on the news and everything because of the EG costs so my thought was to try
to find some happy medium and uh some good controlled scenario to allow uh residents under certain circumstances to have a limited amount of chickens on their property um that would not be a
nuisance to any adjacent properties no roosters uh a controlled amount number maybe a threshold up to one acre uh and then maybe a little bit more above that whatever we decide whatever you guys uh think a good point is to put it the $800
fee that was uh on there for uh for the uh hearing and all that I I would suggest that we try to streamline that if they're going toay $800 they could buy a lot of eggs with the 800 bucks so there's no sense in doing that um so we could look at it um I was talking to
Mike Lane we could look at it like the fence they can sign an affidavit that they're going to do X Y and Z and maybe we charge them in administrative feed do we charge anything for fences no and do something along that way but um maybe
put some put some ordinance or some ordinance language and bring it back to the five of us to look at and see if we can with it if I may Mr Mayor I do H I did do some research and I looked at um the best practices that you have before you just to give you some additional
perspective and and just uh understanding of what other municipalities have been doing generally when it comes to the number of chickens um in residential areas the most municipalities are looking at a Max of four and of course it's limited to hands
no roosters or other foul um and that's defined there's also a limit uh practice of limiting permits so it's more of a program like a a backyard chicken program so uh for instance U City of wi
Garten has a program but they limit their permits uh to 25 a year and they charge a fee of $50 for process processing and that's they look at it more of an accessory use um so that of
course uh has its own requirements and one of the requirements that they have for an application to be submitted is completion of a course with uh the University of Florida the extension um it's an online course I looked it up
today and it's actually $5 the course kind of talks to you through how to handle chickens in your backyard and IT issues you a certificate at the end so you have a full understanding of what's of kind of like what that looks like did you say it ctif you get certified did
you say it gives you a chicken at the end no not a chicken a certificate okay I I did I say chicken completion comes with a chicken not for $5 not for $5 um but it's a basic course and it's it's offered some counties uh that have a backyard chicken
program actually have not only required they have like their own course on there that's more tailored to uh their municipal it and they have to complete that particular course and it's all meant to ensure that the chickens are
kept um adequately that there's adequate spacing uh for for the chickens that it's um meeting the setback requirements the materials that are being used for the coups are friendly to them they also protect them from predators um it has a maintenance requirements it talks about
disposal of of a chicken that might have passed due to an attack or or other reasons how that needs to be taken care of of um and also covers if there's something like the Aven flu uh which we've had these kinds of emergencies it tells you uh what you would need to do
to handle that to protect your um your uh chickens or if they become ill how you need to take care of disposing of them uh so it's uh it's pretty instructive and some municipalities like I said they require it in order for you to apply the other component of course is
the placement design of of the Chicken cops which would have to be specific we're also looking at avoiding nuisance issues meaning not only odor but also um if the chickens they're not supposed to be roaming so they can't really trespass onto your neighbor's land so these
things have to kind of you have to look at all of that it has to be kept um generally in the CPE after you've had the human interaction and um some of these coups would require building permits depending on what they bring on site and uh let's see
the permits themselves if issued U they are not transferable they're to that person only and that's done because they want to hold that person responsible and if you're not the property owner and you're a tenant at the property they require an affidavit from the owner um
authorizing this use or joined her in the application and that's important because this would be non-compliance uh with whatever is included in the ordinance would be a code enforcement violation so if there is a lean on the property the property owner would need
to understand the risk and be okay with that because that's where the lean would be so um that's when you're not you know if you're if you're renting the property and also we have to have guidelines on no Slaughter of of the chickens and and
all of that and they would be subject to um basically inspections to make sure that not only are they meeting the requirements set out in the ordinance but that they're not using the produce the eggs you know for for sale because that's this is for
personal use um the other component is um we would want to make sure that it's understood and it will be part of the ordinance if if uh that's how commission chooses to go that um this does not supersede or violate any applicable deed restrictions because
some commun communities have their own rules so it it's on the applicant we we're not going to police that we're not going to add that extra responsibility to staff so if they submit an application and they got approved and repercussions the city is not responsible for that um because we're
not going to be independently monitoring all of that it's it's on the applicant and let's see um no slaughtering talked about the Aven flu so yeah it's essentially um there would be some more specific requirements all
to be included in in the ordinance and again considering whether you want to do more of the program or its limitations uh Community involvement is a good thing as well depending on where these are going to be permitted if so U you know to have the neighbors
input um sorry are you looking at this no oh sorry um well this is actually provided by Mike and developmental Services it actually has under Florida Orlando and Tampa allows how we maybe take a look and see
what those are big towns maybe see what they I know what Orlando I I looked at Orlando uh seminal County Winter Garden and um both Winter Garden and Orlando have a program so uh they do
require the educational course they um I I believe Orlando does in charge for their um their fee again they they deem it more of an accessory use uh but I mean do they allow it an all zoning I'm there's no way they can I mean no uh
they they have specific zonings that are for um residential but again so win Garden only allows 25 permits meaning only 25 out of all the residents can get it for that year if somebody surrenders um a permit they can issue a permit
because one becomes available um so that's an option the can we do more research on yeah I was going to say I was just read my mind um mayor I think I mean I think it's a great conversation to have I think we need a lot more lot more detail yeah um yeah I like the I
like the program idea i' just like to know how they administer it uh you know who checks uh how do we know when someone surrenders Sasha volunteered to check them out well yeah it would be um code enforcement
because it all of them really have it under code enforcement because they're the ones would be giving receiving the right to go and check um that it's being complied with and let's see I have so I have wintergarten right here Orlando has 10
right 10 hens yeah I'm um Orlando T many big acreage but orando Sasha do we have uh things in place for all of the things you talked about dealing with the death dealing with all these guidelines do we have
those for dogs right now so someone has a dog in their backyard and a dog house do we have requirements for that if someone I'm not sure exactly what that would cover but they can call animal control and or they'll come pick them up if if the if the dog is Big normally
it's only in situations guidelines I don't mean for these past is there guidelines like all these things you said was way more than I think I want to bother everybody with but oh but these are important yeah well they they they're important we can't leave dead chickens out there you know we don't want dead dogs and cats and that happens you know
as a result so it's the same it's the same exposure we can look at the we got a lot more dogs and cats in the city no I don't want to open a subject on what to do with dogs and cats I'm not saying that but we have animal control for that as well so it's just it's
um now I will I do have the code for um Orlando and they I was I was thinking just to find out what everybody thought on that and then maybe we go back make some ordinance and get these questions cleared up find out
what even adjacent jurisdictions to us are doing and try to find a happy medium I mean we're a community of farmers we're agricultural based in our heritage and the you know the the high school and all of those participate I think U I like the educational aspect to it too so
I think just the finding the happy medium up in there so for Orlando it says uh up to four chickens uh single family residents of course if you're Agricultural and you already are zoned for more you don't this is not for that
particular purpose need a lot more info yeah let let's let's get more info how do what yeah it'd be great to win a garden you know because they're about our size cl to it so it'd be great to see what what they're doing
we can we can do some research uh Mike and I and Sasha will work together and bring you more information yeah I I agree I think it's a conversation that that that we need to have since I brought this forward maybe I should be involved in
helping yeah sounds good to me okay is there a consensus to have then um commissioner ASB body be kind of like the point person on this item that means you can't discuss it with anyone else except us absolutely okay yep everyone okay
with that right that's Emily you're good with George being the point person on this chicken George yes okay all right okay Tom I feel like we're wasting a lot of time
talking about I mean going back to that again and it's just over and over and over again I'm done with it okay all right Tom is it yes
Workshop yes so there was a discussion at the last meeting about uh having a potential Workshop um so staff is looking for direction on um having potential Workshop what are the topics
at the potential Workshop uh and then uh we had thrown out I had thrown out uh some dates and it looks like uh Monday uh March 31st uh I know it's not um convenient
for some Commissioners uh but that was the date that everyone could attend although it wasn't ideal for some uh and so at this point I'm looking for some Direction as to do we want to have a workshop if so uh what are the topics
for the workshop and then uh I think Monday March 31st is the date depending on the topic if it's uh if we need to do uh more work more research uh pull together more information then Monday March 31st might not be uh the date we
may need more time to pull it all together and so we're uh staff is seeking direction from the commission okay uh Mike uh your thoughts on a workshop and topics um I'm good with March 31st my thing is
let's let's just talk about where we go from what we have let's we we have a plan in place we have our Development Group in place where do we go from here and what road map do we take to get this this
project started okay all right okay that's me Emily I want to delve into the U master plan and see what we want out of it and what and where do we go where do we
start how do we finish um what timeline um you know are there areas of it that we're not even wanting to consider are there things that are left out but we need to go through it and that has been my um desire from the beginning that we
go through this master plan and um and work with it and then we need to work with um gunthers and Derek on and and see how they fit in and all of this um I have I have concerns I want aib included and we have many opportunities for that
too so that's where I am my concern is that if we schedule it for 5 o'clock what do we going to do stay up till midnight so I don't know why we can't do it earlier or do it maybe started with the morning a breakfast or something oh that's because of me because of my work schedule
sorry so we'll be I I mean I don't want us to get into this and do two hours you know we need time we need to really spend time on this and try to get as deep into it as we can what about a Sunday make people on
not a Sunday a Saturday would work yeah Saturday well I mean are you off on Saturday are you a to okay Saturday why don't we look at a Saturday we've done Saturdays yeah I'm open I I'll make it work unless yeah the only thing is the legislative thing but
that's going to happen here and now so yeah Saturday's fine we did the last one on Saturday too didn't we um it's January 20th so uh we we're we are um the 22nd isn't realistic no uh
the 29th is the date of The Amazing Race I mean we could have a workshop that date but um there's a bit of a conflict and so uh I don't April 1st is probably the first realistic Saturday April I'm sorry April 5th sorry April 5th I could
do April 5th good I don't think it's the first weekend of the fair not that matters I'm good with that April 5th April 5th um and with special needs prom but
that's in the evening so as long as we start early that' be good um I think we should get more detail on that and who who we want to have present um from the the team let's come up with a couple of
dates just in case so the 5th does anyone else have a the following weekend find the next weekend can't do the next week pass over the 12th the fifth the fifth and
the 12th no the 12th is Passover the 19th I can do the 19th well we'll make the fifth one start the 12 I I have a couple of things that to the fth what time Mr
Mayor uh I'd like to get started early 9 o' 9 o' yes okay that gives us time good talk about the agenda can we talk about that I think Sasha wants some feedback and and Tom does too yeah so we can have staff get clear
Direction and then we know who else we want to involve and firstly I would you like me to attend the workshop please thank you okay are you available that day I am available I was hoping we would get more Saturday dates because I also need a workshop on a Saturday for something
else oh okay great okay um did we go over what we wanted to talk about what you want to I'm I I kind of want to Echo mik I if we're going to talk about implementation and what all that entails
and you know how do we try to progress from what we have right now to getting things done um I mean I want to be open-minded but I don't want to um I don't want to redo the master
plan and and I I agree I think we should at least go into it look at at where we go from here uh not to relitigate renegotiate re anything let's just come up with a plan and move
forward you know there'll be some fine tuning but that's where I am so Tom you good you have everything that you need to put it
together I think I think what we're looking for is maybe an overview of the master plan sure kind of go through it um and then a road map of where that Master Plan t t us I paused because I don't
think we've heard from commissioner ASB I thought we did we did just about the dates okay oh okay all right then I'm sorry so I I I pretty much agree with
um with the look um I made a couple not if if I could share them very briefly but the workshop that U I would like to see and it sounds like um IT addresses a couple of
things commissioner Lee put in there is that the master plan uh obviously is essential uh to ensuring the proactive and strategic approach to our future development but the workshop is not just about the three lots it's about the
master plan the entire wide scope of that I think Mr Gman said at the workshop when he you spoke for us that the master plan is a good plan and I'm quoting and but it's too generic and needs some more detail
and I'm in agreement with him about that and I think that's something we should talk about at the workshop um I think uh there are key issues that we need to talk about and see that we're all in agreement about uh with the master plan
we have to address critical questions such as does acquiring land or building within the uh Central business district or anything uh does acquiring any land fit into our master plan there's one property up for sale now um is that
something we should consider if we do pick up some other land should we it you know we don't want to move forward and then have to come back and knock a building down because we picked up another one I know The Crazy Gator up for sale how does that fall into this there's a couple other key identifying
buildings so we' want to talk about that I would like us to talk about that and the city explore um a vision of 10 20 years down the line so reviewing the entire master plan like Emily said is is definitely what I would like to um we can add critical details to enhance our
community such as establishing clear guidelines similar to our uh to other cities on key infrastructure things as well should be in the master plan it goes Way Beyond the three lots the utility vendors defining uh things like the trees that were slaughtered I call
recently um and maintaining athetics and safety um this plan is just a global plan that I think the five of us need to talk about what we want and and uh have it Incorporated in and get Mr gan's input on it so that he
can uh U help oversee where we're going with that IR a and lighting uh just things all along that way that uh kind of come in a little closer to it so really what Emily saying I like is to go through the whole master plan it's we
don't want to get hung up on any one thing I agree with with U I agree with uh Gary on that we're moving forward and we need to now get our inputs what do you guys want to see do you want to pursue another is there
things like that what do we want in our uh building standards which we really need to have in place before they start designing because we don't want them to design and then come back to it um what other properties I'm kind of repeating myself now so I'll go past that so without clearly stating the details
and having them in writing and in our plan the city risks losing control of its future and being forced to react outside uh due to outside influences rather than shaping its own path um and the workshop provides that opportunity to establish a welldefined action
road map which it says in our master plan that will guide uh us into development um and all that we need to do first and then we can turn it over to if it's Mr Goldman who's going to you know help us with that and address any questions we have and get the big
picture because it's a lot more we kind of got stuck on the three lots it's really way above that the other things that we got to talk about to put our town where we don't maybe have power poles and trees getting slaughtered uh where some other municipalities have
regulations that don't allow that in their certain districts I don't I don't think you're saying anything that the rest of us don't want uh I think it's just a matter of us you know like we're doing sitting down and just going over everything I agree with you so so we
really I think you know if we're talking about something that's going to last a hundred years at least the structures we we got to have to put in some hours of talking about it coming up with a plan getting Mr G's input on what it is the staff's input on what's possible and not
this a big thing this our biggest job I don't think any other commission has ever been faced with this much weight on her shoulder and we we need to do a lot more talking uh and planning and uh hopefully Mr Gman brings a lot of help
to us on that sounds good yeah so basically we creating a vision yeah we want to create a vision the uh the America bloom where how is that going to take a role in here you know I would have liked to see Irrigation in your in your Bump outs for you and stuff like
that just all of that okay we got a big big weight on our shoulders and we need to talk about it and have positive well I plan it should be as we entered this just to be productive so and and I'd like Mr Gan to be here if he
can oh yes without a doubt to answer our questions I think this is a master plan view not so much needing anybody else that they're welcome to attend but I think we're going to rely on him for some guidance through this process but it's ultimately the five of us I think
who have to give the vision the um the only other thing uh I'd like to ask um um do we it's a public meeting um but do we want representation from G3 C2 I know it's been mentioned that the master plan is
bigger it's about down town but it does include the three blocks and um are we interested in having G3 C2 be part of that Workshop I don't think we need them now we need to figure out how we want our home and then we need to ask them to help us get it done I think they need to
be included from the from the foundation on up I agree it won't hurt I guess it won't hurt so uh are is there availability from G3 C2 that date I okay thank you all right I think that's what I
needed okay thank you all right thank you all right okay now we're moving down to Future agenda items and comments Mike no future agenda items just uh W everybody in this city all of our residents to watch the state legislature
very very closely there is a lot of things that are uh being talked about in Tallahassee that take away from home rule that takes away from our ability to function as a local government and not only cities but counties as well they
also have their fingers uh into Land Development and some of the things um if you think that we've passed some crazy stuff lately because of the way our stuff is written you ought to see what they've got in store for you um so if
any of those bills passed it leads to massive development in some areas um so keep an eye on that if you need help understanding one of those bills please give us a call we'll gladly help you walk it through it um if you want some
good reading go to the Florida Liga cities website um it puts it in very plain English what the state legislature is talking about in a lot of areas um so I would encourage you to take a look at that some of us will be traveling to Tallahassee to talk to our local
delegation and other Representatives over the next week and um I think that'll be good for us question is there any what can they do I was going to say is there cheap she yeah and they can find out and they need to make contact
along what we're doing make phone calls to the AIDS a lot of times it's better to talk to an aid in Tallahassee than it is talk to an elected official you'll get a lot more taken care of write letters to your uh Representatives let them know that you don't think that bill
is good for your area um you know unfortunately and I've said this for a long time something will go wrong in one part of the State of Florida and then they try to paint us all with one big broad brush um and that does not work and it does not work for our smaller
cities unfortunately um it hurts us um so please take a look at the league of cities reach out to us we'll help you walk through some of it especially once we get back uh toward the middle to the end of next week we can walk you through
some things uh and help you understand a little bit better with what's going on up there um so I've been in contact with a lot of our folks I've been in contact with the Florida Le of cities they're fighting a good fight but sometimes when that door is open they March right
through it so um you think it's a good idea when you come back to maybe address the US and the Comm commun address the community and us as to what you got and then give us some opinion and then direction as to who we can reach out to and then the public can write their
George I think it would be a great idea and I think it's something also we can tag back to our website um with some information um things that are really detrimental to our community and our ability as a commission to make decisions so maybe we can put Mr Holland
on the commissioner Holland on the agenda when he comes back if you feel just to hit them and give us something maybe in the water bills um is there information if we have enough time that that's going to be awfully thick I think what we're going to have to do is just drive people to the website yeah I mean I mean
encouraging people and telling them to go to the website I will tell you Cindy Newton has been a big help to us with getting information out there to different groups and organizations I'm a realist we're going to grow but we've got to do it responsibly and Willie we we've talked a
long time we've got to put our foot on the break a little bit because we can't sustain some of the growth that we have going on um you know um you know and a lot we get attacked a a lot and unfortunat it's the way things are written not only here in eustus but in
the county and St that allows development just to kind of take over a little bit so um George mentioned something also and then I will shut my mouth Crazy Gator building is for sale we would be remissed as a city
if we do not get to the table and talk about purchasing that property we own everything on both sides of that they don't even own their parking lots um that would give us complete control from north of the community center all the
way to Sharps Park um I know we don't like spending money this is a bad time of year to spend money it's a bad time anytime to spend money and I don't ever want us to be the largest land owner in our community but we will be making a grave mistake if somebody else buys that
property so I just and I would close with that so thank you Sasha a question on that Sasha how do you deal as a municipality I'm new to this but how do we deal when with mik suggestion we want to talk about that how do we deal with
talking about it in public as to what we want to do or what we might want to offer and it the other side seeing that is there such a thing as and I'm making this up is there such a thing as a shade meeting to negotiate something like that I mean how do we
communicate how how do we know what we want to so if I could jump in um frankly I mean frankly Florida system is dysfunctional when it comes to negotiating property deals for government agencies I coming from Illinois uh that
was one of the things you could go into a closed session or shade meeting about was property negotiations uh it doesn't help the city of Eustace when the commission says offer X but we'll go as high as Y and it's in a public meeting um that it
makes it difficult to negotiate land deals and so I'm sorry I I you're right Illinois is dysfunctional in many ways but they do have a better process for negotiating land deals you've got a state where the you've got wings of Prisons named after your Governors there
is a problem so yeah so uh I Sasha there is no provision for in Florida law for us to go into shade or close session no um what I would suggest is if the interest is to purchase a property to have um Tom or kind of put together a
negotiation team they can do uh an appraisal and see what funds are available and come back to commission with a a request for to present an offer of x amount based on that information and once they have the approval and they can make the offer so
you're saying we come back and in a public meeting we agree on what we're going to offer them and then offer it to them you would authorize well he would need uh permission from authorization from commission to make an offer to use funds
from the city to purchase property but he can he can have ADD so basically what can happen is get an appraisal see what funds are available and make that kind of like that deal as far as negotiations but come back with a re if it's a
reasonable offer so we have already made uh preliminary contact with them uh I guess my question would be if if the commission is interested in an appraisal um I we can go out and get an appraisal um and I think that would help
negotiations in in this case uh what I think makes this an interesting project is there's land value and then there's business value uh I think the land value is important to us but I'm not sure if the business is has value to us uh but
the owner is looking for Value in his business um and so we're we're happy to continue discussions I think we prob if we are really interested we probably need to get an appraisal uh and then that appraisal can help help us uh kind
of determine what's realistic on our end um I don't know I don't know if the appraisal will maybe I'm saying too much I don't know if the appraisal will come back at the asking price um I think this is Believe It or Not
what what Mr Gman is specializes in and M Mr Gman on at our request did reach out to them yeah he's the perfect guy for that one and that that appraisal will do business and land value separate correct is that normally they do with
those kind of I would assum I would assume we can get an appraisal that would break those out for us okay thank you now that we've discussed it we definitely start need to start moving on it or doing something I would I I would be okay with going ahead with the with
the appraisal and let's get something going okay I agree I would like to see us giving Tom permission to go out explore it and potentially even
negotiate hopefully with the uh I don't know how Mr Gman and fees involved with him put something together secure it and then bring it to us for approval so a contract subject to approval by the commission so we we we probably need to get give him approval to do the
appraisal first if he so deter needs that we we brought that up now an appraisal of the property is not all that expensive to dwell into an appraisal of the operating business is quite extensive and costly so and and you bring up a good point we don't want
to be in the restaurant business do we yeah but they're going to make the argument of you're taking our business away right they make that and then they're saying we want to be paid for that I'm not sure that there is any value into that business I'm sorry uh but so I think that business has been
there no offense that business has been there for a while they they they do good I mean I know but they I mean they've been there for quite a while as a Crazy Gator so yeah no I know it's been a landmark yeah I know I know but I think they go Mr Gan they go based on cash flow right assessing cashow in net
operating incomes so yeah if there's net then you're right there is okay so we'll we'll start the process but going back to one thing uh you asked Sasha I don't think I have the authority to put something under contract without subject
to I don't no I don't he would have to have the express Authority from commission given but he can go out and you know and do exactly the preliminary work get on the appraisal work with Mr Gan and get a sense of what a a
reasonable offer would be which would be based on the appraisal because again it's it's in the it has to be based on information that makes sense for the city and then also there other there other factors I mean I understand there's a business there but if you know whether it's going to be a cash offer
versus financing all these things play a role in that so whatever gets decided um has to be approved first before that can that can go out because Tom we we we we don't want to put him in
a position where he may um uh bind the city and that's not an agreement that we want um before you but my request was clarify can he negotiate a contract that says which we know they be subject to approval of the city commission and he
has no no exposure and we can just say no and it's over so it's non-binding per se right well as a seller he would have to have the authority there we don't know what the max number is on that contract because that would have to be expressed which means you would be stating in a public meeting what your
top number is um and then also they may not accept that contingency they may not which means that there's no no way to negotiate after that if we give Tom the authority to get the highest the best offer he can get and bring it to us for approval yes
or no and then we move on can we give him that Authority without the appraisal no if he needs an appraisal do appraisal whatever he needs I want him to do that lock it up and then come back and then we can say yes or no um if if you're
able to get a good we can have a meeting um scheduled as a special meeting for that particular purpose I think Tom would need um the backing ahead of time but if he he has a number that they're working on I'm sure they'll understand how how governments work we can set a
special meeting so we don't have to wait till another commission meeting just to get um that contract discussion and make sure that we can make that offer so we bind the city adequately we'll get working on it we'll take it as far as we can and then we'll bring it back to you now
um Gary would would you like to be only the the point man on this yeah I mean I wouldn't mind volunteering M I have relationships you know with with with Dave Luke um I think he'd be more receptive you know talking talking to me
so if it's so if it's okay with the commission I would what do you all think I'm fine what do you think Emily I'm not gonna do it so yeah okay we're still able though to talk to Tom about it and share our independent absolutely just with Tom
yeah time yeah okay okay Tom pressures on you sorry about that Mr Ash sorry oh yeah all right uh Emily comments no um I got to
so I got a lot of calls about the last meeting and I just want to say I hope and pray that we as a commission will work together in a positive manner and we have so much to do do and so much that we can accomplish and um I know
that and I believe that we will accomplish it and get it done and I encourage you all to that we will be a good team and work together okay uh I'm good I'm good um he's done
I'm done are you sure okay Tom uh yes um so you have uh what we call a leave behind in front of you uh that is part of our Tallahassee trip so
we've been working with representative Cobb's office and Senator trun now's office on our Appropriations requests so uh thank you to uh Jamie and to Al and to Rick uh for putting together the leave behind I think it's it's it's
exact what we need which is a well-designed piece that kind of hits you across the face but it doesn't give you too much information where it's just too much to digest uh so we'll be bringing that with us up to Tallahassee our two Appropriations requests that
we've submitted our uh continuation of the coolage project which we're calling Rosen Walt Gardens to distinguish it from the uh previous phase uh and then the uh Northshore Culvert uh Bridge replacement
which um the uh rosenell Gardens project is for construction but Northshore is for engineering uh to re-engineer the um the bridge over the Culvert and so uh again we'll that will be a big part of what we're doing up in Tallahassee and
then um commissioner Holland mentioned uh legislation that'll be the second half of what we're working on a legislation on C that's really going to limit what C can do moving forward uh basically legislation saying that um
they have to Sunset you can't do any projects you can't do any borrowing you can't do any bonding uh that would seriously hamper us moving forward um so legislation on um uh sovereign immunity which could affect us financially uh
legislation on development and so uh those are things that those are things that we will be working on up in Tallahassee um one thing I'd like to ask uh so you know that uh Miranda burrow is out of the office uh I will be up in
Tallahassee and so uh I am not sure if we will need an acting city manager uh in uh to fill the position uh while I'm up in Tallahassee I know several of you will be up in Tallahassee uh but if you feel we do need an acting city manager
I'd like to ask that uh Chief Swanson serve as acting City Manager for a few days in my abs um and I do I believe I do need you to um uh accept or or give me uh the
go-ahead on that I'm I'm favorable to that I might just stay here to watch this I'm in favor may may um I have something else to say I was only kidding he may have had something to say I was only T in George if you got something to say you say it no ma'am thank you okay
then the second thing is is I want to um bring to the attention of everybody the big butterflies that you see around the city and um you walk up to take photos and people are getting very involved and I want to thank Rick and his crew and
Lee lit Thomas Nash Alex Brown Jamie and um Marissa for all the work that they've done and and neis Foreman in getting these butterflies out and we're getting good response from them
and there'll be more of them around the city so um right now they're at Clifford house and near the parking garage we've got one at the dog park and Ann took her little doggy there it's a cutest picture with a dog with wings and uh so I encourage everyone to just uh appreciate
them pass the word on take pictures with them and U share with us so thank you all for all the work that You' have done and um and I encourage everybody to get involved with them thank you are you good with Swanson being interim Tom's gone she said she wanted Capri but I
think we need to stick with well he'll be over the watching over the butterflies okay so I appreciate that okay Capri is watching the butterflies no swans so that's a yes for you yes okay Swanson George yes sir
okay Absolut Tom uh couple of other quick items uh reworld tour uh I know not all Commissioners are going but for those who are interested we've advertised it as a public meeting we're meeting here at City Hall at 9:30 we will drive over together uh I believe
there's a tour and then I think there is lunch involved and then we're planning to be back here hopefully by about 1:00 1:30 uh is the plan um and then um workshops uh so uh first uh I know it's
hard to believe but we are entering budget season already Y and as part of the schedule we need two schedule budget workshops and so so initially what um the finance department has thrown out is a
um um five consecutive workshops uh the week of July 7th so they've proposed that we meet July 7th 8th 9th 10th and 11th nope nope okay um let's look
let's look at the calendar so let let me let me ask this does the commission want to do like an intensive week of four or five workshops or do you want to break it up over a couple of weeks I like doing it all it'd be good to get it
knocked out okay what does everyone else think so um Lori is there any reason why we couldn't look oh wait you're gone July 6 no that's June 16 she's actually gone where is she is Lori out there she's
gone try to Blake oh okay gotcha so I was looking at June I'm sorry um so uh what about the week of July 14th uh Mike you say you're out I'm back you're back I'm back from DC okay so the
14th through the 18th and it looks like Chief Swanson's out the beginning of that week but you'll be back by the end of the week next week the week after that would be the week of the 21st I'm not showing any absences right now the week of the 21st
there might be that that will work better for me how about mid August August 15th on too late too late too late too late to to late what's the deadline or what do we have to be we have have it back what September you have to approve the budget
in September yeah we have to have the budget relatively finalized so that we can do millage and then final approvals at the end of August beginning of September we'll start getting number from the property appraisers office 1st of July we do it before about the
28th that's good for me and and we just do that that week yes what week willly the 28th of July is that good Lori do you think that gives us enough time okay
okay how about early July because I'm out of town that time too how about any time in in I can't until after the 21st of July yes after the 21st of July yes so that kills till 21st of July and then from there I can't till August 9th
about is the week we may have to function without is the week of June 23rd too too soon who June the week of June 23rd is that too soon good with that uh I'm good with that I think
I'm I was going to say or based on everyone's schedule we might have to dooup like couple one week and couple a following week you guys but June 23rd June 23rd I'm good I'm good June 23rd good June
23rd Emily what what June 23d yes you're good for that week yeah I thought we were talking about that week of June oh Jun oh no no June no I can't I can't in junee the end of June okay uh we could um we could look at I
don't we could look at the last few days of one week spilling into the first few days of the next week I don't know yeah we may have to just split it up like you say with people being out of town and everything maybe we can do it before commission meeting U before a couple
commission meetings um really no the day before the day after um what about oh you can't do it anytime in June Emily not not the end of what about the first the second through the six um I'm
available I can do that I think that's too soon um because we have we don't have the numbers we have department heads and departments are going to be inputting the numbers we may not be up the 14 truthfully with the time period that we that you take up with four or
five days we could do it on a Saturday and start it at 9:00 in the morning and knock it out so if we could pick a Saturday let's do that I'm good with that as well so it's a great give you another Saturday come I won't be coming to that
one what Saturday can you do in June oh in June M the beginning 6th is that too soon that's too soon I think that I think early June is too soon 13th 20th can you do the 20th I mean uh the
14th or the sry I'm sorry the 14th and 21st is okay you can do the 21st of June oh I can't I I don't know I can do the 14th I can do the 14th no I can't right well let me let's tentatively say Saturday June 14th NOP
no okay can we Zoom this the 21st okay we should look into Zoom no I don't want you nope how let's just figure out how much time Lori needs we can't yeah let's do that all right I will uh I'll get back to you yeah I'll
get let's figure out how much time she needs I'll get back to you and then uh I know I've said this a couple meetings uh but uh I don't know if we want to look at calendars but we have committed to a workshop with the Housing Authority a
workshop with the code board and then we're going to need uh a workshop date to present to you Eastern uh results of the Eastern utility study um and again I don't know if we want to look at calendars right now uh and we can't commit because we need to hear from the
housing authority and the code board but I don't know if we want to look at our calendars get some stuff on the calendar and then uh check with them or yeah let's go with their dates let's try to do may as much as we can yeah cuz I'm I'm with I'm with Emma
okay all right well and it'd be good if we could get everything done in one day to three of them that would be great oh that'd be awesome we will take a look do a lunch and a dinner and a midnight snack yeah okay we get okay you you know
I'll provide oh yeah Service Catering that's all right and I think that's all I have thank okay Madam attorney Workshop so oh I forgot about that one
uh a couple so um Sunshine is usually uh coming up around this time I wasn't sure do you know if the Florida League of cities takes the show on the road for Sunshine laog yeah and we come here they
can do it for us okay uh if not uh um I mean the might be able to do the Sunshine Law and ethics part uh but in addition to covering that I also wanted to add policymaking process and then talk about some elements about municipal
government just generally um and allow for plenty of of time to look at hypotheticals and uh Q&A so I wanted to do that as a workshop U and I was hoping for Saturday as well that way it doesn't impede with a lot of the um business in
the week it was CU it it'll take several hours so okay um I'm in Tallahasse Monday I'll check with the league and see if they can some help us with that okay and if they do that they sign off on voice yes they'll sign off on that
way I'll actually give them your number and let you perfect so we can do a combination that way you can get your certification update and all that and also we cover the other components they have those at the Comforts they do and they're actually doing it Monday in tah
yeah so um and if you want to you can actually go online Florida State University has an ethics and sunshine training you can do it right there and they'll send you the certificate once you're completed it seems like I'm taking it off a
lot a reason yeah so if they could come here and do the presentation and then I can cover the other aspects of it which is the policym and then the municipal government elements that way if not then I'll do all of it but I can't give you a
certificate okay that's the only problem okay I mean I can give you one but it's not going to meet the requirements of the statute I think we can get somebody here just over Lynn lives in Mount we can probably get her here to do it for us but I am thinking of Saturday if that works because it might be a half
day situation so okay okay is everybody okay with that and I can circulate dates is right sorry depends on when it is yeah yeah I'll circulate dates um but I just wanted to see if that was acceptable to all of you can you send us all the
workshops so I will send everyone a list of stuff that we're working on okay and just lastly I heard from some Commissioners um about our procedures and and we all have some some rules uh
that are guidelines for conducting the meetings I wanted to get direction uh from commission if you're interested in me preparing just a memorandum kind of talking about what uh the guidelines are for for elected officials um as far as the um
the speech component as well as um maybe some procedural uh guidelines when we're trying to complete the agendas or if that's something that we can just leave behind um no I think we need as much guidance as we can give so okay I just
want to make sure I got consensus from all of you to do that it seems that we had last night I'm going through my office I found a document and it outlines everything that we're supposed to do so we I must have gotten it here um we've not we've apparently had it
before so that's a good idea yeah we have we have a current procedures um again they are guidelines they advisory they were adop revised uh most recently back in 2019 um so I'm not bringing it forth as far as making revisions to it
per se that would be something that um the commission would would decide if you wanted to do that uh what you would like to revise it's more so kind of providing guidance as to uh procedure and conducting the meeting um just giving you that guidance uh again there's a lot
of discretion when it comes to that but we want to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to get their points across and all of that so just kind of covering both uh your role as an elected official what that looks like um as far as Government speech and things like that just based on just different um
Commissioners that I've had conversations with I want to make sure that anything I do I want to get approval from you guys as far as that guidance if I get a consensus I will go forward with a memorandum if not I leave it you do that when you do the ethics I can
yeah is that better okay so we hold off until the ethics group okay yeah that's fine so I have you're good Mr and I have to get an answer from all of you say just say yes George yes George
yes I up so then we'll cover that when we do the sunshine presentation okay great I think that's good to make one thing yep okay all right okay that's it oh yes that's it okay all right um I I won't keep you long uh cops and
Bobbers um uh the police department put on uh an excellent event uh last weekend you had Elena okay okay Elena and and her dad put on an excellent event you with the
backing of the chief uh had how many kids 52 kids uh and it was great they all walked away with uh fishing rods uh tackle and uh fish stories that they
could tell their friends yeah they was that big um you know it was great because this year we were able to stock the pond um uh and we want to thank FWC for coming and and stocking the pond so the kids
were able to tell stories when they uh got to school the next morning um and thank you to public works for oh gosh making it presentable and thank you and Joby yeah yeah um see uh Kudos uh I got a call and
this is probably the third or fourth time that I've given kudos to him uh but I got called the other day uh from a a resident in in The Gables and one of our public SPS uh guys Devin Edward
Evans um he did it uh he he kind of went above and beyond uh and to the point to where she put it on Facebook uh well she called me um so
I passed it along to to Rick and Tom uh so kudos to him uh Tom uh the Eastern the Eastern plant when is that coming before us well we need to schedule the date uh our Consultants uh
has gotten us some uh draft text uh they're still finalizing the numbers but we need to get it on the schedule okay all right okay um uh last thing um
in in our city we have a treasure and I think it's something that we probably or we may want to talk about um as we're growing um as we're uh
Building Homes as we're redeveloping uh trout lake is in the midst of our beautiful city I'd like for us to have a ation about uh going into partnership with
trout lake and what that looks like I don't know but I think it's a conversation that that we may want to have can we do that during the master plan too since it's the master of our community maybe some time for that on the agenda is that a good time or your
choice just a suggestion yeah sounds good to me connects it all together yeah connects the whole thing yeah yeah I I I think that that's we we should look at uh
yeah at a time when you know everyone's complaining about the building and the growth uh we're preserving yes you know that that conservation right exactly so I'd love for us to to have that conversation at at the workshop yeah
okay can I add one other thing if you're done um maybe which I thought you were going to talk about so I didn't I didn't want to take it from you well I want to leave it for you okay thank you on on we pick on our police chief because he's he's he's good but uh I was fortunate
enough along with our mayor to attend the um and I'm not sure I got the term right but the central Florida Chiefs of police that the city hosted and um I know Elena helped put it together and our chief uh was the outgoing president
and uh has been doing that for the last year and I tell you it it was really good to see uh our community supporting law enforcement all of them coming to our city meeting Chiefs of police from all over Federal FBI FDLE
and everything that that was hosted and U will he being a DEA guy I thought he would take that so I don't want to steal from him but I wanted to thank the police chief for being part of that for what you stole from were you going to say it maybe you didn't that's why I said if you didn't
have any so so thank you Chief um and and thank you for for hosting and thank you for Lena for uh putting the event together it was just beautiful it was great and uh it it it's a it's a strong thank you that's it thank you all for coming and staying
with us we got out of here early thank you