thank you know what I messed up
no you don't know
thank you
good evening everyone welcome to the
Eustis City Commission meeting this is
our regular City commission meeting it
is Thursday September the 22nd it is 6
p.m if you would like to join us in a
moment of silence and the pledge to our
flag please stand
amen commissioner Smith join me in the
pledge I pledge allegiance
of the United States of America and to
the Republic for which it stands one
nation under God indivisible with
liberty and justice for all
thank you all
officially call our meeting to order
Christine and Sarah corn president
proper notice been given yes thank you
so much Tom an agenda update yes sir
[Music]
um
agenda item 5.1 and 5.2 we would like to
remove those from consent and put those
under ordinances public hearings and
quasi-judicial hearings so in effect
we're just moving them from one section
to another and they're still in the same
order on the agenda perfect thank you
sir next we have approval of minutes and
we have the minutes from July 5th 2022
regular City commission meeting what's
the will of the commission absolutely
second thank you first to second any
further discussion not hearing any roll
call please commissioner hope Smith aye
commissioner Cobb aye commissioner
Hawkins aye vice mayor Lee aye mayor
Holland aye next we have presentations
first off we've got the Eustis High
School future Business Leaders of
America come on up
it's good to have you all with us
tonight
thank you so much for the invitation
good evening mayor vice mayor City
commissioners and the city manager and
the City attorney and
the city of Houston staff my name is
Sonja white I am the FBLA advisor for
Eustis High School this is our second
year and we want to say thank you so
much we do have a small PowerPoint
presentation
and first of all I want to say a huge
heartfelt thank you for the City of
Eustis thank you so much for supporting
our students last year we had the
opportunity to travel to Chicago for the
future Business Leaders of America
national competition we had two students
from Houston this was like the first
time in about eight years I believe that
we had two students to compete in the
National even though they did not place
in Nashville but the experience and the
exposure that they got was just totally
phenomenal and one of the students she
was currently a freshman in Dallas Texas
at Baylor University so she was in FBLA
pretty much our whole time at Eustis
High School so we are very excited for
her but also we're excited to kick off
this year and I just wanted to let the
audience know exactly what your donation
and your support for Eustis High School
what we're doing we have a a few
community events that we like to do this
year and of course it's the continuation
of the socks for seniors where we donate
socks to we have adopted Lake Eustis
nursing home and the Eustis Head Start
program we are providing socks for their
children and providing socks for their
seniors it's no cost to them this is our
community event for the FBLA and of
course this year we're going to support
and kick off the March of Dimes which is
fbla's
um baby that's their baby of fundraisers
I mean community events and of course
Eustis High School we are doing the
panther Pantry because you know with the
um pandemic a lot of people lost jobs a
lot of families are in need but we are
so thankful for you since high school
where we can contribute non-perishable
food items some of us give out our
pockets and some of us have like
relatives that have small businesses
that donate to that and believe it or
not this year
the staff the administrative has told us
that there is a huge need and what they
have done was they put together a survey
where the students can go in confidence
they will go on a complete a survey
letting us know who is in need and what
they're in need of and it's on both
campuses it's on the ninth grade Center
and on the main campus as well so
this is very dear um of course FBLA does
a lot of Charity and yes we do solicit
donations but we give back as well and
I'm so excited to be the advice and I'm
so excited tonight I have our district
director and Miss Debbie sear here with
me she's
showed me the ropes and guided me
through this so I'm very thankful for
that our food box drive that we are
doing is of course during the month of
November it kicks off October 1st the
time for the students to leave for the
Thanksgiving holidays and you know a lot
of students are dependent on the free
breakfast and the free lunch so we are
going to start early at any time you can
do drop off there will be a box place on
both campuses for the non-perishable
food items of course items that they can
use if they don't have any electricity
we do have students that are homeless we
have students that are in shelters
and in foster care but we're trying to
do our best uh we are blessed to have
these things and we are giving back to
our community as well so we will be
doing that both November and December
and also
um these are just pictures from our
previous just to let you know that we're
just not up here talking we have
evidence of what we're doing and the
kids they enjoy giving back um this is
uh miss here and I we were at the Lake
Eustis nursing home and of course we
have their permission
um to post their pictures and we're so
thankful for the City of Eustis that
come out when we had our heritage
festival at the Eustis campus and also
we give back to the um uses Head Start
program and this is our food drive that
we're giving back now what we're asking
for because I'm so excited that we had
our first meeting and we had 15 new
students to want to be a part of it so
they were aware of what FBLA was doing
at uses and also the opportunities that
we're giving them we're very thankful
that we're again the local community to
partner with us they have businesses and
I'm so proud that over the summer one of
the local business here in Eustis hired
one of our students for the summer
program and another one that was in
Leesburg even though they were in Lake
County they hired our students so not
only are we being involved we're
competing nationally but we are training
our students in our CTE program to be
equipped and to be ready to
be productive citizens in Corporate
America as well we um we have combined
with um the encourage it's an
organization that is doing a survey to
see where our students want to go to
college offer them scholarships give
them those resources that in a normal
setting they would not get it so we are
very thankful that the FBLA students and
Entrepreneurship program at Eustis High
School we can get that stuff that makes
sure that this next generation will not
be a forgotten generation would not be a
Lost Generation because we are Village
Keepers and we are here to help equip
our students so I am asking if the City
of Eustis along with the entire Lake
County those that have small businesses
or are aware of a business if they can
give a donation
if they can give her a donation
um to Eustis High School to the FBLA
program we are going to be competing at
a local level a state level and
hopefully again this year on the
national level we're excited that this
year come November our elective officers
will be participating in the fall
National Conference which will be held
in Orlando so we're getting them early
to get them ready so I'm super excited
about that I'm super excited that
they're here learning about government
even though it is almost an election
year but every little bit helps and we
want them to be equipped we want them to
be prepared we're educating them that at
16 you can pre-register to vote so we
want them to know everything that there
is to know and how to be successful
productive positive citizens so as the
FBLA advisor I am asking if you would
just think back you can process or when
you was in high school or when you was
trying to find that job did you not have
the tools that you needed to be
successful did you not know how to type
how to write a resume how to fill out an
application so remember our students of
Eustis High School
all the information is up there and we
do have flyers in different colors for
you to have and just to read over and
let you know what FBLA is all about and
like I said we are Village Keepers and
it takes a whole village as you can see
in the last three years it's taken
everybody it's taking the local grocery
store manager is taking Miss Jones
across the street it's taking the
babysitter you know the Publix person
the library and everybody to help shape
and mold our citizens our students for
the Next Generation they're going to be
the ones when we retire being the
decision making so we want to make sure
that they are equipped and they have
everything that they need to be
successful and I thank you so much for
your time Sonya thank you so much thank
you for what you're doing with that
program when I was in high school at
Eustis it was a strong program and
you're growing it back to what it used
to be so thank you so much thank you
would you like to introduce some of your
students yes I'm asking all of my
students so please stand up we're so
glad some of them are trying out for the
flag football
[Applause]
and I'm so glad that their parents came
with them their parents didn't just
dropped them off they're here as well so
we are a family and then to take once
again it takes a village and I thank you
for your time Sonia thank you and we'll
get that on our website also to help you
out okay thank you so much thank you oh
also yes ma'am the City of Eustis did
help us
financially last year I just want to let
you know and I think the citizens for
everything that you've done thank you
next we've got recognition of our Miss
Eustis Queens I'm going to ask Rachel
Henderson to come up and help me Rachel
is a former Miss Eustis and has been
running the program since 2017 and I am
very proud of Rachel and all she's done
you can help me introduce our young
ladies we just had this pageant when um
August right yes August end of August
and every one of these girls did a
fantastic job
absolutely and I'm going to tell you we
don't have any better ambassadors than
the ladies that serve through the Miss
Eustis program this commission works
hard on a daily basis trying to get out
in the public but I'm going to tell you
these people really these young ladies
really touch a lot of folks when they're
out in the community so I look forward
to working with each one of you for the
next year I mean I know the rest of the
Commissioners are excited so I've got
some pins behind us I'll let you grab a
pen and what we're going to do we're
going to give you your pins tonight and
at the end of the year we'll give them
their certificates okay let's go ahead
and start with many Miss Eustis and
that's Blake Bill Blake can you come up
here
come on Blake
and I know we don't want to take this
away from from Blake but Blake's mama is
the coach of our uh
state championship softball team at
Eustis High School so she's here tonight
too I think so
next we have the tiny misuse and that's
Delaney Poe van Durham is that correct
Bender me okay come on up
hi
and next we have Little Miss Eustis and
that's Caroline Flint Carolyn how are
you
beautiful
and next we have Junior Miss Eustis and
that's Sydney Savory Sydney how are you
tonight good
and then teen misused us we have Lauren
simple is that correct Lauren how are
you good
and then our misuse this year is Taylor
Davidson Taylor how are you good
so
[Applause]
what we're going to do is I'm going to
get the commission to stand we're going
to kind of Center the girls there we'll
take a picture we'll get this out on
Facebook
okay
everybody okay
it's me
look right here
perfect okay so we got some parrots we
got some parents
congratulations
I'll be there
Fall Festival I love it thank you all
have a great night thank you you say
thank you
[Applause]
give them just a second so they can
leave
and next we have comprehensive plan and
Joint planning area review Tom yes
um
as you will remember uh we secured the
services of gunster law firm uh to
review some items related to our
comprehensive plan and the joint
planning area agreement with Lake County
and so we have here tonight Derek Bruce
and Jack Rice from gunster who are going
to talk to you a little bit about their research you should have received
some information from City attorney
Derek Shroff related to their findings
but they're here to present those
findings tonight thank you good to see
you my friend mayor good to see you as
well Commissioners a pleasure to be with
you all this evening and uh Tom thank
you very much for uh for that
introduction uh so on on this particular
assignment what uh what I thought would
be really beneficial is to uh is to
utilize when you have resources like our
firm does and that we can make available
to you we have people with with very
specific expertise and and the person
that that I thought would be best suited
for the for the assignment and the
research and giving you all the the
advice for which you were looking on the
map 19 issue is Jack Rice uh Jack has
been uh either legal counsel or special
counsel to five different uh uh cities
and and counties as well as has a
master's degree in in urban planning and
so he is intimately familiar with uh
with the issues that that you have asked
about and and really dove in so I'm
gonna turn it over to Jack who's got a
little presentation uh that uh
will hopefully give you all the
information you need and we'll be here
for questions as well thank you Gary
welcome Chad thank you thank you mayor
thank you Derek good morning good
evening everybody thank you for having
me
um
just as Derek said my name is Jack Rice
I'm attorney at gunster and I prime
practice primarily in the areas of land
use and Zoning I will warn you that I am
also a nerd when it comes to planning
and learning which means that there are
lots of details in my head so I'm going
to try to go through this as quickly and
succinctly as possible but feel free to
follow up and ask me some you know
general questions if you have any
um the first thing I kind of wanted to
look
kind of look at everything from a
sky-high view the questions that we were
assigned and what the results were and
then we'll kind of go into the details
so the first question that we were
opposed with was weather removal of map
19 would invalidate the city of eustis's
jpa with the county the answer is no
resolution 87 34 that establishes the
jpa that is going to remain in effect
even if map 19 is removed from your comp
plan the reason is is because this
resolution is an independent legal
instrument it has a map attached to it
and that map identifies the areas where
the provisions related to
intergovernmental coordination
annexation and just general you know
joint planning occur so even if map 19
is removed the jpa's obligations and
those boundaries will remain unchanged
because of the map attached to your
resolution that is still in effect with
the county
um the next question was whether removal
of map 19 would create some
inconsistencies or otherwise be
incompatible with the comp plans of
either the county or Eustis the answer
there again is No removal of map19 will
really create no inconsistencies with
either comp plan there is some text
within your own comprehensive plan that
will need to be changed just to avoid
internal inconsistencies which is as a
general policy matter your comp plan
will remain the same and will remain in
effect and it'll be fine
there will also be no issue if the
County's comp plan as I'll point out
during my presentation the County's comp
plan actually does not make reference to
the jpa with Eustis
in fact it after our review it actually
seems that if you removed map 19 it
would really offer a lot of clarity and
eliminate a lot of confusion and then
finally we were asked to look at math 19
and the effect of the interlocal
agreement you all have with Mount Dora
and once again the answers no there
wouldn't be an issue there because your
interlocal agreement with Mount Dora
would continue to remain as a
freestanding legal agreement it has a
map attached and that agreement and map
have their own obligations which would
continue even if mat 19 is removed
um so to quickly go through things in
Greater detail
um resolution 8734 as we've just talked
about it today that's rather older
documents from July of 87. it was
executed by both the City of Eustis and
the county it allowed usages to Annex
properties into a jpa area that were
identified on a map that's being shown
on the screens in front of you it also
said that eventually that a jpa plan
would be mutually adopted by both the
county and Eustis and that that plan
once it was adopted would would
basically guide the growth for this area
and then one of the notable portions of
the resolution that says quote until
then the city and county and the interim
period will regulate development in the
jpa in accordance with their currently
adopted comprehensive plans in any
Amendment and when we started to go
through the history of the Eustis plan
it it we found basically in records that
the county never actually no Mutual
adoption occurred so the status
currently is zero resolution is what
governs until the two bodies come
together and are able to adopt a plan
and outline their future
and the way we found that out was we we
went back in history and we looked at
your first plan and what I'm showing up
on the map right now that is the one of
the maps that was attached and
identified in your first comprehensive
plan as the the map of the Eustis area
now I'm assuming everybody in this room
knows even better than myself that when
you look at that map that includes areas
that are not in the City of Eustis and
so what was interesting was when we
contacted the Florida Department of
Economic Opportunity which is the
current successor to the Department of
Community Affairs we were we had to go
through the record records and we were
told first a we found a memorandum that
you know recited the fact that the
county never adopted this plan but it
also said that you know this map created
confusion because it's got two different
sets two different jurisdictions within
it and it said only Eustis can basically
you know Implement planning designations
for properties in Eustis and by putting
designations for both useless properties
and the county in one you're creating
some confusion
and it appears that that that confusion
kind of persisted
um once again the original comp plans
memos or from DCA basically said their
recommendation was that you try to pull
the two maps apart so that you had one
that identified just properties and
Eustis and one that identified
properties in the other in the county
and the rationale was because the County
Properties could not be planned really
by Eustis and so like I said that
confusion appears to have persisted
because in 2010 when the city was
reviewing its comprehensive plan a
consultant came in and basically
suggested that you guys take the maps
apart and have one showing just Eustis
and one showing just County or just this
jpa area
but in effect what happened was you had
another map that was adopted showing the
both the planning designations for both
cities
um and so
what I'm showing on the map is basically
it's still map19 today it was adapted in
2010 and it's still presently in your
comprehensive plan when we take a closer
look at it you can see that there are
some language and some policies in it or
actually referenced on it that kind of
show that this was probably never
intended to really become a binding plan that would you know
regulate this body so if we zoom in it's
not really showing up on this screen I
apologize but you'll see references to a
non-transmitted map a draft map a
working copy and so these basically tell
us what probably got happened what may
have happened was you know the wrong
document got put in when things got sent
off to the DCA to be adopted but in
effect the current the current document
just really creates confusion and it
doesn't need to be there and there are
other policies within your comp plan
that do address
um
I'm sorry the the do address the or
acknowledge the existence of the jpa so
even if map 19 was pulled out there are
freestanding policies within your
comprehensive plan that reference the
existence of that jpa and will continue
to continue to bind you and also
basically show the city's commitment to
work with the county within the jpa area
for purposes of annexation and
intergovernmental coordination
before we really you know opine on you
know the effect it will have on the
county plan we had to look at the county
plan and what we found was the county
plan really doesn't mention the jpa with
Eustis we know that the county is aware
of the resolution and that they
currently consider it to still be in
effect but the comprehensive plan itself
it doesn't make any mention of the jpa
what I'm showing on the screen right now
is the future the County's future Lane
use map exhibit number five which
identifies the various joint planning
areas within uh the County's
jurisdictions and what you'll see is it
shows jbas with Lady Lake Claremont and
Mount Dora but not Eustis and that's
likely because the county is aware just
like I said before that the resolution
itself continues to kind of stand on its
own and bind the two entities
um and so in regard to the first two
questions it's pretty clear that removal
of map 19 would not create any
inconsistencies with Eustis or the
county plans
if anything it will create you know
Clarity for individuals when they're
looking at the Eustis plan and it will
really kind of clear things up because
the one thing you'll have which will
continue to bind that you can point
people to is the original resolution
which is what set all of this up
um in regard to Mount Dora
which is which is what we're discussing
you know question number three
um mount doors basically you guys have
an interlocal agreement with them you
entered into that into local agreement
in 2003 it expires in December of 2023
unless it's terminated it is an
automatically renewing agreement and
what does it do it sets out purposes and
terms for planning providing utilities
as well as intergovernmental
coordination and most notably it says
that Eustis and Mount Dora will not
Annex any property in each other's
planning areas and identifies that
planning area by resort to a map that
I'm showing on the screen
and
it basically it says that you know this
map will take effect once Eustis
acknowledges it and once the county got
I'm sorry once Mount Dora acknowledge it
and their comprehensive plans you have a
text provision and your comprehensive
plan I believe it's intergovernmental
coordination policy 1.3.5 which
basically States or recognizes the
existence of the interlocal agreement it
says that you will continue to work with
it and be bound by it and that you'll
continue to work with Mount Dora to uh
to honor it so Eustis is fulfilled it's
part of the bargain in that regard what
is the mount doors comprehensive plan
say again it's got language
I'm sorry this is the language in the
Eustis comprehensive plan that
acknowledges the existence of the jpa
not the jpa with the interlocal
agreement
and next I have the language and the
Mount Dora comprehensive plan that talks
about and acknowledges the existence of
the interlocal agreement with Eustis
so if you remove map 19 you won't be
touching this these languages in either
comprehensive plan those will continue
to be in existence and you'll continue
to be bound by the interlocal agreement
and it really won't have any effect on
the interlocal agreement status with
Mount Dora
um so that's kind of how we got to our
answers I've I know I've set them out in
Greater detail but I hope I haven't
bored you all to death if you guys have
any questions I'm more than happy to
answer to them and it's been a pleasure
to look into both y'all's histories and
futures
any questions subject
yeah good job he brought Clarity for me
because I I read every bit of this and I
just it was nice to have legal
view overview of this whole entire thing
you know sometimes we can interpret
things differently and to have someone
give us a legal you know a view of it is
wonderful because I was getting
yes no yes no yes no yes no and finally
I said I'm not doing anything until we
get some clarity so I it helps me
tremendously thank you we're glad we
could help
thank you so much Derek thank you so
much
Tom I'd like to go ahead and ask that
this be put on a future agenda so we can
go ahead and clarify this
okay
thank you
next we come down to audience to be
heard
um and this is about anybody I'd like to
speak about something but it's not on
our agenda this evening got anybody's
home uh yes I have a card for niana
Patel okay
hi Mrs Patel hello
good evening everybody pull it down
that's fine yes ma'am
um a couple of weeks ago we got I sent
something to Mr schroth that um we're
done with everything we needed to get
done and we're ready to move on and I
I'm sure Mr Schott sent something over
to you guys and I was wondering if we
could set some sort of a date or I don't
know what our next steps are again this
is so new for me
so I don't know what I think Tom has
some information for you okay so
um the I believe at a previous meeting
the city commission asked that the code enforcement board uh reviewed
this and so right now uh staff is
pulling together the information needed
and it will go to the code enforcement
board I think the plan is to go to the
code board in October which will be the next code board uh meeting the code
board meets the second Monday of the
month and so I don't have a calendar in
front of me
so that it the plan would be for that to
be to to for that to go to the code
board on October 10th am I supposed to
attend that meeting I if I was you I
would be a definite meeting okay on
October 10th once they're completed with
it it will come back to the city
commission so you're probably back in
front of the Commission in November okay all righty sounds good thank you
again
anybody else Tom uh yes
um we have a discussion related to
um chickens on the agenda but it's under
other business which generally does not
allow for public input you can hear it
now so I have Aaron Phillips all right
how are you Aaron
good thank you for being back tonight
thank you for hearing
can you hear me okay fantastic
um
good evening my name is Aaron Phillips
and I represent a few families here in
the Eustis area and surrounding
communities and we would like to thank
the City commissioners for taking time
once again to hear the concerns of
residents in regards to keeping backyard
chickens within Cinemas city limits
we've heard your concerns and Views
about keeping chickens in the previous
meeting and we are under the under we
are of the understanding this has been a
reoccurring issue it's it seems like it
continues to come up over the years uh
we'd like to help overcome this obstacle
and move forward together I assure you
although we might ruffle some feathers
we won't pluck you I had to I had to I
can't fall so first when we speak about
chickens we're referring to keeping and
not raising uh hens in the backyards no
roosters this keeps our dialogue clear
of potential agricultural concerns which
were brought up in the past and
regulations as residents of this city
and members of the surrounding
communities we are respectfully offering
the city our recommended guidelines for
keeping backyard chickens members of our
safety and preparedness team our
education team and our Civics team have
researched and collaborated on these
proposed guidelines an effort to assist
and streamline the ordinance and code
writing processes our group has analyzed
almost 50 cities and counties here in
Florida that allow for the keeping of
chickens
it turned out to be quite the Endeavor
but a phenomenal exercise and experience
for us nonetheless we compared we tried
our best I promise we compared City
areas populations population densities
as well as traditions and culture
we found little to no correlation
between them we then compared the
different city codes and ordinances
guidelines and requirements in a gown
again found no real solid consistencies
there we did however find wordy verbiage
gratuitous regulations and excessive
educational requirements for something
humans have been accomplishing for
literally thousands of years I'm sure
that's been brought to your attention
here in the past as well therefore we
decided to use the same search and
comparison criteria for these guidelines
for the city of use of space on our
experiences conducting the research
reviewing dialogues from blogs websites
and various academic institutions
we believe in the kiss rule keep it
simple super simple so we have limited
our list to 10 guidelines
this is done with intent as it allows
for the people to govern themselves
accordingly
and it allows for the city and the
future to impose further governance
where it may be needed in the community
do you want me to read these 10 real
quick that's entirely man's like nope
I already read the 22-page dissertation
oh you poor thing I'm glad I missed that
if you'll give it to Christine she can
get it out to it and thank you again so
much for your time thank you no thank
you for here letting us hear you tonight
thank you thank you anyone else I have a
couple cards that uh will be heard at
the time of the item but that's it for
audience to be heard anyone else like to
speak to the commission about something
that's not on the agenda this evening
not seeing anybody will move right on
down Madam attorney will turn it over to
you thank you Mr Mayor we have
resolution 22-68 a resolution of the
city Commission of the City of Eustis
Florida approving a code enforcement
board action to authorize the City
attorney to foreclose on an outstanding
code enforcement lien recorded against
44 sharp Circle LLC
believe Mr Martin so I I can start off
maybe give you some general background
um so this case has been going on uh for
about a year you have in your packet the
initial case history for this case
September 14th of 2021.
there have been quite a few visits to
the property by code enforcement
um
based on
this particular issue is related to the
conditions of a rental unit there over
the past year there's been a lot of
discussion with the property owner about
whether the property would be renovated
and rehabilitated or whether whether the
property would be demolished it remains
an outstanding issue
and
excuse me
um it has as you can see from your
information it's gone to the code board
quite a few times
the code board on August 8 2022
considered moving forward with a
foreclosure on the lien they approve
that
again just a little bit of background
you we forwarded to you some
correspondence with a representative of
the property owner that representative
was questioning uh due process I will
tell you that both at the code board on
August 8 2022 the question came up as to
whether the code board was authorized
based on due process to move forward
with this and the code board attorney
assured the code board that they were
able to move forward with this if they
so chose and they did move forward with
that the question has been raised and I
know uh Sasha has had some discussions
with their representative I'm
paraphrasing what Sasha and I discussed
which is uh we feel that it is
appropriate for the city commission to
move forward with this if they so choose
the prop the representative of the
property owner has asked that it be
continued until October 6th but that is
completely at the discretion of the city
commission we do have a couple people
who have given cards who want to speak
on this item
code enforcement supervisor Eric Martin
is here he has prepared
um documentation of the notifications
that we've done he's prepared photos of
what we've been dealing with and so we
are Eric is here and happy to give you
more information and try to answer any
questions you might have Chief Capri is
also here and has been involved and then
of course uh Mr Paskowski our code board
chairs here as is Stephanie Carter who
serves on our code board and so whether
it's representatives of the code board
or the City attorney or Mr Martin we are
here to answer any questions you might
have on what's going on in addition
I want to make it clear we have other
code issues out at Sharps Park but we
are not dealing specifically with those
tonight we are dealing with a specific
case but we can also provide some
background on other code enforcement
issues unrelated to this specific case
that we're also dealing with out there
and so we'd be happy to try to answer
any questions you may have
I think we start with Derek okay Eric
sorry okay all right Garrett yeah
good evening Commissioners Eric Martin
code enforcement supervisor
so
basically I'm just here to kind of do a
ask an answer I do know we have some
more residents in today's tonight's
audience that did not fill out a card so
you know I guess when they come in I
guess I can just before they leave fill
one out is that how it would work we um
I think I think we we can just call them
up as long as they State their name
um that that's fine they don't have to
fill out a card so the first thing I did
this morning when in preparation for
tonight I the park obtained ownership of
the property in February 2019. since
then there have been 18 total code
violations at that location
but for numerous violations and we can
go into the details if you if you wish
us to but the item today is a
three-sharp circle
let me pull that one out I've got a
lunch
so basically on September 14 2021 the
city received a code enforcement or a
lieutenant complaint about the
conditions of this mobile home and
dwelling unit when we went in and
inspected it we saw some very severe
electrical hazards
here like in picture two they had an
extension cord on a plug outlet and it
ran all the way through it was run all
the way through the front porch
underneath the mobile home and into an
outlet inside the mobile home and it was
running power or running a light or of
some sort on the on the patio there were
issues with the stairs not being secure
not being centered on the doorways
um the main issue was there was a water
leak in the toilet room and you'll see
here in picture eight that is an actual
electrical wire coming down
and as you see here in picture nine it
is hot
so there was a water leak so the
toilet's leaking water all over the
floor there's no um
impervious surface in that bathroom it
was just pretty much hot-nosed pieces of
plywood
and anyone that has sitting on that
toilet you know your water's leaking
around you you've got live wires within
Arms Reach of you so we were really
concerned with the life safety of the
tenant at that point
so we here's showing just some water
damage some some surface damages
uh in this in this and you know looks
like an old roof leak
um so throughout the mobile home we we
continue to find more electrical hazards
throughout
so this was inside a cabinet this one
was in over the stove this was over the
uh
there was one over the coffee maker
there were two exposed electrical wires
on the uh in the living room
there was a plug outlet they had
completely come dislodged and was laying
inside the wall
and there were other electrical
violations that don't meet the National
Electric Code
so when I notified the building official
loved the conditions he authorized Duke
Energy to terminate the power on that
dwelling unit immediately that day
so it's been off ever since
um
and this is owned by that's owned by
sharks mobile home park okay that that
was thank you
Eric Were you invited in by the the yes
the tenants signed a consent to allow us
to to go in and inspect her dwelling
um we don't the city has never taken
lightly condemning and owner-occupied
residential dwelling the last thing we
want to do is put someone out on the
street but in this case there was there
was no avoidance
so
um these pictures here show where
the property owner eventually did come
in and get a repair permit
and they started fixing the bathroom
and then all works seized the building
official had determined that the scope
of work in the permit was not adequate
to bring the mobile home up to code
okay I'm sorry I thought I I am but go
ahead and finish
um
so
the property owner decided instead of
bringing it up to code they decided they
were going to demolish it well that's
been ongoing for eight or more months uh
so
without digging into my dig deep into my
notes I do know there's a pending
demolition permit on file
to take you know three and unit five out
so there were concerns when the park
manager came and testified in August
they were concerned about the type
proximity and working around the
neighbor's fence asking them if they
could take it down so they could get
equipment in it it sounds to me like
they've just decided to take unit five
out so they can get to unit 3 and take
it out which is definitely that's two
for one
so that's that is pending I believe the
only thing they're waiting on is the
utility disconnects but I don't know why
that's taking so long question for you
um you had correspondence with the owner
correct
I spoke to the property manager
personally I don't believe I've spoken
to the property owner about this
particular case
I haven't spoken to the property owner
probably since 2020.
um most of our most of our
correspondence is directly with the
property man so this shouldn't come as a
surprise to them
no at least headquarters or you know
that this is a problem right okay so and
you sent
letter after letter getting into getting
to it now okay good all right I will say
this because looking at the email
correspondence then I looked through all
this all of this stuff
um the actually owner
I think it's been changed twice now said
here's the new representative send
everything to them send everything to
them so he's aware yeah yeah right and
now he's shoving it off on exactly
somebody else two other people
so on September 23rd we pretty much just
basically sent out a correction notice
that had a list of a full list of the
diff all the deficiencies
um requiring that they correct them by
October 25th 2021.
when they failed to do so we sent out a
formal notice of violation slash hearing
on November 4th requiring compliance
with the housing code by December 6 2021
or there be a code enforcement Board
hearing on December 13th
so went to the code enforcement board
and here is I've got copies of the
notices the so the thing is
the the
address listed in Lake County
those those notices were being returned
under undeliverable as addressed so we
also started mailing them to registered
agent which is Hansel Rodriguez so the
one that we mailed to Hansel Rodriguez
it was delivered on November 6. at his
office
we also posted a copy of that notice of
violation on the manager's door on the
same day
is their own site yes it's uh it's
addressed 44 sharp Circle actually it's
right it's the building right next to
where if you drive in you got your
mailboxes and and so forth is right next
to the two-story kind of Warehouse
uh so on December 13th 2021 the code
enforcement board issued an order of
enforcement for acquiring compliance by
January 12 2022 or a fine of 250 per day
of occurrence would be imposed
so that deadline expired
on January 28th 2022 the city issued a
notice of non-compliance and I noticed a
hearing for assessment of fine
so that was held on February 14 2022
where the code enforcement board
officially issued the order imposing
fine and that was recorded in public
record on April 13 2022. in every
correspondent set that we send we tell
them they have the opportunity to come
before the code enforcement board
correct
yes that's what that's what the notice
and hearing is for okay and have they
ever
the um
yes they have and let me get to the
staff report
I believe
okay on the first hearing that was held
on December 13th there was no
representative the tenant the tenant
showed up but the no representative from
44 Sharps LLC
and then on
I think the property manager did attend
this one I don't have it into my note
hold on yeah I do
can I oh that's a good question real
quick actually yes ma'am are we we're
closing number three sharp Circle or
number 44. no it's it's the lien is
against the entire property it's all one
product it's all one property it's the
name of the corporate the LLC is 44
Sharps Circle LLC
thank you Eric that's it
you know I know you're looking for that
but what I'm trying to get is
they've known from the beginning that
there were deficiencies yes you
corresponded with them they've gone in
and they attempted to make some repairs
right they as you see they saved off the
um if you I didn't point it out because
I don't believe I don't think I
So within two days of us being in there
they did get an electrician and they
saved off all the wiring put them in
metal boxes as you see in these photos
well
some of these photos here but so all the
exposed wires the that plug outlet was
not fixed but any of the exposed wires
are hanging down they did put in metal
boxes and cap them off
so the issues
they should have known
with continued correspondence and
communication with you right that all of
the issues hadn't been taken care of
correct correct so it should come as no
surprise to anyone
that the City of Eustis code enforcement
board meant business right okay all
right
is there more
bold I didn't witness any
some of it looks kind of dark like that
might be how long and and you might not
know this and I don't know if anybody
who lived in this unit is anybody here
that lived in this unit
only Donna Manning she lived in it she
was the complainant but before that I
don't know who owned it or how long did
you live like this man you can't do that
oh no I can't all right I just wondered
how long this has been do you know how
long this has been going on
all I know is the date that we receive
the complaint okay
I can tell you that Donna Manning has
filled out a card to speak there you go
that's what all I knew she did that's
why and I'm sorry when she stands up you
can do it okay
and the concern that
um
well the issue that
they're trying to raise is they didn't
get noticed they didn't have enough
notice yes they're raising the concern
that they didn't get notice about the
Foreclosure hearing
but the Florida Statutes doesn't require
any notification for the Foreclosure it
just simply states that the code enforce
the after an order is imposed the city
can record that in public record as a
lien against the property and after 90
days the code enforcement board can
authorize a City attorney to foreclose
on the unpaid lien
okay and so all the notification
requirements start at the beginning we
do notice of uh we do requires it's like
if when a code enforcement officer
identifies a violation we're required by
a statute to notify the property owner
of the violation and give them a
reasonable time to correct it and if
they don't then we schedule a hearing
and that's when we're we're required to
send out the certified notices return
receipt postings hand delivery any way
you can try to get get notice out to the
property owner
and then that's for the first hearing
now this there's no there's no
requirement for a second Hearing in
chapter 162 but we do a second hearing
for notice of non-compliance for due
process reasons I think it's to comply
with Florida Statutes 219 is that the
due process section yes and it's also
chapter 162. well yes
um
so
then we have that hearing and that's
pretty much the last hearing until we
bring it back to the code enforcement
board for consideration of foreclosure
and traditionally we've never given
notice for that
and and
our correspondence with them they know
that foreclosure is going to be a
possibility correct so in the notice of
non-compliance
that was issued
on January 28th
all our letters go out with a cover
letter and here it says to stop accrual
of the daily fine the property owner
must the property must be brought into
compliance if compliance is not met and
the accrued fine is not paid within
three months of the date of the
recording the order of the recording of the order imposing fine the
property may be subject to foreclosure
proceedings and sold to enforce the lean
January 28th of this year yes sir okay
and the
discovered by the statue everything's
yes and I did speak to Mr Arbiter
yesterday about this um and statutorily
we've complied with everything that
we're required to do we're not required
to provide additional notice uh he's
asking for something that is in excess
of what we're required to provide the
property owner so as far as due process
is concerned we're covered now of course
it's this is up to the commission it's
completely discretionary if you wanted
to push this off to the next meeting
because this is what he's asked for
however it's not an opportunity for him
to challenge the findings of the code
enforcement board that's already been
determined and that was part of the
order that was recorded and is the lien
against the property simply it would I
guess be an opportunity just to try to
avoid the expense of the Foreclosure
should they somehow comply in the future
I am you know it's it surprises me that
uh you know we give them all this time
to to fix it and they don't do anything
but they want us they want us to give
them more time to do
yeah yeah I'm not right and the attorney
did attend the August 8th uh code
enforcement Board hearing there were
some other items on the agenda for Sharp
Circle that day so their attorney was
present he asked the board for
um continuance before they considered
doing a motion for foreclosure which the
code enforcement board denied his
request so you said there's 18 current
there's eight no there have been 18
violations
since February
2019 when occurring okay so right now
um I also put some
other open and unresolved violations so
there's a minimum housing code violation
against unit number 26. there's a
violation for an unsafe power pole and
there's an active code violation for the
condition of the roads is that powerful
still leaning today I'm sorry is that
power pole still leaning uh it's it's
still propped up they had not they have
not fixed and we walked that property
July 1st and we know we told them so
what happened on July 1st we had a storm
come through the night after we walked
through it and the power pole that was
right next to the the unit that is at
the main entrance that was blown over
during the storm
so they fixed that one immediately I
drove through on July 5th
and I'm actually there it is right thank
you yeah
so on July 8th when I'm driving by I see
this 2x4 propping up this power pole and
I'm thinking what's going on here so I
get out and I touch it and just from
touching it almost fell over so that's
what I called the building inspector out
I had him take a look at it and I have
to resist a life safety issue and he
says absolutely so
this is steel like this yes yes
been that way since July 8th so there's
been a lien recorded on that one
recently
for
so that's 528. here Eric this this is a
public safety and a health hazard and
the attorney has told us that we have
that I can ask for this place to be
totally shut down and I'm willing to
sign in order to shut it down if they
can't get it together right it's
absolutely ridiculous
that we're allowing this to go on that
we're allowing our citizens to live like
this
so if this isn't done quickly I will
sign an order to shut the place down now
we're going to find places for people to
live yes but this is absolutely
ridiculous and for an attorney to stand
in here
or to even contact our attorneys and ask
for a delay on this is absolutely
asinine I apologize for that but it's
crazy it's gone on too long
so what I what I have to say is you know
at this point at this point
the city knows
how bad this place is and if something
doesn't happen right away the city uh
Bears some of the liability so I think
we need to socialize we're just with
code enforcement with the chief with the
city manager it smells of mold and
mildew it smells of raw sewage and it's
not the resident's fault it is an owner
that is doesn't live here he doesn't
care about these people all he cares
about is collecting money at every month
from them
and and let one of them be late
oh 10 days and they're looking to be
evicted not only that we're just very
blessed no one has been hurt or died
yeah exactly and so we need to do
something before it does happen uh
cricket police chief real quick I'll
keep it brief this is probably the
number one problem right now in the City
of Eustis it is it is disgusting it is
horrible that residents have to live
like that this guy's a bully I talked to
a resident yesterday that he evicted a
lot of issues and he's all about he's a
typical slumlord greed Merchant and he
has a sense of entitlement and he sits
back down in Miami or South Florida
laughing at us while he so we this is I
got dep coming to work with us the State
Department of Environmental Protection
we're going to go after this the only
thing this guy's gonna understand is
when you hit him in a pocketbook and and
that's what we have to do we're not
going to let up this is our number one
priority what we're doing so uh it's
very it's very bad out there and I don't
want to see these poor residents have to
deal with that he jacked all their rents
up almost doubled their rents because
what's going on in the country people
like talk he doubled their rents the
park manager
you can't even talk to her she's nasty
she's rude she's abrasive
and uh she didn't want to deal with me
so but smart manager live on no she
doesn't oh she doesn't oh I think she
should have to she was at the cold board
with her attorney and all this guy's
trying to do is hire attorneys to muddy
the waters and and do all that but the
bottom line is it's not going to stop us
what can we do we're coming after him so
we're coming after him with the steak
and everything together
Mr chairman if you have anything to add
from the code enforcement side
so um hold on one second Alan do you
have anything from your side you're fine
then for the record Alan Paskowski chair
of the code enforcement board I've been
on the board for seven years where do
you want me to start on 44 sharp Circle
I've we've had numerous hearings for
residents who are victims of this
property in the abuseful management
non-concern or care for their health
welfare or safety
we have done everything that we can
within the law
provided them ample opportunity to
correct situations
poll that posed an eminent danger we
ordered it to be fixed within two days I
believe there one or two days
and the notice was hand delivered to the
property right after the code
enforcement board's ruling
at the last code enforcement board they
brought an attorney with a recorder that
would challenge the code enforcement
board with respect to not respecting due
process
we have never
on any occasion not given anybody who
appears in front of the code enforcement
board due process we have obtained and
listened to numerous complaints by
residents of the property who are forced
to live in property like this who are
then punitively dealt with because
they've complained to the city because
our board has taken action against them
and the manager has personally appeared
the new property manager they've had
several new property managers appeared
at the last at least two that I'm aware
of and uh
mayor Holland I couldn't agree with you
more
this is not what the City of Eustis or
its residents whether they're renters or
property owners deserve or should be
subjected to
answer any questions if you have any do
you have a question and I don't know if
you know this off the top of your head
how many if if we did
the shutdown how many people will be
displaced I really couldn't answer that
Miss God
I really don't know how many residents
the mobile home park has we could go
through and count the number of units
but as far as how many would be
displaced away for me to tell you well
we um I I do know there's 119 pads out
there I don't know if every pad has a
unit on it but it's 119. that's about
there's only maybe three pads
okay one another thing if I may add okay
I know the commission is aware of this
but as I understand it the uh the reason
that they're fighting us is because once
a trailer is condemned the plane is
placed against it and we order it to be
demolished it cannot be replaced because
they are over their density
and so that's one of the big issues that
their attorney and others have tried to
confront the code enforcement board with
is because once we order a unit that is
as disgusting as those you've seen to be
knocked down they cannot replace it so
that's a loss of income obviously as she
said it's
when I spoke to the day that we were out
there and I was speaking to miss Morales
and I was just brought up the condition
around some of the parks why the park
management isn't making sure making sure
it's residents are keeping the area
around their mobile homes clean and
sanitary and she told me that's a city's
job
um so how many how many um
how many of these trailers have you been invited into oh
just uh just number three and number six
I mean it's number three and number 26.
is it possible to do and I don't know if
this is something we want to look at
doing is it possible to do like a little
town hall meeting
with them with just Sharp's Park to talk
to them and to possibly get into all of
these units well that's something that I
want that's one of the focuses that
we're going to have I sent on July 5th I
sent Miss Morales an email asking for a
list of all of all the park owners so I
could determine which which mobile homes
are privately owned and which ones the
park owns yes and I didn't receive
anything when I when I'd hand delivered
that life notice of Life Safety
violation I asked her about it and she
pretty much told me that I'm going to
have to go to the vice president or you
know the
she it was not within her authority to
provide that information I would have to
go to the property owner Hansel
Rodriguez or the the director of
operations to to get it
you can't because it's all in the land
industry and you can't it's not like
real property a mobile home is
um defined under State Statute as a
vehicle that's licensed through the
Department of Motor Vehicles so my
office
no they don't on the land so my office
can't go you know for real property we
can go to the Lake County Property
Appraisers website
search it find who the owner of record
is and send notice out to them well for
mobile for mobile homes we don't have we
don't have that capability we don't
there's no way for us to find you know
we could run the tag but I bet half the tags in that mobile home are
expired yeah it seems like we have a
good representative group tonight we
should be able to give us some feedback
yeah and be able to get the word out to
everyone else yeah yeah
I would I I do want to ask um so we have two types of units in here we
have units that are owned by the
occupants and then we have units that
are owned by the park that they rent out
if we were to take code enforcement
action against a unit that is owner
occupied is it the owner occupant that
is being cited or is it the property
owner that's under Florida statute the
city cannot
um impose fines against a park owner for
a violation that's created by a mobile
home owner
so it would be against the mobile
homeowner yes okay but we don't know how
many
well like I'm sorry we don't know how
many 44.
structure is crumbling and if the
infrastructure is what's causing the
problem of the of the mobile home
planner we can't hold them so like the
chief was talking about the odor I think
everyone picked it up picked up on it um
when they when they walk through so
there is near 134 they had to do a
massive uh sewer line repair and they
had to bypass a bunch and they cut a big
trench and ran a hundred and something
feet of or relocated so right where the
lift station is all of that those lines
come into a manhole and if you stand
right next to the
in the carport right next to it you can
smell the odor of sewage I mean it's
very prominent I asked the
um I asked the property manager could
you please get a plumber out here and
find out why there's such an odor coming
out of this and she says oh we'll look
into it but they never follow there's a
lot of flooding in there too every time
it rains that's that's a cricket police
chief that's where dep is going to come
in with the state for those those uh
human waste feces there's feces coming
up out of the ground out of pipes and
when when the state comes in and shuts
them down that's you know that's what's
gonna it's gonna take that and the
residents organizing yeah and and uh not
tolerating this type of stuff
thank you let's let's do this let's go
ahead and hear from a few residents what
I'm going to ask is if you try if you
come up we want to hear you I think you
know where we are as a commission at
this point try not to repeat yourselves
we do have a good deal of stuff to go we
care believe me uh if if I could ask if I really wanted to push the issue I'd
have the attorney do something tonight
to where I'd close the place down but
then it's going to displace every one of
you and and I can't do that I I've got
to know that you all are safe and you
have a place to live
um but
um let's hear from a few of you Tom will
call you up in just a minute
um like I said please just try not to
repeat too much of what you're what
trivia is saying Tom go ahead all right
I've got a card from Donna Manning
Donna you knew you would be first
[Laughter]
hi I'm Donna Manning and I am the tenant
from 3 and 26.
so um
I moved in there on May 1st of 2021.
I was promised the bathroom would be
renovated within two to three weeks
I gave them until August 4th I contacted
the owner at that time Hansel Rodriguez
advising him that if something wasn't
done I was going to be forced to file
complaint with code enforcement I was
completely ignored by him
another gentleman named Dave cozy which
is the
vice president operations or something
at that time
so then I went ahead and filed the
complaint I had no idea
the amount of danger that I was in until
Eric came out
I was lied to
about the wires from the property
manager she says oh no those are dead
wires don't worry about it
I couldn't touch those wires my guests
could have touched those wires and in
fact one of the park employees at that
time came down and went to cut the one
down that you've seen in the bathroom
hanging to the floor and it was like the
Fourth of July
because she
the park manager told us that they
weren't alive she lied she could have
got somebody killed
you how many how many uh
kids are in the in the uh in the trailer
park how many how many kids children
there's really not many children in
there it's supposed to be a 55 and older
okay now how many visit
and have you ever had any kids to visit
yours I have um a good friend of mine
that has brought his daughter there a
couple of times she was five at the time
okay yeah all right okay question you you you don't have dance if you want
to how much is your rent now
you would have track okay I started out
at number three the rental agreement was
541 or 551 I'm sorry
um when it got condemned they moved me
into 20s they didn't move me into 26 I
moved myself they did nothing for me
um and then they told me it was 5 41.
the property manager the current
property manager filed an eviction
against me on the 12th of September
stating that my monthly rent is 524.
it was dismissed by the judge because
it included somebody else's paperwork so
the judges missed it she went and
refiled it
the following week following Monday now
it's 5 42 so she doesn't even know so
how do I know what my rent is Hispanic
what does that include
what what does your rent include it's
supposed they do pay the electric okay
um and it's supposed to include Lawn
Care my grass right now is
I know what about water you pay your own
water or what
um no yeah we pay 67 a month water
that's the base rents like 475 and then
67 water do you pay 67 to the city or to
the yeah we pay it all to the park you
pay it to the park it's it's a Master
Meter so one meter
um 67 what do you pay
60
67. 67 a month there's 119 units in
there but
probably I'm going to say at least 10 to
12 of them are
dumps
they're abandoned they're rat infested
causing other tenants to have rats
it's on the other side of the street
yeah she's she's one of the previous
managers there and when she was the
manager there somebody came down from
either Jacksonville or Gainesville or
something some inspectors 26 sharp
Circle and 209 sharp Circle have no VIN
number on them they're not titled
and they can never be sold
but I I'm thinking that maybe because
they're on their property they have the
right to rent them I don't know that I
don't know the laws
um
so I'm not sure how that works but those
are the only two rentals and I did
receive
a letter from their attorney Mr Arbiter
on um the well
I about a prohibitive practice case
against them they turned my electric off
the week of Christmas last year
the the previous management yeah no
warning nothing 40 degrees at night no
heat nothing
so I found a prohibited practice case
against them and I settled out of court
with them
three days later I got a letter in the
mail saying we are no longer renting it
after September 30th you need to be out
on September 30th
after all they've put me through and now
they throw him out on the street because
all of a sudden it's not September 30th
of this month that you've yes ma'am
you're going to be evicted I got it I
was posted on my door today from the
sheriffs
I have a question
um
is an entity that does not have a water
service let's just say like you know we
have our own water and we pay when
they're collecting are legally is the
park allowed to make money
off of their water
I'd have to check um normally they
charge what what the actual expense is
um there might be a minor fee that they
can charge for administration normally
but I don't know about making money
that's not something
yeah every Public Services I can double
check
we have one meter how do you yeah yeah
every time I pay 67 dollars
let's just say they have one meter and
the bill is you know 500 a month I'm just using it
for for round numbers
for whatever you you
to my knowledge I I don't think they're
allowed to make money it doesn't sound
like they should no it's again I
understand your administration fee but
you know what exactly yes you know where
I'm going with that yeah a lot of that
does cover a common areas where if they
have Landscaping I'm not sure what the
circumstances are but obviously the
charge could include common areas as
well which may not be just for the unit
but it's typically something that is
Administrative do you all have
irrigation
if there is an administration fee I'd
like to know exactly what that entails
you know truthfully what I think we need
to do and I'm not trying to cut any of
you off we're dealing with just the
foreclosure on this right now we we need
to have a community meeting
um and and let's do it that way I'm not
trying to stop any of you from talking
tonight but I think what we need to do
is just go ahead and deal with what's in
front of us
um I think we can get ourselves into a
lot of trouble if we don't just deal
with this right now
um and then get with we'll get with Eric
and we'll come out we'll post a notice
of when we can all get back together and
to make it easier on you all we might
just try to have it maybe at the Chamber
of Commerce building in the back room
um and have an open meeting where you
all can come as um uh residents to talk
to us I've got one question before I let
anybody sit down is is the manager of
the park here tonight is the attorney
here tonight or is there a
representative from the owner here
tonight yeah
answers a lot of my questions he did Mr
Arbiter stated that he had a conflict
because he was just alerted as far as
today's tonight's meeting
um and he is in Davie so he would have
to travel about four hours to be here
tonight so
um
he has he has a manager that represents
them that could have been here as well
so I just wanted to be clear I
appreciate that the only problem with
that is because these tenants have
watched me be retaliated against for 18
months now on that part they're afraid because if you speak up
you get evicted
I just want to let everyone know I put a
stack of my business cards on the table
by the front door so as you're going out
if you would like one grab it
you're gonna have to come up to do it
and I did want to answer somebody's
question and ask if there was mold in
the unit yes there was my cat passed
away from it and now now as you can see
I'm having breathing problems so I'm
like yes
your name please guys I just want to uh
Carlos
um I've only been there for a few short
months
um I actually own and bought the trailer
with everything I had
uh because I was living in a hotel so I
had no choice
um I don't have a lease I don't know who
else has the leash but I don't have a
lease
I don't I don't have a lease and they
have changed my rent every single month
since I've been there
I just want to let everybody know that I
don't have a lease
all right
I don't I don't know what my rights are
without Elise
um and one more thing Lake Shore Drive
sir if you could please
30 miles an hour without the remote
it's crazy it's crazy sure so I'm just
going to smash right through my my place
I just wanted to make that I don't have
a lease thank you well as far as Elise
is concerned you can't have a motion
month please you're not you're not
required to have a lease in writing per
se I don't want to get into
the the legal issues that their owner
that you know shark might have it so
that's concerned but there are
month-to-month leases and that could be
what's being applied now there are
requirements and obviously that would
have to be it's case specific so I would
not feel comfortable you know saying
anything uh on the record about that
because it depends on on each unit but
there is there's such a thing as month
to month
on the folks that uh if they try to
retaliate is there anything we can do as
a city
um to stop them from kicking these folks
out of their residence until we can come
to an agreement
we could um look into because of the
safety issues possibly enjoining them
from from taking action against the actual occupants okay we'll go ahead
and start checking on that absolutely
because we're going to have to do
something yeah so it sounds like most of
the mobile homes are home yes which is
totally opposite from what my
so if you foreclose on the property
underneath
the performance it's a it's a it's a
mess SMS but right now
people are going to die out there if we
don't step in it's getting worse
um do we know if they're owners that are
actually selling
their
mobile homes 2 44 sharp now
okay yeah another question I have is can
they move to another place if they find
if we can find another mobile home park
where they can move their homes to is
that is that most of those places are
not movable they're on wheels off
so looking at
him
all right
let's go ahead and bring it back to you
um if you want to close this part and
we'll do what we need to do all right so
we're going to go ahead and close public
comment I I'm I'm sorry mayor I do have
one more card
who do we have uh it's just someone
who's identified as Dawn
John do you need to speak or do you are
you going to let us okay come on up real
quick
thank you
I just want to briefly say too because I
am a tenant there I bought my mobile
two years ago after Mr Rodriguez had
bought the property
um I moved from out of state to be close
to my mother
and supposedly reading in the paper the
improvements and bringing things stuff
up to code was kind of one of the
reasons plus being low income
that was something I could afford even
though it was a fixer-upper and I'm
pretty handy
um nobody has seen Mr Rodriguez since he
bought the property I know that there's
been other tenants that have reached out
to try to get a hold of him about
certain things that needed fixing
updated and nobody's got no responses
um
as far as that electric pole that tipped
over I was the one that actually came up
across that after I went and checked my
mail and was coming through the park and
I noticed it laying down so I kept my
car parked there and I called Duke
Energy and different things to try to
get somebody come out because that area
is always flooded when it rains then
Poles get rotted after so many years and
it just tipped right over
you know
just being you know access to that
um
because lot rent has been rising in the
two years I've been there it started out
at like 3 45 when I moved in two years
ago as of last month with the base rent
the water sewered lawn
um two years back taxes were being
charged for uh almost 18 a month for a
year
to pay property taxes of the past two
years
has been added onto our flat rate
so mine right now is 570 dollars a month
I make about a thousand three hundred
months I'm being evicted next week
because I cannot afford the lot rent
and I'll be homeless because I have no
place to go
and there's like four other people in
the park that are also being evicted
because we can't afford and we're
getting behind on a rent
and I live next to the three empty ones
by the railroad tracks for two years
they don't keep the grass and weeds
around the trailer kept up I tried doing
it I get full of splinters and Spurs and
everything from the weeds and the little
Sanders
the grass is now getting up to our hips
and if we do it I asked the manager for
um a discount on my rent because I'm
doing my own lawn even if it's sweet
with a weeder she said no you're doing
that out of the kindness of your heart
okay that I can't get a discount on my
rent even though it was in the main
paperwork we get
I live next to those three empty
trailers for two years
I am the one that went and re-boarded up
number three because of homelessness
constantly going in there in the middle
of the night to do whatever they do and
how can we sleep restfully when we don't
know what's going on next door to us
whether someone's gonna break in or
whatever or the place is going to burn
down because who knows what they're
doing
it took me a half a day with a herniated
disc to board that trailer up completely
so they could not get in there
and a lot of the owners most people own
their trailers there and what he was
saying about coming in to inspect
everybody's place that the owners would
be the ones to get and find if there's
any no that's a problem we were just
concentrating on trying to find the ones
that were owned by the mobile home park
okay because owners we were trying to
find out who the ones were so we could
separate those out and do a process of
elimination and find out which ones the
park actually are because I would say
that the owners would probably be
reluctant to let you know them come in
and check because who knows how long
they've been there and with our limited
income it's hard to try to make
improvements
and I would be glad to see something
being done all right thank you so much
thank you well I'll close the public
comment section all right Commissioners
we have the force resolution number
22-68 what's the will of our commission
so moved second all right first and
second any further discussion
roll call please
commissioner Smith
commissioner Cobb aye commissioner
Hawkins aye vice mayor Lee aye mayor
Holland aye
folks we're going to work on this so
bear with us Eric Martin we'll start
we'll get you a date where we can all
meet and sit and talk for a little bit
okay and we will publicize that meeting
so that all the commission can be there
and we can interact with you a little
bit better okay thank you and I'm very
sorry
it's heartbreaking Madam attorney
next we have resolution 22-69 a
resolution of the city Commission of the
City of Eustis Florida approving a code
enforcement board action to authorize
the City attorney to foreclose on two
outstanding code enforcement liens
recorded against 15 hassles on the
street
so mayor we do not have a formal
presentation uh this is a case where
we've had some issues uh some issues
with uh water customer service and the
water meter I think at this point it is
um occupied by
squatters basically and we're
recommending moving forward with the
foreclosure on the lien if you do have
any questions again Mr Martin is here
Chief Capri has had some interaction
with the people that are currently in
the house and so we'd be happy to try to
answer any questions you may have
it's really bad is there anyone in the
audience that would like to speak as to
resolution 22-69
seeing
we just resolution 22-69
.
y'all it's not your part yes
[Laughter]
seeing none Mr Mayor commissioners
before us we have resolution
22-69 what's the will of our commission
so moved thank you second thank you
ma'am any further discussion not hearing
any roll call please commissioner hope
Smith
commissioner Cobb aye commissioner
Hawkins aye vice mayor Lee aye mayor
Holland aye
next we have resolution 22-64 a
resolution by the city Commission of the
City of Eustis Lake County Florida
adopting the final millage Levy of ad
valorem taxes for the City of Eustis
Lake County for the fiscal year
2022-2023 providing for an effective
date
mayor members of commission Mike Shepard
Finance director uh tonight we're doing
the final reading on the millage rate
it's going to be 7581
and um
it is 8.2 percent higher than the
rollback rate of seven
00464.
uh any questions
nope okay for anyone in the audience I
would like to speak on resolution 22-64
seeing none public comment is closed Mr
Mann commissioners before speaking of
resolution 22-64 what's the will of our
commission move for approval thank you
ma'am
a second thank you ma'am any further
discussion not hearing any roll call
please commissioner of the Hope Smith
aye commissioner Cobb aye commissioner
Hawkins aye vice mayor Lee aye mayor
Holland aye
and last we have resolution 22-65 a
resolution by the city Commission of the
City of Eustis Lee County Florida
adopting the final budget for the fiscal
year
2022-2023 providing for an effective
date Mr Shepard yes this uh is the final
reading for the this year's budget this
is the document that
culminates everything that we've talked
about for the last three or four months
so
we've had to try to get as much input as
we could
directors uh you all
and staff have really done a great job
of putting this document together and
getting the information necessary for it
and the millage rate will support this for the general fund
and
I do want to give credit the photos
we're
from
Salt Lake Nature Center
they provided those that's so cute they
were yes
any questions from the commission
is there anyone in the audience that
would like to speak on resolution 22-65
seeing none public comment is closed Mr
Mayor Commissioners report staff
resolution number 22-65 what's the will
of our commission
thank you all any further discussion not
hearing any roll call please
commissioner hope Smith
aye commissioner Cobb aye commissioner
Hawkins aye vice mayor Lee I'm mayor
Holland aye Mike thank you and your
staff for all you've done it was a
pleasure to work with you all this year
on this I hope you enjoy the process and
I think it's well worthwhile thank you madam attorney thank you so
much if you would start looking on some
of those you've heard some of our
concerns with Sharpsburg if you all
could start working on absolutely
fourths please thank you so much other
business uh City commission compensation
Mr Howe
Bill Howe Director of Human Resources
you've been provided a staff report
regarding commission compensation this
is based on the conversation of the last
commission meeting where the commission
asked staff to make a recommendation
based on area municipality wages paid to
Commissioners and the mayor
brief summary is we've recommended
the current amount for the commission is
fifty four hundred dollars a month a
year excuse me uh that was a year now to
make a difference
yeah you want to see 400 annually
as we said that was last adjusted in
1989 33 years ago uh the com the wages
for the mayor's 6400 annually we're
recommending that when you look at the
top eight population jurisdictions in
the county and you average those other
than Eustis the average is eight
thousand dollars that's our
recommendation for the commission the
average of the mayor's positions in the
other large cities uh is 9751 annually
we're recommending a uh an amount of
97.50 annually
we'd also recommend that the commission
consider making future increases
annually as given to other General
employees that will prevent us from
going 33 years without looking in a wage
adjustment
I provided information at the last
meeting regarding medical insurance it's
provided to two cities in Lake County
and then we're asking what the will of
the commission is regarding the medical
insurance I've provided cost information
for those and I'd be happy to answer any
questions of Bill
all right
um so this will need to come back for a
vote correct Tom
yes
um we're asking for consensus this
evening and if if what we've recommended
is acceptable then we'll actually have
to bring back a budget amendment sure um
but it's um the total cost is such that
it's something that we can take out of
contingency
and so but we do have to bring back a
budget amendment for you so wage
increase if the wage increases were made
total increases thirteen thousand seven
hundred fifty dollars in wages okay so
let's let's talk compensation first uh
Karen are you okay with the change in
compensation Emily Willy yeah all right
so you've got unanimous on compensation
let's go to health insurance
um man what do you feel about health
insurance well I know you're purchasing
it I purchased the city insurance and
make no mistake it is wonderful
Insurance yes but and it's just a single
policy on myself and it's about 900 a
month
so you're eating up everything you make
just to pay for insurance pretty much I
work for nothing so yeah but which is it
is what it is so you know I can
I'll take it either way you know what
I'm saying you know I look at the 2600
jump and and I'm good with that I'm good
with that you know whatever the will of
the commission is I mean I'm good either
way do you want to add insurance or you
want to leave it just the compensation
change will you I don't need it but I
think that
the option should be there okay yes
exactly are we considered part-time you
are
our part-timers offered Insurance not in
the city no
so I would say no okay
and Emily
um it should be nothing it should be an
option okay and I think it should be an
option also I I don't I'm like you
really I don't need it but it's my work
right more than wealth takes care of me
but I think it should be an option and I
think it will make it more appealing to
people that may want to run for City
commission and and I will say this I
know we're considered part-time but I
can promise you it's not
I think you all know that I do more than
27 hours and Karen I do believe we had
it at one time I did do away with it so
um it was an option before I think it
should be something optional that people
want to opt for it all right I think the
part of the reason we took it away
because then more commissioners
were paid
additional
seem like
um
for the insurance I mean as a as
well I guess if you only take it on
yourself the city pays all of the
insurance depending on what plan you
selected there are some two of the base
plans there would be no charge for the
commissioner City cost that's where the
inequality came out about because the
Commissioners that chose it was they were covered by the taxpayer
so that was why it was deleted
and they did the same time they did away
with FRS as well yes yeah it was a lot
of different reasons there was a lot of
different things they did away with
yeah just because there was some some
Commissioners felt there was an
inequality yeah and I just didn't
remember the reasons and and you know it
could be a situation where if you just
um
do the base whatever and if you want the
next package then you pay for it
so you know so it would be my belief
that the benefit provided to full-time
employees would be provided to
commissioners
if Commissioners as full-time employees
do they select the base plan the city
would pay and generally we're paying
about eighty four hundred dollars a year
for single coverage
fifteen thousand dollars for family
coverage
if the commission or the full-time
employee wants to upgrade to a higher
level HMO or PPO then then the employee
of the commissioner would pay that
difference I didn't know because I just
paid the whole thing yeah
okay
I think I think we can bring it back
that way okay so we will
um we'll how about we contact the
Commissioners individually to see what
their interest is in health insurance
and then we'll bring some for that okay
sounds good to everybody
all right thank you thank you Bill
uh next one uh where are we at
discussion at downtown and East Town
Redevelopment agency board CRA and the
community representative positions
I promise
okay so this is a continuation of a
discussion we had at the last Commission
meeting and there were some additional
questions that were brought up and so
hopefully I'll be able to address those
so
we expanded the CRA board back in 2018
according to the fra 97 percent of CRA
board members are local elected
officials and in our case uh the the CRA
board is the five members uh back in
2018 we added the two Community reps and
that was under Florida statute
163.357 governing body which consists of
five members May appoint two additional
members to act as members of the
community redevelopment agency and this
will address one of the questions that
came up at the last meeting the statute
actually says the term shall be for four
years except that the first person
appointed shell initially served for two
years and that's to stagger the terms so
our initial appointee was Dan Kelsey Dan
Kelsey
then left and so that that two-year term
has been
um
we're on four-year terms at this point
and the statute says they have to be
four-year terms so we don't have the
ability to to I know one of the
questions was can we go to two-year
terms or one-year terms uh we cannot do
that based on the statute
so
the um the statute the statute does
require that the new board members must
reside or be engaged in business in the
CRA and it also says that the board
members are subject to Sunshine Law and
to the code of ethics
um that all elected officials are
subject to
so this is a little bit of an
explanation there were some questions
about the language we had in there
so there were some questions as to why
do we talk about requiring expertise in
architecture Finance construction land
use affordable housing sustainability
and or community redevelopment and when
I pulled up the research there were two
bills in 2018 one house bill and one
Senate Bill the Senate bill was actually
going to require that we add two members
the bill didn't pass but it was going to
not only require that we add two members
but the two new members couldn't be
elected officials and they had to have
expertise in architecture Finance
construction so what we did was we
borrowed that language the commission at
the time said we kind of like that
language and even though the Senate Bill
didn't pass let's use that language
and so that's why that language is in
there
so items for your consideration
um one thing that was mentioned is what
if we ask the community reps to give
periodic reports
to the commission and by that I think
the intent was if you're out there
talking to the community if you're
attending events come back and report to
us as to what kind of public input
you're getting what events have you
attended what upcoming events are you
planning to attend uh that type of thing
and then another item
is
um the the resolution that was passed
actually encourage professional
development and continuing education but
I will be honest I have not encouraged
that enough so we should be working with
our two Community reps to talk to them
about opportunities at Florida
Redevelopment Association and everybody
should have gotten in the packet of the
fra annual meeting is upcoming in
mid-october and so we should be
encouraging our community reps to go to
this and then fra also has a
certification program where they do
periodic trainings uh around the state
and so
um again we in this in the resolution we
have said we encourage professional
development
um
and continuing education but I will be
more aggressive about that moving
forward and so
that's all I have at this point
um so really items to if we can't we
can't do anything about the terms uh so
the question is do you want to continue
having these two positions
if so do you want the Reps to do
periodic reporting and I will be more
aggressive about professional
development and so I'd be happy to
listen to any feedback you might have
vice mayor start us off
I have some concerns about
um can even continuing
I like that the suggestions about uh I
feel like there needs to be a better
connection
if they're going to be the community
reps they come they sit and they just
listen to us and we get nothing back so
I I like that idea that they come back
we know that they're interacting with
the community we know that they're
getting
feedback from the community and they
bring back to us I guess I'd like to see
that happen I really really encourage
um the
education part of it I think that's very
important
my concern is
the the qualifications when you go back
to it the land use
um
knowing these things
um that seems like it's limits
the participation of people having these
kinds of qualifications
um I I think it would be wonderful if we
could find someone to do that but I do
think it's important that
um they have a
they were asking about voting that isn't
as much of an issue to me as their
being connected to the community and
being able to feedback give us some
information and interact with us on that note so that's more important to
me than whether or not they can vote but
if they couldn't vote and it's nothing
other than the way we've been doing it I
would say demolished get rid of it but
if we add all these other things I think
it's important and I think it'll create
a better
um kind of position if we did if we do
those things okay so if we add the
education ring and the other thing
reporting back you're good with going
ahead and keeping the two seats yes on
the CRA yes my question is how do they
apply and then they can show that they
have expertise in these areas and then
they come back to us and we choose them
that's the process okay
it's it's similar to every other board
in commission we have so there's a
standard application and they would fill
that out
really I
you know I think we should keep them uh
I think that they should stay on we well
we should uh you know keep the two uh
Community uh members okay I think to
do a way way with them is a step back
for us okay uh
the one thing I'm not crazy about is
you know this verbiage architecture
Finance construction you know we want
people that live here that that love
this city and they all may not have
and I'm sure the majority of the people
that may apply you know won't have any
of that stuff so I don't know what
previous commissions
uh thought when they wanted to include
that
um but I don't want to use that as a way
to kind of weed people out I think love
of community
uh you know wanting to see Eustis grow
is is probably a little bit more
important than some of this and I agree
we do need to have that feedback
I think that would be great to him have
them come in and
you know and give us that feedback
um you know what communities think and
what the communities say all right
sounds good I think they would feel good
about being a part of it when they can
give something back it helps them feel
like they're a part of the sport yes
ma'am
Karen
um I am a proponent of keeping the people
okay I I do understand that the verbiage
does
put most of us out heck I think we all
need to take the class I mean it
wouldn't hurt any of us to be involved
in that but um
I'm still in favor of keeping the two Representatives
Dan
um Yes actually I did sign up for the
class okay that week so I am signed up I
would like to see the word expertise
removed I don't think I think expertise
kind of
um you know and we could add some
language in there as well but I think
these things a lot of them will happen
when they get educated and when they
attend the classes okay so I think that
problem will solve itself but I also do
like you know love of community you know
things of the like however and I totally
agree with Emily that
you've got to come with something you
have to come and and I want I want to
see engagement in east and west
you just can't just because you're from
Easter just because you're from West
doesn't mean we separate I don't like
that separation go to everything
just go to everything because how can
you be knowledgeable about something
that we do maybe with George fast or
something that we're doing maybe
downtown if you're not involved in it or
you're not get the education to get the
background in it I I want to see them
involved in in both sides okay because
we are one Eustis and so I I want that
um
I want that inclusive like that we need
more information you know we need to see
you know what what do you see you know
so you don't you're right and they don't
have a vote and I I truly believe that
needs to come from an elected official I
do however it doesn't mean that what you
say isn't important but you've got to
come with us with something other than
just coming and sitting up here we've
got to have some more interaction
so I'm a pronoun for keeping it but we
just we've got to tweak it a little bit
I I'm in favor of keeping it as well
um I I believe that the education part
is very important whether we're engaging
Tom in the the format that you've got
before you or for what the Florida
League of cities offers as well yes
um so um and you know we sit here we say
we want Community involvement but yet we
put these two seats on a chopping block
it's not fair to the community so we
need to keep it okay okay a couple of
things
um if we do want to modify the language
It Is by we did approve it by resolution
so I will have to bring you back a
modified resolution if you'd like uh I
can look at that what would you do you
want to just remove the word expertise
and then put something in there or do
you want to remove that entire section
well this says education or experience
does this the advertisement it doesn't
say expertise
so it depends on what the resolution is
that the word expertise may have been in
the original Senate bill I think that's
right and so yeah the resolution may
have modified yeah
just take a look at it okay I will bring
it back that way and maybe Community
involvement sure
and then the final thing
um commissioner Cobb mentioned um so
there's
um
the Florida Redevelopment association
annual conference is October 12th to the
14th it's in Daytona uh that first day
the 12th there is
um a session called CRA board training
it's basically CRA basic CRA 101
um and uh so Al and I are going for the
entire conference but that CRA board
training might be the most valuable
session and so there is still an
opportunity to sign up for that so if
you would like to sign up for that we
can get everybody signed up and we can
take care of that for you
we have Emo the same week are you going
to emo no one in uh no Tampa okay
because I'm just traveling from Daytona
and then I'll do you know the one that
the the meaning that he's talking about
and then a couple of the classes and the
next day then you leave then I'll go to
Tampa
so we'll reach out to each commissioner
individually and you can let us know do
you want to do just the the CRA board
training or the entire event yeah and uh
we'll get it squared away okay Christine
would you please make sure that if more
than one of them are going you notify it
so that we don't get the Sunshine Law
catch us okay
just noticed it
so all right
um we're going to take a quick five
minute break and then we'll come back
and we will do the regulations on
backyard chickens and finish our meeting
up so five minute break this boat
welcome back everyone we're going to
move down down to regulations relating
uh to Backyard chickens who wants to
start Tom you want to start or we go
turn it over to Mike sure I'll uh just
kind of open with
um this is um something that I was going
to bring up under reports but it might
be relevant to this conversation
um I think we've had several
Commissioners talk about having a
workshop on density and future land use
and kind of looking at some items in our
comprehensive plan
and
um that's probably not a hour before a
normal Commission meeting type of
workshop and so I was looking at a
Saturday Workshop
and I I know that's painful but that's
probably the kind of time we're gonna
need to talk
um I'd like to do it sooner rather than
later I don't know
um
I've talked to a couple of Commissioners
about Saturday October 8th
uh does
um do we mind looking at and the reason
I'm bringing this up is part of this
conversation might be that uh backyard
foul are appropriate in certain land use
categories and so maybe it's um part of
the discussion is uh where is this
appropriate and in what land use
categories and so this might be
I think it's reasonable to have some
discussion this evening about about this
but I also think that this might be a
larger land use discussion and we can do
that on October 8th if the commission
is available I'm okay I'm not I'm
available I'm not
okay what about October 1st
no I'm not I'm in Baltimore on the 8th
I'm not available on the 15th but I am
on the 22nd and I'm not
wait a minute that's the Fall Festival
on 22nd night the 22nd is Fall Festival
could we do it on a Monday or Tuesday
night do you think how much time do you
think we need
um we probably need two to three hours I
would think
we could I mean if we were to if we were
to do it on a weeknight and start at say
4 P.M maybe we did that one of our
recent meetings we did that was it a
budget Workshop
uh where we started early on a weekday
I'd rather do it during the weekdays my
weekends are
slammed
by October our regular Thursdays or six
in the 20th what about the third of
October on a Monday I'm good
the third of October
I'm good October 3rd October 3rd
I'd rather do it sooner than later yeah
I can do October 3rd
is this a and I let me ask Mike and Jeff
and Heather uh there's going to be some
prep work that goes into this do we
think we can pull together the
information we need by October by Monday
October 3rd
it's a cake they can do it
[Laughter]
laughs
okay
um we want to start earlier
I think
if you woke that I was wondering more
about you you don't really care
I'm in short-termers mode at work so
she's retired first of the year okay
yeah you don't care are we gonna do a
breakfast oh no
[Laughter]
you want to start at some 6 30 a.m
breakfast all right why don't you start
doing my first conference call at 5
30 every time
okay uh why don't we do three o'clock on
the third if that works for staff
you guys good
um I it it looks like that will work on
the calendar
you all right okay and if you'll remember when we
brought this up the last time talking
about the consideration of chickens I
said there are places that I am not
opposed to chickens and there are places
that I am opposed to them I think having
this conversation
um during this Workshop is where this
conversation needs to take place
um I think that Mike's presentation I've
read through parts of it and I think
that um that that needs to be a part of
what we looked at during this
presentation to be honest with you I
agree and I know you all made a special
trip here tonight you've sat here all
night with us but I I did not know that
this is the way we were going to try to
do this but I think it works out better
and I think it's better for the citizens
of Eustis
um
and there's a lot of reasons why we need
to do this land use stuff as we grow we
want to be fair to the citizens to the
east of Eustis as we look at annexations
and things like that that we're making
the right decisions to be good neighbors
and to make it to where people want to
Annex into the City and I I just think
this is the perfect time for this so
um if it's okay I think we even delay
this presentation to us part of this
meeting but that's up to this commission
I agree
so y'all are okay you okay um Karen you
okay
um so I'm Mike I'm sorry I know you
stayed here too all dressed up tonight
with a time with a tie and everything
but let's let's go ahead and make this
part of our presentation on October
uh for okay okay yes all right all right
I want to say kudos to Mike and his crew
that put this together this was so nice
it was easy to read yes and it was
um
I thought it was an excellent
presentation compiled in a few pages so
okay
pages
so don't complain I took a nap so
um if you won't get a copy of what we're
looking at
this so um that's the regular City
commission talk about this dude can you
share that with with these folks
here
so due to Ada accessibility yes this was
not included online in the packet it was
something that was emailed it is
definitely available to the public
um we just wasn't something that we put
up online
we'll get you a copy also
if anybody wants any of the presentation
like Tom said because of ADA regulations
we're not able to put some things online
but if you'll contact the city manager's
office we can email that full 22 page
presentation to you if you want it this
is a great uh outline of really
everything kind of condensed though okay
that staff put together but we'll have a
full conversation after next at that at
that special meeting
everybody good all right let's move on
to Future agenda items um
help me uh
you're good okay okay Karen nothing
thank you yeah I'm good really future
agenda I'm good anything to report Karen
somewhere but
it's going yeah man anything to report
for him yes sir um uh this past Sunday
um
Atwood Family Farms out in the blueberry
farm out in Eustis had a another ribbon
cutting if you will and a name change to
Amber Brook Farms and so the mayor and I
attended that and it was just they were
really really we were just really excited that they
invited us you know and they were glad
to have us so it was a nice turnout
they've done a lot out to that property
I remember when it used to be the old
Alger property and they filmed Jeepers
Creepers Scary Movie out there so
they've done a lot of work so if you get
a chance go out there they're the nicest
people you could ever want to meet the
Atwoods in the hills are just really
super folks so if you get a chance go on
out
um
we had as the mayor had talked before we
had had a meeting we all did with fdot
regarding us getting a little bit of
attention at the Clover out there at
441-19
and kind of up and down
in Eustis
probably a week later
they came in mode it came in mode it is
it completely finished no because that's
one heck of a project but at least it's
mode you can actually see the sidewalk I didn't remember sidewalk being there
so but they have done a good job so
we're very very thankful
um you know that commissioner trunow had
set all that up for us took three months
to get the meeting but it was just a
really Pleasant meeting and we're very happy that giving us a little bit
of attention now when we're on the radar
so um things are getting cleaned up if
you will in Eustis and I just had one
question for Papa I mean Rick
I'm sorry
foreign
[Music]
no I just wondered where we were with
the islands an island update
it's already stuck
puppy so we're
we need to get the plant the revised
plans I kinda have not pushed Oh I
thought you had gone with your mom I
thought you got hold around
um we need to pick out the material
which we've got the list to be able to
pick okay but yeah I need to get him
kind of trued up but I'll do that I'll
talk to him and see where it is yep
thank you all righty got it while Rick
is at the podium everyone we will be
having a update back on the cemetery
we've talked about it
um there was just a little bit of a
challenge the way that things have been
written uh whether we go resolution
for okay
the other way ordinance
that's what we're working on once that's
done that'll be back in front of the
commission okay
all right thank you Rick is that it man
that's it really okay
um
The Gauntlet has been oh boy now again
um I got the phone call no you got it
good yeah good I gave her your number
okay
um Lake cares they have their the annual
uh Christmas Gala and
um Tavares and Mount Dora have have
challenged
this Commission
uh to do the Christmas tree yes now the
thing this year commissioner Carr
is that they will provide the tree
and I hear it's a Charlie Brown tree so
I can make Walmart look good okay well
good because you got to do it
um
I got you and I've talked to them about
uh just judging the cities as opposed to
okay us against so do we get a big tree
that we got psyched out the last time we
were told four foot tree and I get there
and everyone's got these eight foot
trees yeah they're trying to get at
least for us the smaller ones okay I'll
we'll do the big I'll do the big one as
well but I just want to level playing
and uh
grant writers
uh I spent some time with some friends
over the last week and a half and
they're out in uh
Louisiana
and they were talking about the
importance of Grant riders for them and
I'd like to know how things are going
with us and if it's a compensation thing
because grant writers are so important
too what we want to do and how we want
to grow
do we need to
look at maybe raising that
sure so we have the position advertised
one thing that has changed is we brought
Al on board and Al has some experience
and actually
um working with representative trunow's
office we submitted uh two
Appropriations grants and although
nothing is official I think one of those
projects is likely to get some funding
so that's and the the Al wrote those
requests we also have a grant into
dceo related to some utility relocations
related to the Waterman site
and so I
we've had discussions with with Al
related to the grant writing position is
that a position at one point that
position might have reported directly to
me but it might be appropriate for that
person to report to Al uh we can take a
look it's probably we need to take a
look at the job description I know we
submitted it to our HR consultant for
scoring so that the HR consultant could
give us a range where maybe the pay was
appropriate we could take a look at that
again
um I think the the short answer to your
question is I think we have more grant
writing expertise on staff than we did
before uh but we need to ramp that up
and we know that and so we'll we'll take
another look at it yeah and I and I this
is just me I don't want Al to get yeah no I I understand if we get any
application at all when have you
received any applications
okay any qualified
we'll take another look at it okay we
don't want to revisit looking at a
company that does
I mean you look at the cost of
individual versus if you could pay a
company for specific projects I don't
know yeah the the
um there are we for example Palmetto
Plaza uh we had a grant consultant of
write that Grant and then manage that
grant for us and they secured us 750 000
in cdbg small cities
but they are not experts in every type
of grant you know there are uh Public
Safety grants police grants fire grants
and so
um we can get external consultant help
but we would have to get help from many
sectors right
um and so there are not a lot of firms
out there that just write all kinds of
Grants and so we'd have to we've looked
at that
um but again they're usually specific to
certain types of Grants or sectors so
yeah I look at that as being with us
trying to grow the way that we want to
grow that's being one of the most
important things that we leave to yep we
need to do yeah we will um definitely
take another look at that see what we
can do to get more interest
anything else
nope that's it
oh I'm sorry now here's one thing uh the
15th which is one of the reasons why one
of my societies is booked
um
October I've scheduled
uh
a group to to come and help me paint the
concession stands so high school into
high school so if anyone else wants to
come out and take pictures
you're more than welcome to was that
directed at all I think no it was right
here it wasn't us
that's why that's one reason to have
some help okay all right a check write a
check and he's writing the check
that's the one reason
I know that's it okay Somebody's gotta
take pictures
you have anything miss them oh I just um
really enjoyed the presentation at the
Mary McLeod Bethune statue
um that was done and it's at The Tavares
Museum and I hope that you'll go and and and to see it and see all of the
history and the things that's presented
with it
um it's a beautiful presentation and the lady who sculpted it was there and
we're fortunate because
um we have there's only two tiny ones
made smaller ones made and and
fortunately Lake County has one and I'm
sure the other was probably at the
school but needless to say we have it
and it's a wonderful wonderful
presentation so I hope that you will
Avail yourselves of it
anything else that's it thank you Mr
city manager uh yes couple of items
um organizational grants we are ramping
up to release our organizational Grant
application
we know that there are some changes this
year one it's going to be a
reimbursement this year so you have to
perform as an organization before you
get the reimbursement we also want
presentations
um at after the event or the effort is
done we want presentations
as to the impact of the grant
we will provide all of the applications
to the city commission for review I
don't think in the past we've provided
all of those applications so the one
question I want to ask does the
commission want presentations
as part of the application process in
other words all of the applicants come
before the city commission to present
their Grant applications
that in the past we've had 15 19 20
applicants so that would be a
significant amount of time it might be a
standalone Workshop because of the
number of presentations but if that's
the will of the city commission we're
happy to set that up so we know we're
going to get a presentation after the
organization performs but do we want
presentations
upon application before they perform
how about if we all read the
applications and then we select the ones
that we think would be most appropriate
and then to view them
so the commission would get all of the
applications they would narrow down the
pool and then bring in just those that
they feel should be funded is that is
that what you're saying that's a
suggestion I'm not saying that's what we
should we should have to do I also would
want to know how many people are they
serving how many in the community that
they serve and reach you know you could
do a grant and do five people I want to
know that it was a significant amount of
people that was impacted by whatever
they did I'd like to know what they're
going to do with the money and how are
we represented as a sponsor as well sure
and I so those that information is
required as part so they have to tell us
how many people they're impacting they
have to tell us how they're going to
spend the money they have to submit
financials and you'll see all that as
part of the applications yeah I think
what I'd like is because we have a panel
that that
goes through and looks at him now we
have traditionally had a staff review
group who then makes a recommendation in
the city commission that's how it's
worked and I think what what I'd like to
see is
because I'm going to be honest with you
I don't want to listen to 19 of anything
now we're down yeah I'd like for the
staff to to kind of narrow it down and
they maybe have them come in yes yeah
and I wouldn't be opposed to that yeah
the candidates yeah yeah but I still
like to see the applications right yes
exactly so then if we had any questions
for staff how did you derive
okay we make us doing 19 you know
19 organizations coming before us and
then we only pick the prime then yeah
the other 14 think we stink so well if
they said anyway yeah so okay so we'll
get you all of the applications uh we'll
narrow it down and then bring to you uh
who we think are the finalists
okay okay
um the other uh item
um I've I know I've committed to you to
having a CRA review committee meeting I
think the largest outstanding item is
what are we going to do with the mode
owned program uh and I've I've been
looking at the calendar to try to get
that scheduled
um between uh police accreditation the
mayor the police chief and I will be out
of town that first week for a couple
days that first week of October fra is
the week after that so I actually
um at one point I was going to suggest
uh Tuesday October 4th but we just
scheduled a workshop for the for October
3rd
um and so I don't want to leave this
hanging and I it's taken I need to get
on top of this
um
because I know we have a couple of
outstanding items uh what about Tuesday
October went out that's not gonna
Tuesday October 11th nope we have to start heading to Daytona yeah so I know we have two that would I
mean what about the fifth an attempt
I'm out of town we're out of town Tom
and I are out of town yeah what about
the fifth I mean we have the chamber
breakfast
I got it oh I didn't know how long you
were okay yeah the fifth and the sixth
back the evening of the sixth
degree Development Association no we're
gone that whole week
yep and then the week after that are
um the we're before the special
magistrate for fire Union and then I
have a deposition related to
um a court case when do you when do you
leave for the police accreditation the
fifth
yeah about that last week
and I find them on the third
is that too much time too much too much
okay how much time are we gonna leave
I probably about an hour I would think
but I do also need to check availability
for the appointees yeah uh who are
obviously not here tonight
October 24th
25th
I'm okay with those two dates
yeah I'm sorry when Monday October 24th
or Tuesday October 25th yeah either one
okay um if it's okay with you I will
um we'll start with the 25th because I
think we've done Tuesday nights in the
past with this group I'll start with the
25th and uh try to confirm so okay
uh I would expect this would be a 5 30.
I think we have tried to do 5 30 with
this group we have some people that work
and
um can be here by 5 30. Moda owns that
we're just going
yeah well it's it's a cre Review
Committee update but the main
outstanding item is mode to own
so your 25th right Tuesday the 25th
CRA review committee meeting
together
anything else Tom I'm sorry the only
other item is We are continuing to work
uh with fish and wildlife and waste
management on the bearproof cans and we
just need to make sure that Waste
Management can work with what fish and
wildlife has to offer so yeah it's
speaking of that I think it would
I don't know who was was it Mike
yeah it still has the straps as well
correct so we would still have to go out
and talk to the residents they remembered it
yeah the residents when they wheel the
toter out they need to unbuckle or
unstrap and it's recommended they do
that the morning of trash pickup as
opposed to the night before
yeah as as Jose giving you a date when
he wants to go out and not not yet not
yet and I I need to get with uh Fisher
Julie at Fish and Wildlife because she
wasn't Julie
okay I need to get with the
representative from fish and one because
they have the addresses of where these
things okay yeah I know where they are
okay there's only three
all right that's all I have Madame
attorney nothing for me all right
yes ma'am sorry um no that's fine I just
wanted to you know me and Leash we're
doing a free microchip Clinic October
1st from 10 to noon at the Humane
Society
Umatilla address
and the Humane Society is giving away
free spay and neuter certificates for
dogs for Lake County residents
all right
anything else that was it all right
um quick things uh 911 service that uh
City of Tavares and Lake County put on
was outstanding several of us got to
attend that I got to speak at that event
very nice uh the Barry McLeod Bethune
statue was just a great Gathering of
folks from all over Lake County just an
outstanding job was done that statue is
carved out of the the same marble that
is was used for the one that's in
Washington DC it's statutorial hall now
it also came out of the same Quarry that
the statue of David came out of the
statue is absolutely beautiful so if you
can go over to the Old Lake County
Courthouse the Historical Museum and see
that statue
as the start of September Comes Along we
are slammed with things to do watch the
Civic City website come out and enjoy uh
our fall festivals and everything else
we have to offer our staff does a great
job putting those things on I want to
thank you all for staying with us it's
about 8 25 and we're going to be
adjourned
[Music]