Clermont City Council Transcript 10-28-25

00:13:24 I call this meeting to order. Welcome to our council meeting for
00:13:30 October 28, 2025. In the interest of time, efficiency, and ensuring that everyone who wishes to address the
00:13:36 council given the opportunity to do so. The following will apply to all comments
00:13:41 made by the public. Each speaker will be permitted three minutes to address the council. Thank you for participating in
00:13:47 their local government. Today's invocation will be given by police chaplain James Pegging. I did not see
00:13:54 him, but I see a pastor out here in the audience. I don't want to put you on the
00:13:59 spot, but pastor Brumfield, you mind doing the invocation for us, please? Sir, come.
00:14:13 We're good. Father God, we thank and praise you for this day. your many blessing bestowed
00:14:19 upon us. Thank you to the mayor and the counselss as they meet today God being in control. We know that we look unto
00:14:25 you to guide and protect us. We just thank you for your protection. Thank you for the police and they protect us and keeping us and your angels camp round
00:14:31 about us. So pray that your blessing upon this meeting in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
00:14:38 To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible
00:14:47 with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Pastor Pastor Braumfield is
00:14:53 the pastor of um St. Mark's AM Church here here in Clout. So, uh, I sorry
00:15:00 putting you on the spot there, sir, but uh,
00:15:07 no. Okay. Wow. We going to move right on. Next item is public comment. Anyone who
00:15:12 wishes to address the council, please come to the microphone and state your name and address. And this portion of
00:15:18 the meeting is item is only for items that are not on the agenda. In the interest
00:15:23 of time, efficiency and ensuring everyone wishes that wishes to address the council, the following will will all
00:15:30 apply. To avoid disruption of the meeting, speakers should avoid inappropriate language, personal attack,
00:15:35 derogatory statements, and direct all comments to the city council.
00:15:40 Everyone is requested to be respectful of each other even when we disagree. This is public comment. Anyone wishes to
00:15:47 talk about anything that's not on the agenda may come to the microphone, state your name and address, and have three minutes.
00:15:57 Joe Famasi, 2693 Jumpy Jack Way. I'd just come to thank the Clermont Police
00:16:04 Department for their constant uh vigilance in the Wellness Way area. They've been very responsive and uh are
00:16:10 working towards making the city of Clermont the safest city in Florida.
00:16:15 Also, I'd like to thank the fire department and their continuence of trying to pursue an ambulance service. And I'd like to bring to the public's
00:16:22 notice that they need your support. Please email the county commissioners
00:16:27 and allowing this department to operate its license and to bring ambulance
00:16:33 service back to the city of Clermont. Cut down those response times. As I spoke to the county this morning, we had
00:16:40 uh two incidents out wellness way. Response time by the ambulance was 18 minutes. I feel that that's a little
00:16:46 unacceptable and I'm hoping like I conveyed to the fire department and the county today that we can get that down
00:16:53 and work towards the solution. So please, I'm encouraging the public to email those county commissioners and let
00:16:59 them know that we can trust the city to run our service. And the question came up, they said you can hold the county
00:17:05 accountable. That's not exactly true because they have districts and we have to vote. This This is where I get to
00:17:12 hold everyone accountable and they should let us have our way of controlling our own emergency services
00:17:18 and not denying us. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else?
00:17:36 Farmer Banks Helf Clay District South Lake County farm tip of the day. Um you
00:17:41 can put in the quintessential fruit/veable now the tomato. This is the best time for it to grow. A couple of
00:17:48 hacks. One is once they start having brown leaves, you can clip off the leaves, put them down in the ground, they become fertilizer. two uh
00:17:54 Everglades tomatoes are actually native of the Everglades which are Florida and they will grow like weeds uh in Florida
00:18:01 and also um the the one other thing they do not like the humidity so they'll grow
00:18:07 until about June possibly July if you're lucky um mayor council distinguished
00:18:13 guests what is the fundamental right of our
00:18:18 uh republic constitutional republic um representative democracy.
00:18:25 Is it the right to speak? Is it the right to assemble? The right to worship whoever or whatever we want to worship.
00:18:31 Is it the right to bear arms? Is it the right to vote? Um the fundamental right
00:18:36 is the right to vote because without voting we have no representation, we have no voice and we have no democracy.
00:18:44 So what can we do as individuals, as citizens to make sure that our right to vote continues? First thing we can do is
00:18:52 uh we can make a national holiday for voting. The first Tuesday of November uh
00:18:59 celebrate voting, celebrate the uh engaging in our government. Second thing
00:19:06 we can do uh in Australia, they actually uh find those who do not vote. In
00:19:12 America, uh we find those who do not pay their share fair taxes. And I'm pretty sure
00:19:18 most of us can agree that voting is more important than taxes. Uh the other thing we can do is those
00:19:24 who say my vote doesn't matter. That's why I do not vote. Well, of course, if
00:19:30 they do not vote, their vote definitely does not matter. So, encourage our
00:19:35 citizens, encourage our fellow uh neighbors to vote. Um
00:19:42 because we choose our representation. Our representation does not choose us.
00:19:49 Next month we have an election here in the city. By all means, all citizens,
00:19:54 all fellow citizens, please engage and participate and own your own democracy.
00:20:01 I am Farmer Bank Selfrick. May you all be blessed. Thank you for allowing me to speak.
00:20:06 Thank you, sir. Anyone else? This is public comment. Anyone in the public wish to address anything that's not on the agenda may come to microphone, state
00:20:12 your name and address and have three minutes. Anyone else?
00:20:19 Seeing no one else, I'm going close public comment.
00:20:24 But before I move over, I'm I'mma give a I guess a community service announcement. on the 10th and since I
00:20:31 see so many veterans in the orders on the 10th of November at 8:30 at Cypress
00:20:37 Ridge Elementary, they're going to be doing a special program uh for veterans. Uh they're going to serve a breakfast
00:20:43 starting at 8:30 and then about 9:00 they'll be doing a little program to honor the veterans out there. So any veterans, it's my understanding uh not
00:20:51 many veterans know about it, have signed up or showed any interest. So um I know
00:20:57 I said I will be there and everything. I do a lot with Cypress Ridge and uh so I'm uh trying to help him get the word
00:21:03 out. So any of you veterans that want to attend please uh you I think our city
00:21:08 clerk has a phone number that you can RSVP with that as well. Okay. So uh
00:21:13 November 10th 8:30 breakfast and n a program at 9:00 for veterans and anyone
00:21:18 else that want to attend please. Thank you. That being said, Mr. Uwagon,
00:21:25 do we have any changes on the uh agenda? One change number eight is being pulled from the agenda.
00:21:34 Miss being pulled. Okay.
00:21:40 Is that it? That's it. Okay.
00:21:47 All right. The next portion of the meeting is for the consent agenda items that have been determined to be routine
00:21:53 and non-controversial. If anyone in the audience wish to address a particular
00:21:59 item on the consent agenda deny the opportunity for you to do so. Additionally, if staff or members of the
00:22:05 city council wish to address any consent item, they have the same opportunity. The consent item for consideration
00:22:11 tonight is items 1 through seven and item number nine. Now that item number eight been removed, anyone wish to have
00:22:19 any item report? Um, any items?
00:22:25 Well, I want to pull item number six.
00:22:32 Okay. Any other
00:22:38 hear? No other. I entertain a motion for items 1 through five. Items seven and nine.
00:22:44 Motion to approve consent agenda items 1 through nine with the pulling of six and
00:22:49 eight. Second. Okay. You have a motion and a second for
00:22:54 approval of the consent agenda item. Consent agenda items items one through five and seven
00:23:02 nine. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? Let it be known by saying I. I. All oppose.
00:23:09 Share vote. I as well. Motion carries. 50. Item number six, piggyback purchase
00:23:15 approval and budget reallocation. Yes, sir. Chief,
00:23:22 good afternoon, Mayor and Council. Uh David Eel, fire chief. Uh the item here is for a truck uh to be placed in the
00:23:29 wellness way station uh later this year at about 3 and a half to four years.
00:23:34 This is one of the stock units uh that this manufacturer uh makes annually and
00:23:39 it meets about 95% of all the design criteria that we had with our last uh truck that we purchased. And we feel
00:23:45 with the time time frame of this truck being finished in January, it matches well with the uh with the onboarding of
00:23:51 new staff. We're currently recruiting for the personnel to staff that station with the target date to hire them in
00:23:56 January 12th. So they they'll be going through orientation at about the same time we'd be ordering the equipment for
00:24:02 this truck. And by the time they're coming out and they're ready to go on the road, we'll have the vehicle ready for them. And it'll it'll avoid us
00:24:08 having to dilute our uh deployment model by moving an existing unit down to the Wellness Way area.
00:24:15 Okay, thank you. Uh, this is a public um form. Anyone in the public wish to
00:24:21 address this item may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes.
00:24:26 Anyone wish to address this item?
00:24:36 I ask that you approve this item. Uh, it affects our area down there. this uh helps support the mitigate the danger
00:24:44 down there in our area. So, I hope you will pass it. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Anyone else?
00:24:53 Anyone else? Seeing no one else, I close public comment.
00:24:59 Um the reason I asked for this to be pulled and not not that I'm I'm I'm
00:25:05 support this item, but we talking about $1.6 six million almost $7 million uh
00:25:10 for item that's never been discussed in public. Okay. And I wanted to have get some public feedback if anybody in the
00:25:16 public had anything they wanted to do u discussed on that. I I felt like we needed to be able to pull it and give
00:25:22 public a chance to discuss this item. Um I do know uh I'm support in support of
00:25:29 it. Uh I know do I know we do have the funding. My only real concern with it was where we going to house it. Okay.
00:25:37 Actually, mayor, if uh if you'd allow me, we do have a representative from Olympus here. Okay. Um they can probably
00:25:42 talk a little bit on the temporary site that we that we've been looking at. Thank you. So, if I have Michael Carroll come up
00:25:53 um I don't. Good afternoon, Mike Carroll with
00:25:58 Olympus. Yeah, we've uh donated a fire station location for uh the city. Uh
00:26:05 it's a it's along the eastern border of our property in Wellness Way. Um uh very
00:26:12 close to the intersection of Wellness Way and Scoffield. And in the meantime,
00:26:18 we are working with the chief to u come up with a temporary uh fire station
00:26:25 location. So we're actively doing that now. We have a a site picked out which would be um along Wellness Way u where
00:26:33 the sports campus uh will eventually be Wellness Way and Epic Boulevard. So, uh
00:26:40 we're we're happy to help and uh we'll continue to do that with uh Chief.
00:26:48 Okay. Motion to approve item number six, piggyback purchase approval of budget reallocation for fire station 5.
00:26:54 Second. Okay. I have a motion to second for approval item number number six. No problem. Uh Mr. Van Wagner new, would
00:27:00 you want to say something, sir? Just to give the council and our citizens just an idea working with the
00:27:07 Carols. They've been above and beyond to try to help us figure this out. And I really really appreciated their heart to
00:27:14 help the community. And I I just want to make sure I go on record letting you all know I'm not twisting any arms or
00:27:20 anything. They're doing everything they can to help us willingly. And if I could just add one thing, uh
00:27:26 the goal with that temporary site is to have it ready by end of year. Um with the uh the upcoming build that we've got
00:27:33 on our fire station number two, we are looking to move one of the units out of that station down to the wellness way
00:27:38 area ahead of having the personnel available to staff an additional unit. Um that will dilute us for a short
00:27:44 period of time, but we feel the necessity is to have a presence down there so we can shorten the response
00:27:50 times if we, you know, for any calls that we do have while we're getting the station up and operating. Okay. Thank you. And let me let me um
00:27:57 echo Mr. Ben Wagner's uh words as well. M um Mike Carol and and your father. We
00:28:03 appreciate everything you've done so far down there. I know you've already donated a piece of land for the
00:28:08 permanent station uh location and and to go ahead and trying to find another piece of property and give another piece
00:28:14 of property without any cost to us um for the temporary location of this engine while we build other station. We
00:28:22 appreciate all your um contributions and everything to the city and thankful for being a partner with the city. Well,
00:28:28 thank you. Thank you. Well, and if I may, and I do want to make sure we're running the clock today so we can stay on task, is um I know a
00:28:36 lot of the conversations and so for the public who's concerned, we we've been leveraging the consent agenda the last
00:28:42 several meetings. I've been very pleased with how we're seeing um the meetings be efficient. So, I think that's great. Um,
00:28:48 I would have I I was a little surprised to hear you say you felt like people wouldn't know and I was reflecting that
00:28:54 a lot of our conversations as of late have been about EMS transport. Um, and I
00:29:00 just want to remind anyone who maybe is new to coming to council meetings or new to following us that that conversation
00:29:06 started as well about having a six-minute response time for every citizen in Clermont. And currently the
00:29:12 folks down in wellness way have a 15minute response time and that's for first response to an advanced life
00:29:18 support um system that we have in place. So for me seeing this was a no-brainer
00:29:25 because we have the funds we've designated funds to figure out how to apply them this year in in our reserves
00:29:32 account. So this is not additional millage this is not additional taxes. This is something that we have already
00:29:38 set aside and it is something that, you know, I would have said we've been talking about for 10 months, but in
00:29:43 fairness to the mayor, a lot of the conversation's been about that EMS transport, but all of that relates to
00:29:49 how do we provide a six-minute response time to every citizen in Clermont. So,
00:29:54 I'm I'm for it as well. I just wanted to put that in there for anyone watching back home or sitting in the audience.
00:30:01 And Miss Miss Strange, you're right. We have been talking about EMS uh transport and everything for months and everything
00:30:07 but the particular item here we talking about buying the U apparatus down there
00:30:12 which hasn't really specifically been discussed. I think most of the discussion has been about um when we
00:30:18 going to buy it and everything, but uh and I thank the chief for being
00:30:23 diligently enough to go out there and find this this piece of equipment that we can purchase at such on a short
00:30:28 notice and everything because most time when we order engine or apparatus for I know the last one it took us like 38
00:30:35 months, right? And if we were to go right back and try to order this same piece of equipment like I do our normal
00:30:40 procedures um process and everything we talking about four years of course we want to be up and going within four
00:30:47 years. So thank you. I do have a motion and a second for approval item number six. Any further discussion?
00:30:54 Hear none. All in favor be known by saying I. All oppose and the chair vote I as well. Motion passes 50. All right,
00:31:02 chief. Uh, next item, item number 10 is
00:31:09 regarding meet us in the middle.
00:31:15 Yes, sir. Who's in the net?
00:31:20 Jeff, would you come on up?
00:31:33 Good afternoon. Uh uh Mr. Mayor, council, um Mr. Van Wagner. Uh my name
00:31:39 is Jeff Pow with Pal Studio Architecture, 713 West Montro Street. Um
00:31:44 I've got some presentation here to work with you through and to follow up with us from our workshop of last week.
00:31:52 So there we go. Sorry.
00:32:14 Where's
00:32:26 I don't see it on
00:32:32 There it is. Bear with us one second. Okay,
00:32:39 one moment. There it is.
00:33:04 that folder. That's it. Yes, sir.
00:33:09 Copy for the clerk anyway. Local so run fast.
00:33:30 There we go. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Sorry for the dead air. Apologize. Um,
00:33:35 following up to our workshop last week where we uh just gave you an update on
00:33:41 Meet us in the Middle uh the components of Meet us in the Middle and the Veterans Memorial. Um today we are I
00:33:48 wanted to follow up with you on some of the discussions and questions and then you have some action items I believe that you are looking to move forward
00:33:55 with to just kind I'm not going to belabor it because I know that everybody's seen this before but just
00:34:00 kind of give everybody a quick refresh. Uh this is our overall master plan for the site or conceptual master plan. Uh
00:34:07 it starts with meet us in the middle uh plaza to the left which is the midpoint
00:34:13 of coast to coast trail which we all know and it's aligned with 8 street. Working to the right we have a
00:34:19 reflection pool and lawn on the lower level and the trail is along the upper level along Ocyola Street. And the new
00:34:27 addition that was made in the last several months is the veterans memorial here which is um a part of our
00:34:33 discussion. Uh the Veterans Memorial was added and aligned with the uh Livewell
00:34:39 Foundation's grant donation for the tiered seating area. And uh we felt that
00:34:45 that was a a a positive location for it based on the ability to have uh uh
00:34:51 meetings and organized uh events there. And then also a first responders
00:34:57 memorial that flows right into it over here to the east. Um, obviously we have
00:35:03 our pier and gazebo which gives a prominade walk along the waterfront out in there and offers fishing
00:35:09 opportunities. And then it extends out into a breakwater dock where fishing can
00:35:15 also take place and allows for um parallel parking of boats and also the
00:35:20 floating dock systems with personal watercraft.
00:35:25 Just kind of reiterate how this design came about. It was originally aligned with the master plan from 2015 which
00:35:32 showed that the artwalk would continue down through past Sun Creek Brewery down to Oyola Street. Um it allows for an
00:35:39 axial relationship between Artwalk and Minnola Avenue and Montros extending the view from downtown to the waterfront. We
00:35:47 located the gazebo as the terminus point at the end there to kind of be the the the cap on the cake there. And with the
00:35:53 potential acquisition of the De Hoya property that you guys are considering right now, this may be a prime
00:35:58 opportunity to take advantage of that. This is our uh aerial rendering. You've
00:36:04 seen this before, but this kind of gives you an idea and a better look at how the Veterans Memorial and the first
00:36:09 responders memorial can integrate into the tiered seating area. We have accessible uh route from the top level,
00:36:16 which is this area of of of paving right here at the top level of the of the amphitheater and access from the trail.
00:36:24 The trail will uh spur up, but we're going to extend that that ramp out a
00:36:29 little bit to um make it so it's a little bit more easily traversed. Uh right now it's very steep uh hill to
00:36:36 climb. And what that'll also do is is spur the bicycle traffic from going through meters in the middle up around
00:36:42 the uh trail to continue on past through Victory Point. Uh over here in the middle we have our uh reflection pool
00:36:49 and yard, our lawn there for gathering and picnics, whatever you like. Uh it act it helps us transition that area and
00:36:56 flatten out the hill a little bit to allow for more uh more yard space and
00:37:02 flows right in around to our restroom building which will be on the next slide. here which is integrated in the hill to
00:37:08 keep your view uh from from Oyola Street from being obstructed and it integrates over here to meet us in the middle. We
00:37:14 have accessible routes all the way through the park from the upper tier to the lower tier. Now the thing we spoke
00:37:21 about last time was on our project we talked about budget and setting up the preliminary cost estimate. uh based on
00:37:28 uh some detailed uh work from our design team and the civil engineering team uh we came to the to an estimate including
00:37:36 a 10% contingency of uh just under 12 a.5 million for the entire project
00:37:41 should you decide to do everything all at once. Um the docks themselves are just under 4 million uh of that number
00:37:48 and the grading, the hardscape, the paving, landscaping and restroom buildings and gazeos make up the rest of
00:37:55 it. Um we during the meeting uh for the workshop
00:38:01 there was a lot of discussion and we had some takeaways. We heard you on it and we wanted to show you some alternate
00:38:06 ideas and kind of go over what those were. Obviously construction costs were primary uh concern and and something
00:38:13 that was discussed during the workshop. The middle space and the green space. There was some discussion about what
00:38:19 that would be. Is it necessary? Should we do that? And then there was also discussion of how to phase the docks
00:38:25 versus the land portion, whether or not, you know, with the donation or the the grant from LiveWell and other funding,
00:38:31 how could we do that in a way that would make sense without becoming a Mr. Potato Head where we have a potato and we pull
00:38:36 the eyes off and ears off and then we're left with something a little bit awkward. Um, we also talked about, Mr.
00:38:42 Howard brought it up about relocation of the restroom to get closer to the amphitheater to complement that area as
00:38:49 that is tied to the Livewell grant. So what we did is we wanted to show you an an alternative idea that might build
00:38:56 upon it just so to give you some food for thought. So this is an alternate plan concept.
00:39:03 Um, essentially what we did was we shifted the amphitheater and the Veterans Memorial and aligned that with
00:39:10 the artwalk, leaving everything to the east to be grass and uh, open and tying
00:39:16 tying the axial relationship of the future artwalk into the Veterans Memorial straight through the tiered
00:39:23 seating and then with the terminus of the gazebo as we originally designed. It
00:39:29 worked out where the restroom building is located right here with immediate
00:39:34 access to the amphitheater and the veterans memorial and also meet us in the middle. The gateway still between on
00:39:41 8th Street is still intact and we still have the prominade over the water with fishing activities and
00:39:48 docking facilities.
00:39:54 So looking at that, we did a detailed analysis of this one to see what could we do to get the budget down into
00:39:59 something that may be more palatable. Uh this eliminates some of the needs for underground retention. It uh opens up
00:40:05 some of the green space and allows you to kind of consolidate the park into a more uh you know a little more condensed
00:40:12 area to be able to future develop the area to the east. We did put in a 15%
00:40:18 contingency in this and when it came down to it uh with the contingency we're s we're looking at just around 9 million
00:40:24 which may be a little bit more palatable for the original budget but we wanted to
00:40:30 come back to you today and say what's next. You know there's two concepts and I can I know that well there'll be some questions and we'll discuss this in a
00:40:36 minute but what we're looking for today is we're looking for approval of the design and council direction on uh
00:40:43 budget and design direction. um whether it be the original design, the full
00:40:48 design or the condensed version, the alternate plan concept. Uh final design and engineering would then take place
00:40:54 and we anticipate that between July, June and July of next year. Uh at the same time, permitting through the
00:41:00 agencies of jurisdiction. Uh Army Corps being the longest lead item, we would probably estimate that we have approvals
00:41:05 for that around January 2027. But in October 26, we would estimate the
00:41:11 city would put this out for uh procurement to start awarding and get ready and get final pricing from contractors and be ready to go to
00:41:18 contract. Final council approval, we would estimate would be in December of 2026 and then the project could
00:41:23 potentially start in early 2027. So with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.
00:41:29 I know there's probably some new things here that you haven't seen before, some new ideas. So happy to discuss that and
00:41:35 see where we can go from here. Um before before I open up to the public uh Jeff
00:41:42 just a couple questions uh with the new design live well have live well seen
00:41:48 seen the new design? They have not between last Wednesday and today we we have not been able to to
00:41:53 present it to anybody else. So okay but it does fall in line with what we
00:41:58 had originally planned. uh has the restroom with accessible access to the tiered seating area and also um the
00:42:06 veterans memorial still tied in the same way. We did eliminate one of the tiers just because the grade there is not as
00:42:11 steep as it is on the east side, but as we get into some of that, we'll really kind of hammer that out. We we haven't
00:42:16 been able to in a in a week to be able to really firm that design up, but we we do feel confident that this concept is
00:42:22 viable. And the with the new design, all the uh green space to the to the east, I guess
00:42:28 now they open up a lot more green space when you when you shifted that. Yes, sir. It opens that up. It it would
00:42:35 have some natural grade. Uh we might manipulate that a little bit to maximize it. We would use that area for natural
00:42:41 retention. And it would be a dry retention area. So it could be used for families to picnic or play on as well.
00:42:46 Well, that going to be my next if you move the restroom and retention. So that's where retention is going now.
00:42:52 Yes, sir. Okay. All right. Thank you. If we're asking questions before the
00:42:57 public, has anyone from the American Bicycle Association waited on this yet? No.
00:43:04 All righty. If we have any more question, Mr. Mr.
00:43:09 Pow, we will call you back. But at this time, I'm going to go ahead and open this up to the public for the public comment. This is a public form. Anyone
00:43:16 in the public wish to address this item may come to the microphone, state your name and address, and have three minutes.
00:43:23 Hello, Valerie Shuitt, 931 West Montro Street. Um, I just jotted down some
00:43:29 stuff. It's a little disorganized, but um, first of all, I love this project. I'm totally for Meet us in the Middle. I
00:43:35 think that's one of those things that Clermont has that is worldclass that no other town in Florida has. We are the
00:43:42 middle of the Florida Coast to Coast bike trail. Um I know I've mentioned before I think we've lost that plot a
00:43:48 little bit sometimes uh with this park. Um but I do I love the design. I think it's beautiful. I do think it's really
00:43:55 important that the American Bicycle Association weighs in on this. They're helping us for those that don't know in
00:44:00 the public with our citywide parks and wreck planning and visioning. So, um, I
00:44:05 would love to have them have a chance to weigh in on it, whether that's future phases and you approve this one. I know
00:44:11 that there's been a lot of inputs and changes. So, I have alternate ideas, but I'm not even going to bring those to the
00:44:17 table. I'm just going to ask questions because I think we're beyond alternate ideas and we probably just need to make some decisions. Um
00:44:24 my questions uh it's still not clear to me if we if
00:44:29 we approach this incrementally are we we're still having to put forth the full
00:44:34 plans for approval to different entities. So then are we locked into the plan as it is? What if we want to make
00:44:42 changes? What if this becomes too much? There's so much entangled in this. So if we approve this kind of first phase,
00:44:48 what does the process look like when we want to make changes down the road? How can we do that? Can we adjust with uh
00:44:56 ABA ethos and change some things? Will that be possible? That's a question. Um
00:45:01 please be aggressive, I think, in in that line of questioning with what you approved today because I I would hate
00:45:07 for us to be painted into a corner. There's a lot of pressures and a lot of input around this project. Um and I
00:45:14 certainly want to see it happen. and I would be one of those pressures, but I also don't want to be painted into a corner. Um,
00:45:22 can they still in? Can we still make changes? Um, I've heard from the public that the fishing pier is really
00:45:29 important um and historic and I agree. I think that's a beautiful part of this park and it brings community together,
00:45:35 but then we've tied it to the docks, which is the most expensive part of this project.
00:45:40 If we want to get the are we going to hit a pressure again when it comes time the public really wants their fishing pier? Well, shoot. Now we got to find a
00:45:47 way to fund it attached to these super super super expensive docks. Um that's
00:45:52 another question I have. Is there a way to disentangle those things? What state
00:45:57 funding options are out there? I haven't actually heard much talked about with that uh for this or county or tourism
00:46:04 board stuff. What kind of that could help like that could help us get there, but I have not heard anything about
00:46:09 that. um in this process from the city and who's in charge of hunting down that
00:46:15 funding and those options and grants and all that kind of stuff. Is somebody I'm sure somebody is, but I would love an
00:46:20 update on how we're tracking all that down. And I'll finish with this. Uh my
00:46:27 biggest question is we're doing this incredible planning for parks and wreck for a whole city and
00:46:36 are we compromising our ability? Maybe we're not. Are we compromising our ability to act on some of that planning,
00:46:43 which is noble? It ensures equity and access for children and families citywide to parks and to quality parks.
00:46:50 That is a very there's a lot that's noble about this. There's a lot that's noble about that. And that is a big
00:46:57 question on my mind that I want to make sure that we can fund these improvements and these beautiful plans citywide as
00:47:03 well. Thanks. Thank you. Anyone else?
00:47:08 This is a public form. Anyone in the public wish to address this item, make the microphone to state your name and address and have three minutes.
00:47:24 Good afternoon, mayor, city council. My name is Robert Mock. I live at 278 Division Street in Clermont, Florida.
00:47:33 There is a power for change greater than the community discovering
00:47:40 what it cares about. Now, let me read that again.
00:47:46 There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it
00:47:51 cares about. That's by Margaret J. Wheatley.
00:47:56 In January 2025, the LiveWell Foundation presented the city of Clermont with a
00:48:02 substantial $1 million grant. Many of the council members were there present for it and support a groundbreaking uh
00:48:10 meet us in the middle project. This grant will provide necessary funding for development of the Livewell Foundation's
00:48:17 portion of the grassy tier area which will serve as educational recreational
00:48:24 accessible hub of the project. This innovative space is meticulously designed to foster community engagement,
00:48:31 accessibility, and overwhel uh beating aligning seamlessly with the
00:48:36 foundation's mission to advance health and wellness within our region. Their vi
00:48:43 vision states that they want to ensure the community of South Lake County, Clermont, experiences superior quality
00:48:50 of life through promotion of improved health and wellness. Their unwavering
00:48:55 commitment lies investing in the well-being of our community both today and for the future. The foundation's
00:49:03 investment returns are simple yet profound. Enhance health and wellness of
00:49:09 life. When I learned and read about the LiveWell Foundation grant for the
00:49:14 groundbreaking of Meet us in the Middle, I knew it was a chance to present my vision for a veterans and first
00:49:19 responders memorial. I believe it would seamlessly blend well into the Live Wells Foundation's vision. So this past
00:49:28 April, I presented my idea to merge blend the Veterans First responders
00:49:33 memorial in with the meet us in the middle project.
00:49:38 Veterans memorials transcend more than commemoration of vigil sacrifices. They
00:49:44 serve as pivotal anchors for community cohesion and collective remembrance. These sacred spaces possess profound
00:49:51 emotional and social significance, nurturing a shared sense of gratitude and healing. At their inence, memorials
00:49:58 offer a communal sanctuary for honoring the service and sacrifice of veterans and first responders. These spaces
00:50:05 enable communities to collectively pay tribute and express their profound appreciation.
00:50:11 They serve as reflective conduits deepening communities comprehension of
00:50:16 sacrifices necessitated to safeguard our freedom and safety. The meet in the
00:50:23 middle project with the veterans first responders memorial holds profound significance in honoring our veterans
00:50:30 and first responders preserving the cherished memories of our departed loved ones. It serves as a poignant and
00:50:36 powerful tribute to the unwavering sacrifices made by our veterans and first responders. It provides a space
00:50:42 for reflection, remembrance, encourages community engagement and appreciation. Furthermore, seeks seeks to educate the
00:50:51 public about Clermont's rich history and profound impact of veterans and first responders in our community.
00:50:58 When expressing gratitude to a veteran, police officer, or firefighter for their service, stop and listen to them. Listen
00:51:06 to their responses. Thank you. It was an honor, a privilege, and we are here to
00:51:11 serve and protect.
00:51:25 Or you'll hear You and your families were worth the sacrifices.
00:51:33 How are you going to honor them with words or action?
00:51:38 Honor them through meet us in the middle project along with the pier prominade
00:51:44 over the water and the veterans first responders memorial. Are they not worthy of such a tribute?
00:51:50 So, as the beginning, what has the city of Clermont really uh discover about
00:51:59 what it cares in our CLA Clermont community? I respectfully request city
00:52:04 council members to vote in favor of approving and moving forward with the
00:52:09 design of meet us in the middle project, the Veterans Memorial responders and the
00:52:14 prominade uh pier over the water. Thank you. Thank you, sir.
00:52:24 Anyone else?
00:52:53 Good afternoon. Afternoon. Mayor Tim Murray, council members, city
00:52:58 manager Rick Vanwgner. I'm a 33-year combat veteran,
00:53:04 city attorney. Sorry, city clerk. Can I keep keep going? I'm losing time. Um,
00:53:10 my father fought was wounded in World War II. My uncle fought was wounded in World War II Korea and Vietnam.
00:53:17 For over 250 years, even before the end of the Revolutionary
00:53:23 War in 1776, men and women, the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, airmen, and space forces have fought,
00:53:29 bled, and died for the freedom of this country. That's undisputed.
00:53:38 What would we do without freedom that we enjoy every day without sacrifice?
00:53:46 Currently, there are about 4.2 million Americans, firefighters, police officers,
00:53:53 and military who serve the country. About 1.2% literally went to the fire. I ran into a
00:54:00 burning building in combat under fire and pulled people out.
00:54:06 I was willing to bleed and die for all these Americans freedoms and I lost friends in Iraq and
00:54:13 Afghanistan and I buried family from Iraq in 2004.
00:54:21 It is struggling for me to understand and I watched a man die here last year in October who fought
00:54:28 Asian orange for decades, was never awarded his fair benefits for the VA and he actually starved to death from the
00:54:35 Asian orange and weighed 92 pounds when Marvin died in our community. a resident
00:54:41 of Clermont.
00:54:46 We learned a lot at last week's working group and I listened way more than I spoke. I listened to Mr. Howard, Miss
00:54:53 Strange. They made great points. I believe without any doubt
00:55:01 that the project is worth the cost of the blood and treasure sacrificed for our freedom.
00:55:08 But I agree and I listen to Mr. Mr. Howard, Miss Strange, and Mr. Peterson talked about the expense.
00:55:17 I believe that the sacrifices of the veterans of the police, fire department are well worth for their health and
00:55:24 their bodies, that they willing to bleed and die for all of us is worth it. But
00:55:29 in consideration, the point Mr. Howard made was about the floating docks. And he knows way more than I do. So, I'm
00:55:36 willing to sacrifice that to lower the cost of this project because I you make
00:55:41 great points, Mr. Howard. But we accept that the floating docks
00:55:47 should be added easily. But the make us in the middle project, the veterans, the first responders, that's one package to
00:55:53 me with with the pier. 42 years ago this month, I led in
00:56:00 Beirut, Lebanon, when they're still pulling out the 241 service members
00:56:08 from the 24th MU and some of my friends who died.
00:56:13 It was my first combat tour. I had to go into a building that was bombed and
00:56:19 rescue people and pull out the bodies of four children. Nobody was there for that.
00:56:26 That was my task to try and put little arms and little legs and little hands back together
00:56:31 again. Yes, me and my friends had post-traumatic stress from all the
00:56:36 horrible diapers I saw human beings do to other human beings. Those that fought
00:56:41 in Vietnam, horrible stuff. Iraq and Afghanistan, horrible stuff.
00:56:47 We the combat veterans who chose Clermont for our home. God didn't choose me to be born here. But I moved
00:56:54 here as soon as I retired. We strongly request the courage to make
00:57:00 a decision to move forward on this thing. The last point, my dad served
00:57:06 under General Patton in North Africa, in Sicily and in Anzio.
00:57:11 He bled was captured in North Africa. And General Patton made a great quote and that quote is a good plan executed
00:57:18 now chosen now with the information we have now everything's got risk is better than
00:57:24 a perfect plan next week next month next year or for me it's been a decade next decade. I thank you very much for your
00:57:31 service to our country and this city. God bless you all. Thank you sir.
00:57:48 Good afternoon. Afternoon, sir. Mr. Mayor, city council members, city
00:57:57 managers. My name is Colin A. Cauterell. The A
00:58:02 stands for always standing for my veteran. I live at 26
00:58:09 38 Eagle Lake Drive in this beautiful city of Clermont,
00:58:16 a city of choice. And I chose
00:58:21 to live in this beautiful city. I retired in 2006
00:58:29 after 30 years and change
00:58:35 serving this great country of ours.
00:58:43 I have been in many wars. I've seen many of my military service
00:58:50 members died in battle.
00:58:55 I see many wounded. I've seen many
00:59:01 comes back home suffering from PTSD.
00:59:08 I've seen many migrated into the woods
00:59:15 because they feel their government
00:59:20 gives up on them after serving
00:59:26 all these years. In 1775,
00:59:32 a great marine, Samuel A. Nicholas
00:59:40 decided after serving many years in combat and
00:59:46 seeing our service members coming back home didn't know what to do. They say,
00:59:52 "You know something? We need to form something.
00:59:58 We need we need a strong fighting force." The United States Marine Corps
01:00:06 And the United States Marine Corps was born in 1775. So 250 years
01:00:14 coming up November 10th, we've been serving
01:00:20 this great country. We haven't turned our backs on our
01:00:25 fellow Americans because when the commander-in-chief said, "We got to go. We got to go to
01:00:31 combat. We going to pack up and go. We don't ask questions why.
01:00:38 We pack up and go. So my heart always going to be for my
01:00:45 for my fellow veterans. And when we look and we see that beautiful picture of meet us in the
01:00:52 middle and we now we going going to have a veteran memorial park, our first
01:00:59 responder memorial park. All we is asking for is
01:01:04 for a little bit. I've traveled throughout the United States. I see what a veteran park looks like.
01:01:12 And when I stopped and I said, you know something, this what our park's supposed to look
01:01:18 like, but are we going to get the vote? Are we going to get the vote?
01:01:25 So that way our veterans when they come back and they want to come to a city of
01:01:32 choice, a city of champions and said they going to choose Clermont,
01:01:40 but what are they looking for when they comes here? Are they going to have a park where they can go to? Are they
01:01:46 going to have something when they go they going to say, "No, I didn't serve for this. I deserve better."
01:01:54 I spoke with a Marine today that been through surgery, get his heart open up
01:02:02 five times and he said, "Kollin, do me a favor before I pass on.
01:02:11 when you go to this council meeting today, just ask them kindly,
01:02:19 give me something so my wife can push me in that park so I can look around and
01:02:26 said, "I deserve this. I deserve this. I serve for this." Agent
01:02:32 Orange ate my body up, but I deserve something better than what
01:02:38 we have right now. So we now we going to ask you for your vote.
01:02:46 We don't beg, we ask. So when you decide to vote on this great
01:02:53 project, remember you our fellow veterans.
01:02:59 I know Mr. Mayor served. I don't know if anyone else of you serve up there.
01:03:05 So we know how to bleed. We know how to serve. We now ought to give back.
01:03:12 So we asking you, we're asking you today
01:03:18 to vote yes for this great project.
01:03:23 Anyone can put something to paper. It looks good,
01:03:29 but once you turn your back and walk away, is it going to come to fruition? I thank you.
01:03:37 Thank you, Sergeant Major.
01:03:44 This is a public form. Anyone else wish to speak may come to the microphone and state your name and address.
01:03:50 Anyone else? Anyone else?
01:03:58 Seeing no one else, I'mma close public comment. Um,
01:04:06 I have a motion to make Hold on just a sec please, man. Um,
01:04:15 s may you correct? I did serve 20 28 almost 23 years myself. Um, a combat
01:04:21 veteran myself. Um, have a brother that served 20 years in the Air Force. Another one that served
01:04:27 20 years in the Coast Guard as well. Uh, so I understand the flight of the veterans and uh, and my heart go out to
01:04:35 the young man you just spoke about. uh because he is a Vietnam veteran.
01:04:41 And as most people have heard me say before, Vietnam veterans have a special place in
01:04:47 my heart because of what they went through over there. Uh and what they're dealing with here. I don't know one
01:04:52 Vietnam veteran that's basically isn't ill or sick today. Okay. What they went
01:04:57 through. Um this project
01:05:04 I'm looking at the Mr. how the new new one new rendition. Uh,
01:05:11 one of the question I I I heard was is will this allow us to make changes in
01:05:16 the future? I like I like to I'm I'm okay with the new concept. Uh, the cost
01:05:22 came down because to me, not only the veteran memorial is important to me, but
01:05:27 the pier as well. The docks is very important because that's where this project started at with the docks. Okay.
01:05:34 Um, and I'm saying to my fellow council member, I I have no problem with uh the
01:05:39 new new rendition he he gave. Um, we've given a million dollars by Live Well
01:05:47 Foundation. And it's my understanding we also received another $1.5 million
01:05:53 uh from the from the state. So that's telling me this project is catching the
01:05:58 eye of everyone and it's a pretty good um must be a good project because the state have already chipped in $ 1.5
01:06:05 million as well and I think if I mistaken on a uh legislative request in
01:06:12 January, we're going to ask ask for another million dollars. Now um with the
01:06:17 price tag I just saw of uh what 9.2 million that's with a 15% over cost. So,
01:06:24 it may not even be 9 million. Um, I know we got $7.9 million in our
01:06:32 recreation impact fee funds that we can draw from. Um, I'm saying let's take um
01:06:38 I don't have no problem drawing 5 million out of that. That still need money with recreation impact uh some
01:06:44 money in the recreation impact fee for uh other things later down the road. And that fund is still growing. And I know
01:06:49 we're also sitting there with another $12 million sitting in in the um fund
01:06:55 balance. That's excess fund balance. So we can make up the difference. We got 5 million from the recreation impact fee
01:07:01 and another two million 2 and a.5 million that 700 million. We're only looking at about $2 million or so from
01:07:07 the u fund balance and that'll leave you quite a bit. So my my I'm asking this fell
01:07:15 council to go ahead and fund the whole project. Uh because one of the other problem I saw with the project that Mr.
01:07:21 Pow did not mention uh was the fact that it's going to take some time to get the
01:07:27 approval for the docks to be done anyway. But until we approve the whole project, we cannot go out and start
01:07:32 asking for the uh permitting and everything on the dock. So let's go ahead and fund this whole thing and get
01:07:38 the funding done and we can peace me. Uh, we're going to have to build it in pieces anyway until the docks is ready.
01:07:43 So, that's what I have to say. So, I've got some questions. Yes. I mean, if you want to go with your
01:07:48 motion, you can. Yeah. I mean, I'm not ready to vote on it until I have We've had quite a few hours of this conversation and and I do consider
01:07:57 myself a patriot. Um, I am not sitting here willing to prioritize one park, any
01:08:06 park anywhere in the city over every other single park, child, family,
01:08:13 mother. I don't think that the gentleman who spoke want would want the impression
01:08:18 to be that they are more important than the people that their fellow soldiers
01:08:24 died to protect to protect our freedoms. And when we start talking about park and
01:08:29 recreation impact, we're talking about children, families, mental health,
01:08:35 people who need to get out into nature, people who need to go enjoy our lakes and our hills and our trees. And and so
01:08:43 some of this is a money conversation for me. Some of this is we've just hired the
01:08:49 best parks designer and community designer in the world and we are cutting those people out of this conversation.
01:08:56 We're just cutting them out. We're rushing as fast as we can so that they don't have time to organize and have any
01:09:02 input on this conversation. So, my motion is that we already have
01:09:07 identified 2.5 million in funding. Um, we've already allocated a million in our
01:09:13 general fund towards this project. I move that we
01:09:18 designate 3.5 million, a million of which would come from the general fund,
01:09:24 that we require the American Bicycle Association to weigh in on this, provide
01:09:29 feedback notes so it can be edited to support the meet in the middle concept, which is what it's called,
01:09:38 that we leave off for the time being the West Park, Westpe installation so that
01:09:43 we have time to figure out what that looks like with a focus on the tiered space.
01:09:49 With respect to the veterans memorial, I don't think this is what the veterans
01:09:54 deserve. I think they deserve much better. I don't think it's appropriate
01:10:00 to turn your back on the American flag when you are
01:10:06 honoring veterans or America. I think that is not good. And I don't think that
01:10:13 asking people to stand with their back to the lake to look at the flag is
01:10:18 appropriate either. I think that the veterans memorial should either be at the bottom of the tiered space so that
01:10:24 it can be seen while people are sitting on the tiered space or what I requested
01:10:30 this council is that we fix the boondoggle that we call Victory Point. rename it, rebrand it to Veterans Park
01:10:38 and use every board, every wall, every pathway, and every brick in that entire
01:10:44 property to honor the veterans of Clermont.
01:10:53 So, there was a lot to that motion. Um,
01:11:00 so I still have questions for I mean, All right,
01:11:08 Jeff, you and I have talked about this before, and I think there's a lot of things that are being conflated with
01:11:15 respect to the floating docks in the pier. Floating docks in the pier, the
01:11:20 floating docks are not outweighing the cost of the pier. The cost is the pier. Um, you and I have had a conversation
01:11:26 about the breakwater. Um, I really need you to come back with value engineering on this entire doc
01:11:33 system. Um, and for folks to understand we're talking about peers floating
01:11:39 docks. It's still a structure. It's still a single structure and we can do value engineering and we
01:11:45 can come back with a sharper pencil and do better. Um, I get that we want to
01:11:51 protect those votes, but at the end of the day, those are day slips. It's not full-time slips and
01:11:57 people need to be responsible for their own and I don't know that we need to spend and I don't know what it's going
01:12:03 to cost but let's just assume it's a million dollars in addition. I'm not sure that's a million dollars that's wisely spent.
01:12:09 Personal opinion. Um so I need that before I'm going to
01:12:16 approve anything on that pier. And you and I have talked about that before. So, people here haven't heard all of the
01:12:22 discussions that have gone on um with what I need to get. I think the pier
01:12:27 should be there. I fished on the pier. I mean, as a child, so it's not that I'm
01:12:32 against the pier. I'm in the marine industry, not against boats being there.
01:12:37 So, we're good there. I have no real issue with this new design. Um, I do
01:12:43 like that open space to the side so that we can work with the AVA and see how we can integrate that with bikes or art or
01:12:48 whatever the case may be. Um, which has been my piece. Um, do you have, long
01:12:54 story short, do you have what it would cost for us to move forward with the veterans and the tiered
01:13:01 seating? Um, and obviously we'd have to put in whatever infrastructure, but do we have
01:13:07 an idea on that cost? So if you with the with the veterans and the tiered seating and and I have to kind of bulk the meet
01:13:14 us in the middle portion of that with together if if you take out the docks and the gazebo and the breakwater that's
01:13:21 what we're we're left with. So if you take 4 million out of the nine we're roughly around five. So
01:13:27 so we're still at five. Mhm. And and you know to with respect to
01:13:33 the conversations we've had and the and the design changes you know anything could be adjusted down. we just what is
01:13:38 it we cut out, you know, do we reduce the slips? Do we reduce the width of the walkways? All those things are still and
01:13:45 can still be on the table. You know, um the the actual structure of the pier itself is the main cost of it. The
01:13:52 breakwater is roughly about $250,000, but probably a million and a and a quarter of that is the actual pier
01:13:59 itself. So um so that's where I run into my issue is that
01:14:05 we do have three and a half million and I have zero issue is putting that forward in moving that part of it
01:14:13 forward. Um but I do want to hear from ABA and I do want to hear from DPZ
01:14:21 on what else we can do with this and I think that this design gives us that ability. Um, so
01:14:29 I'm not sure if that gets you where you need to be. Um, like I said, I can move forward with that three and a half million for that Central Park minus the
01:14:40 minus the peer structure until we get a value engineering on that. But I'm not going to vote on anything. Full stop.
01:14:47 I'm not going to vote on anything until it's been value engineered. I don't care what it is. I mean,
01:14:54 that's how we end up paying $600 per square foot is because we're not watching our dollars. We're not mining
01:14:59 the store. We have to mine the store. That's how we get more projects done.
01:15:04 And the next item on here is the same. You know, you can hear me say the same exact thing on the next item. Um,
01:15:13 so I think we're there, but
01:15:18 I'm not sure if that fixes you. I have no problem allocating 3.5 million. We already have $3.5 million in
01:15:26 my mind. I don't see the problem is we're being presented with a $9 million project on a $3.5 million budget. So, I
01:15:33 mean, that's I I think we're there. I think that for all intents and purposes, staff can move forward with a $3.5
01:15:40 million park at downtown. The way I understand it, the question is how much you do we want to add 5.5 million to the
01:15:47 budget? My answer is no. I don't want to add five and a half million to the budget. I think we have soccer and
01:15:52 baseball and tennis and football and and softball and basketball that are all going to want some of that money from
01:15:58 parks and recreation. Excuse if you don't mind. I'd like to interrupt you. I think our vets deserve that. I think
01:16:04 we have soccer. We have all of the other sports. They already have a place to play.
01:16:10 Our vets have nowhere. They have a memorial. The soccer and softball and baseball are
01:16:15 going to say the same thing about their locations as the vets are saying about theirs. But guess what? At the end of the day,
01:16:20 these men and these women are the reason why they get to do what they're doing. Sure. Yep.
01:16:27 Let me let me let me let me let me say this. I hear what you're saying, Miss Strange, about uh the soccer and
01:16:33 everything, but I guarantee if you go back and look at our budget, we spending over a million dollars a year on the so of
01:16:39 soccer fields, ballparks, and everything. Yeah, this pier has this project been sitting
01:16:45 out there for now almost 10 years. Okay, without one penny being spent. Now you have a problem spinning.
01:16:52 Okay, but if I'm not mistaken, we just approved for for our softball uh soccer
01:16:58 fields almost a million dollars for this year alone. But we every year in the budget, we spending money on the rest of
01:17:04 the park. So we're not forgetting about softball field, we're not forgetting about soccer fields, not at all and everything.
01:17:10 So, in overall, I have no problem spending the money now to bring this one area back up up to where it used to be.
01:17:17 Uh uh even a little bit better. Okay? Because we have never spent we haven't spent a penny on this this meet us in
01:17:23 the middle uh the pier down there for over 10 years to maintain it. And I'll be honest with
01:17:31 you uh point bl I I I don't care what the bicycle association have to do. They
01:17:37 have to me I don't need their opinion about what I'm going to do with this park. This is not a bicycle park. Why do
01:17:43 I need meet me in the middle? It's called me in the middle. It's called meet us in the middle because it's location. It's along it's along the
01:17:50 trail. The trail has already been established. Okay. And and the trail isn't going through this. It's on the
01:17:56 outskirts of this of this whole complex. Okay. So,
01:18:02 could I just uh put just say one word? I mean, everybody else is talking away. I understand you guys like to talk a lot
01:18:07 compared to me on this end. So, I mean, I I mean, I've heard from the veterans
01:18:13 and I don't know how it's not touching your heart. Exactly. We're waiting a decade to get this thing done and we're
01:18:19 not and this is going to be in flux anyway. So, I think today we want to make a decision just like Patton said,
01:18:25 let's make a decision. Maybe it's not perfect today, but let's make a decision to fund this. Yes. And if we're going to fund it for the 9
01:18:32 million or the 12 million, this is 3, four years down the road. So everything's going to be in flux, but
01:18:38 let's get this thing going, I think. So do you want to put this ahead of EMS? Discuss and discuss.
01:18:44 Is this more important to you than EMS? Yes. So I'm going to split the baby on this a
01:18:50 little bit because until I have value engineering on this on a pier, I'm not voting for it. Period. I mean,
01:18:56 that's how you mine the store. Hold on. I'm going to make a motion. So, I'm making Hold on. Hold on. Sir,
01:19:03 if I if I'm mistaken, I had a motion on the floor. Did I have a I don't think I heard a second. Have a second.
01:19:08 Uh motion was to allocate $3.5 million with a million coming from the general
01:19:14 fund to get ABA feedback and DBZ feedback. I'll modify at this point to
01:19:20 not construct the west side of this project and focus on the tier. And then
01:19:25 in my mind, there's two options for the veterans. either give them an entire park at Victory Point or give them this
01:19:31 small space. But if it is this small space, I would put it down on the ground so that it can be seen while you're
01:19:37 sitting in the tier.
01:19:42 No second again. All right. Motion fell for lack of a second. So, I'm going to make a
01:19:48 motion to use that 2.5 million plus another
01:19:55 million and a half out of wreck impact fees, which is going to bring the total
01:20:00 to 4 million to move the alternate
01:20:07 plan for meet us in the middle forward. And the additional money, we'll have to do a budget amendment when we get closer
01:20:15 on a final design because we haven't seen a final design and and all of that. I second that.
01:20:20 You saying move the whole project forward? Yes. Okay. I have a motion. Move it over.
01:20:26 Yeah. Yeah. We're moving it forward, right? Yes. Yes. Who do you want to do the final design? I'm sorry.
01:20:32 You said you want to see a final a design at 4 million. We'll work through him and DPZ and and we will have them
01:20:39 speak back to us, but it's not going to be a final until we're there. And he's I mean, how long is it going to take you to even get that to us? So,
01:20:46 I mean, we can we you know, the docks are already underway and design with civil engineering right now. So,
01:20:51 probably by first of the year, we'll have that ready, right? So, we have time. And if I can add, you know, if you
01:20:57 establish it, you know, if if if the budget for the docks is not where you want it to be, what is it? Where where
01:21:02 do we need what what is our target? If you can identify the target, we can work to hit that target as we go forward.
01:21:09 We need you to come back and just sharpen that pencil and let us know. Well, I'm hearing you say 4 million. I'm not voting on docs period today. I'm
01:21:15 not there. I I am 100% for docs and appear. But until
01:21:21 I've had some value engineering, look, we just cut the cost down by $3 million by having a conversation. I'm not
01:21:30 I'm just not going to do that. I'm being responsible, but I'm also being
01:21:37 cognizant of our residents. So,
01:21:42 you have to have the right hand and the left hand working in concert with each other, and I'm good with that. So, are you saying 1.5 million from
01:21:49 recreation or general fund because we do have both.
01:21:55 Um, and then whatever staff can get in the way of grants. I mean, we already have 2.5. That's part of the reason that So, that
01:22:01 puts us at four million for the tiered space for tiered for moving everything on land
01:22:08 forward. Nothing in the what? For the land park. 4 million for the land park.
01:22:14 Yeah. So, your So, your motion is not to do the whole project. It's only to do the
01:22:20 to do the entire land portion. to do the land portion until until I get the doc stuff.
01:22:26 So until we get some value engineering and the doc stuff, I'm not I'm not supporting that. That's a huge amount of
01:22:31 money. That's $4 million for a pier.
01:22:38 $4 million for a pier. Uh, but we're willing to spend almost $2 million for
01:22:44 somebody to come in here and tell us how to design, tell us what what we can do with our with our property, which
01:22:49 mayor, we can rebuild the other pier for a million dollars. Now, stop it. Well,
01:22:58 you have a motion and a second. I have a mo motion and a second to move.
01:23:04 Um, it's just the land portion along. Just the land portion, not the the That's three 3.5 uh
01:23:11 four million four million. So what we where what would what do we allocate? It's 2.5 that's already um dedicated and
01:23:20 then 1.5 from wreck impact piece. And just to be clear, this is the land portion of the redesign
01:23:26 of the alter and I was very I said that that the alternate meet us in the middle plan. Okay.
01:23:33 Can Can I remove my second then on that because that's not what I thought you were doing. I thought it was the whole
01:23:43 just a motion. It's not a second. Yeah, I'll second it. Okay. I have a motion in a second to
01:23:50 just move forward with the land portion of the uh new new design.
01:23:56 Um with a budget of four point with four million budgeting of 4 million. Yep. And we've already got grants out
01:24:02 there looking for that. And we have a grant writer who we've just hired. So, let's do a little bit of work to make
01:24:08 this well happen. You're right. Little little bit little bit of work, but we also have money in in our recreation fund that can
01:24:15 fund this right now. Okay. You do not have $9 million to fund this. We need to get a second. We have $7.9 million in the recreation
01:24:22 impact fund. Okay. I'm not looking to take the whole nine seven and a half million. you know, we can do some and
01:24:29 you got uh 12 million sitting there in excess fund balance. So, we can easily
01:24:35 fund this with the other two and a half million that's already been allocated. And you're right, we also looking to continue to fund. So, like I said, we
01:24:42 can we can go ahead and fund this whole thing. And as we find other grants and everything, the money just goes back
01:24:47 into to the other kitties and everything as grants come in. But I do have a motion and a second of four uh to fund
01:24:53 $4 million which include 1 uh5 million grant from the state and 1 million from
01:24:59 live well that is al also donated and taking b uh basic one and a half million out of recreation impact fund is there
01:25:07 any further discussion hearing none all in favor let it be known by saying I I
01:25:13 all oppose nay nay and the chair vote nay as well motion
01:25:18 fails 32 two. Okay. I'd like to make a motion to go forward with the amended project at the
01:25:25 9.1 with contingency. These things will be changing within the next two years. But
01:25:33 at least we can get going with it. Let me help you out with this. Once you vote on this, that's how it's going to
01:25:38 go forward. Government has never cuts back. I mean, it just doesn't happen. Second.
01:25:43 Okay. Okay, we have a motion and a second to move forward to uh new remnition at 9 9 uh 9,171 million. Uh,
01:25:52 of course, we all have already have some funding. Um, is there any further discussion?
01:25:59 Yeah, Bill, I just want to make sure it's very clear to you that if we keep our EMS as we have planned, we will be
01:26:08 raising the millillage in four years by spending all of the funds that are in our general fund reserve. And if we pull
01:26:14 all of this from parks and recreation, there's no money left for any other park
01:26:20 in the city. So, we've hired the American Bicycle Association to give us a plan. Right now, we have the tools to
01:26:27 be able to execute whatever vision they give us. But if we choose to put all of our eggs into this basket, we're not
01:26:34 pulling it from the CRA. So, we're funding it from the general fund, which means we can never get it back from the
01:26:39 CRA once we start going to be funding some of it. That's not that's not what we're talking
01:26:44 about right now. And the CRA only has about the funding now. We're just talking about it right now. The project that also removes your skate
01:26:51 park and everything else. This is just a horrible idea to spend every last dollar we have and funding on this. This is
01:26:57 absolutely irresponsible. Well, well, my we're not spending every last penny of the dollar. And let me let
01:27:02 me remind you, you can't count then. I mean, you've earned the name tax and spend Tim. Come on, man.
01:27:08 Well, you you might be right. Whatever. We getting things need to move forward.
01:27:14 Uh let me remind you also, we're sitting here talking about trying to fund EMS
01:27:19 service out of a fund balance. Bad, bad, bad. You're taking on new
01:27:25 debt. That fund balance once you spend it, it's gone. That's why we If I EMS out of fund balance today, what
01:27:31 am I going to fund it with next year? That's why we didn't because that fund balance isn't going to be there next year. You can only spend
01:27:36 that dollar once. It's always It's never a good idea to follow u
01:27:42 pay for new expenses out of a fund balance. Folks, if I may, I I think that the emotion around this park the emotion
01:27:49 around this park is the veterans and they they have a compelling statement.
01:27:55 Look, veterans are important to our nation. That is true. But we don't bankrupt cities to honor people. That's
01:28:02 not that's not what you do. You don't bankrupt a city to honor people. You don't you don't bankrupt a city. This would not bankrupt our city. And
01:28:08 you have said repeatedly, Allison, that we have $16 million of taxpayer money
01:28:13 that we have not earmarked. Yeah. You say that all the time. We can use part of that money if need be. I'm not
01:28:19 saying we have to, but you have made that very clear that that bothers you that there are $16 million that we have
01:28:26 taken from taxpayers and we haven't earmarked. Well, I think that our veterans are worth part of that money.
01:28:32 It's all of that money. It's 100%. And I have offered to do Victory Point as a memorial to veterans.
01:28:39 Acres and acres of land that's already built out that we could etch names, that we could tell stories. You're talking
01:28:46 about a space that's what, 30 feet by 15 ft. And we think that is worth spending
01:28:51 all of our park and recreation money to honor veterans. It doesn't honor veterans. We do have a motion and a second on the
01:28:59 floor to go ahead and move forward with the uh new rendition. Um is there no
01:29:04 further discussion? Um all in favor let it be known by saying I. I. All oppose.
01:29:10 Nay. And the chair vote I as well. Motion passes two to three. Uh Mr. Mr.
01:29:18 Powell, can you please go ahead and look at what we can do with the docks and everything to maybe bring the cost down?
01:29:24 I know we talked about it before and everything. We'll do everything we can. Yes, sir. Thank you.
01:29:30 Thank you. All right.
01:29:36 Item number 11 of a soul source purchase approval and a budget amendment for a rowan dock.
01:29:45 Who's presenting this? Is it Mr. Mayor?
01:30:18 Good evening. James Mayworm, assistant director of public services. Um this is
01:30:23 a continuation of what we discussed at the last council meeting. Uh the
01:30:28 decision was to table it. Um there's a few items that have transpired
01:30:36 since the last conversation that we looked into. Um as I stated in the last
01:30:43 conversation were fully funded by FEMA in insurance for this project. If we
01:30:49 make any decisions to change um any kind of docking systems, we'd have to take
01:30:55 that system back to FEMA and have them evaluated to determine whether or not
01:31:01 they'd fund any portion of that work. Chances are they will, but that's still
01:31:06 a process that we have to run through and that could take up to two months to be able to go through it. Um
01:31:16 divers today did find one of the uh gangways floating or not floating but at
01:31:22 the bottom of the lake. So we'll be in the process of recovering that potentially being able to reuse it if
01:31:28 it's in good condition. So that would save us some money off the original quote. Um did anybody else have any
01:31:36 additional questions? So I'm the one who has to table this.
01:31:41 Um, I did get some costs back from and although it took longer than I expected,
01:31:46 I apologize that I couldn't get it to everybody, but um, we can have
01:31:52 the docks installed by easy do which are approved by the rowing association. They are used at some of the most prestigious
01:31:59 rowing locations throughout the nation and we can do that for about half the
01:32:04 cost. Um, and that's installed. Now, I know that 310 has a little bit done on
01:32:10 the seaw wall and some some other and Stormy couldn't give me that those dollar amounts, right? But we can
01:32:16 actually have the docks installed um for about half of this price. And
01:32:21 they are actually made for floating docks. Matter of fact, we had um a
01:32:29 well-known rower in the community who was up at a rowing event. They had 11,000 rowers on these docks throughout
01:32:36 the weekend. Um, he said they were spectacular. They work great. There's also a couple other things with the easy
01:32:43 dock that makes it nice. It's held together with dog bones and they're fairly long and dog bones just a big giant piece of plastic rubber. They can
01:32:50 be removed. They weigh 260 pounds. So, they could be set on land for storms. They could also be removed and pulled to
01:32:56 Lake Hayawa for storms. And when we do have other groups who are rowing here
01:33:02 and the winds, especially during the um fall, winter, spring, are coming out of
01:33:08 the north, they could actually be pulled around where they do um some rowing out of Indian Hills Park.
01:33:17 So, they could be pulled around there and still be used. So, these give us some options. The easy do gives us some
01:33:23 options that the ACU do doesn't. Um, at the end of the day, it's up to you guys, but the easy do is it is basically the
01:33:33 Yeti of docks. It's roto molded. Um, they are ready to go and they can move
01:33:39 forward with it. And, um, so that would be my suggestion. I'm not a soul source
01:33:46 person and I'm not going to vote for this one. How much were they? Um this they can they can bring it in for
01:33:52 somewhere in the neighborhood of 160,000.
01:33:59 This is you. Will you done Mr. Mayor? Well, unless you have this is a public form. Anyone in the
01:34:04 public wishes to speak to this item may come to the microphone to state your name and address and have three minutes.
01:34:11 Item number 11, soul source purchase approval and budget amendment for Rowan Duck. Yes.
01:34:25 Uh Mark Ventrice, president Lake County Rowing. Uh first of all, thanks for taking this up. Um
01:34:33 the only requirements that we have is lowprofile docks. That's the main thing for us. And I know what these are.
01:34:38 It it it is just so you know, because you haven't seen it, it's kind of surprised to you. Ro molded, it's 8 in.
01:34:44 is it drops down to 5 and a half inches and you can adjust that height to specifically what you want. I've seen exactly all the docks that are
01:34:50 out there. Uh this last weekend we were at a regata over in Tampa and we had that same dock
01:34:56 system uh that we were using. Two of the three docks had failed and had sinking
01:35:02 sections. The problem with docks that have single
01:35:08 wall uh construction is that's the only barrier that protects
01:35:15 the floating space. Acued docks are not built that way.
01:35:20 Acued docks are framed in and protected. The floating component is protected from
01:35:25 impact and the weather and all the rest of that. So,
01:35:31 if you if you decide to go with anything other than that, my experience, and I'm not the expert
01:35:38 rower that you spoke with, who was probably up at the uh up in head of the Charles,
01:35:44 correct? Yep. But my team was up there. Um,
01:35:49 these things really don't they're really good at pulling out. That's for darn sure. But Acid do can be pulled out as
01:35:55 well, and they do that up in the north as well. So, it's similar. It's probably
01:36:00 a little more work. Doesn't break down into small enough pieces, but it's still the same.
01:36:05 The problem is it's the exposure and the fact that these things aren't as durable. And so, we only require that. I
01:36:13 can tell you that both will work for us. Both will work for us to host events
01:36:18 and, you know, visiting teams and all the rest of that. So, that's not the issue. I do know the design differences
01:36:24 and I know the impact of that and I see it all the time. We were in a regata the weekend before
01:36:29 that. They had that same do structure sinking. They just don't last. They get
01:36:36 impacted by something, anything, and it cracks right through the side and the sun down here just chews things up. So
01:36:46 that's our perspective on it. Okay. Thank you, sir. Anyone else? This is a public forum.
01:36:53 Anyone in the p in the public wish to address this item may come to the microphone and state your name and address.
01:37:00 Seeing no one else, I'm going to close public comment and bring it back to council.
01:37:05 Excuse me, Jim. At our meeting, you said this was already totally funded. FEMA was covering it. Insurance was covering
01:37:11 it. So, it's really a zero cost to the city. That's correct. We have committed funds
01:37:16 of $389,000. Our estimate for the docks and installation is 350,000.
01:37:24 Okay. So, I mean, it's not going to cost us anything. So, and if that's a better docking system, that doesn't cost the
01:37:31 city anything. I don't understand why, you know, we're just not accepting it. So, I make a motion to approve this so
01:37:39 source purchase approval for the rowing docks. I second. Okay. I have a motion second for
01:37:47 approval of item number 11. soul source purchase approval and budget amendment for a row and dock.
01:37:53 And just to be clear, it's not that one's better than the other. One is more economically feasible. This is the
01:37:59 second time ACU do has failed. So yeah, um next time pay for it.
01:38:05 It's it's a zero cost zero zero cost and a do we had but let's be fiscally responsible. Just
01:38:11 because it's not Clermont tax dollars doesn't mean that we just go ahead and waste money. But y'all go ahead and take
01:38:16 that vote. Uh any further discussions? Hear none. All in favor be known by
01:38:21 saying I. I. I. I. All oppose. Nay. And cho as well. Motion passes 4 to1.
01:38:29 Item number 12 is for final consideration ordinance number 2025-031.
01:38:36 An ordinance under the code of ordinances of the city of Clermont, Lake County, Florida, amending the official zoning map of the city of
01:38:42 Clermont, referred to in chapter 122 of ordinance number 289C, code of ordinances, reszoning the role
01:38:48 properties described here in below, providing for conflict, severability, the administrative correction of
01:38:54 scrier's error, recording, publication, and an effective date.
01:39:00 Yes, sir. Good afternoon, mayor, city council members, and guests. John Cruz Development Services. Uh the applicant,
01:39:07 Mike Carroll, is requesting city council approval for an overall master signage plan as part of the existing Olympus PUB
01:39:14 ordinance. The original PUD was approved by city council on May 14th, 2019.
01:39:20 The current PUD, ordinance 2021-027, included a condition, section 9, item
01:39:27 one, that required specific approval for the master signage plan once it was developed.
01:39:33 A comprehensive master signage plan has been prepared by Creative Sign Designs and has been submitted for council
01:39:40 consideration. The submitted document is quite extensive, encompassing 87 pages of
01:39:46 signage applications within the Olympus development. In reviewing the document,
01:39:51 signed specification tables are included that indicate sign type, sign classification, sign location, max
01:39:58 height, and much more. It has been noted that all the signs must comply with dark
01:40:04 sky lighting rules. The Olympus project is a master plan community that has a unique vision with
01:40:11 adopted architectural standards in place. Currently, there's an architectural review board that reviews
01:40:17 projects and plans prior to city submitt provides a signoff as part of permitting.
01:40:23 Due to the complexity of the proposed signage package with city council approval, staff would request a signed
01:40:30 letter or stamp of approval from the Olympus Architectural Review Board as part of the sign permit process. This
01:40:37 would allow staff the ability to cross-reference the sign type within the master signage plan while going through
01:40:43 the permitting process. If a sign permit doesn't include the ARV signoff, then
01:40:48 the sign permit would halt until one was provided. Staff does not oppose the master signage
01:40:55 plan. If city council decides to approve, staff would request the ARB
01:41:00 signoff as a tool to ensure compliance with the master signage plan during the permitting process. To document the
01:41:07 approved master signage plan, it was determined that a PUD ordinance would have to be amended to include language
01:41:14 the master signage plan was approved by city council and where to find the recorded document. This change is found
01:41:21 under section 9, item 1 in ordinance 2025-031.
01:41:27 The planning and zoning commission recommended approval 4 to one. This concludes staff's presentation.
01:41:35 Thank you, sir. Oh, okay. Staff did it. So, yeah, this is a public form. Anyone in the public
01:41:42 wish to address this item may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes.
01:41:47 It's This is Yes, sir.
01:42:21 Good afternoon once again, Mr. Mayor, Mr. City Manager, members of the council. My name is Mike Carroll. Uh I
01:42:27 serve as chairman of the Olympus Community Development District. That is a special purpose unit of local
01:42:34 government and I'm here today on behalf of the Olympus project to present to you our comprehensive signage program for
01:42:41 your review and approval. I'd like to begin by thanking city staff, particularly Mr. Cruz for his review and
01:42:48 his comments. So at its core, this signage plan fulfills a requirement of
01:42:54 the Olympus plan unit development or PUD. It ensures a comprehensive high
01:43:00 quality signage and wayfinding system that reflects the the scale and the
01:43:06 vision and the identity of Olympus. We've assembled a great team for this effort led by Brian Wheeler, our senior
01:43:13 land planner who is here today, and Creative Sign Designs, the premier sign design and production firm with a
01:43:21 portfolio that includes some of the top resorts and theme parks and sports facilities and uh entertainment and
01:43:27 commercial environments in the state. The purpose of the signage plan is to
01:43:33 provide a unified visual language across all the various components at Olympus
01:43:41 from our wellness way, perimeter monuments and roundabout markers to the sports campus and other zones. Each sign
01:43:49 family reinforces a sense of place that guides residents and visitors uh very
01:43:56 intuitively through the campus while maintaining consistency and quality
01:44:01 across all the various zones. So I will walk you through uh a selection of the
01:44:08 pages in the plan. I am not going to walk through all 87 pages. Um, and any
01:44:14 detailed uh technical or material questions can be addressed to our team.
01:44:19 I'd also like to highlight, as John mentioned in his remarks, that the architectural review board will play a
01:44:27 key role in facilitating and assisting the city's review process. And
01:44:32 furthermore, the Olympus Property Owners Association will serve as the primary enforcement mechanism on the ground to
01:44:39 ensure ongoing compliance with the signage plan.
01:44:45 So, I'll start here at page number two.
01:44:50 This is the site map and zone legend. This page really gives you the big
01:44:56 picture of what's happening. You can see how Olympus connects to the overall wellness way corridor. Each color block
01:45:03 represents a different land use from the sports campus to the town center to the
01:45:09 fire station. It shows how the signage program is organized around these zones
01:45:14 to maintain a clearer visual hierarchy from the perimeter inward.
01:45:21 Speaking of perimeter, this is the perimeter entry at US27 and Olympus
01:45:26 Boulevard. This is the primary gateway monument. It's the really the first
01:45:32 impression visitors will have entering from US27. It's scaled for a four-lane corridor.
01:45:38 It's fully dark sky compliant and it integrates the required wellness way
01:45:44 logo identity. the height, the proportions, the materials are designed to reflect our architectural plan, which
01:45:51 as John mentioned has already been approved and adopted. Uh, page nine is the roundabout entry at
01:45:59 Olympus Boulevard and Olympus Village Drive. This shows uh one of the roundabout identity monuments. This
01:46:07 happens to be for uh the residential section of the project. This also features the Olympus and Wellness Way
01:46:14 logo identities. Page 18. This is a proposed uh
01:46:21 conceptual Lake Louisa pedestrian bridge identity. This is an optional pedestrian
01:46:27 bridge feature that would span US27. uh is subject obviously to FDOT approval
01:46:34 but conceptually I think it provides uh a striking visual gateway announcing Clermont and announcing Olympus. We are
01:46:41 on the southern uh border of Clermont. Page 19 is uh kind of zooming in a bit
01:46:50 into one of the major zones. This is the sports campus site plan. So here we move inside the project a bit. This shows how
01:46:57 the internal signage maintains consistency in terms of direction and zones and
01:47:04 building IDs while using a distinctive color which we refer to as a red clay
01:47:11 color theme to uh the entire athletic district. Page 23 is um illustrating the
01:47:19 multi-tenant monument and facade signage for major venues like the performance
01:47:24 center, the arena and the ice center. The scale here allows visibility within
01:47:30 the campus but limits the clutter. So each follows very clearly defined letter
01:47:37 sizes, copy areas, and logo proportions. Page 26. This is a conceptual rendering
01:47:44 of the Epic Arena, showing how large format digital signage and sponsor
01:47:51 panels integrate architecturally with the building facade. Even at this scale,
01:47:57 illumination and color balance comply with uh dark sky standards and with
01:48:03 community guidelines. So, this does not face any uh public roads.
01:48:09 Page 41. Uh, this highlights the town center. This is really the heart of our
01:48:15 mixeduse area. And you'll notice a shift to kind of a cooler um, blue pallet here
01:48:21 and more pedestrian scaled signage. So everything from storefront IDs to
01:48:26 directional markers follows the same kind of design DNA and that ensures that
01:48:31 there's u cohesion across the retail and the entertainment uses.
01:48:38 Okay. And finally, page 67. This gives you a sense of the level of thought and
01:48:44 detail that has been put into uh this plan. This introduces the tenant sign guidelines. And this is what ensures
01:48:51 long-term consistency. It covers allowable materials and mounting and
01:48:56 lighting and logo sizing among other things so that every future sign complements the Olympus identity.
01:49:05 It's about maintaining long-term visual integrity. So 5, 10, 20 years from now,
01:49:13 the Olympus brand uh still looks intentional and timeless and cohesive.
01:49:19 Thank you very much. Thank you, sir.
01:49:26 This is a public forum. Anyone in the public wish to address the site may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes.
01:49:33 Anyone in the public wish to address this item may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes.
01:49:40 Seeing no one, I close public public forum. Bring it back to council. Motion to approve item number 12,
01:49:45 ordinance number 2025-031, final Olympus PUD for sign. Second.
01:49:52 Okay. Have a motion. Motion and a second for approval of item number 12,
01:49:57 ordinance number 2025-0315 on Olympus uh PUD.
01:50:04 Okay. Uh roll call. Council member Strange. I.
01:50:10 Council member Howard. Hi. Council member Myers. I. Council member Peterson.
01:50:15 I. And the chair vote I as well. Motion passes 50.
01:50:22 Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Again, thank you. Thank you for all your contributions and and everything for
01:50:28 that whole area down there. I'm still looking uh forward to the ice arena so I
01:50:33 can come drive to Zamboni.
01:50:39 Item number Okay, the next two items, item number 13 and number 14, we're going to read them together, but we're
01:50:45 going to take act on them separately. Item number 13 is uh final consideration for ordinance number 2025-034.
01:50:53 And item number 14 is final consideration for ordinance number 2025-035.
01:50:59 As I said, we'll read them at one time, but we all uh vote upon them separately. Yes, ma'am. An ordinance of the city of
01:51:05 Clermont, Lake County, Florida, adopting the small-scale comprehensive plan amendment for the city of Clermont, Florida, pursuant to the
01:51:11 local government comprehensive planning act, chapter 163, part two, Florida statutes, setting forth the authority
01:51:18 for adoption of the small-scale comprehensive plan amendment. Setting forth the purpose and intent of the
01:51:23 small-scale comprehensive plan amendment. Providing for the adoption of the small-scale comprehensive plan
01:51:29 amendment establishing the legal status of the small-scale comprehensive plan
01:51:34 amendment providing for conflict severability administrative correction of scrivener's error publication and an
01:51:40 effective date. Ordinance number 2025035, an ordinance under the code of ordinances at the city of Clermont,
01:51:47 Lake County, Florida, amending the official zoning map of the city of Clermont referred to in chapter 122 of
01:51:53 ordinance number 289 Code of Ordinances, reszoning the real properties described herein as shown below, providing for
01:52:00 conflict, severability, administrative correction of scrivener's error, recording, publication, and an effective
01:52:07 date. Yes, sir. All right. Uh oh. Good afternoon, mayor, city council
01:52:12 members and guests. Nick Gonzalez development services. Uh these are staff initiated requests. Uh city council uh
01:52:20 approved annexing the site on September 9th, 2025 via a utility agreement with
01:52:26 the understanding that a small-cale comprehensive plan amendment and resoning would be done at a later date.
01:52:32 the the city as an applicant is now moving forward to complete the process to designate the property with the
01:52:38 applicable future land use and reszoning design and zoning designations. Uh the
01:52:43 property is located at 13550 Granville A. Uh that's east of Granville Avenue
01:52:49 and south of State Road 50 and is approximately 2.3 acres. Uh the property
01:52:54 is currently improved and used as an auto repair shop. The utility agreement was based on upon the facility upgrading
01:53:02 their fire protection system and needed the city's water service.
01:53:08 And here we can see that the uh the current zoning of the property in Lake County was uh heavy industrial with the
01:53:14 regional office future land use. The compatible zoning within the city would be industrial M1 uh with the future land
01:53:22 use of industrial as well. and the majority of the surrounding future land uses in the area are consistent with
01:53:29 industrial. Uh the change in zoning uh in the change in future land use the industrial
01:53:35 designation along with zoning change to M1 industrial does not propose a conflict to the existing uses and land
01:53:42 uses in the area. The property owner is aware that any future improvements or expansions will result in the site
01:53:49 meeting the land develop city's land development code. The planning and zoning commission
01:53:55 recommended approval 50 and staff recommends approval of the smallcale comprehensive plan amendment ordinance
01:54:02 number 2025-334 and the reasonzoning ordinance number 2025-035
01:54:09 and that concludes SAS presentation. Okay. Thank you sir uh staff. So I'm
01:54:15 open this up to the public. Anybody in the public wish to address this item may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes.
01:54:22 Anyone in the public wish to address this item may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes.
01:54:28 Either one of them 13 or 14. Seeing no one, we'll close public
01:54:34 comment and bring it back to council. Motion to approve item number 13, ordinance number 2025-034,
01:54:40 final proactive automale comprehensive plan amendment. I second. You said that really fast,
01:54:47 Todd. This is a note. This is a note right now already. I think we annexed annexed this
01:54:54 piece of property in a couple uh council meets ago. So, um we do have a motion and second for
01:55:00 approval of ordinance number 2025- 034. Any further discussion?
01:55:07 Hear none. Roll call. Council member Strange. I. Council member Howard. I.
01:55:12 Council member Myers. I. Council member Peterson. I. And the chair vote I as well. Motion
01:55:18 passes. 5. Um, item number 14.
01:55:25 Motion make motion to approve item number 14, orange number 2025-035, final proactive autoresoning.
01:55:32 Second. I take your second. Okay, we have a motion and second for approval of ordinance number uh 2025-035.
01:55:40 Any further discussion? No. Hear none. All u uh oh, roll call again.
01:55:47 Uh, council member Strange I. Council member Howard. Hi. Council member Myers.
01:55:52 I. Council member Peterson. Hi. And chair. I as well. Motion passes 50.
01:55:58 Okay. Item number 15 is for final consideration. Ordinance number 2025-036.
01:56:05 An ordinance under the code of ordinances of the city of Clermont Lake County, Florida. Providing for the annexation of a certain parcel of land
01:56:12 in accordance with the interlocal service boundary agreement dated December 2, 2014. providing for
01:56:17 conflict, severability, administrative correction of scrivener's error, recording, publication, and an effective
01:56:24 date. Yes, sir. Again, John Cruz. Um, this is agenda
01:56:31 item 15. The city as the applicant is requesting annexation of the subject
01:56:36 parcel as authorized by the utility agreement with the developer Michael Dinkl. The agreement was executed on
01:56:44 January 11th, 2005. The parcel has been platted, developed,
01:56:49 and receiving wastewater services from the city of Clermont. As a condition of this agreement, the
01:56:56 city has the right to annex the parcel when it chooses to do so. The property,
01:57:01 approximately 88 acres, consists of the Hammock Reserve and Hammock Point subdivisions. The total lot count is 195
01:57:10 single family homes and outlined on outlined by uh on the display in yellow
01:57:16 is the two subdivisions. The one to the north is Hammock Point and the one to
01:57:22 the south is Hammock uh reserve. The subject property lies within the joint
01:57:27 planning area in the interlocal service boundary agreement between the city of Clermont and Lake County. The ISB
01:57:33 allows for the annexation of non-ontiguous properties into the city of Clermont under certain conditions,
01:57:39 one of which is a utility agreement. The property meets the requirements of the ISBA for annexation along with an
01:57:48 executed utility agreement. The property owners within the subdivisions were invited to a question
01:57:54 answer session with staff on September 30th at the Clermont Art and Rec Center. Approximately 50 people were in
01:58:01 attendance when the majority of the questions were addressed. In addition, a flyer explaining annexation advantages
01:58:07 along with key benefits was distributed. The property meets the requirements
01:58:13 under Florida statutes 171 for annexation and is currently being served by the city of Clermont for wastewater
01:58:18 services. Staff recommends approval of the annexation request with the understanding that a related request for
01:58:25 comprehensive plan amendment and resoning request will be processed in the near future. Staff recommends
01:58:31 approval ordinance 2025-036. That concludes staff's presentation.
01:58:38 Okay. Again, staff initiative. So, anyone in the public wish to address this item may come to
01:58:43 the microphone and state your name and the address. Have three minutes.
01:58:54 How you doing? Rodney Bell. I live at 11744 Button Hook Drive and that's in Hammock
01:59:00 Point. As a retired uh city police officer of South Florida, I know the
01:59:05 benefits of living in the city and I hope that you will vote yes to NXSN. Thank you.
01:59:11 Thank you. This is a public forum. Anyone in the public wish to address this item may come to the microphone and
01:59:16 state your name and address and have three minutes. Anyone else?
01:59:24 Anyone else? See no one else. I close public comment. Bring it back to council. What say council?
01:59:30 Motion to approve item number 15, ordinance number 2025-036, final Hemmet Point reserve and reserve
01:59:38 annexation. Second. Okay. I have a motion and a second for
01:59:43 approval of item number 15, which is final consideration for ordinance number 2025-036,
01:59:50 which is the annexation of uh Hammet Point and Hammet Reserve. Any further discussion? Hearing none,
01:59:58 uh, Council Member Strange, I, Council Member Howard, hi. Council member Myers,
02:00:04 I, Council Member Peterson, I, and Chair Vote I as well. Welcome to the
02:00:10 city. Uh item number 16, final consideration for
02:00:16 ordinance number 2025-037, an ordinance under the code of
02:00:22 ordinances of the city of Clermont, Lake County, Florida, providing for the annexation of a certain parcel of land
02:00:27 in accordance with the interlocal service boundary agreement dated December 2, 2014. providing for
02:00:33 conflict, severability, administrative correction of scrivener's error, recording, publication, and an effective
02:00:40 date. Good afternoon, mayor and city council members. Curt Hendel, planning
02:00:45 development services director. This one's going to sound very much like the previous one, just a different location.
02:00:51 Uh, the city as the applicant is requesting annexation of the subject parcel as authorized by the utility
02:00:57 agreement with the developer, Steven Hithersay. The agreement was executed on October 28th, 2014. The parcel uh has
02:01:05 been platted and developed and is receiving wastewater services from the city of Clermont. As a condition of the
02:01:11 agreement, the city has the right to annex a parcel when it chooses to do so. The property approximately 30 acres
02:01:18 consists of Louisa Grand subdivision with a total block count of 75 single family homes. The project uh the subject
02:01:25 property lies within the joint planning area and the interlocal service boundary agreement between the city of Clermont
02:01:31 and Lake County. The ISBA allows for the annexation of non-ontiguous properties
02:01:36 into the city of Clermont Clermont under these certain conditions, one of which is a utility agreement. Property
02:01:43 meets the requirements of the ISBA for annexation along with uh an executed
02:01:49 utility agreement which is what they have. Property owners within the subdivision were invited to a question
02:01:54 and answer session with staff on September 30th at the Clermont Arts and Recreation Center. Approximately 50
02:02:01 people were in attendance with the majority of the questions addressed. In addition, a flyer explaining the
02:02:07 annexation advantages along with key benefits was distributed, which is what you see in front of you on the screen.
02:02:13 The property meets the requirements under Florida statutes 171 for annexation and is currently being served
02:02:18 by the city of Clermont for wastewater services. Staff recommends approval of the annexation request with the
02:02:24 understanding that a related request for a comprehensive plan amendment and resoning request will be processed in
02:02:30 the near future. Staff does recommend approval of ordinance 2025-037.
02:02:36 That's staff's report. Thank you, sir. This is a public forum. Anyone in the public wish to address this item may come to the microphone to
02:02:42 state your name and address and have three minutes. Is a public forum. Anyone in the public
02:02:47 wish to address this item may come to the microphone, state your name and address and have three minutes.
02:02:53 Seeing no one, I close public comment. What's the council? Motion to approve item number 16, ordinance number 2025-037,
02:03:00 final Louisa Grande annexation. Second co I have a motion motion and a
02:03:07 second for approval of item number 16 final consideration for ordinance number 2025-37.
02:03:13 Any further discussion? I have a couple questions. Um I didn't catch this before and I'm going to ask
02:03:19 for clarification from staff. Both this item and the last say that there was a meeting on September 30th at the
02:03:26 Clermont Arts and Recreation Center and that approximately 50 people were in attendance with the majority of the questions addressed.
02:03:33 Was this the same meeting? And were they the same 50 people? Both subdivisions were actually total of
02:03:39 three subdivisions. Two of them are kind of paired together. They were all invited to the same meeting. Yes.
02:03:45 Okay. Is that they're under the same form of utility agreement
02:03:50 with the city? I mean, are we sure that these folks know that we're talking about annexing them?
02:03:55 If only 50 people out of almost 300 were present, 300 homes. We addressed many of
02:04:00 the HOA representatives and the the signs were posted at the entrance of the
02:04:05 properties. Okay. So, we did address all the required statutes required for for notice,
02:04:11 but we communicated with the HOA board. Yes. Yeah. Okay. At least they were they were some of
02:04:17 them were there in representation. Okay. Great. Yeah, that was that was my concern. Um to the council on this one,
02:04:23 I am interested in your feedback and your thoughts. Um, it is my understanding that this property, unlike
02:04:30 the one on Hammock Ridge, is not actually in what I think we would consider our box. It feels a little bit
02:04:35 like extending our borders. Um, I'm concerned in my meetings with staff that
02:04:40 they said that Sunshine actually services this community for utilities, so it's not going to be our utilities
02:04:47 and also that the roads would have to be maintained by the city and that they have speed tables, which would slow down
02:04:53 our EMS or ambul or fire response. and it just feels a little different. And so
02:04:58 I was I'm on the fence on this one and I wanted to get your take on the wisdom of
02:05:04 bringing this property into the city. So for me, our box is the ISBA and it's within our ISBA.
02:05:10 Yes. Yes. I was going to say our neighborhood where we live at um the city does not
02:05:16 give us um our water. We get it from Sunshine, but the city does our trash
02:05:21 and sewage. So yeah, I don't have issues. We have we have a couple uh subdivision where it's
02:05:27 actually services provided by other but the city still does uh they in the city
02:05:32 uh that's because of sunshine and believe it or not right across the street if I'm not mistaken Kirk uh on
02:05:39 the east side of 27 it's already in the city right that is correct
02:05:44 yeah the east side yeah east side you know and I would like to see the whole whole uh west side of of 27 come into
02:05:51 the city sooner or later hopefully. Okay. U M I'm sorry. I always thought this piece
02:05:57 of property was always in the city when I know when I was uh setting this uh property up when I was in the post
02:06:03 office doing the addressing and everything. I was always told it was in the city already. So I I was a little
02:06:08 surprised to find out it wasn't in the city. Well, and I appreciate your feedback. Did anybody on the dis or on staff re
02:06:14 receive any objection from the community members? I mean, did we hear anyone object at all? At the meeting there was
02:06:21 a little bit of objection but well Q&A
02:06:26 exactly you're right. It wasn't a formal it was a just staff meeting with the residents that's all.
02:06:32 Okay. All right. Thank you. Did I have a motion in a second? You did. I did have a motion in a second
02:06:38 uh for approval of item number 16 ordinance number 2025-037.
02:06:44 Any further discussion? Council member Strange. I. Council member Howard I. Council member Myers
02:06:50 I. Council member Peterson I. And the chair vote I as well. Welcome to the city.
02:06:56 Item number 17 is for consideration resolution number 2025-026R.
02:07:03 A resolution of the city council of the city of Clermont, Lake County, Florida, granting a conditional use permit to
02:07:08 allow for a condominium development in the R2 medium density residential zoning district providing for conflict
02:07:15 severability, administrative correction of Scrivener's error publication and an effective date.
02:07:22 Yes, sir. Good afternoon again, mayor, city council members and guests. Nick and Zos development services. Uh the applicant,
02:07:28 Joe Zagami Jr. is requesting a conditional use permit to allow for a condominium development in the R2
02:07:35 mediumdensity residential zoning district. The vacant parcels are located east of South Grand Highway and north of
02:07:42 East Highway 50. The subject property is designated for highdensity residential use under the city's future land use and
02:07:49 zone R2 which permits multifamily development subject to a conditional use
02:07:54 permit approval. The proposed subject include property uh includes a 20 unit
02:08:00 condominium development that is consistent with both the density allowances and the intent of the R2
02:08:06 zoning district. No waiverss or variances have been requested by the applicant at this time.
02:08:14 Uh the site is located adjacent to residential and commercial uses with
02:08:20 frontage and access from South Grand Highway. The proposed development will serve as a compatible transition between
02:08:27 existing single family neighborhoods and commercial corridors. The site is located directly behind the athome store
02:08:34 and down from an existing storm water pond. The development could be considered an infield development since
02:08:40 the majority of the surrounding area has already been developed. The site plan
02:08:45 has been updated in response to the planning and zonings board's recommendation to extend the walk
02:08:51 walking path and including dedicated parking for property owners. And I'm not sure if you're able to see it on on that
02:08:58 uh plan, but it's outlined in red with the red bubble of the uh extended
02:09:04 walking path to go all around uh the the uh storm water pond. and they uh also
02:09:10 notated the parking for residents. Mhm.
02:09:16 When evaluating a request for a conditional use permit, the land development code section 101-212
02:09:23 requires specific development standards that are required to be met. Staff has reviewed the application as submitted in
02:09:29 accordance to the development standards criteria and finds a proposed use can meet the general criteria for granting a
02:09:35 conditional use permit. Uh, planning and zoning recommended approval 50 with two
02:09:41 additions to be added in section two of the resolution to prohibit on street
02:09:46 parking and allow waste collection through a centralized dumpster enclosure
02:09:51 rather than individual cans at each specific parcel. Staff recommends approval of the conditional use permit
02:09:57 resolution number 2025-026R. And that concludes staff's presentation.
02:10:05 Thank you. Is the applicant present?
02:10:11 Please, you have anything you would like to add, sir?
02:10:17 I'm not saying you have to. If you
02:10:26 Hello, I'm Joe Zagami Jr. Z A G A M. Um
02:10:31 230 Mohawk Road in Clermont. I'll just answer any questions that you might
02:10:36 have. Okay. Thank you. Well, thank you, sir. Uh George tweet, but this is a public forum. Anyone in the public wish to
02:10:42 address this item may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes.
02:10:48 Anyone in the public wish to address this item may come to the microphone, state your name and address, and have three minutes.
02:10:54 Seeing no one, I close public comment. Uh Mr. Gun um Zombie, I have a
02:11:04 knowing that piece of property, you know, I find it amazing that it's a big slope over there on that property and
02:11:09 you're not asking for any variances for grading or anything over there. You we've already had this engineered.
02:11:16 Um the property there is a grade on it, but I don't know if you've walked back
02:11:21 into the property, but once you get down by the lake, it's pretty flat. Yeah. the commercial project which is uh adjacent
02:11:28 to the property and to the south of it has used big retaining walls. Uh so this property sits much lower than
02:11:36 the adjacent commercial property. So my preliminary engineering says that um no
02:11:42 uh no variances at this time. Um we're hopeful that none will be required. Well that's that's good. I was just I
02:11:48 mean cuz I know the piece of property and I know the piece to the other side the condominium just to the other side.
02:11:54 I know what we had to go through with those as as well. So well just uh north of the property is a
02:12:01 similar type of project and uh the grade is very similar. So you can see what they did there and
02:12:07 you know it's a very similar type of grade. Okay. And the reason you uh you agreed to the dumpster,
02:12:14 it's I mean it's fine. You know, it's okay for the dumpster cuz this is
02:12:19 city. I know. Well, with the entrance with what I'm seeing here with the entrance, you know, it may be a little tough for our trucks.
02:12:25 The um we we spent a lot of time engineering this so that city trucks could get in, fire trucks could get in
02:12:31 and maneuver through the property. um a dump truck or a garbage truck could
02:12:37 physically maneuver through the property without a problem, but um after conversations at P&Z, they requested
02:12:44 that we go with a dumpster and I have no problem with that. That we can accommod
02:12:50 I just don't want to have you go and doing because being in the city, you are entitled to the city service and
02:12:56 everything. So, right, I understand you and all and you engineered everything. Um, you answered that
02:13:01 question whether the road in there was engineered for the trucks and everything. That's right. Uh, and fire truck as well.
02:13:07 Yes, sir. Okay. So, that's all went through. So, we good. I'm okay. Motion to approve item number 17, resolution number 2025-026R,
02:13:16 Lock Haven on Grand Cup. I second. I have a motion and a second for
02:13:21 approval of uh item number 17, resolution number 2025-026R.
02:13:27 Any further discussion? I have some questions for the applicant. Hi. Hi.
02:13:32 Um, thank you for taking on projects in the city. Happy to see them moving forward.
02:13:38 It's the first time in almost 20 years, so it's good. It's good to be back.
02:13:43 Yes. Um, so doing my due diligence as I hope you
02:13:50 know I would do. Um, I am not concerned. I don't have
02:13:57 concerns. I think you're going to do a great project. Um, but one of the standards that I've been asking
02:14:02 developers when they come in is to give something back to the community when they ask for something from the
02:14:08 community. Um, you know, in this case with the access, I don't think, and
02:14:14 correct me if I'm wrong, um, but it is my understanding that you wouldn't have qualified for the number of units that
02:14:19 you're asking for in the cup. Um, I think this is a really cool project. I think it's the kind of thing we want to
02:14:25 see. Um, but my question is as we're adding traffic because it's more people,
02:14:30 is there anything that the community or would you be willing to work with our staff to maybe come up with something
02:14:37 that might make this kind of a community asset as much as it is an individual
02:14:42 development project? Well, what do you have in mind? I mean, that's a very broad
02:14:47 Yeah. ask what what what do you want? And I'm seeing this for the first time as we come into this meeting, so that's
02:14:53 part of it for me, right? Um, I think that that corner there with the athome
02:15:00 project and all the residential there on Grand Highway lends itself to something
02:15:06 that could be better for our community. And I think it's going to take good
02:15:11 developers such as yourself who come in and and have creative ideas. And so I kind of my first question to put you on
02:15:18 the spot publicly is did you have any feeling that you were restricted in your
02:15:24 design here that that you were restricted by our code or our systems? And did you have something you would
02:15:30 have preferred to have done that you weren't able to do? Well, the code allows for duplexes. So,
02:15:36 I could have done a duplex community without um a CP, but um the services
02:15:45 that are going to be required that I have to provide for as a developer are rather expensive. As you can see,
02:15:50 there's a very long entryway. Yeah. Um there's ADA requirements. Um so, um
02:15:58 although the the unit count that we're asking for, the 20 units is within the code. it. I'm not asking for any more
02:16:06 density than is already allowed. So, um um I use I use Highland Engineering for
02:16:12 the engineering and we just really poured over this and tried to find a way to balance um our need for unit count
02:16:20 with with, you know, developing a nice project. It's a very beautiful piece of property. I don't know if you've been
02:16:26 back there, but um we want we do want to do something special with it. I mean,
02:16:32 this is um you know, there's been talk about I know at the PNZ meeting they
02:16:38 asked, "Are you going to gate this? Are you going to make this private?" And honestly, I don't know how I feel about
02:16:43 that. Um um there's two ways to look at private gated communities, but we do want to try to preserve uh the natural
02:16:50 beauty of the lot. There are some trees there. We are going to have to remove some trees, but uh those that are going
02:16:57 to be removed will be replaced with a nice landscaping package. and we want this to be an above average project. So
02:17:04 our vision is for something nice nice there. And so I hope that what we're
02:17:10 going to do there is going to improve the quality of housing in the area in general
02:17:16 um in the Grand Highway Corridor. Um but you know beyond that I'm not sure how to answer your question
02:17:22 and some of it's just asking questions and exploring it. Um, we do have a new economic development team, um, that I
02:17:29 encourage you to meet with and work with. I think that they can help, you know, make visions a reality here and
02:17:35 you're in this process and you're here with the CUP and you've got your approvals, you're going to get my vote. I just would like to connect you with
02:17:42 them and if there are things that we can do to make the community kind of better for everybody, that's what I'd like to
02:17:47 do. Well, honestly, unfortunately, I'm last in here. This is an infill project, so
02:17:52 everything around it has been established. It's set. I mean, ideally, I would have liked to have been more
02:17:59 integrated, right, with the community. Um, but I'm very limited now with what I
02:18:04 can do given the fact that everything around me has been developed. So, um um
02:18:10 we are going to connect to the sidewalk system outside. So theoretically, somebody that lives there could walk up
02:18:16 to the um shopping center and and use it. Um that was brought up at PNZ and we are
02:18:23 doing that. Um but it's a small project so you know I don't know. I mean there
02:18:29 really isn't anything there isn't really it wouldn't make like a a city park for
02:18:34 example, right? Um there isn't really it just isn't the right parcel for that. It's very very um contained and private
02:18:43 back there on the lake. So let the um I know there was some talk and which I love was talk about the
02:18:49 sidewalk that you just mentioned because the sidewalk right now ends right there by Homes to whatever on that side of the
02:18:56 street. So So we're going to run it up the I would like to Yeah. When you come to that side of the street, sidewalks just
02:19:02 end right there at home to um but going into your piece would love to see that sidewalk come back up and make it
02:19:07 walkable. I know that was talked about. So, it was Mr. Strange Fuzz Gilback. It was It was
02:19:13 That's great. Well, thank you. I wish you luck. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. If I could just add one
02:19:19 thing, Mr. Zagami has worked really hard to work with staff and try to work with
02:19:24 us at all of our requests. And if if if we had more experiences like that with
02:19:30 him, wow. Just so so all five of you know, he's he's been exceptional to work
02:19:36 with. Kurt and John and I and Nick. We've enjoyed working with him.
02:19:44 Okay. I thank you, sir. U seeing that piece develop and all. Uh
02:19:50 uh I think I had a motion and a second for approval. This resolution number uh
02:19:56 25 2025-026R. Any further discussion?
02:20:01 None. All in favor? Let it be known by saying I. I. All oppose. Chair vote I as well. Five.
02:20:07 Motion passes 50. Good luck, sir. And another
02:20:16 item number 18. Eh, introduction of or ordinance
02:20:22 number 2025-043. Introduction. An ordinance of the city council of the city of Clermont, Lake
02:20:29 County, Florida, amending the city of Clermont police officers retirement plan at chapter 28 article 3 amending
02:20:37 section 2863 disability providing for conflict severability codification the
02:20:43 administrative correction of scrivener's error publication and an effective date.
02:20:50 All right, I entertain them. Motion for the introduction of ordinance number 2025-043.
02:20:57 Motion to approve item number 18, Orange number 2025-043
02:21:02 and Treasure Police Pension Plan. Second. Have a motion and second for approval for introduction of
02:21:09 ordinance number 2025-043. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, let it be known by saying
02:21:15 I. I. All oppose. Chair vote. I as well. Motion passes 50. Um,
02:21:22 I guess we're at report, Mr. Van Wagner. So smart.
02:21:28 Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to let everybody know the city facilities will be closed on Veterans Day, November
02:21:34 11th. Also, our council meeting in November has been moved to November 18th
02:21:41 at 3 p.m. So, we'll only be having one council meeting in November. A taste of
02:21:47 South Lake is Thursday, November 6 at 5:00 PM at Waterfront Park. Tickets are
02:21:53 available through the chamber and the Veterans Day parade and celebration is
02:21:58 November 8th. The parade begins at 12th Street at Blessed Sacrament Church at 10
02:22:04 a.m. and ends at Waterfront Park. And there's a celebration at Waterfront Park from 11:00 am to 4 pm. And just a couple
02:22:12 things, uh, I did want to introduce Zayn to you and Robert Fox, but they're all
02:22:18 gone. And, uh, I would like to introduce our new economic develop development
02:22:23 director, Nathan, if you'd come just say hello to everybody for a moment, please. And as he's coming, couple quick things
02:22:29 I want to tell you today. Guys, I'm really excited to share with you. The Lake County Commissioners voted to move
02:22:35 forward with approving funding for the construction of Hartwood Marsh expansion
02:22:43 starting in spring of 2026.
02:22:48 So that was a big win today. Thank you all for your support in that. And I know Mr. Howard, you came and discussed that
02:22:55 with them in person. So, uh, thank you all for your support and Mr. Howard for going there in person. and one more
02:23:02 road. We're going to make a little better flow of traffic. So, thank you all for your support in that.
02:23:09 I'm Nathan Norris. Hello, everybody. Is that good? Okay. All right. I look forward to
02:23:15 working with all of you and talking to all of you about how uh we can contribute our our efforts. Come on,
02:23:21 Rob. This is Rob Fox.
02:23:27 Um we're uh both looking forward to doing everything we can to to help you
02:23:33 in your mission. um as well as uh as really we want to we we both believe
02:23:39 after um uh everything that we've studied, everything we've seen, everyone we've talked to, we really believe that
02:23:45 u we can help out and and and we look forward to that and ways that uh we'll
02:23:51 have other communities all over the country, not just here in Florida, looking at Clermont for seeing how they
02:23:57 can leverage their assets. Um the the combination of wonderful nature combined
02:24:03 with the demand for development can create wonderful things or bad things. And it's going to be our job to make
02:24:09 sure that our number one industry here which is essentially real estate development is uh leveraging uh all our
02:24:15 opportunities as best they can as we grapple with the the the difficulties of
02:24:20 growth which include the traffic and the removal of nature uh that's uh God's
02:24:25 given us. And and so with those, we do want to start asking questions. I know uh um Council Member Strange asked,
02:24:33 "Well, what can you do for us?" It's really not just how a developer can help the city. It's how can the developer
02:24:40 spur inspiration for surrounding property owners to be thinking about how things get connected in the future, not
02:24:47 just now. And so that's what we're going to bring to the table. We'll have more detailed plans uh uh within about a
02:24:54 week's time frame where we'll be reaching out to all of you for your input, but we have a game plan that we
02:24:59 want to follow for this upcoming year and uh we'd like to work with everybody on that.
02:25:05 Thank you so much. We're excited to have the Zane come Desane as our development
02:25:11 liaison and we're excited to have him to help us continue to move forward with projects as well for people.
02:25:16 Yes, sir. Uh, thank you all for having me and I'm I'm so excited to work with you all and if you need anything at all,
02:25:22 I'm always available. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. If you guys get a Trader Joe's, you will
02:25:28 be heroes to this community. I'm just saying. Heard that.
02:25:33 Um, that uh I I put an order in for Trader Joe's, but the gentleman one place we
02:25:40 thought we were going to get, he told me no. But Mr. Van Van Wagner, can you I've
02:25:45 been asking on for this here uh Hancock Road extension to Wellness Way.
02:25:50 Um there supposed to be an agreement between the county and the developer down there to do to go ahead and get
02:25:56 their work done. Can we find out where? Yes, sir. Last I heard the they come to an
02:26:01 agreement, but the county has not signed the the agreement. Since you asked me to look, that's the
02:26:06 same thing I'm hearing, but I will ask again, okay, and try to help push that. We need we need to try to get that project going cuz I'm hearing it's going
02:26:13 to take 12 to 18 months to finish that connection and and with all the development down there, we need that
02:26:18 connection uh Hancock extended so people can get out without having to go to 27. Okay.
02:26:24 So, let's see if we can't get the county to go ahead and get that agreement signed, please.
02:26:29 Um Mr. W. Yes, sir. Hello, Mayor. Uh thank you. So, for your
02:26:36 November meetings, we have a couple resolutions we're preparing. One of which is in coordination with the
02:26:42 finance director regarding how the city developing a uniform policy for how the city handles credit card fees. Right
02:26:49 now, some places charge, some don't. We're going to ask you to adopt a uniform policy. Additionally, a
02:26:54 resolution will be presented to you regarding parking times downtown pursuant to your discussion at the last
02:27:01 meeting. And I had, you know, I tried to prepare for your meetings and I thought there was going to be some opposition to
02:27:07 the annexation as well. So, um, I had some private I had a private concern made to me about, you know, are these
02:27:13 agreements legal? You know, because in the Florida statutes, when you do a voluntary annexation, it specifically
02:27:19 says the property owner can petition. We're not the property owner, but there is a Florida Supreme Court case in 1996
02:27:26 that says municipalities can do this and it's never been overturned. So, um, no
02:27:32 fault there. Everyone wants to be in Clermont. Congratulations. Um, that concludes my report. Okay, sir. Thank you. Um, I don't know
02:27:39 how much it's going to have to do with us. Can you do me a favor and check? Is I'm hearing it's a proposal for House Bill 105.
02:27:46 Can you can you check into that for me? That's been And I'm hearing it. I'm not
02:27:51 as sure exactly what it's all about, but uh there's rumor that it can put some more restriction on us is similar to what u SB 180. Okay.
02:28:00 Okay. The same person I actually I was told the same person did 180 is doing this bill. So, let's let's see what's
02:28:06 I hear you. Okay. Please, sir. Uh, Council Member Myers.
02:28:14 Um, first I want to say my prayers are with all of those who are in Jamaica and who have family and friends that are
02:28:20 there. My other thing I would like to share is that I went to the no meeting
02:28:26 Wednesday and they shared that in the near future they will be asking cities
02:28:31 to give finances towards any road projects that they will be approving.
02:28:37 And then my other announcement I want to share with everyone who may not know, but on Saturday, November 8th will be
02:28:43 the Veterans Day parade. It is at 10:00 a.m. and the tribute ceremony is at noon
02:28:49 at the Highlander Building and Pavilion. And I would hope all of you all would make your plans to attend. Again, that's
02:28:55 Saturday, November 8th. 10:00 a.m. is the parade and noon is the tribute
02:29:00 ceremony at Highlander Pavilion. And that ends my um report. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Well, I had the veteran
02:29:07 parade on mine. I'm been the grand marshall on my report. Grand Marshall, but Mr. Van Wagon, I thought I heard you
02:29:12 say the program is from 11 to 4 and you saying 12. So,
02:29:18 okay. I I thought it was at 12:00 as well, the program. And I thought it was only going to be an hour or so.
02:29:24 Yeah, that's it. That's what I was getting. That's what I was getting my email. Let's find out the real times and and
02:29:29 the length of it because it's usually that uh program usually only go an hour or so down there and everything. But I
02:29:35 was told uh the parade at 10:00 because they asked me to be the grand marshal
02:29:40 and everything and then the program at at 12 and then I got another program to be to at 3:00 in Mckini Park. So
02:29:48 all right. So that's what I was told. Okay. All right. Let's get the I heard I heard what you said. So let's get the times
02:29:53 right. Mr. Peterson. Yes. Thank you. Um I really don't have
02:29:58 much of a report. I mean it's hard to believe that I'm I'm in office a year already. you know, I mean, time is just
02:30:05 flashing by and I'm finding it really good that, you know, it's a two-year term, but it's almost like it should be
02:30:12 a four-year term because the first year is just a learning experience. But, I mean, I'm learning a lot from dealing
02:30:18 with people. It's really good. We have like the bagels with Bill. I'm I'm meeting with people in Kings Ridge,
02:30:24 Heritage Hills, and in Summit Green. I guess it's the Greyhairs that are
02:30:29 meeting there. But, you know, it's it's interesting. People come to you with their their needs and their and their
02:30:35 their wants. Some of the things we can do, some of the things we can't, you know, like traffic lights is hard to do,
02:30:41 but some of the little things we can do. So, I'm finding it really rewarding. It's good that we can do something for
02:30:49 the people in Clermont, you know, as opposed to just saying, "Well, we'll think about it, but we can do things at
02:30:55 this level." And that's it. Thank you, sir. I'll come back and address something you
02:31:01 just said later. Uh, Council Member Strange, I have nothing to report. Council member Howard.
02:31:08 All right. Now, my report. Uh, remember when we leave here, I think it starts at 6:30 down at Waterfront where our police
02:31:15 department is doing scaremont. Okay. So, take the little ones down there so they can get some Halloween
02:31:21 candy and all. Uh, it starts at 6:30. I think it's from 6:30 to 8, Mr. Fanwagnet. 6:30 to 8 at Waterfront Park.
02:31:28 So, so we head we talked about the veteran parade mayor's lunchon. I have mayor's lunchon next week. Uh I know
02:31:33 there's been some confusion about my lunchon. Uh I think word was given out that we be in an outback. It's actually
02:31:39 going to be at Pisanos uh next Tuesday from 12 to 1:30. Um so anyone wants to
02:31:46 join me for the mayor's lunchon uh next Tuesday. I'll be at the Panos at 12. Um
02:31:52 glad to hear you say your fouryear terms. Okay. because as I I think I've mentioned to this council before about
02:31:58 doing four-year terms and I've already got with Mr. War and I think I've already had the uh the wording done and
02:32:05 everything for for to go ahead and get it on the ballot. This is something that has to go on the ballot for the people to vote for. So, it is my my hope and my
02:32:13 goal is to get it on the ballot for the 2026 election uh election. So, I was
02:32:19 going I know I met with Mr. for and I sent him the the wording that we we need to try to use um to go to four-year
02:32:27 terms because uh I I strongly believe like you two years is too short and it
02:32:33 doesn't leave much consistency up here on this council and the other big portion to me it can save the city a lot
02:32:39 of money okay four year terms um because the way we got it set up and the wording
02:32:44 we got set up when they take term we'll be actually having election on the even years along with the state office state
02:32:51 election. So the state will pick up the cost like this year it can cost this one election for this one seat can end up
02:32:57 costing us $50 to $80,000. Okay. So uh um by shifting the four years and the
02:33:04 way we we the wording is going and everything we'll be able to uh just have election every other year and and have
02:33:10 more consistency up on the county uh council and save the city a few dollars. So, but hopefully in January or February
02:33:17 or so, we'll try to go ahead and bring that to the council and get it out there so we can get it uh to the supervisor
02:33:22 election to get it on the ballot for 2026 if you all so desire. Okay. I'm glad to hear you say that because
02:33:28 that is one of the things I try. Uh other than that, that's all I have.
02:33:33 Anybody else? Anyone else has anything for the good of order? There you go. Anything else for the good
02:33:39 of order? If not meeting a journal.