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DRAFT 2019-06-17 Minutes CITY OF OKEECHOBEE JUNE 17, 2019, JOINT WORKSHOP OF THE CITY COUNCIL, COUNTY COMMISSION, SHERIFF AND SCHOOL BOARD DRAFT SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION PAGE 1 OF 2 AGENDA DISCUSSION Call to Order The Workshop was hosted and conducted by the Okeechobee County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) with an invitation extended to the City Council, Okeechobee County School Board and Sheriff Noel Stephen with their respective Staff. Attendance I. Commencement II. Public Comment III. Agenda 1. Joint Workshop: between the County, Sheriff, School Board, and City of Okeechobee - Robbie Chartier. A joint Workshop was conducted on June 17, 2019, at the Historic Courthouse, Room 270 located at 304 Northwest 2nd Street, Okeechobee, Florida, and called to order by Board of County Commissioner (BOCC) Chairperson Burroughs at 5:00 P.M. The names and attendance of Officials and Staff for each entity are listed below: CITY Mayor Dowling R. Watford, Jr. - Present City Clerk Lane Gamiotea - Present Council Member Wes Abney - Present City Attorney John R. Cook - Preent Council Member Monica Clark - Present City Administrator Marcos MontesDeOca - Present Council Member Bob Jarriel - Absent Police Chief Bob Peterson - Present Council Member Bobby Keefe - Present COUNTY Chairperson Terry Burroughs - Present Commissioner Bradley G. Goodbread - Present Commissioner Bryant Culpepper - Present County Attorney Laura McCall - Present Commissioner Kelly Owens - Present County Administrator Robbie Chartier - Present Commissioner David Hazellief - Present County Deputy Clerk Jeff Shain - Present Sheriff Noel Stephen - Present SCHOOL BOARD Chairperson Jill Holcomb - Present Board Member Melisa Jahner - Present Vice Chairperson Amanda Riedel - Present Board Attorney Tom Conely - Present Board Member Malissa Morgan- Present School Superintendent Ken Kenworthy - Present Board Member Joe Arnold - Present Board Secretary Sharon Vinson - Present Commissioner Culpepper offered the invocation; the pledge of allegiance was led by Commissioner Goodbread. BOCC Chair Burroughs noted a letter from Jennifer Tewksbury, Executive Director of the Economic Council of Okeechobee County, Inc., addressed to County Administrator Chartier was distributed. The letter was not read into the record; a copy is on file in the official minute packet for this meeting in the City Clerk’s Office. BOCC Chair Burroughs stated the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act passed by the Florida Legislature requires the presence of law enforcement at each school. The funding required to adhere to the law is another matter, as the State is not fully funding the mandate. JUNE 17, 2019 - CITY/COUNTY/SHERIFF/SCHOOL BOARD JOINT WORKSHOP - PAGE 2 OF 2 AGENDA DISCUSSION IV. Agenda continued 1. Joint Workshop: between the County, Sheriff, School Board, and City of Okeechobee continued. IV. ADJOURNMENT Please take notice and be advised that when a person decides to appeal any decision made by the City Council with respect to any matter considered at this meeting, he/she may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceeding is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. City Clerk media are for the sole purpose of backup for official records of the Clerk. ___________________________________ ATTEST: Dowling R. Watford, Jr., Mayor _______________________________ Lane Gamiotea, CMC, City Clerk The Sheriff's School Resource Officer (SRO) budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20 is $1,100,000.00. The School Board provides funds allocated from the State which will cover approximately $618,215.00, the City’s estimated portion is $160,000.00; leaving the funding short at approximately $322,000.00. BOCC Chair Burroughs confirmed that the County’s position is that this endeavor is a shared partnership between the Sheriff and the School Board ; then further stated the shortfall for the new FY will be provided in the Sheriff's budget, which comes out of the County budget. The Officials discussed funding methods and having to work with each entities lobbyist in order to be vocal enough for the State Legislature to understand that additional funding must be provided in the future, especially for physically constrained Counties such as Okeechobee. School Board Chairperson Holcomb provided the amount of time and energy the School Board labored with Legisl ators over the last two sessions in an attempt to obtain additional funds. School Board Member Arnold suggested working with the Small County portion of the School Board Association and the Small County Coalition in writing a joint Resolution from the small Counties, Cities, School Boards, and Sheriff Offices to their respective Legislators. Council Member Keefe questioned the methods available to comply with the law and increase the level of service, at the most economical method. School Superintendent Kenworthy responded there are four options: 1. SRO’s provided through the Sheriff and Police Chief; 2. Safety Officers (where the School Board would have their own law enforcement department specifically for the School District); 3. Contract the services to a third party-private company; and 4. Guardian Program only. Options 2 and 3 are the most costly. Option 4 is the most cost efficient based on finances only, it would not provide the level of service the School Board Members, Admini stration, and parents want and expect. Additionally, the Sheriff would still have to provide services to the schools and transport when handling criminal matters. Overall, the best option is to continue collaborating with Sheriff Stephens and Police Chief Peterson to provide the SRO’s for the schools. In closing BOCC Chair Burroughs confirmed, based on the language with the Florida Statute, the School Board will need to determine the appropriate agreement as to how the funds will be allocated to the Sheriff Office and the City/Police Department for the SRO’s, it will not be with the County Commission. There being no further items to discuss, BOCC Chair Burroughs adjourned the Workshop at 5:30 P.M.