2021-03-22 Handwritten MinutesCITY OF OKEECHOBEE, FLORIDA
MARCH 22, 2021, TOWN HALL MEETING
HANDWRITTEN MINUTES BY LANE GAMIOTEA
I. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Watford called the Town Hall meeting of the City Council for the City of Okeechobee to
order on Monday, March 22, 2021, at 6:00 P.M. at the Okeechobee Freshman Campus
Auditorium, located at 610 Southwest 2"d Avenue, Okeechobee, Florida.
Public comments during town hall comment cards, back of room, candidate forum questions
on the opposite side of room. Grateful for WOKC
The invocation was offered by Mayor Watford, followed by the Star-Spangled Banner sung by
Mr. Jim Clark, and the Pledge of Allegiance by Council Member Jarriel.
II. ATTENDANCE
Mayor powling R. Watford, Jr.
Council Member Wes Abney
Council Member Clark
Council Member Jarriel
Council Member Keefe
PRESENT ABSENT
x
x
x
x
x
City Attorney John Fumero
City Administrator Marcos MontesDeOca
City Clerk Lane Gamiotea
Deputy City Clerk Bobbie Jenkins
x.
x.
x.
x
III. INTRODUCTION
A. Overview of City activities — City Administrator
1200 businesses in the city, life blood, rough year, COVID, tried to get back to normal. City
worked with County distributing CARES Funds to city businesses $70,000 to city funds.
How the city has worked financially 2009 to 2016, operating in the red, no good. Operationally
and operate in the black, dollars go al..... w/in the city you didn't pay any more taxes.
Healthy reserve $4.5 million. Back in the day padded or fluff budgets, very streamlined. Council
asked to be refined on the budget, and only what we need. This year revenues slightly up.
Seems like every cost has gone up as well. Look forward to maximize our dollars as well. We
could have sat here stagnant, have to look forward, businesses & citizens
3 constructions projects this year, designed in house, SE 8t" Ave to improve water quality.
ADA access along SE 3�d Ave on sidewalks.
?? 3�d project.
Pipe repairs infrastructure looking as, drainage and roadway improvements.
Private side we get excited with BK redeveloped, new Wawa coming in, multi-family projects
coming in as well. In addition we have RaceTrac across from 10th Ave, finalizing with FDOT
and SFWMD, additionally tax dollars coming in.
Residential homes over 30 homes built, been over 10 years since we have had that many in
one year.
Community projects with city and partner. FPL teamed with us and the vehicles charging
station, looking toward the future, no city dollars, FPL grant.
L. Gamiotea Handwritten Minutes, March 22, 2021 Town Hall Meeting, Page 1 of 3
LED streetlights, no more dull yellow lights, no additional costs and better lighting.
New intersection at 9th and 9th ability to grow our city commerce center. Positive is to get more
jobs here.
Smaller projects. Centennial parks, solar phone charging station.
Solar powered hot spots, this Friday installing hot spots, solar powered, charging and connect
to free wi-fi. Big issue demographics was the connections in school board. Been important for
me FL Eng society, institute pilot project and go statewide.
Innovative projects that will be picked up.
Talked about how bad things have been done. Pushed off the charter review for a while. Now
one of our busiest years.
Flagler park committee, friendly, destination for people.
Partner with Ec Dev Corp.
Closed captioning module just got shipped, be able to post all the meetings to you tube and
take comments during the meetings.
Fantastic code enforcement that is being reinvented, catching on back logs.
What makes the city different, its our people. What makes us tick, not just the people, its our
actions, common goal along with council, it's an intangible item, come and talk with us, we get
plans reviewed quickly, code enforcement will come and talk with you about issues, police
officers will listen to you, public works cleaning our ditches on days off. Next day building
inspections. On behalf of our staff. Keep city right for ec dev street perception how do others
do it, how do we do it, others are asking how we do it, it's a place you want to live and raise
your children.
B. DW charter extremely old, amended a few times, council decided it's time to revise, city
attorney charged to review that with a committee that will give a recommendation.
JF city attorney little over a year, not long after, mayor & council asked us to review. Similar
to the constitution. Then statutes. Laws cannot conflict. Charter then ordinances. City hasn't
taken a comprehensive look at the review of the charter. Formed a review committee working
for a year looking at pros and cons to changes. Hoot Worley, Sandy Perry, thank both of you
for your public service, very involved. Sandra Bowen and Noel Chandler. 478 charters, 411
cities. City cannot be a city without a charter. Resolution look at charter, research what other
cities do, educate citizens and get your input, public comment, welcome to attend all open to
the public, in the end its your charter, set the constitution for you for the future of the city.
Website where you can review all the materials. Gary Ritter is the chair of the committee.
Quick issues what it does, defines the form of government for the city. Spectrum of different
cities and some counties, strong mayor form of gov mayor elected as a mayor, the CEO for
the city full time position, day to day operations of the city, doz's of cities that have this form
of gov, paid to operate them, all the way to the opposite spectrum, city manager and they are
the CEO for day-to-day operations. No wrong or right way. Every way is City council form of
gov where each member oversaw each department. That was in the first half of the 1900's
after VWVII, 60s and 70s, became the strong manager, hybrid of different types. City is a good
example, used to have a strong council form, evolved, hybrid strong council, strong manager
forms. Looking at other mid to small size cities are doing.
Developed a citizen's bill of rights, entitled to have easy access to public records, notices with
businesses. First time in history, ... charter work about a year or council says others wise,
come up with a model charter and get as much public feedback as possible, present model to
city council, discuss it, consider, adopt/amend, then voted on by the voters and why its critical
to do a good job to present to you what we are recommending. Timetable is moving forward.
Brief overview keep an eye open for meeting notices. Making our way through the different
L. Gamiotea Handwritten Minutes, March 22, 2021 Town Hall Meeting, Page 2 of 3
elections. Articles deal with each issue, elections, council, etc. opposite problem of MDO,
give you a flavor for what's going on, and historical for the city.
DW important issue, keep up with all that. Thought full time already?
DW feel on my heart Clyde Durrance passed away today. Bus driver, served on BOCC when
I first came on the city council, learned a lot from him and other old timers. Lost a good one.
Introduce
City clerk Gamiotea, Wes Abney, Bob Jarriel, Dowling, Fumero, Keefe, Clark, Allen, Smith,
Peterson. City staff. Bobbie Jenkins deputy city clerk.
Received one card, Gina Arbrogast. Photos passing around, SW 3rd Ave west of library,
ditches and culverts cleaned out in years, pictures from last heavy rain we had, November,
Library sits higher than the homes do. With it sitting that much higher, comes towards our
homes. Before hurricane season could be cleaned out.
DW Gina talked to me about Thurs evening, referred to MDO and then onto our PW director,
will be addressed.
Great turn out. Take slight recess and Brandon will take over.
6j:39 pm
C. Opening of Town Hall meeting for public comments - Mayor
IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS
V. The meeting was adjourned at P.M.
L. Gamiotea Handwritten Minutes, March 22, 2021 Town Hall Meeting, Page 3 of 3
CITY OF OKEECHOBEE, FLORIDA
MARCH 22, 2021, TOWN HALL MEETING
HANDWRITTEN MINUTES BY BOBBIE .1ENKINS
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Watford called the Town Hall meeting of the City Council for the City of Okeechobee to
order on Monday, March 22, 2021, at 600 P.M. at the Okeechobee Freshman Campus
Auditorium, located at 610 Southwest 2"d Avenue, Okeechobee, Florida.
Dowling Watford provided instructions on where to get the forms and where to submit cards for
the for forum and the town hall meeting. Appreciate everyone who worked so hard to put this
together.
The invocation was offered by DW, Mr. Jim Clark sing national anthem ,
followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by _BJ
�
ATTENDANCE
Mayor powling R. Watford, Jr.
Council Member Wes Abney
Council Member Clark
Council Member Jarriel
Council Member Keefe
City Attorney John Fumero
City Administrator Marcos MontesDeOca
City Clerk Lane Gamiotea
Police Chief Bob Peterson
Fire Chief Herb Smith
Public Works Director David Allen
Deputy City Clerk Bobbie Jenkins
PRESENT ABSENT
_x
_x_
x
x
x
x_
x_
x_
x
x
x
x_
III. INTRODUCTION
A. Overview of City activities - City Administrator
MDO-do want to think council and public, just talked to the Clerk and Deputy Clerk today, found
out we can do video and audio for next year. I'm MDO, City Admin Since 2015, engineer by
trade, count only by my fingers. Brief overview of the city overall. Hub to the County, 6000
citizens and 1200 businesses. Small businesses are life blood in okee, rough year. COVID last
year, and we've tried to get back on track. Worked with County to distribute CARES funds, City
received $70,000 for our requests. In the past give how the City works financially. 08-09 budget
was in the red. Past 3 years, until last year, we have been operating in the black. Shows we're
being fiscally responsible.
This year we are going into the red, very smart too. Still being fiscally responsible, still doing
projects, but council rolled back millage rate. We tried to continue to assist our citizens. Detail
highlights: 7.5 million budget, 4.5 million reserves, we don't have padded or fluffed budgets.
Budgets are very streamlined. Council has asked us to be very fine with our pencils. Only what
we need. This year our revenues are slightly up. It seems like every cost that we have has
gone up as well. Monitoring on a monthly basis. Continue to look forward to find ways to
B. Jenkins Handwritten Minutes, March 22, 2021 Town Hall Meeting, Page 1 of 4
maximize dollars. Doom and gloom, cost increasing, etc. We could've set here stagnant, we've
got to look forward. What could we do in a year more difficult. Put out 3 projects for construction
with our grant program. We design those in house. SE 8t" under construction to improve water
quality, ADA access on 3�d and 6th. We want to continue these projects on. IN addition we've
started looking at pipe repairs. Having infrastructure meetings now, cares dollars for that.
Please pardon our dust.
What has the city done development standpoint. Says a lot to revitalize a facility, new Wawa,
a lot of multi-family projects coming in. So in addition, we also have RaceTrac. Rumor but they
have gotten their approval. In progress with FDOT and Water Managemenf, business corridor
is very busy. Residential side: 30 new homes within the last year. Haven't seen that in the past
decade. This is just new homes, not remodels.
Community projects, taken on by a partner. FPL teamed with us on our vehicle charging station,
provide range anxiety, again looking out for the future, grant from FPL funded. LED Street
Lights; don't have the dull lights, may not be something you noticed, no additional costs.
Move onto one that we pushed on. North 9th, dangerous intersection in the City, also the ability
to draw interest to the Commerce Center. Results are to get more jobs here. Has anyone been
to Centennial Park. South 6th to the Creek. USB solar charging stations. Personal favorite, solar
powered hot spots. This Friday, hangout with 30 engineers, we're going to be installing these
12 ft tall towers with Wi-Fi connection points. Anyone downtown can connect to the internet.
Big issue is school age demographic to provide access to internet. Florida Engineering
Foundation and FL Engineering Society and Engineer Institute, taking this project statewide.
City doing projects innovative and picked up statewide. WE are doing things bigger cities want
to do.
Talk about how bad the year has been, how the budget went, Council pushed these through.
Paperwork done, pushed off but we're doing this year. Flagler Park Design Review Advisory
Committee, work on our parks downtown, goal to make aesthetically pleasing, destination for
people to come in. Proud partner with Okee Economic Development Corporation. City Council,
closed captioning module just got shipped. Be able to have audio and video on the web, will
be able to take comments on the web. Moved forward with Countywide Fire Service, potential
savings for the City. Fantastic Code Enforcement, has been reinvented, getting their feet
underneath them and moving forward.
This is where it changes, I've been on a lot of calls that has asked what makes us different. It's
our people, but what makes us tick, what makes us different, not just the people, but our
actions. We all have a common goal, every department and council. AN intangible item, you're
missing the point if you're trying to touch it. Plans can be reviewed, talk to a CE Officer, Police
Officers pulled you over, do concurrent reviews. Try to be open and friendly, public works guys
remove debris from ditches on day off. Next day building inspections. So its everyone, not just
me or Council, every department, every employee. Common goal. Keep our city right for
economic development. Street perception on development. How do other people look at us.
Several communities have contacted us. How are we having businesses being built, iYs a place
you want to live and raise your children.
DW-thank you Marcos. Did we earn our money. In case you don't know the City is doing a
charter review. It's how we operate, its very old. It's the rules. Council decided it's time to revise
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the Charter. The City Attorney has taken that on. The Committee is literally going sentence by
sentence. John Fumero is going to give us an update.
B. Update on Charter Review Committee meetings - City Attorney
John-City Attorney for a little over a year. Not long after being appointed, I was asked to look
at the Charter. Explain it like it's the constitution. Just below that, we have laws and statutes.
Statutes cannot conflict with constitution. Council enacts ordinances, and they cannot conflict
with the charter. The city hasn't taken a comprehensive look at the charter since the 1960s.
We are doing that. A committee was formed and they are going to be working for a year
looking at the charter and debating the pros and cons for changing the charter. Recognize
Hoot Worley, Sandy Perry, Suzanne Bowen, Noel Chandler. Thank you both for being on the
committee. Very involved. In FL, we have 411 cities, 67 counties. Cannot be a city without a
charter. Look at others, modernize, get input from citizens, important part of what the
committee does in the coming months. Publicly advertised meeting, needs lots and lots of
public feedback. In the end, its your charter. There's a website that has been created to
provide feedback now. We will continue to post the meetings on the website. There's a
meeting this THURSDAY. Gary Ritter is the Chair of that Committee. Couple of quick issues
in terms of why we want a charter and what it does. It defines the form of government for the
city. Example: spectrum of different types of municipalities in the state. Some have a strong
mayor form of government which means mayor is elected as a mayor, that mayor is the CEO
of the City. Usually a full-time position, runs the day-to-day operations of the city. Dozens of
cities and a handful of counties, Miami Dade has a mayor. Strong Manager form of
government has an individual who is hired to be the CEO to manage the day-to-day
operations for the City. There is no right or wrong, there is no good or bad. Every scenario or
options have pros and cons. CCRAC looking at and debating various forms of government.
These forms have evolved since the 50s. Used to call City Council government. Each
member has a job (department head). After W1NI1 and the 60s and 70s, common form is
strong manager. There are hybrid scenarios, strong mayor/strong manager. City of
Okeechobee used to be strong city council form of government. Mayor Watford has provided
a historical overview of that. Again that has evolved, kind of a hybrid today, strong City
Council/Management form of government. The CCRAC has developed a citizen's bill of
rights. Entitled to have easy access to government records, entitled to advanced public notice
of ineetings that affect you. First time in Okeechobee's history. Believe will be part of the
proposal. CCRAC will work for about a year, job is to come up with a model charter, and part
of the process to get as much public feedback as possible. Present to council, they review or
discuss it and decide to adopt it. Charter must be voted on by you the voters. ThaYs why
public outreach is critical. If we don't do a good job of what's in it, then we've dropped the
ball. Put before the electors as a referendum to be voted on. Just wanted to give you a very
brief overview of this, please keep an eye open for these meetings. Developing language,
articles dealing with elections, authority of council, authority of administrator, and once we get
it together, it will be posted on the website. Your input in the end will be welcomed and
appreciated.
I talk to long. Give you kind of flavor of what's going on. Historical.
DW-very important issue of the City. Advise each of you to keep up with that. Very important.
C. Opening of Town Hall meeting for public comments - Mayor
Before we begin, Clyde Durrance passed this morning. Remembered him as a bus driver,
served on the BOCC when I first came on the City Council. I really learned a lot from them. I
just wanted to recognize his service to our community. We've lost a really good one.
B. Jenkins Handwritten Minutes, March 22, 2021 Town Hall Meeting, Page 3 of 4
DW-City Clerk Lane Gamiotea, Administrator, Wes, Bob, Dowling, John Fumero, Bobby,
Monica, PW Director, Fire Chief Smith, Police Chief Peterson.
Only have one comment card submitted. If you make comments, please come to the podium
for the comments. So far we only have one comment card. Pictures attached.
Jeanna-thank you, didn't want to speak, birds eye view, concerned with drainage on SW 7tn
Ave, west side of the library. Haven't been dug out in years, last heavy rain we had, the water
comes towards our homes along the southwest 3�d avenue. Before hurricane season hits us,
needs dug out. Not an expert on drainage, please take a look at this.
DW-she did talk to me about this, referred it to MDO and then to DA.
If not, we will begin forum early. Great turnout, not here to hear us. Slight recess to reset the
table for the candidates. Brandon Tucker is the moderator. Thank you.
IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS
V. The meeting was adjourned at 639 P.M.
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