Scott go sit down go ahead good afternoon I'd like to open this uh Tuesday meeting city council uh March 5th 2024 if you'll s with me the mayor will lead us in invocation on the pledge he's bobing me Lord thank you once again for the city that we liveing the people that are here our citizens we ask that you watch over them we have a big event next week it's an annual event as our Sebring rate 12 hours a seing there'll have a lot of people in town and we ask that you watch over everyone that comes and travels distance to come see our little Slice of Heaven we ask that you watch over city council tonight that make sound and right decisions we ask that you watch over our staff that keeps the city running like it is we ask that all we do we do in your name Jesus Christ amen am amen pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all CA you call the RO please sir may here Bishop here Hy here mle here Stewart here car here okay I just want to welcome everybody here tonight um if there's anyone in the audience that's not on the agenda uh there's some sheets up front here you can fill them out give them to clerk Haley and she will get them over to us and we'll call you up at the proper time mayor's report well I mentioned earlier that we've got a little event coming up next week on top of the events that we've had here for the last couple weeks but our 12 hours of Sebring is back in town and I expect well over 100,000 people to attend so it's going to get a little busy out there um so I hope you all enjoy that um a lot of different races during the week and then the culmination of The Big Race on the weekend which actually starts an hour earlier this year so yeah um and then Tuesday night though is our kind of our little celebration that started this is our fourth annual transporter parade which if you haven't seen it and you think it's kind of weird just to watch semis coming down the street it's actually pretty exciting the first one that we had I thought when we put it together it's like who's going to want to see a truck well there's 30 to 40 of these trucks that are just Immaculate and just beautiful painted and that stuff and it's a good event the chambers putting on a little Gayla downtown uh at the Circle Theater there'll be live music there'll be drivers coming downtown they'll have a little Q&A and it's uh it's pretty exciting so Tuesday night starts at 5:30 I think the parade comes through about 6:00 and last till I believe 8 so um that's kind of the kickoff to race week U so yall come come on down and unless you leave town for the week and rent your house out that's another story but but also tonight you know we have a uh special visitors with us and I'd like to welcome the Mason G smoke Foundation youth leadership the highlands ambassadors we have several seniors we have H five seniors from seing high school if you all stand up they are have a project that is a uh Civic and Community engagement program and these are our future leaders these these kids they just go above and beyond and Excel and that's that's what's going to take us into the future so we welcome you to the city council meeting hope you learn a lot don't listen to lard you won't learn much but but no thank you for coming and uh thanks Dena for putting together the program and everything that they do but we're proud of you all you guys are great and youve moving on to the next uh part of your life in the next year so congratulations on that and thank you for coming we appreciate that so let's let's give them all a big round of applause now if you all want to come up and make a speech we'll let you do that how does that sound okay next year we'll prep them for that Dina but that's all I have okay okay um council is concerned Le Lea on reports um good evening and we're so glad to have the students with us our future leaders and um please consider going into government especially city and county and consider staying in little wonderful Sebring Florida it's so great I grew up here and then I married a gypsy man and moved all over the country spent my whole life trying to get back here and God has granted me retirement here and it's just a lovely lovely place to stay so welcome and I wanted to report that uh last week or recently uh we had a meeting with the historical preservation commission uh and the people the production company for the HGTV discussing uh how the uh production company is is they're being very very uh nice very Cooperative with trying to keep the city folks happy with what they're doing and and I think they've been very successful in in doing a good job but with their kickoff and uh they have uh certain things they want to do with with fixing our town up or making it spiffy or whatever you want to say for this program but we have a color palette too that's are more in keeping with our historical um themes in in our city area so I just want to make it clear that the production company is trying to find out what uh will make our historical uh folks uh Happy with the uh changes they're making around town and all for the best so just wanted to say they've been it's been a pleasure working with them so we are keeping in mind uh the changes that are being made that they'll all be real historical minded that's all harison no report uh don't have a report I had one thing I wanted to bring up um we all got an email I think last week from a gentleman asking us to consider an ordinance about sprinklers going over people's sidewalks um well I don't think I I'm not in favor of stopping that cuz we'll have just dead grass on all the medians everywhere um does the rest of council have any um thoughts one way or the other about limiting hours for that and I say that because I've experienced that issue too that you know walking with my family on Lake View or some other side street and uh you got to go into the road because some people sprinklers are covering the whole sidewalk and you know normal daylight kind of hours is there any appetite to make an ordinance change limiting that for certain set hours maybe like not being policed but just you know by report or complaint driven uh I did look at that and uh considered that and um and I talked to Scott nck our city administrator about it and he said that that with the city uh irrigation that they take great pains to do it in the overnight night hours and you know it just didn't seem practical what that gentleman had suggested I appreciate him going into all that trouble to to figure out an ordinance but if you try to limit you know all of us have a problem with the sidewalks at our homes and all getting the water on it and and turning colors or getting um growth on it and things and and we don't like that but it's it'd be almost impossible to get water coverage and get all of the grass and the the plants and not hit some on the sidewalk so I'm not I don't mean to limit that I mean if it does go over the sidewalk maybe requiring you can only do it from I don't know 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. or something like that so that people in typical traveling hours walking or riding their bike on the sidewalk aren't having to go into the road around it no you mean like just for everybody in the city the I mean the the if your coverage goes over a public sidewalk yeah that would be the only thing I don't anticipate it's being where this would be policed by code enforcement frequently but probably more complaint driven where if there's you know a few egregious offenders and and there are if you drive on Lake Vi at 5:00 p.m. certain days of the week there's there's a few houses where it's blasting over the sidewalk and you know you're going into the road to get around it um which is the issue that I think we're trying to solve does that make sense that's what I'm suggesting yeah there's people walk around the lake all hours of the night serious but we can't we can't well I understand fix it during all hours but during peak hours you know if that if it is happening and it is reported how would the homeowner or business owner be noticed would we then send out code enforcement I'm assuming it would be a code enforcement letter saying hey this is the ordinance you can only if it C goes over the sidewalk you can only run it during these hours I think you'd have a Enforcement issue something like that because there's enough that they've got to handle now and then to monitor the water and actually right now we're under twice a week watering so there's a several of them out there that don't even follow that well that's why my thought would be it would only be complaint driven I don't want code enforcement but somehow somebody would have to follow up with that complaint then how do you do that so you know maybe we need to just to think that through a little bit further okay well plant the seed and let's think about it it is an issue it's not a huge issue but um I've seen it happen a bunch the mayor's guilty well then you had the problem when the power goes out and your timer is off and all of a sudden it's hits the sidewalk and somebody complains about it so and it's just the resources to to keep up with that if there's other issues that they probably should be dealing with but okay well if there's no appetite water before so on the second part of that though with the no tree or branches May obstruct the the sidewalk so there is no ordinance about that right now for maintenance on trees there is I kind of assume there already there is okay that's probably just another complaint trip did you want to Chief you want to say something to us good good evening Chief Carl Hugman for the record we do have Provisions in ordinance to address watering outside of violation times when water restrictions are put in place outside of ours um and that is a mechanism that code enforcement can address typically it's done through a notice a warning notice and if we don't get voluntary compliance it could end up at code board with fines and leans uh to address the second point of the conversation the trees obstructing the sidewalk there is a requirement that there's an 8ft buffer from the ground above we do notice homeowners for private trees trees growing from private property over the right of way and if it's a street tree which is a public tree that's ENC encroaching that limit we have Public Works uh communicate with them to try to get that raise to the Limit it's a difficult thing to do and we don't expect homeowners to cut over the right of way for safety issues uh we've worked with Public Works in the past to try to get those brought into voluntary compliance or city compliance whenever possible and that's just complaint driven as well right well some sometimes it's observation for instance leading into the Veterans Day Parade the route came back up Magnolia Magnolia has a very tight uh tree encroachment Public Works went out advance of the parade and trimmed as much as they could to get that brought into compliance um key areas of course are Lake View Drive kennworth drive or Boulevard where kids are walking to and from school or we've got high traffic areas along Kenworth where we try to keep good visibility and don't have safety issues I've got a question yes ma'am um would there be a way without passing an order ordinance that if a complaint came in like I I didn't really think about that with the private people trying to walk on the sidewalk and you got a child and uh is there a way to just go and ask the people to maybe do it overnight so we have a reporting mechanism on the website city of sebring's website through um it's called the CRA it's citizens reporting they can notice us that there's a violation or the problem let us know what the address is and we will then assign a code officer to go inspect but they can't enforce a an ordinance that can you just give them a friendly warning to we typically offer a courtesy notice and if we don't get voluntary compliance it can run the entire code enforcement process but at this at this point it is not against any ordinance to be having the your water sprinkling out on the sidewalk and making people have to no that would typically be a nuisance type consideration we would ask them to adjust their sprinklers um it's a double-edged sword we require that they maintain the right of way if the grass is dead diseased or dying they could get noticed if we water people on the sidewalk that's a nuisance type complaint that we try to address as well we really try to balance the nature of the complaint versus the actual violation to see what we're dealing with um as commented we do have some sprinklers that wash or water the road the sidewalk the right of way and the neighbor's yard um in some instances it's wind blowing Sprinklers and it's really not a I would say an egregious violation thank you certainly appreciate it anyone else yeah I have um been spending quite a bit of time with Fred Tucker at the golf course he's our new golf pro out there and um I think he's really doing a great job um he's making some some good changes that as of right now aren't costing the city a ton of money um he has a plan to get these greens into shape uh this summer that I think uh we'll be able to do a lot of the work ourselves with our maintenance department and that'll save us a few bucks um it's not free by any means but you know he's coming to the to the table with some pretty good options for us to move forward and get that thing whipped in the shape great anyone else probably just need to address that soon because April May comes and that Ry grass is going to burn off and go back to this it'll be gone in about 3 weeks yeah so we got talking about the golf course right we probably got to bring that back and what do he say probably 80 to 100,000 I think 100 he's planning on uh a $100,000 ask to get the greens completely redone take care of that now the greens will have to be replanted but I mean the irrigation that we're going to address paying for some of this a little bit um that problem is kind of been remedied about yes ma'am I know he had called me or sent the variable whatever the vfd yeah came in what two weeks ago 3 weeks ago get that working yeah um I had never been out there and he was kind enough to send an invitation over the government email I think probably y'all might have gotten one I'm going to go out a couple weeks and never been out there to see it but it I've heard he's doing a very good job doing a real good job every time I've gone every single cart has been on the course whether or not that is up to the greens being better or I don't know or just the great weather well good thing that's it that's it okay only report I have is you young people out there don't pay attention to him I graduated s high school and I'm here and and I had to work my way through so and I agree with Terry uh you need to think about doing stuff like this because we need we need young people up here you know we got Harrison and these two other fellas before that they were all my age so we do need young people and our age is good I didn't say nothing about our age but but we need the young people you know I never thought about getting into government and I have really enjoyed it and you have a real good opportunity to help your town and your county and just consider it it's a wonderful area yeah thank you all righty U consent agenda I accept a motion I move to approve the consent agenda as presented second got a motion of second is there any any discussion Kathy Bishop yes havy yes yes Stuart yes car yes okay there is no old business new business is the um public hearing and ordinance 1523 I'm just going to turn this over to Mr Swain and let him do the introduction sure ordinance 1523 is on your agenda for your consideration it is entitled an applicant initiated Amendment to the official zoning map of the city of Sebring specifically changing the zoning classification for three properties totaling a approximately 4.12 acres and located at 434 Fernleaf Avenue 428 paletto Avenue and 503 Rose Avenue Sebring bearing and it list their partial ID numbers uh from City multiple family District R3 and mixed use quality development District mqd to Public public quasi public zoning thank okay the purpose of of the public hearing is to receive public input on an ordinance which will change is zing classification some receiving partial numbers s 29 3429 o46 70-90 and s29 3429 07071 0-0 010 and S 2934 29 07067 0110 from City multiple family District R3 and mixed use quality development District mud mu QD to public quasi public um Miss Torres good evening for the record I'm Brenda Torres with the central Florida Regional planning Council and we're here today for a rezoning Amendment um next slide next slide please um that is the board of County commissioners of Highlands County and the location of the subject um property is 434 Fern Leaf Avenue and 40 um and 428 pal Avenue and um 503 Rose Avenue the um we have provided an aerial photo map showing um the subject properties outlined in um red that make up 4.12 acres and the request is to change from multiple family District art 3i and mixed use quality development District to public um zoning District next Slide the future land use of those properties is downtown mixed use Redevelopment and the existing zoning is um next slide please um is multiple family district and mixed use quality development District the proposed Zing would be public um we have um done a land use analysis and um the intent is to develop the um the county B businesses and use 503 Rose Avenue which is vacant um surrounding property is considered um a mix of R3 and r3p as well as um mix mix use um Quality development district and public as well as single family multi family Municipal and County uses private school warehouse and vacant property next slide so I know it's a little hard to see but um we have provided here the area mob showing um the properties in question as well as a zoning map of the proposed with the Stars are um just there to show that um those are the properties also owned by Highlands County next slide regarding um public facilities and service analysis um the city's portable water is in close proximity to the subject area and the city does have capacity for future connections uh additional analysis and review of the facility improvements will be required at the time of development um regarding sanitary sewer um City Wastewater is in close proximity to the subject area and has capacity to serve future connections again additional analysis will need to be reviewed and completed during the time of development um regarding solid waste the subject area will be served by City approved um refuseed collector additional analysis and review of the solid waste collection will be required at the time of development regarding Transportation um the developer will be required to review at the time of development application and there is adequate school capacity as well as adequate Recreation and open space the proposed request is consistent with the future land use and proposed zoning and on February 13th um the Planning and Zoning Board voted to recommend approval of rezoning for 434 Fern Leaf a and 428 petto a those are the two larger um sections of the of what makes up the property and then they recommend denial of the resoning of 503 Rose Avenue that is a smaller piece that is close to single family hom at this time I can take any questions or comments I got a question so why uh did they decide not to change the Zoning for the Rose Avenue just because of it's in a residential right yeah so uh are they going to revisit that later or you don't know or um so I and it's up to you whether you want to include that as part of the uh as part of the um approval or if you also want to deny and go with Planning and Zoning I think Planning and Zoning just was wondering um if you go to yeah that map um if you see on the two stars I don't know if you guys can see it but um right thank you those two stars right here that is a BAC it uh that's actually a parking lot so they were wondering if that's actually going to happen on the other the one by um by the what that was denied but the county only owns that one parcel on roads no they also own the one next to the one with the star oh okay so the Planning and Zoning Board gives its recommendation to city council city council makes determination of whether it should be rezoned as requested because wasn't the desire to have have it for parking for parking can have the applicant address that if you'd like what is your intent for the for the smaller lot Steve dobs uh new lines Steve dobs engineering um So currently there are no plans for that partial um so like I said if if the county decided to come back and do something at a later date they could come back and request that to be rezoned if necessary okay so it doesn't impact really the project no it's not going to it's not going to hurt your feelings if we don't approve that resoning not mine okay may hurt somebody else's good evening uh Brandon gun uh Highland County Parks facilities director when this was initially put together um as you can see on the Triangular section of where we're going to actually be putting the new cell there is a parking lot that was uh put there I believe four to 5 years ago when this started um obviously if we take away that parking lot and where some of the correctional depues have been parking uh we were anticipating needing to provide additional space um we looked into the feasibility of putting some of the cell within the parcels on Rose Avenue uh it this was you know just during kind of a feasibility period it wasn't large enough to accommodate that uh but the general consensus was if we needed to add additional parking later on that we could do it there and that's why this was included with the zoning change okay so it won't bother you if if you guys have to come back later to get I have a parking spot me personally um so if we have to come back to be able to uh you know include that with um you know plans to actually go through and pave it and turn it into a parking lot uh we could do that at a later date uh right now we're just worried about the construction phase of the actual unit uh due to some time requirements that were um tied to the the funding source okay Terry I was at that Planning and Zoning meeting and the reason that they denied it there is they were just worried about number one there wasn't anyone from the county there to tell them what they were planning on doing on that that lot um and I think they were just worried about it being too close to to homes to the homes yeah without knowing what it was going to be so there are the two lots available for future if you wanted it the two lot the lot that the one we're talking about and then the one next to it for parking later if you needed it yes ma'am you just come back for rezoning yes ma'am okay thank you thank is there anyone in the audience that like to speak on this anyone hi Rachel Moore I'm uh currently res resident I'm 522 Rose Avenue and um I just had a question of what was the intent of um use for the property um if it was rezoned um of which has not been answered so it's my question is answered because there is no answer so that's they were they're talking about possible parking lot sure and my only thing is if if it in intends to be a parking lot um is there going to be driveway access to that parking lot on Rose Avenue or is there a way that we could do some sort of hedge barrier or something at the end of that parking lot to to that spaces Rose Avenue yeah it doesn't sound like they have gotten that far in exactly so but those are just questions that I have as a resident right there on Rose Avenue thanks appreciate anyone else anybody else up here if not question oh I have to close this hearing and now I move to approve ordinance 1523 on first reading and schedule second and final reading for March 19th 2024 does that include the rose is it not included in the no we would to specify not with the removal of 503 Rose Avenue second that's already included in there no we have to specify you have to specify the original ordinance was drafted applicant's request got it okay I'm sorry then what did you just say I thought I move to approve the ordinance 1523 with the removal of 503 Rose Avenue sorry about that okay thank you and I'll second that still and we got a second by Mr Harris Harris any other discussions Kathy Bishop yes Hy yes mle yes Stuart yes COV yes well there's no business from the audience ma'am that means they're going to come back to the city if they want to rezone that Rose Avenue property in the future yes for a parking lot or whatever else they may wish to to do yes thank you there's no audience business City attorney uh nothing further sir thank you City administrator yes sir nothing Well Kathy is up to you pay the bills please so move second a motion in a second okie dokie let's take a poll and see who wants to pay the bills this yes hayy yes mle yes Stuart yes car yes we're done