(PART 2) REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING - **Relocated to the Denton Johnson Center 400 Ruffel Street due to Early Voting** (2025-06-17)

HISTORIC TOWN OF EATONVILLE, FLORIDA REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MEETING MINUTES

Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at 7:32 PM

Town Hall-307 E. Kennedy Blvd.

SPECIAL NOTICE: These meeting minutes are presented in an abbreviated format intended as a public record discussion of stated meeting according to the Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine law. Meetings are opened to the public, noticed within reasonable advance notice, and transcribed into minutes for public record. \*\*Audio Recording are available through the Town's website on the Council Agenda Page.

CALL TO ORDER AND VERIFICATION OF QUORUM:

Mayor Gardner called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. and a quorum was established by Mrs. King

PRESENT: (5), Mayor Angie Gardner, Vice Mayor Theo Washington, Councilwoman Wanda Randolph, Councilman Tarus Mack, Councilman Rodney Daniels

STAFF: (5) Demetris Pressley, Chief Administrative Officer; Veronica King, Town Clerk, Cliff Shepherd, Town Attorney, Valerie Mundy, Public Works Director; Katrina Gibson, Finance Director,

(Regular council meeting was RECESSED at 7:32pm; Mayor Angie Gardner RECONVENED the council workshop \[approximately 7:33pm.\]

Discussion of the Drinking Water and Wastewater Facilities Plan Presentation: Public Works Director Valerie Mundy presented an update on the facilities plan for the water and sewer infrastructure program. Director Mundy asked the project engineering consultant to explain what he included in the facilities plan. The consultant started by going over six (6) water projects, with an estimated total cost of $43 million. These include the Forest City road water main extension to serve the Forest City area. The second project is a water main extension along West Kennedy Boulevard, which addresses both road widening conflicts and the replacement of aging asbestos cement pipes. Another project is the East Kennedy water main replacement, which involves upgrading deteriorated pipes east of I-4 with larger, modern infrastructure. The consultant also introduced the plan for a new water treatment plant near Town Hall, which will include a connecting main to East Kennedy Boulevard. In preparation for potential emergency needs, two interconnects with the City of Maitland are also proposed. Lastly, a town-wide water main replacement project will target undersized and outdated lines throughout several neighborhoods, replacing them with new mains, hydrants, valves, and service lines. This portion of the work

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Update and Discussion - African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund (AACHAF) Grant With NTHP: Town Planner Tara Salmieri gave an update on projects under review or already underway. She reported that, as of September 2024, the Town utilized a community assistance grant to produce several historic preservation documents, limited to 100 parcels within the current historic district boundary established in 1997. This effort included training for officers of the Historic Preservation Board, leading to the board's revitalization. The next step under consideration is conducting a formal historic resource survey, which would assess architectural and archaeological assets and could result in recommendations to expand, reduce, or reclassify historic boundaries. Town Planner Salmieri noted that the Town opted not to pursue a competitive CLG (Certified Local Government) grant in June due to uncertain state funding and a delayed timeline for access to awarded funds (July 2026). Instead, the Town is moving forward in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is offering assistance through a faster and more flexible grant process. Planning consultant Mr. Ennis Davis of the Community Planning Collaborative (CPC)-who has ancestral

(The council workshop ADJOURNED at 7:58pm; The Regular Council Meeting at RECONVENED at 7:58pm by Mayor Angie Gardner)

NVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

PRESENTATIONS AND RECOGNITION:

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA:

Mayor Gardner Motions to APPROVE the meeting agenda; Moved by Councilman Randolph; Second by Vice Mayor Washington; AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES.

Mayor Gardner presented a reading of the Proclamation celebrating the 2025 Juneteenth holiday.

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CITIZEN PARTICIPATION- (2)

Angela Thomas - (Resident) Mrs. Thomas made a public records request to Mrs. King regarding documentation showing that a water meter was installed at her house. Mrs. Thomas also asked the council and administration if the water was able to be turned off and on, what was the purpose of putting the meter in? Also, the pool is still not open. These young men have asked me, "Mrs. Thomas, why is the pool not open?" So, if we are not going to open the pool, can we just be honest and say we are not going to open the pool and find other kind of way to help these young men. \[Request: Copies of the installation of meters\]

Anthony Grant - (Resident) Mr. Grant had a question for Attorney Shepherd regarding whether a resolution can establish water rates without ordinance. Attorney Shepherd answered that it can if the ordinance says so. Grant argued that the current ordinance repealed the previous one. Grant then asked Attorney Shepherd if the interpretation of the legislature is law or is it what is written in the bill that becomes law? Attorney Shepherd replied it depends on who is doing the interpretation of the law. Mr. Grant then spoke about a public records request through the Town Clerk and Mr. Pressley in which he received two different documents on the water rates. Mr. Grant stated the copy the Town Clerk provided him was the one approved by council, whereas the copy Mr. Pressley provided had asterisks next to the per thousand gallons and was not approved by council. Mr. Grant said that he felt misled by Mr. Pressley because it seemed like he was the only person with that document. He stated that he feels "that if that is the case, which is a problem for the highest office in the town under the mayor to mislead the public with water rates because they made an error. If

APPROVAL CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Gardner Motions to MOVE the Item Agenda #3 approving the Amended Resolution 2025-10 (Utility Rate Clarification) to COUNCIL DECISIONS; Moved by Councilman Mack; Second by Councilwoman Randolph; AYE: Vice Mayor Theo Washington, Councilwoman Wanda Randolph, Councilman Tarus Mack, Councilman Rodney Daniels; NAYE: Mayor Angie Gardner, MOTION PASSES 4/1. Comments/Notes: Councilwoman Randolph requested for item 3 (Resolution 2025- 10 Utility Rate Clarification) to be moved to Council Decisions.

Mayor Gardner Motions to APPROVE the Consent Agenda Moved by Councilman Mack; Second by Councilwoman Randolph; AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES. Comments/Notes: Consent approval only included Item 1 Approval of Meeting Minutes 6-3-25) and item 2 Approval of the Drinking Water and Wastewater Facilities Plan.

Approval of the Amended Resolution 2025-10. Utility Rate Clarification - Vice Mayor Washington - Asked to table this item for clarity on the rates, ordinance, or clarity on what needs to be done. Finance Director Katrina Gibson - To say that our department or administration is doing something illegal or wrong-I put a lot of work into that document with the Florida Rural Water Association, and when she came here and presented that documentation, if you go back and listen to the workshop, it was stated in there: per thousand gallons. I do not know why there are two different documentations, but I do have a document that says per thousand gallons Councilman Mack - I am not concerned about that document. What about the document that was requested through public records and redacted? Do we have a copy of the redacted document that was given to the citizen? Mr. Pressley - There was no redacted document. There was a document created separately that came from the Florida Rural Water Association that had the asterisks on it that were sent. That was the document I had, I did not modify it. Councilman Mack - Then let us say changes.

COUNCIL DECISIONS:

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Councilman Mack – This was changed without the consent of council, am I correct? And this was identified over a month ago. Why didn't you \[Katrina Gibson\] notify each council member once you identified this? Councilman Mack clarified that he was not concerned with the document Katrina was sharing with council, but the document that was modified. Councilman Mack – I feel like the Attorney and CAO are not being truthful to me. And if they are not being truthful to me, they are not being truthful with the citizens. This was never brought to me as a council member to understand what was going on. But moving forward, it is in everyone's best interest, as an employee for the Town of Eatonville, especially on the administrative side, to dot your I's and cross your T's. This is not a threat. This is just a biblical truth on what needs to be done because the truth will set you free. Mayor Angie Gardner interjected to tell councilman Mack to tell the truth on the situation because he accused Mr. Pressley of manipulating the document. Mayor Gardner told councilman Mack he is not repeating what is on record correctly.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER: Demetrius Pressley - No Report TOWN ATTORNEY: Cliff Shepherd-No Report TOWN COUNCIL REPORT/DISCUSSION ITEMS-

REPORTS:

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Councilman Tarus Mack Thank you to all the citizens who came tonight. Condolences to the Bradshaw family. When I think about Juneteenth I think about freedom. I think about everything that went on with us in terms of freedom. I advise everyone to come out and get involved and reflect on how important this holiday is. The situation of my cleanups, which I have every first Saturday of June every year-I felt like it was a failure. I will let you all know about this in April about this cleanup and I was assured that it was going to be done. I had no flyers, no communication. Councilman Mack asked Attorney Shepherd if the town has any pending lawsuits. Attorney Shepherd reported that to his knowledge, the town does not have any lawsuits. Councilman Mack brought up the need to engage with Catalina Park residents before pursuing plans to build a new police community center in the area. Issues with potholes "all over the town." Citizens keep asking when the pool will open; hopefully, we will move in a direction to make things better in regards to the pool situation. We are coming up on July and we have $1.5 million in grants that

Councilman Rodney Daniels - Condolences to the Bradshaw and Atkins families for their loss. Disappointed with Mr. Pressley on the lack of timely administrative assistance regarding updates to the council, specifically the OCPS meeting about the Hungerford Property which Councilman Daniels was not aware of. Daniels would like to discuss with Mr. Pressley about a potential facility for Public Works. Another concern is making sure golf cart drivers are certified and going through the classes. Daniels has an issue with not knowing pending lawsuits since it is the job of a separate town attorney (not Attorney Shepherd). Respect to Councilman Mack; I have also felt disrespected; whenever that motion comes I will second it.

Councilwoman Wanda Randolph - Worried that not all council members are treated with the respect they deserve. At a recent event that displayed official photos of elected municipality officials, Councilwoman Randolph did not have an official photo. Randolph said this was not done on accident as she believes that she has been left out and not informed on different things. Randolph is on the committee for the Juneteenth event and was not invited to speak on a radio show with Mayor Gardner promoting the celebration. We were supposed to have a cleanup day and there was no communication whatsoever. Councilman Daniels and I attended the school board meeting and the last meeting I received a phone call one hour before the meeting started. It seems like these things are done on purpose. Moving forward, another issue that has been addressed over and over on Clark street. One of our business owners took it upon himself to comply with the requirements of the waste container. There are 9-11 containers with no enclosures, including Town Hall. But we are going to force other people to do it, but we are not. We are not disciplined as far as showing leadership to our business community. One of our business owners has spent $

5 of 6 061725COUNCILMeetingMinutes to an attorney about looking into that and there will be follow-up meetings about it. Councilwoman Randolph reminded everyone about the Juneteenth event at St. Lawrence at 6:30pm. There will also be a festival on the Hungerford field. Also, a resident died about a month ago-Mayor Gardner, can you tell me if the resolution has been delivered? Mayor Gardner - a resolution was delivered at the wake the night before. That resolution was misplaced by Saturday morning, which is why I was not there for the funeral. Finally, councilwoman Randolph has been without a laptop for about four months and thought that the administration would have ordered one, but the she will have to get her own.

Vice Mayor Theo Washington- Working with the police chief on the signage and the decals for golf carts. We are trying to get with other municipalities to understand where they get their signage from. And that is something coming up in the next several months that we get signage out and certifications with the town.In regards to the aquatics center (pool), we need to figure out what is wrong with it, get it fixed and get these kids in the pool.

MAYOR'S REPORT: Mayor Angie Gardner - The pool was not open because of a lightning strike that caused damaged. There was a part that they had to wait on-which they got. But you cannot swim without lifeguards. Does not matter how much is in your budget. If you cannot get lifeguards, if there is a shortage, there is a shortage. So that is what we are working on. It is not about the pool or opening it. Mayor Gardner reminded everyone that she is up for reelection. Every decision made by this administration, whether it is a mistake made or not a mistake made—we are human, but I would still put this administration (and this staff) above any that has come before us, some of the mistakes that are being made, they're being made because there were no things in place. Mayor Gardner and the administration are creating new procedures. Some of the complaints, Mayor Gardner has addressed it, Mr. Presley has addressed it, but "no one is lying." No one is misleading--that is not what we are about. I think the meeting with the school board went well. Mayor Gardner hopes more people will come out for the next master planning

ADJOURNMENT Mayor Gardner Motions for Adjournment of Meeting; Moved by Councilman Mack; Second by Vice Mayor Washington; AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES. Meeting ADJOURNED at 9:29pm.