Apopka City Commission Meeting (2026-05-20)

Uh good afternoon. I'd like to call to order the city of Apopka May 20th, 2026 commission meeting. Uh I'd like to recognize Commissioner Ruth to introduce his pastor that's going to be providing the invocation and my former youth pastor as well. A terrific pastor, Pastor Todd Lamphere. Thank you for your service, sir. Let's all stand, please. And thank you all for your servant leadership. We greatly appreciate it. Father, uh we come before you with grateful hearts. Thank you for the privilege you've given us to live in this great country, the best in the world. We thank you, Father, that you've allowed us the privilege to live in this amazing city. We thank you for our leaders. We blessing over them tonight and we pray for wisdom God here in this room. You tell us in James chapter 1 that if we lack wisdom to ask you and you'll give it. So, we're asking Father. We pray Father God tonight as we open up this meeting that first and foremost that you would get honor and glory. We pray God that respect and honor would prevail in every comment made in every discussion that's had today. So, we commit this city to you. We commit our leadership to you. We thank you for them. We thank you for our police officers and our firefighters. Those that protect us, may you protect them. So, we say thank you Father. We give this evening to you. May we see everything through your eyes. May we listen to everything through your ears. But Father, most importantly, may we feel everything today through your heart. It's in the name of Jesus that I pray. Amen. >> Amen. >> Thank you. Commissioner Ruth, if you'd lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. You may all be seated. Thank you so much for that, Pastor Todd. >> [laughter] >> When I was in high school and middle school, he was my youth pastor, so I'm sure he's got stories that I don't want him to tell. >> [laughter] >> Um as always, we are running our meetings with decorum. Uh I don't want to have to read the statement every time. It is in our agenda. If you want me to read it, I will. Uh and if we need to remind residents of this, I'm happy to do it, but we ask that everyone just conduct themselves with respect and decorum. And if there need to be reminders of it, I'm happy to read that as we go on. Okay. Okay. Thanks. Uh we will move on to public comment period now. Dr. Dupart >> Good evening, Mayor, Commissioners. My name's Dr. Jim Moyer. I'm elected Orange Soil and Water Conservation District 2 Supervisor. And as always, my presentation is mine and mine alone. And I'm speaking only for District 2. Uh this presentation is uh implementing the D2C3 that I introduced uh 2 weeks ago. Am I doing something wrong here? Do we have all the slides loaded up in this? >> Oh, there it is. Nice. Waste not, want not. Am I maybe doing Am I doing something wrong? You're on the wrong side. Sorry about that. You can There's a Hit this if you'd like. Okay. My apologies. The arrows will work, too. Okay. My apologies, Mr. Mayor. As a reminder, the D2C3 is water challenge is change, conserve, clean. Why should you participate? Well, the United States uses twice the global per person per day average. And about the same as China and India. Where And there are about four times more people. So, they use half the global per day per um per person average, we use twice. Florida residential water usage now exceeds agricultural. And as you all know, we're historically an agricultural state. And the Orange County, despite many conservation uh initiatives, our per person per day water usage is over twice that the global average. And it's only almost entirely due to outside water irrigation. Uh how do I waste water? How do I pollute our water bodies? Ask yourselves, please. Um according to wateruseitwisely.com, there's over 100 ways you can conserve. Please pick one and consider doing it. According to greencoast.org, there's only almost 16 different ways that you can uh prevent water pollution, including something as simple as picking up litter because in the United States, 60% of all the water pollution I'm told comes from litter. Uh take personal responsibility. Look at your habits and please change them. Thank you very much and God bless all of you. Thank you, Dr. Meyer. Uh Dr. Meyer, can you go back to the um the website that you presented water wisely? water use it >> water use it wisely.com Got it. Thank you, sir. And there's nearly close to 200 on there. It's a lot. Nice. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Michael McCreison Did he leave? He was here earlier. Yeah, he he left. Um Supervisor Afro >> [clears throat] >> A better evening now. We had a good evening earlier. I had spoke to you about a resolution that I sent the governor in the the secretary of agriculture about buying local and growing local and making sure that we keep people employed and commerce in the past. And I've seen that change happen already. If you drive 441, you will see the state palm mixed in where they had the medjool date palms. And I can see them there. I noticed them, but a lot of people won't. Um the city just paid 10 over $10,000 each for nine palms. This bill that I just got tonight is $94,500 for nine palm trees that don't belong in the state of Florida. They're from California. And we could put cabbage palms in there for about $700 on the top end for the an identical height tree locally. Locally grown. And they're the state palm tree. They belong here. And this if you densely pack them instead of spreading them out 40 ft apart, you can grow some canopy. Um if you go down through a Coe Way and through Sweetwater, um you will see some clustered palm trees and they do provide a little canopy that way. But when you provide when you stack them and they use shorter trees, too. Uh, but if you spread them out like you're seeing here, um, they're not providing any canopy. So, your money is not being uh, spent to help reduce heat. And if you noticed if you look at O tree in Orange County, the mayor just, um, planted on Arbor Day a tree and they're going to be spending their money uh, their tree bank money um, which they have much higher fees for um, offending nature by contractors and and neighbors. And they're going to be using that money to put in hundreds and hundreds of trees in the near future and it's called O tree. The letter O and tree and you can go read about that and he just announced it, um, a couple weeks ago. So, let's, um, plant some trees and let's think about, uh, everything we do on contracts, no matter what it is, alarms or anything else, to be, um, native. Thank you, Dr. Olmsted. Okay. Albert Kirby Thank you, Dr. Albert Kirby, 3603 Golden Gem Road. None of us are experts and we should all know our own limitations, but we are blessed with the ability now with the internet to go and do research if we're not sure about something. If I want legal advice, I'll go to an attorney. When I go to an attorney, I'm looking for advice, not options. I find options do nothing but confuse me. So, question I have, commissioners, are you satisfied that when you have advice, it is advice, or are you given too many options? How much is legal advice costing us in the city every year? I believe our contracted uh attorneys cost us more than 400,000 a year. And in top of that, we're spending money on other legal services. How many hours a week are we getting How many hours a month are we getting for that 400k per year? I know the answer, but I'm not here to give you answers. You need to start looking at things. You need to start to decide if 400k is a suitable amount of money to pay when we don't get answers to questions that were asked back in December. Thank you, Mr. McAmis. Perkins Street All right. Down just a little bit. Good evening, Mayor. Uh Good evening. and commissioners. I am, as usual, uh here just to remind you of our celebration that we're having uh for the unhoused and the needy. That will be this um Sunday. It'll be at Just Like Mama's. It'll be at 5:30. We are honoring um, Memorial Day uh, that day, um, as we honor those who have died in service for our wonderful country. So, we will have those kind of decorations. We will, um, we will just, uh, continue to love on our unhoused. I continue to see positive changes in, uh, relationships and employment. Seems like people are starting to, uh, employ some of the unhoused. And so, that's always a great thing. But, I'm also seeing a large surge of people coming in from Orlando. Okay, you see new faces. So, um, continue to, uh, support, uh, the nonprofits that are helping the unhoused and the needy. Not just me. There's a lot of us out here that are doing that. Um, you can help me by, um, going to Compassion in a Popcorn on Facebook. And I have two lists there. One list for hygiene items and another list for clothing. Um, you can also help me by, uh, giving, uh, used clothes that you may have. A lot of the men are smaller men. And, um, I am very low on men's clothing at this time. Actually, I have none. >> [laughter] >> So, if you can, if you do have things that you can clean your closet out that you used to could wear, but you wish you could wear, that you're trying to get back to, just buy it again. And let me have, let me have the smaller sizes at this time. I appreciate everything that you do. I am pleased at what I see from the public, not just from, um, and I I it's a reflection upon the leadership that we have in our city. That people are just walking up to me and say, "Hey, you're the one that helps with the unhoused. I've got this." You know, and um every day I'm running somewhere to go pick up something or drop off something. So, I am pleased. I am busy, and I am glad um that I have the support of the community. And I thank you very much, and may God continue to bless each and every one of you for your gifts and your love of kindness that you show to those who have less than we have. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Street. >> Mhm. And Nikki Maguire. Good evening, Mayor, Good evening. commissioners, and everyone in their rightful place. I apologize for the yellowed. We unexpectedly I want to say thank you to well, four of you up there who came out to Naomi Kids to our gratitude breakfast, and all the city officials. It was amazing to see the city come together to support Naomi Kids. Naomi stands for Never Alone Overcoming Many Issues, and I want to thank the public for the continued support. Talking to local residents, it's amazing how many people do not know that we have a little zoo right here in Apopka, and that's one of the field trips we will be taking the kids on. So, I want to thank everyone for their support as we continue to support local businesses here in Apopka. Um this year we're scheduled for seven field trips during the summer, and ex- with the exception of one, all six six field trips is right here in Apopka supporting Apopka businesses. Thank you for Due to your support, the public support too, we appreciate it and we want everyone to know Take a look at what's going on in Apopka. There is a lot of businesses, a lot of places, unique places that you can go and enjoy and please continue even if it's not Naomi kids. Please comp- continue to support our youth because they're going to be the ones when we are too old to make decision, they're going to be the ones up there making the decision for us. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Nikki. All right. Thank you. All right. Thank you for all that have spoken. Is there anybody else that maybe did not provide a card that wants to speak? All right, we will close public comment period. We're going to approval of minutes. Did everyone have a time to review them? Yeah. Any questions on there? Any edits? Anything like that? No. If not, then I will ask for a motion to approve the meeting minutes May 6th. >> I'll second. Motion by Commissioner Barron, second by Commissioner Anderson. All those in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Uh agenda review, Mr. Williams. No changes, Mayor. Thank you, sir. Uh proclamations, I'm going to come down for that. We are going to start with our building safety month. Uh our building team has done an incredible job making sure that our residents are safe, that any new businesses that come into place are um well taken care of. And so I do want to thank their team and uh I'll read the proc- proc- proclamation. Whereas, our city Our City of Apopka is committed to recognizing that our growth and strength depends on the safety and essential role our homes, commercial structures, and infrastructure play both in everyday life and when disasters strike. And whereas our confidence in the resilience of these buildings that make up our community is achieved through the devotion of vigilant professionals, building safety and fire prevention officials, architects, engineers, builders, tradespeople, design professionals, laborers, plumbers, and others in the construction industry who work year-round to ensure the safe construction of buildings. And whereas these professionals are dedicated members of the International Code Council, a nonprofit that brings together local, state, territorial, tribal, and federal officials who are experts in high and the highest quality codes to ensure protection of the buildings where we live, learn, work, and play. And whereas these modern building codes include safeguards to protect the public from hazards such as hurricanes, tornadoes, wildland fires, floods. And whereas Building Safety Month is sponsored by the International Code Council to remind the public about the critical role of our community's largest unknown protectors of public safety and our local code officials. These individuals provide assurances that our buildings are safe and sustainable, which is essential to our prosperity. And whereas Built to Last is a theme for Building Safety Month 2026 to encourage all of us to get involved and raise awareness about building safety on a personal, local, and global scale. And whereas each year in observant and in observance of Building Safety Month, people all over the world are asked to consider the commitment to improve building safety, resilience, and economic investment and to acknowledge the essential services provided by local, state, and local and state building departments, fire prevention bureaus, federal agencies in protecting lives and property. Now, therefore, I, Nick Nesta, mayor of the city of Apopka, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as Building Safety Month. And I think we do have some building officials here. John Hanson. That's what I was saying. You were sitting up front before. Well, thank you for everything you guys [applause] do. Greatly appreciated. Do you want to say anything? No, okay. Commissioners, we can come down and get a quick picture, please. >> [laughter] [snorts] [laughter] >> Perfect. Excellent. Thank you. So, we also today is Emancipation Day for the state of Florida, so I wanted to make sure that we recognize that and read a proclamation. And we normally have an event for this, but due to transitions and and some loss in communication things, we're going to be getting it back next year. So, just in in some capacity. So, I'll read the proclamation. Whereas, the city of Apopka recognizes that the observance of the end of slavery is part of the history and heritage of the United States and the state of Florida. And whereas, as a governmental body, the City Commission opposes and rejects any form of oppression and supports residents and organizations working to achieve genuine equality and protection of human rights for everyone. And whereas, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22nd, 1862, announcing that on the first day of January 1863, all persons held as slaves within any state or designate part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then thenceforward and forever free. And whereas on June 19th, 1865 federal authorities arrived in Galveston, Texas and informed slaves that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free. And whereas June 19th or Juneteenth has been commonly recognized and celebrated as the day that slavery ended in the United States. And whereas Emancipation Day in Florida is traditionally celebrated on May 20th, today, to recognize the emancipation of slaves as proclaimed by General Edward M. McCook from the steps of the not house in Tallahassee on May 20th, 1865, effectively ending slavery in the state of Florida 11 days after the end of the Civil War and 2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln. And whereas as a result many Floridians celebrate May 20th as Emancipation Day in Florida. And whereas in recognition of Florida's unique history with respect to the emancipation of slaves, the city commission commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery and recognizing the recognizes the significant contributions of African Americans to this state and our nation. And whereas we gather today, May 20th, 2026 at city commission to honor Emancipation Day. Now therefore, I Nick Nesta, mayor of the city of Apopka, Florida, do hereby recognize May 20th as Florida Emancipation Day in the city of Apopka and encourage all citizens to recognize and honor this day in the city of Apopka. So, thank you. >> [applause] >> So, we can take a picture. So, thank you so much. >> [clears throat] >> Oh, yes. Also, we did provide a uh Emancipation Proclamation um Emancipation Day Proclamation to uh former Commissioner and Reverend Smith um and he was able to read that today as well at event he was hosting at his church, correct? Yes. So, thank you for that. All right, we are moving on to the consent agenda. Is there anybody from the dais or from the public that would like to pull anything for specific questions or details on it? Not hearing any. Um ask for a motion to approve these six consent agenda items. Moved by Commissioner Ruth, seconded by Commissioner Anderson. All those in favor? I. Uh all opposed? Motion carries unanimously. All right, moving on to business item uh approval of the seventh amendment to the main memorandum of agreement for conveyance of the Golden Gem Road property. Mr. Simanovsky. Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Mayor, Commissioner Vladimir Simanovsky, I'm the Public Works Director and what we're bringing to you tonight is a request for approval of the seventh amendment to the memorandum of agreement by and between St. Johns River Water Management District and the City of Apopka for the district conveyance of the Golden Gem Road property to the city. In summary, on May 15th, 2009, the City of Apopka and the district entered into a memorandum of agreement whereby the district conveyed to the city the Golden Gem Road property. The conveyance was conditioned upon the city's commitment to design, permit, and construct the reclaimed water storage and aquifer recharge recharge [clears throat] enhancement project on the property. Since the original execution of the MOA, the parties have approved six amendments to extend the project completion deadline. Uh the MOA amendments one number one through six were executed between April 2014 and September 2025. The current amendment number six expiration date is May 29th of 2026, this year. And the MOA amendment number seven will have extension date from May 30th, 2026 to March 31st, 2027. Of course, MOA amendment number eight may be determined based on ongoing design recommendations. Um The city has encountered several challenges that have delayed the completion and operational implementation of the project. And in response, the city is actively developing a series of technical and feasibility reports to guide the next phase of work. These reports [snorts] are anticipated to be finalized by fall 2026. To allow adequate time for the city to complete its internal evaluation and for both parties to review the findings collaboratively, the proposed seven amendment will extend the project deadline, as we said earlier, to March 31st of 2027. This extension will support the development of a feasible and coordinated plan to fulfill the city's obligations under the MOA. The plan schedule for the design and construction of the East and West Pond facilities as of this moment looks like this. Conceptual design of the West Pond will be completed on May 22nd, 2026. Final construction plans of the West Pond will be completed at August 28th. Initiation of the East Pond design should happen on the same date, August 28th. Initiation of construction of the pump station should start in September 1st. The completion of the reconstruction of the West Pond is scheduled for February 28th of next year, 2027. The final construction plans of the East Pond on April 30th, 2027, and the completion of the reconstruction of the East Pond is to be determined, of course, based on the construction plans for the East Pond. Uh >> [clears throat] >> the Water Management District Board approved this extension number seven on May 12th, 2026. And tonight we have uh two representatives from the uh Water Management District. And I just would like to mention their names here. They've been present. Uh Kemi Dewey and Susan Davis. And there's some plans that are part, of course, of the extension number seven. They're very similar to the ones that were approved in the extension [clears throat] number six of the >> [snorts] >> of the MOA. And mainly they're related on a monthly status meetings with the district, which is ongoing process until March of 2027. Our next meeting scheduled for next week, which is on Thursday, the May 28th. Uh we still have to do consumptive use permit modification application that was submitted That application was submitted on August 21st of 2025. And this is, of course, a continuous effort. The hydrologic and liner material evaluation, as I said earlier, is done by our consultant Tetra Tech. It's in a pace to finish by the end of May 2026. The reclaimed water operating and water balance model analysis is also ongoing and will be finished will be completed next month. And we have the South Pond design, which is south of Snowden Road, just south of our wastewater treatment plant. That's an ongoing process and the pump station design is in 90% completion. So, having all these listed, and these are the conditions of the MOA, uh the staff recommends approval of the seventh amendment to the MOA to ensure continued progress and alignment with the district expectations and the city's long-term water resource goals. And I'm available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for that. Uh, commissioners, any questions? So, I just a I just a comment. It's that I One of the things about my general review is that this has been like ongoing for since I've since I've actually been in the commission. And how sure are you these time time um time frames? Because it's like extension number seven. And it's all it's almost like everything always starts with like with this we're going to do this and then just no completion of really much of anything. So, most of these conditions were presented back in September of last year. I believe it was September 29th because the expiration date for the previous amendment number five was at the end of the month. So, from September last year to now, what have we done? So, what have we done? We've already started the consumptive use permit. And of course, most of the data is already submitted. And the district is evaluating our data now. Uh, the hydrogeological liner material evaluation, that's basically the report that will be provided on Friday this coming Friday by our consultant Tetra Tech. And they will represent the final design of the smaller pond, which is the west pond. Uh, we have the reclaimed water operating and water balance model analysis that is pretty much at a completion. We just working on the final data on that. And that will be completed next month. So, most of them already completed including the south pond that is already at 90% completion. It requires probably another month or two of uh before final release. So, most of that data is technically completed what was originally asked from us with the the extension number six of the MOA. Now, we just have to include them because they're pretty much at the final stage and the expiration of the amendment is at the end of this month. So, as we move forward, we're just the district decided to add these same conditions so we can we can move on to construction. And again, the design as I showed on previous slide, the final construction plans of the West Pond will be ready at the end of August and our anticipation is to start construction on the West Pond at the beginning of September. And we're confident in this time time frame. Yes. Okay. I hope so. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? Any of the commissioners have any questions? Commissioner Bear. Uh so, thank you um uh Mr. Valdemar Valdemar for sharing that information. Thank you for that. Um so, my question is um how much has this cost us thus far and how much will we still need? So, if we go task by task uh completion of all that, up sorry. Of all the ongoing efforts that we have right now, I would say it's probably close to a million. Okay. Including the redesign. And the objective is now to once we start with the with the construction of the pump station, that will be approximately 12.5 million. That is the cost estimate. That wasn't part of the of the specific conditions. Uh because it wasn't it wasn't constructed previously, right? This is a new addition that was of course due to uh the circumstances that we had there that didn't proceed on time. So, technically, the only portion that is being mitigated right now is the liner of the two ponds, the West Pond and the East Pond. And we anticipate right now if just replacing the liner alone with any We don't have any concrete data for now, but I would say between 2.5 to 3 million dollars just to replace the liner and to regrade the site without any additional work on it. So, technically it could be more than that. And most likely it will be. Okay. And so, you mentioned that there is an issue just before that. You mentioned that there was an issue. What was that issue? >> that was the that was the event that happened I believe sometime in January or January of 2024. Okay. And Mr. McKim is here to to give the exact date. So, Yeah, so January 3rd, beginning of January of 2024. Okay. That of course delayed some of the progress on the overall project for the entire facility. Okay. And again, these are all different elements of the overall facility expansion there. And the pump station was not part of that when that incident happened. It's coming as a as the project progresses to make the facility fully operational. And I'll piggyback with what Commissioner Anderson asked. Will it be on time? It This is a priority. We have moved so far pretty much we're coming to the end of all the commitments we have made on analyzing the situation there and what needs to be done to make the facility operational. So, we feel strongly that this time we're going to be on time. Okay. And my next question is did you put that in your budget? So, yes. So, what we have in the budget right now is the 2 million dollars for the replacement of the liner which is coming from the operating fund and we have the 12.5 million dollars for the new pump station that is also budgeted through the capital impact fee in the capital improvement program. Okay. All right. Thank you. That's all I have. Thank you. Any other commissioner questions? Just one more question. So, the How much did we budget last budget cycle for this pond? The 2 million. 2 million. Have we used the 2 million already? We haven't used the 2 million for the construction. So, we have because we haven't started any construction so we still so we have additional 2 million that we'll be carrying forward the 2 2 million from the last budget cycle. 4.5 million total. >> 12.5? Yes. So, 12.5 plus the 2 2 million carried forward. >> correct. Okay. Perfect. Thank you. Mhm. Any other questions? Uh we will open up to public public comment then. Any public? Please. Alvin Wickline, 3603 Golden Gem Road. What we aren't addressing is the elephant in the room. Back in May of 2024, Deborah Surround came here and asked for $950,000. Within that, it was to do three things. Provide aqua dams, which I said we never needed, we didn't need. It was to plug a hole, which was just hundreds of dollars. It wasn't a big event. The main thing that we needed to do before we started any work was install an interceptor trench. We should have had drainage on that site long before. There were signs that there were problems a year before the collapse of the pond. In that documentation to the engineer that you So, there's no doubt in my mind. I'm 100% certain that it was negligence and incompetence that contributed to the collapse. We didn't have drainage in. If you look at those pictures all around the liner, you'll see brown stains. That's where water is ingressing over and under the liner. If you look carefully, you will see erosion under the liner. That's what caused the seams to burst. Those seams had a limited capacity of 100 PSI maximum test was I think 300. It's just like a skin of a a drum. Without the Without the ground underneath it, it sinks and the seams crack. So, the problems we have is that the liners have to come out before we make any decisions. In those photographs that I've given you, you'll see Well, Dvir described this volcanos. Well, I would say that there Some people describe them as whales and some people describe them as hippos. What they tell you is water ingress underneath the liner. When you get saturated substrate underneath the liner, the substrate then is no longer capable of of just carrying the loads that it would be as dry. It's called soil arching. All you have to do is go on to EI and look at the effect of saturated substrate under a liner and you'll find it no longer carries load. So, as long as we're replacing the liner, I believe we have some some chance of being able to do something. What I don't know is if the substrate that's underneath is ever going to be fit to carry load because until you do ultrasonic testing or or or some sort of testing, I don't know. But, there's other things that I don't have time to discuss with you today that I think concern public safety. There's an area on the berm on the north easterly side and in the inside of the pond which show significant problems could arise. There could be a collapse on the easterly berm similar to what happened on the westerly berm which case you would have 300 300 million gallons of water cascading down on the land below. So, there's a number of things that we really need to look clearly and I don't think we can do it [singing] in the time constraints. I think it's pie in the sky. Thank you, Mr. McKim. Any other public comment? >> [clears throat] >> One thing before we start doing a project like this, no matter what it is, is we have to look at the hydrology, the and um all the research that's been done over the centuries. Um we have a karst map for one thing and that karst map is right on the Apalachicola website. Um it's new up there. Um but the US Department of Agriculture has had it all along. Um I know I don't want something dug like that at my home because I live over a huge karst area. Um the fact that they that area is right there at a a dangerous area, maybe they should have done some consideration before digging it there. Uh if we go to put any more in, we really have to look, like I mentioned, um about the upcoming project GIS with the Audubon Society, Audubon Florida, regarding their new GIS system to look at wetlands is it has all the geography out there for these properties and we really need to consider where we're putting things like this before we put them down. And uh uh somebody said that they were allowed to dig as deep as they wanted to. Well, if they would have looked at the um geology uh ahead of time then they would have might have considered not doing it there or not doing it to the depth they did. Thank you, Dr. Olmstead. Any other public comment? We're going to close public comment then. Uh any any final comments from the commissioners at all? I appreciate the questions and thank you for that. I know staff has been working very diligently on this and I want to say thank you to the St. Johns River Water Management District for their patience with us throughout this process. Um I know it's been a little frustrating as this specific project is part of a much larger regional project. Um it doesn't just impact City of Apopka residents, it impacts uh many other local municipalities as well and that's why this is so important for St. Johns and and why they're giving us such tight time constraints is so that we get it done. Um and I can appreciate that. It helps us stay to it and and no delays. So, um as we start to progress and and plans come into place, we'll share the information with the commissioners so that you're immediately updated and we'll share it with the public as well. Um unfiltered so that you have exactly what it is. I believe this Friday uh it's listed on on uh here we we are getting the conceptual design. Yes, this Friday. So, I'm happy to make sure that gets out to everybody and and it's raw form, no editing, no nothing so that you can see exactly what it is. Uh again, we've got to start seeing progress on this and that's what St. Johns is is desperately needing from us and not just pro- progress talking but actually getting it done. So, uh with our third-party uh vendor that did the studies on this, uh we feel confident moving forward and more so that staff haha feel confident moving forward that we're going to be able to get this done in this timeline and uh really to show St. Johns that that we're serious about this. We have to start spending money on this and and that's what we're going to be doing. So, um with that, if there's no additional questions, I will ask for a motion to approve the seventh amendment to the memorandum of agreement for conveyance of the Golden Gem Road property. So moved. Moved by Commissioner Barron. Second. Second by Vice Mayor Velasquez. All those in favor say aye. All opposed? Uh motion moves approved unanimously. Thank you for that. We'll move on to the Sheila Park subdivision major development plan. Before we take a deep dive in that, Attorney Shepherd, if you can this I'm saying it's quasi-judicial, if you can provide a quick high-level of what quasi-judicial means for us as an elected body. Absolutely, Mayor. A quasi-judicial action by the legislative body in this case, uh the commission, is one in which you are applying the code to the facts presented. You are not making up as you go and it's not based on opinion about how you feel about any particular topic. It is simply about whether the applicant in this case, Sheila Oaks, uh has proven that they meet the requirements of our code to get their, in this case, master development plan approved. Uh in that regard, you will hear from staff. They will make a report and tell you what they believe. You may hear from other experts, I do not know. You may see hear from members of the public who themselves are experts, but if they are, they need to state what they're expert in and if you there is conflicting substantial evidence, you can choose to believe whichever evidence you want. But, understand your decision has to be based on evidence and for every decision to deny, and it's not just this, but it's all of them, we have to write a letter that says, why did it get denied? And that basis has to be based on a lack of evidence or lack of proof. That's it. Thank you for that. Mr. Stone. Excuse me, Doctor. That's my mistake. I am very sorry. Please. Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. This is Dr. Jin Sohn, planner at the Community Development Department. The applicant has requested approval of a major development plan for residential subdivision of 115 single-unit single-family lots called Sherlock Park. The property is located at 1920 Schuller Avenue. The total size of the property is is about 40 acre and the property is currently vacant. The property was annexed in the city in July 2025, changed its future land use to residential low, and re- rezoned to RTF, residential two-family, in November 2025. The proposed plan is a single-family residential subdivision um with 115 residential lots with open spaces um and the density of the development is 2.86 dwelling units per acre. It includes 104 lots of minimum 60-ft width and 11 lots of minimum 80-ft width. The proposed setback are minimum front yard of 25 ft, minimum side yard of 7.5 ft, and minimum rear yard of 20 ft, and minimum corner side yard of 25 ft per the requirements of land land development code section 3.3.6. The provided open space is about 10.6 acre. It is about 26% of the property. The required open space is 20% per LDC section 5.4.4. This open space includes 8-ft wide gravel jogging trail of 0.5-mi loop. The subdivision provides two access points from Schuller Avenue. The primary access is not gated and secondary access is emergency emergency access and it is gated. Um the access point are connected with internal loop consisted two loop blocks. The landscape offer are provided around the perimeter of the subdivision and it is consistent with the requirements in LDC section 5.2. The open space includes two main park area, one on the The open space is provided with a bench and the other is centered around the storm water pond and this area is intended to serve as a naturalistic active recreation area for the for a zone jogging trail. The DRC has recommended approval on March 4th and at the commission planning commission meeting on April 14th, planning commission unanimously recommended approval of the Shingle Park major development plan. The recommended motion is approving the Shingle Park major development plan and just want to um point out that these that approval of this MDP does not authorize the development. Staff and applicant are available for any questions. Thank you for that. Uh does the applicant have any presentation they'd like to do? Please. Uh good evening Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor and Commissioners. My name is Jonathan Hughes and I'm with the Lowndes Law Firm 215 North Eola Drive. I just have a short presentation just to supplement the the the materials and Mr. Dr. Sun has provided and to provide a little bit more background because Can you bring the mic Yeah, so I'm sorry. Sure. Sorry. Mr. Bowen, can you set a 15-minute timer? Yeah, I certainly don't need anything more than that. We all like to talk sometimes. presentation. There are another one on there. There, it's okay. So, this this uh property and this project has taken about the longest the process you can take in the city to get to this point because when it started it was actually an unincorporated county. It what did have uh entitlements at that point to be developed as a low-density uh residential subdivision uh based on informal meetings with the county and city staff at that time. It was determined it made more sense to to have this property um be reviewed, approved, and potentially developed through the city's processes uh because it was within an enclave. And there is state policy that states that when possible enclaves should be either eliminated or reduced in size. So, by virtue of that, there was a decision made to seek the approval from the city to annex this property into uh the the city. So, as was due all development pro- processes uh in the city, it starts with a community meeting. That's mandated by your code. That community meeting was conducted over a year ago uh in April of 2025. It was done virtually. We had about 15 to 20 people from the community attend that meeting. There was uh a presentation uh that was made by the applicant team. And as part of that presentation, this plan that's shown here was presented. Uh and even though we were at just at the annexation stage, we also knew we needed a comp plan amendment and rezoning. And while those were just map changes, we wanted to provide as much detail as possible. So, we included this what was at that time a conceptual plan showing the project. And and as you I'll go through these slides, you'll see it it is very similar to the major development plan that's now before you. Um from that period forward, we went ahead and conducted submitted an annexation application. And that culminated with public hearings before this board in which this the city council annexed the property by unanimous vote into the city. As part of that presentation, I pulled this from from my presentation at that time, we also included this site plan. It's not necessary for the annexation stage cuz that's simply a decision by the the city council whether to take the property into the city or not. There are criteria for that unrelated to the site plan, but we wanted to be transparent with what the the proposed project was going to look like if ultimately taken into the city and and taken through the the city's development processes. And we followed that with processing a comprehensive plan amendment and a rezoning application to assign the property city designations under both the comp plan amendment comp city's comp plan and and the city zoning. And once again, we showed a a similar conceptual site plan at that time of what the property was going to look like. This is actually taken from my presentation during those public hearings and even though that was just a map change where you were changing the color on the map, this detail did not need to be provided, but being transparent and wanted to provide as much information to the public and your this council, this this conceptual plan was included. Though both of those applications were reviewed and approved by a unanimous vote. And from there, we've been at it with the major development plan, which is the site plan phase of the development approval process. This is an excerpt taken from the major development plan. It's it's flipped on its side as were all those other images because of the geometry of the site. North is actually to left of page, but as you will see the the major development plan is very consistent with those conceptual plans that have been shown Uh, and all of the the community meeting and all of the development applications I had followed. Uh, it's 115 homes. And that equates to about 2.86 dwelling units an acre. That's far below what have been allowed in under the county's uh, in entitlements and far below what's allowed under the city's zoning code, technically speaking. As was mentioned, that is uh, broken up into two different size lots. Uh, you have 60 by 120 ft lots and 80 by 120 ft lots. The 80 by 120 are located to the north on the on the north perimeter of the property. And that matches the same size of lot that is located to the northern subdivision, where you would then have 60 ft lots in the remainder, which are larger than the subdivision the lots in the subdivision that are located south that is existing today in the city. Uh, so as was mentioned, this is at the major development plan stage. Land development code sets forth what the review criteria for the site plan is. This is included in your staff report, but I just wanted to present it once more. These are all the criteria that staff has to apply and has to find that uh, have been met. Uh, and it's these include such things as that the the proposed development that uses uh, are uh, consistent and comply with the applicable zoning district and use regulations. And that all applicable standards in the the city's land development code, including the development standards in Article 5 and the environmental standards in Article 6, are met. Um, and and the remaining uh, um, criteria that's set forth here. Your staff report find makes those findings. It serves as competent substantial evidence for the approval of this major development plan. And uh, we concur with that staff recommendation and we're happy to answer any questions we might have. I I failed to mention also with me in attendance today is Mark Stelly who is the project engineer and does most of the work here because as we said this is a a site plan a very technical exercise to based on review and and and getting it to this point before you. So with that happy to answer any questions and um Thank you. I want to say that I did meet with Mr. Jonathan and Mr. I'm just going to give the first names. And Sammy Mr. Sammy. I met with them on Monday. We went over um the site plan. Um there was some questions and you're right this has been going I remember this from what almost 3 years 4 years? Is it 3 years already? It's been It's been over a year. So yeah. The ones I had at home I mean this was the site plan that you the conceptual plan that you had presented when you first introduced it. Correct in April. >> nothing has changed just whatever the staff asked you to do. Mhm. Um I know that today you had earlier today you had the DRC. And I did ask some questions of the staff cuz I did tune in this morning. The only thing I kind of found um interesting was when we spoke on Monday it's 115 lots. Am I correct? But there was some comment made that you had agreed to 109 lots. Is that correct? Okay. >> to walk them through it. So yes and just for context So this is not the last step in the development approval process. What what what The DRC this morning was on the construction site plan was which is the engineer drawings that follows this. Of course the the this this process has to be approved first before the construction site plan. I'll I'm going to ask Mr. Stelly to come up and just talk briefly about that reduction that's not reflected on this plan or I don't it does not need to be. >> So, the the question I had asked the staff was um cuz I I listened to the whole um presentation this morning on the DRC. And um so, I was listened to the discussion and some of the things that our um uh Dale Smith had asked a view and you had agreed to. So, I wrote them kind of all down. So, I my question was does the construction plan impact this plan? And I was told it was it does not. That the construction plan is completely separate and this one is just a major site development plan. And that was that was the only issue that I had because I listened to the DRC this morning. >> Yeah, we can't you can't go the other way. You can't get a a site plan approved for 115 homes and then take a construction site plan on the next step with more. Right. >> Or a small You cannot reduce a standard that's been set in the in the site plan. That's all. Okay. Any other questions? >> I do. Um so, my concern with this project is the infrastructure liability considerations that we that that are in place uh especially the karst that's happening in that area. Um just for context, it's a unique landscaping created when uh the water dissolves the bedrock limestone area and I know that Geotech is has been invited to uh look at the pros the property and assess it. Um so, I too was watching the DRC this morning and there seems to be some uncertainty with the property in terms of what's going to be city, what's going to be HOA, um and I know that that area right now, the city's already experiencing a $800 $800,000 roadway reconstruction project that is experiencing so my question is is how are we going to make sure that the city is not liable for the car seats that's happening currently in this property and making sure that moving forward the project that's being constructed is going to be what first of all that the homeowners are aware that there's a car seat under the property and there's a possibility of sinkhole not that there's that there in terms of percentage wise but we want to make sure that's disclosed. >> Sure. So a couple things and good question and good comment Commissioner Baron. Your staff is on it. And so there's already been a geotechnical investigation conducted on the property as part of the site plan. That found no car seat and it found that typical construction methods can be utilized in the the the building of this subdivision this community. Staff because of that recent experience in the vicinity of dealing with a road that has some subsidence determined that they would want additional investigation to be conducted on this property as part of the construction site planning which is the engineering exercise. And so we crafted a condition that allows for that additional investigation to be made at at the more technical side which is the engineering plans. And if if those and and and two things staff gets to determine the scope of that utilizing their own geologist as an expert of of how where and how many holes to to poke to look for car seat no car seat was found as part of that initial geo exercise, but there's going to be more. If there's any karst or any other anomaly that says, "Hey, we can't use typical construction um methods in in in building this community, then there's a condition in the major development plan that shifts that infrastructure from being public, which typically when a a property is subdivided, the roads and the utilities are public, to private. So, it treats it more like a gated community. Gated communities are opposite where the roads behind the gate are always private. Um and and that's a condition that's now in this major development plan. So, there's a going to be additional assessment. There has been a finding in your staff report that the the geotechnical investigation that has taken place so far is sufficient and as it has been deemed sufficient by staff, by public works staff, but this added condition is just an extra layer of protection. Likely we and I'm not going to put words in staff's mouth, but born out of that experience they're having with that other subdivision. I'll tell you most of the of the of the city, for better or for worse, can be design- has a a karst designation on it. And so, this is not uncommon uh of of a condition. It's certainly not uh peculiar just to this property or this area of the city. But I think because of that, you know, recent experience that city staff has, you're you're going to see uh more scrutiny put on how much studies are going to be conducted. Um quite frankly, too, this additional study would have already been conducted. Uh the timing of the comment was was later than what's typical in the development process. And so, we collaborated and we we crafted one that I think works both for the city and works for for the the applicant team, the project team to to um continue moving forward in the process. So. Okay, and I just want to uh just quote what I've got on the um on our uh agenda, if you will. Uh so, it it just says, "This represents a significant municipal liability and demonstrates the need for caution when considering city ownership of new infrastructure within mapped karst regions." So, I just want to make sure that we, as a city, is protected in terms of this this project. Um so, I'm I just want to make sure that we are clear in terms of um who's going to do what on the property, cuz I know there's uncertainty as to what if it's going to be HOA, if it's going to be city. Um I just want that to be a little bit more defined and clarified for me um in order for me to move forward with that. Well, I I appreciate your comments. That is something that's not a criteria for this this what's before you today, which is the major site plan. It's been made a condition of the construction site plan, and it's an either or. It's either the geo geotechnical studies are conducted and shows there's no karst anywhere, and it would be a very rigorous uh assessment. And and if that's the case, then the the the the the project remains public infrastructure, as every subdivision in in the city has been in the past and will be in the future. If there is any karst, I'm sure it'll be further investigated, but if it the project were to move forward and it was something that could be dealt with, which there are engineering techniques to deal with karst conditions, it's always individualistic, then at that point, that infrastructure would be shifted over to and a private responsibility of an HOA. And so the conditions there, there's no ambiguity. It's a if it's either one of those two paths. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions from the commission? No. Well, I did teach That was one of my concerns was the geo-tech studies, but staff kind of showed me we kind of went over that, so I'm I'm confident that staff has actually reviewed it and I'm confident to move forward with it. That's all. Thank you. Any other questions? All right, let's go to public comment. Anybody in the public would like to speak? Okay, this is a rare moment for me to come up and talk besides Naomi Kids. But um with this new I'm not against per se the development of that new but what I want you guys to take a look at and consider before moving forward. The location where that is being proposed. Two issues there. Between Cleveland to Sheila Oaks every time it rains it already floods. It floods really bad there. Adding more traffic and more houses, that's a two-lane road that's already has over the recent years and I've been in that area for the last 21 years. So I've seen the changes on that street. With the opening of the 414 extension, we have added traffic already going from going on to and from the 414 coming to downtown Apopka. Another issue, um the church that's all right there. They're doing good things for the community. However, every Wednesday, if you pass there from um after 6:00 p.m., there's a backup from the church all the way past sometimes past Cleveland of vehicles line up waiting to get in to receive services. Today, I passed there after 6:00 p.m. It was backed up It would made it difficult for vehicles traveling southbound to get around those cars even though they're doing the best they can. They parked on the side, but there is limited space for them. So, if we're going to add another 115 homes, we have to expect at least one driver per household. So, and then if you have two family um two adults in a house plus possibly adult children because with the cost of everything, we have more adult kids still living home not able to afford their own. We're talking a lot more traffic in a two-lane. So, I want you guys to consider consider the area. It's not against developing, but unless you guys plan on putting like a flyover like Maitland did or some widening the road, it's kind of hard because the way it is, it doesn't have much room to widen the road, but if you guys can take a look and see first address the flooding issue and some other way to get around the issues that we already have in that area. Thank you. Thank you for your comment. Anybody else? I was impressed with the thoroughness of the report. Um, it goes into all the neighboring, um, properties and, um, the history of of all the adjoining areas. Um, it is just the most thorough one I've seen of any reports. Um, in looking at the karst report, um, the area of the exact property looks like it doesn't have it that the property above it has karst. And it's very simple for everybody to and and the people from the departments back here to pull it up right on their phone. There's no reason why somebody can't answer questions right while we're in a meeting. You know, it's so simple. Um, but my greatest concern, um, or only concern that I've seen so far, uh, because the numbers were given about traffic and everything, my concern was the the foliage, trees, the canopy. Um, I did not see very much canopy in these pictures. Um, and >> know I did mention that to them and, uh, and I did mention you. >> [laughter] >> And Dr. O was going to say something. I did tell them. I said, "We have, uh, an environmentalist, Dr. O, who will, you know, look at this and look at the, uh, the landscaping." Mhm. And and the, uh, the canopy is so important to keep the heat down and to, um, hold the soil in place and to, um, build the environment. And so, to get canopy over the entire property and all the trees at all the all the homes is is so important. But overall, I felt that the presentation and the materials in the packet was excellent. Thank you for your comments. Mhm. Anybody else? All right, we will close public comment on this. Any other final questions, comments from the commission? No. All right, well >> my understanding is that this is just a major development plan. It still has a couple of stages. And from the DRC this morning, I understand this is a lot more that the applicant needs to satisfy. So, this is just going to allow them to go into the next uh phase of this development. I want to ask one question. Sure. And I would ever Turn on your mic. One of the reasons I didn't have much to say to the the developers, you know, you you put you put together a a fantastic product. It's worthy your time and effort. My biggest concerns are um the infrastructure to support it. You know, I've I've turned all my attention in that direction. I'm going to stay out of the weeds and try to keep it professional. I think we can do better um as a staff and a council. Um you know, it getting to this point is is I've asked um a bunch of questions and I get no answers. Um I'm handcuffed with what I can and can't say. Uh none of them involve you. I you I will if in the future, I'm going to look for bigger green space. You know, our LDC last last Yeah, I mean, you're you're you're compliant with it, you know. I'm going to be looking to make improvements in that, going bigger. Um you know, I want to encourage us as staff to start bringing back our tree tree bank. Uh I want to make sure that we're offsetting, you know, the removal of those trees to other areas. I got a lot of concerns in the flooding, uh being a lifetime of popping. Uh the people that live in the area, I I empathize for them. Um the water plant that that services that area was put together in the early 1900 or the 1990s. Um it was built by Sheila subdivision. That's before Royal Oaks. That's what's going to be supplying your water. Um the the comments I made earlier, I live on this side over to the Grossenbacher plant, but that plant also serves this. The the the 3-ft sprinkler disbursement, that's that's not a joke. That's for real. Um we're going to add another 60,000 gallons a a day's use to that consumption, which I'm getting in the weeds. I just want you to the My concerns are outside of y'all, so I don't want you to take my my reasons for not meeting with you personal cuz I like your product. I think we could just do better cuz eventually that is going to get built out and the infrastructure that there is not going to be able to support it. Um and when that happens, they're going to be lined up here and they're going to be giving it to us and I'm going to be taking it. Uh but um I'm encouraging staff to do better. So, I'm going to leave my attention in that direction. Thank you. Anything else? Then we will look for a motion to approve the manager's development plan for the Sheila Park subdivision. So moved. Moved by Commissioner Anderson. I second. Second by Vice Mayor uh Velasquez. All those in favor say I. I. I. All opposed? Me. Uh Commissioner Barron, so it'll uh motion carries uh 4 to 1 with Commissioner Barron in opposition. Okay. All right. Uh I don't think we have any public hearing ordinances or resolutions. We will move on a