City Commission

City of Deltona 2345 Providence Blvd. Deltona, FL 32725 Minutes City Commission Monday, May 18, 2020 6:30 PM Deltona Commission Chambers ****PUBLIC COMMENT NOTICE SEE ATTACHED**** A. In an effort to reduce the possibility of exposure of Residents to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) we are not allowing public access into the Commission Chambers and practicing social distancing with the City Commission and Staff. 1. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL – CITY CLERK: 3. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE TO THE FLAG: A. Invocation Presented by Commissioner Bradford. Commissioner Bradford led everyone in a silent invocation and the pledge to the flag. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES & AGENDA: A. Approval of minutes of the Regular Commission Meeting of April 6, 2020, as presented. - Joyce Raftery, City Clerk (386) 878-8502. Motion by Commissioner Nabicht, seconded by Commissioner Bradford, to approve the minutes of the Regular Commission Meeting of April 6, 2020 as presented. The motion carried by the following vote: For: 7 - Commissioner Avila-Vazquez, Commissioner Bradford, Commissioner King, Commissioner McFall, Commissioner Nabicht, Vice Mayor Ramos, and Mayor Herzberg 5. PRESENTATIONS/AWARDS/REPORTS: Mayor Herzberg stated there are no presentations, awards and reports on the agenda, however, there are two proclamations. The first one is for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week with a theme of "EMS strong, ready today, preparing for tomorrow" and the second proclamation is National Police Week which is to publicly salute the services of law City of Deltona Page 1 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 enforcement in the community. 6. ORDINANCES AND PUBLIC HEARINGS: A. Public Hearing - Acceptance of Final Plat (SD20-0001), Replat of Tract F, Unit 35 Deltona Lakes, OR 27, Pages 150-157. - Ron A. Paradise, Interim Deputy City Manager/Director, Planning and Development Services (386) 878-8610. Strategic Goal: Economic Development Planning and Development Services Director Ron Paradise gave a brief explanation of the item. Motion by Commissioner Nabicht, seconded by Vice Mayor Ramos, to accept the plat known as the "Replat of Tract F, Unit 35, Deltona Lakes" and direct the Mayor and staff to sign the plat as appropriate. Upon approval of this item authorizes any and all necessary actions, documents or budget transfers to facilitate Commission approval and further authorized the Interim City Manager to sign any documents necessary to further Commission approval of this item. Commissioner King stated he understands that staff has approved this project, but he does not understand if this replat is hinged on what the Commission does tonight. He feels like he is “over a barrel” meaning that the Commission has to approve this tonight because staff has already approved it and given the opportunity to the developer to go out there and build the building. If there is a public hearing for a replat the people of the City should have an opportunity to be heard prior to both the replat and development of the property. The Commission is in a position where they have not been given much of a choice, either the Commission approves it or the City will get sued. He does not think this is the way the City should be doing business. Also, the City has already set a precedence by allowing the store on Fort Smith Blvd. to build without hooking up to sewer and this project will be the same way. He held up 27 emails from citizens where only two of them are in favor of the replat and the rest do not want any more dollar stores. Commissioner Bradford gave an example of the process for a land purchased from start to finish. For this project staff approved the permits based off of the zoning and that it met code. Even if the Commission said it does not feel that the location is right to subdivide for whatever reason that the builder would stop building. Also, her understanding is that the City passed an ordinance that unless a business or a residence is within a certain distance of a station to be connected the City cannot force them and she questioned if such a State ordinance exists. Mr. Paradise replied yes, there is an ordinance that involves residential connections. Commissioner Bradford questioned if the ordinance pertained to commercial and she stated she likes the fact that the builder is paying to put in a lift station because the City of Deltona Page 2 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 builder is covering the cost of that burden which could be between $300,000 to a half million dollars. Other states that had a moratorium in place came back and said it was a bigger burden on the residents to not have these dollar stores. The dollar stores have survived decades of recessions, their stock has gone up and the different dollar stores are all owned by different corporate organizations. Commissioner Nabicht stated although the conversation is spirited, none of it has anything to do with the replat. Staff operated within the rules and the policies that this Commission set forth. If the Commission does not like it, then it needs to have a conversation about changing the policies. The developer, the owner of the property, bought it and had done to it what they needed to have done to market it. A purchase was made, an agreement was made, and staff issued a development order per the City’s ordinances and the state regulations. Within that the Public Works Director has the authority to assess whether or not sewer and doing a pioneer agreement, requiring them to pay for all of it or doing a cost share agreement or whatever to decide if they want to implement any of that. The analysis here by City staff was that this is not even going to generate the amount of sewer that a residential home will generate so it is an unfair cost burden to make this developer pay to put sewer in. So, the allegation that the Commission is “held over a barrel” because the dollar store is still going to build. This is simply about subdividing a piece of property to allow the property owner to further bring in more commercial development which is something every Commissioner has campaigned on and wants the City to excel at. Commissioner Nabicht called the question. Mayor Herzberg asked if it was okay that Commissioner Avila-Vazquez speak, as she is up next to make comments and Commissioner Nabicht replied yes. Commissioner Avila-Vazquez asked for clarification as to why this did not go before the Planning & Zoning (P&Z) Board. Mr. Paradise replied the P&Z Board by code will review plats that involve 200 or more units and that is part of the changes to the P&Z by-laws that will be reviewed by this Commission at the next meeting. Code right now, this is to creation two lots in one track and the developer is dedicating a lift station track, but they are not building a lift station as that will be for the City to do. This is a two lot subdivision which did not meet the threshold to be reviewed by the P&Z Board. Mayor Herzberg stated there are no public comments for this item. The motion carried by the following vote: For: 6 - Commissioner Avila-Vazquez, Commissioner Bradford, Commissioner McFall, Commissioner Nabicht, Vice Mayor Ramos, and Mayor Herzberg Against: 1 - Commissioner King 7. OLD BUSINESS: City of Deltona Page 3 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 A. Request for approval of Resolution No. 2020-21, Legislation in Progress for small box discount stores - Ron A. Paradise, Interim Deputy City Manager (386) 878-8610. Strategic Goal: Economic Development - create a business niche. Planning and Development Services Director Ron Paradise gave a brief explanation of the item. Commissioner Bradford stated the City put a sign out that says it is open for business and now the City will put a sign out that the City is closed. Dollar General is not the only small box store out there. The City is trying to bring in plazas, but that is what a small box store is and she listed several small box stores. The City worked hard to be able to put that sign out saying the City is open for business and this will put the brakes on that. She is totally against this and this is not the way to stop dollar stores from coming into the City. Most chains will not allow a certain number of similar stores to be within a certain distance of each other and she gave an example using Tuesday Mornings because the City is dealing with something with them. Commissioner Nabicht stated since the last meeting he too did some research on this. He was reflecting back on actions that this Commission had taken at the direction of the public over the last several years and that was to streamline the permitting process because in the past almost everything went through the P&Z Board and before the Commission for approval. It took two or three months to get the items on the agenda and nothing was getting built in the City and he explained in detail how the City went from that to what is done currently. The only reason that this dollar store is in front of the Commission was because of the replat because the Commission does not approve dollar stores. The only time the Commission approves any of these types of businesses is if there is a request for a rezoning, a variance, or a special circumstance. The Commission does not want to start approving these because the Commission is not the experts, staff is. He asked if any of the City’s dollar stores have closed or gone out of business, not a single one. He questioned how many convenient stores and grocery stores have closed and he listed several. He questioned if the City was going to put a moratorium on fast food restaurants or banks too. He questioned what the logic was. The dollar stores have a successful business plan because they are all staying open and surviving the recession. The worst case scenario is the first one that closes up somebody else is going to put a new business in that shell and more importantly the City will receive taxes now on that developed piece of property. Commissioner Avila-Vazquez stated the City has a lot of small vacant lots down Deltona Blvd., Howland Blvd. and Ft. Smith Blvd. She questioned what is going to become of them because they cannot sell their lots because they are too small for these small businesses. Not only that, but during these times where people have lost their jobs, she has driven around the City and the small box stores’ parking lots were full because these are the only City of Deltona Page 4 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 places that people can find reasonable items within their budget. She is totally against this. Commissioner McFall stated he agrees with the Commissioners who have spoken and he thinks the Commission is on the same page. The Commission had a knee jerk reaction last meeting, listening to the public, receiving information from the public and hearing about other cities who have starting to look into this. The more he looks into it, the more he thinks it will stifle business growth and he does not want to do that so he is against this. Mayor Herzberg stated there are no public comments for this item. Motion by Vice Mayor Ramos, seconded by Commissioner Nabicht, to deny Resolution No. 2020-21. The motion carried by the following vote: For: 6 - Commissioner Avila-Vazquez, Commissioner Bradford, Commissioner McFall, Commissioner Nabicht, Vice Mayor Ramos, and Mayor Herzberg Against: 1 - Commissioner King Motion to deny Resolution No. 2020-21 was approved at 7:06 p.m. 8. NEW BUSINESS: A. Request for approval to grant an exception to the 2016-2019 Local Housing Assistance Plan (LHAP) to facilitate the rehabilitation of a dwelling located at 1359 Swiss Lane and another dwelling at 1321 Fountainhead Dr. for the purpose of achieving the required SHIP program year 2017-2018 very low income and low set asides - Ron A. Paradise, Interim Deputy City Manager/Director, Planning and Development Services (386) 878-8610. Strategic Goal: Economic Development - Create more high-quality housing opportunities. Planning and Development Services Director Ron Paradise gave a brief explanation of the item. Motion by Commissioner Nabicht, seconded by Commissioner Bradford, to approve the exception to the 2016-2019 City Local Housing Assistance Plan allocating no more than $41,000.00 in SHIP Owner Occupied Rehabilitation assistance to rehabilitate the house located at 1359 Swiss Lane and I hereby move to approve the exception to the 2016-2019 City Local Housing Assistance Plan allocating no more than $45,000.00 in SHIP Owner Occupied Rehabilitation assistance to rehabilitate the house located at 1321 Fountainhead Dr. Upon approval City of Deltona Page 5 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 of this item authorizes any and all necessary actions, documents or budget transfers to facilitate Commission approval and further authorized the Interim City Manager to sign any documents necessary to further Commission approval of this item. Mayor Herzberg stated there are no public comments for this item. The motion carried by the following vote: For: 7 - Commissioner Avila-Vazquez, Commissioner Bradford, Commissioner King, Commissioner McFall, Commissioner Nabicht, Vice Mayor Ramos, and Mayor Herzberg 9. PUBLIC FORUM: Citizen comments are limited to issues and concerns not on the agenda and comments on items listed on the agenda will take place after discussion of each item. Please be courteous and respectful of the views of others. Personal attacks on Commission members, City staff or members of the public are not allowed, and will be ruled out of order by the Mayor. Mayor Herzberg stated there are no public comments. CONSENT AGENDA: The consent agenda contains items that have been determined to be routine and non-controversial. If anyone in the audience wishes to address a particular item on the consent agenda, now is the opportunity for you to do so. Additionally, if staff or members of the City Commission wish to speak on a consent item, they have the same opportunity. 10. CONSENT AGENDA: Motion by Vice Mayor Ramos, seconded by Commissioner McFall, to approve Consent Agenda Items 10-A through 10-H. The motion carried by the following vote: For: 7 - Commissioner Avila-Vazquez, Commissioner Bradford, Commissioner King, Commissioner McFall, Commissioner Nabicht, Vice Mayor Ramos, and Mayor Herzberg A. Request for approval of Resolution No. 2020-20, Supplemental Local Agency Program (LAP) Agreement for sidewalk improvements associated with Deltona Lakes Elementary and Spirit Elementary. - Ron A. Paradise, Interim Deputy City Manager, Director of Planning and Development Services (386) 878-8610. Strategic Goal: Fiscal Issues - Transportation Approved by Consent Agenda - to approve Resolution No. 2020-20 and direct the Interim City Manager to execute the supplemental LAP City of Deltona Page 6 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 agreement for sidewalk improvements associated with the walk zones of Deltona Lakes Elementary and Spirit Elementary. Upon approval of this item authorizes any and all necessary actions, documents or budget transfers to facilitate Commission approval and further authorized the Interim City Manager to sign any documents necessary to further Commission approval of this item. B. Request for approval of Resolution No. 2020-19, approval for a State Funded Grant Agreement between the City of Deltona and FDOT to treat 17 crosswalks with internally illuminated raised pavement markers. - Ron A. Paradise, Interim Deputy City Manager, Director of Planning and Development Services (386) 878-8610. Strategic Goal: Public Safety Approved by Consent Agenda – to approve Resolution 2020-19 entering into the State Funded Grant Agreement, FPN 445808-1-54-01, and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement. Upon approval of this item authorizes any and all necessary actions, documents or budget transfers to facilitate Commission approval and further authorized the Interim City Manager to sign any documents necessary to further Commission approval of this item. C. Request for approval of Resolution No. 2020-22, Budget Amendment for Parks Impact Fees Fund, Park Projects Fund, and Transportation Fund for FY 2019-2020 - Camille Hooper, Finance Director, (386) 878-8552. Strategic Goal: Fiscal Issues - Maintain a Balanced Budget Approved by Consent Agenda - to approve Resolution No. 2020-22, Budget Amendment for the Parks Impact Fees, Parks Projects, and Transportation Funds for FY 2019-20. Upon approval of this item authorizes any and all necessary actions, documents or budget transfers to facilitate Commission approval and further authorized the Interim City Manager to sign any documents necessary to further Commission approval of this item. D. Request for approval of Resolution Number 2020-18; amendment for the FY 2019-20 General Fund budget. - Camille Hooper, Finance, (386) 878-8553. Strategic Goal: {Fiscal Issues} Maintain a balanced budget. City of Deltona Page 7 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 Approved by Consent Agenda - to approve Resolution Number 2020-18, budget amendment for the FY 2019-20 General Fund. Upon approval of this item authorizes any and all necessary actions, documents or budget transfers to facilitate Commission approval and further authorizes the Interim City Manager to sign any documents necessary to further Commission approval of this item. E. Request for approval of proposed interlocal agreement for supplemental operational assistance and voluntary cooperation for animal services. - Dr. Marc-Antonie Cooper, Interim City Manager, (386) 878-8850. Strategic Goals: Public Services Approved by Consent Agenda – to approve the interlocal agreement for supplemental operational assistance and voluntary cooperation for animal services. Upon approval of this item authorizes any and all necessary actions, documents or budget transfers to facilitate Commission approval and further authorized the Interim City Manager to sign any documents necessary to further Commission approval of this item. F. Request for approval of recommendations for scholarship awards from the William S. Harvey Deltona Scholarship Advisory Board - Joyce Raftery, City Clerk’s Department (386) 878-8502. Strategic Goal: Internal and External Communication. Approved by Consent Agenda - to approve the 2019/2020 William S. Harvey Deltona Scholarship award recipients as presented. Upon approval of this item authorizes any and all necessary actions, documents or budget transfers to facilitate Commission approval and further authorized the Interim City Manager to sign any documents necessary to further Commission approval of this item. G. Request for approval of Resolution No. 2020-23, Budget Amendment for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) fund for FY 2019-2020 to provide for replacement of pavilions at Campbell Park, and lighting at Manny Rodriguez, Campbell and Firefighter Parks - Ryan Reckley, Director, Parks and Recreation, (386) 878-8902; Camille Hooper, Finance Director, (386) 878-8552 City of Deltona Page 8 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 Strategic Goal: Infrastructure, Public Safety Approved by Consent Agenda - to approve Resolution 2020-23 to amend the Community Development Block Grant Fund for the 2019-2020 fiscal year to fund the demolition and replacement of two (2) pavilions at Campbell Park and lighting installation at the outdoor basketball courts at Firefighters’ Park, Campbell Park, and Manny Rodriguez Park. Upon approval of this item authorizes any and all necessary actions, documents or budget transfers to facilitate Commission approval and further authorized the Interim City Manager to sign any documents necessary to further Commission approval of this item. H. Request for approval of a contract with NFP Retirement/Fiduciary First to provide Investment Advisory, Compliance, and Plan Education Services for the Employee 401(a) and 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plans. - Camille Hooper, Finance Director (386) 878-8552. Strategic Goals: Fiscal Issues Approved by Consent Agenda - to award the Contract with NFP Retirement to provide Investment Advisory, Compliance, and Plan Education services for the City’s section 401(a) and 457(b) deferred compensation plans and upon approval of this item authorizes any and all necessary actions, documents or budget transfers to facilitate Commission approval and further authorized the Interim City Manager to sign any documents necessary to further Commission approval of this item. 12. CITY ATTORNEY COMMENTS: None. 13. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: Interim City Manager Dr. Cooper stated just wanted to let everyone know, he is quite sure that Commission has seen the email, that the City did sign the incentive agreement with Amazon. Mayor Herzberg asked the City Manager to expound on the fireworks so it can be addressed. Interim City Manager Dr. Cooper replied the fireworks show has not been cancelled, but moved to around the Labor Day weekend and hopefully that will happen. City of Deltona Page 9 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 11. CITY COMMISSION SPECIAL REPORTS AND REQUESTS: Commissioner Bradford stated this is a very uncertain time, a trying time and that everyone has gone through things that they never thought they would go through. She is proud of the City and the country and how everybody has been able to adapt to all these changes. A couple of things that are critical right now is one, there are individuals that are still not working, they still do not have their stimulus checks, and they do not have unemployment coming in. So essentially they have no income. Utilities are not being disconnected right now, but when those utilities start getting disconnected it is going to be very detrimental or lifesaving. Seniors, residents and residents that are sick cannot be without utilities and waters to do things like wash their hands. Her concern is that there is not a lot of funding left to help individuals that are not going to be able to pay those utilities. She would like to make sure that staff has direction to search out and find any grants needed so that the funding can get to those organizations that are assisting with those utilities. Commission Bradford stated other cities have stopped doing late fees and penalties when individuals pay late. There are households who have no money coming in and they are going to choose from putting food on the table or pay those utility bills. To her, it is detrimental to keep these individuals’ water on. She knows this is going to cost the City money and she questioned if there are grants for this. She heard a rumor that Orlando did not charge late fees on their utilities and the money that they are losing was made up by grant money, however, she does not know if that is true, but she would like to see what the City can do. She wants to make sure that the City is looking for those possible grants to make sure that the City is not losing those dollars. Her number one priority right now is to make sure that the City is keeping people in their homes, keeping peoples’ utilities on and keeping them fed. Interim City Manager Dr. Cooper replied the City is doing everything it can to help with that. He and Director Peters have met several times along with the Interim Deputy City Manager Mr. Paradise to discuss several options that they are trying to look at doing. The City receives grant information and has applied for some, some with the Fire Department and some other areas. Finance is looking at several different grants and funding mechanisms. A lot of the things that come down from the state are going into areas because it is directly related to COVID and is going to areas with the highest COVID rates first before it is coming to a lot of the other areas. It is not based on population, but they are looking at what areas have the highest rates of COVID and they are trying to get PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) and different things to those areas first. However, the City is exploring every option that it has to not only help Deltona residents, but search for options to obtain PPE for some of the City’s businesses if possible. Commissioner Bradford stated two, virtual meetings. She attended a county meeting where a council member attended virtually to the meeting. She suggested reaching out to the county to see how to do that. It would be devastating to go through another two months without a meeting. Staff needs to make sure the Commission can meet virtually in case of a national disaster, hurricane or a state of emergency. Commission meetings are essential to City of Deltona Page 10 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 moving things forward. She feels horrible that she was not able to meet during this pandemic over the last six weeks. Residents were questioning where their Commissioners were and why they were not talking about stuff and she explained it was because of social distancing (6 feet apart) and not being able to have large gatherings. She believes there is no reason the City cannot have virtual meetings or if needed that a Commissioner attend a meeting virtually. A lot of cities are doing virtual meetings and she gave the example of the TPO (Transportation Planning Organization) who had a virtual meeting. Mayor Herzberg stated in front of her she has Resolution No. 2015-49, a resolution of the City Commission, providing for the amendment of the City Commission's Operating Guidelines and Meeting Rules. Right before she got elected Commissioner McFall’s daughter who was on the Commission at the time and she was able to attend a meeting virtually. After that period one other Commissioner was able to do that before the Commission changed the policy in 2015. She read the portion of the resolution regarding Commissioners not participating in meetings by telephone/electronic processes. If there is interest changing that, then the City Attorney would have to write something that is acceptable to this Commission, but as of now, this governs the Commission. If this Commission is so inclined to make changes to the current policy to state their feelings on the matter. If the majority of the Commission is not interested in moving forward with changes, then this policy stays. Commissioner Bradford asked if the Commission wanted to give direction to the City Attorney to write up the changes now and the Commission can still tweak it and make changes. Mayor Herzberg stated she is going to ask for a consensus tonight and the reason is because there is no sense in having the City Attorney go through and change something, if the will of the Commission is not there. Interim City Manager Dr. Cooper stated he just want the Commission to be cognizant that the City will have to invest in that infrastructure, so keep that in mind. Mayor Herzberg replied if the Commission chose's to move forward with this the cost will have to be defined. Commissioner Nabicht stated for a variety of reasons the Commission chose to enact this policy and one of the main reasons at the time was the concern about people being off camera, speaking to the elected officials, giving them advice and things that the Commission or public could not see or tell. The Commission is going to have to make extremely hard decisions about the upcoming budget. Commissioner Bradford brought up the health and welfare of the citizens and not being able to pay their utility bills. There is a problem at the state level trying to get out unemployment checks which is separate from federal unemployment. There is going to be a tremendous decline in gasoline tax and retail sales tax. Any projections that the Commission made, even with staff being very conservative, for the first time may not hit that mark. The Commission may have to decide where to make some cuts and he will not support those cuts in public safety and infrastructure. The Commission will have to find the money somehow to make those things City of Deltona Page 11 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 happen. This may not be the right time to invest in a system that will allow the Commissioner to communicate electronically as a Commission, what is currently being done is working. The Commission has been able to meet and get business done. He asked how the Commission would feel if there was a virtual meeting and all of a sudden a Commissioner gets dropped off and cannot rejoin the meeting. What does the Commission do if that Commissioner was needed to have a quorum? There are a lot of ramifications to having a virtual meeting and he does not think this is the time to do it. He is not saying it is never done, but he does not think this is the time that it should be done. When staff looks at the Emergency Comprehensive Plan, he thinks that is the place that it needs to be inserted. When a state of emergency is declared by the governor, the county and/or the City, then these technologies, these ways of meeting and communicating become allowable because he would hate to see Commissioners on a regular basis dialing in to meetings and not being present. So he will only support it in the future and only under a declaration of emergency by the City. Possibly during the budget process if the City Manager says the City is in good enough shape and the Commission could afford to do this as a capital item then maybe the Commission could have that conversation. Commissioner Avila-Vazquez stated coming form an IT (Information Technology) background she believes that people should move forward. Maybe this is not the right time to do it, but she does not think it is the right time to stop discussing it and looking into how to do it going forward. Everybody else is doing it including the City of Orlando and the City of Orange City, via Skype, Zoom or whatever media format. Maybe this is not the right time to do it because of the budget, but staff still needs to look into it. If there is an emergency and the Commissioners cannot make it to the meeting then there is no other option, but to closed the doors. Money does not need to be spent to look into what is available. So staff needs to start looking to see what the options would be if all the Commissioners cannot make it to a meeting. Deltona is the only City in Volusia County that holds meetings in person. Commissioner McFall asked the City Attorney, at the last meeting he made a motion, seconded by Commissioner King, that during a state of emergency that the Commission be able to have virtual meetings. The motion was withdrawn with the understanding that it was in the City Charter and would take a Charter amendment to make that change. What he heard from the Mayor was that this is not the case, it is an ordinance that the Commission has the ability to change at any time, is that correct. City Attorney Segal-George replied yes, basically what happened at the last meeting, there was just a lot of stuff thrown out there and since that meeting she went through all of the different things with regards to the plat issue, zoning, legislation progress, and all of the executive orders that the governor has issued. She read each one of them to see exactly what the Commission could and could not do because she knew that there was potential questions that were going to come up with regard to public comments and a number of other things. As the governor has been issuing more orders, he has gone back and extended the original order. Attorney Scott George read from the governor’s executive order and he stated in the order the governor says governments are able to suspend normal procedures and protocols that would, for example something in the Charter, prevent the City from doing that and take advantage of City of Deltona Page 12 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 what the governor is allowing local governments to do. The governor has recognized that because of the state of emergency there are areas throughout governments where normal procedures, policies and things of that nature just were not possible to follow and he has given governments a lot of latitude. Commissioner McFall stated to reconfirm, that is not in the Charter, is that correct. City Attorney Segal-George replied no, it is in the Charter. Commissioner McFall asked if it was both in the Charter and in the City’s ordinance and City Attorney Segal-George replied yes, but based on what the governor’s orders if it is something the Commission wanted to do or consider then she would suggest bringing some kind of document to the next meeting and use the governor's order to look at virtual meetings. The problem with the language in the Charter is that the Commission has to be physically present. The document would not have anything to do with the budget implications or how much it will cost and it would only address if the Commission can do this and after reading everything, yes it can. As long as the governor keeps extending that enabling language that will allow governments to continue to do it. Attorney Scott George read the executive order. Commissioner McFall stated the current setup seems to be working although he would like to have the public more involved. He agreed with Commissioner Nabicht that this might be utilized during other states of emergency, but he would not want it done every day just because someone has a stomachache. He questioned if this is something that needs to be started now with regards to changing the Charter because it is not just changing the ordinance. Attorney Scott George replied until the governor’s order expires there are no amendments to be made, however, going forward if there is a hurricane and a state of emergency is declared based off of that the City would probably look to suspending these rules again. The Charter is the barrier because the question is if a virtual meeting counts as a physical place and to avoid that issue a Charter amendment would be the best route. City Attorney Segal-George stated from her perspective, it is a question of defining how that can be interpreted in the Charter with regards to a policy going forward. Some legal research would need to be done, but there may be a way to interpret a virtual meeting in this day and age as having the same effect. If the decision is to do a Charter change there is a whole process to change the Charter. From her perspective, if it is something the Commission wanted to go forward with or direct staff to try and do she could come up with something that models after what the Mayor read and incorporate initially the governor's direction. Then go from there to other potential issues that may come up that would trigger an interpretation of that type of meeting to fulfill the charter requirement. Commissioner Nabicht stated first of all, this is an unprecedented disaster and the real issue that the Commission has is not being in the chambers together. Commissioners made it to the meeting tonight and last month, that is not the issue. The issue is creating a mechanism to allow the public to be able to interact with the Commission safely that is the issue and it is not about meeting virtually. It is about getting the public to be able to attend virtually and staff took a step in a month to accommodate that. There is a mechanism that was created for the public to communicate with the Commission during this meeting and it was done within budget. If there is a state of emergency does the Commission understand City of Deltona Page 13 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 what that does to this Commission? The Commission does not have a lot to do and the Interim City Manager and Fire Chief are in charge. There are policies about spending, actions, and all those things get suspended during that state of emergency or new limits get put in place, but the City Manager can lift those by power of that emergency action. Truth be told, the Commission does not really need to meet during like a hurricane and chances are if it is that bad of an event that the Commission needs to be meet about it none of the Commission are going to have the internet or power to be able to sign in to a Zoom meeting. Another flu epidemic or pandemic or some other type of major financial crisis over a prolonged period of time then there may be a necessity. The typical states of emergency the City sees are a tsunami, wildfires, hurricanes, tornado or an earthquake and the Commission would not be meeting during those kinds of things. In his 31 years of emergency services with the City he has never not been able to get to City Hall. This is about being able to have a way for the press and the public to be able to communicate during a meeting. That is what is most important and not how the Commissioners get to the meeting. The fact the Deltona is the only City still having meetings with the Commission present is a credit to the City that it found a way to get all the Commissioners and staff in the chambers even during this disaster to do business. Commissioner Avila-Vazquez stated she agrees with everyone’s comments, but she felt that her hands were tied because of the language in the Charter, that the Commission had to physically meet. There was no leeway if the Commission wanted to have a virtual meeting. She felt the reason the Commission could not have a virtual meeting was because of the Charter, that is what held the Commission back. The Charter was written many years ago and there is more accessible technology out there if it comes to that. The Commission needs to have a choice and right now it does not. Commissioner King stated this is an unprecedented time and he understands where everybody is coming from because of the situation today, but under what the Commission would call “normal” disasters, even with the governor’s state of emergency, the Commission still operates under that without much problem at all. He agrees with Commissioner Nabicht that this should not be an issue for the Commission, but it is an issue for the public and he is very uncomfortable having Commission meetings without the public present. The City has something now in place that is supposed to work, but it was tested tonight. City Clerk Raftery replied no, she tested the system last week and it worked fine. What she is hearing is the residents do not like that they have to log into the system to make a comment, but that is no different than logging into Facebook, Twitter or any other social media system. Staff has been constantly checking the system tonight and no comments were made. Commissioner King stated the Commission has also been looking at it and refreshing to make sure they do not miss a comment. The end result is that there are no citizens present at this meeting which is a problem for him. Instead of spending money on infrastructure let’s put pieces of Plexiglas between the Commissioners on the dais and let the public come into the chambers to be part of the meeting and maintain social distancing. He thinks something needs to be done differently because this is not the way to have a meeting as far as he is concerned, the public should be present. A handful of people in his district think the Commission is trying to do something, pull something over on them, because of the way the City of Deltona Page 14 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 Commission is doing things where the residents do not have access and he has tried to assure them that is not the case. The Commission has to understand there is a difference between a “normal” state of the emergency and what we are going through right now, this is unprecedented. The Commission should have something in place in case something did come up so he is in favor of moving forward with it. Commissioner Bradford asked for clarity because before the last meeting she questioned about virtual meetings and she was told specifically absolutely not, not allowed. According to the City’s ordinance and the Charter the Commission is not allowed to have virtual meetings no matter what the governor's orders are more certain. She asked City Attorney Segal-George if she was saying now that, that is not correct and according to the governor's order the Commission is able to have a virtual meeting under the state of emergency. City Attorney Segal-George stated she does not believe she said that before and Commissioner Bradford replied no you did not, somebody else did. City Attorney Segal-George stated the reason is that she has read every one of the orders and looked at all the different pieces of it which for the last meeting she did not have the benefit of that. When she looked at what the governor appears to be allowing with regards to the City, some cities did not have some of the difficulties Deltona had going in with the Charter and this other policy. So, looking in detail at the governor's language it appears that if the Commission thinks that it is prudent to protect the health, welfare and safety of the residents that it can wave the current rules and allow the technology and even allow not having to have a quorum if it has to in order to do business. That is the information she has now that she did not have at the last meeting. Commissioner Bradford stated that is where she is still 1,000% confused because in one instance City Attorney Segal-George is saying that the Commission can waive that, but if the Commission is not meeting how does it waive that. City Attorney Segal-George stated she thinks the only way to move this forward is to adopt a document similar to the one that was adopted in the past. Attorney Scott George stated the Commission could vote to suspend the barriers that it has in place right now. If the Charter is the barrier to this, because the governor has said that municipalities can waive these types of formalities that would normally be barriers the Commission can make a motion to suspend that specific provision of the Charter that the Commission interprets right at this moment to be a barrier or any other barriers to meeting virtual. Commissioner Bradford stated so if she made a motion right now that she wanted to suspend the barriers that Commission has and she would love to make a formal motion, if allowed, under this point that the Commission suspends what is in the Charter right now so it can proceed during this time to have virtual meetings until the Commission can continue. Vice Mayor Ramos stated the Commission started with pretty much what Commissioner Bradford just finished with virtual meetings, but then he hears the Commission is not concerned about them, but about the having the public present. Then he heard the concern was that the there is no public comments. So, he would like to have some clarity as to what direction it is that the Commission wants to go in because as it relates to public comments City of Deltona Page 15 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 the City Manager has implemented a process and there has always been a process for public comments such as emailing at any point in time. Unfortunately, what is happening is sometimes the Commission uses different avenues that is not part of the City processes to try to communicate concerns. He believes as it relates to public comments if there are none then the residents chose not to comment. Now whether they choose to comment on another media, that's a different story. He does not want to find the Commission, again, directing the City Attorney to do something and in a month come back and say well that is not needed. Then the Commission starts wondering why the City Attorney’s costs are so much. So if the Commission is going to do something let's be clear about what it is so the Commission can move forward, but do not say there is no an avenue for public comments because he disagrees. Mayor Herzberg stated what the Commission is looking at is that the governor's executive order supersedes the City’s policy and the Charter. To be clear what is in the Charter is that the Commission has to physically attend the meetings and it is reiterated in the policy. She asked how did it happen that the Commission allowed that when other people were able to call in remotely. Was that just because of one issue, was it waived at that point because this is what she would like an answer to. If it is in the Charter that the Commission has to be here physically and in the past the Commission allowed Commissioners to call in when they were sick or whatever. When the Commission talks about the financial aspect of this, the county received Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding in the amount of $10 million and that money can possibly be trickled down to municipalities, but it has to be for something that was not in the budget in the past and that is COVID-19 related. She requested that staff ask the county if the CARES Act funding can be used to help the City achieve a goal of a virtual meeting to include public comment under a state of emergency. Commissioner Nabicht stated along that line of thinking, he thinks it would be better for the county to create a platform that every municipality could utilize rather than creating one for Deltona because the City may have the need during a certain circumstance and a need to communicate with the county, Orange City and DeBary all at the same time. So possibly the answer is to have the county create that platform that cities could participate in. Mayor Herzberg stated in one minute she is going to ask the deputies to stop the pounding on the doors and Commissioner Nabicht stated it is becoming disruptive to the meeting and the Commission and staff cannot hear what is going on. Mayor Herzberg stated it is disrupting the order of the business of the meeting and it is also disrupting the physical being of the door. So at some point it is going to have to stop. If the pounding on the door starts again please have them removed from pounding on the door, we are not having the building attacked. Mayor Herzberg asked the City Attorney if Commissioner Bradford makes a motion to suspend all this now, during this state of emergency what is the next step for the next meeting and how does the Commission go about doing that. City Attorney Segal-George replied if Commissioner Bradford were to make such a motion and it passed, then what City of Deltona Page 16 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 staff would do, as the City Manager is figuring out how to fund this, she would prepare a policy that incorporates everything that has been discussed and the specific executive orders of the governor that allow the Commission to waive the provisions that have prevented it from moving forward in the past. A platform is put together that encompasses the ability to have such a virtual meeting with public comment available from the public to the Commissioners during the virtual meeting. At this point the best way to handle this is that all staff is doing is putting this in place during the duration of the emergency order of the governor and if and when that ends. Then staff would have to again discuss if staff needs to do something that interprets the Charter, but it would be replacing the document that the Mayor was reading. At a later date the Commission could deal with the Charter and she would rather not deal with the Charter interpretation, at this point, unless the Commission wants to do that. Attorney Scott George stated it is not legally necessary to go ahead and reinterpret the Charter of this point because of what the governor has done. Until the governor's order declaring a state of emergency expires the City does not have to address the barriers in a normal sense. Commissioner Nabicht reminded everyone there is a lot of components to this and we need to think everything through. He questioned whether as an example if Mayor Herzberg, Vice Mayor Ramos and himself could meet and hire a City Manager. City Attorney Segal-George replied it is silent as to that and legal would have to interpret. Commissioner Nabicht stated if there is no quorum requirement and three Commissioners happen to be the ones that can log into the meeting what are the limits, what limits does the Commission want to set on themselves to limit that power to just three Commissioners and he gave examples like making City Hall a voting precinct, passing the budget or possibly setting the millage. He suggested having a workshop to discuss this and let staff bring some of their concerns to the Commission because he thinks this is going to be a bigger impact on staff than what anybody sitting in the Chambers thinks. Commissioner Avila-Vazquez and Commissioner McFall agreed. Commissioner Bradford stated TPO meetings are continuing virtual, there were 26 people present, there was time for comments and the meetings were civil. When it was time for public comments the TPO was able to allow those individuals to speak. The TPO was able to conduct a meeting with most of the members present and there was public comment even though it was just one person who joined the meeting for public comment. The commentator mutes and un mutes the people in the meeting who want to speak and the technology is already there. What she wants to avoid is having to have this next time where the Commission has disruptions, residents who are not able to be in the Chambers and are going through this. If the Commission can come up with a way that this works then she says the Commission should try it because it already is working for other municipalities, groups and organizations. She named several meetings she has attended with organizations and that were conducted professionally, were smoother and faster. She asked that the Commission give it a try, the Commission does not have to and once the state of emergency is over if the Commission decides it does not want to do it and the next time the governor issues a state of emergency the Commission can do the same thing again, she is okay with that. She wants the Commission to have the option in case round two goes City of Deltona Page 17 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 through which is being predicted to happen. She questioned if virtual meant the Commissioners needed to be seen or can they call into the meeting like the TPO did because she does not have a problem not being seen during a meeting. There is no reason this cannot be done, the Commission is making it harder than it is. Motion by Commissioner Bradford, to make a motion that during the governor’s state of emergency, that the Commission suspend the current Charter and ordinance that does not allow the Commission to have a virtual meeting in the case that the Commission is going to need to have it before the time of the state of emergency being over. Motion died for lack of a second. Vice Mayor Ramos stated after speaking to the City Manager, it is his understanding that there is a process and that the state of emergency is until July 7th. The City Manager has a week by week plan as it relates to reopening the City and part of the conversation was to reorganize the Chambers to allow individuals to attend the meetings. So he is not sure if anyone else had that conversation with the City Manager, but things are being done so that the public can be present. The public is always able to make comments, but to allow the public to come into the Chambers. He asked if that was correct and Interim City Manager Dr. Cooper replied yes, sir. Mayor Herzberg stated she understand that and that there is a process to move forward toward opening everything up, but the bigger question that Commissioner Bradford and Commissioner Avila-Vazquez brought forth is what about the future. She has been on plenty of Zoom meetings and Zoom calls this entire time, she has seen other municipalities have Zoom meetings and she has seen other municipalities do a hybrid version. Also, some municipalities have canceled their meetings and others have done like the county where some council members attended virtually where others where present in the Chambers with no public allowed in. However, there was a way for public comment to be brought forth. She asked the Commission if there was any interest in providing for an alternative method of meeting should something like this come up again. The issue is the process and how to set something up. To write a policy that says during a state of emergency the Commission is allowed to have a Zoom or virtual or hybrid meeting is the easy part. The bigger issue is the cost issue, how long does it take to implement, a mechanism for public participation and whether that type of breakdown can be provided. The fact of the matter is the governor's executive order already allows the Commission to do this, but the bigger question is how and she trusts this Commission not to abuse the process. She asked if there was a consensus to have the Interim City Manager and City Attorney prepare some sort of document to bring forth should the Commission need this under a state of emergency to do a virtual type meeting. Commissioner Avila-Vazquez stated she likes the idea of going to the county to come up City of Deltona Page 18 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 with a platform, but she is also concerned about what Commissioner Nabicht mentioned. Does this Commission put the City’s future in the hands of two or three Commissioners? She asked how the Commission goes about that if only three Commissioners can sign in, is the City going to be turned over to just three Commissioners. City Attorney Segal-George stated the Commission can require that in this circumstance the Commission wants a quorum. That is just because the governor was trying to allow everybody to get their business done. Mayor Herzberg stated the governor has not overridden local restrictions, some counties and some cities have stricter local restrictions than what the governor’s stay at home order was and he has allowed for that. Is the Commission more comfortable with having some sort of a document drawn up. Commissioner Nabicht stated he does not want to waste the City Attorney’s time before the Commission has some kind of idea about what is available to logistically make it happen. Now whether the Commission wants to come together in a workshop to do that so staff can demonstrate how this would work should the Commission choose to implement it and then write the policy or Commissioners could meet with the Interim City Manager individually and staff could do an individual presentation. The Commission needs to provide clear direction which he is not hearing tonight, he hears the general direction of where the Commission wants to go and that is to have a technology platform to be able to have as a backup during emergencies. But as to how the Commission would operate during the use of that platform, he thinks that is everyone’s concern. Mayor Herzberg asked if the Commission was comfortable with having the Interim City Manager get a platform and then talk about that and also, meet individually with the manager before the next Commission meeting and the Commission concurred. Commissioner Bradford stated with regards to the TPO, the last meeting she missed, but she did attend that one before that. The TPO has a survey out there which is being shared on Facebook and she encouraged everyone to participate in the survey because it is very important to have that information going forward. The other item was when the City was going to open up the meetings to the public and she was going to suggest to have a commentator outside that could give individuals a microphone to be able to speak and stream the meeting on a TV in the courtyard. Obviously the citizens can hear the meeting which is being streamed live and maybe have a TV outside because she would like to show some initiative. 14. CITY COMMISSION COMMENTS: Commissioner Bradford stated she commended that citizens were still able to go to the Winn Dixie, Publix and Dollar Store. The City had its EMTs, firefighters and first responders. Those nurses, doctors and individuals that worked during this time while other individuals were home. She cannot thank them enough for what they have done. They have City of Deltona Page 19 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 put themselves on the line, they have risked their own safety and their family’s safety and from the bottom of her heart she wanted to tell them all “Thank you very much for all you've done”. Residents, thank you for being understanding that this is a trying time. She thinks that Deltona has done a wonderful job of containing it and she hopes that the City continues to practice social distancing and understands that hopefully there will be only a few more weeks of this and we will be out of this battle, for right now. The City has made it through the worst so let's just keep going so the City can be totally out of it and be thoughtful, courteous and respectful of everybody. Commissioner Nabicht stated the Commission cannot say thank you enough to the staff, every single person. Gerald who keeps the building clean, the Building Department staff, the Finance Department staff that keep the dollars rolling, and he does not want to name everybody because he does not want to leave anyone out. It is a team effort and it really speaks to Dr. Cooper's leadership. He has come in here relatively new, not just new as a City Manager, but he is still on a honeymoon really as an employee as well. He has not been here that long and he does not have a lot of history under his belt here like a Commissioner McFall or himself. To make the decisions on a day to day basis involving the employees because the City has employees that were really scared to come to work because they had little kids or elderly people with conditions at home. He thinks Dr. Cooper did a phenomenal job in trying to accommodate those people and reassure those folks that the administration will try and provide as safe an environment as possible. Secondly, there was EMS Week, Nurses Week and Law Enforcement Week and he cannot say enough about these people and what they are going through. Somebody was standing over by him a little earlier in the evening with a mask on and said oh this thing is so hot, it is so uncomfortable, but imagine doing 12 hours, making life or death decisions in the ED (Emergency Department) working with a face shield on and all the protective equipment that they have to wear. That is a little difficult to imagine having to do your work in those kinds of conditions, but thank God we have those people. Lastly, he just want to thank Sheriff Chitwood and his deputies. These are very challenging times out there. There have been a few incidents occur within the City, whether they started in the City or whether they ended here in the City. He has done a phenomenal job in keeping his deputies prepared, looking out for not only their physical wellbeing, but their mental wellbeing and again that is another example of the kind of leadership that is on the Deltona team. These are trying times, breaking a lot of new ground, going to write some new manuals and hopefully this is the last time that the country has something of this magnitude occur that we have to figure out how to do it, but if it happens be assured that the City has got a team here in Deltona from the Commissioners all the way down to the newest employee that are going to do their damnedest to make it happen. Commissioner Avila-Vazquez stated she takes her hat off to all the first responders and retail workers who were out there. The Publix on Saxon Blvd. every time she went there, there was always somebody out there cleaning the carts, making sure they were wiped down and making sure that everybody's cart was clean, they had it all set up. There were arrows where people could only go one way and come out the other way. She is very proud of the Publix in her area. She also wanted to thank Lady of the Lakes who had a food drive City of Deltona Page 20 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 on Monday and serviced 416 families and 1,500 individuals. It was a good setup, her hat goes off to them and the Sheriff’s Department was also out there helping, it was a good turnout. On Saturday, New Hope Human Services handed out food and baby products to 350 families. She thanked everyone for being out there and she is honored to say that she was able to get the Spanish newspaper out there who televised everything that the church did. The newspaper interviewed Dotty in English and translated it to Spanish. She is so happy because people come to her and ask her how come there is not that much news out there is Spanish for the Spanish community that is not really up to date with the English. At the same time the newspaper interviewed Dot about the rental assistance that is done through them as well. There was a good turnout for them as well, but 350 families from 10:30 a.m. till 1:00 p.m. and also, UPS was there supporting the church as well. She thanked City staff for the awesome job they did keeping the City running because without them it could not have been done. She also thanked, Family Health who were out on Deltona Boulevard doing the COVID-19 testing. The lines were pretty big and she thinks they were there for two weeks and she just wanted to give a shout out to them to say thank you. She also thanked Representative David Santiago for making it possible. God bless everyone, stay safe. Commissioner McFall stated just to reiterate, he thanked all the essential workers that are out there, City staff and everyone else that has assisted and enabled those people that need to stay home and take care of their families. He also want to just lift up some of those that are sometimes overlooked and that is those that are in the death care industry. They are assisting families who have lost loved ones with COVID-19 and having to meet and help those families grieve when they are not able to grieve properly now. There are so many people out there that are assisting that we need to lift up, everybody stay safe. Commissioner King stated Amen to everything that everybody's already said, he is in agreement with everything everyone has said about all of the staff, first responders and everyone that has been on the front lines. They really do not know how much they are appreciated. He reminded everyone that normally there would be a Memorial Day Ceremony at Deltona Memorial Gardens on Monday, but that has been canceled. However, if anyone is interested in getting a little fresh air this Saturday at 8:00 a.m. in the morning at Deltona Memorial Gardens there will be flags put on all the Veterans’ graves for Memorial Day and they could use all the help they can get almost. There is almost 1,700 military graves there and the job can get done in an hour if enough people come out to help. Obviously social distancing can take place and people can wear a mask if they want. He invited everyone to come out and help on a Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at Deltona Memorial Gardens on Saxon Blvd. Vice Mayor Ramos stated as it relates to the TPO (Transportation Planning Organization) the “Tell the TPO” survey ends on May 1st and it contains five or six questions. It is a good opportunity for the community to be engaged about what transportation should be looking at and how it is going to affect the City in the future. On May 26th the TPO will conduct two webinars on the same topic, but one is from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and the other is from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. This is more about Connect 2045. Prior to the virus the TPO City of Deltona Page 21 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 conducted a public forum in DeLand, but now the TPO is doing webinars because of what is going on. As it relates to Family Health Source, they did a great job on Deltona Boulevard and the group is continuing to work with testing. He believes this week will probably be the final week over at the fairgrounds as it relates to antibody testing. He thinks today there were about 300 individuals who got tested, but as of maybe two weeks ago it has been a little bit over 3,000 people who have gotten the antibody test. In the beginning it was a little hectic, time wise, but literally a person can walk in and walk out in about 10 to 15 minutes. If a person does not have insurance that is okay the person will still get tested. If a person does have insurance they should present their insurance card. He gave kudos to the City Manager and City staff. Parks and Recreation is having a jump rope competition, he welcomed any of his colleagues to jump rope for 60 seconds and he asked to encourage the City’s youth to participate. Mayor Herzberg gave a shout out to Jerry Mayes who has been doing some business outreach through the Economic Development Department by reaching out to City businesses to see how they are doing and what they need. Also, by making some phone calls, doing general economic development outreach and showing that the City is concerned and cares. She gave a shout out to the Public Works Department. The City has had several incidents where the Commission received emails and there have been some issues, questions and comments come up. Public Works whether it is Phyllis Wallace or John Peters or other staff members are right there providing answers and going out looking at things. The Planning and Development Services Department, Finance Department, Code Enforcement, Permitting Department, and the City Clerk’s Department, the same thing. The City did not shut down, the employees did not stop working whether there are people present or not and the employees continued to work. It may look like the City is in a down time, but it is truly not. She gave a shout out to New Hope Baptist Church, Trinity and any of the other private organizations that did food drives for people and continue to do that. She thanked Representative Santiago for his antibody testing. Family Health Source everyone spoke about them. She thanked both of the City’s hospitals, Advent Fish Memorial and the Medical Center, Deltona Halifax Health for being part of this community providing updates, doing outreach and really being there when they are needed. Whether it is in person at a press conference or sending out information they did a great job. School Board Representative Ruben Colon has been there answering the questions about what is going on in schools and she commends them for what they are doing. She also wanted to touch on two other things, the Volusia County Animal Services, if a person does not have food for a pet they are doing a big food drive starting in June, but right now call the county for assistance at (386) 248-1790. The other thing she wanted to talk about was homestead exemptions. An individual did not know or understand the process of homestead. The individual owned the house for a few years, had asked about their tax bill. She was able to pull up and walk the individual through the forms that were needed. She suggested that if individuals do not know about the homestead process or if they are new to the area or the State of Florida to visit the Volusia County Property Appraiser’s (VCPA) webstie. Individuals can still file extenuating circumstances for a late filed exemption application. The property appraiser will work with the individual because at this rate of how the property values are going up, but who knows what it will be this coming year. There are mechanisms City of Deltona Page 22 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 out there if a person does not have that homestead exemption and this is something that a lot of families need right now. Also, the Cares Act money was talked about and Volusia County has the program for mortgage assistance which was talked about in the past. Rental assistance is through the City’s funding through New Hope and the Neighborhood Center. Volusia County has the COVID-19 mortgage assistance program and it is her understanding that this is part of the $10 million Cares Act money that they received and this is their way of dealing with that, so you can get the application. The county also has the business program for up to $3,000 for businesses to get a jump start and get PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). Mr. Mayes has already received a bunch of calls from Deltona businesses regarding that. Commissioner Nabicht stated with regards to that, it was already put out on social media and the county had put that out there. There were some comments that the funding did not apply to Deltona residents because the City receives its own SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program) funding and he asked if that was a false statement. Mayor Herzberg replied yes. The other flyer that the county put out it said “county offers rental and mortgage assistance” and this flyer “rental and mortgage assistance” (Mayor Herzberg held up the two different fliers) they do not provide rental assistance to Deltona residents or residents of Daytona Beach proper because both entities receive about a half million dollars in CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funding. So, Deltona gets its own CDBG money and the county provides CDBG money for the smaller municipalities and that is where the rental assistance comes from. So that is where the City’s funding goes to facilitate that, however, the mortgage assistance is for every resident of Volusia County. So anybody that has issues with mortgage assistance, please contact Volusia County, they have the money at this point to go ahead and help. Mayor Herzberg stated lastly, she thanked Interim City Manager Dr. Cooper, City Attorney Segal-George and City Attorney Fowler for constantly, whether the Commissioners see them or not, they are there on the phone. She also thanked the Commission. Thank you, thank you, thank you, every one of you because no matter our differences, you guys care. Each of you come here and you care about this community. You come to this meeting, we know it is hard and we do not agree on some of the things. Commission understands the problem with the public and wants to have them in here. The Commission had its differences, but the Commission is unified. She truly believes that all of the Commissioners care about the betterment of this City and she sees it in every single one of the Commissioners in their own individual ways. You Commissioners care and she is proud to be a part of this Commission. She wanted to thank each of the Commissioners for supporting our City and supporting staff, especially. Have a wonderful evening please stay safe and she hopes that the next time the Commission can meet in different circumstances. 15. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:46 p.m. ______________________________ City of Deltona Page 23 Printed on 11/20/2023 City Commission Minutes May 18, 2020 Heidi K. Herzberg, MAYOR ATTEST: ________________________________ Joyce Raftery, CMC, MMC, CITY CLERK City of Deltona Page 24 Printed on 11/20/2023