COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY

HISTORIC TOWN OF EATONVILLE, FLORIDA COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING MINUTES Thursday, June 20, 2024, at 6:30 PM Town Hall (Board Chamber) - 307 E Kennedy Blvd. 32751 SPECIAL NOTICE: These meeting minutes are presented in an abbreviated format intended as a public record discussion of stated meeting according to the Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine law. Meetings are opened to the public, noticed within reasonable advance notice, and transcribed into minutes for public record. Audio Recording are available through the Town's website on the Board Agenda Page. CALL TO ORDER Chair Randolph called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. ROLL CALL- Quorum was established through roll call by the Town Clerk PRESENT: (7) Chair Wanda Randolph, Vice-Chair Donovan Williams, Director Tarns Mack, Director Rodney Daniels, Director Theo Washington, Director Angie Gardner, Director Ruthi Critton STAFF: (4) Shaniqua Rose, CRA Executive Director, Veronica King, Town Clerk, Greg Jackson, Attorney; Stanley Murray, Chief of Police INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chair Randolph led the invocation through a Moment of Silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance PRESENTATION Acknowledged 4 Rivers Smokehouse Catering as business of the month for June 2024, no representative was present, certificate and will be delivered. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION - (6) Joyce Irby Yielded time to Cathy Mills Cathy Mills - Addressed concerns with septic issues at 41 Lincoln Blvd, have worked to keep the home, lies were told that that house needed to be condemned because there was no water there, there is water there, don't have a septic tank that is working and have not been connected to the city, requesting for the CRA funding for pipes to be placed and connected; family matters was communicated about issues concerning the property; communicated desire to continue feeding seniors and others citizens. Nia Williams-Brown- spoke on a multilayered solution for the needs of the residents, need sustainable food, looking for support and will send a sponsorship package to the board. Nicolas O'Hara-Addressed concerns at 41 Lincoln Blvd (Septic Issue); it was mentioned in the last meeting in May that someone would come and speak about this issue, no one have yet to come; the water bill gets paid because there water and the house does not need to be condemned, money has been taken from the family since 1965, did not come to talk about what is owed to the family, but humbly asking for help, hope that the town do right by one of its own and fix this issue. Angela Thomas Addressed concerns at 41 Lincoln Blvd and about board members contacting ex-husband regarding her, if a board member want to talk, she is available; went to pay the taxes on the home because they were not paid, could not pay the taxes because the tax certificate was sold on May 31, asking that the board 1 of 4 06202024CRAMeetingMinutes  allow the family to resolve this matter and then bring it back, received information from the property appraiser that $1300 of tax certificate has not been paid, Angela Johnson - Addressed concerns at 41 Lincoln Blvd. **Additional Comments: Chair Randolph reiterated that no outbursts are allowed in the meeting; if there are additional outbursts, individual will be asked to leave. AGENDA CHANGE (Added): Director Gardner asked that Board decisions and discussions are switched. Board decisions will come before discussion on the agenda by consensus of the board. There is a walk on the agenda item (employment status of Executive Director) to be added to the agenda. Chair Randolph motion to APPROVE changes to the agenda; moved by Director Washington; second by Director Mack; AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES. CONSENT AGENDA: Chair Randolph motion to APPROVE Consent Agenda Approving CRA Board Meeting Minutes for 5-30-2024; moved by Director Washington; second by Director Daniels; AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES. BOARD DECISIONS: Approval of Resolution CRA-R-2024-24 Contract with the GAI Consultants' Community Solutions Group (Preamble Read) Chair Randolph motion to APPROVE Resolution CRA-R-2024-24 Contract with the GAI Consultants' Community Solutions Group; moved by Director Daniels; second by Director Critton with discussion (Motion RESCINDED by Directors Critton and Daniels); Chair Randolph motion to TABLE (pending a workshop) Resolution CRA-R-2024-24 Contract with the GAI Consultants' Community Solutions Group; moved by Director Mack; second by Director Critton AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES. Discussions/Comments: Discussed the increased from $25,000 to $50,000; the CRA plan expires in 2027 and need to go through the county process for an additional ten years; the consultant (Tom Kohler, Senior Director) was present to discuss and address questions: The contract is an hourly rate up to $50,000 includes negotiations with the county, have to get county approval because they are a charter county. If the county decides not to extend the time frame, then there is no reason to update the CRA plan, it is not a $25,000 job; a plan was done in 2015 and was never approved and adopted formally (paid by the Winter Park Foundation), currently working off the 1997 CRA Plan, consider tweaking the 2015 plan and submit for approval, a updated plan is needed, Director Daniels was able to pull up a document submitted to the board back in about September that outlines $25,000 approved under proposed projects and programs for the plan, do have the authority to make an amendment; need to clean up and do some things on our own before hiring anyone to speak for the board; we hire professionals to do professional work they are skilled in, we are allowed to piggy back on Orange County and GAI are the consultants contracted with the county, can not get an extension without a plan, the county has criteria that has to be followed; to go with another firm it will be significantly highly (they will have to start over); the $50,000 is a negotiated cost from the original $74,000 quoted. The original plan was done by Commonwealth Engineering. The update will take six to nine months to complete. The town is unique in that the entire town is a CRA, changes to boundaries will have to follow chapter 163 with legal support of that effort, would like to encourage citizen input through a workshop; request to table this item for further discussions, to set dates and timeline to be finished and to include the town's lanners (expert should talk to an expert). Ms. Rose has been asked to set up a workshop. Approval of Resolution CRA-R-2024-25 - Paint, Plant. and Pave Funding Program - 427 Clark Street (Preamble Read) Chair Randolph motion to APPROVE Resolution CRA-R-2024-25 - Paint, Plant, and Pave Funding Program - 427 Clark Street; moved by Director Washington; second by Director Critton w/discussion AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES. Discussions/Comments: When accepting packages and applications, ensure that individuals are filling out the paperwork properly, request that the applicant go back and update the incomplete areas; the total is $1400. 2of 4 06202024CRAMeetingMinutes Approval of Resolution CRA-R-2024-26 Approving the updated CRA Bylaws; (Preamble Read) Chair Randolph motion to TABLE Resolution CRA-R-2024-26 Approving the updated bylaws. moved by Director Critton; second by Director Daniels; AYE: MOTION PASSES. Discussions/Comments: Updated bylaws was put together based on input from the May meeting, corrections under Article 3, section 3.1, the section that speaks to an independent board has to be removed, based on legal and membership under FS 163, Part 3 with appointments required by the taxing authorities as per the stated interlocal agreement, the CRA is not allowed to have an independent board, information can be shared with the board of directors; bylaws were supposed to be workshopped, section 2.9 contradicted section 2.5; pertaining to the independent board per legal opinion, the CRA power or authority to make that decision would come from the council side on how the structure of the CRA Board would be, last update was in June 15, 2023. BOARD DISCUSSIONS: Discussion of Reimbursement of Legal Fees - Legal stated the council based on the laws, would make the decision about the reimbursement because the CRA cannot make decisions about money spent on the town side, the funds will have to come from the town and not the CRA, the ethics investigation was done and there was no probable cause, documents are provided regarding the amount spent and owed, the ethics complaint was based on the resolution that was submitted, if the resolution had been written properly, it would have spelled out how that whole termination would go (Who prepared the resolution?), contract was not legal based upon a right up from the State Attorney General's office, Attorney Jackson was not with the CRA at the time the resolution was written, the former town clerk prepared the resolution, the decision will be on the first council meeting in July with all relevant documents to include summary of fees, requesting reimbursement of $1170 in illegal fees, $780 outstanding costs owed the attorney, travel to/from Tallahassee, and the hotel stay; Attorney Jackson encouraged council to make sure Attorney Shepard go through the appropriate case law that governs the reimbursement for legal fees. The two mentioned criteria are not the only aspect of determining if legal fees should be reimbursed, want to ensure accuracy, it appears that legal fees cannot be reimbursed, (Request was made for a copy Case Law referenced and read is the Chavez versus Tampa and Thornber, versus the city of Fort Walton Beach), there is a clear distinction between a civil action and an action that is brought by the Ethics Commission, which is a part of the legislative branch. Discussion of the Employment Status of the CRA Executive Director (The summary was read by the clerk per request from the CRA Chair) Chair expressed concerns about the Executive Director: misleading the board regarding programs and procedures, offensive, work schedule (no work at home policy), canceling meeting without the board approval, and there corrective action of discipline of behavior on file; the Executive Director's probation is up to July 2, 2024; the chair recommended to Board of Directors when determining employment status to extend the probation period for additional 60 days with office hours from eight o'clock a. m. to five o'clock p. m. Monday to Friday, other hours needed or changes to be approved by the board because the executive director reports to the board, while the mayor has extensive executive powers over the town government, the mayor has no special direct powers over the Eatonville CRA, the CRA is an independent special district, distinct and independent from the town; Director Washington discussed contradictory items: nothing should have been in the executive director personnel file because the board did not write her up, board did not know that the Dixon property had a septic on it, and the PPPP program does not do roofs, Director Mack expressed concerns: lack of professionalism, non-responsive to emails and requests, insubordinate and disrespectful to the board, question qualifications, need to be present and responsible for duties, non-response on a requests (the environmental study on the Tommy Dixon property), selective on providing requested information, projecting an aggressive attitude; Director Daniels expressed concerns about not leaving a message to confirm attendance to a special meeting, request in the procedure that the clerk make the calls and concern the meeting; Director Gardner expressed that there is a double standard when the board did not address other executive directors on the same behaviors, it was the board that approved the tearing down of that building, an environmental study is not a requirement on a residential property, if the board did not want the 3 of 4 06202024CRAMeetingMinutes  roof as a part of the PPPP program, the board could have said no, since covid work schedules do not look the same (you supervise the work), acknowledged the work that the executive director did with the museum, as the mayor payroll that goes through human resources is signed on the town's side, the corrective action resulted from two personalities clashing, the correction action was to watch a video, learn how to resolve a problem, build character, and staff, being on the commission board will beneficial and hope that the executive director do not walk away; requested for an update on two grants: received a grant to redo trees along East Kennedy Blvd and the bigger grant is for $447,880 to redo the CRA Building as a business incubator space; Director Gardner does not agree with the extension of a probation, because people should be able to start earning their time off. Ms. Rose was asked about how her scheduled would be affected, unknown at this time, until then it is expected for executive director to report to work eight to five o'clock Monday through Friday; can work for two municipalities; pertaining to placing a motion on the floor, legal recommends that if an item is on the agenda as a discussion item, then it is a discussion item, this board can do what it pleases, from a notice provision, to give someone a fair opportunity to know what is taking place at the meeting, this is from a best practices aspect, not a legal (it is not unlawful); Director Critton had a professional experience with the executive director, agree with flexible schedule due to covid, the probation extension may be seen as unfair; Vice Chair Williams encourages the executive director to get education and educate others, the executive director have been responsive and there are no a problems, need to clean house and put our footprint on this community, suggest an additional period for probation because you do not know what is going to happen in this roll as Commissioner. BOARD REPORTS: Executive Directive (Shaniqua Rose)- No Report Town Clerk (Veronica King) - No Report Attorney (Greg Jackson) - No Report, congratulated to Ms. Rose for her newly elected role; recommend that the Executive Director get an employment contract to protect the town and Ms. Rose Director Angie Gardner Inquired about the price for piping for the septic ($2200), the heir (executive of the will) needs to do the application, the executor makes sure that the wishes inside of the will are executed and that any bills/debts that have been reconciled making sure that everyone gets what they are entitled to per will, in taking care of the property and making decisions on the care of the property, the executor in the absence of a personal representative of the estate assigned can act in that fashion; to get approval from whoever has the approval to give the approval (the heir/executor) to include a hold harmless for the town to extend the pipe to the road, Director Gardner will forfeit August and September pay as mayor to assist this matter; the town need to get the sewer on the property; there is grant available. Director Theo Washington - No Report Director Donovan Williams - No Report Director Taros Mack- No Report Vice Chair Wanda Randolph - No Report Director Rodney Daniels - No Report EU 2Ea. Director Ruthi Critton - No Report, acknowledged the work being done in the median along Kennedy Blvd. ADJOURNMENT Chair Angie Gardner Motions for Adjournment of Meeting (Moved by Director Washington; Seco d by Director Critton; AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES. Meeting Adjourned at 8:43 P.M. ors iv@"tis@vs k««ffcow 4 of 4 06202024CRAMeetingMinutes