REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 HISTORIC TOWN OF EATONVILLE, FLORIDA REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 7:30 PM Town Hall – 307 E. Kennedy Blvd. SPECIAL NOTICE: These meeting minutes are presented in an abbreviated format intended as a public record discussion of stated meeting according to the Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine law. Meetings are opened to the public, noticed within reasonable advance notice, and transcribed into minutes for public record. **Audio Recording are available through the Town’s website on the Council Agenda Page. CALL TO ORDER AND VERIFICATION OF QUORUM: Mayor Gardner called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and a quorum was established by Ms. Bellenger. PRESENT: (5), Councilwoman Wanda Randolph, Councilman Tarus Mack, Councilman Rodney Daniels, Vice Mayor Theo Washington, Mayor Angie Gardner STAFF: (8) Marlin Daniels, Interim Chief Administrator Officer; Marissa Bellenger, Records Coordinator; Cliff Shepard, Town Attorney; Katrina Gibson, Finance Director; Valerie Mundy, Public Works Director; Lieutenant Hernandez, EPD; Lieutenant Lampkin, EPD INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Invocation through a moment of silence led by Mayor Gardner followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Mayor Gardner Motions to APPROVE the meeting agenda with adjustments: moving workshop discussion of Resolution 2025-14 after Citizen Participation, adding discussion of Resolution 2025-30 to Consent Agenda; Moved by Vice Mayor Washington; Second by Councilwoman Randolph; AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES. PRESENTATIONS AND RECOGNITION: Presentation of the 2026 37th Annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities – Mr. Daniels asked me to present an overview of the 37th Annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival. We have been working with the police to make some adjustments in the layout, but I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you about the season, because the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities is known for much more than just the outdoor festival. I did give the council a copy of the adversary that came out in the Arts Weekly magazine which previews all of the art and cultural festivals happening in the season. Each festival over the years has been a good event, but sometimes there is a festival that really lifts up higher. What we have found in terms of the evaluations individually as well as from people outside the community–they really want to know more about Zora Neale Hurston and Eatonville. It is like we have to go back and reintroduce Eatonville as a historic town and Zora Neale Hurston to a new generation. That is what we are doing with this new festival. It means that, for example, the academic conference, some people nod their heads and say, “I will sleep.” We are actually going to do a mobile tour, starting in Maitland. We are going to be doing a lunch that is inspired by recipes of Zora Neale Hurston research. On Thursday, we will be having a panel from the library project with Dr. Finley. On Friday, our sessions will be at St. Lawrence Church. For the time, we will be extending from 6-8pm. On Saturday, we will be having an all-white party. On Sunday, we will be doing a line dance extravaganza. And then I wanted to talk about the Cotton Club event. On Saturday evening from 9pm 1 of 9 10072025CouncilMeetingMinutes Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 to 1am, we will be reimagining the Cotton Club. I am expecting that in the first week of November to come back and ask for the approval of the outdoor festival map. We have been given permission and have already reserved the historic Hungerford campus for part of our outdoor festival. Questions: Councilwoman Randolph – Will the festival be held on the Hungerford property or on the street this year? Nathiri – On most of the properties. The layout will be going back to the formal that we have had for decades. Councilwoman Randolph – Will there be an admission fee this year? Nathiri – All children will be free. On Saturday, it is $20 for adults, and on Sunday the same fee. If you want to attend two days, it is $30. If you want VIP, it will be $10 extra. Mr. Daniels – The MOU will be brought back to council in November. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION – (5) Joyce Irby – First I would like to thank Councilman Daniels and former Mayor Cole for attending my aunt’s funeral. To the council members, I understand the rage about the blind siding. When I saw the video, I thought it was a campaign video, but no it is about what we all knew about, which we did not, but it was nice. I understand it and respect your expression about it. We are being treated like one of us, except we have no power. If I had to choose and was forced to work with people, I would work with the two people who were chosen–Baker Barrios and Terry Prather–I think because Mrs. Thomas and I pinned him up at one point and said, “come work with us.” I had no idea how much Prather was involved until I got the news. I would like to thank Councilwoman Randolph for coming to some of the sessions for Envision Eatonville. At the first session, I talked with John Slamins and told him that we are not Hannibal Square. Everybody is always coming in and telling us what we have to be–we are historic. We are a living artifact–which was said by one of the Southern Poverty Law Center attorneys. I told Slamins that Eatonville must lose its hope. Eighteen months later he told me that his company listened to all the citizens that came out and I feel like they were listening. But my goal at the end of the day is to make sure that we still own at least half of that property [Hungerford]. I mentioned that to Mr. Prather that I would like him to think about this and come back with what percentage do you think we are going to own. (Angela Thomas yielded her time to Joyce Irby) I do not feel that the way we are currently instructed–we are capable of overseeing ourselves in this. But I think with some guidance it can still belong to us. I am going to keep pushing for us to win some of our places, and I am going to continue to talk to people who disagree with all of it, like John Beacham and Julian Johnson, because their voices need to be heard. I told John to come to the meeting Friday and he spoke appropriately. Everybody needs to be included. There are citizen stewards of our community, of which I consider myself and other people that I talk to, and I am going to try to hope and engage in this process. And, Mr. Daniels, I am excited about the order you are trying to do. Every week, Mrs. Johnson gets up here with numbers and says, “this does not equal this, can somebody answer my questions?” Nobody ever answers, so you are the lucky one, because you are a numbers user. Could we please have someone address her concerns? And Councilman Mack, if I did not know it before, you are representing the people. You hear us, and I think, take some deep breaths. Michelle Ford – Good evening. Tonight, I just want to touch on a couple of things. The first is the remote work program. I read the information that was in the packet and I do not agree with the policy you are putting in. Since COVID happened, you have more people working remotely. I work remotely and do more work at home than I do in the office, because my office is right in my living room. I would like the council to come back with studies to show where you are getting your thought process from. Orange County has an amazing policy on remote work, but it starts with the supervisor and with the Mayor, so to have the Council come in and say, “we are going to limit it for 30 days,” I do not think that is the right thing to do. Start off with a policy. I brought you all the Orange County Government Remote Work Program for you tonight. So, you can look at this policy and see what you would like to add. One thing I would like to say–you see your budget. You do not pay the employees enough because you do not make enough revenue in this town. That is one incentive for someone to stay here. So, think about the decisions that you are making and how it will impact them. It produces a good work environment and production. I am so happy we are getting a full-time permit clerk because it has been hard trying to track down that position. I am praying that the person will stay, and 2 of 9 10072025CouncilMeetingMinutes Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 hopefully that person may want remote work from home. And maybe we could start keeping some people. But I think, ultimately, the policies and managing staff day-to-day go into the hands of Mr. Daniels. If he and the Mayor have a problem then I think they should bring it to the council to deal with it. But there needs to be a separation. My second concern was my disappointment at the last meeting. We have a President that is a white supremacist. They have them all over. Make America Great Again–we know it again is. But to have the council and the way Mr. Mack talked to Mayor Gardner–I am a Black woman, I was upset. That was disrespectful. There are things you say and things that you say in private. But the way we carried on, all they did was prove to people that we do not know how to govern. Kelvan Franklin – First, I would like to start off by thanking those who attended our last event and those who did not. The Eatonville Chamber of Commerce is encouraging you to attend the next two events scheduled for this week. Please RSVP at “HistoricEatonvilleChamber.org.” We ask that you join our monthly coffee break event this Wednesday where you can network, relax, and recharge. This month’s facilitator is Rose Nance Joseph, Senior Program Manager of Community Development and Property Protection for the Neighborhood Services. Come out and hear about grants and other opportunities for Orange County neighborhoods. This month, we are meeting at the Denton Johnson Community Center from 8-10am. You are invited to a UnitedHealthcare Special Seasonal Event on Thursday, October 9th, from 11:30-1pm. Get your requests answered face-to-face, enjoy light refreshments and snacks. Find out if you are missing important health benefits. Volunteers and vendors are needed for the 4th Annual EEKonville Trunk-or-Treat. The Eatonville Police Department will be in attendance again this year. We are currently seeking experienced advisory board members. We ask that you contact the Chamber for all advisory boards: 2 year commitment, membership and partnership questions. Angela Johnson – Ms. Irby wanted me to state that one thing she omitted to say was, the Eatonville police pension fund is underfunded by $100,000. Can you take a look at that and probably look at your most recent actuarial reports? I wanted to quote Bruce Mount Jr., who stated it most appropriately the other night that he is cautiously optimistic about how we are going to move forward with the relationship between OCPS and Dr. Phillips Charities in the development of the Hungerford property. And I always say let us not forget that it is not just the boundary of the property that everyone sees and recognizes what the school said, but the additional 17 acres that are just north of Catalina Park. One of the things that was asked–and this is in no disrespect to Mrs. Ware–a question was asked of the CAO, what research has been done to determine the naming of the park because I do not know. I ask that you potentially table until you give the staff an opportunity to do the appropriate research before you move forward with your agenda item today. And again, that is no disrespect to Mrs. Ware, because I know that she is definitely a builder in our community. It was mentioned that part of the reasoning for the flash flooring on Wymore is due to the level of the pipe for HostDime, so my question to staff is that a problem that needs to be mitigated by HostDime or by whom? And if it is a problem that needs to be mitigated by HostDime, what is the timeframe for them to solve the problem? And when we now talk about moving forward with development on the Hungerford property, I would also beg of you to come together as a board and put together what our demands are as the elected body of this town. It was stated at the last meeting that the MOU is just the beginning. It is now your responsibility to come together and to talk with the residents to ensure that the town is protected. And when I say that, that it is protected from the standpoint that the development and the monies that come into that property, is not just centered there, but has some benefit to the town as a whole. I know that they are talking about an advisory board, so let us pull that out. Stan Morris – My name is Stan Morris. I was born and raised in Orlando. When I found out about Eatonville, I was shocked. I thought Eatonville was equivalent to Washington Shores, in terms of its founding. And then when I did some research on Eatonville, this place represents Blacks in America, not just Blacks in Eatonville. There are about 48 million Blacks in America. With this body fighting such a huge entity, it is all about 3 of 9 10072025CouncilMeetingMinutes Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 economics. When Eatonville was founded, to recruit people to this area, they had a newspaper called the Eatonville Speaker. Their front page on January 22, 1989 [1889], in bold-face font, stated that Negroes solved the great race problem in Eatonville, Florida, by securing a home in the town which is a Negro city governed by Negroes. If you could use imagination, it is amazing how much resources we have as Black people. You all have done one hack of a great job in Eatonville. For me, being an outsider, I do not live here but it is awesome to see Blacks coming together. We have no more differences than other people. If everybody agreed, there would be a problem somewhere. I think everybody’s main interest is to protect the town. I heard about the sale on television, but we keep saying the Hungerford property but it is the Eatonville property. What have we all decided to do with it? It is your property, but it represents us (Black Americans). I remember Eatonville when there were dirt roads and City Hall was across the street. We have to come together and quit letting people think we cannot work together. APPROVAL CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Gardner MOTIONS to APPROVE the Consent Agenda approving Town Council Meeting Minutes from the First Budget hearing, First Budget hearing continuation, Second Budget hearing; Mayor Gardner rescinds her motion to Approve the Consent Agenda. Mayor Gardner resumes Workshop discussion on Resolution 2025-14 – Establishing a 30-day Work From Home Limit – Councilwoman Randolph – This has been the third time that this has been discussed. Ms. Michelle, thank you very much for bringing those numbers to my attention. I did primary research with federal and local governments on a work from home policy. It is up to the administration to create a policy. All we are saying is that we need to have a work from home policy. How the administration decides how they are going to do it, how many days, they come up with their own requirements–that is fine. We need a work from home policy. I know the county probably has a policy for a large number of employees. We only have a small group of employees working for the town. I would like to turn this to the administration. If they do not want to come up with a work from home policy, the only thing I can say is that, I weigh the liabilities and risks. As far as the town is concerned, because we do not have a policy, what do we govern based upon? It says 30 days, but it does not have to be 30 days. The days do not even have to be in the language. We just need a policy. As a council member and elected official on this board, I have the right to recommend that to the administration. I would like to have a copy from Ms. Michelle on the county’s work from home policy. I believe the last time we discussed this; Mrs. Washington was going to look into this with ADP to see if they had any policies established that the town could use as a guide. Mayor Gardner – I think it was brought up two meetings ago. Mr. Daniels – It was talked about and I can tell you that what we are working on is not necessarily a remote policy, but it is called a hybrid policy. That will include some things that come from Orange County. We are looking at other municipalities as well. A hybrid policy does not mean that you are just working from home, it is working within the office as well. If you give us about 30 days, we will have that policy. Mayor Gardner – I have a question for Attorney Shepard. It is on the consent agenda, and a request in regard to the 30-day work from home, but it is administrative. Attorney Shepard – My understanding is, she is suggesting that we have to, or should have, a policy that understands that administratively, what that policy should be for the employees that you think should be allowed to work from home should be developed by you. Anything on consent can be added or moved by council members at any time. Mayor Gardner – When we adopted the agenda, I should have asked that it be removed then, but my mind was putting things on there instead of taking it off. I would like for 2025-14 to be removed from the consent agenda as a decision item. Mayor Gardner MOTIONS to REMOVE Resolution 2025-14 from the Consent Agenda down to Council Decisions; moved by Councilwoman Randolph; second by Vice Mayor Washington; AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES 5/0. Discussion/Comments: Vice Mayor Washington asks if the town has a policy in place. Mr. Daniels – Our personnel policy is outdated. Vice Mayor Washington – I do not understand why it is going to be moved if we do not have a policy. Councilwoman Randolph – They want to change the language. It can be on 4 of 9 10072025CouncilMeetingMinutes Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 administration to do, the only thing I am saying is that we need to have a policy. Vice Mayor and Councilman Mack agrees. Mayor Gardner MOTIONS to APPROVE the Consent Agenda: Approving Council Minutes, Approval of the Full-Time Permit Clerk position, and Resolution 2025-30 Renaming Elizabeth Park; moved by Vice Mayor Washington, second by Councilman Mack. AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES 5/0. COUNCIL DECISIONS: Approval of Resolution 2025-14 – Establishing a 30-day Work From Home Limit – Preamble is read. Attorney Shepard – I would like to make a suggestion on how to proceed. You got a resolution here, read it by title, which indicates what it is about. You can, go ahead and try to craft what you actually want on the flyer here in this meeting. You can also discuss things that you all would like to see for the Mayor’s consideration to bring back policy that she explains about what she adopted in honor of the position she owns–being chief executive officer of the town. You can do either one. Both of those things, if we are going to craft a resolution, needs to, at minimum, have her support. It is ultimately going to be her policy. Councilwoman Randolph – I would suggest taking the 30-days out of it. That will be at the discretion of the Mayor in regard to length of time and the requirements for work from home. We need to table and bring the corrections back. Mr. Daniels – My suggestion to Council would be to for each of you to send me your recommendations. We can draft it together then we can send out one that we can work through so we do not have to keep going through this cycle. And we will also send you a draft of the hybrid, so maybe that may clear up some of the discussion. Councilman Mack – When we are bringing resolutions to the floor to be approved or what have you, make sure to have a discussion with the CAO before the meeting. That way we could be familiar with exactly what is going on and why we could make all the changes that need to be made within the grounds, versus sitting here and going off the cuff. I am in favor of it, Councilwoman Randolph, but if you know what you want, come with it, instead of sitting here going back and forth and then we are going to table the item and have a discussion with the CAO. Mayor Gardner rescinds her motion, Vice Mayor Washington rescinds his first, Councilman Mack rescinds his second. (Council did not need to rescind because there was no motion on the floor) Mayor Gardner MOTIONS to TABLE Resolution 2025-14 - Establishing a 30-day Work From Home Limit; moved by Vice Mayor Washington, second by Councilwoman Randolph. AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES 5/0. STAFF COMMENTS: INTERIM CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER: Marlin Daniels – Just to let you know, we have been working on building maintenance. We know that we have some maintenance issues, so staff has been directed to compile a list of all maintenance issues in buildings, and we are going to come up with a comprehensive plan of how to address those issues. I am proposing to the Mayor and Council that on the next workshop we discuss the Hungerford property and the master plan. The objective is to have Baker Barrios, Dr. Phillips Charities, and Council, and whatever is the suggested master plan right now–we will be able to add on to it to start the conversation. The idea is not for us to be behind the ball, and then when something happens, we become reactive. I want to try to bring a proactive approach to being able to address any issues. So, if that is your desire, I will move forward with setting that up for the next workshop. You all will be getting a copy of the master plan. We want to have a larger display so we can present easily, not just the Hungerford property, but the whole totality of the master plan and the town being built. Ms. Mundy stated that there is a well issue, so that it will be done as an emergency PO. We cannot wait around on it, so as soon as we get all the documents, we are going to go ahead and get it fixed. We were notified by WastePro that there will be an increase because of Orange County Disposal. They have increased it by 12% across the board, and then along with the CPI increase which will be 3-5%. We will have to change the rate for residential garbage. More information will 5 of 9 10072025CouncilMeetingMinutes Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 be coming in the next council meeting. Residential will be increased 15-17% and commercial increased by 44%. We have been looking at numbers with staff and finance, so if we do not do this we are looking at $9,000 to $10,000 a month for the town, which we cannot afford to be in our budget. That would be roughly $120,000 that the town would have to pay. Currently, we have changed some offices around. We are cleaning, getting offices painted and situated. We are trying to make office space more efficient. One suggestion is that we work on a front window in the lobby for permitting. FileBank will be scheduled to come back out to pick up records. At the end of this, we are going to get rid of the pod outside and if any records have passed their retention time, they will be disposed of. We have also been working with Public Works on streetscape and are developing a schedule to ensure that we are not missing out on our streets being cleaned. Public Works are coming up with a schedule and next week we will have a schedule of streets and drains being cleaned and a whole maintenance program. We will also come up with a plan to pressure wash all bricks on the main road and ensure trash is not on the ground. We are working on security. Phase 1 is going to include town hall, Denton Johnson, and the post office. We are going to replace some interior and exterior doors. We will also be upgrading the camera system and a new alarm system. There will also be card access to doors in the building. I am proud to tell you all that we are 90% complete on evaluations and the rest will be completed by next week. That will be followed by a merit policy. We are also reviewing job descriptions right now and they are projected to be done by November 11th for the Council to go through and review. We are reviewing the personnel manual, hybrid policy, and electronic permitting. Some major events coming up are National Night Out, Heritage Culture, Trunk-or-Treat. Next week, we will start rolling MLK so we are prepared. Our new process is 90-60-30: 90 days out we should be planning the event; 60 days out we should be fine-tuning; and the last 30 days is to execute. Questions: Councilwoman Randolph – You mentioned a workshop, who will this be with? Mr. Daniels – The workshop will be on the day that Council regularly meets (6:30pm). It will be with the Town Council, Baker Barrios, and Dr. Phillips Charities. We will have an opportunity to add to the master plan. Councilwoman Randolph – I think as a Council, we need to meet on our own without them until we review the plan so that we have an opinion as to what we want to see. The Council has already been at a disadvantage by not having a voice at the table. Also, in this process, I would like to make sure that the Historic Preservation Board is aware of this, and they should have a seat at the table. That is so important, as a historic town, that we include them. We need to tell them what we want. The Vice Mayor states that the meeting should have been set earlier. Mr. Daniels – If I am hearing the consensus correctly, you all would like to see a draft copy of the master that the Town prepared, and you would like to have the meeting between the Town Council and residents of Eatonville. Councilwoman Randolph – We have not yet approved the master plan and so we are missing a step. I want to make sure that we represent the Town of Eatonville. So, it should be based upon what we want, and what we evaluate as to what is important to us, not what is important to them. Mr. Daniels – We will prepare and give you all the draft, then the Town Council will give their input and their observation as to what they would like to see added to that, or on that property, and then we will bring in Baker Barrios and Dr. Phillips Charities at another time to incorporate what was determined by this board. Vice Mayor Washington – With the planner as well. Mr. Daniels - The planner will be involved and we will ensure that staff is here as support and resources. If you all, prior to that meeting, we start a document that will be shared amongst all of you regarding what your input will be, so then we can compile it, and be able to facilitate faster. Councilwoman Randolph – I think when we do this workshop or presentation, it should be the only focus. Mr. Daniels – I was thinking that you all first have the discussion and then we save public comments for the end. Councilwoman Randolph – Just for clarity, we are not trying to circumvent public participation. ATTORNEY: Cliff Shepard – I do not have anything to report. I am just going to make a suggestion to Mr. Daniels that you might want to have the Town Planner involved, or someone who can speak confidently about planning. The reason I say this is because of my own inadequacies. A lot of the stuff I saw on the paper, I do not even know what I am looking at. Comments: Councilwoman Randolph – Mr. Daniels, it is important that we have a specialized land attorney and that is no disrespect to Mr. Shepard. Attorney Shepard – I do land use all the time. What I am referring to is the set of drawings which I need clarification to as to what I am looking 6 of 9 10072025CouncilMeetingMinutes Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 at. As opposed to reading text, I am able to understand. I am suggesting that someone who is a planner clarify the drawings. TOWN COUNCIL REPORT/DISCUSSION ITEMS - Councilman Tarus Mack – Thank you everyone for coming out and being engaged in town business. I am looking forward to all the different upcoming events. My condolences to anybody that has suffered a loss–my thoughts and prayers are with you all. Nothing makes me more satisfied and gratified to see someone have the ability to do the job as CAO but also be from this community. I am praying that he fills the position and moves from interim to CAO. Also, I know we had an opportunity to speak about the budget being amended for the Deputy Chief Officer. I definitely recommend that we do amend that while spreading the money amongst all the seasoned officers. To all the officers, I salute you guys for doing what you do on a daily basis. As far as the historic survey kickoff project presentation, I am looking forward to that. There are a lot of interesting things that I heard tonight concerning the community and how things are going to be mapped out and planned, even with the idea of having Dr. Phillips Charities being a part of it. I am not in a happy place, but at the end of the day, I am willing to work with anybody to satisfy the needs of this community and especially the citizens. Tonight, one of the residents addressed me and the way I spoke to Mayor Gardner in the special meeting. Last time I recalled, I did not say anything disrespectful to Mayor Gardner. Before I started my speech, for the record I told her that I had great respect for her. God says it is okay to be angry, mad or disappointed. I was all those things during the last meeting and I can tell you this right here: I work for you and I will protect the town at all costs. Although I am somewhat disappointed with some of the administrative things that have gone on, I must say that, overall, you guys do a great job. I have a great appreciation for what you do on a daily basis because I know how important your job is for you and the sake of the community. Also, with the opportunity we had to approve the recreation for Ms. Ware, I cannot speak enough on how gracefully she has shaped my life. I could not imagine anybody else having the opportunity to have their name on the park. Finally, I do not have any gripe with Dr. Phillips Charities, Baker Barrios, or OCPS. I am disappointed in the decision making process. We need to be diligent enough to move forward in working together with them, and I am because I am a leader in this community. I look forward to the success Eatonville is going to have moving forward. God bless. Councilman Rodney Daniels – I wanted to start by thanking the Vice Mayor about the renaming of the recreation complex. Ms. Ware is well-deserved, just as Councilman Mack stated. I can remember all the summers with her and her program. But, Mrs. Johnson said something I would like to reiterate: what happens if you do the research and find out that it is documented, then what do we do? I think that we should have the verification first before we approve this. Also, I made it out to the school board meeting. After hearing the first session, I knew that their minds were made up on what they were going to do. They had a misconception of what we were saying when we stated that we were not at the table. I made a couple of suggestions and inserted my input. I also thought after that, Baker Barrios or whoever, should have come and brought some ideas on what can possibly make us thrive as far as bringing the tax base up, and what we can put on that land to increase it. We would have liked to be included in the MOU process. We do feel disrespect, but we are in anticipation of seeing what this administration can do to bring the ideas to us and to make our community thrive and get the Hungerford property up and running. It was refreshing to hear the comments from Mr. Stan Morris and hear his ideas, so thank you for that. Councilwoman Wanda Randolph – Thank you everyone for coming out. I do have a couple of things I would like to go over. First of all, the meetings on the Hungerford property, I just want to make sure everyone has an understanding about some things that were questioned, and I sent 9 questions to Attorney Shepard and the CAO, Mr. Pressley. Councilwoman Randolph stated her questions which asked: How did the Mayor make an agreement with or without the council members? The answer was that no agreement had been made. The MOU is under consideration by OCPS, and the Mayor has expressed support for this direction, but no binding decision has been executed. Attorney Shepard responded to the question by stating that the town is not listed 7 of 9 10072025CouncilMeetingMinutes Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 as a party in the MOU. The second question was to Mr. Pressley: What was your role in representing the Mayor and town council members? Mr. Pressley answered that the Mayor represented herself in this matter. Once the draft MOU appeared to move forward, it was referred to Attorney Shepard for review. I did not represent the Council in this process. Mr. Shepard confirmed that he had no role in the preparation or negotiation of the MOU and that he was sent a draft and reviewed it over the weekend. I represent the town and not individual members or the Mayor. The third question to Mr. Pressley: What was your role in negotiating with the school board of Orange County? Mr. Pressley answered that he had no role in negotiating and that his involvement was limited to sharing potential pathways in early discussion. Attorney Shepard also stated that he had no involvement. The fourth question to Mr. Pressley: As CAO, do you think that we and our residents should have known about this ahead of time? Mr. Pressley stated that the matter only came to his attention last week and he was asked to keep it confidential until something was concrete to share. The stakeholders’ meeting on Monday was the first opportunity to present the information before the public release. Attorney Shepard answered that as far as he knew, there had been no decision in either Orange County or Dr. Phillips, as the MOU is just a proposal between both parties, but no, I had no role in the proposal between OCPS and Dr. Phillips, assume that I will have some role with it moving forward, but that is up to the council and the Mayor. The fifth question: Were you a part of the decision and advice. Mr. Pressley stated that the MOU is still under consideration and Attorney Shepard replied that he was not included until yesterday. Sixth question: Were you aware that the Town Council had no knowledge. Mr. Pressley replied that he was aware; and Mr. Shepard responded that he would assume not, but he does not know for sure because he does not provide such notices. The seventh question: Is this the regular procedure for the Town Council to be notified? Mr. Pressley answered that in this case, confidentiality was requested until it became a viable proposal. It was not intended to bypass the Council, but to ensure accurate information as available before presentation. Attorney Shepard responded that as far as he was aware, the Mayor had made no decision other than she personally supported the general concepts contained in the MOU, but since the town is not a party to the MOU, it may not become a party. I am uncertain there will be a decision for the Council to make. If a town does become a party, then yes, the Council, not the Mayor alone, would need to make that decision. Question eight: Does our charter allow the Mayor to make decisions such as this without the council’s decision? Mr. Pressley responded that no final decision will be made by the Mayor or Council because the property is owned by OCPS. Attorney Shepard replied that he does not know enough about the proposal that came about to offer an opinion, but I favor information being shared with all of the elected officials when possible. However, there could be circumstances of which I am unaware that influenced the decision on when the proposal would be made public. Last question: Do you think that the Council should have known? Mr. Pressley responded that ideally, yes. The Council would have been informed once the matter became concrete enough to warrant full review. In this case, confidentiality and timing prevented earlier communication. Councilwoman Randolph stated that she wanted everyone to be aware of the role that the attorney and CAO had about this matter. I know there has been a lot of dissatisfaction about how it was done, but the problem was that it is not so much all of this, but it was that we did not know. I want to make sure everyone also understands that the Mayor cannot execute a contract with the Town Council. This has to come before the body of Eatonville. Moving on, I have concerns about the timing of getting information. An event happened on October 3rd, and I got a notice from our media assistant an hour and a half before the event which to me is unacceptable. This is not the first time and it needs to be corrected and turned around. The other concern is that I requested information concerning the leave time of one of our administrative employees, to make sure that we receive the accuracy for our vacation time and the annual leave time that is due. I am referring to our CAO who is on leave right now. The calculations I sent in today are not right, because the calculations grant more leave than what was earned. So, that has to be corrected. I wanted to ask when the seasonal dates are for the pool and when will it close during the winter months? Mr. Daniels states that he will give Councilwoman the information tomorrow. Councilwoman Randolph – Do we have a policy for town- owned vehicles? Mr. Daniels – There is a new policy in effect, and half of our fleet has been tracked with GPS now. I signed that last week, and the other half we will hook up with GPS within the next week or two, so that we should help with insurance and being able to track the milage. Mr. Daniels stated that he would get the 8 of 9 10072025CouncilMeetingMinutes Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 information about insurance to the Councilwoman. Councilwoman Randolph – Also, at the school board meeting, it was mentioned that I have only attended a couple of meetings. Councilwoman Randolph stated that she attended 7-8 master plan meetings. The councilwoman continues by announcing an upcoming trip on November 8th to Royal, Florida, a Black community that was founded in 1865. Councilwoman Randolph asked when the town would be solving the issue with the increase of water rates? Mr. Daniels – Two weeks ago, Ms. Gibson and I instructed staff to run a report for the 3-month time period, and begin all the data, and we have analyzed and can bring it back to Council for consideration. Vice Mayor Theo Washington – Thank you everybody for coming out tonight. I do want to talk about the school board, but at this moment, I want to talk about emails that I have been getting about our officers in our town. They are false. I will be forwarding a case concerning the EPD to the CAO. Thank you to Mrs. Ware and her family. That was my block growing up. I thank Mrs. Ware for doing what she did with youth growing up in Eatonville, because I know she saved a lot of lives. We are going to do some research on the previous naming of the park and see if there are any ordinances or resolutions for that property. Also, one thing that I heard at the school board meeting was a comment made by their general counsel which stated we were working on a dollar-lease deal, but no one brought a presentation. Attorney Shepard – That statement is untrue. I sent the proposal and they did not respond. Vice Mayor – That is all I have tonight. MAYOR’S REPORT - Mayor Angie Gardner – I have to say this on the behalf of Ms. Gragg, the executive assistant. She does a tremendous amount of work. She was helping cover permitting and on October 3rd, she had a lot going on. She has had a lot on her plate, so in her absence, I do want to say it definitely was not intentional, but she got to it when she could. I do have a statement about the law enforcement adjustment. If we are looking at $67,000 and if the fund is $100,000, we are off about $33,000. Perhaps that is something the officers can decide: Do you want more money into your retirement or do you want more income? Maybe that is something that they can come back with. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Gardner Motions for Adjournment of Meeting; moved by Councilwoman Randolph; second by Vice Mayor Washington; AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES. Meeting Adjourned at 9:06pm. Respectfully Submitted by: APPROVED _____________________________ _______________________ Veronica L King, Town Clerk Angie Gardner, Mayor 9 of 9 10072025CouncilMeetingMinutes