REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 HISTORIC TOWN OF EATONVILLE, FLORIDA REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, November 4, 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: Vice Mayor Washington called the meeting to order at 7:34 p.m. and a quorum was established by Mrs. King. PRESENT: (4) Vice Mayor Theo Washington, Councilman Tarus Mack, Councilwoman Wanda Randolph, Councilman Rodney Daniels (Absent: Mayor Angie Gardner) STAFF: (6) Marlin Daniels, Interim Chief Administrator Officer; Veronica King, Town Clerk; Clifford Shepard, Town Attorney; Katrina Gibson, Finance Director; Valerie Mundy, Public Works Director; Chief Stanley Murray, EPD INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Invocation through a moment of silence led by Vice Mayor Washington followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Vice Mayor Washington Motions to APPROVE the meeting agenda with amendments; moved by Councilman Daniels; second by Councilman Mack; AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES. Amendments: Pulling meeting minutes for additional review time (will bring back to the next meeting) and adding discussion of the Ordinance 2025-6 Local Business Preference Program after citizen participation. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: (2) Joyce Irby – Thanks to Council Members, it takes a lot of time to research to know what you are talking about, and thanks for taking the time to come and do what you do on a regular schedule; wanted to compliment the Mayor (Mayor not present); thanked Mr. Daniels for bringing professionalism, a need for accountability, corporate experience, and answers to questions, hope he sticks around for a long time; offered thanks staff who does their job and who is often not acknowledged. Kelvan Franklin – (133 Thompson Avenue, Maitland) The Eatonville Chamber and Welcome Center in partnership with the Community Nook extends a sincere thank you to the Eatonville community, the EEKonville Trunk-or-Treat has grown and consisted old and new residents including community partners, provided candy, treats, games, and smiles for the trunk or treaters of all ages; do not forget about the Annual Friendship Around the World, bring a dish that made you smile as a kid, having the 5th Annual Friendsgiving Day Gathering, again bring a meal that made your smile, the date and time is November 27th, 2025, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.; to (Marlin Daniels) your mom would be proud, you are doing an outstanding job. 1 of 4 11042025CouncilMeetingMinutes Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 COUNCIL DISCUSSION: Ordinance 2025-6 Local Business Preference Program: (Moved from Council Workshop due to time) (Mundy) talked about the proposal of establishing a local business preference ordinance, it would be in the best interest of the town's residents, businesses, commerce, and economic development of the town in light of the infrastructure dollars that are coming in, there is almost $50 million already in our possession and have additional funds that are applied for, it is an important right now to have a local preference program to make sure that our local businesses are included and not overlooked by contractors that come in to do large projects, the proposed ordinance presented before council will have to go through two readings, will allow for local businesses who do work or have their addresses in the town to apply for a business tax receipt and they can become certified as a local business, having this designation, the elimination of the DEI programs is what prompted this; there are many local businesses that have come forth during the Mayor's Business Development Training Academy, had 50 participants in the program, the next is to put something on the books to make sure our small businesses and local businesses take advantage of this, it will also contribute to the town's revenue for business tax receipts, the definition of the ordinance indicates that the vendor must have a business tax receipt, be certified 6 months prior to bid opening day, have two active bids right now (water treatment plant project), expecting it to be about $14 million in funding, want to make a way to get this program up and running, people certified, so that they are able to bid on the many trades coming for the water treatment plant; need to consider do we want (certified local businesses) to be brick and mortar, have an incubator business, or will having post office box be sufficient, there are people who are outside of Eatonville who can also participate, want to build up revenue through business tax receipt, have vacant offices, have a strip mall next door with a high vacancy rate, want to get businesses in the town to participate. (Attorney Shepard) – because of the elimination of DEI programs, this is a good way to sort of bridge that gap, many of your local businesses would also qualify, under the other standard, and yet this will capture many of them in the same manner and give them the opportunity with some preference, consideration, to get jobs, this is a good program. Does not mean there may not be things council may want to tweak, fix to your liking. (Mr. Daniels) – expressed the opportunity for council to discuss, give input, insight, and tweak this document and possibly bring back for the meeting December for first reading. (Councilwoman Randolph) would this be inclusive of a business tax receipt for Orange County, (legal in response: wherever they do business typically requires having a business tax receipt because of jurisdictions.), request for verification as to if you are required or not required to have an Orange County business tax receipt or only an Eatonville business tax receipt; inquired about posting positions on the website , so that potential contractors can sign up, and who will be the person to make the selection. (Ms. Mundy), in response, we will go the normal procurement process, GCI who is represented here, will work with us to guide us in that procurement process, it is a typical bid, the general contractor will benefit, they will get points, get an advantage in their bid by utilizing local businesses that are certified.), needs to be done with fairness and done the right way that the same contractors are not getting the bids, (Mr. Daniels) in response: when it comes down to procurement and bidding, there is no set team of people, depending on what it is, it is different people that will grade/score individually, it is an open process/forum and everything is recorded, anyone can come watch the bidding process, will go with the best candidate), (Mundy) it would be 100% construction low bidding, as long as they meet the requirements, if you have the same contractor that is skilled enough to get the low bid, they may be continuously be at the table unless we determine they have too much work. (Attorney Shepard) the expression RFQ is governed by rules that require that the proposers do not put in a price, and that the reviewing committees review them (proposals) before they come before the council, it is based on qualifications, an RFP is requested proposals to do a certain scope of work and the price considered largely, not required to take the lowest bid. Councilwoman Randolph inquired about post office boxes not being used for establishing an address unless it is mail-in address, must have a physical address, (Legal) will be determined by how the council feels comfortable defining the term local, some may operate out of a location, but work all over the place, the council will decide what will constitute local. (Vice Mayor Washington) suggested allowing post office box, they could bring revenue to the town, giving a business tax license bringing money to the town; how many signed up after the class, can also go by their taxes, when they file their taxes what address are they using on their taxes, that is the address we 2 of 4 11042025CouncilMeetingMinutes Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 use, indicating that they a legit business, what did they file with the Department of Revenue; do not get revenue from the post office boxes. (Attorney Shepard) recommends canvassing a number of the ordinances to see how they define “local” and pick what suits you (the board), Marlin d APPROVAL CONSENT AGENDA: No Action taken; Meeting Minutes for October 7, 2025, and October 21, 2025, were pulled from the consent agenda. (Mr. Daniels) suggested to council to review in the next week or so, set up time with Attorney Shepard and give feedback, Attorney Shepard can redline it (the ordinance) and bring it back, will make this whole process a lot easier. (Councilman Mack) it is best to let the staff brainstorm and bring back to the board for tweeting, staff will bring back options for council to consider. COUNCIL DECISIONS: : None REPORTS: ATTORNEY REPORT: Clifford Shepard – No Report INTERIM CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER REPORT: Marlin Daniels – Evaluations are complete, the only exception is the directors and the town clerk, for the town clerk, feedback from council is needed, will send a form for council to rate the clerk, the average will be used for clerk’s evaluation; also coming up with a policy for merit; will bring back updated job descriptions (vote for voting just yet) with salary ranges according to the study, will use ADP, provides resources that will analyze and give us national and local ranges; about 25% complete on updating the personnel manual and 90% complete on the hybrid policy, will come back to the next council meeting; about 20% on updating permitting; bringing technology and Ai to make work more effective and efficient; trying to keep costs down; the ADP configuration is about 75%; working to update the travel policy; striving hard to have the audit done by March (2026); want to find a way by the end of January, February, to save $150,000; will be bringing back the special events policy for legal and council to look at, we are missing out on opportunities, there are loopholes, and need to make money to cover the town, need to have town staff at the special events, looking at having an application fees to avoid time and effort being wasted with the staff after doing a lot of work for people who end up not having the event; the charitable donation policy needs to be vetted by Attorney Shepherd and will be brought back; CRA is having a groundbreaking ceremony on 11/12/25 for the 140 West Street property. Upcoming events: The Christmas tree lighting (either the Saturday after Thanksgiving or to the first council meeting in December), Cooking with Kim's is on 11-26-25, and Christmas on the Boulevard is 12-19-25. (Legal) Forgot to mention that he is not aware of any new lawsuits. TOWN COUNCIL REPORT/DISCUSSION ITEMS: Councilwoman Wanda Randolph – Signed about $5,000 for pay for police officers for overtime (Clarity by CAO: the amount was for special events, off duty work, overtime would have to go through ADP, only overtime is authorized through the CAO, the person having the event is responsible for public safety costs and has to be paid in advance, will be pushing to have those costs paid a week in advance instead of 24 hours prior to event); requested to have the grant writer to come to council to give a report; had a wonderful tour at HostDime, learned about the data center and proud to have that facility here (in Eatonville), only five data facility in the world, had about 20-25 people who attended the tour; the Thanksgiving event is going to be November 24, 2025; requested clarity on the work-from-home policy (Resolution 2025-14), is administrative and will bring back to the next council meeting (90% completed); inquired about the transfer of interest to the Historic Preservation Committee (Board) concerning the cemetery, how are they doing on the study, the study has started, information and data is being collected; CAO can bring back a report; requested clarity on the evaluation of Mrs. King, it is a number system from 1 to 5, whatever numbers given by council will be averaged to complete her evaluation, Mrs. King is hired and evaluated by the council. Councilman Tarus Mack – Thanks to all for being engaged in the town’s business; condolences to anyone that has suffered any loss; seen the pictures and videos of the 1887 event, looked like it was a good time, shout out 3 of 4 11042025CouncilMeetingMinutes Docusign Envelope ID: 33673DA1-2D32-4924-835B-EC580B9E56A1 to Julian Johnson for doing a sensational job; missed out of the bike ride, look forward to it every first Saturday with the Stanleys who do a great job; the event put on by the CRA and Vice Mayor Washington was a great event, an opportunity to promote and do things sustainable for the community, a lot of people showed up, was a great atmosphere with positive vibes, great music with people performing, look forward to that event every quarter, kudos to Vice Mayor for bringing to the table this event; shout out to the staff for the jobs you do to the best of your ability, you do not get the credit deserved, like getting paid more, appreciate what you bring to the table on a daily basis; have a tremendous leader in the CAO that is leading the way, sitting up here almost 10 years, I cannot recall moving with many different things to make us more efficient, appreciate everything being brought to the table; need to have more conversation before moving forward with the community policing center in Catalina Park; with the youth in our community, having the Boys and Girls Club in our community, having kids bused over just to go to school is not a good look, we need to have a better partnership with the Boys and Girls Club, they have a 99-year contract, so hoping to move forward more successfully in helping our youth and our own community; welcome the new officer, had a chance to meet her at the National Policing event; congratulations to Sydney Silas and Dominic Taylor for their water certifications, to Ms. Mundy your leadership is appreciated, you have tough job doing both public work and working with the grants, not fair to the pay that you are not receiving. Councilman Rodney Daniels – Thanks to all for coming out, laid to rest a dear brother Mr. Eric Wayne Morgan, life is short and have to enjoy every moment, learned that whenever someone is laid on my heart, to reach out to them, his persona and his character weighs on my heart, thanks to Ms. Irby for her encouraging words, request prayer for his family and the historic Town of Eatonville. Vice Mayor Theo Washington – Condolences to all who lost loved ones over the weeks, especially with Mr. Morgan, remember him as a young kid growing up on college, called him pretty boy in junior high, was a good kid, just saw him at one of the events, life is precious; congratulations to Sydney Silas and Dominic Taylor for passing their class, I encourage all of them to get knowledge in the field; acknowledge and thanked Marissa while the clerk was out of office, she learned many things, she did a good job; recognized and respects Dick Cheney the late Vice President a Republican who spoke out against the current president. Joyce Irby – (Allowed to speak by consensus of the council) provided a statement of correction, the police worked for 6 weeks without pay during UCF games, UCF sent the check, the checks that were signed were for that. MAYOR’S REPORT – No Report – (Not Present) ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: (By Council Consensus) Joyce Irby – For clarity, the police worked six weeks without pay. ADJOURNMENT Vice Mayor Washington Motions for Adjournment of Meeting; moved by Councilwoman Randolph; second by Councilman Daniels; AYE: ALL, MOTION PASSES. Meeting Adjourned at 8:29pm. Respectfully Submitted by: APPROVED _____________________________ _______________________ Veronica L King, Town Clerk Angie Gardner, Mayor 4 of 4 11042025CouncilMeetingMinutes