Here's the latest Ledger article about the Monday, March 28th, 2011, City Council Workshop
Polk City Council Cuts 3 City Manager Candidates, Adds 2 More
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Polk City Candidate Confirms Child Neglect Charge, Probation
New Ledger article about the Polk City, City Manager candidates: Polk City Candidate Confirms Child Neglect Charge, Probation
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Polk City Planning Commission Workshop Agenda - March 29, 2011 at 6:00 PM
The Polk City Planning Commission Workshop Agenda, scheduled for Tuesday, March 29, 2011, at 6:00 PM has been emailed out, and can be viewed at the following link: Planning Commission Workshop Agenda. It will be held at the Polk City Government Center located at 123 Broadway.
Polk City Council Special Meeting Agenda, March 28, 2011 at 6:00 PM
In today's email from Polk City, sent to anyone requesting to receive Polk City Council Agenda information, there is a link to the City Council Special Meeting Agenda. However, it opens up the Polk City Planning Board Meeting Agenda scheduled for March 29, 2011. The following link will open up the actual Polk City Council Agenda - March 28, 2011 at 6:00 PM. It is a special meeting scheduled to discuss City Manager Candidates. Please note that the meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 28, 2010, at 6:00 PM. The City Council Workshop, which was scheduled to be held this Saturday, March 26, 2011, for interviewing city manager candidates, has been cancelled, with no reason given.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Update on Water Chlorine Level Concerns
A few individuals have forwarded us information they received after contacting the EPA and the County health department regarding the water. Keep in mind that the test results sited in these emails were from tests taken after the city was notified of our findings and they obviously did make adjustments. Here are some of the responses received:
From: Matthew_Nickerson@doh.state.fl.us
Date: 3/11/2011 3:06:03 PM
To: helppolkcityresidents@earthlink.net
Cc: van.hoofnagle@dep.state.fl.us; Gwen.Shofner@dep.state.fl.us; Donald_Ehlenbeck@doh.state.fl.us; Jennifer_Wisdom@doh.state.fl.us
Subject: Water Concerns
Dear Polk City Residents,
This e-mail is in regards to your recent concerns regarding the Polk City Water System. I was asked to look into this matter. Yesterday, March 10, 2011, I performed Sanitary Surveys of both the Polk City Water System and the Mount Olive Water System. I did not find any significant deficiencies during my inspections. As part of the Sanitary Surveys I checked free and total chlorine residuals at multiply points in the distribution system. The highest chlorine residual I recorded for the Polk City System was 1.67 mg/L free and 1.68 mg/L total. The highest chlorine residual I recorded for the Mount Olive Water System was a 2.23 mg/L free and 2.39 mg/L total. Both of these reading where at the water plants. I also checked the Operation and Maintenance logs at each water plant. The Water Operator checks that chlorine residual at the water plants and the distribution system 6 days per week and records them in these logs. I did not see any incident of a high chlorine residual.
There was also a concern that the City had not provided Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs) since 2007. The City had indeed drafted and sent CCRs for both 2008 and 2009. This office reviews the CCRs for the community water system in Polk County each year. The City sent the CCRs to residents with their water bills. I have attached PDF copies of the 2008 and 2009 CCRs. The 2010 CCR is due later this year.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me by e-mail or phone. I am out of the office all day on Mondays, and multiply times during the week, but will return your calls as soon as I can.
Sincerely,
Matthew A. Nickerson
Environmental Specialist II
Polk County Health Department
Environmental Engineering
(863)519-8330 ext. 12154
From: Meyer.Larry@epamail.epa.gov <Meyer.Larry@epamail.epa.gov>
Subject: Chlorine Levels in Polk City Water System
To: ahuker@yahoo.com
Cc: Shaw.Charlene@epamail.epa.gov
Date: Monday, March 14, 2011, 9:53 AM
Dear Ms. Huke:
The Region 4 Office of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
has been in contact with the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection and the Polk County Health Department regarding your concerns
about chlorine levels in water from the Polk City Water System. On
March 10, 2011, the Polk County Health Department tested the water at
the system and found the highest levels of chlorine were 1.67 mg/L free
and 1.68 mg/L total. These are acceptable levels of chlorination for
water from the system.
I have attached the 2008 and 2009 Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR) for
the water system. These were mailed to the water system's customers
with their water bills. The 2010 CCR will be mailed with the water
bills later this year. The water system is not required to post the CCR
on its webpage. However, since it has voluntarily posted the CCR it was
felt that the posting should be kept up-to-date. The system has agreed
to update their website to reflect the latest CCR.
I hope this information is helpful to you.
Larry Meyer
Drinking Water Program
U. S. EPA, Region 4
61 Forsyth St.
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 562-9449
Here are links to the attachments sent on these emails: 2008 Polk City Water Quality Report 2009 Polk City Water Quality Report
From: Matthew_Nickerson@doh.state.fl.us
Date: 3/11/2011 3:06:03 PM
To: helppolkcityresidents@earthlink.net
Cc: van.hoofnagle@dep.state.fl.us; Gwen.Shofner@dep.state.fl.us; Donald_Ehlenbeck@doh.state.fl.us; Jennifer_Wisdom@doh.state.fl.us
Subject: Water Concerns
Dear Polk City Residents,
This e-mail is in regards to your recent concerns regarding the Polk City Water System. I was asked to look into this matter. Yesterday, March 10, 2011, I performed Sanitary Surveys of both the Polk City Water System and the Mount Olive Water System. I did not find any significant deficiencies during my inspections. As part of the Sanitary Surveys I checked free and total chlorine residuals at multiply points in the distribution system. The highest chlorine residual I recorded for the Polk City System was 1.67 mg/L free and 1.68 mg/L total. The highest chlorine residual I recorded for the Mount Olive Water System was a 2.23 mg/L free and 2.39 mg/L total. Both of these reading where at the water plants. I also checked the Operation and Maintenance logs at each water plant. The Water Operator checks that chlorine residual at the water plants and the distribution system 6 days per week and records them in these logs. I did not see any incident of a high chlorine residual.
There was also a concern that the City had not provided Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs) since 2007. The City had indeed drafted and sent CCRs for both 2008 and 2009. This office reviews the CCRs for the community water system in Polk County each year. The City sent the CCRs to residents with their water bills. I have attached PDF copies of the 2008 and 2009 CCRs. The 2010 CCR is due later this year.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me by e-mail or phone. I am out of the office all day on Mondays, and multiply times during the week, but will return your calls as soon as I can.
Sincerely,
Matthew A. Nickerson
Environmental Specialist II
Polk County Health Department
Environmental Engineering
(863)519-8330 ext. 12154
From: Meyer.Larry@epamail.epa.gov <Meyer.Larry@epamail.epa.gov>
Subject: Chlorine Levels in Polk City Water System
To: ahuker@yahoo.com
Cc: Shaw.Charlene@epamail.epa.gov
Date: Monday, March 14, 2011, 9:53 AM
Dear Ms. Huke:
The Region 4 Office of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
has been in contact with the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection and the Polk County Health Department regarding your concerns
about chlorine levels in water from the Polk City Water System. On
March 10, 2011, the Polk County Health Department tested the water at
the system and found the highest levels of chlorine were 1.67 mg/L free
and 1.68 mg/L total. These are acceptable levels of chlorination for
water from the system.
I have attached the 2008 and 2009 Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR) for
the water system. These were mailed to the water system's customers
with their water bills. The 2010 CCR will be mailed with the water
bills later this year. The water system is not required to post the CCR
on its webpage. However, since it has voluntarily posted the CCR it was
felt that the posting should be kept up-to-date. The system has agreed
to update their website to reflect the latest CCR.
I hope this information is helpful to you.
Larry Meyer
Drinking Water Program
U. S. EPA, Region 4
61 Forsyth St.
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 562-9449
Here are links to the attachments sent on these emails: 2008 Polk City Water Quality Report 2009 Polk City Water Quality Report
These water quality reports above do have somewhat of a disclaimer. They state, "Is our water safe for everyone? Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immuno-compromised persons such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants can be particularly at risk from infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. US EPA/Center for Disease Control guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by cryptosporidium and other microbiological contaminants are available on the web at epa.gov/safewater or telephone the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791) for any drinking water issue."
Hopefully in the future, Polk City will keep a closer eye on water conditions and these reports will be readily available on their website so everyone can easily find them, instead of only as an addition to the water bill mailing once a year.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Polk County Tax Collector Agreement with Polk City
At the last city meeting held on March 14, 2011, the city council voted to approve changing the billing of the WAC/SAC fees for undeveloped parcels from billing it manually by the city, to adding it as an additional line item on the annual Non Ad-Valorem tax bill mailed out and collected by the county. Here is a copy of the document.
Polk City Tax Collector Agreement 2011-3-1
Notice that in the agreement the county will still be billing for "reimbursement by City for necessary administrative costs, including, but not limited to, those costs associated with personnel, forms, supplies, data processing, computer equipment, postage and programming which attend all of the collection and enforcement duties imposed upon the Tax Collector by the uniform methodology, as provided in section 197.3632(2), Florida Statutes." This detail was not discussed at all when this item came up for council approval during the meeting. Actual "savings" by making this billing change may not be as big as initially assumed when all of these costs are totaled up.
Polk City Tax Collector Agreement 2011-3-1
Notice that in the agreement the county will still be billing for "reimbursement by City for necessary administrative costs, including, but not limited to, those costs associated with personnel, forms, supplies, data processing, computer equipment, postage and programming which attend all of the collection and enforcement duties imposed upon the Tax Collector by the uniform methodology, as provided in section 197.3632(2), Florida Statutes." This detail was not discussed at all when this item came up for council approval during the meeting. Actual "savings" by making this billing change may not be as big as initially assumed when all of these costs are totaled up.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
March 14, 2011 City Meeting Highlights
The room was rather crowded compared to most recent city meetings. All the council members were present and there were several guest speakers during the course of the meeting. The proclamation of Girl Scout Week in honor of the organization's 99 year anniversary was made by the mayor, but no representatives of the Girl Scouts were present.
Public hearings for the 2nd and final readings of 3 ordinances, 1272 (the closing of a street so a local church can purchase the property for expansion), 1273 (allowing mobile homes in R-4 mixed residential zoning districts once again), and 1274 (amended the requirements for unoccupied homes) had no public comment and were all approved by council 5-0.
Acting City Manager, Trudy Block, was approved for another 30 day extension.
The Evaluation Appraisal Report, commonly referred to as EAR, is part of a 2-step update of the city's comprehensive plan required by the DCA (Department of Consumer Affairs) every 7 years. A schedule of City planning board workshops to update this document was announced. Workshops will be held March 29th, April 19th (if needed), May 2nd (if needed), and a Transmittal Hearing will be held on June 13th, 2011. Further details on the times should be publicly posted. Following this information, Interim City Attorney, Tom Cloud, added that there is a draft bill sitting in the Florida House of Representatives that is likely to eliminate the EAR requirement in the future. Mr. Cloud felt that there is a 75% chance that this bill will eventually be passed by the Legislature. With the potential passing of this law growth management in the state will be totally changed. Many jobs in the DCA will likely be eliminated since many of these jobs exist solely to review these reports. EARs have been a requirement of all municipalities since 1985. If this law gets passed, reviews of comprehensive plans will be gone, but comprehensive plans can still be amended whenever needed. The current limit of 2 changes to the comprehensive plan per year will likely be eliminated as well.
The Polk City Founder's Day celebration for 2011 has been postponed due to lack of participation. Individuals whom had publicly stepped up to get the event organized for this April have since backed out. Councilwoman Adorno recommended that the date of the next Founder's Day celebration be tentatively set for the 2nd Sunday in April, 2012, unless Easter falls on that date. No council members had a copy of the 2012 calendar handy, so no one could confirm if Easter fell on that date or not at the time of the meeting. Since the meeting, I have confirmed that Easter is on that date, April 8th, so council will be adjusting this date accordingly. Ms. Adorno also suggested that each council person donate one month's salary, approximately $52 each, towards covering the costs for the event. When asked what kind of things Ms. Adorno envisioned for the event, she described small game booths for the children and other family oriented activities. Other council persons had little comment on the salary donation suggestion. No definitive agreement was reached. Other holiday events dates were also approved: Safe Haven Halloween 2011 scheduled for 10/28/2011 at 4-8 PM, the Christmas Parade scheduled for 12/3/2011 at 2 PM.
The Uniform Collection Agreement with Joe Tedder, Polk County Tax Collector, was the next item on the agenda. Little information was available to the public prior the meeting, so Acting City Manager/Vice Mayor Block provided some details. The water and sewer availability charges, also known as WAC and SAC, are currently being billed manually by the city. The city passed a motion to add these charges to the annual county tax bill, instead. These are charges placed on undeveloped building lots for access to water and sewer lines running past the property. Despite not having any meters or use of these services, the city officials approved this ordinance in 2009 so these annual fees can be collected to pay for the "maintenance" of these pipes. These annual fees will charged indefinitely unless the ordinance is repealed. Councilman Kimsey made it very clear that he is willing to repeal these unfair charges if there is enough support from the other council members in the future. In many cases these fees amount to $500 - $800 per year when both water and sewer run past the property. Land zoned for agricultural purposes is exempt from this ordinance. Due to the overwhelming public outrage by the 600 parcel owners to these charges, the city has experienced difficultly collecting these fees since the passing of this ordinance. In the November 15, 2010, City Meeting the amended budget in Ordinance 1270 reflected actual cash flow for the fiscal year rather than anticipated cash flow. These adjustments are evidence that the city projected to collect "Privilege Fees" (disguised WAC & SAC) of a combined $169,450. Instead, the city was only able to collect a total of $26,090, a shortage of $143,360. Ms. Block stated that the main reason for these billing changes is to save on printing and mailing expenses for the city. What was not mentioned, but seems pretty obvious to us, is that the city is also hoping the collections of these fees will have more muscle if the fees are included on the tax bill mailed out by the county. Ms. Block stated that this week the city will be working on sending out invoices for past due 2009 WAC/SAC fees. First she stated that a penalty for late payment would also be included on these bills. When challenged by a city resident, Laura Lambert, during the public comment section of the meeting, Ms. Block recanted this statement by saying that property owners would be provided a notice to pay before penalties would be assessed, but future notices would include penalties for late payment. Manual bills for 2010 fees will be going out shortly, as well. The fees for these charges are sent out for the previous year, not in advance of the fiscal year. City officials indicated that they plan to bill for 2011 fees via the regularly mailed tax bill from the county. It was unclear during the meeting if the county has already agreed to add this fee to the tax bill. The adding of this extra line item may cause some issues in the formatting of the tax bill due to the number of line items already present on in-City tax bills.
Ordinance 1275 on renewing the 20 year contract with Lakeland Electric for the majority of the city residents electric services was tabled until next month's regular meeting. Mr. Cloud stated that Lakeland was presented with the new contract last week and has requested more time to review the document. Mr. Cloud stated that the franchise fee of 4%, the tax that the city collects through the electric bill as direct revenue for the city, will remain the same as it is currently. Mr. Cloud stated that other municipalities average a 6% franchise fee on their utilities. Upon hearing this average, Mayor LaCascia was quick to ask if the city can increase this fee to 6%, as well, to generate more funding for the city. Mr. Cloud advised that considering the public is not very happy with other fees, increasing the franchise fee would not be a wise move.
Mr. Mark Durbin, of Range Riders, was present during the discussion of the next step in the search for a new City Manager. He gave a brief summary of how council narrowed down the initial 60+ list of applicants, to the 12 candidates whom were contacted by City Clerk, Patricia Jackson, for further information. Many candidates were no longer being considered by some council members after their salary requirements were stated as being significantly higher than the budgeted $65 K, plus benefits. With this additional information in hand, each council member was asked for their top 5 candidates to narrow it down further. The 5 candidates who were mentioned by more than one council member moved on to the next round. Ms. Block tried repeatedly to convince council to consider two others whom she felt might settle for a lower salary than originally stated. Mr. Durbin and other council members felt there was little to no chance of this happening considering the individual she was fighting the hardest for had recently been offered a salary of 70K by the city of Mascott, FL, where he is the Acting City Manager currently, and still declined the offer. This article by Kevin Bouffard of the Ledger Polk City Manager Candidates Are Narrowed to Five goes into more detail about the individual candidates. Mr. Durbin recommended that a $35 criminal background check be run on the remaining candidates before scheduling the 1st round interviews for Saturday, April 30th, 2011. Council agreed to reimburse mileage at a rate of $.55 per mile for candidates to travel to the interview. No other expenses for travel will be paid by the city. All council members and Mr. Durbin agreed to be present for these interviews. If anything questionable comes up in the criminal checks, council will be notified.
Acting City Manager/Vice Mayor Block represented Polk City during a recent high school student art exhibit at the Polk Museum of Art and attended a Polk water Co-Op meeting where alternative future water sources for Polk County were discussed.
Representatives from Woodard & Curran, the new water and sewer company, were present and introduced. An update was provided. Frank Sanderson has resigned effective at the end of the month, so he can be closer to his home and family in Citrus County. Mr. Sanderson has been the main utility consultant, the $1,700/week man, during the time FGUA was assisting the city and also stayed on during the transition period as an employee of Woodard & Curran. In April, Woodard and Curran will begin drafting the new consumer confidence report, which is typically distributed in May or June. This is a required report that provides the public with information on water quality and current levels of certain contaminants. GAI reports are almost done. A city workshop will be scheduled in April to discuss the results of these reports.
The 3rd Annual Polk City Yard Sale will be held Saturday, April 30th from 8 AM - 4 PM. Registration is required, but the usual permit fee will be waived for city residents and individuals who are current customers of Polk City Utilities. Details were mailed out in the recent water bills and are also available online at Polk City's web page.
During the public comment section of the meeting, Mrs. Laura Lambert asked several questions about the Lakeland Electric contract renewal and how these contracts with utility providers work. The contract with TECO has historically been renewed on a 30 year basis. Ms. Block stated that the city typically makes between $48,000 - $64,000 in revenue from electric utility Franchise fees, which will vary based on customer usage. The actual budget figures from last fiscal year in Ordinance 1270 show that the actual revenue generated last year was $85,168, up $5,168 from anticipated revenue. Mrs. Lambert also asked for clarification on the difference between Impact Fees and WAC/SAC charges that the city charges. The Mayor and Mr. Cloud explained that Impact Fees are charged to recoup capital expenditure costs to provide these services and are charged one time when permits for development are acquired. Currently impact fees for the county and city have been temporarily waived to encourage growth. WAC/SAC fees are charged to maintain the availability of the services to the property parcel and are charged annually until the property is developed. It appears the city is trying to substitute permanent and recurring income with these fees, since lack of growth has been generating little to no Impact Fee revenue. When council was questioned if some Mt. Olive properties are being assessed at different WAC/SAC rates than in-city properties, there was some confusion in the answers provided by council. Ms. Block offered to provide this information to Ms. Lambert if she wanted to come to her office to discuss it further.
Lisa Shifflett requested that the regular reports which are approved with little to no discussion by council at most city meetings be made readily available to the public on the city's web page. She was informed that all of this information is readily available if a public records request if made to the city clerk. Ms. Shifflett stated that rather than providing multiple public records requests to multiple people on a regular basis it would be much more time saving and cost efficient to the city to just provide this information on the web page, since the web page is already designed to have this information posted and merely needs to be updated regularly. Patricia Jackson stated that she has had others request this information as well, and will be working to get this information updated on the website within the next couple of weeks. Ms. Shifflett also asked for an update on the possibility of the well drilling ban for irrigation being repealed. Mr. Cloud stated that it was not very likely since existing city bonds/loans from state agencies such as the DEP agreed to these bonds/loans based on increased water revenues expected to generated by this ban being in place. Mr. Cloud said that these fees could not be repealed without violating these loan agreements. Ms. Block clarified that Swiftmud does not have any restrictions on well drilling, but will only issue a permit if the municipality will issue a permit, which Polk City will not.
Another Mount Olive resident spoke up and stated that recently an individual had put down a $5,000 deposit to purchase a property in Mount Olive Shores North. After placing his deposit, he forfeited his deposit and withdrew his offer after finding out what typical water and sewer charges and other fees and taxes typically cost. This has not been the first time this has happened. It is becoming close to impossible to sell undeveloped building lots and values of these properties are decreasing due to these excessive fees from the city. The resident pleaded for the city to reconsider the many unreasonably high fees being charged.
Public hearings for the 2nd and final readings of 3 ordinances, 1272 (the closing of a street so a local church can purchase the property for expansion), 1273 (allowing mobile homes in R-4 mixed residential zoning districts once again), and 1274 (amended the requirements for unoccupied homes) had no public comment and were all approved by council 5-0.
Acting City Manager, Trudy Block, was approved for another 30 day extension.
The Evaluation Appraisal Report, commonly referred to as EAR, is part of a 2-step update of the city's comprehensive plan required by the DCA (Department of Consumer Affairs) every 7 years. A schedule of City planning board workshops to update this document was announced. Workshops will be held March 29th, April 19th (if needed), May 2nd (if needed), and a Transmittal Hearing will be held on June 13th, 2011. Further details on the times should be publicly posted. Following this information, Interim City Attorney, Tom Cloud, added that there is a draft bill sitting in the Florida House of Representatives that is likely to eliminate the EAR requirement in the future. Mr. Cloud felt that there is a 75% chance that this bill will eventually be passed by the Legislature. With the potential passing of this law growth management in the state will be totally changed. Many jobs in the DCA will likely be eliminated since many of these jobs exist solely to review these reports. EARs have been a requirement of all municipalities since 1985. If this law gets passed, reviews of comprehensive plans will be gone, but comprehensive plans can still be amended whenever needed. The current limit of 2 changes to the comprehensive plan per year will likely be eliminated as well.
The Polk City Founder's Day celebration for 2011 has been postponed due to lack of participation. Individuals whom had publicly stepped up to get the event organized for this April have since backed out. Councilwoman Adorno recommended that the date of the next Founder's Day celebration be tentatively set for the 2nd Sunday in April, 2012, unless Easter falls on that date. No council members had a copy of the 2012 calendar handy, so no one could confirm if Easter fell on that date or not at the time of the meeting. Since the meeting, I have confirmed that Easter is on that date, April 8th, so council will be adjusting this date accordingly. Ms. Adorno also suggested that each council person donate one month's salary, approximately $52 each, towards covering the costs for the event. When asked what kind of things Ms. Adorno envisioned for the event, she described small game booths for the children and other family oriented activities. Other council persons had little comment on the salary donation suggestion. No definitive agreement was reached. Other holiday events dates were also approved: Safe Haven Halloween 2011 scheduled for 10/28/2011 at 4-8 PM, the Christmas Parade scheduled for 12/3/2011 at 2 PM.
The Uniform Collection Agreement with Joe Tedder, Polk County Tax Collector, was the next item on the agenda. Little information was available to the public prior the meeting, so Acting City Manager/Vice Mayor Block provided some details. The water and sewer availability charges, also known as WAC and SAC, are currently being billed manually by the city. The city passed a motion to add these charges to the annual county tax bill, instead. These are charges placed on undeveloped building lots for access to water and sewer lines running past the property. Despite not having any meters or use of these services, the city officials approved this ordinance in 2009 so these annual fees can be collected to pay for the "maintenance" of these pipes. These annual fees will charged indefinitely unless the ordinance is repealed. Councilman Kimsey made it very clear that he is willing to repeal these unfair charges if there is enough support from the other council members in the future. In many cases these fees amount to $500 - $800 per year when both water and sewer run past the property. Land zoned for agricultural purposes is exempt from this ordinance. Due to the overwhelming public outrage by the 600 parcel owners to these charges, the city has experienced difficultly collecting these fees since the passing of this ordinance. In the November 15, 2010, City Meeting the amended budget in Ordinance 1270 reflected actual cash flow for the fiscal year rather than anticipated cash flow. These adjustments are evidence that the city projected to collect "Privilege Fees" (disguised WAC & SAC) of a combined $169,450. Instead, the city was only able to collect a total of $26,090, a shortage of $143,360. Ms. Block stated that the main reason for these billing changes is to save on printing and mailing expenses for the city. What was not mentioned, but seems pretty obvious to us, is that the city is also hoping the collections of these fees will have more muscle if the fees are included on the tax bill mailed out by the county. Ms. Block stated that this week the city will be working on sending out invoices for past due 2009 WAC/SAC fees. First she stated that a penalty for late payment would also be included on these bills. When challenged by a city resident, Laura Lambert, during the public comment section of the meeting, Ms. Block recanted this statement by saying that property owners would be provided a notice to pay before penalties would be assessed, but future notices would include penalties for late payment. Manual bills for 2010 fees will be going out shortly, as well. The fees for these charges are sent out for the previous year, not in advance of the fiscal year. City officials indicated that they plan to bill for 2011 fees via the regularly mailed tax bill from the county. It was unclear during the meeting if the county has already agreed to add this fee to the tax bill. The adding of this extra line item may cause some issues in the formatting of the tax bill due to the number of line items already present on in-City tax bills.
Ordinance 1275 on renewing the 20 year contract with Lakeland Electric for the majority of the city residents electric services was tabled until next month's regular meeting. Mr. Cloud stated that Lakeland was presented with the new contract last week and has requested more time to review the document. Mr. Cloud stated that the franchise fee of 4%, the tax that the city collects through the electric bill as direct revenue for the city, will remain the same as it is currently. Mr. Cloud stated that other municipalities average a 6% franchise fee on their utilities. Upon hearing this average, Mayor LaCascia was quick to ask if the city can increase this fee to 6%, as well, to generate more funding for the city. Mr. Cloud advised that considering the public is not very happy with other fees, increasing the franchise fee would not be a wise move.
Mr. Mark Durbin, of Range Riders, was present during the discussion of the next step in the search for a new City Manager. He gave a brief summary of how council narrowed down the initial 60+ list of applicants, to the 12 candidates whom were contacted by City Clerk, Patricia Jackson, for further information. Many candidates were no longer being considered by some council members after their salary requirements were stated as being significantly higher than the budgeted $65 K, plus benefits. With this additional information in hand, each council member was asked for their top 5 candidates to narrow it down further. The 5 candidates who were mentioned by more than one council member moved on to the next round. Ms. Block tried repeatedly to convince council to consider two others whom she felt might settle for a lower salary than originally stated. Mr. Durbin and other council members felt there was little to no chance of this happening considering the individual she was fighting the hardest for had recently been offered a salary of 70K by the city of Mascott, FL, where he is the Acting City Manager currently, and still declined the offer. This article by Kevin Bouffard of the Ledger Polk City Manager Candidates Are Narrowed to Five goes into more detail about the individual candidates. Mr. Durbin recommended that a $35 criminal background check be run on the remaining candidates before scheduling the 1st round interviews for Saturday, April 30th, 2011. Council agreed to reimburse mileage at a rate of $.55 per mile for candidates to travel to the interview. No other expenses for travel will be paid by the city. All council members and Mr. Durbin agreed to be present for these interviews. If anything questionable comes up in the criminal checks, council will be notified.
Acting City Manager/Vice Mayor Block represented Polk City during a recent high school student art exhibit at the Polk Museum of Art and attended a Polk water Co-Op meeting where alternative future water sources for Polk County were discussed.
Representatives from Woodard & Curran, the new water and sewer company, were present and introduced. An update was provided. Frank Sanderson has resigned effective at the end of the month, so he can be closer to his home and family in Citrus County. Mr. Sanderson has been the main utility consultant, the $1,700/week man, during the time FGUA was assisting the city and also stayed on during the transition period as an employee of Woodard & Curran. In April, Woodard and Curran will begin drafting the new consumer confidence report, which is typically distributed in May or June. This is a required report that provides the public with information on water quality and current levels of certain contaminants. GAI reports are almost done. A city workshop will be scheduled in April to discuss the results of these reports.
The 3rd Annual Polk City Yard Sale will be held Saturday, April 30th from 8 AM - 4 PM. Registration is required, but the usual permit fee will be waived for city residents and individuals who are current customers of Polk City Utilities. Details were mailed out in the recent water bills and are also available online at Polk City's web page.
During the public comment section of the meeting, Mrs. Laura Lambert asked several questions about the Lakeland Electric contract renewal and how these contracts with utility providers work. The contract with TECO has historically been renewed on a 30 year basis. Ms. Block stated that the city typically makes between $48,000 - $64,000 in revenue from electric utility Franchise fees, which will vary based on customer usage. The actual budget figures from last fiscal year in Ordinance 1270 show that the actual revenue generated last year was $85,168, up $5,168 from anticipated revenue. Mrs. Lambert also asked for clarification on the difference between Impact Fees and WAC/SAC charges that the city charges. The Mayor and Mr. Cloud explained that Impact Fees are charged to recoup capital expenditure costs to provide these services and are charged one time when permits for development are acquired. Currently impact fees for the county and city have been temporarily waived to encourage growth. WAC/SAC fees are charged to maintain the availability of the services to the property parcel and are charged annually until the property is developed. It appears the city is trying to substitute permanent and recurring income with these fees, since lack of growth has been generating little to no Impact Fee revenue. When council was questioned if some Mt. Olive properties are being assessed at different WAC/SAC rates than in-city properties, there was some confusion in the answers provided by council. Ms. Block offered to provide this information to Ms. Lambert if she wanted to come to her office to discuss it further.
Lisa Shifflett requested that the regular reports which are approved with little to no discussion by council at most city meetings be made readily available to the public on the city's web page. She was informed that all of this information is readily available if a public records request if made to the city clerk. Ms. Shifflett stated that rather than providing multiple public records requests to multiple people on a regular basis it would be much more time saving and cost efficient to the city to just provide this information on the web page, since the web page is already designed to have this information posted and merely needs to be updated regularly. Patricia Jackson stated that she has had others request this information as well, and will be working to get this information updated on the website within the next couple of weeks. Ms. Shifflett also asked for an update on the possibility of the well drilling ban for irrigation being repealed. Mr. Cloud stated that it was not very likely since existing city bonds/loans from state agencies such as the DEP agreed to these bonds/loans based on increased water revenues expected to generated by this ban being in place. Mr. Cloud said that these fees could not be repealed without violating these loan agreements. Ms. Block clarified that Swiftmud does not have any restrictions on well drilling, but will only issue a permit if the municipality will issue a permit, which Polk City will not.
Another Mount Olive resident spoke up and stated that recently an individual had put down a $5,000 deposit to purchase a property in Mount Olive Shores North. After placing his deposit, he forfeited his deposit and withdrew his offer after finding out what typical water and sewer charges and other fees and taxes typically cost. This has not been the first time this has happened. It is becoming close to impossible to sell undeveloped building lots and values of these properties are decreasing due to these excessive fees from the city. The resident pleaded for the city to reconsider the many unreasonably high fees being charged.
Miami-Dade Mayor and Commissioner Recalled
On Tuesday, Voters in Miami-Dade had their say about how the county is run in South Florida. County officials were not listening to the people. The people took action. The people of Miami-Dade had the last word in a landslide victory. Polk City's day will come as well.
Angry voters oust Miami-Dade mayor in special vote
Miami-Dade voters fire Mayor Carlos Alvarez over pay hikes, tax increase
Voters toss out Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Commissioner Natacha Seijas
Angry voters oust Miami-Dade mayor in special vote
Miami-Dade voters fire Mayor Carlos Alvarez over pay hikes, tax increase
Voters toss out Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Commissioner Natacha Seijas
Thursday, March 10, 2011
March 14th, 2011 City Meeting Agenda
Here's the link to the meeting agenda that went out today: Agenda - March 14th, 2011 City Council Meeting
The meeting will be at 7:00 PM.
Ordinance 1275
The meeting will be at 7:00 PM.
Ordinance 1275
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
City Manager Applicant Workshop Action Plan
The Polk City Council Workshop on Monday 3/7/11 to discuss the applicants for the City Manager job opening was rather informal compared to the usual format in other workshops. The council members, Mark Durbin of the Range Riders, Interim City Attorney, Tom Cloud, and City Clerk, Patricia Jackson, all sat round table at the head of the room. The audience was encouraged to move closer to the front so they could hear, since the microphone system was not being used. One by one top picks of the submitted resumes were discussed, pros and cons, by each individual at the table.
By the end of the evening, the list was narrowed down to 12 applicants whom Patricia Jackson would be contacting by phone to get additional information, if it was not included in their cover letter or resume. Before narrowing the applicant pool too far, they wanted to find out if they were still interested and are still available for the job, the rock bottom salary and benefits range they would be willing to accept, and if they would be willing to pay for their own expenses if they were invited to interview from out of state. Mr. Durbin stated that it is customary for the prospective employer to cover travel expenses for a top candidate to interview from out of state, but council members wanted to see if that would be additional expenses which could be avoided. Mr. Durbin also recommended that preliminary queries done on these candidates online, through contacts, public records, and the like, might be a good idea to do prior to scheduling interviews to narrow down the field even further. Much of these searches can be done at little to no cost and might provide valuable information into why the applicant is currently looking for employment and if they would be a good fit for what the city's needs are. The plan by the end of Monday night's workshop was to have the results of the this work available for discussion by council for the Monday, March 14th regular City Council Meeting at 7:00 PM.
Here is a link to Mr. Kevin Bouffard's article in the Ledger about last night's workshop: Polk City Narrows List of Manager Candidates to 11
Another article will be posted here on the blog breaking down some of the information on each applicant the council is considering. It will take a little while to digest all the notes taken during the meeting.
By the end of the evening, the list was narrowed down to 12 applicants whom Patricia Jackson would be contacting by phone to get additional information, if it was not included in their cover letter or resume. Before narrowing the applicant pool too far, they wanted to find out if they were still interested and are still available for the job, the rock bottom salary and benefits range they would be willing to accept, and if they would be willing to pay for their own expenses if they were invited to interview from out of state. Mr. Durbin stated that it is customary for the prospective employer to cover travel expenses for a top candidate to interview from out of state, but council members wanted to see if that would be additional expenses which could be avoided. Mr. Durbin also recommended that preliminary queries done on these candidates online, through contacts, public records, and the like, might be a good idea to do prior to scheduling interviews to narrow down the field even further. Much of these searches can be done at little to no cost and might provide valuable information into why the applicant is currently looking for employment and if they would be a good fit for what the city's needs are. The plan by the end of Monday night's workshop was to have the results of the this work available for discussion by council for the Monday, March 14th regular City Council Meeting at 7:00 PM.
Here is a link to Mr. Kevin Bouffard's article in the Ledger about last night's workshop: Polk City Narrows List of Manager Candidates to 11
Another article will be posted here on the blog breaking down some of the information on each applicant the council is considering. It will take a little while to digest all the notes taken during the meeting.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Do You Drink Polk City Water Unfiltered?
In addition to drinking the water unfiltered, do you shower or bathe with it, or cook with it? I am now questioning how safe this is. I was working on my pool and got the idea to use my same chlorine test kit I use for my pool to test the chlorine levels in the tap water. Over the last several months, my neighbors and I have noticed on occasion, a strong chlorine odor coming from the tap water. I didn't notice the smell very recently, so it was probably not as high as it has been once in a while in the past, but I wanted to see what the test said anyway. I was totally shocked by my results!
Here is a picture of a sample I took out of the tap the morning of 2/28/2011. The ideal range for a swimming pool, as you can see in the picture, is between 1.0 - 3.4 parts per million, or ppm. This test result is clearly falling on the high end of the next higher level of 3.0-6.5 parts per million.
Shortly after getting these results, I contacted Acting City Manger/Vice Mayor Block who lives in my neighborhood. At first, she was hesitant to do anything about it on a Sunday, but after further discussion, she offered to contact Mr. Frank Sanderson from Utilities to look into the situation. A little later that evening, Mrs. Block and a representative from Woodard & Curran performed a water test on the tap water in front of me, as well as explained some information about how Woodard & Curran tests for Chlorine in the drinking water. The test they did tested for FREE Chlorine in the water. The result was 1.75 parts per million. The tester for the pool tests TOTAL Chlorine. Free chlorine is the chlorine that is still "active" in the water ready to kill any pathogens or bacteria. When this amount of Free chlorine is added to the chlorine that is already "used up" by pathogens or bacteria, this will give you Total chlorine level. The representative stated that they do test the Total chlorine level of the water coming out of the wastewater treatment plants before dispursing it on the sprayfields, etc., but they do not test for Total Chlorine levels in the drinking water, only Free chlorine levels. He said the maximum contamination level of Free chlorine in the drinking water can be as high as 4.0. Upon checking with the EPA website, I found that this statement was not correct. The EPA states the Chlorine MRDL (Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level) = 4.0. This means that the TOTAL chlorine level, NOT only the Free chlorine portion of the equation should not exceed 4.0 PPM.
A few months ago when the the chlorine smell from the tap water was quite obvious, one of my neighbors told me that she could not drink even one glass of tap water without experiencing stomach problems. Her pets, a bird and small dog, were also violently ill until she changed them to bottled water. I had mentioned this to Mrs. Block when I told her of my test results. Since 2/28, I found out that Mrs. Block informed this neighbor that the water department recently did some tests on the water and realized that the chlorine levels were on the high side, and they have since been lowered. That same courtesy extended to myself would have been nice, considering I was the one who brought the issue to her attention! With this new information, I did retest the water on March 7th, 2011. The test did reveal that the chlorine levels do appear to be closer to the "normal" range. You may not be able to see the subtle difference in the photographs above, but this more recent test is closer in color to the 1.5-3.4 range than the higher 3.0-6.5 range. Let's hope closer montitoring of chlorine levels will continue, and will not just be a one time extra check since the public made them aware of this problem.
I realize that chlorine used as a disinfecting agent in our water does have it's purpose to keep other pathogens and bacteria under control, but it should be used only at the recommended levels deemed safe for consumption. Besides the adverse health effects of excessive chlorine levels listed on the EPA's website, eye/nose irritation & stomach discomfort, other websites also site other adverse health effects. Many external ones you may already be familiar with if you have ever swam in a pool with excessive chlorine levels, dry itchy skin, rashes, and lightening of hair, even getting slight green coloration in the hair. Internally, long term exposure to elevated chlorine levels have shown to cause much more serious health problems such as increased cancer rates of many types of cancer, but specifically colon and bladder cancers. Inhaling chlorine in vapor form or absorbing it through the skin, such as while taking a hot shower, has been shown to significantly increase lung irritation in individuals with respiratory conditions, such as asthma. The by-products of chlorine disinfection processes are also linked to various health problems.
I am not telling you these things to scare you, merely to make you aware so you can make informed decisions about your drinking water. Most types of water filters, such as the ones built into many refridgerators, remove clorine from drinking water. Please keep in mind that most filters must be replaced regularly or require maintenance, most on a six month to annual basis to keep them working properly. Here is a link to www.WaterFilterComparisons.com This will give you a good idea of what types of filters and even which brands work well to remove various chemicals and contaminants from your water. Price is not always the best indicator of best quality. We are not recommending any particular products or even saying that they are necessary. We just believe that knowledge is power and if you are informed, you can make the decisions you feel are best for you, instead of trusting blindly that someone else is always looking out for our best interests.
The EPA requires that municipalities and other water companies provide what they call a Consumer Confidence Report to the public on an annual basis. This way the public can be informed of various contaminants in their tap water. On Polk City's web site, the Water Department Page contains a link to this report. Unfortunately, at the time of this article, the most current one I could find there was dated 2007. There are some obvious shortcomings that need to be worked on by Polk City.
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| February 28, 2011 Tap Water Sample |
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| March 7, 2011 Tap Water Sample |
Shortly after getting these results, I contacted Acting City Manger/Vice Mayor Block who lives in my neighborhood. At first, she was hesitant to do anything about it on a Sunday, but after further discussion, she offered to contact Mr. Frank Sanderson from Utilities to look into the situation. A little later that evening, Mrs. Block and a representative from Woodard & Curran performed a water test on the tap water in front of me, as well as explained some information about how Woodard & Curran tests for Chlorine in the drinking water. The test they did tested for FREE Chlorine in the water. The result was 1.75 parts per million. The tester for the pool tests TOTAL Chlorine. Free chlorine is the chlorine that is still "active" in the water ready to kill any pathogens or bacteria. When this amount of Free chlorine is added to the chlorine that is already "used up" by pathogens or bacteria, this will give you Total chlorine level. The representative stated that they do test the Total chlorine level of the water coming out of the wastewater treatment plants before dispursing it on the sprayfields, etc., but they do not test for Total Chlorine levels in the drinking water, only Free chlorine levels. He said the maximum contamination level of Free chlorine in the drinking water can be as high as 4.0. Upon checking with the EPA website, I found that this statement was not correct. The EPA states the Chlorine MRDL (Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level) = 4.0. This means that the TOTAL chlorine level, NOT only the Free chlorine portion of the equation should not exceed 4.0 PPM.
A few months ago when the the chlorine smell from the tap water was quite obvious, one of my neighbors told me that she could not drink even one glass of tap water without experiencing stomach problems. Her pets, a bird and small dog, were also violently ill until she changed them to bottled water. I had mentioned this to Mrs. Block when I told her of my test results. Since 2/28, I found out that Mrs. Block informed this neighbor that the water department recently did some tests on the water and realized that the chlorine levels were on the high side, and they have since been lowered. That same courtesy extended to myself would have been nice, considering I was the one who brought the issue to her attention! With this new information, I did retest the water on March 7th, 2011. The test did reveal that the chlorine levels do appear to be closer to the "normal" range. You may not be able to see the subtle difference in the photographs above, but this more recent test is closer in color to the 1.5-3.4 range than the higher 3.0-6.5 range. Let's hope closer montitoring of chlorine levels will continue, and will not just be a one time extra check since the public made them aware of this problem.
I realize that chlorine used as a disinfecting agent in our water does have it's purpose to keep other pathogens and bacteria under control, but it should be used only at the recommended levels deemed safe for consumption. Besides the adverse health effects of excessive chlorine levels listed on the EPA's website, eye/nose irritation & stomach discomfort, other websites also site other adverse health effects. Many external ones you may already be familiar with if you have ever swam in a pool with excessive chlorine levels, dry itchy skin, rashes, and lightening of hair, even getting slight green coloration in the hair. Internally, long term exposure to elevated chlorine levels have shown to cause much more serious health problems such as increased cancer rates of many types of cancer, but specifically colon and bladder cancers. Inhaling chlorine in vapor form or absorbing it through the skin, such as while taking a hot shower, has been shown to significantly increase lung irritation in individuals with respiratory conditions, such as asthma. The by-products of chlorine disinfection processes are also linked to various health problems.
I am not telling you these things to scare you, merely to make you aware so you can make informed decisions about your drinking water. Most types of water filters, such as the ones built into many refridgerators, remove clorine from drinking water. Please keep in mind that most filters must be replaced regularly or require maintenance, most on a six month to annual basis to keep them working properly. Here is a link to www.WaterFilterComparisons.com This will give you a good idea of what types of filters and even which brands work well to remove various chemicals and contaminants from your water. Price is not always the best indicator of best quality. We are not recommending any particular products or even saying that they are necessary. We just believe that knowledge is power and if you are informed, you can make the decisions you feel are best for you, instead of trusting blindly that someone else is always looking out for our best interests.
The EPA requires that municipalities and other water companies provide what they call a Consumer Confidence Report to the public on an annual basis. This way the public can be informed of various contaminants in their tap water. On Polk City's web site, the Water Department Page contains a link to this report. Unfortunately, at the time of this article, the most current one I could find there was dated 2007. There are some obvious shortcomings that need to be worked on by Polk City.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Letter to State Representative, Kelli Stargel
Date: 03/02/11 19:01:23
To: Chris.Dowdy@myfloridahouse.net
Cc: helppolkcityresidents@earthlink.net
Subject: WE Need HELP!!
Chris,
The residents of Polk City, FL are in State Rep. Kelli Stargel's district and we need help!!! The city council could be FL version of Bell, CA...well, maybe not with salaries, but with the way the city is being mismanaged and how our tax dollars are being squandered with total disregard of the wishes of the Polk City residents. Polk County has tried to force the city to repay debts owed to them or return land...we are now in a legal dispute with the county. Our sewage and water bills are between 200-400% higher that what county residents pay. There is documentation supporting mis-billed invoicing, and every resident living here can vouch that they have been over billed. We have had a petition signing to dissolve the city because of the outrageous utility bills that we began paying last year. The Lakeland Ledger has many articles addressing some of the concerns of our city, but the articles seem to have a bias that is pro city council. I am a widow living in a modest home and I am frugal in all I do...my water bill has been as much as $300/month and one month I spent $1600.00 trying to get a new line laid for my weekly one hour grass watering.
PLEASE review our blog below and suggest actions we might take that would move our elected officials to carry out the will of the people in Polk City.
Concerned Citizens of Polk City
Desperate for your help,
One Concerned Citizen of Polk City
This letter was sent by one of our Blog readers, and we received permission to post it on our blog. Many of us can identify with the feelings of helplessness and frustration this Polk City resident conveys. Ignoring the desperate financial situation that many of our citizens find themselves in during this economic downturn, our city leadership is still forging ahead with their unlimited spending practices. Tom Cloud and Gary Hartman have unlimited reign in deciding what is best for our city and county residents who are served by Polk City's water and sewer utilities. Let's not forget.....these two individuals are first and foremost interested in padding their own pockets. They have hit the jackpot here in Polk City. What ever these two suggest, our city officials follow blindly, since they have absolutely no clue what other alternatives might be available. They have complete faith in whatever is suggested to them, and don't know enough to ask educated questions. If we ever had anyone working for the city who is knowledgeable, they have been fired, therefore there is no opposition in anything that Cloud and Hartman propose. They have created a situation for the city to be totally dependent on their services, and the sky is the limit as to the fees they are charging us. Our city leadership is totally fine with this, since they feel their jobs are so much less complicated, now that they have outsourced just about everything at the expense of the tax payers.
To: Chris.Dowdy@myfloridahouse.net
Cc: helppolkcityresidents@earthlink.net
Subject: WE Need HELP!!
Chris,
The residents of Polk City, FL are in State Rep. Kelli Stargel's district and we need help!!! The city council could be FL version of Bell, CA...well, maybe not with salaries, but with the way the city is being mismanaged and how our tax dollars are being squandered with total disregard of the wishes of the Polk City residents. Polk County has tried to force the city to repay debts owed to them or return land...we are now in a legal dispute with the county. Our sewage and water bills are between 200-400% higher that what county residents pay. There is documentation supporting mis-billed invoicing, and every resident living here can vouch that they have been over billed. We have had a petition signing to dissolve the city because of the outrageous utility bills that we began paying last year. The Lakeland Ledger has many articles addressing some of the concerns of our city, but the articles seem to have a bias that is pro city council. I am a widow living in a modest home and I am frugal in all I do...my water bill has been as much as $300/month and one month I spent $1600.00 trying to get a new line laid for my weekly one hour grass watering.
PLEASE review our blog below and suggest actions we might take that would move our elected officials to carry out the will of the people in Polk City.
Concerned Citizens of Polk City
Desperate for your help,
One Concerned Citizen of Polk City
This letter was sent by one of our Blog readers, and we received permission to post it on our blog. Many of us can identify with the feelings of helplessness and frustration this Polk City resident conveys. Ignoring the desperate financial situation that many of our citizens find themselves in during this economic downturn, our city leadership is still forging ahead with their unlimited spending practices. Tom Cloud and Gary Hartman have unlimited reign in deciding what is best for our city and county residents who are served by Polk City's water and sewer utilities. Let's not forget.....these two individuals are first and foremost interested in padding their own pockets. They have hit the jackpot here in Polk City. What ever these two suggest, our city officials follow blindly, since they have absolutely no clue what other alternatives might be available. They have complete faith in whatever is suggested to them, and don't know enough to ask educated questions. If we ever had anyone working for the city who is knowledgeable, they have been fired, therefore there is no opposition in anything that Cloud and Hartman propose. They have created a situation for the city to be totally dependent on their services, and the sky is the limit as to the fees they are charging us. Our city leadership is totally fine with this, since they feel their jobs are so much less complicated, now that they have outsourced just about everything at the expense of the tax payers.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Florida Supreme Court Denies Lawsuit on High Speed Rail
With the high-speed rail project denied by Governor Rick Scott and the FL Supreme Court also denying the lawsuit to try to stop Governor Scott, Polk City's anticipated growth as a result of the high-speed rail project also goes up in smoke. With the Poly-tech campus planned to go in on the parcel of property on the other side of I-4 near the city limits of both Auburndale and Polk City, there was quite a bit of discussion that one of the rail stops would be placed near the campus. This could have potentially brought in quite a bit of traffic to this area.
Here's a short Ledger article that came out Friday March 4th about this decision: Lakeland Officials Disappointed, Not Surprised By High-Speed Rail Rejection
Here's a short Ledger article that came out Friday March 4th about this decision: Lakeland Officials Disappointed, Not Surprised By High-Speed Rail Rejection
PG Environmental Consulting Proposal for Hydrogeologic Services
At the February 22nd, 2011, Polk City Council Meeting, Mr. Gerald Hartman, from GAI Consultants, informed City Council that in the process of their Utility Study, they found that monitoring wells for the city utilities were not being maintained properly. In addition to providing this service, "Polk City has the need to have minor permit revision for the wastewater treatment facilities, prepare supporting documentation for modification of the groundwater monitoring plan, relocate two monitor wells, abandon two monitor wells, and redevelop the remaining existing monitor wells." PG Environmental Consulting had provided a Proposal for Professional Hydogeologic Services for these services which can be viewed here: PG Environmental Consulting Proposal for Hydrogeologic Services
The cost for these services has been estimated on page 4, in Table 1, of the document, to be approximately $15,755.
The cost for these services has been estimated on page 4, in Table 1, of the document, to be approximately $15,755.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Agenda - City Council Workshop, March 7, 2011, 7:00 PM
The Agenda for the upcoming City Council Workshop to be held on Monday evening, March 7, 2011 at 7:00 PM was emailed today and is posted on the city's website. Agenda - City Council Workshop, March 7, 2010 Should be a pretty interesting meeting. The City Manager's applications will be reviewed with the Range Riders. No new motions will be voted on.
RBC Backs Out of Deal, But It's Not Over...
See the details in the latest Ledger article Polk City Faces a New Debt Hurdle as Investor Backs Out
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
GAI Consulting Services Engagement Letter
At the February 22nd, 2011, Polk City Meeting, Mr. Gerald Hartman, of GAI Consultants, agreed to provide Polk City with Engineering Services on an "As Needed Basis." This information was available to City Council Members, but not provided to the public at the time of the meeting. Even after repeated attempts by the public, the rate schedule was not disclosed to the public until after the meeting adjourned via a public records request. This proposal for services was approved by a vote of the city council by a vote of 4-1. Here is a copy of the Engagement Letter: GAI Consulting Services Engagement Letter
Essentially, this agreement will permit GAI to perform the duties that a City Engineer would normally do. In the past, these duties were performed by Mr. Gene Kniffen, in addition to his other responsibilities in the Utility Department on a salaried basis. The rate schedule on page two of the document linked above discloses the HOURLY rates GAI will charge for these services. By the way this rate schedule is laid out, it appears very likely that several individuals working as a team could be assigned to various as needed projects simultaneously. When adding all of their separate hourly rates together, the cumulative hourly rate could likely jump to $500 or $1000 or more per hour for these services. That gets very expensive, very quickly. City Council may think that they are "saving" in salary expenses by hiring an outside firm to complete these services on an as needed basis, but the true "savings" will only be apparent when all the bills are added up at the end of the year. At these rates, just a few projects could easily run expenses in excess of the total annual salary, plus benefits, the city had paid one individual to do this function in the past.
Essentially, this agreement will permit GAI to perform the duties that a City Engineer would normally do. In the past, these duties were performed by Mr. Gene Kniffen, in addition to his other responsibilities in the Utility Department on a salaried basis. The rate schedule on page two of the document linked above discloses the HOURLY rates GAI will charge for these services. By the way this rate schedule is laid out, it appears very likely that several individuals working as a team could be assigned to various as needed projects simultaneously. When adding all of their separate hourly rates together, the cumulative hourly rate could likely jump to $500 or $1000 or more per hour for these services. That gets very expensive, very quickly. City Council may think that they are "saving" in salary expenses by hiring an outside firm to complete these services on an as needed basis, but the true "savings" will only be apparent when all the bills are added up at the end of the year. At these rates, just a few projects could easily run expenses in excess of the total annual salary, plus benefits, the city had paid one individual to do this function in the past.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Patience Is A Virtue
By now many of you may have been doing your research and have read Florida Statute, 100.361 Municipal Recall. It might seem a little intimidating to some of you, but the recall process is really not that complicated. It is designed for ordinary citizens to step up and take an active role in what is happening in their community. No Political Action Committee (PAC) needs to be formed.
F.S. 100.361 (2) RECALL PETITION
(c) Recall Committee-- states that electors of the municipality making charges contained in a statement of Grounds For Recall, as well as those signing the recall petition, shall be designated as the Recall Committee. A specific person shall be designated in the petition as the Chair Of The Committee, and this person shall act for the committee. The recall committee and the officer(s) being recalled are subject to the provisions of Chapter 106.
In order for council persons to be eligible for a recall, they must have served 25% of their term. So the council members who were sworn in on April 13, 2010 are not eligible for a recall until after that date in 2011, at which time they will have served one year of their four-year term. The two council persons that are eligible for the recall process at this time are up for re-election in April, 2012.
A very important statute must not be overlooked when recalling only 2 out of 5 officials.
F.S. 100.361 (7) EFFECT OF RESIGNATIONS.-- If the member of the governing body being recalled resigns from office prior to the recall election, the remaining members shall fill the vacancy created according to the appropriate law for filling vacancies. In other words, the majority of the remaining seated members still influence who is being seated to fill the vacancies. They can appoint 2 persons who support their agenda and these newly appointed officials will be in for the remainder of the term of the official they are replacing. Then all the work involved in the recall process will have been for naught. And the same process will be repeated when another recall process is started for the two council persons who can be recalled after April 13, 2011.
If the recall process is started after April 13, 2011, four council persons can be recalled at the same time. As F.S. 100.361 (7) EFFECT OF RESIGNATION.-- describes if all of the members of the governing body are sought to be recalled, and all the members resign prior to the recall election, the recall election shall be canceled, and a special election shall be called to fill the unexpired terms of the resigning members. In the event that any of the members that are sought to be recalled decide they want to resign before the recall election is held, the proceedings for the recall of members not resigning and the election of successors to fill the unexpired terms shall continue and have the same effect as though there had been no resignation(s). If only one council member remains, there will not be enough votes to appoint successors to fill the vacant seats by council, therefore the people get a say who will be seated through a recall election or special election.
For each official to be recalled, the total process requires two petitions to be circulated to collect the required amount of signatures. For the size of our municipality, the first petition only requires a minimum of 100 qualified voters signatures collected within a 30 day period. The committee chairperson files these petitions with the City Clerk. Immediately after filing the petition forms, the Clerk shall submit such forms to the County Supervisor of Elections who has to verify them within 30 days. After successful verification, the persons to be recalled will have 5 days to submit a defensive statement of not more than 200 words. The Clerk then has 5 days to prepare the "Recall Petition and Defense" and submit sufficient copies to carry the signatures of 30% of the registered electors to the Chairperson of the Recall Committee. The second petition only needs to have 15% of all qualified registered voters (a minimum of approximately 137 qualified voters signatures out of approximately 915 qualified registered voters). All signatures for the second petition need to be collected within 60 days.
All this can be done at a minimal cost. The City Clerk has to submit the first set of signatures to the Supervisor of Elections for verification at a cost of 10 cents per signature. So for 100 - 120 signatures the cost is only $10.00 - $12.00 for each official recalled. The second set of signatures for the petition containing a minimum of 15% of the voters is verified by the Supervisor of Elections at a cost of 10 cents per signature to be verified. So that cost might be approximately $14.00 to $20.00 for each official recalled, depending how many signatures are to be verified.
As you can see, waiting until April 14, 2011 will be to our benefit.
F.S. 100.361 (2) RECALL PETITION
(c) Recall Committee-- states that electors of the municipality making charges contained in a statement of Grounds For Recall, as well as those signing the recall petition, shall be designated as the Recall Committee. A specific person shall be designated in the petition as the Chair Of The Committee, and this person shall act for the committee. The recall committee and the officer(s) being recalled are subject to the provisions of Chapter 106.
In order for council persons to be eligible for a recall, they must have served 25% of their term. So the council members who were sworn in on April 13, 2010 are not eligible for a recall until after that date in 2011, at which time they will have served one year of their four-year term. The two council persons that are eligible for the recall process at this time are up for re-election in April, 2012.
A very important statute must not be overlooked when recalling only 2 out of 5 officials.
F.S. 100.361 (7) EFFECT OF RESIGNATIONS.-- If the member of the governing body being recalled resigns from office prior to the recall election, the remaining members shall fill the vacancy created according to the appropriate law for filling vacancies. In other words, the majority of the remaining seated members still influence who is being seated to fill the vacancies. They can appoint 2 persons who support their agenda and these newly appointed officials will be in for the remainder of the term of the official they are replacing. Then all the work involved in the recall process will have been for naught. And the same process will be repeated when another recall process is started for the two council persons who can be recalled after April 13, 2011.
If the recall process is started after April 13, 2011, four council persons can be recalled at the same time. As F.S. 100.361 (7) EFFECT OF RESIGNATION.-- describes if all of the members of the governing body are sought to be recalled, and all the members resign prior to the recall election, the recall election shall be canceled, and a special election shall be called to fill the unexpired terms of the resigning members. In the event that any of the members that are sought to be recalled decide they want to resign before the recall election is held, the proceedings for the recall of members not resigning and the election of successors to fill the unexpired terms shall continue and have the same effect as though there had been no resignation(s). If only one council member remains, there will not be enough votes to appoint successors to fill the vacant seats by council, therefore the people get a say who will be seated through a recall election or special election.
For each official to be recalled, the total process requires two petitions to be circulated to collect the required amount of signatures. For the size of our municipality, the first petition only requires a minimum of 100 qualified voters signatures collected within a 30 day period. The committee chairperson files these petitions with the City Clerk. Immediately after filing the petition forms, the Clerk shall submit such forms to the County Supervisor of Elections who has to verify them within 30 days. After successful verification, the persons to be recalled will have 5 days to submit a defensive statement of not more than 200 words. The Clerk then has 5 days to prepare the "Recall Petition and Defense" and submit sufficient copies to carry the signatures of 30% of the registered electors to the Chairperson of the Recall Committee. The second petition only needs to have 15% of all qualified registered voters (a minimum of approximately 137 qualified voters signatures out of approximately 915 qualified registered voters). All signatures for the second petition need to be collected within 60 days.
All this can be done at a minimal cost. The City Clerk has to submit the first set of signatures to the Supervisor of Elections for verification at a cost of 10 cents per signature. So for 100 - 120 signatures the cost is only $10.00 - $12.00 for each official recalled. The second set of signatures for the petition containing a minimum of 15% of the voters is verified by the Supervisor of Elections at a cost of 10 cents per signature to be verified. So that cost might be approximately $14.00 to $20.00 for each official recalled, depending how many signatures are to be verified.
As you can see, waiting until April 14, 2011 will be to our benefit.
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