MINUTES

Of the Regular Meeting of the

Citrus Springs Advisory Council

1570 W. Citrus Springs Boulevard

Citrus Springs, FL 34434

November 3, 2004

 

Bob Johnson- Chairman                                         John Fitzpatrick-Vice Chairman

            Pat Hipner                                    Ann Julio                    Glenn Mehl

 

The Citrus Springs MSBU Council met on Wednesday November 3, 2004 at

9:00 a.m. in Building B at the Citrus Springs Community Center.

______________________________________________________________________

 

I.                     CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Johnson called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.  The Invocation was given by Pat Hipner followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. 

 

II.                   ROLL CALL

Recording Secretary, Sue Rexford called the Roll.   All Board members were present.

 

Chairman Johnson welcomed the 7 attendees to the meeting.

 

Mr. Danny Tvenstrup, Construction Coordinator of Public Works and Liaison to the Council and Mr. Paul Gibbs, C&D Engineering were also in attendance.  It was hoped that Mr. Ken Saunders, Jr. Assistant County Administrator would be in attendance, however, he was unable to attend.

 

III.                  APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Regular Meeting of October 6, 2004

                                                Special Meeting of October 21, 2004

 

Upon motion by Ms. Hipner, seconded by Mr. Mehl and carried unanimously, the minutes of October 6, 2004 were accepted as presented.

 

Upon motion by Mr. Fitzpatrick, seconded by Chairman Johnson and carried unanimously, the minutes of October 21, 2004 were accepted as presented.

 

IV.                CORRESPONDENCE:

In regard to the Multi-Way Stop sign at the intersection of Citrus Springs Boulevard and W. Dunklin Street, Chairman Johnson said the Board has received word from the County Road Maintenance Division that they had conducted a warrant study and do not recommend any change to the signage at this time. (A copy of the study is attached and made part of these minutes.)  He said this was more of a safety concern rather than a traffic concern.

 

V.                 OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Mr. Ed Ziech suggested the MSBU purchase all the Green Areas and donate them to the Audubon Society.

 

Mrs. Susan Jacobs requested clarification of the special assessment and taxes levied on resident and non-resident property owners of Citrus Springs.

 

VI.                FINANCIAL REPORT- Chairman Johnson

Chairman Johnson addressed the Financial Report, a copy of which is attached and made part of these Minutes. 

 

VII.              FOUNTAIN RENOVATION-Mr. Paul Gibbs, C & D Engineering

Mr. Gibbs distributed a preliminary development cost report.  (A copy of this report is attached and made part of these minutes.)  Chairman Johnson questioned the following:

 

IRRIGATION COST:

 Mr. Gibbs explained that the higher cost was due to the landscape beds’ square

                     footage, which is almost ½ acre.

 

SOD:

Is Mr. Gibbs using the County price on the sod?  Mr. Gibbs replied the County would probably have a lower price and he would speak with Mr. Tvenstrup about it.

Mr. Gibbs said that if the sod on the back side of the fountain were not stripped, the demolition, grading, irrigation and sod prices could be cut in half.

 

PLANTER FILL:

Could the landscape planters use the topsoil that is already there?  Mr. Gibbs said yes.

 

BID:

                   Will the east and west side be put out to bid separately?  Mr. Gibbs replied it would

                   be a one-bid award.

 

Chairman Johnson said the total price was higher than he anticipated.  He asked the Board if they had any questions.

 

Mr. Mehl questioned if installation of the Pebbletec finish could be delayed until next year? Mr. Gibbs said it would be easy to do that if the Board decided to postpone it.

 

Ms. Hipner said the more we delay this, the more the price will go up.

 

Mr. Fitzpatrick asked if the sign structure was totally masonry.  Mr. Gibbs said it will have a concrete footer and the structure itself is concrete block and will be covered with tile.

 

Ms. Julio asked about the timeframe for construction.  Mr. Gibbs said about 90 days.

 

Mrs. Sandra Koonce asked how much the MSBU has spent on maintaining the fountain in the last 5 years.  Chairman Johnson said the figure was between $80,000 and $100,000.

 

Chairman Johnson told Mr. Gibbs that the Board needed to review his plans and would have a meeting next week.  Mr. Gibbs said the DOT permitting is excluded from the contract for the curbing in the right-of-way.  He will speak with the County to see if the permit is something they can do.  Chairman Johnson said the County would prefer the Class D curbing rather than the Class B.  Mr. Tvenstrup explained if the Board wanted to put a tree in that area it could be placed closer to the curbing with Class D.

 

Chairman Johnson thanked Mr. Gibbs and said he would notify him of the next meeting.

 

 

VIII.            REPORTS FROM POINT PERSONS

 

      Ø            Directional Signs - Pat Hipner 

Chairman Johnson said the Board needs to develop a master plan and submit it to the County for approval.  Once the plan has been approved the Board can proceed with this project. Ms. Hipner suggested a meeting so the Board could look at a map and mark the locations where the signs are to be placed.  Chairman Johnson suggested the Board table this discussion until the next meeting.

           

       Ø            Mowing and New Employee- John Fitzpatrick 

Mr. Fitzpatrick said the new employee has not been selected.

  

      Ø   Fire Hydrants and Street Lighting- Glenn Mehl

 

Fire Hydrants:  Mr. Mehl said he is waiting for the completion of the water pressure tests by Mr. Kint (FGUA).  Once completed he will forward it to Mr. Charles Poliseno, Director of Public Safety.  Chairman Johnson asked if the 20 hydrants approved for last year had been installed.  Mr. Mehl said no.  Chairman Johnson said he didn’t think those funds were rolled over into this year’s budget.  He asked Mr. Tvenstrup to check on this item.

 

Street Lighting:  Mr. Mehl distributed a memo to the Board regarding the 31 proposed streetlights.  (A copy of this memo is attached and made part of these minutes.)

 

Upon motion by Mr. Mehl, seconded by Mr. Fitzpatrick and carried unanimously, the Board approved the cost of $40.00 for a one-time installation fee for 31 new streetlights and recurring yearly costs of $1734.00 for the 31 units.

 

Ø            Beautification of Boulevards- Ms. Julio distributed a booklet containing County regulations, plant lists with projected costs.  (A copy of this booklet is attached and made part of these minutes.)   Chairman Johnson said the curbing would be put out to bid.  Ms. Julio continued saying she and Mr. Kint (FGUA) would be visiting the sites to decide where the water meters should be placed. Chairman Johnson said he would do that for her as she works during the day. Ms. Julio said the pricing sheet is for the median plantings and the quantity that Mr. Devine is suggesting. The beds will be 60’ long and 8’ wide.  She thanked Mr. Mehl for his work on the diagram of all the medians.  Chairman Johnson said he would like to recommend that we start with the 2 intersections that were previously discussed, and 3-4 median beds. He said the Board needs to develop a master plan showing all the medians on Deltona and Citrus Springs Blvds and the recommended plantings for them.  In response to Mr. Mehl’s question as to whether plantings would be placed on all the medians, Chairman Johnson said no.

 

IX.        OLD BUSINESS:  There was none

 

X.                  NEW BUSINESS- Chairman Johnson:  The Board submitted a list of streets to the County that the citizens requested be paved.  They have rated those streets and given their recommendations.  The streets were rated on a basis of 1-10, with 1 being the best and 10 being the worst.  The streets that are rated 3 or higher should receive attention first.  The County policy is: if a street can be saved with micro paving, then that will be used because it is cost effective.  The life expectancy is 5-7 years, whereas the life expectancy of asphalt is approximately 15 years. 

It makes sense to use asphalt on the Boulevards. Mr. Tvenstrup spoke regarding the paving of roads with no residents; he said the County protects those roads by micro paving them before it is necessary to come back in a few years and re-build them. He said Steve Dixon, Field Operations Manager, Division of Engineering determines which roads the County will pave this year, then he blocks out areas to be paved next year. He said Citrus Springs Boulevard has been paved twice due to the large volume of traffic.  Chairman Johnson asked Mr. Tvenstrup how much the County has allocated for paving in Citrus Springs in the next fiscal year.  Mr. Tvenstrup replied approximately $900,000 to one million. Chairman Johnson pointed out that Citrus Springs is getting the largest amount of paving in the County for the next fiscal year.  They have recommended asphalt paving on Country Club going east from US 41 to CR39.which will cost $91,485. If the Board follows their recommendations in paving the streets on the list the Board has given them, it will cost about $395,000.  He questioned the Board regarding asphalt or micro paving of the southbound lane on Deltona from Country Club up to Citrus Springs north.  The Board agreed that it should be paved on both sides with asphalt. 

 

Upon motion by Mr. Mehl, seconded by Chairman Johnson and carried unanimously, the Board voted to accept the County’s recommendation to pave Country Club from US 41 east to CR39

 

Upon motion by Chairman Johnson, seconded by Ms. Hipner and carried unanimously, the Board voted to increase the Capital Improvement Budget, in the paving area from $200,000 to $450,000 for the current fiscal year.

 

Upon motion by Mr. Fitzpatrick, seconded by Ms. Julio and carried unanimously, the Board voted to instruct the County to pave the roads according to the way that they have prioritized them with the worst roads being paved first.

 

Questions ensued regarding the list of streets the Board sent to the County. Chairman Johnson said the Board would ask the County to give consideration to this list with their master list. Mr. Fitzpatrick suggested the list of streets the County will be paving this year and which ones will be paved with MSBU funds be published in the Visitor.  Chairman Johnson asked Mr. Tvenstrup if he could get that list for the Board.  He said yes.

 

XI.                GENERAL DISCUSSION OF MEMBERS

Ms. Julio said a group of Citrus Springs residents met and decided to form a group called the Citrus Springs Emergency Response Team.  It will protect and help out the residents of Citrus Springs. The group will be working in conjunction with the Surveillance Unit.  Chairman Johnson said the MSBU could not participate in the funding. Ms. Julio said the group needs sirens at a cost of $39,000 per siren. 

           

A Special Meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 10th @ 2:00 p.m. in Building A.

 

The next regular meeting of the Board will be on December 1, 2004 at 9:00 a.m. in Building B,

 

XII            ADJOURNMENT

 

Upon motion by Mr. Fitzpatrick, seconded by Ms. Julio and carried unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted by

Sue Rexford, Recording Secretary