Winter Park City Talk

Aug. 8 City Commission meeting highlights

There was a City Commission meeting held on Aug. 8 at 3:30 p.m. in City Hall Commission Chambers. Below are a few highlights of decisions made:

Mayor’s Report

• A proclamation declaring Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011, as Rollins College Community Service Day was presented.

• The Purchasing Division presented its Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award and the Finance Department presented their Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished Budget Presentation Award to the Commission.

Consent Agenda

• The minutes of 7/25/11 were approved with a minor modification.

• The agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for a perpetual easement allowing for wider SunRail platforms and canopies was approved.

• The budget adjustment to increase the estimate for EMS transport revenues by $317,000 and reduce the estimate for traffic fine revenues by the same amount was approved.

• The budget adjustment to appropriate $133,000 in EMS transport fees for use in paying billing agent fees and purchasing a system to track EMS medical supplies was approved.

• The decisions regarding the following purchases and contracts are below:

• PR 147268 to Trane US, Inc., for energy improvements to various city buildings was approved.

• PR 147272 to Trane US, Inc., for energy efficiency building improvements for various city buildings was approved.

• PR 147308 to MUSCO Lighting, Inc., for new light poles and fixtures at Ward Park baseball field #7 and backlite field #4 was approved and the Mayor was authorized to execute the submittal approval document.

• The change order to ZHA for additional services related to the construction phase of the Community Center project was approved and the Mayor was authorized to execute the change order.

• The piggybacking the FMPA contract for thermal/infrared imaging services was approved and the Mayor was authorized to execute the piggyback contract.

Action items requiring discussion

• The adoption of the official City of Winter Park flag was discussed and the Commission asked staff to refine entries #12, 9 and 5, and re-present refined designs to the City Commission at a future date.

• Morse Boulevard, east of Interlachen Avenue, was discussed and tabled to a future date.

Public hearings

• The following decisions were made regarding the requests of BankFIRST for properties at 1289 and 1301 Gene St.:
  

• The second reading of the ordinance changing the Future Land Use Map designation of Office to Commercial was approved.

• The second reading of the ordinance changing the official zoning map designation of Office (O-1) District to Commercial (C-3) District was approved.

• The resolution designating 1240 Miller Ave. and 1111 South Orlando Ave., as the Dingman Economic Enhancement District and as a Brownfield area for the purpose of environmental remediation, rehabilitation and economic development was approved.

• The resolution designating the James S. Capen House at 520 N. Interlachen Ave. as a historic landmark in the Winter Park Register of Historic Places was approved.

• The first reading of an ordinance amending Section 114-6 of the Code of Ordinances regarding lakeshore protection was postponed until a future meeting in October per staff recommendation.

A full copy of the Aug. 8 City Commission minutes will be available on the city’s official Web site at www.cityofwinterpark.org the week of Aug. 22, pending approval by the City Commission.

CoffeeTalk featuring Vice Mayor Leary

Please join Vice Mayor Steven Leary for a cup of coffee on Thursday, Aug. 18, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Winter Park Welcome Center located at 151 West Lyman Ave. This is the city’s sixth year in holding these annual CoffeeTalk sessions for residents that have a latte on their minds or some beans to grind.

This is your opportunity to talk with Vice Mayor Leary in an informal environment and ask him any questions related to city business. Special thanks to Palmano’s Roastery and Espresso Bar for providing the coffee.

Easy way to monitor your electric usage

Do you ever wonder how much electricity your microwave, computer, heater or refrigerator uses? The city has donated 10 electric usage monitors to the Winter Park Public Library for patrons to check out for home use to find out.

Just like a book or a DVD, patrons of the library can “check-out” the electricity-usage monitors to actually see which of their home appliances are costing them the most. The monitors are easy to use. Simply plug the meter into the wall, plug the appliance into the meter, enter some electricity price information, and the large LCD monitor shows how much power the appliance is using and how much it costs.

The monitors are available for check-out for a two-week period at the Winter Park Public Library located at 460 E. New England Ave. For more information on the availability of the electric usage monitors, please call the library at 407-623-3300. To learn more ways to become energy efficient, visit the Electric Utility Department page on the city’s Web site at www.cityofwinterpark.org > Departments > Electric Utility

How to be notified in an emergency

Because the City of Winter Park realizes the importance of immediate notification, don’t forget to sign up for OUTREACH, the city’s emergency notification system. OUTREACH will notify you immediately via your home phone, cell phone, and/or e-mail of extreme weather conditions, boil water alerts, power restoration status and hurricane/tornado warnings. To sign up, please log on to the homepage of the city’s official Web site at www.cityofwinterpark.org and locate the OUTREACH logo. Click on "subscribe now" and follow the sign-up instructions.

Keep up with general city information

If you would like to receive general information about the City of Winter Park directly on your e-mail account, please sign up for citE-news from the homepage of the city’s Web site. There are a variety of topics you can subscribe to in order to begin receiving e-mail updates such as upcoming events, City Commission agendas/minutes, arts & culture news and general city news, just to mention a few. It's fast, it's free and it's simple to stay informed so sign up today!

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