Public comment on non-agenda items: A resident from Verdana Village spoke of safety concerns for children boarding the school bus on Corkscrew Road where there are no sidewalks.
See See Street utility expansion
The meeting started with Council approving a supplemental task authorization to a contract with Banks Engineering, Inc. for the See See Street utility expansion design and permitting for $240,500, with a $24,000 contingency fund.
See See Street is an approximately .25-mile-long road off Corkscrew Road just west of Three Oaks Parkway. It is close to the south branch of the Estero River, the Corkscrew Road ditch and a swale located along the perimeter of the Villages at Country Creek. These water bodies have the potential to intercept water from adjacent septic tanks and carry it to the Estero River. Designing the utility improvements now will allow the Village to investigate alternative funding sources for the project.
Supplemental staffing services
Council approved Staff’s recommendation to negotiate contracts with one or more of three firms, Atkins, Legacy Professional Solutions and RVi Planning + Landscape Architecture, to provide supplemental staffing to the Village.
There are some areas of expertise, such as traffic engineer, landscape architect and architect, that are needed more regularly by the Village for the review of private development and executing Village projects.
The Village’s government light model includes nine full-time employees. The services being proposed are to be provided as needed by private firms instead of hiring new full-time staff.
Public Comment: 1 eComment was placed into the record.
Resolution 2023-10 – Amendment to travel/per diem
From time to time, it is necessary to evaluate the travel policy. The Village’s per diem was last updated in 2015 and is no longer appropriate. Council approved this resolution adjusting the allowance for meals.
Ordinance 2023-05 – Updating capital improvements elements
There was a first reading of this ordinance updating the capital improvements elements which includes the Capital Improvement Program approved for Fiscal Year 2022/2023. A second reading is set for May 17, 2023.
Workshop
Code compliance mitigation and payment update
Community Development Director Mary Gibbs gave an update on the status of Code Enforcement mitigation and collection of fines. She indicated most Code Enforcement cases are complied with promptly, and only a small percentage do not comply, resulting in fines and liens. There were 3700 code compliance cases with only 139 having to go before the Magistrate.
Residents may view the archived meeting by going to the Village website.
The next Council meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 17, 2023.