The Altamonte Springs City Commission met on March 4 to approve their agenda for the first meeting of the month.
The commission approved the first reading of a partial abandonment of the right-of-way on Third Street that extends 350 feet from Newburyport Avenue.
The 50-foot-wide right-of-way, which is located in a 100-year floodplain, will be avoided by the planned small residential subdivision, according to the City’s agenda memo.
Dr. Robert Wayne, a former podiatrist and former member of the City’s Health Facilities Authority board, lives next to the right-of-way and spoke in opposition to the development. Wayne asked the commission if he could purchase the property and was directed to Growth Management Director Jason Burton.
The commission approved three items related to the release and abandonment of a water main easement agreement on Lot 2, Track R-1 and Lot 4, Lakeshore at CenterPointe in anticipation of proposed building improvements to be constructed on the lots.
The utility easements located there no longer serves a public purpose since the removal of the City’s public water main improvements, according to the agenda memo.
The commission also approved to authorize the disposal and sale of surplus city equipment to the town of Eatonville.
The City will sell Eatonville two surplus vehicles from their fleet inventory for $9,000 to be used by the town’s staff for administrative work and park ranging.
The commission also approved to award solicitation to Vermana Inc. and Commercial Energy Specialists LLC to supply pool chemicals on an as-needed basis for the pools at the Westmonte Recreation Center.
The commission approved to waive solicitation and approve Fisher & Phillips LLP as a single source for labor attorney services on an as-needed basis.
During the city manager’s report, City Manager Frank Martz said the City Commission has had two successes from the City’s collaboration with CareerSource Central Florida so far, including an intern who was hired into the City’s Leisure Services.
Martz also addressed the recent lay-offs of federal employees and said the City’s Human Resource Department will begin targeting specific websites where federal employees can look for jobs.
“There are…anywhere from 25 to 30,000 federal employees who are in Central Florida and about 12,000 between district 11, which is in Lake County, and district seven, which is part of Volusia,” Martz said. “So we're going to do a pretty concerted effort to get our job openings in front of them.”
Martz also said the City has been working on improving efficiency in light of the recent establishment of the Florida Department of Government Efficiency.
Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Feb. 24 the establishment of the Florida DOGE to “further eliminate waste within state government, save taxpayers money, and ensure accountability in Florida,” according to the official governor’s website.
Martz said the City has been meeting and plans to do a local government proof of concept with an innovation provider that helps City-employed veterans identify benefits they might not be receiving from the VA.
Martz also addressed the national inflation and price increases in relation to the City, including tariffs on Ford vehicles and Canadian pine which are used for the police department and board-walk projects.
Martz also announced that former Altamonte Springs Mayor Hugh Harling, who served for a short time in 1980, passed away on March 1.
During the commissioners’ reports, all the commissioners praised the success of the Altamonte Baseball Academy’s Opening Day event.
Commissioner Mike Brunscheen also highlighted the opening of the Altamonte Global Innovation Lab.
“It was a great night,” Brunscheen said. “Amazing to see what we have there, and the community support that's coming together in that respect.”
Mayor Pat Bates also praised the Opening Day event during her report and thanked staff for their contributions to the event.
“They make it a pleasure to be out there--everything runs smoothly,” Bates said. “I get so many people coming up to me thanking me for having such a great staff and taking such good care of our fields and all that. So passing that on to everybody who works out there.”
