By Angelina Falco
Herald Intern
The week of Feb. 23 the City of Casselberry held two city meetings. On Monday, Feb. 23, was the biweekly City Commission meeting while Wednesday, Feb. 25 covered a pre-budget planning workshop.
Mayor Henson began the Feb. 23 meeting with a proclamation designating the week of Feb. 22 to Feb. 28 as National Engineers Week in the City of Casselberry. He presented this proclamation to Tara Lamoureux, Utilities Director, to “celebrate the dedication and innovation of engineers who build and maintain the essential systems our community relies on everyday,” wrote the City of Casselberry’s social media.
Consent Agenda
All items on the agenda were approved. This included the approval of 161 Quail Pond and 951 N. Winter Park Drive to be added to the Parks with Yellowstone Landscape annual maintenance schedule for an additional amount of $74,804.
Discussions
Commissioner Nancy Divita proposed a future agenda item relating to vehicles with a copy area (business signage or advertising wraps), whether personal or professional to their daily life. She mentioned the parking restrictions put on these vehicles as well as the cost of living rising. After discussion among the commissioners, there was no resolution for this proposal.
The commissioner’s compensation was discussed, speaking about the mayor and commissioner’s salary as well as their travel allowances. The summary of the discussion mentioned the differing wages of Mayors of other cities and their commissioners. There was no resolution for this discussion.
Public Hearings
An ordinance to establish a police officers' deferred retirement option plan was approved unanimously. Right after, there was a separate ordinance which allowed firefighter’s deferred retirement option to be extended from 60 months to 96 months. This ordinance was also approved unanimously.
A concept plan was requested which discussed the zoning of a multi-tenant retail space, a bank, and three quick service restaurants to be placed between S.R. 426 and Oxford Road. This ordinance was approved unanimously on the second and final reading.
The last public hearing discussed a future land use map amendment for Geneva School land. They depicted the future land use and the proposed, going from a low-density residential to a low-intensity non-residential plan. Of the land discussed, there is one single family home on a part of it, but the rest is vacant and/or wetland areas. The ordinance to approve the expansion of Geneva’s Schools existing campus was unanimously approved.
Other Items
A board appointment for the Planning and Zoning Commission was discussed. James Witherspoon was appointed unanimously due to the recent resignation of Ron Bryan, in which the term will be effective until Jan. 31, 2027.
