TOWN COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2025 7:00 P.M. OAKLAND MEETING HALL CALL TO ORDER: This meeting was held in-person and livestreamed as a Zoom webinar. Mayor Taylor called the regular meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. This was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation by Kevin Cox. ROLL CALL COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Commissioner Keller Commission McMullen Commissioner Ramos Vice Mayor Satterfield Mayor Taylor COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: None PRESENTATIONS: Presentation = Chief Esan received the ESGR Patriot Award Detective Chad Edmondson nominated Chief Esan for the ESGR Patriot Award, and the Chief has been awarded this honor. The ESGR Patriot Award recognizes great employers who support their employees who serve in the Reserve and National Guard. Zenyep Portway presented the award to Chief Esan. Proclamation - National Police Week/Peace Officers Memorial Day Mayor Taylor read the Proclamation announcing May 12-18, 2025, as National Police Week and May 15, 2025, as Peace Officers Memorial Day, in the Town of Oakland. Proclamation = Teacher Appreciation Week and Teacher Appreciation Day Mayor Taylor read the Proclamation announcing May 5-9, 2025, as Teacher Appreciation Week and May 6, 2025, as Teacher Appreciation Day, in the Town of Oakland. Proclamation = Arbor Day Mayor Taylor read the Proclamation announcing April 25, 2025, as Arbor Day, in the Town of Oakland. Proclamation = World Migratory Bird Day Mayor Taylor read the Proclamation announcing May 10, 2025, as World Migratory Bird Day, in the Town of Oakland. Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes April 22, 2025 - Page 1 CONSENT AGENDA: a. Minutes - 4-8-2025 Town Commission Regular Meeting b. MOA = Orlando/Orange UASI Grant Mayor Taylor announced the items on the Consent Agenda. MOTION was made by Vice Mayor Satterfield, seconded by Commissioner Ramos to approve the Consent Agenda. AYE: Keller, McMullen, Ramos, Satterfield, Taylor NAY: None OTHER POLICY MATTERS Appointment of Town Clerk Town Manager Hui said that per the Town Charter, "The Town Manager shall appoint the Town Clerk subject to the approval of the Commission. Town Manager Hui introduced Kathy Heard as her suggested appointment to the Town Clerk position and said that Kathy brings more than ten (10) years of experience in municipal government having worked with the City of Ocoee, Orange County, and City of Clermont. Town Manager Hui said we feel Kathy will be an excellent fit with the Town of Oakland and are excited to welcome her on board. She said that she will be bringing Kathy's contract back on May 13th for official approval. MOTION was made by Commissioner Ramos, seconded by Commissioner Keller to approve the appointment of Kathy Heard to the position of Town Clerk. AYE: Keller, McMullen, Ramos, Satterfield, Taylor NAY: None MOTION PASSED with 5 Ayes, 0 Nays. PUBLIC FORUM: Public comments were as follows: Rickey Dumas on behalf of brother-in-law, John Ward = Rickey said that he was born and raised in West Orange County, and he served in the United States Army, and he served 35 years in public safety retiring as the Deputy Chief of the Orange County Jail. He said he wanted to talk about the informal service that was held last year on Memorial Day. Rickey said in 2022, they were out there because it has been a tradition to go to the cemetery and show appreciation to your family members SO looking at grandparents and parents. He said while his brother-in-law was out there Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes April 22, 2025 - Page 2 and he showed up later out there with them, they began to notice that there were several veterans in the Oakland cemetery. Rickey said it piqued their interest to look, and it started adding up more and more but at the same time they saw two men who were service members walking along this sidewalk on State Road 50 carrying large flags on Memorial Day. He said that they thanked him for their service and they thanked him because he had on his hat as well but out of that, it grew that as they looked, they noticed that there were some of the veteran grave sites that had flags and many were without SO it spurred them to take the time and try to put a flag on the ones that didn't have one. Rickey said that his brother-in-law, who cannot be here tonight because he is up in Jacksonville, had in his heart, is there anything in particular Oakland is doing and, in his research, he did not find anything. Rickey said that they did more in 2023 but last year, his brother-in-law put together something informal and utilized the Oakland Police Department at the last hour to help him out. He said it started at 9:00 a.m. with the intent that it shouldn't last over an hour because of the weather this time of the year and that was to come out to the graveyard and briefly pay taps and briefly make a little statement and then allow those who attended, which last year may have been about 15 people, to go around and put flags on the grave sites itself. Rickey said his brother-in-law wanted him to express that his request for the Town of Oakland is not money but to assist in putting the event on our public website for public announcement. He said apparently quite a few families found out last year and they have shared with others, and they are interested in being part of it. Rickey said it really started out as an act of being out there and the service members saw them and one thing led to another. He said there have been quite a few that have been identified in both cemeteries that served in World War I and World War II that are in the cemeteries, and it might mean a lot to the family members themself. Commissioner Ramos said that he knows that last year he was there doing that ceremony with Rickey's brother-in-law, and he knows a lot of families were there and he thinks there were more than 15 people. He said he knows that they did have the officers come out there at the last minute and go help put the flags in both the African American cemetery and also the Oakland cemetery. Commissioner Ramos said that it was a great ceremony that he thought was going to become a yearly thing which he is all for us to do this and not forget. He said he knows that a lot of our neighboring cities do the memorials and we are one of the ones who doesn't because we either piggyback with Winter Garden, Ocoee, or Clermont but he thinks that at this time just the amount of graves that they went and put flags on, there was plenty of them SO he thinks that it is long overdue for us to go ahead and start putting this in our calendar every year and bringing in social media and put it out there for whoever wants to come out and join us. Rickey said that his brother-in-law mentioned that it was the West Orange Observer that helped publicize the event last year. Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes April 22, 2025 - Page 3 Mayor Taylor said that Rickey could give his information to Town Manager Hui and Town Clerk Heard but he thinks that everyone sitting there thinks that it is a good idea, and it is time that we do something like that. He said that one hour or two hours out of your morning is not very long to go and recognize those that sacrificed. Commissioner Keller asked what day they do it on. Rickey said that they do it on Memorial Day and it starts at 9:00 a.m. because the weather at that time of the year is hot. He said they try to keep it brief for about an hour. Kevin Cox, 301 N. Walker Street = Kevin said it has been a bad week for dust, and nobody want to hear complaints SO that is not why he is there. He said he has some constructive criticism or constructive suggestions possibly. Kevin said that if you look at Oakland Park at their main entrance, the first one, which is east, they have had a no construction vehicle sign up. He said we have tried signs for Briley Farms to turn on Jefferson when you go but it hasn't been enough. Kevin said it has been a bad week for Nixon, Walker, and Daniels Streets SO he would request that we get signs that would say no construction traffic or something like that. He said he is not asking for police because he knows they can't enforce this; all he is asking for is signs. Mayor Taylor said he agrees, last Friday he happened to be driving down, and they were hauling mulch from the project there and the 18 wheelers were just going down and there were three of them in one shot and it was a dust storm. He said that he got with Public Works Director Parker and Town Manager Hui and asked them to give him a call and Public Works Director Parker gave them a call. Mayor Taylor said that he actually tried to go over and drive out there and meet the operator, but he wasn't there; he was going to tell him to tell the trucks. He said that for some reason they could come down Jefferson, but they couldn't go out Jefferson for some reason. Mayor Taylor said that we all understand it is a public road, but he is wondering if we could just get some bandit signs made for now. Public Works Director Parker said we will see what we can do. TOWN MANAGER/DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS: Town Manager Report Town Manager Hui said that the Charter Review Committee met on Monday, April 21st and the Orange County Supervisor of Elections Office was in attendance to talk through some issues. She said that they will be scheduling the next set of meetings and will try to schedule a little later sO that if residents want to come, they can come and attend and see what is going on. Town Manager Hui said that the last Oakland Nature Preserve Firefly Hike is coming up on Friday, April 25th SO it is last opportunity of the season. She said she will be volunteering sO come out and see her and see the fireflies. Town Manager Hui said that the Earth Day Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes April 22, 2025 - Page 4 Celebration at Oakland Nature Preserve is on Saturday, April 26th from 10-2 and they are also going to be doing the Upland Guided Hikes, and you can sign up for those online. She said upcoming town events include the May 17th Car Stroll from 10-12 in Town Center and the opening that same day of our new summer exhibit at the Arts & Heritage Center called Life in the Pet Lane. Department Head Reports HR Director Oliver said that we are still hiring if anybody wants to be UB Tech, Public Works Assistant Director, or Utility Billing Supervisor. Public Works Director Parker provided an update on the roads, there were some delays with equipment failures, and we had already contracted with the pavers to come out and he is very hopeful that tomorrow they will be out. He said he was not at the last meeting but did watch the video and there seemed to be a lot of questions or just non-information about the roundabout, SO he wanted to clarify that in this year's budget, we had funding in for what is called the roundabout landscaping. Public Works Director Parker said that it is not for the center piece, it is for the four quadrants on the outside of the paving, SO where the new trees are on the west side, that was done last year, and now this year, we are doing the east side. He said that this is planned for three budget years, SO we will have one more budget year to go through with that. Public Works Director Parker said that the center piece, which is the acorn and that sort of thing, we don't have it under contract SO if we wanted to make changes, this is the time to do it. He said that he thinks we need to stick with what the commission approved originally since we are into it with engineering and that sort of thing SO he thinks we would be better off if we stayed the course and kept moving in that direction. Public Works Director Parker said he has the contract sitting on his desk for the acorn SO he is going to send that tomorrow and then we will move forward with that. Commissioner Ramos said he thinks the only thing we wanted to talk was the landscaping but they addressed that with the perennial peanut. Public Works Director Parker said that there was some landscaping activity in the town center last week and this week. He said that the town center really gets a lot of activity for traffic, for events, just general public and all that and there were a lot of areas that were worn out, SO they put in new sod, and it looks really good. Public Works Director Parker said that the town center was constructed in 2002, he came in 2012 and there has been no grass replaced since 2012. He said he would welcome the newest sanitary sewer lift station to the town of Oakland with the start- up of The Grove lift station two weeks ago. Public Works Director Parker said that lift station will also handle the Harvest District which will be mixed use out on Highway 50 as well as in some other areas and is one of the 12 lift stations that we now have after nine years of operation. Public Works Director Parker said that last summer, the legislature had turned us down for the septic to sewer for the town center, SO he had applied with FDEP for $850,000 and unfortunately last week we were notified that we did not get it. He said that there is a burn ban for all Orange County except for like cookout fires and gas grills and that sort of thing but no open burn. Mayor Taylor asked if we are still waiting for the asphalt millings Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes April 22, 2025 - Page 5 study to finish. Public Works Director Parker said that May 13 is our target date for the consultant to be back and he went over several details with her yesterday about it and it looks good. He said that he thinks they will find it will be the majority of the streets will be millings and there may be one of two that she is going to recommend for full traditional paving because of elevation changes, drainage, and things like that. Public Works Director Parker said that the draft priority list will be in the agenda packet for the May 13th meeting. COMMISSION REPORTS: Commissioner McMullen = Nothing additional. Commissioner Ramos wanted to thank the Town of Oakland for participating in the West Orange Golden Eagle. He said he knows this has already been over a week, but it was a great time, and they raised up to $50,000. Commissioner Keller - Nothing additional. Vice Mayor Satterfield said that the Celebration Among the Oaks was really great and a big thank you to the staff for putting it on and making sure that all those kids had a really good time. Mayor Taylor - Nothing additional. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Commissioner MCMullen adjourned the meeting at 7:39 p.m. TOWN OF OAKLAND: SHANE TAYLOR, MAYOR ATTEST: KATHY HÉARD, TOWN CLERK Town Commission Regular Meeting Minutes April 22, 2025 - Page 6 a - - - - Hikes irefy at Oakland Nature Preserve Join us select evenings at ONP, we will be open until 9pm to allow visitors to explore the boardwalk and look for fireflies. We will have a staff member at the start of the boardwalk to answer any questions you may have. Current dates: March 21 April 2 April 15 March 23 April 6 April 15 March 26 April 8 April 18 March 29 April 11 April 21 March 30 April 12 April 25 Please visit batidMurrmeen for more information. April 26th EARTH DAY! OAKLANDNATUH RV Celebration PRESE - - sksh Family 1 Activities at the Log Cabin 10:00am-2:00pm Crafts, animal interactions, and more! Journey into the Ciplands Guided Hikes 8:30am, 9:30am, 10:30am Join our volunteer docents for a guided walk through our Uplands trails to discover the "Real Florida.' 77 Registration required. n the Parking lot 10:00am-2:00pm KING OF POPS ERA row! - 3 - - - - FLORIDA - - - Oakland - Upcoming - Bventh 2ND/ 4 TH 2MDTHURSDAYS MONDAYS 6:30 P.M. THURSDAYS 10:30 A.M. FRIDAYS 9:30 A.M. 9 A.M. - 2 P.M. Story SATURDAYS 10 AM. FOREC COUr 4 SATReET TIME BRARV YOGA ON THE PORCH VBTINI THE PORCH MARKET ON HWO ARTS & HERITAGE CENTER HWO ARTS & HERITAGE CENTER HWO ARTS& HERITAGE CENTER MAR-APR JAN MAY APR10 A.M.- 1 P.M. l- D Self 3 guided 25 12 firefly hike, open select Our Disney Journey & dates Celebation 5:30 Beyond 9:00p.m. AMONG THE OAKS Donations Joe Warren & Helicopter Egg Drop with accepted. David Minichiello Springtime Arts & Crafts Festival OAKLAND NATURE PRESERVE HWO ARTS & HERITAGE CENTER VANDERLEY PARK MAY10 A.M. - 12 P.M. MAY AUG u6: - follous 17 0 17-30 SummerExhibit: GAR STROLL Life in the Pet OakTOwnUSA OdkiandFL.gov Showing of cars, interactive DJ, Lane! - - coffee and food trucks! 126 W. PETRIS AVE. HWO ARTS & HERITAGE CENTER