Here’s a summary of the Nov. 12 St. Cloud City Council meeting.
All council members were in attendance for this meeting.
After the call to order and roll call, the council was presented with an update on the water and wastewater situation from Marjorie Craig, the city’s environmental utilities director.
She let the council know that almost 12 miles of water mains have been flushed, and next will be almost 5 miles near subdivisions between Lakeshore Drive and Partin Settlement Road.
During the Citizen’s Forum, former Council Member and Deputy Mayor John Rallis came to the podium to congratulate the re-elected council members, asked them to be smarter than they were previously, and asked them not to tear out trees and landscaping to build a bike path on Florida Avenue.
The first item on the consent agenda was an upgrade to systems for the St. Cloud Police Department to purchase FUSUS CORE with AI, a technology video collaboration platform with software which will cost the city $205,000 over three years. It passed with all council members voting in favor.
During the public hearings portion, the council pushed back the first three ordinances until the next council meeting, which were having to do with annexing, designating, and zoning 3.53 acres off Big Sky Boulevard.
Ordinance No. 2020- 32 had to do with an abandonment of a right of way at 3113 4th St.
Resident David Woods said he was there to represent his mother, who owns the property. Deputy Mayor Linette Matheny said she took issue with this, and felt the city should not give up the right of way for free and can’t support it.
Mr. Woods addressed the council, telling them it wasn’t free, that he had already spent $700 in filing fees and notorized letters.
The motion passed 4-1, with Matheny voting against.
Resolution 2020-144R, granting conditional use to develop a Parochial School at 2500 Canoe Creek Road was presented with Jeremy Kibler of KDA Engineering speaking for the school, as well as Pete Baldwin, one of the directors of the school who gave a very emotional speech to the council.
It passed with conditions 4-1 with Chuck Cooper voting against.
There was also an amendment to the city budget and an approval of a Pain Management Clinic on 17th Street.
During the Council Action portion of the meeting, councilmembers approved several water and wastewater service agreements for new developments in unincorporated Osceola County, including Twin Lakes Phase 8, which was spoken for by Tom Sullivan for the Law Group Gray/ Robinson, which also happens to be the city’s lobbying firm.
The council also approved an amendment to the Tohoqua Phase 4 & 5 Preliminary Subdivision plan.
It was approved 4-1, with Chuck Cooper voting against.
The city also approved a $6,000 increase for Gray/ Robinson, the city’s lobbying firm.
And finally, the council selected a new deputy mayor. Linette Matheny nominated Dave Askew, which would have been his third time as deputy mayor. Two citizens addressed
Two citizens addressed the council, asking for the council to nominate Chuck Cooper, who has sat on the council for four years and had never been deputy mayor.
Following the comments of the citizens, Dave Askew nominated Keith Trace for deputy mayor. Linette Matheny dropped her motion for Mr. Askew and all council members voted in favor of Keith Trace to be the new deputy mayor of St. Cloud.
The next City Council meeting will be on Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the St. Cloud Community Center.
