February 10, 2024
 
Hi Everyone,

Is everyone worn out from all this wind? I hope that one and all have battened down the hatches, are staying warm, and enjoying time with your families and friends. Citizen turnout at our commission meetings has been amazing, thank you all for supporting your community. Participation is essential to the health and well-being of our city and it’s having an impact.

Indian Harbor Estates Sewer Project

Turnout at the January 24, 2024 workshop for the Indian Harbor Estates sewer project was incredible. Inside the commission chambers, it was standing room only.  Dozens of concerned residents had to stand outside and listen over a loudspeaker. Key speakers at the event included Michael Ulrich, who is Director of Volusia County Water Resources and Utilities, Oak Hill City Engineer Brad Blais of Mead & Hunt, and Oak Hill City Attorney Scott Simpson. Citizens had many questions, most of which were answered at the meeting.

In an email I received from City Administrator Jerome Adams, he says “we would like to bring a resolution to the Commission on Monday to approve connection to the system, state the reimbursement amount, and the timeframe to connect, to be eligible to receive the reimbursement and waiver from the County.” Also in his email, he included two attachments. One is from The Florida Department of Environmental Protection and is titled Notification of Completion of Construction for a Domestic Wastewater Collection/Transmission System. Here is a link if you’d like to view this document. The other is an email from The Florida Department of Environmental Protection to Chris Roberts of Mead & Hunt acknowledging that “your Notification of Completion of Construction for a Domestic Wastewater Collection/Transmission System was received on February 08, 2024.” Click here to view the email.

Development That Fits

Monday, January 22, 2024, despite an amazing turn-out and consistent opposition from its citizens, the Oak Hill City Commission voted to approve plans for “Oak Hill Subdivision.”  Click here to view the city’s staff report and click here to view the entire meeting. A transcript of the meeting is available by clicking on the YouTube page views and selecting the show transcript link. To view a remarkable exchange between the commission and our city planner, I encourage you all to view the video between time code 23:00 and 23:44 and listen carefully as our city planner convinces Commissioner McGee that 40-foot-wide lots are the same as the 11,700 square foot minimum lot size that is required by city ordinance regarding R-1 low density zoning. The logic the planner employs says that since the land parcel the development is to be built on is 33 acres, and there are to be 134 houses built on it – that comes out to be 4 houses per acre.

Therefor it’s consistent with the 11,700 minimum square foot lot size of an R-1 zoned property. One acre is 43,560 square feet, so four 11,700 square foot lots would not fit into one acre (4 times 11700=46800). A 40-foot-wide lot that was 11,700 square feet would have to be 292.5 feet long. I didn’t see that anywhere on the drawings. The lots the planner was trying to sell as consistent with our existing community are 40 feet by 100 feet. Commissioner McGee must have swallowed the planner’s logic, hook, line, and sinker because he voted in favor of the project. Keep in mind that the planner who spoke at this meeting is literally working for the city of Oak Hill and is paid with your hard-earned tax dollars.
 
How are you liking that kind of representation? There was not a single citizen who spoke in favor of this development being plopped right in the middle of the most beautiful part of our city. Do you feel that your interests are being represented by the three commissioners who voted in favor of this development or are they using your tax dollars to work against you? You decide… I encourage you to watch the entire video. Commissioner McGee, Vice Mayor Lindlau, and Mayor Gibson voted in favor of the development. Commissioner Hyatt and myself voted against it.

City Charter Review

At the January 8, 2024 commission meeting, the Oak Hill City Commission passed a resolution that formed a charter review committee and appointed all eight of the citizens who applied. The applicants were: Dru Ann Welch, Cydney Reagan, Charlie Dean, Tom Pentz, Darry Cummings, Carrie Werning, Richard Taylor and Derwin Smothers. A workshop was held on February 5, 2023 where the members were briefed by Ken Parker of the ICMA, and city attorney Scott Simpson. Ken Parker provided the commissioners and committee members with his analysis of our city charter. In that document Mr. Parker poses several questions for both the City Commission and the Charter Review Committee. Click here to view the document. An amendment to the resolution is included with the agenda pack for Mondays City Commissioner’s meeting to appoint Ron Engles to Charter Review Committee.

Mary Dewees Park – Baseball Field

Our assistant city administrator Erin Anderson sent an email to what looks to be members and supporters of the Oak Hill Sports Club. To view that email, click here. In this email, Erin and her husband Don make the assertion that Charlie Dean and I are trying to “defunct not only the
ECHO grant and the field renovation, but the O.H.S.C. itself.” I challenge them to present any evidence to support this absurd notion. Ironically, they include as an attachment to their email, a letter I wrote to the county asking for “guidance on how Oak Hill can avoid or overcome any compliance issues with this grant” and prevent the city from being disqualified when applying for future grants. Here’s a copy of my letter to the county asking for assistance.
 
The reason I turned to the county for assistance in this matter is because when I brought this to the attention of the city commission, I was rebuffed by the mayor and ignored by city administrator Jerome Adams. To learn the truth, click here and view a segment of the November 13, 2023 Oak Hill City Commission meeting. This meeting took place less than two hours after it was brought to my attention that the city was not in compliance with the terms of this grant. Notice that the mayor instructs the city administrator to get in touch with the county and find out what I’m talking about. A review of the email attachment that Erin and her Husband included with the email they sent out reveals a timeline that was written by ECHO administrative specialist Jill Marcum. Nowhere in this timeline is there an indication that she was contacted by Oak Hill city staff seeking information about grant compliance. There is however, a notation made on November 14, 2024 (the day after the meeting), that Erin Anderson contacted her seeking an extension to the grant.

What all this means is that despite being told that there are issues with compliance with the terms of this grant, the city took no action to alleviate them. For more information on this, click here to view my response to a citizen’s email to me regarding this issue. Another interesting aspect of Erin and Don Andersons email is that in it they say “We have been recently contacted by the City Mayor to let us know that this could be a problem for the ECHO Grant and the future of the club.” The only linkage between an ECHO Grant for the city of Oak Hill and the Oak Hill Sports Club are those unusual claims the Andersons make in their email. The business of Oak Hill City Government and a 501-C3 sports club are separate, or at least one can only hope – right? In the same light, it should also be noted that Erin Anderson is also listed as the president of the sports club. Her husband, Don Anderson is listed as the engineer of record on a grant project, (see page 4 of the grant application). For more information about this project please visit two of my previous newsletters. Click Here to review my November 13, 2023 Newsletter and Click Here to review November 26, 2023 Newsletter.

Oak Hill Community Garden

The Oak Hill Community Garden is holding a celebration on Saturday February 10, 2024 from 10 AM till 2:00 PM at the garden which is located on the southwest corner of Halifax and Flamingo Ave. This event is open to everyone and there are a wide range of activities planned for all ages. For more information, please visit the Community Garden’s website by clicking here. To visit the community garden on Facebook, click here, and to view a brochure with information about this event, click here.

Light House Cove Fire Hydrants

Back on October 9, 2023, during fire prevention month, Lighthouse Cove resident Dan Peterkin and his neighbor Carmine Martucci, reached out to me and expressed concern about three fire hydrants in their neighborhood that appeared to be in disrepair. He was seeking guidance as to how he could get the hydrants inspected and repaired if necessary. He said “If there were to be a fire at, or near our home, there may not be any working hydrants which of course would be devastating.  Do we contact Volusia Fire Department or Volusia County Utilities Water Department?  We here in Lighthouse Cove contribute quite a bit of the tax revenue here in Oak Hill and I should expect that we get the services we pay taxes for.” To view his email, click here.

The next day Mr. Peterkin and Mr. Martucci went to Volusia County Fire Station #22 in Oak Hill and explained their concerns about the fire Hydrants. They spoke with Volusia County Fire Services Lieutenant, Shane Goebel, who sent a crew out to inspect and flow test the hydrants. Click here to read his October 10, 2023 assessment of the situation, which he sent to Volusia County Fire Services Inspector Mark Edgil. Inspector Edgil called Christina Martin and forwarded his email chain with Lieutenant Goebel to her. On October 11, 2023 Oak Hill assistant city administrator Erin Anderson forwarded the email chain to me, so I in-turn forwarded it to Mr. Peterkin on October 15, 2023. Unfortunately, it looks like that’s where everything comes to a halt. 117 days later I got an email from Mr. Peterkin asking if any progress has been made to repair the faulty fire hydrants. Click here to view the entire email exchange.

These email exchanges indicate that Oak Hill city hall has been made aware of the situation. Hopefully, our city staff will follow-up and see to it that the very real needs of our citizens, who have essentially done all they can do to protect their lives and property, will be met. Ideally, our city staff would vigorously pursue this matter as it should all issues that involve the lives and property of citizens and not spend their time and effort pursuing frivolous matters of personal interest.
 
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Our City Commissioner’s meeting is Monday, February 12, 2024 at city hall. The time is 6:00 PM. Click here for the agenda pack.
 
Please come and let your voice be heard. Your presence and participation are how we hold our commission to account.
 
As always, it’s my pleasure to serve you, I appreciate your support. Please let me know what I can do to help. I’m here to represent you…
 
Thanks again,

Joe Catigano
Oak Hill City Commissioner
Seat 3