August 19, 2023

Hi Everyone,
Citizen turn out at our commission meetings has been amazing, thank you all for supporting our city. Your participation is essential to its health and well-being and it’s having an impact.

Volusia County Transform386

On Thursday August 24, 2023, Volusia County is holding a public hearing for citizens to learn more about, and provide input on, the draft of their Transform386 action plan. According to the flyer, “this plan incorporates input from the Community Engagement Series meetings and the Unmet Needs Survey along with proposed projects to aid the community’s recovery from hurricane Ian and implement future disaster mitigation initiatives.” Click here to view the flyer. The meeting will be held from 5:30 till 7:30 p.m. at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center Council Chambers, 123 W. Indiana Ave. DeLand FL 32720. For those who cannot attend, you can watch the hearing live by clicking here to visit the Transform386 website. A link will be provided prior to the event.

It’s my hope that by participating in this process and demonstrating a need, The City of Oak Hill may qualify for assistance in the restoration of our flood control ditches and removal of hurricane debris. Currently, many of our city’s flood control ditches are not functional, or are operating at a reduced capacity. With all the rain we’ve had recently this should concern all citizens.

City Administrator Recruitment

On Monday August 21, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at city hall the commission will be conducting interviews with the six remaining candidates using Zoom. To view the resumes of the remaining candidates click here.  The best I can tell from the information supplied, below is a list of candidates to be interviewed at Monday’s meeting. Clicking on the links attached to the names will conduct a very basic google search of the candidate.

Patrick Marsh, ICMA-CM 1050 Kensington Street, Port Charlotte Florida 33952
Jerome Adams, 901 Roseland Road, Sebatian Florida 32958
John C. Barkley, MPA, ICMA-CM, 181 Sparkling Brook Road, Ranson, West Virginia 25438
Katie Gatewood, Freeport, Florida 32439
Ryan Reckley, 1311 SW 9^th Ave. Deerfield Beach Florida, 33441
Daniel Finz, 38021 Snickersville Tpke. Purcellville, VA 20132
Amye King, AICP, 507 Coral Trace Blvd, Edgewater Florida, 32132

Nancy Cumming’s Park – Follow-Up

Here’s some good news. At the August 14, City Commission Meeting, Mayor Gibson announced that the commission would be open to the idea of fencing the northern boundary of the park and fencing off the drainage ditch / retention pond. The Mayor also indicated that the restroom reconstruction project would be finishing up soon and upon completion, the bathrooms would be open to public during park hours.

Oak Hill Developer Fee Schedule

At the last city meeting our commission voted 4 to 1 to pay the planning company Kimley-Horn $22709.00 to conduct a final development plan review for the Oak Hill Town Center project near Bill’s Hill Road. The details of this are contained in work authorization number 14 and can be reviewed by clicking here. Our city is currently in the process of updating its schedule of fees charged to developers and others seeking permits. Currently, there’s a workshop scheduled for 5:30 p.m. August 28^th at city hall. Be sure and mark this one on your calendar. Community input on this issue is critical and will help the commission gain a sense of the public’s expectations regarding this matter. Remember, the actions taken by the commission should reflect the values of the community.

Typically, a municipality would pass the costs associated with a development project on to the developer applying. Anything short of this is essentially the hardworking, taxpaying, citizens of our city subsidizing the developer. Reviewing a development plan / application shouldn’t cost the taxpayer a dime. Besides our citizens and the Indian River / Mosquito Lagoon, the undeveloped areas of Oak Hill are our most valuable assets. Our city should proudly charge as much as it can for these fees and use the revenue to improve the lives of those who live here. Higher fees won’t deter the developers. Please take the time to compare our city planner’s proposed fee schedule to those of some surrounding cities. To review the fee schedule currently posted by the City of Port Orange click here, here, and here. To review the fee schedule currently posted on the New Smyrna Beach website click here. To review the fee schedule currently posted on the city of Edgewater’s website click here.

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The next Oak Hill City Commissioner’s meeting is, August 21, 2023 at city hall. The time is 6:00 PM. As far as I know, the agenda and agenda pack for the meeting has not been published by the city.

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…

Joe Catigano
Oak Hill City Commissioner
Seat 3

Please visit Newsletter archives.

August 7, 2023

Hi Everyone,
Citizen turn out at our commission meetings has been amazing, thank you all for supporting our city. Your participation is essential to its health and well-being and it’s having an impact.

Budget Workshop

Click here to view and download the workshop agenda and supporting documents for the meeting. The workshop is scheduled for 10:00 AM Monday, August 7, 2023 at city hall.

These budget meetings decide how the city spends its money. Public input is essential to this process; our city should reflect the vision and values of its citizens. Please come to these very important meetings your insight can shape our city’s future.

Volusia County Transform386

Volusia County Government sponsored a series of meetings to gather citizen input on how to spend a $328.9 million Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds awarded from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). I’d like to give a shout-out to Evelyn Evans for sending us the information. Click here to view the news release. I was able to attend the meeting held Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Daytona Beach Regional Library, 105 Jackie Robinson Parkway. It would be a real godsend for our city if we could secure a portion of that money to fund cleaning out hurricane debris that is currently blocking our flood control ditches. The meeting was informative and I was able to gather contact information from some officials in attendance. We’ll see how this turns out.
City Administrator Recruitment

Here are the resumes that Ken Parker and Senior Advisors from ICMA, International City/County Management Association consider to be qualified or qualified and recommended to serve as Oak Hill City Administrator. At the July 24, 2023 city meeting, the commission selected five candidates for further consideration. Mr. Parker was to reach out to them and arrange preliminary interviews. At the July 27th Volusia League of City Meeting, Mayor Gibson reached out to Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood asking if the department would be willing to do the background investigations on the remaining pool of candidates. The agenda for Monday’s meeting contains no references to the recruitment process so I assume no action will be taken at the meeting. While the process is slow, I believe we are moving closer to our goal.

Nancy Cumming’s Park – Follow-Up

Under “New Business,” the Agenda for Monday’s meeting contains 3 sealed bids for playground equipment earmarked for the Nancy V, Cummings Park. These bids will be opened at the meeting.

As discussed in the July 8th newsletter, “careful consideration should be given to prioritizing how money is spent developing this park into a safe and accessible asset for the residents of our community.” While playground equipment is a good amenity, currently the park lacks basic functionality. For instance, the park’s bathrooms have been undergoing reconstruction after flooding.

This work began on or about July 8, 2023; as far as I know the city has not been given a definitive end date for its completion.

All safety considerations should be addressed before inviting children to play at the park. Parents should expect that entrance and exit to the park be controlled and monitored. This can be accomplished by fencing the entire border. Our city should address the flooding that has plagued the park since its inception.

At the very least, as an interim measure, a fence should be erected around the drainage ditch that dead-ends adjacent to the pump house. The standing water in what was a ditch but is now essentially a retention pond, represents a real hazard to a curious child who wanders up to its edge. Good stewardship on behalf of our city government can prevent a tragedy; it’s money well spent. Once these basic safety issues are addressed, we should begin the process of planning how our park will be used, playground, ball field, walkways etc.

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The next Oak Hill City Commissioner’s meeting is, August 7, 2023 at city hall. The time is 6:00 PM. click here for the agenda and here for the agenda pack. There are four other documents that were added after the agenda pack was published. They are in support of our city staff’s wish for a new phone and fax system. Those documents can be viewed and downloaded by clicking here, here, here and here.

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…

Joe Catigano
Oak Hill City Commissioner
Seat 3

Citizen turn out at our commission meetings has been amazing, thank you all for supporting our city. Your participation is essential to its health and well-being and it’s having an impact. Not a whole lot happening to report but what is happening will have a profound influence on the future of Oak Hill.

City Administrator Recruitment

Here are the resumes that Ken Parker and Senior Advisors from ICMA, International City/County Management Association consider to be qualified or qualified and recommended to serve as Oak Hill City Administrator. At Monday’s City Commission meeting these candidates will be considered and the pool will be narrowed to those who will be interviewed and undergo background checks. Once completed the candidates will be further parsed or perhaps an offer may be extended to a preferred candidate. The role of a city’s administrator affects the everyday lives of its citizens, everything from flood control to trash pick-up. A wise choice here is critical. Please come to the meeting and participate, your input can help us make better decisions.

Nancy Cummings Park – Follow-Up

Last Monday, July 17, 2023, I made another visit to Nancy Cummings Park. During the two days prior, our city received typical Florida afternoon thunderstorms with periods of heavy rain. Look how high the water was as it ran over the end of the drainage ditch, around a bulkhead, and flooding the park’s well pumphouse as it traversed south across the park.

The water is intended to travel through pipes buried beneath the lawn.
Click Here to see how our drainage system handled the rainfall. Not only does this photo and video indicate the capacity for this system to mitigate storm water within the park itself, but also shows that this section is blocking the flow and stormwater is backing up as a result. This affects everything north of it and fails to serve the community as intended. This system serves the Nancy Street and Wyatt neighborhood where many homes were damaged from flooding during last year’s hurricane. Nine months ago, in November of 2022, the City Commission voted to approve a contract to replace the pipes.

Here’s an image, of what looks like homeless campers in the vacant lot just 100 feet north of the basketball court at Nancy Cummings Park was taken 7-22-23. This photograph emphasizes the need for the existing fence to encompass the entire park, by including the northern boundary. Without a complete fence the city cannot effectively control the opening and closing, or entrance and exit of the park. Both are essential to the safety of the public and preservation of Oak Hill City property including the restrooms.
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The next Oak Hill City Commissioner’s meeting is, July 24, 2023 at city hall. The time is 6:00 PM. The agenda and agenda packet are available by clicking here.

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…

Joe Catigano
Oak Hill City Commissioner
Seat 3

July 8, 2023

Hi Everyone,
I hope you all had a great 4^th of July weekend. Citizen turn out at our city meetings has been amazing, thank you all for supporting our city. Your participation is essential to its health and well-being and it’s having an impact.

City Administrator Recruitment
Friday, July 7, 2023, our city held a special workshop at city hall with Ken Parker, and two of his colleagues, Tom Palmer and George Forbes, all Senior Advisors from ICMA, International City/County Management Association. Mr. Parker and his associates are assisting our city with the recruitment of a City Administrator. Citizens and the commission were invited to attend but not as participants, only observers.

The senior advisors reviewed the applications (I think there was twelve or fourteen submitted) and broke them down into three categories, (1) qualified and recommended (2) qualified (3) not recommended. The three advisors debated amongst themselves in front of the public to reach a consensus.

Mr. Parker and his associates will submit a report to the city commission by July 17, 2023. This report will include a pared down list of applicants, those in the “qualified and recommended” category. At that point, Mr. Parker, his associates and the ICMA will have completed a valuable service to our city. We should all be grateful that this excellent recruitment tool is available to city governments in need of assistance. I would remind everyone that executive recruiting services are extremely expensive and the ICMA’s services were provided free-of-charge.

The next steps will be for the commission to review the recommended applications, conduct preliminary interviews, further pare down the applicant pool, and recommend candidates for background checks. Once this process is complete it will be up to the commission to conduct final interviews and make a selection.

Nancy Cummings Park
The agenda pack for Monday’s meeting contains a $59,999.00 quote for playground equipment earmarked for Nancy Cummings park. That price includes delivery and installation. A funding source for this project was not indicated in the agenda pack so I’m not sure if the city has secured grant money for the purchase. If the money for this equipment is from taxpayer funds, then I believe that careful consideration should be given to prioritizing how money is spent developing this park into a safe and accessible asset for the residents of our community.

To build something that provides a long-term benefit to the community, proper drainage is fundamental. When repeated flooding prohibits families from enjoying the benefits the park was intended to provide, the obvious choice is to fix it. A castle built on sand, Matthew 7:24-26.

The city commission has recently allocated more than $30,000 to conduct repairs to the restrooms at the park, and included provisions for paint and materials that can better withstand flooding. Addressing the fundamental reality of drainage will not only negate the necessity of specialized coatings and materials in the restrooms, but benefit all citizens who live in the area. Solving the flooding problem at Nancy Cummings Park will require reestablishing drainage flow. That means either replacing the existing pipes that are failing, or creating an open ditch which could be an amenity for the park with walkover pathways or the like.

Currently our parks drainage system looks like this.

Settling on a solution within the park will not in itself solve the drainage situation. The park is merely a symptom of a much larger problem. Our city’s drainage ditches are in disrepair and our citizens have suffered because of it. Last year’s hurricanes made that clear and this year’s storms are coming. The ditches throughout the city are all interconnected and a blockage or disconnect anywhere throughout the system affects those upstream. The citizens on Nancy Street can attest to this.

Drainage Pipes are collapsed and blocked by debris.

The number of disconnects in this system alone, stretching from Maytown Osteen Road through the Nancy and Wyatt Street neighborhood, across Cypress and through the Nancy Cummings Park is breathtaking. Clearing these blockages would be an enormous undertaking. After completion, there would still be three sections that require remediation:  the pipes under Wood Avenue, the blockages between there and Hickory Avenue, and the stretch between Hickory and North Putnam Grove Road.

South End of Drainage Pipes At the Park.

That’s where the real challenge begins because the stretch from south Putnam on down to Turnbull Creek is through a couple of miles of dense overgrowth. Not to mention that most of it is not within city limits.

There is no easy fix, but our city can overcome this challenge by having meaningful priorities that benefit all citizens on a basic level. Keep in mind that the ditch system I just described is one of many that service our city.

There is No Fence on its Northern Boundary of the Park.

Currently, the Nancy Cummings Park has no fence on its northern boundary. One of the reasons cited by our city staff for keeping the restrooms locked at the park is that drug paraphernalia, including needles, have been found in the facilities. The park has fencing on three of its four sides but not the side that would most easily be accessed unseen. The northern border to the park butts up to a wooden lot. Entrance to the park from the south side would require travel through a neighborhood and the additional scrutiny this represents. If safety is the goal, a well fenced facility that can be effectively closed down at night should be a priority.

If the city does not intend to address the drainage problem in the park, they should at least plan on fencing off the drainage ditch just west of the pumphouse. If the water is not flowing, then it is essentially acting as a retention pond in all but the most extreme flooding conditions.

Is this a Retention Pond?

This portion of the ditch is not flowing 99% of the time. The water is a stagnant, trash ridden breeding ground for mosquitos, snakes and other hazards. These represent a risk to the very children the park was built for. Retention ponds in public parks, unless designed to provide recreational utility should be enclosed to protect those enjoying the park and the city.

The next priority for our city should be to provide a level of service on par with the expectations of the public.  We should meet the standards normalized by other municipalities and complete repairs to the bathrooms at the park. Nobody finds that sitting in a port-o-john in 90+ degree weather represents a pleasant day at the park. Attendance would increase if the experience was better.

Once these basic things are addressed, the playground equipment should be upgraded either by replacing worn out parts or a complete overhaul. Citizen input should drive the decision making.

The ball field at the Nancy Cumming Park is a regulation size field. The city should seek donations or find a source of funding to light it.

No Lighting for Night Games.

At the last city meeting Oak Hill Sports Club director Don Anderson told the commission that the lack of lighting puts the baseball team at a disadvantage to other city teams because they start practice more than a month before our team. Our team can’t practice in the evenings until daylight savings time. This is not good if our community values the comradery and sportsmanship that competitive sports like baseball bring to us. If we can afford it, our city should do all it can to help our young citizens develop into healthy happy individuals that take pride in their community.
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The next Oak Hill City Commissioner’s meeting is, July 7, 2023 at city hall. The time is 6:00 PM. The agenda is available by clicking here.

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…

Joe Catigano
Oak Hill City Commissioner
Seat 3

June 10, 2023
 
Hi Everyone,
Citizen turn out at our city meetings has been amazing, Thank you all for your support. Your participation is essential to the health of our city, and it’s having an impact.
 
What happened at the last meeting?
Our city awarded four No Bid contracts. Three went to contractors and one went to our city’s economic director. Right after I was elected in November of 2022, I was given a staff directory. The economic director is listed on the first page of the Oak Hill commission orientation book. Click here to see it. Our city has had an economic development director listed for years. Now the commission claims that our city needs the services and cannot get them without a contract, despite the claim from the director that he would continue to provide his services and did not ask for this contract.
 
Attorney Simpson cited ordinance Sec. 2-310. – Definitions. to support the city’s adoption of a contract to retain the city’s economic director. The ordinance states that: The term “services” shall not include professional services which are unique in their nature and not subject to competition. In the very recent past, our city used the competitive bidding process to select the auditor that does the annual audit for our city every year. Professional service? Our city uses an auditor selection committee to solicit and screen the bids.  Less than 3 years ago our city solicited bids to select the professional services of a city planner. I don’t know the record or qualifications of our economic director, but I do know that the competitive bidding process would provide the city with an expanded view of the options available and provide new pathways. If our economic development director is all he claims then he could easily survive the limited scrutiny the competitive bidding process presents. 

“where standardization is determined to be in the best interest of the city”

In the case of the other three contracts, how is standardization in the best interest of the city? Attorney Simpson cited Oak Hill ordinance Sec. 2-325. – Negotiated purchases regardless of cost. as a workaround to Oak Hill ordinance, Sec. 2-324. – Open market procedures. The commission and city administrator cited convenience as what’s in the best interest of the city. So, here’s what the commission is telling you, is why they’re giving no-bid contracts out in conflict with our city ordinances. It’s convenient, and soliciting bids is difficult and takes time. They also cite lack of staff as we search for a new administrator and assistant administrator.  The contracts are for land clearing, equipment maintenance, hauling services, tree removal services and street and sidewalk paving and maintenance. In order to buy into their argument, you would have to believe that suddenly, after all these years of obtaining widely available services, without a continuous, open ended contract, that has no pricing schedule or review timetable, is in the best interest of the city.

During debate amongst the commission the example of a fallen tree blocking the road was presented several times as evidence that our city needs these contracts to deal with this inevitability. None of these contracts contain a provision stating the obligation of the contractor to react to our city’s needs during an emergency. If our city is going to enter into a contract, why not include provisions that will actually benefit our city?  Attorney Simpson stated at the May 22, 2023 meeting that the adoption of these contracts would not adorn the contractor as the exclusive provider of services to the city. If I was the winner of one of these contracts and the city awarded a job of like service to a competitor, I would take exception to that and depending on the monetary value I might choose to seek a legal remedy to protect my interest. Is that in the best interest of our city?
 
So how is the adoption of these contracts in the best interest of the city? What specific advantage does it provide us? Essentially the only advantage it provides is to allow the administration to circumvent the purchasing procedure as specifically prohibited in Oak Hill ordinance Sec. 2-319. – Waiver of irregularities. “as long as the waiver would not adversely affect competitive bidding by placing a bidder in a position of advantage over other bidders or by otherwise undermining the intent of competitive bidding” and Sec. 2-322. – Same—City commission. “Awarding of contracts involving public constructions and improvements must be authorized by the city commission and must adhere to the formal bid and contract procedures contained in this article.
Click here to see how our city government and it’s commission handles the competitive bidding process required by Oak Hill ordinance, Sec. 2-324. – Open market procedures.
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The next Oak Hill City Commissioner’s meeting is, June 12, 2023 at city hall. The time is 6:00 PM. The agenda is available by clicking here. To the best of my knowledge no agenda pack was published to support decision making for this meeting.
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…

Joe Catigano
Oak Hill City Commissioner
Seat 3

At the April 10, 2023 city commissioner’s meeting, Evelyn Wood-Evans asked the commission for an accounting of funds her son had donated to the City of Oak Hill. A valid public records request. In her statement, Ms. Evans included that if the city could not provide a proper accounting, she thought the city should give the money back

At the April 10, 2023 city commissioner’s meeting, Evelyn Wood-Evans asked the commission for an accounting of funds her son had donated to the City of Oak Hill. A valid public records request. In her statement, Ms. Evans included that if the city could not provide a proper accounting, she thought the city should give the money back

At the April 10, 2023 city commissioner’s meeting, Evelyn Wood-Evans asked the commission for an accounting of funds her son had donated to the City of Oak Hill. A valid public records request. In her statement, Ms. Evans included that if the city could not provide a proper accounting, she thought the city should give the money back

State law does not provide a distinction between “a vote” and a “formal vote.” I guess the purpose of the first, apparently an “informal vote,” was to pole the commission to learn in advance how they would vote at the formal proceeding. This is inconsistent with state law and certainly not a reflection of the spirit or intent of our legislators when they adopted the sunshine law to regulate public meetings.

State law does not provide a distinction between “a vote” and a “formal vote.” I guess the purpose of the first, apparently an “informal vote,” was to pole the commission to learn in advance how they would vote at the formal proceeding. This is inconsistent with state law and certainly not a reflection of the spirit or intent of our legislators when they adopted the sunshine law to regulate public meetings.