October 6, 2026 Town Council Meeting — Recap

The October 6, 2026 Town Council meeting, item by item. All three votes were taken by voice, and no member voiced opposition to any of them. A voice vote does not record members one by one, so the table at the bottom shows each member as voting aye on that basis. No minutes have been posted to confirm it, and the recording does not name who moved or seconded. See the note on the record.

Who was present

All five members answered the roll call: Mayor Critton, Vice Mayor Thomas, and Council Members Mack, Jordan and Randolph. The meeting was called to order at 7:32 PM, after a 6:30 workshop (see the fee-waiver item below). Vice Mayor Thomas gave no report at the end, saying she had to leave. The Mayor moved to adjourn at 9:15 PM.

Resolution 2026-51: waiving Town fees on four CRA homes — pulled from the agenda

Removed at the start of the meeting. When the Council took up approval of the agenda, the Mayor said "there's been a recommendation to remove item number one from council decisions." Item one was Resolution 2026-51. It would have waived 100% of the eligible Town fees for building four homes the CRA plans on its lots on South West Street and People Street. No one said at the 7:30 meeting who made the recommendation or why. The agenda was approved without the item, with no opposition voiced.

It was the workshop's only item. The Town first posted a notice cancelling the 6:30 workshop "due to no Agenda Items." On the afternoon of October 5 it replaced that notice, at the same link, with a workshop agenda whose one discussion item was "Discussion of CRA Fee Waiver." The workshop was held. The Town does not broadcast its workshops or post minutes of them, so what was said there is not on the recording. Less than an hour after it, the item was removed from the meeting agenda.

Correction, October 7. This recap first said the 6:30 workshop had been cancelled. It was held, with the fee waiver as its only item.

What counsel said later. In her report, the Town's new counsel, Camille Evans of Endow Law, said that "as you heard earlier this afternoon," her firm is scheduling a meeting with the CRA's attorney "to go over the waiver request," along with other matters between the Town and the CRA. One speaker in citizen participation also asked the Council to get answers about the CRA's housing project before it considers the waiver again.

The questions the agenda breakdown raised remain open: what the waiver would cost, whether it reaches the water and sewer capacity fees, and whether the homes will be sold under any affordability terms.

Dr. Phillips Charities: the standing Hungerford update

Dr. Bahíyyah Maroon, who chairs the advisory committee for the charity's Eatonville initiative, gave the standing update.

The October 7 conversation. A community conversation with dinner was set for the next evening, Wednesday, October 7, from 5:30 to 7:30. She said the first half would bring updates and residents' questions for the charity's chief executive and board chair. The second half would be a conversation about what preserving Eatonville's heritage means to residents. Responding to a request made in citizen participation, she said it would also be streamed, with a link on the charity's website.

The tourist-tax request. She said Dr. Phillips Charities has asked for $60 million from Orange County's tourist development tax for a heritage campus and the Eatonville Museum of Culture and History. The charity will add other money so that the project totals $85 million. She said the County Commission will review the request in a workshop, and gave the date as "next week on the 19th." The County has not posted that agenda, and the date is not confirmed. Background is in Cheatonville's TDT brief.

She also handed out printed copies of the charity's September update. The charity has posted updates online every month since April, she said, but many residents don't go to the website.

Questions from the dais. Council Member Randolph asked whether the charity plans to work with the Town, the CRA and the community. Dr. Maroon said the request is "only in the application stage," with no award yet. She said the charity attends every Council meeting and every community meeting it is invited to.

Randolph then asked whether the charity is moving forward despite the lawsuit over the property's sale. Dr. Maroon said Dr. Phillips Charities is not a party to that lawsuit and could not comment on it. "We are absolutely 100% committed to making sure that we are diligently serving the town of Eatonville and focused on a project that will create economic benefit and community benefit in Eatonville," she said.

Randolph said she has read the plan several times and still does not see how it would sustain the Town, meaning tax revenue for water, sewer, police and code enforcement. "Everything that I see there is non-profit," she said. Dr. Maroon said a site plan is still "a little ways away." When there is one, she said, it will go to Town staff for review and then to the Council.

Another member asked whether the charity is still doing due diligence on the land itself, such as how much of it can be developed. "Those conversations are very much happening," she said. Council Member Mack thanked her for appearing at every meeting.

Citizen participation

Three people spoke. In keeping with this site's practice of not identifying people who speak from the floor, this recap gives their topics only:

• History. One speaker spoke about the town's history and its founders, and was critical of a recent land deal.
• Housing and the Hungerford property. One speaker raised questions about the CRA's housing project and the fee waiver, and about planning for the Hungerford property.
• The data center. One speaker spoke about the HostDime data center and urged continued public discussion of it.

Ordinance 2026-7: farmers markets pass first reading

Passed on first reading, with no opposition voiced. The ordinance adds farmers markets as a permitted use in the C-3 district, one of the Town's commercial zoning districts. The agenda breakdown covers what it says. The second reading is set for October 20. The Deputy Town Clerk said Council meetings during the early-voting period will be held at the Denton Johnson Center (see the reports below). The hearing notice in the packet and the Orlando Sentinel ad both still name Town Hall.

The map. The Town's planning consultant said that on September 16, the day after the Council tabled the item for a printed map, she emailed the Town Clerk the zoning map and a link to an interactive version. On September 17 she answered questions from one Council member. She showed the map again: everything in red is zoned C-3.

Parking. Council Member Randolph, who said she was the member the planner had spoken with, said she likes the idea and had walked the area. Her concern was parking, especially vendor parking and narrow residential streets. The planner's answers:

• A market cannot count parking on residential streets toward what it must provide. It must provide both customer and vendor parking.
• No streets are designated now, because no market has applied. Parking would be reviewed when someone applies for a business tax receipt, the Town's license to run a business.
• If a market's customers park on residential streets anyway, it becomes a code-enforcement matter. Repeat problems can lead to the business tax receipt being revoked.
• The change does not move anything from C-1, the district where markets are already allowed, to C-3. It adds markets to C-3.

The public hearing. Two people spoke from the podium. One spoke in support. A second raised how parking on residential streets during events would be enforced. A third comment, apparently from staff, suggested that event hosts recruit volunteers to direct parking.

Council discussion. Members raised the Town's existing parking problems. The Town's attorney said the ordinance already provides for an alternative parking plan, reviewed for each market. A member then described cars parked on both sides of a narrow street keeping a fire truck from getting through. The planner asked the Council to treat parking as a town-wide issue separate from this use. Farmers markets, she said, would carry more parking restrictions than any other use in the code.

Resolution 2026-52: a deadline for answers on water and sewer bills

Passed, with no opposition voiced. The resolution directs the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), finance and utility billing staff, and the Town Attorney to deliver written findings within 14 Town business days. The findings must cover how the water and sewer rates set in December 2024, and amended in July 2025, were adopted, interpreted, put into effect and billed. The agenda breakdown sets out the questions it asks.

The deadline held. Before the vote, the Mayor asked the sponsor, Council Member Jordan, whether she would be willing to extend the 14 days, since the Town's legal team is new. Jordan said she was "married to it." The issue has come up for "at least 18 months," she said, and "we have a bad habit of talking about items up here at council meeting and not going back." She said staff could report that work is still under way, but must report something. Asked how strictly to hold staff to the deadline, she said "1,000%," within reason.

Council Member Mack said the administration "dropped the ball," and that residents call him about the issue constantly.

The dollar figure. Council Member Randolph asked whether anyone has calculated how much money is involved. CAO Marlin Daniels said staff are running a report to establish the exact dates and dollar amount, and that members will get it by email. Jordan said the work should have continued even as the Town's attorneys changed.

When the answer comes. Evans put the fourteenth business day at "about the 27th of October." She said she was not sure whether the Columbus Day holiday would count. The agenda breakdown counted October 26, assuming Town Hall is open every weekday. Either way, the deadline falls after the October 20 meeting. Evans said the response would go into the packet for the first meeting in November.

Staff and counsel reports

Deputy Town Clerk. Early voting for the general election runs at Town Hall from Monday, October 19 through Sunday, November 1, 8 AM to 8 PM. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 7 AM to 7 PM. During that period, the Clerk said, Council meetings will be held at the Denton Johnson Center. That covers the second October meeting and the first November meeting, October 20 and November 3 on the Town's calendar.

Chief Administrative Officer. Daniels said a draft of the Town's audit has arrived. Some parts are still to be turned in, and the attorney will review it. He hopes the audit can be presented at the next meeting. He said the vacant positions the Mayor authorized have been posted.

He announced National Night Out on Tuesday, October 13, 6 to 8 PM. It is sponsored, he said, so it costs no tax dollars. On October 30 there is a Safe Routes to School sidewalk event, along with Hungerford Elementary's cultural walk and fall festival. He said HostDime "will be at the next meeting." He asked members again for their legislative objectives, which he said the budget amendment now being prepared depends on. Later he warned of possible hazardous weather that weekend. The police chief would put protocols in place, including robocalls.

Town counsel. Evans said her firm is three weeks into the six-month engagement the Council approved on September 15. In that time, she said, it has:

• helped the Town adopt its tax rate and budget on time;
• advised on land-use and zoning matters, including a threatened lawsuit over a fence;
• handled employment matters and helped staff with public records requests;
• met with the Historic Preservation Board on October 1 and promised it a report in November.

On active litigation, she said the firm met with former Town Attorney Clifford Shepard and with TG Law, the firm whose proposal the Council approved on August 4. She did not say what has become of TG Law's engagement. The firm is going further through the record on the Hungerford property and the HostDime project. It is scheduling the meeting with the CRA's attorney on the waiver request, and a meeting with the Clerk's office on agenda development and public records.

She said counsel's role is to make sure the Council has the information it needs. It is not to give opinions or make recommendations on "business decisions," which she said belong to the Council. She also reminded members of the Sunshine Law and public records rules.

Council and Mayor reports

Council Member Randolph announced a public information meeting on the Kennedy Boulevard road project on Wednesday, October 21, 6 to 7:30 PM. She asked for the status of the post office request the Council approved on September 15 (Resolution 2026-48).

Daniels said the federal office contacted under a records request filed by the Town's previous attorney had reported no record of the contract. Randolph said she had a printout from the Maitland Post Office from over a year ago, and would get the information to staff. She explained that the town is split between two ZIP codes, which she said affects things like insurance rates and deliveries. The goal, she said, is to bring the town under one.

Council Member Mack offered condolences to the families affected by a school-bus crash involving high school students in Winter Haven. He thanked Dr. Maroon, encouraged residents to attend the October 7 conversation, and noted Breast Cancer Awareness Month. He asked whether all open Town positions had been advertised. The answer from the dais was that all had gone out that day, inside and outside the Town, except a special projects director still awaiting HR review. He also asked about the outside firm handling the Town's finance work. That engagement is coming to an end, he was told, and the finance director job has been posted. He praised the finance staff for working without a finance director. He said Council members need to do better at answering residents' hard questions, himself included.

Council Member Jordan, responding to a resident's concern about the Town's pool, said it should be open year-round. She suggested splitting recreation staff's hours so it can stay open longer. She announced a community conversation on data centers on October 27, 6 to 7:30 PM, at the Denton Johnson Center. It is hosted by a local community group, with a Sierra Club speaker. A November 7 health and safety event, 10 AM to noon, with CPR and self-defense training, was also announced during her report. She thanked the Town's counsel for the firm's first three weeks of work.

After Jordan's report, Evans added an item she had left out of her own: the Town's logo, which members raised on September 15. She recommended that a trademark firm first search what the Town can register and report back. What to register, she said, is the Council's decision.

Mayor Critton opened with an apology to the Council. Comments had been made, she said, implying she had sent someone else to speak for her at an event. That would never happen, she said: if she cannot attend, the Vice Mayor or another Council member speaks, and otherwise CAO Daniels speaks for the Town. She said the stakeholder meetings are returning, with the next on October 26.

She repeated the dates for the Kennedy Boulevard road-widening meeting, October 21 at 6 PM at the Denton Johnson Center, and the October 27 data-center conversation. She also noted the Chamber of Commerce's trunk-or-treat and the Safe Routes to School project. She closed by recognizing Eatonville alumni honored at an Edgewater High School gala the previous weekend.

A note on the record

YouTube had posted no captions for this meeting. This recap is drawn from a machine transcript of the Town's recording, made for this page. It was checked against the audio wherever exact wording mattered, including the agenda change, each vote and the meeting locations. The broadcast is silent for its first ten minutes, before the meeting was called to order at 7:32 PM. Nothing of the 7:30 meeting itself appears to be missing. The 6:30 workshop was not broadcast.

Machine transcripts garble names. People are named here only where the name is clear on the recording or already established on this site. Where the recording does not show who was speaking, this recap says so. Figures appear only where they were stated plainly. No minutes of this meeting have been posted.

Sources. Meeting recording · October 6 meeting packet · Town meetings portal