On July 2, the Apopka City Council is set to confirm a new economic development director and reassign current employees to helm two newly formed departments out of the public services department.

The appointment would have Antranette Forbes, the current St. Cloud economic development director, succeed Michele Boylan as Apopka’s economic development director.

As another action item, the council would tap current city engineer Vladimir Simonovski as director of the public works department and Glen Brooks, the current water resources utilities operations manager, as director of the utilities operations department.

The appointments of Simonovski and Brooks accompany the split of the city’s public services department into two new ones: public works and utilities operations.

Both departments will have restructured responsibilities moving forward, according to the city staff reports in the July 2 City Council agenda packet. Due to the July 4 holiday, The Apopka Chief went to press before the meeting took place.

Economic development director
Forbes has around 20 years of experience in economic and business development with specialization in business recruitment, municipal operations and program management.

She holds professional credentials from multiple entities including the Florida Redevelopment Association, Florida Gulf Coast University and the Council of Development Finance Agencies.

Since 2019, Forbes has served as the city of St. Cloud’s economic development director. In this role, she “increased CRA taxable value by 29% over five years through strategic infrastructure investments and historic preservation programs,” according to her resume.

The city of Apopka chose Forbes from a selection process that comprised of application review, panel interviews, stakeholder meetings and a final city administration evaluation.

“The City has conducted a comprehensive recruitment process to identify a qualified candidate to lead the Economic Development Department,” a council staff report reads. “This role is critical in advancing the City of Apopka’s strategic goals around business retention, attraction, workforce development, and community revitalization.”

Forbes holds two masters: one in public administration from Nova Southeastern University and another in economic development practitioner from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Public services
The selection of Simonovski as public works director while staying on as city engineer and Brooks as the new utilities operations director stemmed from the restructuring of the public services department.

“Upon departure of the last Public Works Director, a full operational review of the Public Services departments was completed by the City Administrator’s Office,” the City Council staff report reads. “This review included an assessment of current staffing, operations, and management of the Public Services departments, and has resulted in the reorganization of Public Services into two separate departments, the Public Works Department and the Utilities Operations Department.”

Both Simonovski and Brooks are in their second tenure with the city of Apopka in their respective current jobs. Each man has over 20 years of combined service to the city, according to city staff reports.

Simonovski began with the city as a utility design manager and is now the city engineer. He holds a master’s in civil engineering (water resources) from Norwich University and has a state of Florida professional engineer license.

Brooks has served the city through multiple water, wastewater and utility roles. As the current water resources utilities operations manager, he supervises all wastewater plants, water plants and plant maintenance. Brooks holds a Class “A” State of Florida wastewater license and a Class “C” State of Florida pretreatment license.

With the reorganization of the public works and utilities operations departments, each department’s responsibilities have been restructured.

From now on, the public works department will cover city engineer, development review engineering, utilities engineering, transportation and stormwater engineering, construction management, GIS and assets management, and streets and stormwater management. 

Likewise, the utilities operations department’s areas of responsibility moving forward are water plant operations, wastewater plant operations, plant maintenance operations and utilities maintenance which includes water, wastewater and lift stations.

Mentorship program
Also on the July 2 City Council agenda is the approval of a mentorship program for second and third-graders for inclusion in the city’s portfolio of community-supported programs.

Rod Love introduced the initiative’s concept at the June 18 City Council meeting. He is the former interim Orange County District 2 commissioner and the director of the Florida Economic Consortium (FEC), which is helping the Engagement Initiative for Prevention and Intervention Mentoring Partnership Services for Second and Third Graders.

The July 2 City Council vote would include city partnership with the FEC and pertaining stakeholders on the mentorship program. The target population ages 7 to 10 years attending elementary schools in the Apopka area, specifically children performing at Level 1 or 2 in reading, or living in communities identified with high rates of juvenile delinquency or academic underperformance.

“The initiative is designed to improve reading proficiency, reduce early juvenile justice involvement, and strengthen character and academic development among at-risk youth,” the July 2 City Council staff report reads.

Non-profit grant program
The City Council sought to give final approval of the city’s non-profit grant program to support local nonprofit programs in the fiscal year 2025 budget. The city has allocated $100,000 in the current budget for this program.

At the May 21, City Council meeting, the City Council gave direction to staff to develop this non-profit grant program. City staff presented the developed program framework at the June 18 City Council meeting, where the council looked over the proposal and gave feedback to the program.

In a separate action item, the City Council will appoint members to serve two-year terms each on the program’s selection committee. Terms will start on Aug. 1 and end on July 31, 2027.

The mayor and each commissioner appointed one member of the public as follows, according to the City Council staff report: Lorena Potter (Mayor Bryan Nelson), Maribel Brinkle (Commissioner Diane Velazquez), Martha McCray (Commissioner Alexander H. Smith) and Sylvester Hall (Commissioner Nick Nesta).

An appointee by Commissioner Nadia Anderson was left blank on the staff report.

The City Council meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. on July 2 at the Apopka City Hall council chamber.

The Apopka Chief is a weekly community serving the Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923.

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