Oviedo City Council approves $9.5M in stormwater bonds

The Oviedo City Council on Monday approved issuing bonds worth up to $9.5 million to help pay for stormwater upgrades, as accusations of possible open meeting law violations overshadowed the vote. 

Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek said she generally does not like issuing bonds or debt. But with the current inflation rate, including construction inflation, she’s comfortable that taking out a bond will put the city in a better financial position. 

“I think we have crossed the threshold for me being comfortable with it,” Sladek said. “We have a lot of deferred maintenance out there, and I’m hopeful that we will be able to quickly tell people there is no backlog and we have a timeline.”

The vote to issue the bond was unanimous. In total, Oviedo has identified more than $43.5 million in stormwater infrastructure projects it wants to complete in the next decade to reduce the chances of flooding during storms and hurricanes. That includes plans to restore the Sweetwater Creek and multiple flooding and drainage projects leftover from Hurricane Ian. You can view the entire list of projects below, and watch Monday’s city council meeting here. 

The issue of the bonds got heated during the meeting. Oviedo Deputy Mayor Natalie Teuchert told the council she had gotten an email from City Attorney David Hall that said that meetings between Sladek and Oviedo City Council Member Alan Ott could possibly have been violations of Sunshine Laws. 

 Sladek vehemently refuted that claim, saying that the Coffee with the Mayor meetings were publicly noticed, all members of the council were invited, and minutes were taken. 

“They are in full compliance with Florida statute, so there is no sunshine violation,” Sladek said. “It’s an accusation and it’s unacceptable to be accused of violating Florida statutes on the Sunshine Law. I pride myself on transparency and following the law. I’m a member of the Florida Bar.”

Florida has an extensive open records law, called the Government in the Sunshine Act, known colloquially as the Sunshine Law. It requires elected officials to publicly notice meetings where board members could meet and make decisions, as well as to keep open records of those meetings. 

Sladek and Ott attended recent Coffee with Mayor Sladek meetings, and Sladek said there was discussion about how city bonds work. Ott – who took the minutes at the meeting – asked the city attorney what they did wrong. 

Hall said a violation of Sunshine Law meetings could be the basis to overturn a decision of the city council in the future, and asked members of council to clarify that they were making decisions based on the discussion happening at Monday’s meeting. 

“In all candor, councilman, I’d rather discuss it outside of the meeting because this is a public record,” Hall said. 

Sladek took issue with that. 

“I’m inclined to sue you for slander, continuing to say that we’re violating Sunshine Law out loud at a public meeting,” Sladek said to Hall, throwing up her hands. “I don’t know what to do with you.”

Hall is retiring as the city attorney. This isn’t the first time sunshine law issues have come up at Oviedo City Council meetings.

“It’s unfortunate it turned into a big blow up in the meeting,” Ott said. “I think what we’re doing is meeting the law, I think it’s for the good of the community because people want to come and talk about stuff. There’s nothing nefarious.”

Additionally, the Oviedo City Council: 

1. Approved the preliminary site plan for Magnolia Townhomes. The project is at the east side of North Central Avenue (State Road 434) and north side of East Magnolia Street, and will consist of seven townhomes on a currently vacant lot.
2. Got a preliminary look at 2025 Oviedo election costs, estimated at for $45,774. The plan is to have three polling sites, and early voting as well. Oviedo pays to cover the cost of off-year city council elections. Sladek and Teuchert’s seats are up for election this year.
3. Approved changes to where campaign signs can go during an election. Now, campaign signs can be in the public right-of-way – but not the median – at polling locations and across the street from polling sites. 
4. Made a change to public input at city meetings, letting members of the public who give their address in writing not have to say their address out loud in the meeting.

UPDATE 11:38 a.m. 5/22/25: This story has been updated to clarify that, according to Deputy Mayor Natalie Teuchert, the email from City Attorney David Hall was what named Mayor Megan Sladek and Councilman Alan Ott while speculating about a Sunshine Law violation.

Want to contact your elected leaders and weigh in on this topic? Find their contact information here. Have a news tip or opinion to share with OCN? Do that here.