Good morning everyone. It is now 9:00. I would like to call to order the Barrier Islands Government Council meeting for Wednesday, April 29th. Please stand for the pledge. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic
for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, we will start off with the roll call and go to my left and around the room. My name is David Will and I am lucky
enough to be the mayor of Readington Beach. >> John Doctor, mayor, Treasure Island. >> Steve Bloom, mayor Beller Shore. >> Good morning, Scott Tate, mayor of St. P Beach. >> We had a There it is. You got the box. All right.
>> Good morning, Mikely Party, Spectrum. >> Good morning, David Serrigas, Spectrum as well. >> Kathy Thornsberry, clerk, city of Beller Beach. Adriana Neves, town clerk, town of Readington Beach.
>> Doug Linder, Dr. Mold Solutions. >> Good morning. Barry Rubin, Penel Beaches Chamber of Commerce. Ready, David? >> David Glenn. I'm candidate for Penel County Commission District 6. >> Hillary Kane, Commissioner, Indian Rock Beach.
>> Jan Wilson, Vice Mayor, Indian Rock Beach. Kelly Watt, Commissioner, Indian Rocks Beach. >> Nick Florentino, candidate for Penllis County Judge. >> Danielle Tucker, Valley Bank. >> Ken Grimes, fire chief for Penellis Sun
Coast fire and rescue. >> Carla Bowling, Titan Home Lending and Indian Shores Resident. >> Uh Sam Jenkins, SPC's Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions. Megan Powers, assistant to the city manager, Madera Beach.
Terresa Cry, Duke Energy. >> Amy Davis, Penllis County Big Sea Leaon. >> Mike Helffrick, the new city manager for Madira Beach. >> All right, Michelle, town clerk with town of Readington Shores.
>> Parker Kerry, town manager, Readington Shores. Good morning, CJ Hoy, commissioner, Readington Shores. Lee Jacobs, Readington Beach. >> Karen Miller, Coastg Guard Auxiliary.
>> Lisa Rapetto, Coastg Guard Auxiliary. >> Aaron Shu, vice mayor, Readington Shores. >> Larry Maynard, commissioner, Readington Shores. >> Good morning, Eddie Mcan, vice mayor of Mader Beach. Uh, good morning. Christopher Holland,
Citizen Pasro. >> Good morning, Charlie Justice, Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce. >> Fred Irwin, San Key Civic Association. >> Jerry Shanka, Sani Civic Association. >> David Garcia, director, state government
affairs with Spectrum. >> Good morning, Bobby Shayley, city of Treasure Island. >> Good morning. Ashley Oren representing Penelis County Commissioner Kathleen Peters who couldn't be here due to a PSTA meeting. >> Good morning. Stanley Silverstein, uh,
director of the library across the street. >> Thank you. >> Hello. I'm Ryan Linder with DR Mold Solutions. >> Ellen Bower, counselor of Indian Shores. Tina Porter, town administrator in Ensures.
>> Good morning. I love this box. Gina Johnson 1440 living. >> Good morning. Tim Johnson Waterfront Realy in Tampa Bay Beach's Chamber. >> You go. >> Jay Super mayor North Readington Beach. Oops.
>> Tom Kapper, mayor of Readington Shores. >> Diane, mayor of Indian Shores. >> Lan Vaughn, mayor of Indian Rocks Beach. >> And Marie Brooks, mayor of Madira Beach. Dave Gatis, mayor of Bair Beach.
>> All right, moving on. Do we have any changes or can we get an approval to our agenda? >> Motion to approve. >> All in favor? >> I. >> All right, the motion the agenda is approved. Can we get an approval of our minutes from our last meeting? >> Second.
>> All in favor? >> All right, the minutes are approved. Moving on to the treasures report. Mayor Brooks >> treasures report for the month of March is opening balance was $540.54.
We had $7528 in expenses that were website work to digital eel with a closing balance of $465.26. >> All right. Can we get a motion to approve the treasurer's report? >> I move to approve the treasur report.
>> All in favor? I. >> All right, moving on to new business. Consideration of nominating committee's recommendations for the big C officers. All right, nominating committee,
your recommendations. Okay, so we discussed, nobody wants to step up. We discussed this at a previous meeting. So, um, this is the end of my term as the president. So um the vice
president moves the treasurer moves to vice president and at a previous meeting John Docker was nominated for treasurer and uh so there you go. All right. Now we will administer the oath or does anybody have any everybody good with all
that? I don't see anybody volunteering. All right. All right. Now we will administer the oath of office to our incoming big C officers. Who would you like? Would everybody the same? How would you like to do that?
>> Go up front for some pictures. >> All right. >> Don't go anywhere yet. >> What? >> All right. support of the United States. foreign. >> I take this obligation.
>> I take this obligation. >> I will and faithfully discharge. faithful discharge >> the duties which I'm about to enter >> the duties which I'm about to enter >> and I will serve >> affirmed that I will serve
>> to the best of my ability That's ability. Congratulations, Mayor Gatis. >> Thank you. All right. You're not going anywhere yet. >> All right. >> Mayor Will on behalf of Pixie Area
Islands Government council. I want to uh express uh my deepest appreciation for everything you've done the last two years and please accept this gift on behalf of the organization. Thank you very much. It's been an honor to serve you and thank you very much.
>> It's all yours, Dave. All right. Good morning, everyone. Um, >> yeah, you see me in a tie. Now, this is the big C. Don't get used to it. All right. All right. So, now we are on to uh more new business, which is a presentation by
Captain Karen Miller, and she has brought a guest with her. Captain Miller, please come on up. >> Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. appreciate all the the mayors, vice mayors, etc. for having me here. My name is Karen Miller and I apologize for my
back to everybody else, but um I'm from the Coast Guard Auxiliary, happen to be the Clearwater Flotilla, Mayor Recctor, and I'd like to tell you a little bit about the Coastg Guard Auxiliary and how I see their synergy with the Big C and
how we can work. But before I do that, for everybody in the room, like question. How many of you have boated either your own boat or with somebody else on their boat or rented a boat? Would I have a show of hands?
Appropriate for a comm. Would you keep your hands up for a minute? And those of you who wore a life jacket while you were boating, will you keep your hand up? Thank you, mayor. The second question, how many of you who
drove today wore your seat belt? How many of you did it because it was safe or because it was the law? Mostly the law. Thank you. I won't shame anybody after this. And that's the end of the pop
quizzes. So I want to tell you as I said about the auxiliary and the the Coast Guard auxiliary itself is called the essentially uh sponsored by Congress way back in 39 and we'll look at that in a minute and I
promise I won't read other slides to you but I want to give you our founding charter and that's to promote the efficiency and the operation of motorboats, sailboats and yachts to foster a wider knowledge and better
compliance with the laws, rules and regulations governing the operation of recreational boats to facilitate other operations of the Coast Guard auxiliary and the Coast Guard. The motto for the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Auxiliary is Sair Paradus, which means
always ready. At the same time, we also have incorporated, for anybody who's in the military probably knows this, seer gumby, which means that we're pretty much adaptable and flexible as circumstances come along.
We were founded in June 23 of 39. At that time it was actually all volunteers who used their boats to look for Ubot out during World War II and for shoreline patrols. They actually did it
on horseback for a lot of the patrols. Then in 41 they decided that they would have an actual coast guard reserve and those people who wanted to actually become part of that joined that and were now paid as opposed to the auxiliary
which remained as a volunteer force. Our flotillaa which is the lowest level in the organization was founded in 1950 and we just celebrated our 75th anniversary. In 1996 there was a new act in Congress
and that pretty much let us do absolutely everything the Coast Guard does except carry guns and go to war. So, we don't do any law enforcement or anything like that, but it opened up to the point where we now have 88 different
missions that we can participate in in support of the Coast Guard and the local community. The Coast Guard, as you might know, is really very small and it's under the Department of Homeland Security. The auxiliary is considered their force
multiplier. We have heard comandon after commonant mention that literally the Coast Guard could not accomplish what they accomplished without the help of the auxiliary. We're about 18,500
members. We are certainly the largest volunteer organization in the maritime industry and the only thing we do our support of the Coast Guard and its missions. This is what the organization
looks like. It's as you can see not only is it the entire United States but we also include Guam, Puerto Rico and the V US Virgin Islands. Then we go to districts and you can see
a southeast district is the largest one in the United States and includes Georgia, South Carolina, most of Florida except the panhandle, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Uh we're broken into divisions and then flotillas.
Locally, there are two divisions that service all of you. Uh, division 11 runs from Madera Beach north to just Hudson and we're in the same territory that's Coast Guard station San Key is in. Then
there's division 7 which covers both sides of Tampa Bay and that's covers the same area as station Petersburg which comes obviously from St. Petersburg. We're 56 members strong. As I mentioned,
we're 75 years old, actually 76 now. And the city of Clearwater has been wonderfully supportive, but so have we been of the city. Um, back in 2011, um, they put in an application to become
a Coast Guard city. This is repres This is a a designation that includes the fact that the city supports the Coast Guard in just about everything they do. Uh when new members come in, they have new packages for them. They help them
find places to live, things like that. And we have the largest air station in Clear Water as well as station San Key. Well, the auxiliary was very helpful in coming together with that package that let the Coast Guard designate them a
Coast Guard city and it was the first one in Florida. So, a big honor that has continued nationally. The Coast Guard Auxiliary has we do and I'll talk about this mission in a moment. Uh we examine over
1 million vessels a year to make sure they have all the safety equipment on board. That's going to help make sure that not only are the boers safety on that boat, but that the rest of us sharing the waterways also are safe. Uh
we put in almost, as you can see, 980,000 hours of teaching boating classes, put out patrols. We patrol just about every weekend and a lot of times during the week. We've saved 3,100 people,
helped and towed or brgggrounded, did everything for almost 91,000 voters. We saved in property, whether it's boats or or any other thing up 31 million. And
we helped reduce the fatalities. But at one time it was over 10 uh per 1,000 10 I'm sorry 100,000 people and we've gotten it down to 5.9. That's still unaccept even one fatality
is too much but we're getting it down and that's again through the activities that we do. And if you look at that 31 million um in in property, that's I mean that just covers the costs of the
auxiliary right there. How do we get funded? Only two ways. We have member dues and when we teach our public education classes, we charge fees for it. Uh meanwhile, the Coast Guard
helps us from uh that each one of those districts that I showed you uh has one at least one active duty person who's in charge of us. So, they pay that. Uh we have training meetings and they cover
the costs of those. And then advanced training. We learn how to do search and rescue at at the highest levels and they'll finance that for us. So we have essentially four mission areas.
Recreational boating safety which I'll talk about in a moment, operations and marine safety and then our sort of internal our member services mission support and the fourth one is our fellowship. That's our cornerstone.
So when we look at recreational boating safety, we teach classes. Every person that we teach, and just so you know, when they look at the statistics of boating fatalities, almost 85% of the people that were in a
fatal accident never had any boating education. So obviously there's a need to make sure we can do something about that. uh we examine the vessels to make sure that they have all the safety gear, but it's much more than just safety gear.
It's an exchange of information to make them safe for Boers. And then we do what we call program visitation. Um I noticed there was um a a rack card in the back where we leave information so that Boers can find out what the latest rules are
or how to find a class. Um, we often go to places like West Marine or insurance companies and and provide the information. This is what our typical classes look like. The vessel safety checks. Typically, we
go to three of the the local ramps. Seol Street boat ramp, the Bellair boat ramp, and Park Boulevard boat ramp. And as they bring their trailered boats in, we'll go and examine them at this is
volunteer on their part as well. It's not law enforcement of any sort. If the boat passes, they get a decal that says safe. If it doesn't, then uh we don't report it to anybody. We just tell them where they can go and get information.
Um, we also will go to somebody's house if that's where they have it or if they have it in a boat yard or any place else. Marinas will go wherever the boater is to make it convenient for them. And as I mentioned, the visitor
program, the marinas, um, boat clubs, supply stores, and even insurance companies, doctor's offices, operations. This is where we're out on the water. We actually volunteer our own personal boats that are equipped to
Coast Guard standards and we go out and and the same thing with airplanes. People who have airplanes and are pilots, they volunteer them and we go on ordered patrols in the Coast Guard and we also do radio
watches. Uh typically, as an example, when hurricane season comes along, station San Key has to leave the station. They're on a barrier island. Um sector St. Pete in St. Petersburg is on
Bayboro Burough Harbor and they get flooded. So they have us cover so that if a boater is calling Mayday or needs other help, we actually do that for the Coast Guard. We do this voluntarily, but the Coast
Guard reimbures us for our fuel, our oil, and our ice, and that's it. So, this is not an inexpensive organization to be belong to. I admit it. But the rewards are so great. on the
other side, uh, marine safety, and this is where I think there's a lot of synergy with with all of the your your beach areas. Uh, we look at environmental protection as well as we actually go to the Port of Tampa and and
and do marine safety there. So, our surface patrols, we're trained captains and crew members. The boats have to be totally inspected. We go out and we do search and rescue. I
have uh numerous awards for life saving that we've been out on a patrol and literally pull people out of the water. Um we check the navigational aids to make sure that they're in in good shape. Um some of the fun the like the regata
patrols you can see the superboat races. This is right off Clear Water. Um, somebody has to keep the spectators away from the racecourse and it's our job to just patrol that alley and to keep them
west and the races on the other side. This is really neat. Not only do we get to see it and have this, but other people pay a fortune to get on the boats to get this close, and you can see how close we are just in that in that photo.
Um, we also do a lot of joint training. So, the Coast Guard has to practice towing and they don't want to keep towing each other because they know what those boats are like. So, they have us come in and act like we're our boat has
died and now they're going to tow us. We do what we call ax as well. We have pilots and non-pilot observers and they go out the same way we do on patrols. A lot of times they're doing
pseudo law enforcement because obviously they're 1,000 ft or 500 ft up in the air, but they have uh they actually recently were down way down by the dry tortuggers and an inaba
and came across um a desert island essentially and saw SOS in the sand and there were something like 14 undocumented people that were on this island, basically a desert island. They
had been there for more than a week, and they saw them, nobody else had seen them, and then they set a Coast Guard cutter over to take them off and basically saved their lives. But they'll go out also and and look for search and rescue when there's a problem. As I
mentioned, post- disaster work as well for um environmental protection. We we get called out if somebody reports, as an example, uh pollution
over near uh Madura Beach Marina. They'll call us out to check it out before they send the Coast Guard all the way over. We do red tide testing and I encourage anybody who lives near the water on the
water. This is something Florida Fish and Wildlife does. If you contact them, they will actually set you up with a kit with FedEx on their charges. They you go out, you test the waters once or twice a
month, FedEx them over to FWC, they test them, and then once a week you get the announcement of whether there's red tide or not. You're really helping with the environment. Uh we do coastal cleanups. We'll go to the beaches and literally
pick up trash. Um are anybody familiar with monotubes? These are where fisher fisher people are. Uh primarily it takes the monofilament line that got all tangled up because it got tangled and rather
than throwing it back in the water or on land where it'll get birds or turtles and things like that. These monotubes are P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P PVC pipes and we work with H keep penelis beautiful and um Tampa Bay watch
to we empty them, wash the excuse me, wash the line and have it recycled. And we're just going to investigating and starting for microlastic testing. That's the newest hottest concern now for our
waterways. And I forgot to mention when I was talking about surface patrols, probably the one that's most that I love the most is I'm sure every one of you have noticed the C130s or the C-27s flying overhead. Well, for those pilots to to
be proficient when they're out there, because what they're going to do is if they come across a disabled boat and they finally find it, if it's taking on water, as an example, they're going to drop a raft down to that boat. If um it's taking on water, they might drop a
dewatering pump down to that boat. If they don't have communications, they might drop a portable radio down. Well, they have to get proficient in doing that. So we go out into the Gulf about 8
n miles and we're targets. So they drop a flare so they can see what the wind looks like and then they start dropping this stuff and we we pick it up and we let them know how how close they've gotten. The I'll use an improper word, the funnest
part of this whole thing is they if they have to communicate with the boat, one of the things they do is they call it a message block. They drop, it's a plastic bag about this big with a little sandbag inside it and they put a note if there
some reason they have to contact them that way. And it has about a 50ft streamer and they drop it from the back of the plane to the boat. Obviously, it can't be far away because the boat's disabled. When we practice, they have little notes
in there like stop off at the exchange and here's a case of beer on the pilot, things like that. But um on Valentine's Day, they gave us those little heart candies in the in the bag and stuff like that. But the neat part of it is they
ask how high our boat is. My boat was 18 foot at the top of the antenna. They flew at 68 feet. In other words, 50 feet above my boat. 68 feet above water water level.
this 4 engine gigantic airplane. It is It is so much fun. And a couple times we have actually on my boat had our hand out and it landed in our hand. And I only had a 25 foot boat. It's not like I had a big cutter or anything like that.
So that's I forgot to mention it, but it's probably one of the most exciting missions we do. And we do that three days a week, including once a week at night. We also have to support all this. So, we have leaders. Um, I'm a past flotilla
commander, but we have people who don't want maybe they don't want to be on the water at all. And so, we need computer services. Uh, Lisa, who's here with me, has an award-winning newsletter for our flotilla. Um, we do public affairs
things like this event. We teach our courses. Um, we have to bring in new members. So we have people who are interested in doing uh human resources. We have doctors, nurses, dentists who volunteer with the Coast Guard and help
their clinics. Translators that these people who who speak fluently and can read fluently foreign languages. They'll often get, if they're willing, deployed onto ships. We've had them go up to the
Arctic and down to Antarctica because they spoke a language that was needed. Um others they especially up in um Alaska, they'll come across Russian boats and then need somebody who can speak Russian. So a lot of opportunities
if you do have a a second language. And then finally, you know, the military in general runs on its stomach. Well, the Coast Guard just can't get enough cooks or chefs or whatever we want to elevate them to. Matter of fact, at one time
they were uh if if you joined the Coast Guard and you were a chef already, there was a $50,000 signing bonus. Well, even with that, they can't get enough. So, they teach us how to cook for 40 50
people at a time. So, we've had people, and this is going to sound sexist, but mostly men who didn't know how to boil water and are now cooking for everybody in in the Coast Guard station. It's another opportunity to learn a skill as
well as serve the Coast Guard. The glue that holds us together is fellowship. So, we have monthly meetings. We do a whole bunch of formal ceremonies and then there are social events. You can see on the on the left side that was our holiday party. Up
above was Cinco de Mayo party. Um after patrols, as an example, my boat was up in Palm Harbor. We'd stop at Molly Goodheads after the patrol. Um, and then formal ceremonies, things like changes of watch for the Coast Guard as as well
as ours. Reason I asked about life jackets in particular because those are some of the most important is coming up May 16th through 22nd is National Safe Boating Week. And there's multiple messages for
it, but the primary one is wear your life jacket. Yes. You know how to swim, but what happens when you fall overboard? Secondly, make sure your boat is properly equipped. Check the weather before you go out,
especially around here that not only can the fog drop in real quick on you, but you have small craft advisories. Check it before you go. Uh there was a new law in 2021 that most boats under 26 foot
have to have what's called an engine cut off switch. What this does is if you fall overboard, it stops the engine. It kills the engine so that you don't have what's called a circle of death because typically you fall over, the helm is in
your hand, you go over, and then the boat starts circling. And it's there was a recent case down in Sarasota where not only did the guy fall out, but the boat hit him on the way back. Luckily, it wasn't the propeller and it kept
circling for like 15 minutes. The police finally came up alongside it, the marine police, and and the guy had to jump from their boat onto this other boat going 40 miles an hour and he was able to stop
it. Others have crashed into docks and things like that. Please, out of the the people who have fatalities, over 85% of them were not wearing life jackets and they drown. And one of the
leading causes over a third of the causes of boating accidents is alcohol. So, we ask you to to boat sober. And then finally, one of the big problems we have found is people go out on their boat, nobody knows when they left, when
they were supposed to come back and where they were going. If some of you remember back uh quite a few years now, the football players who went out from Seminal Street Boat ramp, nobody they knew they didn't come back, but nobody knew where they went. And it took
something like 48 hours before they found one survivor out of four. because nobody knew where they were. So if you file a float plan, basically you're telling a neighbor, I'm leaving now. I'm coming back at 5:00. If I don't come
back by 5:30, call the Coast Guard. And if you're going to be out for a while, here's a description of my boat. The idea is to take the search out of search and rescue. If you want to join, we'd love everybody and anybody, as I mentioned, we cover
both sides of Tampa Bay as well as all the way up to Hudson. You need to be a US citizen. You need to be at least 17 years of age. There is a background check and you can join any flotilla you want.
And importantly, you don't have to own a boat. As you saw, there's a lot of other things that we do. >> With that, I'd like to open it up to any questions. >> Council, any questions for Captain Miller?
>> Uh, yes, Captain Miller. Uh, you talk about the, uh, boating safety class that kind of leads into the, uh, boating safety card. Are you seeing a lot of our youth participate in that? I know that
my children are now 21. I made both of my twins or my twins along with my wife take your course many years ago. >> Okay. >> And my son still has that card in his wallet. >> We we have some people who took classes
back in ' 68 and ask and some of them have lost the card and keep asking us, can we get another one? Um, we have not enough youth, but anybody now who's born after January 1, 1988, if they want
to operate a boat, which makes what are they going to be 38 or something like that now, um, has to take a boating course if they want to operate the boat on their own. Uh, we just had a class this last weekend. We had 12 people. One
was 14 years old. The rest were 40s, 50s, 60s. So, people are taking the class because they want to be safe, not so much because they need to to take it. I wish we could get more kids into it. Uh,
we're working on it. >> Well, perhaps we could talk about that on a sideline. >> I would love it. I would also love to uh receive your newsletter on on the regular basis as well to keep up with what you're doing. >> Make sure we grab your card if you will
and we'll be more than glad to share it. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. One of one of your um subsidiary type members um on the Indian Shores Council is Mike Howard and Mike is a member of our flotilla.
>> So that's that's helpful too. >> Mayor Recctor. >> Yeah. Uh well, thank you for all you do. Uh very familiar and and you know how important you are to the city of Clearwater, but uh I just want folks to know how how many lives uh the auxiliary
has saved over 75 years. Countless lives, not just through the operations and rescues, but uh boer education. You know, we can do there very little you can do about people drinking and operating a boat that's, you know, that's really beyond your control. We
can educate and try to encourage folks to wear life jackets and all, but uh the the number of people everybody in this room knows it that try to operate a boat or a vessel and have no idea what they're doing. It's it's it's a huge
number. is so every every boater that you educate just ends up saving lives because it's uh it's it's much more dangerous than what most people uh appreciate when they get out there and they try to operate a vessel without knowing how to do it. I also want to
thank you for the entertainment you have provided to the guest and to the visitors to Clearwater Beach over the past 10 years because these training missions that you put on are very dramatic and they see them out there beyond Pier 60 and they're like, "Wow,
look at this. I wonder what's happening. Are they saving a life?" And I know it's just a training mission probably, but the visitors don't. I just think that this most dramatic thing and particularly in the evenings to watch those uh those training missions. So, thank you for that. And uh the last
thing I want to share uh or ask you is this is uh we all know and I've seen news stories just read a couple while was while you were you were presenting where the Coast Guard's not been paid now for 75 days and there's news stories
around the country that some of them are having their electricity shut off and it's been a very difficult time. So I know from uh them sharing their appreciation of you and the auxiliary of how close you are to them. I know that Clearwater Air Station is the busiest
and largest uh Coast Guard station in the United States. Uh that they rely on you a lot for help. But during this difficult time where families are having a hard time, what can you tell us about how local families in the Coast Guard are fairing?
The Coast Guard has what's called the Coast Guard Mutual Association and will be more than glad to take donations that they can then provide as either uh interest free loans or actually forgivable loans to to help
tide the active duty. Um we have donated some, but if if we want to donate, we can't donate it to one person. it has to be to the entire station and that's why the mutual association is is ideal for
that. Uh other times we've seen uh local neighbors go over to San Key and offer them up a whole meal just again as a thank you. um up in Yankee Town, which is way beyond your your area, they just
got Marina donated stuffed manatees because of course you have all the manatees up there and gave them for every child of a kid in the in the Coast Guard station up there. uh but we just
can't provide it directly to you know any donations but Coast Guard Mutual Association you can easily Google that and do it. One final word and by the way thank you mayor one final word that picture up there was was my boat in
Clearwater Pass. It was a really snotty snotty day as you can see from the from the seas. I was actually on the inside um on east of the Clearwater Pass bridge and we got a call that there were two
men in the water about a mile off of Clearwater Pass uh in a capsized sailboat and the Coast Guard from San Key was way down here in Madera Beach and they had no nobody that could come. So they asked us, even though the seas
were about 4 to 5 foot and the winds were about 20 some odd knots, to go out, could we do it? So we actually got out there. You can see my boat submarining because the seas were that bad. We got the one guy aboard and the other guy wouldn't go until we did something for a
sailboat. I'm not leaving my sailboat. So here's this capsized sailboat. We throw him a line. He hooks it around and we towed it in with him on finally on our boat. Uh it took us an hour to go less than a mile just to by shepherds to
be able to ground this thing so that they could salvage it later. The seas were that bad in time. We went more than about two knots, the sailboat would start submarining as well. So that was probably one of the hairiest rescues that we did, but we saved two
lives. They were not wearing life jackets, >> Captain Miller. Uh, >> thank you, >> gentlemen. Thank you. All right, thank you for that incredible presentation. very informative and uh uh
it's my understanding you're going to be in Bair Beach on the 6th. >> That is correct. >> And I think the fourth >> the fourth for a president or a uh >> proclamation >> proclamation and the sixth for what's
the official event called? The hurricane and water safety expo. So hey, we're doing something in Baylor Beach. All right. Just saying. All right. Up next is David Garcia with Spectrum Government Affairs.
Good morning. Good morning. Sorry, I'm just going to pull up a PowerPoint here. Hopefully, it works. All right. Okay, here you go. Well, good morning mayors, vice mayors,
city commissioners, town commissioners and their staff and the barrier islands community. Uh once again, my name is David Garcia, director state government affairs with Spectrum and um I'd like to speak with you all
for a few minutes this morning. I know I was given um Mayor Wills told me about 20 minutes. I don't know if I'll be able to fill that, but I I'll try my best. Um also wanted to intro some of our leadership from our field operations team. They introduced themselves earlier. Mr. Mike Leopardi
and Mr. David Saigga. Um once again, thank you for having us here today. We're we're happy to present before you today. Uh some of you I I have met one-on-one. Some of you I've communicated with oneonone. Good to see you, Mayor Recctor. Um, and we're just happy to be here today uh to to uh
present before you. >> All right. So, like I said, I'd like to spend a few minutes walking through the community impact of spectrum. Not we're not just a telecommunications provider, but we are a major investor, employer, and connector of communities
across Florida and the United States. I want to uh play a video for you. This was uh aired during the Super Bowl and forgive me that there may be an ad right before this video plays. I I tried my best to get that out of there. >> The tempic breasting
the air conditioner. I wish to present the importance of hard work and determination, of not backing down when things are tough, of being there to help a friend.
Because it is only when we work together that we achieve true greatness. >> With 100% US-based workforce and 100% US-built fiber broadband network, Spectrum is America's connectivity company. All right,
sorry about that. From infrastructure and innovation to local news and disaster recovery, Spectrum plays a significant role in how our communities live, work, and stay informed. Um, just to do a brief overview of our
government affairs team here in Florida. Most of those people you will probably never meet except for me and maybe some of you know Mr. Albi Kaminsky there who um is actually from this area. Um he was uh promoted to vice president. So this
is our Florida team and you'll see the green there. That is the portion of the state that I uh represent on behalf of the community for our government affairs team. So um we're also in Sarasota a little bit. Obviously all of Tampa Bay is in my region and I go all the way up
to Cedar Key and Levy. National scale investment. Let's start with the company's national footprint here. Spectrum operated by Charter Communications has invested more than 51 billion in US infrastructure and technology. That's real physical network
expansion and upgrades. Today, Spectrum maintains over 1 million miles of network infrastructure. more than 31 million customer relationships, a workforce of approximately 90,000 employees. This scale matters because it
enables reliability, redundancy, and continued innovation in connectivity. And importantly, Spectrum's workforce is 100% US-based with a starting wage of at least $20 an hour to our to our uh
employees. That commitment supports American jobs and strengthens local economies across every market we serve. Now to move on to our Florida impact. Spectrum's footprint in Florida includes extensive infrastructure investment,
thousands of employees across the state, significant operational spending that supports local economies. One of the most important areas of of impact is broadband expansion. Through a combination of federal and state grant programs, Spectrum is actively expanding
broadband access into unserved communities. Those are communities uh with no high-speed internet access and underserved communities that is uh low quality 50 megs and below.
areas that historically lacked reliable high-spe speed internet expansion is critical for economic development, remote work, teleaalth, educational access. Simply put, broadband is no longer a luxury. It's a
it's essential infrastructure and spectrum is helping close that digital divide all across the state. Okay. local news and community voice. Another key piece of Spectrum's community impact is local journalism. As you all may know
in this room, um Spectrum Bay News9, um Bay News9 provides 247 local news coverage, weather updates, including hurricane tracking, emergency information when it matters most. In a time when local journalism is
shrinking nationwide, Spectrum continues to invest in hyperlocal coverage that keeps residents informed and safe. Here's just a few uh key points for us to look at of our offerings uh across our our market.
There's some uh tech technology outlets uh that give us some some good mentions here, some good marks, entertainment and consumer value. We also deliver strong consumer value through our video offerings with Spectrum TV Plusund
um $110 a month as of April 20 2026. Customers receive a robust lineup of live channels, free access to multiple streaming apps. That's a $129 value, which I'll show you on the next page here.
These streaming apps expand entertainment options without adding additional costs. Something increasingly important as households manage multiple subscriptions. Some of you may know we've been going we've been going going through the uh the cord cutting era. Um
we we had our first quarter report um just a couple weeks ago and we had far less um um people who left our video customer base than than last year. So it's so it's showing you that we are competing um on the streaming level here
with with these offerings. Uh, some of you in this room may know the more streaming apps you have, you're probably going to spend just as much as if you were um one of our TV Plus customers here. With this $129 value, it shows you uh the value that you can receive from
that that package. This bundled approach provides flexibility, convenience, and cost efficiency. disaster preparedness and response. We all know that this is a very important topic um to the Barry Island community.
We know hurricanes spectrum's role during disasters is critical. During the 2024 hurricane season, the company mobilized extensive resources before, during, and after the storms. Our efforts included pre-staging crews and
equipment, rapid deployment of restoration teams, around the clock repair operations. After the storms, thousands of technicians work to restore service quickly. Connectivity during disasters
isn't just convenience. It provides emergency communication, access to news, coordination for recovery. Our response demonstrated the importance of having a resilient well
well-resourced network provi uh provider during emergency events. Now to move into our network evolution initiative. I'd like to take a few moments to talk about the future and what we're planning for communities such as as these where
um not rural obviously most we're pretty much uh Penelis County is pretty much built out in regards to infrastructure but we do have plans to improve this infrastructure. Spectrum isn't just maintaining its network. uh we are actively transforming
it. This transformation is known as network evolution and it represents one of the most significant upgrades to broadband infrastructure currently underway in the United States. At its core, this initiative is about futureproofing
connectivity, ensuring that the network can meet not just today's demands but the needs of the next decade and beyond. What is network evolution? you may ask. Traditionally, cable networks were
designed with asymmetrical speeds, meaning download speeds were much faster than upload speeds. That worked in a world where people mostly consumed content. But today, we're in a very different environment. Remote work, video
conferencing, cloud computing, content creation, smart home devices. All of these require significantly higher upload capacity. Spectrum's network evolution initiative addresses this by upgrading its network to deliver
multi- gigabit download speeds, significantly faster upload speeds, lower latency, which means less spotty signal, and improved reliability. Why does this matter matter to our customers that may be in the room today?
What does it mean in real terms? For residential customers, it means smoother video calls with fewer interruptions, faster uploads for things like sharing files or streaming content, better performance for gaming and smart home devices for those gamers uh in the
room. For businesses, it means more reliable cloud-based operations, enhanced ability to support remote and hybrid workforces, scalable bandwidth for future growth, and importantly, these upgrades are being deployed without requiring
customers to completely rebuild their in-home setups, making the transition more seamless and cost-effective. Why it matters for Florida? It means economic development opportunities are strengthened.
Communities are better positions for long-term digital growth. And looking ahead, the network evolution initiative is not just a short-term project. I regret to inform you. It's a multi-year one. It's going to take some time nation. It's a nationwide upgrade
that we're doing across our entire network. And that will touch every part of our footprint. When combined with the company's scale, over 1 million miles of network infrastructure serving 31 million
customer relationships will be impacted by this this upgrade. It positions us to remain a leader of connectivity for years to come. And as demand for bandwidth continues to grow exponentially, investments like this ensure that communities from large
cities to small towns have the infrastructure they need to compete and thrive. And when you take this long-term network investment together with spec with our community presence, our workforce and local engagement, it really underscores the company's role not just as a
provider uh but as a long-term partner in community development. Some of you may have heard uh the next thing on the horizon is we are um on the verge of acquiring Cox Communications. So, uh what does that mean? Uh we're
going to be growing um and our our network is going to be improving. Um this acquisition, we don't have a timeline yet, but we're we're hoping sometime this year. the uh just to give you a little uh I mean this is this is public knowledge, but the Charter name
will most likely go away when the acquisition takes place, but the Spectrum brand will still remain. Um so we will no longer have to come before you and say Charter Communications or or or Cox Communications. It'll just be Spectrum as as the brand.
Um, when com when completed, the merger would expand network scale and efficiency, increase investment capacity, and enhance service capabilities for Florida. The potential impacts include accelerated infrastructure, technology upgrades through network evolution, as I
mentioned before, expanded broadband reach, improved service offerings through combined resources, and as I mentioned earlier, while regulatory review is ongoing, the goal is clear. build a stronger, more competitive connectivity platform for
the future for you all, for for your local governments and for your communities. To wrap up, Spectrum's impact goes far beyond providing internet service. We are investing billions in infrastructure, supporting American jobs
with strong wages, expanding broadband access all across Florida, delivering critical local news through Bay News 9, especially during disaster, hurricane, and storm events, responding when communities need us the most during
those disasters. And as technology continues to evolve, Spectrum is positioning itself to remain a key driver of connectivity, economic growth, and community resilience. Thank you for your time, and we will be available for questions if if anyone has
them, and uh we'll try to our our best ability to answer those questions. That's why I brought the the real professionals with me today. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, uh David Garcia. All right. Uh, do we have any old business? I don't think we do. Uh, any
discussion items anyone would like to bring up? No. All right. Well, uh, do we have anyone here, uh, that can provide a legislative update today? No. All right. Well, we'll just move right
on to city events. We'll start at this end with Mayor Will. >> All right. in Readington Beach. On Saturday, May 23rd at 400 PM, our property owners association will be hosting a beach party. So, feel free to come out. Hot dogs, watermelon, all that
stuff. >> Go ahead, sir. >> In North Readington Beach, we have a few new business, not all new, but um a few reopening. Uh Coconut Charlie's at the Double Tree. They have a great view. Go have lunch down there, have a drink. And then we have um a new business, Crusty
Pelican, um that opened up. And um kind of a new music venue we have is Music City Beach Bar and Grill. And uh he's from Nashville, so he's bringing a little bit of country flare down to the beach. So stop in there. And then we got a gas station that reopened, The Wave.
So uh go give them some business and say hi. Thanks. >> Rington is slowly getting back to normal. We've got a uh restaurant opening. the Wahoos, which has been around forever. They're opening uh April
the 30th at 5:00 p.m. for ribbon cutting. And also, we have a workshop community uh workshop at Indian Shores Town Hall. We'll be partnering that with Indian Shores. Thank you.
>> Uh Indian Shores is having their storm ready hurricane awareness and preparation event. Uh it's featuring a keynote speaker Brian Mccclure, meteorologist from Bay News 9. So uh it
should be a very interesting evening. Uh that's May 11th from uh 5:00 p.m. to 700 p.m. And we also uh are again having our annual Indian Shores residents memorial
day picnic and um celebration. This is offered to our Indian Shores residents every year, an annual picnic, and we have the uh memorial ceremony at 3:00.
Thank you. That's it. >> Uh Indian Rocks Beach, we've got a lot going on. Uh this weekend is actually our uh communitywide garage sale. Saturday and Sunday. Uh we've started a new initiative in Indian Rocks Beach
where we're having coffee with the city uh the last Friday of each month. Uh that and we're going to emphasize our nonprofits. We're going to emphasize our businesses and we're going to bring that. We invite you uh to come and visit
us on Friday, May 22nd for that. Um, we are now initiating a Florida uh uh hurricane task force for our city that is going to be starting up on May 13th. Uh, we're going to do everything we can
to prepare for our future and protect the people that are still going through this hurricane in today's world. Um, that's really all we have for the month of May at this particular point in time. Thank you.
So today in Madira Beach, it's the Wednesday market. If you um have some time, market runs from 10:00 to 2 down on Madira away. Walk over, free parking while you're still here. Um Thursday kicks off King of the Beach captain's
party. Friday is um a co- king of the beach and founders day for Madiraa Beach starts at 5:00 p.m. Fireworks at 9:00 p.m. And then Saturday is King of the Beach weigh-in. If you've never come out to the King of the Beach, it is a fantastic fun time all three days. And
then Saturday is our trash pirates cleanup. Starts at 8:00 p.m. from 8 to 10 at the bell tower and at Archeald Park. And today, if you just have nothing else to do, at 2:00 p.m. here right here at City Hall, we'll have our
first budget meeting. >> All right. As mentioned earlier, uh on Wednesday, May the 6th, uh between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m., we will have our hurricane and water safety expo, and that will be at the Ber Beach Community Center.
>> All right, >> push the button. >> Push the button. Thank you. uh a couple of uh things that we had taking place in Treasure Island this past weekend um which made everything
feel normal again. We had uh over 5,000 people on the beach. The majority of that was for the corporate sports fest which is a competition between all the corporations in the Tampa Bay area. Uh we also had a visit from Byron Donald's
uh who is running for governor and um and that brought in uh the reason I I bring it up is that it brought in national um you know uh national uh participation
uh from all of the the folks here in uh in Podellis County. And the last is that we are going to be having a patriotic boat parade and that is going to be Saturday, May 23rd in Treasure Island and that is uh is part of uh the
celebration for the 250 years. So hopefully you'll you'll get your votes and you'll get them registered and uh and move forward. Thank you. um Delair Shore um residents. There's 50
home sites on that one mile beach. Uh there's a lot of construction and remodeling going on um but no events. Thank you. So, City of Clearwater, we have um we have and you've probably seen the
probably the most um we'll say famous, but the biggest press we've gotten is Country Thunder, which uh turns out it's not just problematic to have music festival on St. Pete Beach, but also Clearwater Beach. So we um a little bit
tough to permit this time of year with the peak of sea turtle nesting season and all the regulations that go with that. So we couldn't have it on our beach either. But we did move it to Coachman Park. So that'll be next weekend 3 days. And of course Coachman
Park, Baker Sound next to us just become a centerpiece for uh music throughout all of Tampa Bay. So we're looking forward to that. Because of that, our our monthly market in the park will be moved back a week to May um 16th. And uh
then Memorial Day, we have a ceremony at Crest Lake Park for our veterans and and those who died in service to our country on May 25th. But we also have a city event, Decades by the Dock. It's a number of bands, different age groups.
So, you know, depending how old you are, like me, you can go through, you know, your lifetime of music interest, uh, and hear the different bands and songs from throughout your childhood all the way up to now. Uh, and that'll be, uh, the day before Memorial Day on May 24th.
>> Thank you. Uh, for the city of St. Pete Beach, first, I do want to thank the city of Clear Water and Mayor Recctor for helping us uh, solve the country thunder issue and the permitting side. So, uh, thank you for that. We are generally a very musicloving beach in St. Pete Beach and uh we actually just finished our spring concert series. So
we just finished that up u at the end of April. Uh and I don't have any exciting concerts to announce in May, but we do have a equally exciting and rewarding blood drive on uh on March 22nd. You can come uh donate blood with us. Uh on the
14th we've got a uh AP smart driver course and then uh every Monday and Saturday with the exception of holidays we have a tech help session going on in the city. So thank you. >> Great. All right. So I'd like to thank
everyone for being here today. Our next meeting is Wednesday, May 27th, 2026 at 900 a.m. and it is hosted by the city of St. Pete Beach. Uh the location is 7701 Bokeh Drive. So uh look forward to
seeing everyone there next month. And if there's no other business, then we are adjourned.