--------- thank you I'm sorry the date is March 13 20125 it is 6: PM 6 actually 6:01 this is the regular uh scheduled commission meeting and CRA meeting thank you for
being here tonight um commissioner Moore if you would please leave us stand if you are able let's pray father once again we want to thank you for allowing us to come together one more time we thank you for your grace
and for your mercy we thank you for how you have watched over us all night long kep us safe from all har and d and we ask you this evening that you would look over us this evening help us to do those things that are pleasing in your sight help us to be in and do those things
that will bring our city to a better understanding and father God we ask you bless the sick the and those that are not able to be here on this evening we ask that you give them grace and mercy we'll forever praise you and we'll forever magnify your holy name for you're worthy of all pra all these
blessings we do ask in of Jesus name amen uned States stand naice do a roll Melle Myers commissioner William pres commissioner Linda Mo pres commissioner
cythia B here interim city manager Michael brard here assistant city manager C manager Christina Marine here put County Sheriff s Shan de here and we have Finance
director Steve conin here Mark carrot me that here we have Brendon with James Mo here and David FR our natural gas director thank you with that let me talk a little
bit about what we have going on thank you all for being here tonight it's a beautiful evening um nice to have daylight while we're still here um and it not be dark only it's dark by the time we get in here um so anyway as we
start off we've got March 20th the Brooklyn Peninsula Historical Society is going to be hosting Mark Lane he's roaring rep reptiles Bountiful Citrus and neon pies um he's going to be the speaker at their monthly meeting and
it's their um it's going to be at the Women's Club at 400 pm and again that's March 20th we've got the Women's Club always has events going on and so they've got um on the 19th they have Bunko and on
the 20 they have Bingo and I believe the doors open at 5 bingo starts at 5:45 and then of course we've got our big event that's coming up and that is the catfish Festival um that's going to be
Saturday April 5th so they were very successful last year and we're very thankful that they decided the Rotary Club decided to bring it back um and and make it make give it life give it life again after Co um we're starting to see
that with a lot of festivals today I was at a a um tourist development meeting this morning and the applications we haven't seen these many applications in so in a long time so that's good to know but the catfish Festival is Saturday
April 5th from 10: to 5: the parade will be at 11 o'clock beginning at 11 o'clock they're going to have live music with um is it clay 386 CL 386 frazzle I
can relate to that day three um and landfill the of course always the dinners are going to have the Swamp Cabbage Gator 12 frog legs and strawberry shortcakes everything that the catfish Festival is known for
they're going to have arts and crafts there um displayed um I guess with all the vendors they have a car show also which is they um did this last year and that was a huge success they'll have the big car show as well so please everybody
come out this does benefit um our our seniors it's Dollars for Scholars and the rotary club raises money for them and a lot of hard work that everybody puts into this and and and I'm sure we'll have beautiful weather there that this is the 43rd year that will happen
we took off four years for Co that is the 43rd year and up to now we've raised over a million dollars for scholarships for students at christas City High School I was lucky enough to see one myself years and years and years and
years ago but we uh we like to make we like to remind everyone that that's what it's all for is to raise money for for Scholars send kids to college and to technical schools and we've been doing that for 43 years and it's it's an honor and we all enjoying it it it really is
and um it's a great time here in Cent city um Soul Food Festival was this past um couple of weeks ago and I don't know if you got out to that but it was um their third annual and they too they did an outstanding job and was a great um
great turnout commissioner Moore you and your your group y did the concerned citizens it really was awesome so thank you for doing that and the Investments everybody is making in presentent city um I know that when we get to we've got
um um the downtown partnership they're going to make their announcements when they when they get when they get up today so may I have one more yes um also for the Woman's Club um this the end of
the month on March 29th there is a spaghetti dinner $10 a ticket uh at the ones Club you have to I think you can buy tickets at the door um but the spaghetti dinner is a fundraiser for the
um Special Olympics team okay thank you Rachel said there was another event bring I have two tickets just off the ticket are you selling tickets or are you um I don't have any to sell but if someone wants
them I can get them and carolo and Susan FR ask me get you a ticket okay with that I'm going to um we have our approval of minutes we have no minutes on this this agenda but I am going to
open it up at this time for public comment so if you have something you'd like to bring before us that is not currently on the agenda or you haven't um I've got I have one um that please by all means step forward
state your name and your address and you have um we have three minutes Mr new thank you I do have a I do have a speaker card for thank you for being here okay I'm I'm John
66 all Highway 17 I'm here representing the Blue Ribbon committee uh the committee is dedicated to producing a business plan that will demonstrate a viable path to
funding for the purpose of renovating the Miller Middle School property for City and Community use the dble of this business CL is produce a fund funding recommendations
to come to the city for the schools renovation and operation before without bringing a burden to the taxpayers of pres City that's our
goal now on the state level there's much discussion on property uh changes related to taxing the structure of the state and the Blue Ribbon committee is concerned
about this as it's everyone this could take years to settle out we see the rural communities not being left out but being protected in the long
run with this in mind the blue committee knows its purpose does not change push for in its quest to find possible funding for the renovation and
operation of the school property to come as recommendations to the city ccent city Commission Now this the following of some of the possible sources for
funding Partnerships with the SP Pam County School District and with the put County commission for our Recreation development assistance program grants special category grants for our
Department of State Division of historical resources art and public places grants St John's River State College C funds better place CL funds
foundations individual donations Economic Development grants legislative and Congressional Appropriations and sales of naming
rights now there are some examples around us that give us encouragement we've talked about Pearson school over times but there are others the Del R Beach High School has
been renovated and is now a museum similar in age to our school Boon Beach High School uh has been renovated and true grants and is around a community
center the Civil Elementary School is a preschool a Community Center Hastings High School which is a similar age as our school it's has recently been turned into a Technical Training Center and a
community center it's happening all around us and I know we can help it up here some of the people will be going to for help our Rick Gonzalez president of
our AG architect Fern Paul Weaver president of historic Property association Robert E Taylor our a local noted architect and of course Brad prel the
father of the betterplace plan I'll close with this statement we the the committee Blue Ribbon committee and the community are proud of our city we thank the city commission for
their continued support and for keeping us safe and on a sound physical food we are a true Community with a complete infrastructure and sound financial
underpinings this is reflected in the city commission and we thank you IND ually and as a whole thank you thank you very much
thank take okay do we have any other speakers yes sir please come forward please State your names your address if you if you if will at your will good evening mayor
Commissioners I have two compliments to share with with first is the water m i and my name is Dan do live on South um so the city put in a new waterm
I want to tell you that it's like night and day the quality of the water is at standing there is no chemical taste to it and and um and it it's made all the difference I have uh family visiting for
several months and they they visited three years ago um they can't believe the qu the change in quality of water so I thank you very much for that the second is that recently I had to call the um gas
company for Min a repair to not repair but uh assistance and letting my pilots on my gas so they sent two people that day quite quickly they solve my problems they
showed me how to do it and they left job well done it was efficient uh they were extremely helpful courteous and I want to thank the gas company great job thank you very much thank you thank you very much yes can
you come forward please state your name and your address if you will i' just like to remind you that the libraries having their annual book sale few months later do the renovations but it's next Friday and Saturday the
same [Music] open Saturday till 12 till 12 hope to find you thank you thank you so much for bringing that to us we have any other any other [Music]
comments okay with that I'm going to go ahead I'm going to close public comment at this time um with that I'm G to ask Herman if you would come forward please to the PO so and I know we all have we probably
all could share um with about things you know we've had instances with Herman Herman was actually the Second City employee that I met and he too came to my house soon after I bought the
house um and he had to light my pilot light so that we could have Pete and it was such a pleasurable experience um it was the knowledge he had and and he kept us warm throughout
that first winter that we lived here so I was very very impressed and so tonight everyone we're going to recognize the commission would like to to um recognize Perman um it's Proclamation
20253 I'm going to read that this is honoring prent City natural gas service technician Herman Erin on his retirement and dedicated service and whereas Herman has served the city of prent City Florida fulfilling his duties with
outstanding dedication professionalism and preservation as a prent City natural gas department service technician since October 1st [Music] 1986 y'all can all do the math and whereas Herman contributed to
the Department's operations by working diligently and tire tirelessly to carry out the responsibilities of his role as service technician and assisting and maintaining the functions of the department and whereas during his time
with the city of prent City Herman worked to support customers resident staff and the city commission navigate challenges and Foster positive connections literally with the community and whereas Herman has consistently
demonstrated exemplary character integrity and dedication to serving residents and natural gas customers of Crescent City and whereas Herman's contributions have left an indelible mark on the city of pres City and his presence will be
missed by all who have had the privilege to work alongside him and whereas Herman will be retiring from the city of prent City to embark on the next chapter of his life and the city wishes to express its heartsfelt gratitude and best wishes
for him and his future endeavors now therefore I Michelle Myers mayor of the city of prent City Florida along with the city commission and the residents of present City do hereby recognize and commend Herman irn for his service and
contributions to the city and our community and we all extend our deepest appreciation for his time with us in witness whereof I Michelle Myers mayor of the city of presentent City have here and to set my hand and cause the Seal of the city of presentent City to be
affixed this 13th day of March 2025 we applaud you thank you I know Commissioners any of you have anything that and we've got Dave um who have you've worked alongside Herman for
most of those years all of them all of them was I was G give all of I I sure do and I know there's probably almost no one in this room who does not know Herman Urban and his wife Gail they've been a part of
this community for a really long time they live right here in this community um you know people talk about what a friendly Town Crescent City is and um what great customer service departments of the city has and all I can say is is
that um anytime you need the gas department and her comes it's a just everything's taken care of um when my husband and I had our house tenant and we had to have the gas turned off we didn't even have to call have it turn
back on Herman just came he saw what was going on in the house the tent was off cars were back showed up so and that is just just how he operated and brought that Spirit to the gas department so thank you true
example of a public serice I a little really involved both you and JT you know we bought we have our place over on North Prospect right and you guys installed the gas line and all that for us but we gave a call and we had
found a pipe on that old building we bought next door to us sticking out so we called them so we don't know what this pipe is or anything and I think it was JT that walked over and looked at it pulled it out of the ground walked away wasn't taxing anything you guys kind of
chuckle got back in the truck I said thank you but but they were quick and it was done you know so thank you and my mom's gonna miss you too she has a natural gas I don't have
that but anyway we had to call just the other day but they came real fast and I do appreciate because we didn't even have heat that night from my mom she's an elder lady she's 91 so it was cold in there but he was there the next day the new guy I didn't I wasn't there to meet him but he
came just as fast as you did and I do appreciate it thank you so much we appreciate that you have car you have left your legacy um with those that are coming behind you and try to teach them um um the service that you have provided
to the city and so we are great I know you and Miss Gil they have their first grandbaby so this is a wonderful time for them to spend some time um I've never seen Herman get so beaming um with pride and excitement as he did when he
was talking about his Grand so um so we just wish we just wish you both um so much happiness in this next journey and Adventure that you're about to take thank you enjoy and and you're still going to keep the lights on it
right okay so if anybody knows Herman Herman loves Herman loves outdoor exhibits he loves and his house um is always every season he he and Gail make sure that they light up the community so
Christmas you do you have any well just the fact you know we've lost shman he's been gone two weeks now but um we've already had issues with the new kids and I said we need Herman but call Herman Herman will tell you what to do and he's been
doing that so we love him for that but now me and Herman we' worked together for 38 years here the fire department all different things and um we've had kids together you know I didn't have any kids in the beginning Herman was married so he'd have one I'd have one he'd have
one I'd have one back and forth but um we've seen a lot of good people come and go from cresc City so passed away but um Herman is definitely a part of pres City natural gas and always will be but um
you're missed very much and but you're just down the street now that I mov so you know we'll have lunch we'll be fine I'll tell you my problems if you can fix them I told him that when he walked in I said Herman looks like you've already dressed for
retirement do you not see him with his natural gas shirt on well Dave gave him a few old shirts to keep BR just in do you have anything You' like to say and then we'll take the picture no yall said pretty pretty good
here just this job I promise my father-in-law when I first got the job I promised him I'd stick the job out for at least a year people the we won we won we were the winners there so the city
had a recognition they had a recognition lunch for he and his family and um that was that was nice that was nice but tonight I think the whole you know we wanted to make sure that the commission recognized you let's get a picture I'll have him come around
here let's you and Dave I know I'm sorry okay we'll get you close to the rail all [Music] got it next and for um for the I I should have
stated this earlier um MREs is going to be on his way he had a [Music] uh so this is our Proclamation the city of pres City Florida whereas water is a
basic thank you Mr Dodge you led into this basic and essential need of every living creature and whereas the State of Florida water management districts and the City of prent City for are working together to increase awareness about the importance of water conservation and
whereas the city of prent city in the State of Florida has designated April typically a drive month when water demands are most acute waterers Florida's water conservation month to educate citizens about how they can help save Florida's precious water
resources and whereas the city of prestent city has always encouraged and supported water conservation through various educational programs and special events and whereas every business industry school and citizen can make a difference when it comes to conserving
water and whereas every business industry school and citizen can help by saving water and thus promote a healthy economy and community and whereas efficient Irrigation Design programming and maintenance can conserve water the
city of Trent City will encourage citizens and businesses to evaluate their irrigation systems for potential efficiency enhancements now therefore be it resolved That by The Virtue of the authority invested in me as mayor of prent City Florida the Commissioners and
the Commissioners to hereby proclaim the month of April as water conservation month the city of prent city is calling upon each Citizen and business to help protect our precious resource by practicing water saving measures and
becoming more aware of the need to save water for this the 27th year of water conservation conservation month there will be a special focus on irrigation system evaluations this is sealed this 13th day of March
2025 thank you everyone any comments um I do have just one comment um and I think we talked about this a while back I forget why um as far as I know the Water Management District has
regulations about lawn watering but they don't really enforce them and I'm suggested before we might want to consider it if we have lawn watering regulations that mirror the Water Management District and we can enforce
that with code is more of an educational tool um for it to use and agre situation um but educ just just a suggestion anything else
with that we're going to move on to our um to James Mo and Associates um with our draft audit finding you're here representing go ahead isck start the present
it's on of it is this a the same is this a new one or is this the same one absolutely sorry yes hi good evening good evening I'm BR MRI director James Mo company I appreciate the opportunity to be here
tonight uh there are a few documents that I know you all received including the draft set of financial statements as well as to print out the PowerPoint if you want to follow along I'll be using the PowerPoint presentation so kind be easier to follow that before we
get into the financial statements um I did want to address the fact I know you all are aware we are late without it um you know fortunately we're on kind of the last stages here where to finalize it I did want to kind of update you all I know it came back in November to give an update with kind of the game plan of
trying to get issued in late 2024 early 2025 um that was kind of the the game plan we had moving forward un Al we ran into some issues specifically with the police pension plan um just with it not being closed down and how it was really
created as a substitute trust and the two remaining participants in their ra ISU annuities but those the pension plan was still active it's still in puted in financial statement so we have to get comfortable with those numbers um so we set up meetings with
both the annuity of the city is the actuaries the of the city and the state try to get an understanding of how do we move forward because as Auditors we're really validating that the numbers are correct the actuaries are the ones providing those numbers um so in that discussion they were you know the
actuaries were confused as to what to do with the plan how to Value the plan um so that did delay kind of the issuances you know really pushing us into March for the issuance we were able to get enough information from the actuaries to
get comfortable with fiscal year 2023 just due to the the timing of when the annuities were purchased and you know the kind of the remaining two participants in that plan but I will say for 2024 this is going to create some challenges as well again talking to the
actuaries this is a very unique situation so did want you all to kind of be aware that the police pension plan is one that's kind of out of the ordinary so obviously getting our hands around that and understanding that was a little bit of a challenge but again it's you know happy to be I know you all are
happy to get to this point as well so I did want to with that being said I did want to thank um both Steve and Julianne who's the kind of third party CPA you Ed there was a lot of late nights and weekends and I know we all worked on this so really really appreciate everything that he did to get us here
this to this point also wanted to thank the commission for the opportunity again to perform the audit for fiscal year 2023 want move to SL so I mentioned the financial statements so again just like to remind you all these financial statements are
your financial statements however there are some reports as Auditors that we included here as well the first report being your auto report in the front this is where we express our opinion over the financial statements really kind of the reliability of the numbers that you all are seeing in the financial statements we do have what's called an unmodified
opinion or a clean opinion it's really kind of the best opinion we can provide over a set of financial statements the second report in here the report on internal control and compliance report we do have some comments in here as well and I know commissioner Deo did send
some questions to the finance director I'm going to try and address those questions as I'm going through the comments just to kind of clarify some items but obviously commissioner if there's anything I can TR and shl to you know I can try and address those as well uh the first comment reconciliation of
account balances this really has to do with the amount of audit adjustments we had to post you can go back sorry y um the amount of adjusting entries we posted and kind of the significance of those adjusting entries and those adjusting
entries vary from accounts payable to accounts receivable related to the utilities and things of that nature and really just indicating hey the account balances we started with really needed to be adjusted and reconciled to supportting documentation and really
recommending that you know as the city prepares for the audit making sure those numbers are sound before we start the audit really so again the idea is that we're just validating that the numbers are accurate and correct um so again I know commissioner I'll try to address some of the questions you all have
specifically to this one so with regards to proper cut off so when we talk about cut off we talked about where the either the expense or the revenues being recorded at what period so accounts receivable and accounts payable so we found instances
where the essentially that activity was recorded in f24 but should have been recorded in F 23 so you know if a payment was made after a year end but that's really related activity in fiscal year 2023 making sure that gets recorded that way so when we talk about cut off
again kind of making sure that from an acal perspective we're recording all the appropriate ACS um you asked who in the city should be responsible for taking place does the commission have a role definitely think you know as part of governance you you all do have a role in kind of making
sure that both management Finance and Accounting have the appropriate control controls in place you know they're really set up for Success you know before we go through you know implement the audit and make sure those um account balances are you know correct and accurate again I think in the meeting I
mentioned in November the biggest issue we see is turnover um so you know with Steve being the finance director he was kind of thrown into the middle of everything in FY 2023 my thing would my recommendation would be to encourage you know again the longer Steve's able to
kind of get his hands around things the better will be again the continuity is is huge and if I'm not saying he'll do this but if you were ever to leave it would just make kind of bring us back to where we started which is obviously not what any of us want so again kind of making sure we have that
continuity and then I think the last question will there be any increased review or sanction from the state of Florida so the state will reach out um regarding any repeat comments and ask hey what's the game plan moving forward um you know similar to the conversation
we have anytime the state reaches out we want to make sure we're responding to those letting them know what that game plan is moving forward and how we're going to remediate or correct those um those findings the next comment the bank reconciliation comment so as part of our
procedures really we don't want to get started with any of our uh work over the audit specifically related to cash if cash isn't reconciled a lot of things can be off so specifically when we were going through our audit procedures specifically in
planning we noted that bank reconciliations got behind so bank reconciliation is a key control and part of any accounting and finance department um so again there was you all have at the time I believe two bank accounts the Opera the main operating account was
behind and then the customer deposit account was actually not reconciled when we started the audit so again making sure that those are being reconciled timely um you know best practices right after month end you know 10 to 15 days you know talking to a Steve that's been
corrected you know he's on you know from our understanding he's on top of that so there are reconciliations that are time we get that's a good key control for you all the city I think I addressed so the I'd like to rather than that I really like for us to go through
the PowerPoint if we can and talk about a little bit about um if you can explain to to those that are listening so that say no a lot of people don't understand this like the material weaknesses and significant deficien which one um yeah
so material weakness in the report you'll see it's the way we Define that as an deficiency or combination of deficiencies specifically in internal control um where there's a a reasonable possibility of a material misstatement in the financial statements that
wouldn't be pre prevented or detected or correctly in a timely basis so something severe enough where we would want you all to be aware of again that first one be material weakness just because of the severity of the adjusting entries we had that's what creates this significant deficiency is one where
it's not as severe but still significant enough that we want you all as you know part of governance to be aware of again it is um you know these comments are ones where again we would want to make sure those are shorted up and we' got the controls in place
[Music] the journal entry review process so again another key control as part of your process so making sure that as part of the journal entries you have basically a separation of Duties where you have one person entering a journal entry and another person approving it so
separating those duties but also making sure you're maintaining supporting documentation so when we do testing over journal entries we want to make sure hey does this look reasonable why are we in this journal entry so we tested 10 items of those 10 items only four items have a
suppored documentation so again you know as Auditors we we say we love documentation but there's a reason for that you want to be able to support and substantiate why we're posting those Journal entes so again recommending that that process be um separated but also maintaining that
documentation and then the proper authorization or of dispersements um that's one where we noted last year again this is a repeat finding but an instance where there was uh the selected transaction to walk through to kind of
understand hey what's the process to make sure there's appropriate approvals um the transaction we've noted last year had to do with um uh an amount over $1,000 so with that typically we would want to see some sort
of purchase order or approval but also uh for the city Charter there's a $11,000 threshold for you specific requirements to go through the B process and we didn't see evidence of that so again from our perspective you know if there's no supporting documentation we
can't validate that it went through that process okay we let's hold our questions because I I know we all have questions about some of these at the end so we you continue to go through them okay the so those are the comments for
the internal control and compliance report um I didn't know here there was three comments from last year's report that were corrected um and then the the next report the chapter 10550 report or management letters of auditor general so there's some more required Communication in there there's an area where we no any
areas where we call areas for financial Improvement um so not uh an internal control issue necessarily but one where we would still want to make sure you all aware of it the city budget and budgetary compliance so this there's kind of two parts to this issue one was the general fund which is your main
operating fund um overexpanded versus the the budgeted amount so again for us that's one where that's your budgetary compliance that's where you're able to kind of monitor the budget um but then the second part is is the reports that we obtained for the budget um there is
issues with kind of the calculations in the budget the budget not balancing um so kind of a combination of those so obviously we want to make sure we've got documentation supporting the budget then also if there's any budget amendments that need to happen to make sure we're in compliance this happen within the
statutory 60 day requirement and then the next comment here other post imployment benefits I mentioned the actuar so you have some actuaries calculate a few numbers for your financial statements this had to do with the information provided to the
actuary initially was incorrect um so they created they a calculation that was based off Poe information so as we were looking through that we we noted that so then the ACT had to rerun that calculation so again kind of validating making sure that information is good
when it's getting set over and then the last report the examination report just indicating your in compliance with specific investment statutes and this is a summary yeah of those findings I talked about from the last you know since 2020 um kind of the
changes from year to year we haven't improved let's let's screenshot everybody screenshot that well and part of the conversation we have isn't just about this year I mean I know we're not looking at the members for FY 2024 but we have conversations
with the finance director just to get an understanding hey you know he was kind of pulled in late but do we have you know ways to improve or correct these and those are you know again he's working towards that I know we've talked about a few of these I know he's already
put in place ways to remediate or fix these items so again it's not what we want to see these findings continue to come up either so so your general fund I mentioned earlier this is your main operating fund so this is showing kind of the the last
five years of your revenues and expenditures as well as fund balance and what we do specifically in the general fund We compare your assign and unassigned fund balance as a percentage of of expenditures and what we use is the
government Finance Officers Association recommends two months for 16.7% you can think of this as a floor so you don't want to go below the floor um but this is also one where I always like to you know remind all my clients we live in Florida we've got hurricanes there's you
know there's times where you need those funds for emergencies so wouldn't you know really looking at this number wouldn't want to get too close to that that Flor of two months or 16.7% so kind of in line with what we would expect and then on your other governmental funds your betterplace funds um you have
shied fund balance of about 515,000 your CRA of about 137,000 for redevelopment purposes and we are required to issue a SE c on it um we have no findings we did have a finding in 2022 that's been corrected on your business type funds so
we do a similar have analysis on your unrestricting n position related to those funds your gas and water and sewer um you can see gas no longer has a deficit water sewer did go down but this oh sorry um but this is one where
we always like to say this is half the picture again we're looking at the numbers but obviously you want to you know we also say like what's beneath the ground so you want to invest in that infrastructure providing services to the citizens you don't want that those systems to go out of date um that being said I thank you all about $1.8 million
in investment in that system so again that's what we would want to see as well um to continue and invest in that infrastructure some other highlights long-term debt so no changes as far as kind of the debt piece itself just the balances so no long-term dat your
governmental business type you've got the $1.5 million of on payable and 350,000 of low payable and then your Employee Retirement plans U which is your general employee fire and police and when you say that so just for clarification for everyone when you say
government that's like our general fund and the rest of more Enterprises that business the business would be considered our Enterprises just for clarification that's a good point uh your Employee Retirement PL so again some highlights here you've got both the fire and police that have a n
pinion asset allance so fire is just over 200,000 the police is and then from a funding percentage um you can see there you know again well funded for both P pension plans all
right questions the fun begins Commissioners do you have questions so I mean essentially I I think I have more questions for Steve and for us as a commission um as opposed to the Auditors
at this point [Music] um but you know you said one of my questions to you that was sent in writing is um does the commission have a
role in making sure that the the improvements of the collections actually happen um can you give us any examples of how that should be handled what our role might be I
actually that's a great question so I think there is a role you all can play um basically asking for updates from staff is that hey these are the findings we have what's the plan moving forward when's the expectation this will get remediated and just having updates so
you're not in the dark on any of these things so I think that's a great question my question was just um as far as the management response to the finance um why the letter is responding to
2022 not the 2023 fin that was the timing of when because we were at a crunch and I know we're trying to work towards the end of the month um when we were working together we wanted to get a draft in your packet soon as possible so as we got the packet together Steve was
working on the responses so in the printed copy that I handed out they they do have the updated responses but unfortunately due to the timing of when we were trying to present there is one for might be a silly question but while we're trying to fix this
a are we kind of getting ready for 2024 as well I are we doing this in tandem or soide so catch no again so we again working with Steve as we were coming to kind of land
the plane on this audit it's like okay when do we get started in 24 so we penciled in some dates with him to start our interment planning procedures into this month so in a couple weeks um because I know we don't want to be late either so again
going to hit the ground running really so once we get this issued into the state we want to turn the page well think what happens is it's a true disadvantage for us because we're already I mean 23 24 has closed out so
many of these discrepancies or that we should have fixed we might not have fixed last year and they might show up again um just because now we know going into 2526 that we know now from from that point but it is it is so um and talking
to Michael earlier today it was if we can get this ball rolling on this make sure that we are doing the reconciliations um I did have a question you had in there the bid that we had to do bids and was my understanding that we
have to have quotes over a thousand but not necessarily go through the bid process um i' have to look at the charter I think because I know commissioner Deo asked the question we have the charter I can't remember the
specific language I thought it had quot bid included in there but I'm not 100% sure I I I I don't believe so and that would be very restrictive if we had to get a bid to go through a bid process every time yes everything over $1,000 we go out and
we get a minimum of two usually three price quotes anything about 25,000 would required to go out for bid and put together a bid document with a technical spec so that's what we would do okay I found that um in there and then I
I had um I I did have I did have a couple of of um questions in the when you go through this there's a lot there's a lot of information and you have to read through it and sometimes when you're reading the the different
paragraphs but I I love at the very end where it says you know everything everything worked out no fraud found no nothing and I'm just wondering if possible that when you go through when we get our final is there any way to underline that final finding throughout
these or bold those just so that somebody reading that sees it because as you read it you're like I mean you know you're having a heart attack going oh my gosh and then you get to the end of it and it says you know there is no there is no finding um which you know you
always want to see that um so that was that was something that really stuck out with me and I didn't know if we could do if we could do anything with that as far as the state is concerned um I know we have been in direct contact with the state um constantly thank you
for for doing so uh with this material and it seems odd the material is is more serious and significant because sometimes when you hear significant that sounds like it would be from from the state's perspective with the findings
that you have um do you have any insight to to how they're going to perceive this how they perceive this so commissioner deo's question on what they focus on are we CS so if you have a repeat com they really want to know what's the plan you
forward um there are comments in so preparation of financial statements isn't a comment you all have but that's a comment we have on small municipalities that happen every year those are comments they're okay with they may follow love but they don't have
concerns with it um but they will follow love with a letter and again Jay likes to send the letter um but again the most important thing like when we were running late is to communicate the worst thing you can do is not communicate we've always every time every year we made sure that we've stayed in direct
communication with them um and my knowledge there's no at this point we have no penal there is no penalty correct I as I asked that earlier today but right now we have no penalty yeah our plan is to get everything out to
that's what that was my next question is how soon are you going to get this to Tallahasse and how going to somebody drive it there one of us need to drive it there so we actually have a tah office
B that's that's what and then when you come down to um the journal entry review uh where they're both recording and approving in a small community I'm sure you run into this with small mounties all the time you're very you
have very limited staff and they kind of do a lot of things um what is your what is your recommendation for that I mean would it be that that Steve um that that he's he's recording and the city manager's approving um vice versa the
Roberta's recording and Steve is approving except for there's times when he's doing the recording and she's not so what is your recommendation just so that as we go forward we have we need to have procedures in place so that should
Steve leave we're the next person who steps in knows what our procedures are I agree and the examples you gave are great I think what you want to think about is who I guess who is mainly responsible for the journal entries and then who would you want to have as oversight to
review that to just kind of make sense of hey why are we posting a journal entry here journal entries is one where again not saying there is fraud but that's where you can hide that type of activity so that's why we like to have a second set of eyes on that activity so and from yourp I mean we've have some
municipalities where it's one or two people like staff and you got the second set of eyes as the commissioner Council I'm not saying it needs to be you all but again having some second level review is important again there may be instances where Steve this posting and just having maybe Michael review those
or you know he has someone else posting and he's doing that review um again kind of working through that we can help if he's got questions on that but I do think having a formal policy is good to have um just so again it's kind of hey this is the process specifically within
the system itself as well okay this is how we separate those duties and all throughout the report where you have no fraud found would you highlight that and underline that um I know that you know especially we've gone through a lot here we really have and
we've had a lot of different we've had a lot of different players especially that year that 20 you know the 22 23 and so um I was I actually was very pleased with with the outcome I I I was I was
very pleased with the outcome considering what we had been going through um and knowing that we can knowing that we can do better but um and and thank you for stating that in there also that we have had that there were
various people so any other questions um commissioner Deo you said you had some to Steve and Michael well um really I think um I think this is to me for a followup
discussion this is really a topic for the commission because frankly um we we don't even at our meetings have a finance report we don't have the finance director either
individually or or through the city manager give us a report with highlights what's going on what's not going on how are the com from the previous year um being corrected and I don't really want
to keep Brandon any longer um there's some terms in here that I had questions about um I think as a commission we need to spend some time on this understanding what these issues are there's some
references to commission policies or to the city's policies and that that was a question that I had for the Auditors were are these policies from the charter from ordinance staff develop
policies um we just I don't know we just get this audit every year and there's findings and then we move on so my suggestion for us as a commission is that we spend more time on this and
we go we go through with Steve um really I guess going over what Brandon suggested that he go through and we can ask Steve questions and he can walk us through how they're handling this so that we are
informed because the bu really stops with us and if we don't understand then we're we're not able to really um either help the staff or take responsibility for what's happening so that that's my
request to the commission that we schedule some time um to spend on us um I would like to go back and I meant to mention this earlier so I know with our police pension that there are some there was some issues with that um
we have two we have one that's currently alive and we have a beneficiary um that's they both chose not to um not to U cash out their plan and but my
understanding is that's creating an issue and and and honestly that was at the advice of um the attorney um not our attorney but the um actu um where do we go forward with that
with a police pension knowing knowing where we are and with the state and how do we keep that from continuing to be a hiccup and a problem for us because my understanding too is the state really doesn't know how to deal with it either because we should have those should have
been cashed out and and finalized so we I did have a conversation with the attorney um she made a comment that she thinks the state's going to force them to shut it down okay so again I think the recommendation when we were kind of talking before was just to continue to
follow up and see what happens with that again I think for fiscal year 2024 it's going to create some difficulties because again we're verifying that the numbers included in the financial statement accurate when when the actuary doesn't know what to do it just puts us
in a tough spot because we're in calls and we like our actuaries what do we like what's the direction and like we haven't seen this before so that's where we're you know as a Gren we're trying to get together like how do we get through so for 2023 we're able to you know move on and get the information we needed but
for 2024 they made it seem like it's going to be challenging my hope would be 2025 that like the state's able to kind of move in the right direction but again I I don't know so the state's going to help us the state should be able to advise us as we how they how what they
want us to do it's my understanding the state wants their money okay so they want it to close down okay but again it's we're SP we're just trying to like what are the numbers that need to be included and everyone's kind of like so I know that has held us up that probably
has been the thing that has held us upout the last couple of months is getting those from the actuaries um I guess we need to start on that like right now and and putting them on notice that they need that you need all that documentation and what documentation you
need so that so that we're not in the same predicament next year so I yes there may be another option so we kind of talked about that preliminarily um of going the route of not including that information and having what's called a modified opinion
so basically saying everything's clean except for expension plan um we would want to make sure the AG is okay with this because there are instances I mentioned oped that is a actual report you all get we have municipality you explain to everybody what oped stands
for other post employment benefits yeah okay I just want to make sure everybody knows that it's not easy to find but that's one where we have small municipalities that go the route of not including that to get a modified opinion
in the state okay with it so it saves them money by not hiring act so there may be a route to exclude the police pinching information so we can finish the 2024 audit but we'd have to verify with the auditor general that they're okay with that rout I think they will be
and again we were talking about that and then again course corrected based on what the attorney suggested for the police pension plan but that that may be another option we have and thank you to our Auditors um one particular item of information I don't know if my questions for the
Auditors were circulated to everybody else it was my attempt that they should be usually um those kinds of questions are and then the other thing I would ask is um I think when letters come from uh
The Joint legislative auditing committee or the auditor general that tell us that we're late or there may be sanctions that those should be shared with all the Commissioners in and the public I mean in the commission packet
because except for the letter that I asked for from The Joint legislative auditing committee last year I've not received any letters so I don't I have to read about it in the paper and the public reads about in the paper and so
it's kind of a big mystery and I think it's better if we all just see the letter and it's probably not as bad as it looks and it really should not should not be a mystery I think the more we know um the
better we understand I'm still not sure what differentiates us um from Waka as my understanding they're looking at a significant withholding of funds um and I've had people ask me what is the difference between us and black I can't
tell I can tell you exactly what the difference is we um communication communication okay has no way for me to know that and there's no way I mean for the public to really know that so I
would appreciate receiving the major letters from joint legislative auditing the ones that say the deadlines what the penalty is if we don't need the deadlines because again this is our all of our job to by the oversight and the
leadership and we have to know what our responsibilities are I didn't read about us in the paper but I guess you must have read about this in the paper you said you read about it in the paper and that's how you found out well it's how I found out partially I mean I know the audit's late
because we all know the a late had reports and we've had updates so I'm just asking you read about it in the paper I didn't see in the paper yes there was a list of um the municipalities in the area that were late on their audits that was included
in an article on they had W I believe W Paca had um a deadline given to them on February 28th um because of our communication uh again thank you Steve U we were get until March 31st
correct um so we are definitely meet we are definitely going to meet that we be getting that final tomorrow those letters do come in they typically are addressed to the mayor and they're immediately forwarded to the um city manager and then the city manager
forwards those to Steve and then the conversation begins with Tallahasse um so I you know I apologize I I I didn't share those with with everybody I knew I knew we all knew that it was late and that the state was looking for that and that's kind of common knowledge that
when it's late that they're going to be knocking at our door um so as we go forward we'll just make sure that um that the commission um Steve and mich of the commission is get copies of all of
those so good okay any other questions Brendan thank you thank you for your patience with us um thank you for traveling here and and and presenting this um and thank you for
getting us there before March 31st we appreciate thank you thank you thank thank you Steve deserves AIG appreciation thank you Steve up and take a
bow hopefully we've guilted you enough to know that you can't leave at least for a while it com final coming all been hearing yeah You' been hearing that since summer really um where are we
where are we where are we and it's it's a lot I mean you come in behind somebody and I think that's why commission that um commissioner deito you know in her discussion too I think that's where she was going is that we need to have procedures in place because um we do
have a turnover everything any happen that that we have something that somebody who steps in that they pretty much know um exactly these are the steps that need to be taken right but mayor also just clarify we need to know we
sign checks we need to know what the procedures are what steps there are because I will just to let you all know and commissioner already served long ago when I came on the Commission in November of
2018 really um there was no orientation for me as a commissioner um I was just told that I signed checks the auditor um gave me a little instruction and you know I tried to do my best that to make sure there's
purchase order with it Etc but um as far as knowing what the specific policies are that we have or don't have I don't think any of us have ever have that cheered with us you know we just do our
best and um probably it should be done in more organized fashion and that really concerns me um Brandon the auditor just spoke said um when they did the testing only four of 10 um checks
that were signed I guess that's a cash dispersement had the proper documentation and really that would be something to riew what exactly is that proper documentation that we need to look at that should be on the back of that check and that's my understanding
now that that's um that we're requiring a purchase order correct for everything that is being every check that is issued there must be a purchase that as a way to try to REM that but but
yeah we need to we we definitely need to know that and and in the past you know I I think um um well we all know it's it's trying to get our finance department in order and I think now that we feel like we're somewhat in order we need to we need to
all sit down and make sure that we all have a good General understanding there's a lot of when you go through these audits I mean and it's you talk about doing you know all of a sudden you know you're nodding in your head H um but when you go through
the audit there are so there's there's so much of their financial jargon in there that we don't understand um that you have to look up and try to figure out what does that mean just like when he was talking about you know business
well that's an Enterprise you know that's our Enterprises that's our gas or water or sewer um so there's a lot of different things that as you go through it so I think we all um I I would agree we all need to have a really U good working knowledge and understanding as
to um what they're looking for and what we need to do to make sure that we're doing everything correctly because um we need to have goals and strives for zero on that list and of course because of I because of the turnover getting policies
and procedures and having a review with the commission of what we're supposed to look for and do it's been Target there not anybody it has been it has been that's why I said I was very pleased I was very pleased with the findings and my understanding is that tah has
probably they should be up hope in comparison um so okay with that I'm gonna if it's if everybody's ready and we're done with that I'm going to move on to the Sheriff's Office um I believe Dawn and that's the only reason I was checking my phone um is I have
kind of a dumb question are we supposed to vote to accept that audit report I know that um um our attorney is not here but is that something that we usually do that's true we do we have to we have
to vote on the actual findings that we accept that we accept the draft we accept the draft and then he'll put it in final form yes sir mayor do you want on his way great um I move that we
accept um the audit report um from James Moore for fiscal year 202 23 second I have a proper Motion in a second commission do we have any further discussion if not Madam you do a roll
call for us please commissioner dito I commissioner I commissioner mo i commissioner Burton hi Myers I and there's a second CRA report and then we have to do the C too and and for
everybody he didn't go into the CRA but our CRA had no findings um no no no material findings no significant findings so our CRA um AIT pay clear that get Zer short and
sweet short but it was it was sweet so I'll entertain a motion for that please accept youc I move that we accept the C audit report for fiscal year 2022 23 um from James B Associates second I think we have a
proper Motion in second any discussion mad cler commission commissioner Moore I commissioner l i commissioner Deo I here Myers I so approve and we'll make sure
um so when they look at ours because we have a CRA like black doesn't have the C but because we have a c it shows that that's late too because that has to be audited so we'll make sure that those both go in and they have been going okay with that
Sergeant you all need to be corrected yes ma'am are you lieutenant yes ma'am you're Lieutenant I am so sorry I go back and forth and I'm like is he the sergeant lieutenant now is he okay so thank you for bringing that I apologize that's okay I know that in in in your
form line of business I I so apologize pleas no worries no worries good evening commission uh I'm Lieutenant Shen with the sheriff's office I'm standing in for Captain users he's uh his much deserved vacation so uh we've had a very good
month in the city this this past month um so we had no reportable crimes for the month of February uh our known problem folks are still incarcerated so that's a big benefit to us the state's working with us really good on
that the state is attorne office uh we have one one minor traffic crash at uh Huntington Road East Grand Rondo a vehicle traveling on hunington Road made turned on a grand Rondo and clipped the front of another car no injuries minor
minor Min damage to the vehicles our general activities for the month we had 171 total cost of service 37 of those were traffic stops we had the one traffic crash we took 13 reports five arrests and one arrest was
on warrant read I still can't see our six month comparison our numbers are still looking very very good yes we had Picture Perfect month other than the little traic C so I guess he did deserve a little a little RNR
who will give it to you deserve it too Commissioners do you have any questions um commissioner did you no I don't have a question
reporten thank you so just for the commission um and maybe we can bring this up one Captain us ra is that next month um I have raised the issue before that perhaps we should ask the county to
lower the stent um 308 um Huntington Road because right now it's 35 and so you get all the way pretty much to the blinking light and there are traffic crashes we all know that's a bad
intersection um people have complained about the speeding on that last two walks before you between East Grand Londo and the traffic flight people kind of treat that like it's a oneway um and now with you know we have
an elementary school out there now there's a you know going to be a new school even further out um I just think waca has 309 at 30 m hour and I I don't know why it would hurt anything to
burn it down um if you would if you could mention it to C also I do want to mention Commissioners um if we want to talk about this a little bit so the county has approved repaving 308 um they're doing some repaving and
they 308 is being repaid so um my recommendation would be to the commission that we somehow ask um go about that with them um that they do something I know commissioner Burton I believe you worked you met with them
with um Charles red um several years ago about that right here at Grand Rondo really right where the W was yes there's an issue there with people coming off of coming off of Huntington Road onto Grand Rondo right there where it goes and so
maybe when they're repaving this this is a good opportunity um that that we reach out to to the county and ask them to reconsider doing something there and of course as commissioner um
Theo has asked for that speed limit to be lower to 30 miles an hour but I think definitely as a repaving this is the best opportunity before they get that started I know they're probably I think going out to vid right now so um commission I don't know how you feel
about that the other thing I would bring up is that I don't know how many of you go out um 308 to I mean past Union there's there's a lot of activity going on there now and then that's in the city
limits um because we annexed out to that that possibly we talk to um the county as well as and I don't know maybe you can tell us your thoughts on this as putting a fullway stop out there um much like they have at um Union and
um 17 old 17 old 17 they have a fourway stop there I just noticed that when people come up to that because a lot of them are coming from that diretion they're expecting that and you just see some hesitation there and I'm surprised something hasn't happened but as more
and more traffic occurs there and you've got all that construction traffic I just think that might be something do you have any thoughts on that I think it would be very beneficial with the new school going there as well um I would probably try to get the county to also maybe put a blinking light there okay
because there's been no stops sign on 308 ever so that'll be hard for people to get used to and they'll be running through that a lot but with with the light there as well I think it would you know it'll draw their attention but with the school there I think we probably a pretty good chance trying to make that
happen so would that be something that that you would do on our behalf or you want to talk to Captain see how we work that that out you know as you go through different communities and I know people complain about that and I know we're still trying to work on hitting this one right here
at Maine and Central but a lot of times in residential areas those intersections are fourway stops you know and and so um just it's just question the
uh right out here on 17 yes okay at 4:00 in the morning it's it's almost like a Speedway out there which really indicates to me that there's our stops sign because there's no traffic you know that we have one St and I don't think there's a whole lot of
traffic you know going east to west for the most part so everybody just Trucking through what triggers that stop I mean is that on a timer of sorts um what is it that triggers that I don't know for
sure if I was G to make an educated guess there probably the the wires in the pavment they work it's magnetic it works when metal like a car goes over it that's what we trigger so it's C so it won't turn red going
down 17 unless someone is at Central on either side or if theyve pressed The Pedestrian buttons across and that's the only thing that that is used to control that other words I can say every five minutes it turns red no it'll
stay green for hours at night oh yeah I know yeah middle of I can hear so okay I I think get that you probably have to go to that's um we do have one he goes through about
6:15 sometimes 625 sometimes 630 um I have a high patrolman right next to me and he is trying to get in his car in time to get out there and we kind of compare notes as to where he is and he's on
motorcycle on motorcycle he is it's not because the motorcycle's loud it is loud but he is flying through town and I've talked to Captain H about it now I'm hearing him in the evenings in the afternoon you kind of motorcycle
with this I don't but I believe that I I can get you somebody who does um but yeah he is I mean and it's just about every morning um and and now I'm hearing it him I'm hearing him now in the afternoon
if we can give you an idea what kind of motorcycle it is we have investiga means that we can determine that is but yeah flying fly about 6:15 in the morning anywhere between 6 o' and 6:30 in the
morning okay usually about 6:25 yeah he is very audible on the west side of town we can hear him and there the people on 17 can certainly hear him and sometimes it's to 635 yeah 635 and I very fast I live
right off you know back up to that and I I canar information I will I will thank you thank you so much thank for a great report mayor I mention one more thing about the fourway stop that you
mentioned um something that looks very effective park has four-way stops and with flashing they have flashing lights and I don't know window
C but I think it would be very I think that if they don't want to put a flashing light at 30 the flashing everybody
everyone's we have to do that so for those of you that are asking because we did approve this some time ago um here at Main and Central um it's in the works but you also have to do there's warning signals that we have to get so that people who are not
used to that they don't run through it so um sta is working on that okay do we have anything else not well um I'm going to close this portion of the our recess this portion of the meeting and open up our
CR so with that we've got our downtown partnership the request for the second quarter disbursement president Mary Robin welcome good evening Mary Robbins 508
North Lake Street ccent City and I'm here representing pres City downtown partnership and we're here to request our funding for second quarter of [Music] 12,500 and I'd like to give you a little
recap of what we've been doing the first quarter and what we have coming up the second quarter um I know we haven't been very visible this last quarter but I assure you we've been very busy um we moved into our new headquarters at 310
Central Al um we've been busy arranging the office the meeting in the storage space there um we completed our 2025 for plan and budget and received board approval on January
6 we held an annual meeting and dinner for our board members and our volunteers um happy to announce that Liz Gomez is our volunteer of the year for a second year in a row um we advertised
and hired EX I director and uh I think all of you have met Tim Jefferson and he came on board February 12th and he's been very busy getting appointed meeting everybody and um getting a feel for what main Street's all
about um we prepared and launched our fundraising Drive uh we do that annually and um as of this day we probably have around 4700 um we completed the Main Street
evaluations and I'm happy to announce that Cen city is now a fully accredited Main Street program uh that happened on February 19th and as soon as soon as we receive the certificates um we'll hang one and we'll deliver one then you can
hang that here at City Hall thank you congratulations congratulations thank you um four of our board members attended board training last week it's an all day training um and uh it's very helpful I'm very pleased that some of
what we call our Lia um board members uh attended this year and um that's uh that's very significant um we're planning our headquarters grand opening for tomorrow evening um again at 3:10 Central Avenue
it'll be uh from 5: to 8 everyone's invited and um I'm hoping that um a few of you from the commission will be there and can do the ribbon cutting um so um that will be probably around 6 o'clock
um upcoming we've got uh we're preparing for our first events of the year uh we have Movie in the Park April 12th we're bringing that back um it's just before Easter so we'll have an Easter Theme um and uh we'll be having some activities
for the kids in the park before the movie um that evening uh we also have Springfest April 26th um at Market square um last time I was before you um we talked about
uh scaling back the number of festivals and markets that we were doing but planning to make the ones that we were doing bigger and better and um we um we're good on that promise we're bringing in a u cting zoit for our
Spring Fest um this is a a third party and they'll be on site and um so the kids can pet the bunnies and uh and the goat and whatever else they have there but uh we'll also have our our cruise in
and um we'll have our music and it should be a very good market for us we've been very active and looking for vendors um seeking out our vendors who've been with us for the last three years and looking for new vendors um so it should be a very good market for
us um planning a clean up uh prior to catfish I think that will be on the Saturday before catfish um and we'll aim for uh the park e the lion and we'll go out from there and come down and uh and do a cleanup along our downtown
area um we're also talking with rotary about assisting with the catfish parade at our board meeting this month they uh they asked us if we would be spotters the partnership would be spots on the parade um so we're talking to them about that
um we're also looking for um maybe an opportunity to assist with the historical society's event this upcoming May um you know possibly if you're planning to do the uh tour the historic tour down Central we'd love to be the
refreshment stop there because we're right there um and then we'll be conducting the big street festival for red white boom on Jun June 28th um that's in conjunction with fireworks um um that's usually a big event for us and
um we'll be closing off the street as usual bringing in um vendors who are um have things for the kids and also food vendors and um and that should be a very good event for us so that uh that brings us up through the uh the end of the
second quarter um does anybody have any questions I just I had a question about the profit and loss statement at the profit and LW statement that you have in here for the first quarter and I just wonder it doesn't show anywhere in here the
money that we gave you I'm sorry my I sound like a frog I'm sorry but on your profit and loss statement that you included in here it doesn't show the ,500 that the city gave you for the first quarter okay all right we'll make
that correction okay it makes it look like you're losing much money yeah you negative 2,000 yeah I'm not certain what that is I don't have that in front of me so okay we'll get an answer on that thank
you anything else sure um Mary thank you very much thank you to all the volunteers um as I've said before I think I belong to and support three organizations who are represented on your board and we're a
small town we have very small pool of volunteers um the one thing that concerns me and I'm glad to see that you folks are kind of coming into balance with your events because um it was it was my feeling that
they were taxing on the volunteers just taxing and you're coming to a balance which I think is great um the contract with the city requires that um the downtown partnership followed the Main Street fourpoint approach and
speaking of balance um and I know I keep the Department of State information in my folder about downtown partnership and it says one of the points is understanding that positive change takes both time and
local effort so I know it takes time um but it's it's my hope and I think the commission also needs to be mindful of this um I I'm not sure that all that the
activities hit all four points strong enough of the fourpoint approach um in particular um sorry I'm trying to look at my notes here but the one that um I think maybe
is the most difficult um is building a diverse economic base and um when you all meet and have discussions um and I know it says are supposed to be clear and realistic goals and objectives
that's from the Department of State information um I just I think as the ship turns that more weight needs to be given to all the Four Points um but and I recognize it takes
time it does yeah so and then for the commission we have a contract with them it requires the four points and anything we can do to help them I think we should so and thank you very much for the
report anything [Music] else second quarter that we approve the second quarter payment to the City downtown partnership I'll second that um I just wanted to say one thing I forgot I think we all met Mr Jefferson
he introduced himself but I mean I've met him one onone and um I I know it takes a lot of hard work to hire someone and I think that is a very significant accomplishment um of the downtown
partnership because I think he's very qualified and I know it took a lot of work to get that hire in place um M if you do aoll call for please hi commissioner Lori hi
commissioner Moore hi commissioner bton hi Myers hi okay so free thank you thank you B thank you Mary and congratulations um it's great success we appreciate it
everything you do uh with that I'm going to go to the legislative update I know have this in here I believe commissioner Deo provided this and this is regarding our C this is you want to give us kind of an overview
as um certainly um you know we know that in the past I'm trying to find my um in the past the legislature has um put more restrictions on community redevelopment agencies which are essentially um tax
increment financing mechanisms um this year there is a very um I guess very restrictive bill that would essentially shut down CRA activities if it passes U they're all required to
sunset in 2045 and um there are to be no new projects and no additional uh bonding to be put forward by any CRA I believe after October 1st
um was it July October October I think it's October 1st but um a new project there was an amendment in the house if it's not in your budget for this year then you couldn't do it but anyway um so that bill is moving very
very fast it was passed through a senate committee and a house committee um this week and I think we second comme today and okay so um it's not looking very good
and I think we are all getting emails about this from the Redevelopment Association so um I think they would all they would like our help and anyone that we can bring um to bear on it and we
just have to be very mindful um that it is entirely possible if things don't go well that we could be very limited in what our C could do and um I'm very disappointed in it it sounds like a possible compromise
would be that c should focus on affordable housing as opposed to Economic Development so that's that's the report thank you I just want to kind of um say that the new bill um basically
it says right here prohibit cras from initiating new projects or issuing new debt after October 1st 2025 and it prohibits the creation of any new cras after July 1st 2025 so so this really is they really
just want to dissolve it current main or the older Central sorry Central C does sunset in 2035 but the two other ones would sun7 2058 so the North and South so it wouldn't
really affect it wouldn't cause the central one to be dissolved necessarily early but the North and South would be and like you said it says no new projects no bonding we don't we haven't bonded but still it is it is a big deal and it
is definitely worrisome and it's moving fast right and so if you read your emails I think they're asking us to call our legislators and um I I don't know what any other
um municipalities in our area C are doing um but I think it would really be the loss of an economic development tool particularly for small towns um who's going to rule days in t
going to rule days next week [Music] rule might want to um I know the chamber I know the chamber's going so be there probably cities cities but
so I'm not exactly sure chairman um Leo Wilson she's going to be there okay so you might want to reach out to them and just see if you can piggy back with them on some of this too when I'm going out to the different um
legislators yeah if if you haven't done that it's going to be um it'll be it'll be an eye opener it'll be a real it'll be a real eye opener but you know unfortunately you have to make those appointments long in advance yeah I've made my appointments I just haven't
gotten the list of who I would be me so that's exciting we have some other things that are coming up that legislator is looking at but we're in CRA right now so that's a discussion I think that as we move forward we need to really um especially if we think that if
this passes we're going to have to really um reassess and and and Michael um I know you've been involved in this maybe give us some some guidelines or some suggestions um what we need to do to get in preparation so that you know we have
projects that are in the works that are in the works that are in the works um so anyway thank you and thank you commissioner to for bringing that um to everyone's attention okay with that let me um I'm
going to take if we can I would like to take a uh probably a 10 minute recess 5 to 10 minute recess um Don is still not um on his way so okay so with this it we
recess e e e e e e e e e
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budget that was um a recommendation presented to us it was not there's not items that we had approved and then gone back and said we're going to back off of that um so that way I'm I'm I'm very comfortable going forward I think I think right now um if you walk into our
city hall um our staff is underfunded overworked and if this is something that we can do for them at this time then by all means um we need to do that because to keep good staff on is most important
for us um you've already seen what we've gone through with our finance office and we're in competition with we lost one of we lost one of our employees to St Augustine you know and it was a much better basically doing the same thing at
a at a greater rate of pay um we've got to really look at that and we got to take care of our own house here to make sure that our employees are taking care of and I think this is an opportunity for us to be able to do that uh we approved this back in when did we
approve this Michael so this would be we could retroact this correct AR we yes it could be retro that to the approval when we did we were just waiting to find out what our carryover what our carry forward was going to be so I just want to make sure we have that clarified yes
and and as a follow up to commissioner Deo the the the carry forward includes reoccurring expenses nothing that's project oriented because those could easily would have been T taken out of funded during that that that fiscal year
so these would be uh funds that weren't spent that would be normally operating operational reoccurring expenses so uh and in addition to that the the 171,000 that that we're not recommending
at this time we could staff is working together to put some recommendations on where we best feel the expenses to go we would be ready um at the April and May meeting to bring forward a new ordinance recommending where those dollars would
go to so we're just not there as as this say but those 171 funds are protected in our account so they're not going anywhere and also from an audit standpoint we can't expend I mean we
already know that and we've we've been tapped for that before is we can't expend any dollars until we have actually put it in the budget um and so that if we have to peace meal it um then then then so be it but that's important
too is that we do it you know we make sure that that we've done it beforehand um um May a question so I would like to see the list of what we took out of the budget to do the roll back right because
essentially we did approve that in workshops and we're moving forward as if that would be our budget that's how we do our budget and we were told that that would be provided so I would like to see what we took out particularly when staff
is going to bring forward expenditures because that was our last word on that that we would try to backup because it was I know it was in my backup so I have it in my paperwork if not Steve if you can please provide that to um to Michael
to provide to commissioner deito uh it's going to be I believe Charles has that and it shows it was even broken out you know where we've had the back where we've had it back off of that so came out and as well it would be
helpful to know we had the staff survey it would be helpful to know just in general the city manager's report if we are losing employees um because otherwise we just hear that by chance or
whatever it is and that's the kind of thing that would be helpful to let us know you know when people leave are we um leaving people because of low pay or um competition it doesn't get reported
so it's it's just some of us know it and some of us don't may I say something yeah you know when you're talking employees their number one concern is how much they paid you know can they afford can they afford to feed the families can they afford to you
know drive back and forth from work so it's very important to to realize that you know what they're being paid and the competition out there to crab them the expense to pay someone to be trained to do some of the jobs that they're doing
here is very expensive ens um it's you know it's nice if you're an employer that can say Hey you know I know this guy in Crescent City I know he's been trained I know he's not making enough money so I'll just give him some more money and grab him or her and and that's
what happens all the time with employ with employers so we should recognize our employes and and give them what they deserve and we're kind of low we're on the low as far as what we pay here so U
you know we can't constantly be um we can't we just shouldn't be there all the time on the lowend we need to pay them what they're worth and I would like to see it also that you know as we move forward um we all know that we've got a lot of our
employees you know like per and like day that have been here for a long time they're aging out they're ready to retire they're ready to go on and enjoy their retirement um we're going to have to replace those employees and I would like it that people are eager especially
here in ccent city that they're eager to apply to the city and not us out there I mean because we're constantly you know Hey listen we have an opening um we're always beating the bushes you know please please please you know please apply and like it to be where they're
knocking our door down say hey y'all have an opening um I'd like to apply and so we as an employer we just have to um you know I think we have to do better do better with that so well that's why we had this Sol
study that's why we're giving this increase right now today y so with that did I have do I have a I have a motion yeah that's why we're in discussion we have any further discussion on this if not I'm going to go ahead and
open it up for public comment you would please come forward state your name and anual address seeing no one come forward I'm going to close public comment um Madam clerk if you would do a roll call for us please commissioner Deo
n commissioner Lor I commissioner mo i commissioner Burton hi mayor Myers I so approved thank you all Commissioners I know our employees will greatly greatly
appreciate that and the building will greatly appreciate that because this building needs um need it needs it needs it does need some work so with that so we're going to close our public we're not going to close it yet we're going to go to a resolution of support Michael if
you would talk about this please yes this is the title is resolution support endorsing The Oasis at C Lake Echo Resort and residents conceptual business development plan inth clitman County U
just a little bit of background on this um there's a a property owner located about 1.5 miles north um of the city's corporate limits along US 17 uh 57 acre attractive land that ABS um Lake
Crescent um their their mailing address is Crescent City um they love the community they they've own that property for um a little bit over 15 years um they they are looking at Future
development of that track and in such that will create commercial Echo Resort and Marine industry type um activity they they contacted to City number one because uh we have some utility lines up near the high school
which is right across the street and we've got a natural gas line so any type of future development could could impact or affect our particular utility system secondly um they've reached out to us requesting them um a letter of
resolution of support so that they can work with pman County government on the project um the due diligence to site plan review so on they would like to work with the the the Florida chamber of commerce and various state agencies on
any permitting development approval any types of grants that could could be available so we've drafted this particular resolution of support um looking at the business development plan this this resolution does not
recommend necessarily a development approval any type of Permitting activities other than we think this is a great opportunity for economic development should it move forward and we are and we would work F our utilities
on any type of pering activity that a site plan approval through putam County would would require you'll see also in your packet where the Putman County um Chamber of Commerce has ened this I to
u to support uh and Endor The Oasis at ccent Lake Eco Resort and resident conceptual business development plan in South puam County thank you do I have a
second no one wants a second no okay I'm happy to explain why that right now then that will um di for lack of a
second for lack of a second you explain why well it just um this seems to me pretty premature and um it's this is a big unknown um and
I am I don't think that we're the ones to step up and take the lead on this and um we don't know there there could be benefit but there could also be fall out and I think it should just go through
the process that way we could learn more about it and I think the neighbors are the are the first ones I just think it's pretty much what's your what's the process you wanted to go to go through the process what process I just asking so that we for clarification it's not
it's not in our city limits this Mr rohart explained that they have long ways to go and I think that we should let them go through the jurisdictions um the agencies and jurisdictions that they
need to um whatever they're going to propose will be a lot more flashed out and we would have a lot more information because it's not in the city my concern is the resolution does say on here um expending gas water and sewer
which I don't as far as I'm aware we do not have water and SE out there except du the high school which already is a stretch as it was we don't have the capacity for that but my other my other concern is the
fact that the property in question is 57 acres and from my estimation about five of it is Upland the rest of it is swamp it is entirely I mean it's across the street from the high school on the Lake Crescent Crescent Lake Side um it
adjacent to a piece of property ottobon Society of Florida owns and then right next to a piece of property that Mr nle owns um and it's all swamp according to the the Water Management District so I don't know how they would be building 57 Acres of amenities on basically five
acres of build of buildable property and I just there's a lot of questions in here also the fact that they going have floating homes which are possible um water that is you know the the proper people Florida youd have to submer land
Le and all kind of stuff I just think the whole thing seems like a snake Sal I mean oh they're not yeah but I don't want to call them that these are good people I mean they are good people and they're TR
to so we I mean I understand where you're coming from but they they have high aspirations so but on the same hand and you know I mean uh what do you know it's it's a way to bring in tourism it's a way to uh bring
people you know into and and to enjoy our city and hopefully grow our city into certain businesses that that would help uh you know generate jobs in this area um and I'm just going to be frank
uh they're just asking for us to to express our support if even if they don't get our support if they move forward they don't need our support but I think you know being so negative on it you know it's not not a good good way to start I very I very of
job development County County Chamber of Commerce is very supportive okay well with that so the motion died so unfortunately Mr Bart if you would um share that share that with them um they they did they did seek this
out and ask but but they're I think they're trying to Marner the community support so that as they go forward um you know I mean I questioned it too because having with my background in state government I know that you know you can't put houses out of the
water you know merch land and but it's not going to be houses they're more like their house boats they their house boats so um anyway so I think it let them they can come and do a presentation to us but
I have no idea yeah I don't I'm not comfortable putting the city's Name Behind like this that's fine yes I think commissioner Lori has expressed it very well I said premature but I really don't want to put our name on something that
is not really realistic and we have no idea what direction this will go and there'll be plenty of opportunity in the future not sure okay okay let's move on so we're going to move on to our business items I'm going to close out
our public hearing Michael I'm going turn this over to you the application for appointment to the historic preservation board Mr prank Cory um is presented an application and would like to diligently serve on the on this particular board
and staff is recommended is nomination somebody like to I was I move that we point Frank Murray to the historic reservation board I'll second it we have a motion in a second we have any other
discussion from Mur ask Mr Murray if he would like to come forward I did a moment ago and so I'm gonna Mr Murray would you like to say anything just I appreciate the opportunity okay we appreciate you're willing to do so because this position
has been open for quite a while so we are very happy um to have you interested thank you so Madam CL if you do a roll call for us please commissioner Burton hi commissioner mo i commissioner Lori I
commissioner I I thank you and thank you for your willingness to serve see it's in about five months six months truly thank you very much thank you need more people that want to step
up okay so this is going to lead us into the um a discussion on the Middleton Bernie Elementary School pending closure City obligations Mr cor just left well did you ask somebody asking today um no
well I discussed prompting be prompting to discuss this no but um I discussed this with Mr brart and the reason that this is on the agenda is because people have been mentioning and it is very true
it's my understanding that the middle to berning elementary school is going to be closed correct and so um my thought is that I mean essentially zoning and planning are our responsibility right
and there's an interlocal agreement um there's supposed to be communication between um the city and the school district when a school is going to be closed and um we do have City obligations and I was
hoping we could hear from Mr KET on the kind of issues that we're going to be called upon to address is there anything that we need to do to plan for this um but he has gone so my understanding is of course with the
new construction that that's been that's been delayed a little bit so they won't even open not this coming September they'll do it the following September they're not going to do it in the middle of the school year it's too much to move in the middle of the school year so
they'll over the summer so we've got plenty of time and then my also I right now the school district hasn't said they they're ready to let go of that property so I I don't know what what their intentions are either so I think we're kind of put maybe part before the horse
and let's wait and hear what the school district has to say um as they get closer you know sure well I'm just by way of bringing up we have an interlocal agreement with them that involves all the municipalities and the County government we're supposed to have
regular staff communication and I don't think this has ever been done in the history of the interal agreement since 2013 actually suppos to the board supposed to meet but at a minut it would be helpful if staff would communicate and I guess um if we
could hear from Mr KR we we were not very well prepared for the closure of Miller Middle School just in terms of knowing what the processes are and what we're should expect in terms of land use and all that um so at some point and
that's a good update to know and now people know is not not going to be closed for the September 20 2025 26 school year it's still going to be over there um just wanted to bring to our attention that we should spend a little
bit of time covering what that might look like so with that let's go ahead and move on to um icma before we do that Mr Bart if you just reach out to Mr bowling at some point and ask him um so that you can report at the next meeting what their intentions are at this time thank
you so we can have an update let's go on to the icma training councils and Council operations commissioner deito you asked us to be put on the agenda um yes I did and hopefully somewhere in your packet um there is a copy of the email that I think we all received from
the I think icma is international city council manager association um some of us have taken the leak of cities Mission training um I don't think all of us have I think commissioner Lori
and I have both taken the institute for elected Municipal officials one and two and Senior leadership um I have never seen the IC advertised this particular program
before um but to me it looks really good um it covers um understanding the form of government um the D D between elected officials the chief administrative officer and local government staff gaining insights into Financial Planning
and how budgets align with long-term goals um fostering transparency developing strategies um and apparently you can sign up for this individually or you can pay I think $895 and sign up for
it um as a commission and I think to me um this seems a little more focused and targeted and then some of the seminars that come kind of pecem mail through the league of
cities um it looks to me like it would be good for all levels and we would all take the same course which to me sounds beneficial and I'm not sure how the mechanics work but I think it might be helpful okay so we can request a demo
and explore the course cont so maybe that's something that we could we [Music] do into that and by the way I I might need help from commissioner War I tried to request the demo and I don't think I
got it maybe if he if he can't do it nobody can okay so um are you a member of IC yes I think that's why okay so let's bring to our
attention for discussion okay let's move on to the fishes of men nor Legacy division Mr H I'm so sorry the meeting's over welcome sorry sorry failed you I failed
you and I so apologize so well you know I should have I should have called the mayor down there CL and say Hey listen move him up on the agenda I literally my presentation was 10 minutes I'm so sorry it's okay but thank you for thank you
for driving all the way down here absolutely you have been greatly missed okay so this um fish of men North florid Legacy division does this is for the fishes of
men this is in your packet um just just an informational item about this particular event that's happening done at the mar Nelson Park and boam March 22nd I think this is the done this
they've done this before yes ma'am and um this is bringing our youth in as well is that correct this is a really NE opportunity so commission I would just share with you that you have an opportunity um when you're down there on March 22nd it's
always anytime they're doing a tournament or they're down there fishing you know stop in they really do enjoy the commission stopping in greeting them and welcoming them on to presentent City because they they do come to town they do they do buy lunch and they buy dinner
often times breakfast and snacks and gas um and so and utilizing they're utilizing one of our beautiful Parks so if you get a chance stop in there and just say hey thanks for being here that would be
great than good and with that we're going to um go on to discussion of the appointment for the new Fire pension board member yes commissioner this is just information um Mr William Stout who
who's been a member of the of the board has resigned he's moved out of the area uh fire chief H was just wanting to to let the commission know that they need to have a new another appointment to this particular board and at this at
this point in time there's not an individual that's being recommended based upon a nomination may I have a question yes does this person need a financial background or business
background it it doesn't it doesn't hurt yeah but but no it's it's they don't they don't have to have but it would be helpful so essentially I mean are we being asked
to look through yes we have an opening and so we need an applicant we need an applicant to serve on this so yes so if you know of anybody please ask them to reach out to um our Clerk and
um how many people are on that there three um small it is small I want to say jelly is on [Music] and Mr Stout was a former firefighter so
I mean he did bring that he did bring that with to [Music] it Jason retir him be on it so just okay thank you so with that
we're going to go to our um city manager the first item is an update on the city manager search U the the recruitment is for for the city to receive applications is uh next Thursday
March the 20th uh once a week uh all the applicants that that come into the city um are submitted by the clerk to the outside um fora fccma senior executive Consultants to do
um what I would call the initial review and vetting um after after March 20th when all the applicants are here they will be presenting um their their review and recommendation how many people wait to okay thank you and
then the copy of the average monthly cost of City Hall and anex building yes we' we've gotten both average monthly and for the year it's in your package um and it shows just what what we we pay for this particular building
and thex next SCH so that'll give you kind of an idea in comparison against other costs um the um I have a question I don't I didn't find that in
my manag report can you [Music] just you sent me an email I asked just before the contract last
on can that just be resent and then individually and then we would know because I have have page with the building department and the permit applications and then it and then it
goes right into contract okay okay you don't need it no no our city manager report is but this is separate yeah don't worry about it we we have things we need to do and people are getting tired of sitting there I'm sure so we'll get it later okay so then
we're going to move on to um the discussion on the proposal from the Douglas wall firm regarding the contract representation of the city specifically for the acquisition of the historic midle school property thank you so much for your patience um we have this in front of us
I believe we have a revised draft that was given to us um it was into your place um you have it in front of us real hard I guess you have been working with Mr dougas on this yes we we discussed
the uh the opportunity to provide a contract that can be used by the city um and transfer ownership between the school district and the city and so this is a that particular draft okay Commissioners do you have any
questions as Mr Holmes looked at it I have I have just a couple of questions and they aren't intended as being criticism but I a couple questions when it's appropriate okay I think it's appropriate so um as Mr Douglas knows um
we attorneys basically work at the direction of someone and when we're working on an hourly rate I'm sure Charter would agree um it helps us and it will help you to know who has the authority to authorized time being
spent um hourly rate of 250 is certainly within reason very reasonable not in any way critical of that but um if someone directs him to or his associate to spend 10 hours on
something and without some sort of mechanism or procedure by which that you know there there's some parameters on on cap of time or something like that it's just that everybody could get could be put into an awkward situation so I'm just asking is there has there been any
thought given to either limiting the number of hours per month without uh subject to a request for more time to be spent you know what I'm saying I be agre with that I'm sorry I would be agreeable with that so that way you know if it's
going to go above X whatever X is then you you know that Mr Douglas would make a call or something and say hey we spent a lot of time this month we're already at our our our Max do can we keep on going and and how far can we go that would just be a suggestion
for that thank you because that's that's one of my hiccups too I mean that's a concern that I have I want callor a hicup but that's that is int any way to anybody's trying to run up time I'm just saying that as an attorney happen he's working for a committee and the committee says hey go out and do this
job and that job takes 15 hours to do the job thoroughly and then the next thing you know he's got a bill that he's sending to you and you're saying wow we didn't know that was going to come this month even a phone call I mean even a phone call from somebody that's outside of um so I think that we do need to have that in there commission I don't even
know why we're I don't even know why we're addressing this um because we have to have representation if we if we even have any discussion or go forward at all or do anything with the school dist I I would like that to be the first part of
the discussion because you know he's going to come in and uh be here when the BRC committee uh is meeting I don't know you know what they have in mind okay I'm not exactly sure and I
think that's what you're kind of getting at can come in for for any parent reason that you want and I think the first thing that we have to decide is is whether or not we really want to take um and
continue looking at this as something that we we definitely have to spend time and money to get school I mean it does it make sense for the city to purchase the school does it that's my question and I
think we have to make that decision as a commission and if you look at today's environment okay with everything's that's going on uh with with the federal government the state government all the different things that
people are cutting out and you know a FEMA for examples up in the a education's up in the air grants are up in the air um you know it I just don't you know and and and the other
thing you know I went and I looked up a few things you know I went and I looked up um for example uh you know everybody talks about civil you know uh has a has a a historic school as a community say I think it's great it's wonderful but
that's run by the Civil Village Improvement Association it's not run by their City uh the um Jenkins School in PAC is never owned by city of Paca okay that's owned by the historic Central Academy
preservation and Community Development Corporation um if you look at the old school in school square square in dely Beach it really is run by the old school Square Center for the Arts and they continue to partner with public and
private private entities to promote to promote Arts and Cultural programming and education and yes the city the city can be a partner but the city doesn't work well as the owner one thing that I
hear from all of you is that you want to control most of what's going on down there and and you won't control it if the city owns it everything you want to do you got have to come and ask us and it doesn't make sense to do that makes
sense and you have the perfect plan you you've already said it it's the it's the perfect way to to move into a foundation look for public and private Monies to form a foundation and move forward that way and then you can hire buck as your
lawyer just have had it but you know to be back and forth back and forth with something that we really can't afford as a city I don't know why we're we're in discing it here okay Comm the examples that you
read off I think you're on to something there for all of these projects the conduit was the local government the local government was the conduit who facilitated all this to happen and this
that is usually the way Municipal and local government development projects occur I don't think anyone intends for the city to be the entire manager of the whole thing but
the local government we are the ones with the planning responsibility and the way these projects usually work and I've been in communities where I've been very close to some of these projects the local government takes the lead they
take the lead and act as the coordinator and then eventually it becomes a different entity but we're the we are the best ones to take the lead and I think that what we have in mind is not
that um I would like to ask Mr deas not necessarily that he Begin work tomorrow but that we'd be ready if we have an opportunity we're and I know commissioner Lor wants to address this or he looks like he does we're a link a
very important link on the CH well may I say this though before you know we have already given the seed money okay we've given $123,000 to start that process and and and we haven't
quite it it hasn't kind of gone anywhere yet all right now I'm not going to say that it won't but I but but I don't see anybody reaching out you know to private and public
entities to help support this idea you know other than they're saying boy this would be great for the city to step in and and and buy this property and renovate it The Bu Beach uh the renovation cost to do that was $250
million that's a lot of go you know is the the uh and and that's going to take a whole lot more money than what city has okay I think we are we're a link we're not there yet we don't know how
much this will cost the gentan from reeg Architects I forget his last name is that [Music] Fernandez Gonzalez sorry my neighbor was FAS um there this is a time consuming
process where just not there yet and you just have to put one foot in front of the other and when the fact finding is done I mean maybe we should have Mr pcel come and talk to us it really is a
lengthy process um so I'm okay let me just say one other thing yes you know I watched the BRC meeting uh uh the day after our meeting our last uh meeting and when I watched that meeting
it was an hour long and basically nothing was really done during the meeting except um some very disrespectful comments about the commission and Commissioners at this bench you know that that sit here all
right so there's an hour worth wasted time as far as I was concerned just to kind of talk about what a bad job we do up here so I thought well I'll go to the next BRC meeting and see how how that goes and of course I went just just
wanted to see if anything had changed well that meeting was a lot quicker it was about 15 minutes but the thing that I kind of noticed right out of the shoe was they came together they sat down they the meeting started and the very
first thing that happened was our clerk was reprimanded for not having the minutes and it was done in in in a somewhat not a very nice tone so so that's all f and dandy but that's the
other place where we have given money and time and effort to help this committee move forward and and I just don't see it I mean they move forward and theyve put a plan together but I think the plan needs they they need to
take it out of the city right now and and work on it uh as a foundation I really would like to see something formed in a foundation mode whether a found it's a foundation or whatever but they every two weeks to
come in and really not get too much done doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me done commissioner La um first of all the school board cannot give property to a foundation or nonprofit especially P County they've had some instances in the
past with something like that and gotten in trouble with Inspector General had all kinds of stuff go on they're very careful about this and in or in local agreement we have they can transfer property to other governments that's us we are the one
that wants to do this it's in our city it's the one we're going to benefit the most from it um and to say that the BRC hasn't done a ton of work for volunteering um I think it's no I think done a lot of work I'm
not saying and we've got a lot more work to do and but we can't go anywhere if we don't have if there's no legal representation for the city because there's no one can talk to the school district we um Mr Holmes is conflicted
out so if we're going to have any hope of doing anything further there needs to be legal representation that came forward and I don't think that Charlie or Lisa need to be at the BRC meetings all of this can be done through Mr brart
um but there needs to be a conduit and someone that we can go forward with um we're you know you we've not not allowed the BRC to do any talks with anybody we've we've information gathered they have information gathered and the
next step is to have someone that can talk to the school district and start the negotiation so that we can move forward but there's there's nothing can happen any without a lawyer um I'm gonna I'm
gonna I'm speak up for just a minute um I I I see it on all sides um commissioner Burton is is is absolutely right in the current climate that we're in right now um we should all be very
cautious uh we don't know we don't know where we're going to be I myself from the city standpoint concerned of the impacts that could take place based on the legis the legislature um I'm also looking at from the federal government
um you know the legislature were looking at the ad theum and and again I said this the last time and I'll say it again snow Canin off their back to pass that through because it goes to the people and that's a $100,000 across the board that um and so
we're going to have to and and that's going to happen sooner than later and so we don't know what's going to happen with that grants we know for right now at least especially some of these federal grants um that we r on
small municipalities across the state Across the Nation rely on those small grants um those grants are definitely in Jeopardy and and right now they're they're being held up um there's there's just a climate of of of um not knowing
uncertainty um and so as we go forward we have no matter what we do we've got to proceed I feel um cautiously that said um I also know that if we're going to do anything um if we're going to be a part
of the partnership whatever the recommendation is they did not the BRC did not bring us a plan with no finances and and that's something that I think is that you still have to work out um I would encourage you to also talk to
Partners people that would reach out and be part of be part of of the vision that you have over there um they did that in Seville um they did that and they did have to pay for that I think they paid 95,000 for that two of
the women that are the head of that board I graduated with and are dear friends of mine um you have to do that but I do know so where I sit today is I also know that if
we end up having to be at the table we are going to have to have representation and so that's why um I think that we at least need to enter into uh some sort of an agreement so that we have secured so we have secured
representation but I'm very cautious about that as well because um I think Mr Holmes you made a very good point you came in right at the right time thank you um that who gives that direction because that bill can add up fast and we
don't have we don't have budget and so that's my next question is where are we looking for this to be to come out of you know what are we looking for this to come out of and how much are we willing to to put up for that and so and so my
second point on This was um and again none of this is intended as a criticism of of Mr Douglas or his firm he would be taking Direction just like I would be if a client hires me and says I want you to do something then personally I always explore the idea of how much he's
willing to pay how much he's willing to allocate to it so that I can understand how far I can go down the rabbit rabbit hole if that's where it takes me and in your case I think it's important that you have as as Mr L Mr L said he didn't think that the attorney needs to be at
every meeting but those are the uncertainties in a contract like this because who makes that decision who who makes a decision about whether to have the attorney there each meeting who makes decision about um whether the attorney is supposed to research something or do title exam or whatever
so that was why I said I think it's important that you decide and it's not for me to decide how that process is going to work and the second thing that I have a question about is the 90day termination Clause why why three months
in other words if um if if you guys get into this thing a little ways and you say we don't have the money to keep funding this process um then according to this you got three months during which you can't
terminate and you're going to keep getting bills depending upon again who's authorizing the work and that I think that probably is also uh something that you should consider now if you're good with that then so be it it's not not
coming out my chck but that could be that could be problematic that could be problematic that's we that the reason it was in there is to really protect the client so that you're not left hanging with an Abrupt departure of your lawyer but we can trct it and we're we are here
to serve at the will of the commission and if you don't want us anymore you don't have to wait 90 days till us um and that's I I think thank you and thank you for your willingness you know I'm not yeah we thank you for we thank
you for your willingness um I think commission as if as we go forward with this if we if we to approve this there needs to be some parameters and I think right now it's premature and I mean it's not maybe premature in us agreeing to
the contract I think it's premature in us um engaging in hourly $250 an hour without us having Direction and knowing where we're going to find it and so um we have some options yes if I could um I
was looking at our statement of Revenue and expenditures we have a line it of there and I think I've always spent it it's the other other professional outside it's outside legal
and we've spent 175 I don't know what we spent that on oh that was your are we still spending money or is that lawsuit still it's still there the lawsuit in well
um so we have a balance of 208 $825 in outside legal um my thought was um and thank you mayor for feeling that we should be prepared
um I I think we should set a cap and to me it would help to have a recommendation from Mr delas on what he thinks um the time that he thinks that we should allocate if we needed him to be our um
Communicator or negotiator with the school district what would he recommend that we allocate in terms of time I want anticipate that different months are going to take different amounts of time but I'm certainly agreeable with Mr
hold's a recommendation that if in any given month there is a need for more than x number of hours call 10 hours that it would require additional approval from the commission to go over on that particular
life can I just say one more thing it's been bothering me something something's been bothering me for a while you know we we did some work a while back on the new Moon Lodge we got the reg we got a whole lot of
stuff going there and it's like we Dro B like a hot potato we haven't heard or done seen seen too much going on that's not true we're we're C waiting for the small matching Grant which we applied for in order to get the $10,000 to match
or the $50,000 to get the construction plans done so it is in process Char one thing I like I don't hear them come in every every meeting and found the table so I do appreciate that but it would be
nice to have an update you know as to where some of that is but well I and I was going to ask about it tonight I'm not the state division of historic resources can only spend money allocated by the legislature and there's different
cycles and I'm still not clear will that if we get the Grant and I mean I don't know where we are but it's very much on my mind because that building needs attention Mr brart atted the webinar
that did the the scoring correct and so we are just waiting now for them to rank it and then it goes to the legisl which is as you know meaning right now okay so so in the process of getting the money to get the construction plans
done RG okay but hang on so we've um they don't have the ranking yet so the way this works when the ranking comes out you will know how much money the legislature would have to put in to that particular budget line for you to be
funded so it would behoove us to keep up with that information and to communicate with our house and Senate um uh legislators I mean commission thank you very much because it is vitally
important that we um do everything we can to make sure that that gets funded if we if we score anywhere in ballpark okay um yes thank you and Mr bhart you'll keep us informed okay with that I'm going to
get I'm going to get back to the contract um which is before so let me ask you a question it looks like you're assigning attorney Lisa miles to this by responsible attorney we mean that she would be the one to field any
day-to-day phone calls I still very much want to be involved in this as my partner Mr Jeremiah Blocker who has a great deal of experience in real estate law as a llm in real estate so that would be the team okay does she have real estate experience yes
sir she she she has real estate law experience yes sir that's that's just very important that whoever are our key person is has that so that it's not a learning curve for them either absolutely um so I mean Commissioners you have you have an option I mean we
have an option here um we can go ahead and and enter into the agreement um I believe it's my recommendation that that that the commission is the one that would direct any Services um and we would direct it
through Michael brart and that's my recommendation and then we directed to Michael brilhart and then Michael brilhart our city manager that you know might be that we direct it to our city manager and the city manager deals directly with um the
law firm we ran into this as an issue before with homes and young and had to um had to bring it to our attention because various people were calling and and using up you know every time there's a phone call um you know that cost us
and so we were going outside of our 20 hour our 20 hour limit so I think with this that way it can better control that it would better control that so that's my recommendation um with this with the with the with the law firm but I I do I
do believe that should there be whatever solution if there's a foundation U that comes together and we're supposed to be part of that um that we have to have representation we just know we have to have
representation um but I don't think we're at that point right now to enter into any type of negotiations yet with the school district because we the commission are still waiting to hear you know um a plan and the finance and the financials and I know that's what the
blue rib committee is supposed to be working on so um I am fine with this contract I mean are you saying if we approve it then we will hold it um at the ready
until such time as we need it um because I do think it's a good idea to be prepared commission time is scarce um you may as well um we have a very good Law Firm very good Law Firm ready willing and able to
help us um so if you know and I guess this would be subject to um an agreement of an a second step do I understanding correctly May would be an agreement by the
commission um when we ask for help to set um a cap yes an initial cap but we're not there yet right so that so the the way to go forward would just be to approve the
contract with without with without a specific request for work yes do we need to be specific in there um as far as who who's going to give the direction who would you would be taking a direction from it would be
fine and reasonable to inter mostly with the city manager that's to be expected and whenever the city manager determines that the appropriate time is here for us to
begin then we will be at the ready it doesn't doesn't have to happen tomorrow it could be next week or two weeks around whenever the city manager calls us for ini tasks okay make sure it's in there yeah we
need to yeah just make sure that that language is in there if it's not and and you might want to put that in your um in the motion if somebody whoever's going to make the motion if we're going to get a motion please include some some language to that effect and the 10 hour
C and okay well I'm GNA try to make a motion the removal of the 90day and removal the 90day C okay so I'm not sure
um I move that we approve a contract uh for Legal Services with douas Law Firm um that is before us um with the following changes that the 90-day
termination Clause be removed and that um the law firm will work um at the direction of the city manager who will
take his or her direction from the commission and that there be an initial uh 10hour cab period and that this contract um be
held uh that no work be performed until um directed by commission and the city second can I make yes yes sir so I think when we talked about removing the
9 day Clause Mr Douglas and I believe I would understand that to mean that you would have a termination that could be made on less than 90 days uh obviously it all should and you can listen to what I'm saying and if you will just
incorporate it but he should be paid for any work that he's done so it would not be appropriate for someone to come up and terminate the contract and he's left holding the bag for 10 hours but see what I'm saying so right now would be be
paid for any any time that he's expended up to the point of termination but it could be terminated upon notice and if you want to say reasonable notice or 10 days notice or five days notice or whatever if you just take the 90 days out and that means you can't terminate except by mutual agreement because the only termination clause in
the contract is paragraph six it says it's effect of March 13 remain in effect until completion of the project unless modified or terminated by agreement of the parties agreement means both sides have to agree to terminate it so and I don't think that's in any way what he intended was to as he already indicated
he's not trying to rope anybody into an agreement so nine says it can be canceled and terminated by either party upon the providing of 90 days notice and writing so you say I just eliminate that then you're saying you don't have a termination Clause so I'm saying that instead of 90 make it 10 or 30 I don't
whatever you want to but he's paid for whatever time that he has invested as of the time of termination or he receives notice of termination does that make sense to you yes do you want to amend your you want to amend your um maybe I'm just being too uh
logical on this but you say that there's a cap of 10 hours it almost made it sound like that's all that's all you get it's 10 hours 10 hours a month is the contemplation and anything over that requires approval right is that what you
intended was I didn't hours that's it and I guess part of that because we we kind of deal in that world so we yeah we kind of understand that that was like a 10hour allowance per month and if he needs more he comes back and ask for that's what I
understood to mean maybe I'm assuming something that's okay commissioner D do you want to can you amend your can you amend your well I would am I just amend my motion instead of just saying remove the 90 days notice
that paragraph 9 we maybe canell and terminated by either party upon the providing of um I would say 15 days notice um and I just do we need to say that he'll
be paid for his work done I mean and at that time at the time of termination um services rendered to that day would be PID full isn't that kind of understood not necessarily whatever it's a common term
it's common to put a clause in there in in termination Clauses that state that the provider of the services will be paid for services rendered through data termination don't you agree and that we should include the langage
in so do you accept that I second okay so we have a proper Motion in a second do we have any um we have any other comments Commissioners do we have um I'm going to ask I know we've got people in
your P your mic down so I can hear you better public comment do you have any public comment does anybody have any public comment if you do please come forward at this time okay everybody's good Mr Douglas you're comfortable with this yes thank
you yes mad hi commissioner l i commissioner Moore hi commissioner B [Music] thank you thank you your time thank you
for um so with that we're going to move on to our um city manager report if there's anything the city manager I'm sorry let's go to let's go to our um attorney do we have any other than to
again apologize for my delay it was uh it was unavoidable I had a a matter that had been pending for about a year that had to be heard by the city commission and in Paca wasn't a very long presentation but uh they scheduled their
land use matters at the end of their meeting so or towards the end so you know how Mr Douglas feels tonight i' probably been to that Rodeo more than once sure I'm sure you have I would have
thought you would have had some pull up there quite honestly well um okay so so I'm gonna close that out you have nothing more to support to us no ma'am not unless you have questions um Mr realart do you have
anything more nothing in my report it's fairly detailed okay you have any questions on the report well I kind of do well it's okay opportunity okay well and I had
asked Mr goart about this if you look at the city manager's report there's actually two directors who have requested um to either the gas department is requesting um that he be
on the agenda and have um fgu present about potentially increasing rates and then apparently the fire chief is requesting a workshop um for him to give us an update on where the fire department is and where it's going and
um then also at some point I think we should schedule some time for some Finance but those are two directors who are asking to come before the commission um so should we tend to that and as well if we have the March 20 date
um for the um deadline on receiving resumes do we need to start looking ahead our we yeah we have to find out when the senior advisers are going to be so we'll we'll reach out to the senior advisors
and get from them um some dates yeah so we'll um we'll work with the the senior advisers and get some dates from them as to when they are are going to be ready they they going be ready to come in and report to us um
so but and I but just if the um Mr are you saying should we do that right now do do you want to I mean are you talking about the directors who want to have time with the commission yeah I I can ask them and we'll get back
to to the to let you know on what the recommended time frame is and whatever data they have to be a to may you raised what is this okay what are we doing with this
yeah just some information in regards TOS to my my position here with the city just some information um I've accepted a position um with the fulltime municipality and um wanted to say thank you for this
commission for hiring me it's been a joy and honor and a privilege to have worked with you um some great people here some great projects programs operations and activities some really great things that are going to be happening here and um
and have been excited to have worked with you all um my last day will be on the 31st and U you've got phenomenal staff here and of course I'm uh going to be recommending that in the interim between now and the hiring of the city manager
that you would appoint the assistant city manager to serve as the in room city manager okay well congratulations can we ask what city where you going oh Wow way up there very nice
having lived up in that area I a good having lived up in that area um it really is a a neat area ho of the wall Oyster Bar so um I don't want us to forget
about the workshops and our schedule but I guess um we need a motion to appoint Christina Marie as our interim city manager effective um April 1 that's not a
joke no it's not a joke it's not so I move that we accept the recommendation of our inur manager to Christina Marie as our new uh interim city manager uh as of April 1st
April is a Tuesday he said his last day is are you GNA be that one day probably it we'll finalize some reporting so let's do the 30 if you don't mind
first will be perfect all right moving time allow it's not good to On's allow chrisa some moving time as well so that allows the weekend to get their moving done um so do I have a
second okay second um any further discussion I assume she accept she Christina is this thank you you've done an outstanding job as our you stepped in
you took the ball and you ran with it we greatly appreciate all that you've done um spe really and now you have an office here we have not clarified her I'm assuming she will keep her status as a
um that this is a temporary appointment and she will but but she will keep her status as a permanent City employee as opposed to Mr realart was contract employee yes um much like Jonathan in
Black I think that he stepped into your to the position after Okay so we're we're good on that congratulations you would do a roll please commissioner I commissioner Lor I
commissioner mo i commissioner Bon I absolutely I congratulations um and Mr Bart I just want to say to you that um I don't like you very much right
now you know um I have um I have really come to truly appreciate you and and everything that you have done for this city and moving it forward and I I can't say that enough I can't sing your Praises enough um I I try I begged him I
did beg him um I I even tried to uh write a little bit that didn't help either um but you have um you stepped in and and you carried us forward and you did it with such a great
attitude and and for that I think we will always be eded to you and thank you and and I understand you going there also understand it being the VFS and how important that is some of us have have been in the FRS and said we understand
we understand that um we we just thank you and just wish you just nothing but continued success and we know that wherever you are that you're going to thank you and if you all want to drive out there I'll buy your oysters we do go up there from time to
time we have some your friends that we have to pass right by there um you know I just want to say something you know I met Michael it was like a quick minute um it was during which hurricane was
it he came in he came in right after the first hurricane he he drove in literally pretty much and he didn't have a place to stay and all of a sudden Michelle was on my doorstep because she knows that we have a mother-in-law I guess Tracy's
mom's house as we call it that was empty she hadn't been down here yet is it is it possible she says you know him to stay here and it's like yeah so he let him let him get in there and immediately we had a hurricane and
he had no power he he lived in a cave for how many days about three days I guess he had to run around town with me part that was really slow you know so right there he you know he conquered my admiration for him
right then and there just and I was thinking to myself you know he's kind of a perky little guy and I thinking you know working this really fits for this it really does he's doing a great job don't you give me
seen he stepped in I'll tell you he just he with boots on the ground right away drove through it to get here and I will ask though that as you you you're going to have some takeaways that can help us
um your experience your knowledge um um you've forgotten more than most people know and so if you would as you before you leave if you would just take that time and just give us some some
foresight for the city and some recommendations and some of the things that you see that um we could do better that we you know that can help lead us into the future take it take it with you mail
it back yeah take it with you and Ma and mail it back yeah it's probably best to mail it back but this really will be our last well it might not be our last meeting with him because we're g to have some have I think some workshops um but this really is our last commission meeting and
so everything that I've been doing though I've been keeping Christina involved in so she's gonna she's gonna run with the ball Miss well thank thank you for that may just want to make sure and Mr
wish you very well much happiness Anda she got some more things that she need number one as um Mr red did he left I think a very detailed Meo with things that were in progress that seemed to be
very helpful and I just want to make sure that we don't forget about scheduling workshops requested particularly in light of the mayor has said know there's so much Financial uncertainty out there and also in the
city manager's report the uh Fire Chiefs indicated the issue of the um fire engine needing to be replaced so I don't want us to forget commission about with the two
directors second okay we have a motion and we have a second all in favor please say I um Commissioners make sure as you go out if you talk to have a chance to talk to your legislators just make sure you talk to them about the things that are
going to impact us I know