Good evening everybody. It is April 27th, 5:00. This is the um city regular meeting for the city council of DeFuniak. And if everybody would please rise, we'll do an invocation followed by the pledge of allegiance. Dear Lord, we thank you for this day and
all your many blessings, Father. We uh we pray that you will be with us tonight, Lord, and you'll guide our meeting. You'll grant us wisdom and humility and humbleness as we carry out the will of the people, Lord, and what you would have us do. Pray, dear Lord, that you will be with our first responders as they're out there putting
their lives on the line and all of our soldiers that risk overseas, God. Keep them safe and bring them back to their families. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, first thing up is the consent agenda. Motion to approve. Second. We have a motion and a second.
Anything to be added or deleted? All in favor, Mr. Harrison, we start with you this evening. >> [clears throat] >> I. I. I. I. Eyes have it. Okay, regular agenda. Item
4A, any additions or deletions? No, ma'am. Motion to approve. Second. We got a motion and a second. Any uh comments? All in favor, say I. I. I. I. I. I. I
carry. Okay. Kobe, we got 4C1. Thank you, Chairwoman. Um Council, the first item is a ratification of property purchase agreement on North 4th Street. Um I've worked with Mr. Atkinson. I've executed
agreement for that property along with the four property owners. Uh it does require city council's ratification. So, if you would or would not approve that, um this is roughly, I believe, 0.63 acres just south of property that would touch property we own of on the
wastewater treatment plant. Uh the price purchase price is $25,000. Uh if the council were to approve that, we also have a survey set up to be conducted on the property and then Mr. Atkinson's office is handling title and closing. The funds for this would come
out of sewer capacity fees, 25%. So, we have collected a a decent amount of capacity fees above what we expected to bring in this year. And so, I would like to pull those funds out of that. Uh and ultimately, uh this property is one of a few that we'll be
looking at um in that same along that same area there for the wastewater treatment plant. So, my request is to approve ratification of the purchase agreement for property located on North 4th Street. Motion to approve. Second. So, we have a motion and a second. Any
comments? Anyone from the audience? All in favor, say I. I. I. I. I. I. Okay, motion passes. Item C2. Okay. Uh Council, we had uh during the budget
process, um you know, staff, we had worked together and we came up with some projects along the east side of town uh with some sewer lines and manholes to be aligned. Um since then, as we worked and looked at the other parts of the city, those costs have come back a little
higher than we had expected. Um but ultimately, uh where we got here today is lift station nine, which you all know is located south or technically north of old city hall down by Wayside Park. Um lift station nine is one of our higher flow stations. It's one that uh we've had problems with in the past. Uh it is
one that hopefully in the near future as part of our master plan, you will probably see recommendations for replacement and or relocation. And so, but at this time, it does not have a bypass pump. And so, speaking of Mr. Holden, I believe Mr. Holden and Mr. uh Kyle had worked it talked about this
as well. We would like to get a bypass pump put on that on that lift station as it being one of our high more high flow. And so, we are we're asking that we uh necessarily hold off on the slip lining and manhole lining for this year at the moment and move forward with purchasing a bypass pump sticking on lift station
nine in the amount of $64,819 from GoForth Williamson. And this would be off of state contract. Motion to approve. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? I have discussion. And I was hoping,
Kobe, that I I went back and watched this video from the January 13th, 2025. Um Mr. Valley had brought it to our attention that uh that manhole needed lifted 9 to 10 ft. The [clears throat] the north the manhole that was north. But that also came to
what brought it to my mind first before I even went back watching the video and refreshing my recollection was um what the gentleman, Mr. Mott, was going to do with that little Mhm. building [clears throat] down there. What what Where are we with that? And how does
that Yeah, after after we spoke this morning, I forwarded it to you. And so, on January 13th, there was an item on the agenda. I believe it was my item about that proposal from Mr. Mott doing that development. Uh the council did make a motion and withdrew that motion
to go back and speak with individual. We did that. And then on the January 27th meeting, the mayor added on at the meeting. And through that discussion, the council ultimately approved us working with Mr. Mott through his through the planning process for that. So,
uh the Mr. Mott, the developer, is going would move all the electrical out of the existing brick building on to top of lift station like every other lift station. And then he'll remove that building. Um since then, so that was in January, their DO was approved February 3rd. I spoke with Mr. Walls today. And so,
they've done that as part of after the planning process and they have moved that electrical. So, I spoke to Kyle today. Uh the it is set up right now on the bypass. They're waiting It's all done. They're waiting on FPL to come turn the power back on and that would be complete. Uh in terms of the manhole, that question did come up today as well.
Um one of the things that we I to my recollection So, right now, we have not made changes to the manhole um for two reasons, in my opinion. One is we have all the pumps in the station now and this would also allow us to control that with SCADA. So, now that this power's
moved over when it's turned on. Lift station nine was the last station to get SCADA on it. We haven't put it yet. We're waiting for power. So, as soon as that's moved in, hydro service will be putting SCADA on that station. And then we add this redundancy in the bypass, we're really we're definitely going to limit uh any risk of
backup. In terms of the manhole, that question you had today, it's talking about its location and future of it. Uh Mr. Holden, utilities director, you know, his his idea is that lift station, because of its depth, obviously it needs to be deeper, right? Because when it was first created and put in, you didn't
have everything you have now on the north side of town, right? That pumps over there to it. So, uh as part of the master plan, you're probably, like I mentioned, probably going to see a recommendation to either redo that where it sits, which I doubt it given its location uh or close to the wetland. Uh
you're probably going to see relocation to probably a little northwest of its current sitting. So, at the moment, we have not made changes to the manhole. We have gotten the pumps in there. We're now SCADA will be going on. The bypass will be put on. And then hopefully out of the master plan, we will see that recommendation to move that pump move
that lift station. Okay. And one of the recommendations on that first January 13th meeting was a like a 24-month history of what was going on with this lift station nine. But I think we we kind of missed the mark and wasn't able to generate that. So, could you work with Kyle and have him work get that for
us? Yeah, we can get it. The history. Okay. Thank you. [clears throat] Any any further comments? Anyone else? Anyone from the audience? All in favor, say I. I. I. I. I. I. Okay, that passes. Item number three,
Kobe, runway. Yes, Chairwoman. Um number three, this is the construction contract for the runway 927 expansion and widening. Um it's going to take a second to load this. It's a pretty long packet. So, uh but this is ECSC
LLC. This is the construction company that was awarded RFP 2026-01-AP for the construction of the runway widening expansion project. So, uh ultimately, Garver, our design consultant and engineer who also be doing CEI, has worked with the
contractor, provided this to us. Uh I'll let Mr. Atkinson weigh in in a second. And so, we are looking for approval of that contract. Once that is approved, um Garver will be issuing notice to proceed to ECSC LLC relatively soon to begin their mobilization plan uh
with our still targeted breaking ground date of June 1. So, I'll let Mr. Atkinson weigh in on the on the contract. >> June 1, 2026, correct? Yeah. Uh weigh in on the contract and anything you may need to to know. Mr. Atkinson, are you there? I am. I'm fine with the contract as it
is presented. I know we got the bonds coming back to the city. That was one of my biggest hold-ups is making sure we got those executed. Um I believe any of the issues we discussed, basically the way this contract is phrased with regard
to uh any type of added work or otherwise, will actually follow the scope of this as change orders. Um and it is my hope that the FAA will similarly agree with that to avoid any re-bids. Um but basically the way this is structured, this should allow us to move
forward um expeditiously, which is our goal going here. And so, I agree with Mr. Atkinson on the bond and insurance. So, um Garver sent an email today. They have received the scanned signed copies of the bonds and the insurance. The hard copies have been mailed to the city. So, we are waiting
we're going to receive those. And as I told Mr. Sernick with Garver, we will wait till we can wait to sign the contract until we've actually received those physical copies in hand. But, we do have scanned signed copies as well from the contractor. Motion to approve construction contract
with EC SC LLC. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any comments? Anyone from the audience? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I. I. I. I. I.
Motion [clears throat] passes. Kobe, item four. Council, RFQ 2026-01-CM professional real estate broker services. So, the city we did receive a one response. That was Partman and Associates. However, they did not
provide the mandatory forms as part of the bid package. So, speaking of Mr. Action, our recommendation to you is you deny that bid. And so, I think we need we do that first take care of business and then we can decide about next steps. Okay. So moved. Second. We have a first and a
second. Any comments? Anybody from the audience? All in favor say I. I. I. I. I. I. Motion passes. Was there a second part to that? >> So, I guess the next is just the council's direction on how you like us to move forward. You know, the next steps were going to be once you had if
you have found a firm, chose one to move forward, we will work together, you know, once that was in place to bring a list of properties back to the council. Excuse me. I can do that without without that. We can still bring that list back and go through it. Or ultimately, we can we can put back out again looking at the scope and a potential
reduction in scope. That could be one of the reasons, right? There could have been a pretty excessive scope that maybe a lot of firms or individuals may not meet or have the ability to do. So, again, it's up to the council what you'd like to do. I'm prepared to go either way. I'm just curious. My comment to the city
manager was why did no one local put into that you know, want this business from us. So, that spoke volumes to me that nobody locally had even bothered. So, any feedback on perhaps why? I haven't yet like we talked about I was going to wait until
till you all made a decision on it and then I can do that just out of respect to the bidding process. But, if that's I can go back and get feedback and see maybe if it's a scope, if it was advertising, if it was what it may have been. Mr. Beerbaum. So, I've had several conversations with
professionals in the field and I I I just have not been able to be convinced that this is the right action. And and I I firmly believe that and this is what I told Kobe in my meeting with him this
afternoon, I firmly believe that through the little marketing team that he has kind of composed internally within that maybe we could attempt to do some marketing of these properties and put it out there. The only compelling reason that I was given when I've had conversations about
this is that we get to be listed on the MLS. Um, but in in practice, I don't know that that truly nets us a whole whole positive. And my suggestion to Kobe was I'm more than happy, obviously sitting on the EDA, to engage with the EDA and see if
the EDA can even help us market some of this the properties that we're trying to uh just to let go of. Um, and and pursue those avenues. So, I I just really think that this is not necessary and that we should we should use utilize the staff and the
connections we have through the EDA to sell any property that we we need. I'm not I'm sorry. I'm not I'm not convinced that the the 3% premium we would pay we're going to get 3% back on on the sale price.
Okay. Mr. Kosan. One of the realtors one of our local realtors who's been in business for decades uh I talked to her and said so the subject came up about the some of the properties that we've
already put out there. And she said I'm a realtor and I had I had no idea these properties were even for sale. So, I asked Kobe I said where are we marketing this? And I think he said it was on the city website.
And it was who goes to the city website to buy properties? They go to MLS. So, I think the MLS is a lot more far-reaching than people checking the city website to find out what properties are for sale.
So, um I kind of have a different opinion of that and I respect your opinion. Um, but I think we need a a realtor uh who can MLS goes nationwide if you want it to. If you want it to.
Um, like anything else, you know, you can put your parameters in there. But, um and you know, in a perfect world, we'd have somebody uh you know, one of our local people to do this.
Uh I'm all for all for giving business to local people before we go outside. So, I kind of like the idea of us getting a realtor. Well, I like it, too. Um, and I and and we did. But, the problem was nobody locally responded to the
>> Well, that's why I was wondering how was it advertised? Because just like it goes on the city website, we put it on social media, we put it in the required paper notices of city of the city's purchasing box. >> Okay. Do we did did we send it out to
the local brokers? I think I I had >> Maybe by email or something? >> I'll we'll have to look and see. I had I think Mr. Ollie when he was here was going to do that. So, we'll have to we'll have to look back through emails and see if that was conducted. I personally did not. That was something I tasked to Mr. Ollie. So, I'll have to check with I'll
check and see if he had done that. Well, and you know, we have I'm yeah, just one moment. Um, you know, it's funny because three of the low the three of the most local realtors that we have attend a lot of these meetings. So, they have heard this discussion. So, I would have expected at
least one if not all three of them to compete maybe for the city's business. I'm just shocked that we didn't even get any of those that knew this process was going on just from being in our routinely in our audience. Mr. Sconyers. That that was my comments exactly.
Anyone else? Mr. Pearson. >> you know, at the very least we've we've talked about city hall property a lot, you know, and we really didn't have an idea of what it was worth, you know, the mayor felt like it was worth more than, you know, the last offer and what have you.
So, I mean, the very minimum thing we should do is is have appraisals done. Um, not one, but I would say multiple appraisals potentially to at least give us an idea. Um,
I mean, I just you know, it's it's a multi-million dollar piece of property, you know, and and you can lose your shirt real quick, you know, selling something underpriced. Um, a realtor broker would have a better idea of that. Um, so that's the only
thing. I want if we if we sell any property, I I want us to it to be a premium for the city, not not a discount. Um, but that's just my opinion. Mr. Beerbaum. Y- yes, sir.
You're recognized. Thank you. So, if the council wishes to adopt a policy whereby it seeks appraisals on any property it sells, that's within your purview and certainly within your rights.
Obviously, we do get appraisals whenever we acquire real property. We follow the state statute based on attorney general guidance. That is not required on the sale of property. I will tell you that it is
usually unadvisable. And I do give the council that advice now to endeavor to actually pay and obtain appraisals for real property. And there's three main reasons why you'll see that advice given.
First and foremost, the nature of an appraisal itself is a snapshot of a value at that time based on that appraiser's professional opinion. If an appraiser says a piece of property is worth $100,000 or a million dollars,
it certainly is not saying that's what the open market will bring. That's what they're saying it is valued at in today's market with the factors they know. Two, that appraisal is automatically and immediately becomes a public record.
So, if that appraisal comes in lower than a person would like if you seek to appraise a piece of property, that's between you and the appraiser in most cases. But, for us, we don't have that luxury. It is automatically public
record at that point in time. Now, just like private citizens who can determine that they want to sell property and value that they think something is worth, especially when they don't need to sell property. And I do think that is the
situation we primarily find ourselves in here in the city is we're not in desperate need of selling properties. Then we are in a position where if we do have properties appraised, and I understand I'm not referring to getting realtors to give us CMA comparative
market analysis, comps as many would refer to them as, or otherwise, I'm merely referring to the appraisal process of a true certified appraiser. We are going to be setting ourselves perhaps a ceiling because the question will inevitably be
asked if we seek more than appraised value. The issue can always be built in the city of why when you pay for an appraisal or told what something is worth, you're asking for more. If the answer is because we think it's worth more, we want more,
the argument that we're going to have to answer one day is the government's role is not to make money and if the government is choosing to get rid of a piece of property, you're effectively surplussing it where you're deemed it has no value to the government anymore and that the greater
public benefit is to put it out to the public. If you have an appraisal that says it's worth X and you want X plus another number, you're working against that public interest that you're declaring by even offering it for sale. So, in many cases an appraisal
can tie your hands. The last point that I'll raise about the appraisal process and why I do encourage the realtor process although and I'm it's very unfortunate we did not get any who wish to participate on our behalf
is that oftentimes a private person would never dream of paying that someone else tell them what their property's worth. They would rather put it out there for what it's worth or allow a realtor to bring them somebody with offers and then allow them to make
that decision. So, I think if we start this process, we're either going to be doing a full asset appraisal or the city would be my guide to show that we're not just selectively cherry-picking pieces of a property. Understanding they're only snapshots and they may not be good in 6 months or a
year, but if we're truly trying to get an asset appraisal, that's one thing. Um and and I do understand. I've heard that. I've talked to other realtors in the community who who discussed it. I will tell you that you may well have a realtor who calls
you and somebody may stand up in public comment for all I know. I'm not there. He's in the audience. Who may say, "No, I tell every one of my sellers to appraise the property and list it for exactly what the appraisal is." I can tell you that every realtor I have
spoken to both when the county went out for our Q real estate services and pertaining to the city of the county at which we've looked at realtors to assist us before, have all unanimously said, "A seller doesn't need an appraisal
because a seller sells their property for what they want and what a property sells for is what someone's willing to pay." So, I I just would caution you that we're going to get down a very expensive path of getting appraisals and having them updated, but I would suggest that
if we still do want realtor services, that perhaps we tailor the document we were looking at >> [clears throat] >> and either offer the as a request for solicitations or request for proposals
to see what any of our local realtors would be willing to offer us opinions of value in the form of CMAs or otherwise as a courtesy to the city with the understanding that the city will then determine what property that
we wish to sell and then those realtors certainly have the ability to bring their clients, their buyers to the city and present that to us. If they get paid off the buyer side, we don't care. Um and and I certainly would suggest there's a back and forth about what
commission structure looks like in being paid out of our side, but really it seems like the discussion here is to help us value our properties and then also to help it be sold and I do believe Mr. Cosson's point is very very strong here
that the MLS is where people go and we've got to find a way to get it to the MLS. Um there are probably some options that we can try to explore there, but I want to make that comment about the appraisal process. Certainly the council is free to do it and some local governments do,
but it also can come with a multitude of problems for the local government if you are appraising property and then not doing it for all properties and then not also continuing to do it year over year on a regular basis to establish that.
Thank you. Thank you, Clay. Um Mr. Beerbaum, did you He said it better. Said it. Okay. Any other comments? Anyone from the public? Okay, how would the board like to direct Kobe? Or
do we just want to drop it? I just wanted to add I'd like to add one comment if you don't mind, Adam Chair. >> Mr. Cosson. >> [snorts and gasps] >> In recent history, not that long ago, um there was some concern that was brought up here uh at a public meeting
that when we don't get appraisals and we don't put it on MLS and we just come up with um with a price or a perpet- or a potential buyer comes up with a price >> [clears throat]
>> and it's just advertised on the city website, um there was some question about some transparency that that's not normal operating procedures in the world of realtors. So,
in to be transparent and put everything on the table, um I thought maybe we could learn from that. Anyone else? If we Mr. Harrison. >> If we um if we put a property out for
bid or or um something like that, you know, we would be a competitive bid on a property, but how do you advertise that? You know, we're not necessarily in a Who do we send it to? You know, we don't know who the potential market is out
there. Uh MLS the buyers, potential buyers find that. They can search that. Um so, I don't know. I just I just think we have a responsibility to our our
citizens and our employees to do the best we can with city assets. It's funny because I don't think we have that many properties out there. The biggest one I think is city hall that we're trying to really divest our interest in that
particular one. So, um Mr. Beerbaum. I I certainly hear all all the the the conversation um sitting on the EDA board, um there was um a decent amount of discussion about
um the sale of commercial properties when it comes to the EDA. Um and and there's a a fair bit of history there. And what was interesting to me was to hear all of the various listing services that are out there
when it comes to EDA type properties and commercial type properties and to me there's not too much of a difference between what we're trying to unload with the old city hall property down here on this corner and any other property. Um especially when it comes to the properties that the EDA is trying to
sell. Um so, to me the email what I learned from that conversation sitting on the EDA board is the MLS is not the end-all be-all. There's other listing services out there especially when it comes to these uh commercial properties and and not
everybody hangs their hat on on MLS. Uh certainly MLS is is the king when it comes to residential properties, but it's not on the commercial side. So, I I think that we could do a better job from uh from a staff perspective and I don't mean that
derogatory towards staff that they haven't done a better job, but I'm just saying why don't we double our efforts, but also want to throw out why don't we take some of the the discussion and the advice that's been thrown out here today and let's revise the RFP RFQ
and see if we can go back out and pick some pick someone up for a different and limited scope. I'm I'm not opposed to that. Or what what would we all be in agreement with city hall at least having him as the EDA uh
liaison? Ask them if they can market it. We already pay the EDA and that is, you know, they're out there searching for commercial uh people. I would recommend I would like to see Mr. Beerbaum as our liaison on that board to maybe work with them to see, especially cuz I think
that's our hottest priority is to try to divest our interest in that. What is that? Sure, I'm I'm more than happy to do that. I think it's worth presenting to them. Mr. Cosson. And with the old city hall being
prime real estate when everybody comes through there, everybody going to the beaches comes right through there. Mhm. Do you think EDA could be beneficial to us? >> know that it wouldn't be advantageous for the city to keep it and don't ask me what for.
Oh. [snorts] >> [laughter] >> Well, Ma- Madam Chair. >> Yes. Right now the right now the market's not the best in the world. And if we held on to it, it's paid for. What's it costing us?
It's kind of like an investment. I don't I don't know that that's accurate. Is it paid in full? Oh, it is. Oh, okay. My mistake. Okay. I didn't realize it was paid in full. So, two things. Um we
that is one of only technically two properties on 331 that's a corner property like that in the entire county. So, it is very, very much prime commercial. And so, fundamentally in the past, when there's been a sign stuck out there
that says city hall for sale, we're not selling city hall. We are selling one of only two prime commercial properties in the entire county for which millions of cars pass every year in terms of tourists. So, it it we're not selling city hall, we're selling commercial
property. Um, and I forgot what my second point was, but Refresh my memory. Is that uh industrial zoned or commercial zoned? And if so, can we can we zone it commercial before we try to unload it? I believe it's institutional. Um, it would just require unless I'm
mistaken, it would just require, you know, zoning and flu changes if flu is also institutional. Uh, so it would just require those those zoning changes. Since we're the owners, since the city's the owners, what is the process for the city to rezone that to something that
would be more advantageous to a buyer in advance? We go through a standard land use amendment. What we have typically done, I'll swear what I would recommend what was recommended on this one. Um, if the mayor were here, he I think he chimed in
and kind of went through this too. We have covenant as part of any offer for sale because technically all city property is supposed to be institutional under the code. We're not supposed to own property that's not because of the therefore lack
of city use. It's a perfect way our land development code written. Perhaps with our work with PBC and Kimley-Horn, we're going to be able to clean that up. But until then, what we've done is covenant with whichever buyer that the city would
initiate a city sponsored land use amendment to rezone the property to a commercial designate um that would allow the highest and best use of that property. So, the city could help incentivize, is what you're saying
then? In the negotiation process. Okay, thank you. That that makes sense. Thank you. I think it was part of the CCB contract if I remember reading that. Okay. Any further comments? Anyone from the audience?
Okay, let's move on to the next. Do you have staff direction? I'm not sure. >> [laughter] >> What what was the I think it it just seems like everybody agreed that Mr. Beerbaum is going to take it to the EDA. Um, yes. I'm going to what you're going to hold there? >> have Do do y'all want to take formal
action on that or does everybody in agreement? I'm in agreement. I'm in agreement. What about revising the RFP RFQ like what was discussed earlier? >> [snorts] >> If you guys want Do you want the city manager to revise uh
the [clears throat] RFQ that went out that we only got one response and it wasn't a full response? I'd like to revise it after we change the zoning designation to commercial to make it more attractive. Well, we can't do the attorney said we wouldn't do that
until after we got someone that we're negotiating with and then we can incentivize it. So, If if y'all like to do that, I'll give Is everybody in agreement we're going to do Mr. Beerbaum's going to represent us on the EDA to see what they can do to help us and Kobe, you're to revise the language
and go back out for I'll give Mr. Atkinson work on that and get it put back out. Okay. Okay, now we'll go on to number five. Thank you, council. So, finance director position update. Alt you know, we talked about the end of this April end of March, 30 days come back. You know, in between there you've
all received, I think two emails of applicants been received by the our consultant and forwarded to you. So, update is, you know, we we have not received the consultant to us on Monday last Monday qualified applicants. Um, I will tell you that that you know, Gary who is who
is our liaison with Sumpter, um, he he's concerned about the qualifications um that we have out there right now. And so, ultimately we haven't had had the applicants I think we've been looking for and haven't had any that meet the qualifications that's been laid out to date. So, ultimately we'll
continue to put it out like right they've reissued two re-advertisements that need to be redone. Um, I know that Mr. I know that Gary has sent out to 20 or so individuals in their Rolodex per se and then we have we reached out to
Leon County Clerk Court. They uh when they finally did you know, get back to us, we had to put in a public records request. So, we were waiting for that public records request to be fulfilled. So, once we receive that, then we can go through that as well. But that's ultimately where we're at right now. Um, so we'll continue down this path uh until the council changes it. Um, but I
will tell you you know, there's probably going to be at some point Sumpter came on for a specified period of time to to bring that in to us. And so, uh yeah, we may run into where we're going to have to work with them or understand, you know, what the future looks like with their their services. So, that's something to be aware of as we continue
forward. I want to share something with everybody. I was working with one of my own clients and we were out and I was on Indeed. Now, Indeed is one of the biggest, largest uh solicitors for resumes and we are not on that. So, I am shocked. Where it
where is it that he's advertising because our finance director position was not out there. It could have It has been It has been. It could have expired. They do expire every 30 days. >> Yeah, but wouldn't they automatically I guess I shouldn't ask those kinds of
questions. But I mean, that would just be shocking to me that you wouldn't automatically renew it [clears throat] knowing that you've got a contract with us to find somebody and to me that's just letting the ball drop if that's you know, if that was a true statement. I think you were just
hypotheticals. Um, but when I was searching, I could not find the city of DeFuniak Springs finance director position on Indeed. Um, anyway, could you just check to see also where exactly that they're Where is
it that they're advertising and make sure they're all current? Anybody else have comments or Yes, ma'am. Uh, Madam Chair, I just want to echo that just briefly. >> [cough] >> Yeah, I I obviously am familiar with a number of local government and other
recruiting head hunters. By chance, I had a communication from one totally unrelated to the city of DeFuniak. Um, and in doing so, um, there was a link to a variety of job postings in which include finance directors all
over the state of Florida. And ours was not there and that has been within the last 2 weeks. Mhm. So, I was kind of surprised to see over 80 plus finance positions statewide for local governments. And not >> And I went through it on two occasions
looking through it to try to see if I could actually find ours um, and could not, which was interesting given that this is not a private site. I mean, it was certainly one of the larger sites where you would look at open positions. Yes, sir. I agree and mine was also in
the last uh 7 to 10 days. Anyone else? I mean, I I want to turn that in. It may as well be that we both looked at it at a point where it was in a gap. But um, in in the context of it, it was a question about qualifications um and what minimum qualifications for a
position um that somebody's looking for for an attorney elsewhere in the state and they're reaching out for some advice on that and I just happened to look through their site and um, I will say this, from the other jobs posted, our job qualifications are certainly
detailed and I would say more detailed, but there are some positions that are comparable in pay um that have um more stringent requirements than our position. I was quite surprised to see deputy positions. So, I'm just not sure
what's where that is. I planned to talk to Mr. Kells about that. I did that after last week. I got stuck in court, but um, it is definitely an issue we need to look at because there appears to be a lot of hiring going on. But ours would appear to be competitive
based on what your salary range is at the very least. Agreed. Mr. Beerbaum and then Mr. Harrison. So, I I'm in agreement. I think we we definitely need to either ask Sumpter why they're not why they're not advertising those positions or we either just need to
advertise them ourselves and and if they're not going to or both, right. Um, I I do want to just have a conversation about our requirements. I understand what what Clay just mentioned, but at some point we have to we have to say
maybe our requirements are slightly too res- restrictive in terms of minimum qualifications. And we just simply say that these are the minimums that we're willing to accept and then these are the the nice to haves. And then that would at least allow us to
evaluate some of these people because what we're consistently hearing even from Sumpter is and Kobe just said it a few minutes ago, they're concerned that our our requirements are too restrictive. And so, I think we really need to We've tried it this way. We've tried setting
the bar extremely high and we're not finding anybody. So, are are we going to just going to continue to allow the position to go unfilled? I think I think that's a conversation we just need to have. It's not I'm not throwing stones. I just think that we just need to maybe try a different
track. Mr. Harrison. Yeah, I'm I'm concerned about the >> [clears throat] >> the qualifications, you know, and and I thought, well, and then to hear Clay say that we're not that far off, you know, with some
I do have one in particular that you know, I think we can the these are educated people. They're smart people. Um I just think we can show some flexibility with the Florida counting codes. I I think someone can learn those very quickly.
Um especially someone with 8 years of experience, which is what we're requiring. Um so I I just we we have to find the magic here. Um you know, I talked with Colby the other day about this.
>> [clears throat] >> And I I I asked him what they feel like uh Sumter feels like might be the biggest hang-up for us and and and you know, I hate to bring this up, but it might go back to uh the way we hire. And you know, the
city manager hiring versus the council hiring. And I don't know. I haven't researched how many how many communities in the state of Florida have the council do the hiring versus city managers do the hiring. I have no idea. Um but my understanding is
from what little I I do know is is that we are in a minority as far as the way we hire city managers. So I I I have to question it. It's just for discussion. I don't I don't know the answer to it myself. I'm just saying you know, if if that's one of the reasons why people are skeptical to come
work for the city of DeFuniak Springs is because they have to answer to five city council members. Um you know, maybe we we need to rethink that in some way. Uh we we do receive we receive a financial report every
month in Colby's uh city manager report. So we we have current fingers on the numbers, you know, um of of what's what's happening. So I I'm not sure that we
he is providing that to us. We would hold the city manager accountable. Um I I just whatever it is, I mean, we're we're looking at $21,000 to pay Sumter to find someone. We've extended that by 30 days and we still have no one. No
fault. No throwing rocks here at all. So I'm just trying to figure out what in the world is is holding this thing up uh with us finding some 90 some odd applicants, Clay said, in the state of Florida for finance director positions. Or not applicants, but 90 positions or so. And that's that's quite a
[clears throat] few that we're competing with. >> getting filled. [snorts] And that's the thing. And they're getting filled. Yeah. Uh League of Cities is could potentially give us the answer to your question as to which cities Yes. uh
have our structure that use the structure versus the city manager. If if I don't know, Colby, if you could just call them. They've got a statistical department that captures that kind of stuff for all the all their members. Is that something that you or Julie could the HR could
call the city League of Cities and get that to see um just a moment, Mr. Beerbaum. I'm going to uh uh I don't want to see us lower our standards. That's the one thing that I don't wish to see. Um but I am very concerned and and the
mere fact that Mr. Atkinson saw the same thing that I saw that our our organization's not even out there where all these other ones are floating around to you know, to pique the interest. That that bothers me to say, well, how did we slip through the
cracks? How come we're not on That's one of the biggest ones there are. I forget the other the [snorts] second and third. Um just a moment, Mr. Cosson. Mr. Beerbaum's after me and then you and then uh go ahead, Mr. Beerbaum. So I
I I certainly understand that that dialogue that we need to have there and and let's let's put everything on the table and and kind of discuss everything. I guess my my pushback on the question of the reporting structure is
we've received 25 plus applicants. So it didn't deter 25 plus people from applying. And don't get me wrong. It wasn't like we rejected 25 that were all A1 number number one candidates.
I I just I think that we are too stringent on the front end. And it's it's not necessarily about lowering standards as much as it is saying these are the minimum qualifications and then at the dais we then perform the interview and we say
these these people are the ones that we're going to pick and we pick from the best that we receive. So it's not so much about lowering standards as it is saying, here's the minimum bar that you've got to reach. Cuz right now that minimum bar is basically excluding everybody.
So [snorts] we we get nobody. So that that's that's kind of where I'm at. >> City manager, will you send out the qualifications of exactly what it is that he's at what it is we're looking for from this Sumter group, please? Just to refresh our memory cuz I don't know them off the top of my head. I need to
see it in front of me to [clears throat] uh Mr. Cosson, you're next. If I understood Clay correctly, uh he said there's um a lot of these jobs uh being hired with similar or higher standards than we've already
got. And people are getting hired right and left. I think the elephant in the room that we're trying to avoid is um for some reason Walton County
and the city of DeFuniak Springs, and I'm I'm guessing um Freeport probably falls in the same category is that the finance directors work directly for the elected officials.
And we're one of the few counties in the state of Florida that operate like that. And the reason people are getting hired in these other counties and cities uh with the same or higher standards than we've got is because they don't
want to get caught up in the political game. They don't want to have to please five different people and for their job to uh be able to evaporate with three votes. Uh after moving going to all the time
and trouble to move here and relocate, buy a home, get your family over here, get your kids in school, and then they're gone. Because the council didn't like something they did. Or >> [clears throat] >> maybe they weren't qualified.
So that word gets out. And I don't think it's necessarily um a qualification problem. I think that we're we're not up with the times. The rest of the state is moving forward. They're putting this responsibility on the city
manager or the county administrator. And we're kind of like we're the anomaly. We're the ones that aren't necessarily following this same pattern. And that's why we're not having um the luck that they're having with getting applicants.
A finance director wants to come here. They want to do their job. They want to count the beans. They want to balance the budget. They want to reconcile the books. They want to get us a good audit clean audit and go home. They don't want to get involved in politics.
Uh so I'm going to go back to uh let the financial director be responsible and answer to the city manager. And we've we've talked about this before. So now we're arguing between
if are the standards too high or is it because of the way we've got our um the structure set up on who they answer to. So I believe Clay has already uh confirmed that our standards aren't too high.
Maybe it's the our operating procedures. Um people have gotten the word, apparently, that DeFuniak Springs you're on thin ice when you walk in the door based on our history.
So there's got to be a reason that Danielle doesn't want it. And I'm going to guess that that could be one of those reasons. I want to share with everybody, too. I don't I I may have shared this once
before, but you know, another option that we might think of in the interim if this doesn't work out with Sumter finding us somebody is and the city of Marathon actually does this. Um they outsource it to a CPA firm. And I actually talked to our auditors a year
ago uh when Dan when whenever Danielle was kind of transitioning out from I guess that was just this past December. Um and the auditors even recommended that did we ever want to think about maybe hiring a firm to just be our director and let the
let them do all the the larger things that we were doing. So you know, I kind of threw that out there once before. So kind of think about that, too, for the our next discussion. Mr. Harrison. Um >> [clears throat] >> yeah. We we you're right. Um Councilman,
we had we did have 20 25 applicants, but I I don't recall how many of those, for example, had 8 years of experience cuz they none of them met all the qualifications, recall. But I don't remember, you know, how many of them 8 years or which of these things might be our sticking point, you know, or
whatever with those particular folks. So they could have been people that are more you know, wanting to they've been in in the field for two or three years, four years, whatever, and are ready to step up, but they don't quite have meet that eight years thing. I I don't know. But, we did get a lot of
of applicants, but they were under qualified according to what we are requiring. Um and the people that are filling these 90 job these jobs around the state, um how many of those are hired by councils versus city managers?
You see, that's something that we we don't know. Um but, it [clears throat] has to be it has to be something that's fixable. And ultimately, if we have to source it out to someone, you know, to me, that's a better and I'm not
advocating that at by by any stretch. I'm just saying if if we as a last resort, we're far better to do that than we are to lose a city manager from burnout. Um he he is carrying a lot of torches uh for this city and and doing a doing a wonderful job of it, but we have
to get somebody in this position for him. And and I'd like [clears throat] to add one more thing, Kobe, and I think the HR director should be doing this for you is those 90 that are on these other sites, figure out where they are, who they are, and and get those people to apply to us,
too, because they're I'm sure some of them are uh might be relocation uh items. So, I think the HR directors can kind of go on there and do some research for us as well. Uh Mr. Cosen, just a moment. He was first. Please uh Mr. Beerbaum. So,
for me, the way the way I interpret the data is if we have 90 positions out there that we're competing for, that's 90 open positions. So, I it as those are positions that are getting filled left and right. That's 90 positions that are vacant and open.
So, I I have I have the opposite view when it comes to that being an indicator of you know, our our process and and different things. If if anything, it tells me that it's a highly competitive market. And and we're we're one of many fish in
the sea versus only only a few. So, we're we're certainly competing among many jobs. Um as far as the outsourcing goes, I'm I'm not opposed to that, but having lived an attempt at that in
the past, when the previous finance or two finance directors ago left and we needed basic reconciliation services and and the like, we've got to make sure and again, this is I'm not making this statement against Kobe.
We've got to make sure that that RFP is is appropriate. Um dealing with that that firm out of Tallahassee and them kind of coming in and and that was not pleasant. >> I would not recommend that structure
that how that happened. I think that happened out of an emergency. We want them to do higher level services where our staff that's uh full-time here can do those lower level reconciliations and then they feed that to this firm who then can feed us the data that we need to make our
decisions. >> Well, that and that's what I'm getting at is we we really need to probably spend some time and allow staff to spend some time making sure that that that RFP is tailored. Um and it's it's kind of like the the RFP for the
uh realtor services. We we've got to make sure that it's it's really fine-tuned for what we're going to do because what I'm worried about is we're going to put out an RFP and we're either going to get someone in here and then we're going to be in a contract with them and we're going to realize this relationship doesn't work,
or we're going to put an RFP out there and then they're going to come back at a half million dollars a year for for it because of everything that, you know, because we threw the kitchen sink at the RFP type of thing. So, I think if we're going to go that way, I'm not opposed to that, we really need to kind
of think through that RFP and maybe have some some discussion, but give staff ample time to do research and and come up with a with a recommendation. It sounds like we've got a lot of thinking to do. So, Kobe, is this something we can put on a future agenda that's like a like a 4:00 workshop again because it
sounds like we've got Yeah, I mean, we could put it we could do a workshop before our next meeting if that's what the council wanted to do. Sure. Okay. May not in May, but oh, do we need to do it? May is Memorial Day, so Well, the first meeting in May isn't.
Do we have anything else going on? The second meeting in May, we'll be talking about our next meeting, so you couldn't do it cuz it's a day of but the first meeting in May, we could do the workshop at 4:00. Would y'all be in agreement with that? >> a workshop for uh adjusting the >> figure out what what what we're going to
do. I mean, we all have >> well, we can figure it out tonight if we try. Well, I'm yeah, I'm I'm thinking, you know, that I see two things. Would we make any adjustments in in the qualifications?
And what would we decide about the hiring process? That's that seems to be the two things of of of concern. Our fellow council member just uh said it's not listed on the Florida League of Cities, either, our job. That's what I'm going through. I don't
know. So, I was looking to see why our job is not out there. That might speak volumes. I think we need to address that issue and get that resolved ASAP. Uh Who are the other two besides Indeed that uh he said that he was I mean, they've they've got uh
they've got uh the GFOA, the Florida League of Cities, the Florida GFOA Association of Government Accountants, uh and then originally the first round, they had uh the Government Local Georgia Local Government Access Marketplace and they had the Georgia GFOA. The second time they did not do
Georgia. They only did Florida uh and then any other But, somehow there's a hiccup because if we're not on LinkedIn, if we're not on Indeed, and we're now not on the Florida League of Cities, that's a big problem for us, I think, with our vendor. So, uh
And are we advertising, too, in addition to Mhm. them? So, these aren't our ads that are supposed to be on there. That's this is the vendor that's >> is taking care of that, yes. >> He's supposed to be doing all of this. You might want to ask for his invoices cuz he needs to get a refund. Mhm. I'm again, I'd have to have a
conversation with him. Let's see again, >> [laughter] >> it may have been a lapse, he's got to redo them. I don't know. I got to have to I'll have to ask him that. But, I mean, we're not we're not doing advertising at the same time. We're not doing advertising at the same time. That's what we paid him for. So, if they're not performing the service, then that's the conversation we have with him. Mhm.
My only question is that I'm go ahead, sorry. What So, we're just really not sure whether it's our experience or our hiring process. Oh, okay. My only question about an outside firm is how does it work? Because who who's who's got to oversee staff?
Who's got to make they're not going to make any sort of personnel decisions. If staff's going to still do reconciliations and all that, what are they what are they doing? Who who am I going to see when I need financial data? Like so, that's what that's kind of I'm not I'm just trying to understand what does an outside firm do if they're not going to have those
responsibilities? What functions are they performing that's going to take off from your current staff? That that's my That'd be the only question about outside firm. So, I see the value in one if you're going to have it for some sort of for backup or for for to get financial data
things of that nature, but if you're talking from a day-to-day, Could you what are they going to do? Could you ask the HR director to call the City of Marathon and get their contract because they have done this structure for many 20-plus years. They've they just hire a local firm and they send their staff and
they do it and >> [clears throat] >> so. Okay. Uh Mr. Cosen. So, when we got finished hammering out last year's budget and we
laid off employees, our HR director lost a position. And she is got her hands full just trying to keep HR with the city going. Do we have that many vacancies? She lost a position that would give her
time to do the advertising on Indeed and, you know, like when you're filling positions. So, she she's up to here. And when you say we need to have HR do this and HR do that,
she's strapped. She she's up to her eyeballs. Now, I'm just wanted to mention that about HR. Yes, a lot of HR directors do this in lieu of hiring a headhunter, but she's only one person.
Um the next thing is is if Kobe picks out the person, if we give him the authority to pick out the person, and that person works for Kobe, then he's got the authority
to adjust the standards. No, he doesn't. It's an ordinance. Ordinance. It's not going to solve anything. Well, I think and I think that's what we talked about. I mean, ultimately, if that's what the council says to at the end of the day, the ordinance is going to have to be changed. I'm not going to bring you anybody any different than
ain't been brought to you already. That's just that's not going to happen. So, uh so if you if we're going to keep the qualifications, you might as well keep the structure cuz you're not going to get a different result. Is what is what I'm getting at. So, that's just the reality of it. So, right now we're basically sitting here
uh waiting on a job to be filled and nobody's advertising for us. Is that is that what the picture is? Right now, that's what we're >> Nobody's advertising for us and we're wondering why the job's not filled. Well, it has been. I'll say I don't know when these went out. So, I'm going to find out from from someone.
>> went out. You don't know when They may not have They may not have renewed them in the last week or so waiting on the council's direction on next steps. I don't I don't know. Was it Monday that phone call or whatever? >> It's been at least two to three weeks because in the last 10 days [clears throat] I've been on there, but
I was on there routinely with my client. So, So, and >> But I only looked at one. Yeah. And your idea is to contact the League of Cities? I just said the League of Cities captures like which city There's like 400 How many cities are there in Florida?
400 plus. Anyway, they keep track They They've got a demographics type team that pulls statistics that they share with every all the cities. And you think that's a resource that we're not tapped into? No, I said it was a resource that could answer one of Mr.
Harrison's questions. Okay. That's all. With everything we've been through with the grand jury and not having uh a passing audit for years and years and That's not true. Um well, you know, when the people the company that finally
gave us a good audit, what was the name of that company? Purvis Gray. And didn't they say, "Congratulations, you have a clean audit"? Is that the words they used? I don't I don't recall what you're talking about to be honest with you,
Danny. We got the first good audit, clean audit, whatever you want to call it, in a long time. That's not true. So, There's members from the audience that want to come to the podium. The point I was trying to make is uh I don't want to go backwards.
We We agree. I don't think any of us do. Okay. Um My name is Sara Commander. For the record, that's spelled S A R A and one M in Commander. Um um I just have a question because I don't know.
Um I worked with over 12 years for the finance director with Walton County. And they answer directly to the county commissioners. But in your advertising for this position, I would ask because I don't
know, what's the comparable salary? You're talking about these other counties out here that are you know, wanting How much are they willing to pay? How much are y'all willing to pay a finance director that's going to keep you, excuse my expression, your fannies
out of orange jumpsuits? Because your finance director is the one that's going to take care of you financially with the state and everything else. So, is that salary going to be comparable, say,
almost to your city manager? Because if you're going to hire somebody with all these qualifications, you're going to have to be willing to pay them. And I think we are in that mar- We are in the market. >> See, I didn't That's the reason I Um
That was I was just curious. Any Any further questions? So So, if we don't know when the possibly ca- We don't know if it was on advertised on with the League of Cities for sure, but we If it was, we don't
know when it maybe was pulled off when it expired or whatever. I I would So, Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, if So, you know, I I think it's important that we know that before we can keep beating around these other things and have a have a workshop, then we know what you know, what the direction to go.
Um Cuz we've had plenty of workshops on this whole finance director thing, and here we are. Whatever we got we got we we have to get somebody hired. Mhm. I just want to say Thank you, ma'am. I I would almost say to just go out and
investigate how long these advertisements have been out there. I mean, we haven't been back checking them or anything. Not to say that they haven't, but it's not on League of Cities right now. That's first time I've looked, and I would think that at minimum it would be there. It is on
their website, and it says, "Hey, share this with all these other social media platforms," but it's not showing me where they're advertised currently. So, I think you probably need to just dig and then bring some bring back your recommendations and some more to us, probably.
Okay. I think Anybody else from the audience? We're going to move to the next item, which will be uh request to be on agenda Citizens' comments. I'm going to open it up for citizens' comments. You can have 3 minutes on any topic that you would like
to discuss. Please just state your name for the record for the clerk. Sara Commander. Um I want to thank you for approving the agreement or whatever for the 4th of July tonight, but I need to meet with
Mr. Townson. And I've asked um Mr. Beerbaum to meet with me. We had some problems last year that I do not want to encounter this year. I will admit I'm getting older. I'll be 80 years old the week after the
4th of July, and my patience is quite as good as it used to be when I started this 36 years ago. >> [snorts] >> So, I'm sure we can map out our problems, but we do have a few that we need to address. One of the problems that Dr. Henderson
and I agree on is not only the 4th of July, but Halloween um maybe not so much the Christmas parade, but I think it should be for all parades or whatever around that lake. It needs to be one-way traffic.
We are waiting for a child to get killed on Halloween. There I mean, they have no sense of danger, and the cars are on this side of the road going this way and that way, and they're dart- darting in and out. You know, Baldwin Avenue, we control it.
It's blocked off. Nobody can get in. So, we're DBPA does Baldwin Avenue. I ain't worried about Baldwin Avenue. I am worried about the lake yard. And um the 4th of July. It may be daylight when these people come and park, but after
they leave after the fireworks are over, it's dark. So, we have tried to address this before. There's any way you can look at making people park one way. I mean, let's make a sign say, "Everybody go
left." It's you know, or "Everybody go right." It ain't that hard. Um I think that would solve some problems, say, 4th of [snorts] July night and Halloween. So, um I'd like for maybe y'all to think about um seeing you know,
try it once and let's see if it works. Okay? Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else from the audience? Okay, I'll close public comments, and the next item then we'll move to is legislative request, Mr. Cosson. >> [snorts]
>> Okay, I was asked by a citizen if uh and I spoke to Kobe about this. He would wanted to know what the cost factor was on um Christmas Reflections and if the city was in the red or the black, and
what cost considerations went into uh pull this off. Uh what our budget was, how it was broken down, um staff overtime, etc. We had this conversation.
So, I told him I would ask uh you to give us a report on that. You agreed. So, if you would, please. Oh, I mean, I have I can send out to the council actuals. So, budget audited actuals for fiscal year '24, and then
end of year actuals for fiscal year '25 for the Christmas Reflections budget. Um In terms of cost allocation and reimbursement, we don't keep track of any of that because we have various departments that go out and assist um in putting up Christmas Reflections. So, public works, utilities,
we've had other admin staff go out there. So, we've had different departments across city that go do it. We just don't keep up with it. We're not you know, required by the audit. You know, there's not some There's not a statutory requirement. Um so, we we don't keep up with exact cost share from different departments or different funds to the
Christmas Reflections. Could you at least tell us if we were in the red or the black? That's all in the budget. Mhm. But um Okay. Um At the end of fiscal year '24, we would um I It looks like looking at
the fiscal activity between the current between the budget and fiscal activity variance, um there was a negative balance of 13,000. However, um there was a removal of 25,000 from carry forward. And you And you recall You won't recall cuz you've been bringing it up, but they
even in this fiscal year, that 25,000 has been carried forward again as a um reserve for Christmas Reflections. So, we put that in there this fiscal year and carried it forward. That way if uh revenues from ticket sales didn't come in as expected versus our expenses,
we weren't having to pull out of general fund to balance the uh Christmas Reflections fund. Um so, that's was the end of '24. '25, '25, we ended on the uh reconciled actuals, not audited cuz it hasn't been completed yet,
um in the black of $10,672.06. Okay. Thank you. Next is the tennis courts. Uh we got a couple of citizens that did not ask for this, but somehow or another they have been designated the
spokespersons for our community uh tennis players. And um Mr. Mark Anderson and Greg Lattinghouse pointed out and said we would appreciate if the
pickleball lines were eliminated from the from the tennis courts. And to have it repainted back like it was supposed to be with the for the tennis community.
And I said, "I'll ask it I'll ask about that at the public meeting and we'll get our answer." So, I'd like to find out if anybody would like to entertain that idea and make a motion about eliminating the pickleball lines. I remember the [clears throat]
conversation um uh the lady coming up here. I forgot I'm sorry I her name just escaped my brain, but when they were advocating for that and we all agreed to put those lines on that tennis court because of the pickleball club that was using those
courts. So, Apparently the they prefer We Park. Every time I go by there and I live in that neighborhood and you'd probably know better since you're right next door to it. Um
there's the pickleball players prefer We Park over the tennis courts. And if there's any pickleball >> come here though. Did they Am I losing my mind? Didn't they come here and it was Judge LaPorte's wife and I can't think of her last name and she Yeah.
Uh they all wanted those and we paid for those. Yeah. >> We paid money for that. Yeah, they there are some pickleball players out there. Um okay. This is a classic case of citizens coming to me.
I don't know the answer. I said I'll put it on the agenda. We've done that. If you don't like the idea, fine. No, I appreciate that. I appreciate talking about these items, but at the same time you got to I need to just make a mention that you know, we
paid money because the people actually came to the podium themselves and advocated for us to do this at the tennis courts that were here in town. Not Not We Care. So, All right. Uh Mr. Harrison You know, an option might be to
paint them a different color. Um not not anything super super bold, but they could tell the difference cuz there there are some areas where it could be confusing on a close call. You know, that kind of thing, but the color color contrast might be an alternative. At least on the pickleball court. Yeah,
and I have not played either one for a long time. Uh Mr. Beerbower >> there's only there's two courts and there's only lines painted on one. >> One. Correct. So, it's not like both of them were painted with with lines. Okay. Uh that's just my thought like I think
everybody's got to work it out. Okay. We all got to get along in the same sandbox. Okay. >> [snorts] >> That and I guess if it does become a problem, maybe they can come and share their concerns with us uh like those
other folks did. Her floors. Her floors. I'm sorry. >> [laughter] >> Anything else? No, ma'am. Any public comment? Uh Mr. Atkinson, are you there? I'm sorry. I skipped over number eight, which was the city attorney. Did you have anything for us? I'm here and I
don't have anything for you. Thank you. Okay, thank you. All right, the next item is my item and it's Friends of Life Enrichment Center. So, I wanted to share with everybody that I recently attended an event where there was a lot of people that came from all over uh the area and
um this isn't the first time. I think it's actually the second time that uh people want to donate to the Life Enrichment Center. Um which would be great. And I started thinking and Clay, this is kind of for you. I'm going to ask you to
uh chime in on this, but volunteering for the state parks, every state park there's 175 parks in the state and every one of them has a 501c3 affiliated with it called the Friends of State Park X Y Z. Um Clay, can we can we
structure something like that as a 501c3 so these foundations can give to the Life Enrichment Center? Did we lose you? He might have signed off. >> [laughter] >> Clay, are you there? Do you see a phone number on that
meeting? Oh, oh, there he is. In terms of doing a nonprofit, we can certainly talk to them about it. We would just need to work out an MOU with whatever group is set up. We would not create it for them is the only thing, but we can certainly do
um that and that's a lot shorter explanation I thought I was giving, but that's the quick view of it. Okay, so you're saying some some somebody in the public would have to come forward and start a 501c3 that was called the Friends of Life
Enrichment Center that had the goal of being the fundraising arm of their group. Like the state parks do it. >> C3 or C6, I'll leave that to them, but we would need them to establish that and then work with us and then we could partner accordingly. Okay.
Would it Does anybody else want to comment on that? I just There was a lot of money that they want I I have I have people clients that want to give to the Life Enrichment Center. I cannot do that or I can't guide them to do that because the structure's not there currently. But
there are found St. Joe was one of them, too and I think you know, they recently came and gave a lot of 25,000 to the library, the Friends of the Library that we just attended not too long ago. Then they left our uh library and went and donated some of their foundation money
to the school systems for one of their um but they they also want to do it for the Life Enrichment Center and I thought that would be wonderful because then that would alleviate some of our budget concerns and they could still function and get some things that they needed to
operate with. Um before I get out above in front of my skis, I need to check with my board, but I might have a solution Oh, that's >> of that. At least an an interim solution. If you have people that are wanting to donate now, but I'd need to check with my board first at the Chautauqua.
And and I think they wanted it I heard I think somebody had mentioned that that that that that was mentioned before. I think they want it to run through something that's dedicated strictly only for the Life Enrichment Center. So, I I don't think it's anything against you or
your organization. I think it was just they wanted to make sure that structure was there and I said, "You know, I think it used to be, but when they came to the city, it it's not anymore. Now it's a government you know, a program under the city's government. So, Anybody from the public? Susan, we see
you out there. Would you like to comment? Hi, Mr. JB Hill or This is what brought me down here. >> [laughter] >> As you well know, we're talking about the You must have snuck in. The center I'm I'll probably be here. Uh uh What what you really need
I don't know whether you need a foundation or just a C3. But these companies and so forth, the people that give money uh they give it to a C3 organization. Uh we we've had some discussions out there over the years, different companies
it want to want to give money to the senior to the center, but now when they find out it's under the city government, you can't you can't do it. You need a C3 organization or a foundation. I've been through this twice before in other uh
uh civic uh organization. Not a foundation, but a C3. That's what you need, but you need a leader. You got to have a spark plug. And that's that's been difficult to find. Uh if you had a leader that that that could
put something together, they don't have to be a member of the of the center. It can be anybody. Uh the library, you know, they have the the supporters there. They have they've had it for many years. And they may or may not be members of they may not even have a library card. It doesn't make any
difference who sits on the board. So, I don't know whether city could lead the effort to find somebody to uh support something like that or not. Um I'm I'm way over the hill for that and uh Darn, cuz I thought you would be
wonderful for [laughter] it. Way over here is is uh It wasn't that much work when I was involved, but I'd say the regulations have changed in the last 20 years and I don't know what I was involved, but it does take effort, takes dedication. It takes research. It takes
people willing to work together. Uh it takes politicking and and the whole gamut to put something like that together. So, uh if if you have any friends that would want to um um get involved whether or not they're involved in the in the the center or
not, uh we're they're looking for a leader to take it on, put people together. Uh they have what? 350 members out there. Um Whether or not any of them would would want to serve on something like that, I don't know.
Uh what the talent is and so forth. The South end is no problem. They've got more talent down there than they know what to do with. And they've got a excellent uh C3 that's this um uh the county's going to build them a $4 million senior center.
And it's going to be I say it is probably going to be contracted with a C3 to to be the administrators. Or they're going to somehow or another the county's going to put that together. But that's going to be a whole different operation because it is a C3. They've
designed the center free of charge for the county by some of their members they're educated architects and so forth. That's a whole different ballgame than what we have up here. We don't have that kind of talent and so forth that's that's coming out of the woodwork. So anyway, that's my comments. If you
have any friends that want to do something like that then I'll be more than happy to to sort of consult with them or talk to them about how to do it and so forth. But it does take work. We appreciate that. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you.
Dr. Henderson. If you find somebody willing, I'll help them with the bylaws and getting the legal stuff, but uh it is detailed and you have to do annual reports and crazy things like that, but
it would speed up things if they copied what we had done so far. I think just people can donate to the city. That that is I think more so it's about these people are looking for the ability to write tax write-offs and things of that nature. So they can donate but I think that's it's not that people can't donate
to the city. It's just It's yeah, they need that tax write-off. And to to donate to the city they cannot get that. Anyone else like to Susan, do you know of anyone that at the center? I mean, could you put the word out that we would like or we're looking
for someone that might be willing to that we have other professional help for them to help them? Yes. You know, I've been trying to do this for over 10 years. You know, April's been coming to me you know, year after year. Um so yes, just previous management would not you
know, take that into consideration. I did have somebody that wanted to do it, but unfortunately they are not in good health right now. So since I hear that this is something you guys would back, I will definitely do a little more research into out of 350 people I should
find a few. You know, at the same time I would like everybody else, you know, just while you're out there in the world, you know, and run across cuz I do think I have a a grant writer that would be good for it. You know, one of the things about these grants is you know, none of these grants cover operating
costs, you know, administrative costs. So you know, we would only need a couple of grants every few years, you know, um because like I said, you know, the ones that I have even tried to apply for they don't cover any kind of administrative costs, you know, so it'd be just you
know, things like upgrading our equipment and um activity type things. So I will definitely pursue this further in checking around now that I know that we have the ability to do so. Thank you. We'd really appreciate that cuz I'd like to see y'all have that
extra This is true. >> funding sources that people are really wanting to make sure that y'all have >> a long time. >> Yeah. Thank [laughter] you. >> Yes. Okay. Appreciate you guys. Thank you. >> Anyone else? Okay, let's do executive comments. We'll
start with Mr. Harrison. Um I'm sorry, that's Kobe. >> [laughter] >> That's all right. Sorry. >> Um I only got two. We've been closely Andre and myself and Liberty Partners with the grant agencies on the hangar project. So those are moving forward. We
have good communication with the grant agencies to date. So that's good. And then all as a reminder Wednesday we have a workshop about the fire assessment 5:00 here. So Um we'll be back here on Wednesday. Now Mr. Harrison, I'm sorry about that.
I look forward to being here Wednesday. >> [laughter] >> Mr. Cosen? Same as what Glenn just said. I look forward to being here. Mr. Beerbaum. Ditto. Likewise. And I just like to say Mr. Mayor, I hope we did you proud. We're
sorry that you're sick. We hope you get better. And thank you all for joining us this evening and we'll call this meeting adjourned. >> [laughter]